Akeno was stunned by Rhode's sudden rebuke.
"I... well..." She opened her mouth, but the words failed her. After a long pause, she managed to gather her thoughts, her face wearing a helpless expression. "To say we haven't trained... of course we have. Whenever a Stray Devil appears in Kuoh Town, Rias takes us there to fight as a team. We've improved, but the progress is slow. Even if we could win a one-on-one against any of Riser's pieces, it doesn't change the massive gap in numbers.""You call this training? Hunting down Stray Devils in your own territory—isn't that just catching mice in your own house?"
Rhode finally understood where the problem lay. The issue wasn't that they were weak; it was that despite being weak, they weren't striving to improve. They were content to guard their own little patch of land, and catching the occasional mouse was enough for them to consider it "training."
It wasn't until an outside enemy invaded that they would realize their team would scatter at the first sign of real pressure.
Rhode recalled that in the original story, Rias and her group didn't think about conducting special training in the Underworld to boost their overall strength until the summer break after the peace talks between the three factions. Before that, they were simply coasting along.
Even then, Rias's Power of Destruction didn't show much improvement. Compared to Sona Sitri's drive for self-betterment, if it weren't for her "heroine aura," Rias would have basically been a lost cause.
"You..."
Even though Rhode was a close friend of Suzaku Himejima, being spoken to like this made Akeno feel humiliated. If it were the truth, she might have accepted it, but the point was that they were working hard at their training.
"Do you think I'm wrong? Is that why you're angry?"
"I'm not angry," Akeno replied, her smile vanishing.
But anyone could see she was sulking. Although she was one of the main heroines, Rhode didn't coddle her in the slightest.
"Every single one of you, from top to bottom, has issues—except for Kiba Yuuto. And Rias pampers you all far too much."
Akeno was about to retort when Rhode said something that made her freeze.
"Since you think you've worked so hard, why do you refuse to accept the Fallen Angel blood inside you? It's the same for Koneko. She's a Nekomata, yet aside from the monstrous strength granted by her Rook piece, I haven't seen her use a single bit of Touki or Senjutsu."
"Meow?!"
Kuroka's eyes widened. At the mention of her sister, she pricked up her ears to listen intently.
"The blood inside me..." An gloomy expression surfaced on Akeno's face as Rhode brought up the past she least wanted to remember. "That filthy Fallen Angel blood... I don't want it at all! If it were possible, I'd scrub that disgusting thing out of me entirely!"
Hey!
Hearing this, Raynare and the other two Fallen Angels were instantly annoyed. What did she mean, "filthy blood"? No matter how "filthy" it was, it was still ten thousand times more noble than a Devil's!
"But you have it. And despite having that power, you stubbornly refuse to use it even when Rias is facing a crisis. Or do you all actually want Rias to marry that turkey? Is all that talk about protecting her just a hollow slogan?"
"It's not like that!" Akeno forced her eyes upward, staring directly into Rhode's. "Rias saved me from assassins. She's my best friend. How could I possibly stand by and watch her marry someone she hates?"
"Then why don't you use your Fallen Angel powers?"
"I..."
"Seems like your friendship isn't all it's cracked up to be. Just 'plastic sisters,' huh?"
Akeno was furious. "Plastic sisters"? Her bond with Rias was as solid as gold, as close as family. But just as she stood up to lash out at Rhode, it occurred to her that he was right.
She slowly sat back down, the indignation on her delicate features replaced by a cloud of worry.
"Why'd you stand up?" Rhode asked with a light chuckle.
"I... I got tired of sitting. I stood up to stretch!"
Akeno had nowhere to vent her frustration. Rhode's words cut to the bone, but she couldn't find a single flaw in his logic. She thought back seriously. Was she really a "plastic sister" like he said? Was she just going to moan about having "no power" while her best friend was forced into marriage?
No, she actually had power. Akeno knew the strength of the blood flowing through her better than anyone. After all, even a mere fraction of that power allowed her to use her formidable lightning talent, earning her the title "Priestess of Thunder."
If she accepted that bloodline, Akeno was certain her lightning would reach a whole new level. However, whenever she thought about what happened to her and her mother in Kyoto—and how that bastard never showed up—she couldn't help but loathe what ran through her veins. Their suffering was caused entirely by this "heretical" blood. If she and her mother had just been normal people, the Himejima family wouldn't have hounded them to such an extent.
"Mr. Rhode, I've troubled you long enough today. I should be heading back."
After taking a deep, shuddering breath, a somewhat calmer Akeno bowed slightly to Rhode and left their sight.
After she left, Asia wore a look of deep concern. "Is Miss Rias really going to marry someone she doesn't like? That would be so pitiful."
The Fallen Angel trio didn't chime in, but their expressions made it clear they didn't care about Rias's group at all. What did a Devil's family drama have to do with them?
Lavinia's expression remained as calm as usual. "I've heard of that girl from Suzaku. Her father is supposedly the Fallen Angel cadre, Baraqiel, so she hides a very strong power within her."
"Baraqiel?!"
The name sent a shock through the three Fallen Angels.
"That woman just now... she was the daughter of Lord Baraqiel?!"
"We're doomed. If Lord Baraqiel ever finds out about us, will he make our lives a living hell?"
Rhode suddenly thought of an interesting "what if." If the original plot had played out and Raynare had found out Akeno's father was Baraqiel, she probably wouldn't have dared to cause trouble in Kuoh Town in the first place.
Ignoring their anxiety, Rhode knew from Akeno's parting attitude that his words had stuck.
"By the way, meow! If Rias marries someone else, does that mean I can take Shirone back with me, meow?!" Kuroka's eyes lit up.
"No. Koneko is her servant. If Rias marries into that family, Koneko will likely have to go with her," Rhode said, shaking his head.
"What, meow?! That's impossible, meow! I will never let Shirone marry someone else, meow! Don't stop me, I'm going to go kill that turkey right now, meow!"
"..."
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