Carefully locking the door of his house, Lucian tucked the key inside his pocket before taking the road towards his school. In his hand, he held an envelope which was addressed to him. He put that envelope in his backpack and from there, he took out a neatly folded paper. Unfolding it, he checked through the contents of the paper once again while walking down the road before folding it back.
A day after he took care of the stray exorcist and his fallen angel accomplices, he had sent his reports and findings to the authorities. From there, he got two more letters in return, stating his new task which pleased Lucian momentarily. He would trade anything with going to school and getting bored in there with the boring lectures which had literally nothing to do with him.
What was the point in learning politics of the human world and laws of physics, especially for an angel like him? In the supernatural society, the laws of physics don't apply and are broken every now and then.
Though the contents of one of the two letters did not align with his expectations at all. He was ordered to stay in Kuoh for a while and keep attending the academy in order to keep an eye on the activities of the fallen angels and find out what the Kokabiel was plotting. He was tasked to keep them updated with all his findings. The letter also mentioned that the church will be sending two exorcists, both being holy sword users to lend him a hand in his missions.
The second letter was far more compelling, titled "Urgent Mission." Naturally, it captured Lucian's attention.
The letter stated that the location of God's Shield, a sacred gear similar to the one he had in his possession, had been found. It had been found in the Indian sub-continent, home to the Indian Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. Lucian was asked to depart in five days and retrieve the God's Shield from there. He was allowed to keep the shield in his possession since it would resonate more with the gear he had in his possession now. After all, according to the findings on his sacred gear, the shield was a part, a set piece of his gear.
The letter also stated that he would be getting a backup since treading into unknown territory alone could be dangerous. His backup would be arriving in five days and then they were to depart together. The letter specifically mentioned to stay under the radar and try and not attract too much attention to themselves. The Indian and Christianity Pantheon weren't exactly each other's allies, thereby avoiding any sort of conflict between the two would be the best course of action.
With all that on his table, Lucian was going to the school to submit his application for leave, stating the reason to be an urgent family business. He did not put too much effort into making an excuse. Rather he put his effort in neatly writing the application so that the teachers would grant him the leave he needed.
Literature and language classes were the only two classes where Lucian, at the very least, bothered to pay attention to what was being taught. From the literature lessons, he did learn about how to write something elegantly and eye-catching, even if it is something as simple as a letter.
He wrote his leave application, keeping all those lessons in mind.
'What's this?!' The moment he stepped inside the boundary of the school, his senses flared up, indicating the presence of a significant number of devils, outside of those he knew. Two of those unknown presences were comparatively stronger than the rest.
The church exorcists were trained with one objective in mind. To find and take down the foul beings, be it the fallen angels or the devils, or whoever was considered the enemy of God. Their rigorous training and battlefield experience often gifted them with a sixth sense which would help them perceive or detect the demonic presence, even if they try to hide it in plain sight.
The degree of how quickly or accurately one could sense the energy, varied from individual to individual.
'They are all huddled in one place. Good for me.' Lucian thought to himself, rushing his way through the old school building.
The old school building was located at the furthest corner of the school, bordered by the woods behind the building. The old school building wasn't in much use after the new buildings were built but served as club rooms for those clubs which weren't much highlighted in the mainstream academics or were part of the main curriculum.
He stopped in front of the door which led to the Occult Research clubroom. Shoving the letter he had on him in his pocket, he adjusted his collar before grabbing the handle of the door and pushing it open.
The moment the door was opened Lucian ducked as something, or rather someone flew out of the room. Upon closer look, that person was none other than Issei Hyoudou. He crashed onto the walls of the corridor, crumpling down on the floor.
He turned his head back toward the clubroom, only to twist sharply to the side as a staff came whistling toward him. Reacting purely on instinct, he caught the weapon mid-swing, yanking it forward along with its wielder. In the same fluid motion, he retaliated with a swift palm strike to their torso, driving the air from their lungs and sending them tumbling backward onto a desk.
"I know I am not welcomed by most people, but this has been by far the most unwelcoming gesture I have ever been greeted with." Lucian remarked dryly as he stepped inside, his keen eyes swiftly scanning the room's occupants, all of whom were now watching him with full attention.
"Lucian?" Rias was the first to regain her composure and speak. "What are you doing here?"
"How can I not be here when I could pick up your devil friends' presences from all over the school gates." Lucian pointed out. Meanwhile Asia rushed over to Issei, already using her powers to patch him up. "For all I know, you lot could be planning world domination?"
"No, we are not planning world--!"
"Is this one also one of your undisciplined servants, Rias?"
Lucian finally turned toward the source of the interruption. His maroon eyes met the piercing dark blue of a man with short blonde hair, appearing to be in his early twenties. The man was clad in an opulent burgundy blazer adorned with gold embroidery on the right side, paired with matching trousers and polished black dress shoes. Beneath his blazer, he wore a crisp white shirt, completing his refined yet commanding appearance.
Some of the females that stood behind the blonde man, helped the martial artist girl whom Lucian had sent sprawling onto the desk.
"I am sorry but I am not that unfortunate to become a devil's servant." He replied, staring right back into the blonde man's eyes. "At least not in this lifetime."
Both of them walked up to each other, sizing one another quite intently. Their little staring competition started to turn more intense. Thin rainbow-colored aura surrounded the blonde man and in response to it, a layer of light bluish aura started to form around Lucian. It was clear to the onlookers that they were trying to gauge one another's strength.
'He's strong. At least on the same level as me. Maybe a few levels higher than Rias...' The blonde man narrowed his eyes, not having expected to find someone almost the same level as him in this place. 'He doesn't seem like a devil. Then what is he? A human cannot be this strong unless they have a strong Sacred Gear...'
"That will be enough for now."
The silver-haired woman who adorned a blue-white French maid outfit, finally spoke up, breaking the tension in the room. She had been silent all along, observing whatever was happening in front of her eyes. If she hadn't intervened, a fight might have broken between the two of them, jeopardizing things even further.
'The strongest in the room, it's undoubtedly her..' Lucian kept his thoughts to himself, both his and the blonde man's aura dissipating.
"I doubt any of you would want an unfortunate incident before your Rating Game, would you?" Though her words carried a clear warning directed at both parties, her tone remained calm and measured, devoid of hostility or even the slightest trace of intimidation.
The Rating Game—a prestigious competition within the Underworld, was a battle between two devil peerages, designed to test their combat prowess while simultaneously influencing the social standing of those involved. The structure of the game bore a striking resemblance to chess, a game widely played by humans.
"Fine, like we agreed before. Let's have our Rating Game ten days from now on." The blonde said in a dismissive tone, shoving his hands in his pockets. "We could do it now but it wouldn't be interesting."
"Are you giving me a handicap, Riser?" Rias asked with narrowed eyes, feeling somewhat humiliated at being underestimated by her foe.
Yet, somewhere she knew that neither she nor her team were strong enough to take on Riser's Peerage on a Rating Game based on their current strengths.
"Are you against it? Is it humiliating? You see Rating Game isn't something that you can win with your feelings." Riser remarked. "If you can't use your servants' powers to their fullest, you can't win. As someone who would be taking part in a Rating Game for the first time, it's only fair to give you some measure of an advantage."
A magic circle materialized and began to glow under Riser's feet. "If it's ten days, I am sure you would be able to improve your servants."
His gaze briefly flickered toward Issei, who was still leaning against Asia for support. "Pawn, don't disgrace Rias. A blow against you is a blow against her."
Having said that, he spared one last look of intrigue at Lucian before disappearing along with his servants.
"I think you guys owe me an explanation?"
"I suppose we do." Rias stepped up. "That man was Riser Phenex, my fiancé. Something that was decided not by us but by our families."
"And this Rating Game is to break off the engagement?"
"Pretty much."
Lucian pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling through gritted teeth. "Great. Now I feel like an ass for barging into a marriage discussion."
"Can't blame you for that. Anyone else in your shoes would have done that." The girl with long, black hair tied into a ponytail and attractive violet eyes spoke up. "Though why are you in the school? For all I know classes have yet to start for the day."
"Oh that. I came to submit a leave application. Need to leave in five days." Lucian revealed, pulling out the application from his pocket. "You know, supernatural stuff."
"You sure are thorough with all this. You do realize memory alteration is an option." Rias commented, trying to not chuckle at Lucian's thorough preparations over something that was more or less irrelevant.
"You are just being a try-hard." Kiba added.
"Zip it!"
The maid, who had remained poised throughout the exchange, finally stepped forward. "Ojou-sama, I shall be taking my leave as well." She bowed respectfully toward Rias. Her role here had been to oversee the discussion between the two opposing parties, ensuring the proceedings remained civil. Now that the Rating Game had been set, her task was complete. "I must inform both families of the outcome."
"Yes Grayfia, you may leave." Rias said. The maid nodded in response before teleporting using a magic circle.
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For the entire day Rias Gremory was holed up in the clubroom keeping herself busy. After the events that took place in the morning, she had no interest in attending the classes and rather focused herself in making different strategies and going through different tactics in order to grasp a chance at victory against Riser and his peerage.
Her peerage was already at an obvious disadvantage given their numbers. There was also a difference in experience. Riser had quite a number of victories under his belt in the Rating Games. On the other hand, this was going to be her and her peerage's first Rating Game.
She needs to save Akeno for the last in order to take down Riser's queen. Despite having six members, only five of them were going to fight. Placing a healer on the front lines was out of the question, and Asia was neither a combatant by nature nor by inclination.
Kiba and Koneko would be able to hold their ground to some extent but they would soon tire out in a prolonged fight. They would need something to finish the battle quicker while also incurring minimum loss of manpower on the way. They could use the terrain to their advantage if the field is set according to her preference. That was still a gamble as the field hasn't been decided as of yet.
Her biggest worry was Issei. While he does have a Longinus-grade Sacred Gear, the biggest problem was his lack of experience, in both combat and on how to properly utilize his sacred gear. She wondered if ten days was really enough to make him into a decent fighter. After all, the biggest gamble she was putting on Issei and more on the unknown potential and power that lay dormant within the Boosted Gear.
'This isn't going to be easy at all.' Anxiety crept into her expression, her concern evident in the slight furrow of her brow.
A sudden knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. Exhaling quietly, she massaged her temples before responding, "Come in."
The door creaked open, and Lucian stepped inside, shutting it behind him. Scratching the back of his head, he approached her, an unreadable expression on his face. It was clear he was trying to say something, yet was still having issues putting his thoughts into proper words.
"You wanted to say something, Lucian?"
"Actually, yes." He nodded in response. "I know a thing or two about Rating games and this one is pretty important for you. I have five days at hand before I leave for my task. Which is why I wanted to invest those five days in helping you guys train."
For a moment Rias was at a loss of words. Of all things, she was expecting Lucian to say, it was going to be the words, "I will help you guys" at all. He was an exorcist and they are a group of devils, two completely opposite factions. In her viewpoint, he had no reason to go out of his way to help them regarding their own matters.
"But why? Why would you do that for us?" Rias finally asked, her gaze fixated on his maroon-colored eyes to find any traces of deceit.
Yet she found nothing but generosity. She just wanted to know the reason behind this unpredictable act of generosity.
"I saw the face you made when you were talking about your engagement. You don't really want to marry this guy at all." Lucian said, leaning by the table. "I believe one should marry by their own choice. It's what I have been told by a happily married couple who I know very well."
"Is that the only reason you are willing to help us?" Rias didn't know what to think of all this. Even an outsider could see the fact which their families and Riser are completely ignorant about. The truth that she does not want to marry without her willingness at all.
"That and your fiancé's first impression wasn't the best one at all. Just go ahead and kick his ass. Consider it as an apology for barging in the discussion uncalled for." Lucian added with a carefree shrug. "Also, I can assure you that an exorcist's training manual will whip you all into shape."
'Exorcist's training manual? What am I getting myself into?' Rias couldn't put a finger on it but she could feel a sense of foreboding when Lucian uttered those words. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but for a brief moment, Lucian's grin looked almost… demonic.
Nonetheless, she stood up and extended her right hand for a handshake, with Lucian returning the favor.
"Very well then. We will be in your hands, Lucian Kristoff."
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