"And besides, you're ignoring the fact that if you used your holy power, you could easily defeat Riser and help Rias escape her arranged marriage."
Kozue's words sounded like thunder in Akeno's ears.
Before Akeno could respond, Kozue continued.
"Furthermore, in the supernatural world, a battle could break out at any moment."
"Whether in an internal demon race fight or against another faction, you're almost certain to be involved in death matches."
"You have to understand that at some point you will be in a critical situation where you will have to decide whether to use your sacred power to save your life or the lives of your friends."
"Think about this, are the lives of your friends worth enough for you to use the power you hate?" Kozue asked in the ear of the fallen half-angel while her hand continued to rub Akeno's back.
"..."
Akeno didn't respond. Her mind was preoccupied with analyzing Kozue's words, imagining various scenarios where Rias, Koneko, or Kiba were on the verge of death in the middle of a battle, and only she could save them.
At that moment she would have to use her sacred ray, putting aside her hatred for the lives of her friends.
Akeno's mind was a mess.
For most of his life he has lived hating his heritage, hating his father for not saving his mother, and refusing to use his sacred ray.
But now Kozue showed her a scenario where she had no other choice.
Could you live knowing that you could have saved your friends but didn't?
The answer was no, and Akeno realized that her hatred wasn't worth it.
Looking up, the young woman saw Kozue's face up close.
In an act of bravery, Akeno brought her face closer and her lips met Kozue's.
Muah*
Kozue had sensed Akeno's intentions, but she did not refuse.
Akeno was a very beautiful young woman with a stunning figure, so Kozue wasn't going to deny the young woman's lips.
Muah*
The two young people kissed for several minutes before pulling back, leaving a trail of saliva connecting their mouths.
The two young people looked into each other's eyes, smiling before moving closer again and kissing.
.
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.
After 10 minutes, the two young men returned to the training field without anyone else noticing anything amiss.
Akeno was surprised by Kozue's illusion abilities, but didn't ask any more questions before the two of them began fighting each other.
The two young men trained for another 30 minutes before stopping and joining the others for lunch.
The group enjoyed the meal prepared by the Gremory family chefs before returning to the training camp.
This time, the group discussed several strategies.
Rias placed a screen in front of them and the group watched the Rating Games that Riser participated in.
Riser only had a few Rating Games, so they also had to look at the Rating Games of other members of the Phenex family to gather more data.
Although the Phenex weren't very strong, they were annoying because of their ability to recover.
Sure, there were many who defeated a Phenex, but they were all known powers and won with overwhelming power or special techniques.
For example, the current Rating Game champion, Diehauser Belial, used his clan's trait to nullify the Phenex clan's regeneration ability.
Rias's peerage had few options, as they did not have enough power to defeat Riser together with their peerage, but before she became depressed, Kozue gave some ideas.
"Riser can regenerate any wound if he has demonic power"
"But that doesn't mean I don't feel pain."
Kozue's words caught the group's attention and they listened attentively.
"Kiba can create swords with special properties"
"If he creates a sword that increases the pain with each cut, he could force Riser to quit if he can hit him several times."
Everyone looked at Kiba and the swordsman opened his eyes, finding the idea great.
The sword user wanted to try to create a sword with the property of increasing pain with its cuts, but Kozue hadn't finished and the group kept their attention.
"Akeno's lightning abilities are also useful in this situation."
"Even if Riser can regenerate any damage caused by lightning, the electrifying effect on his body cannot be overcome so easily."
"While he has difficulty moving as his body suffers the consequences of being electrocuted, the group can attack until they force him to exhaust his demonic power."
Kozue's ideas were feasible and the group decided to train based on that.
While Kiba set out to create a sword that increases pain with each cut, Akeno went to learn wide-area lightning element spells.
As long as either of the two can catch Riser, 50% of the battle will be won.
Of course, there was also Riser's nobility, and the group analyzed what little they knew about them and their abilities.
Riser's younger sister, Ravel, had the same abilities as her brother, so his plans against Riser would also work against her.
Aside from the Queen of Riser, Yubelluna, the other members of the Riser nobility were not as powerful.
Akeno offered to fight her.
The others knew how strong Akeno was, so they were sure of her victory.
The larger numbers of Riser's nobility could be dealt with using strategies to defeat them, but the problem was that they would be too tired to fight Riser.
"I will help you fight them; I have enough stamina."
Suddenly, Kozue offered to deal with Riser's nobility so they could focus on the bigger enemy.
Sure, Kozue could easily defeat Riser and all his peerage with her own strength, but that would be too conspicuous.
Kozue only planned to help Rias get out of her problem; she didn't want the attention of the entire supernatural world.
Since Riser's nobility wasn't that strong, it wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration. At most, he'd demonstrate high-ranking strength and defeat them one by one.
"Thank you, Kozue," Rias said.
Rias knew Kozue's strength, and sighed with relief that she could help her.
Of course, he trusted in the strength of his nobility, but Riser's nobility was not weak and was not sure of a victory.
Rias wanted to see Riser's face when he found out that his condition that Kozue participate in the Rating Game was the cause of his defeat.
The group spent the afternoon training together.
Kozue became the enemy as Rias and her peerage teamed up in pairs of 2 or 3 people to try to defeat Kozue.
Of course, Kozue used weights on her body that restricted her movement to mid-range and high-range strength, so she had a hard time dodging everyone's attacks.
.
.
.
The group spent the following days like that.
In the morning they trained on their own, and in the afternoon they practiced their teamwork.
In the midst of it all, already hidden from the others, Kozue and Akeno quietly slip away to kiss and touch each other before returning so that the others don't notice.
Kozue thought things would continue that way until the 10 days before facing Riser were over, but Akeno surprised him on the fifth night since they arrived at the camp.
That night, after dinner and watching a movie together, everyone went to their rooms to rest until the next day.
Kozue contacted Robin and Mikita as she did every night to check on them. And when the call ended, she was surprised when a presence stopped in front of her door.
Kozue knew immediately who it was and went to open the door.
Outside the door was Akeno, who didn't dare to knock, so she was surprised when Kozue opened the door.
Kozue was also surprised because Akeno was wearing a robe, and she looked very sexy with the robe clinging to her body.
"Come in," Kozue said when she saw that the young woman wanted to tell her something.
Akeno nodded and walked forward with her head down.
Akeno's scent reached Kozue's nostrils, telling her that the young woman had showered before coming here.
When she entered the room, Akeno stood in the middle of it and seemed as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't open her mouth.
"Akeno, if you need help with anything, I'll be happy to help if you trust me," Kozue said.
Kozue's words seemed to give the young woman some courage, and with a single pull she untied the knot that kept her robe closed.