Akeno didn't waste any time. She pulled out her phone and called Rias.
Elias, Dee, and Shuri sat quietly around the kitchen table, listening as Akeno put the phone on speaker.
"Akeno?"
Rias's voice came through the speaker. She sounded very tired, like she had been crying.
"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine here, Rias,"
Akeno said with a bright, hopeful voice.
"I talked to my big brother, Elias. He wants to help you. He is going to fight Riser and cancel the marriage."
There was a long silence on the phone.
"Fight him?"
Rias sounded shocked.
"Akeno, I appreciate the thought, but Elias is human. The Devil Kings won't allow a human to challenge a high-class Devil for a bride."
"We know,"
Akeno smiled.
"That is why he needs to become a Devil first. Rias, do you have an extra Evil Piece? He just needs one."
Rias sighed softly.
"I used all of my normal pieces to build my team. I don't have any left. But..."
She paused. Her voice dropped to a quiet whisper.
"There is another one. My family has a very old Evil Piece kept deep inside the Gremory Treasury. It has been locked away for a long time. It feels very different from the normal ones. It is wild, heavy, and much more powerful."
Akeno frowned slightly, looking at Elias.
"The Treasury? Rias, is it really okay to take something from your family's secure vault? Won't you get in terrible trouble?"
Rias let out a small, angry laugh.
"My father arranged this marriage with a cruel man without my consent,"
Rias said firmly. Her voice was full of strong determination.
"He did not care about my feelings or my freedom. If he can do that to me, then I do not feel bad about taking one old chess piece to save my life. I will sneak in and get it tonight."
Elias leaned closer to the phone.
"Rias, this is Elias. When you get the piece, I need you to understand something. I am not going to use it the normal way. I am going to eat it."
"Eat it?!"
Rias gasped.
"You can't do that! It's a solid magic crystal! It could destroy your body!"
"My body is special,"
Elias explained simply.
"I have a power called Adaptivity. Whatever hurts me makes me stronger. If I eat the Evil Piece, my body will break it down. I won't become your servant, but I will absorb all the Devil power inside it. And because it will hurt at first, my body will adapt to a Devil's weakness. Holy magic won't be able to hurt me."
There was another long silence on the phone. Rias was a very smart girl. She was putting the pieces together in her head.
"You adapt to whatever you consume..."
Rias whispered. Suddenly, her voice grew very excited.
"Elias, if that is true, then we shouldn't stop at just an Evil Piece!"
"What do you mean?"
Elias asked.
"The Treasury is full of rare, magical items,"
Rias explained quickly.
"If eating the Evil Piece gives you Devil powers, what happens if you eat other things? I can bring you a vial of Phoenix Tears. They have the ultimate healing power. I can bring you a few drops of real Dragon Blood for raw, physical strength. I can even bring some pure Angel Feathers we kept from an old war!"
Dee clapped her hands together, looking incredibly proud.
"Oh, she is a smart one!"
Dee cheered.
"Eli, if you eat all of that, you won't just be a Devil. You will be a hybrid. You will have Devil magic, Phoenix healing, Dragon strength, and Angel light all mixed together. You will be unstoppable!"
Akeno smiled, her violet eyes shining.
"Can you really get all of those things safely, Rias?"
"Yes,"
Rias said confidently.
"The guards do not check my bags. I will pack everything up tonight. I will meet you all behind the old school building tomorrow after class."
"Thank you, Rias,"
Elias said.
"I will see you tomorrow."
Rias hung up the phone. The kitchen was quiet again.
Elias looked down at his empty hands.
He was about to eat a magic chess piece, bird tears, dragon blood, and feathers. It was going to be the weirdest meal of his entire life.
The next afternoon, the sun was starting to set.
Elias and Akeno stood quietly behind the old, abandoned school building.
A few minutes later, Rias hurried around the corner.
She looked nervous but determined.
She was holding a small, heavy velvet bag.
"I got everything,"
Rias said, out of breath. She opened the bag and carefully placed the items on an old wooden bench.
First, there was an old, dark chess piece. It pulsed with a heavy, wild energy.
Next to it were two small glass bottles. One held a glowing, silver liquid—the Phoenix Tears.
The other held a thick, bubbling red liquid—the Dragon Blood.
Finally, there was a single, pure white feather glowing with holy light.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Elias?"
Rias asked, her blue eyes full of worry.
"These are ancient, dangerous things. Normal bodies would explode from just holding them all at once."
"I am sure,"
Elias smiled kindly.
"Don't worry. Just watch."
Elias picked up the dark Evil Piece. It felt heavy and cold. He popped it into his mouth and bit down.
Rias gasped and covered her mouth.
But Elias didn't choke or scream. He chewed it easily. To his absolute surprise, it didn't taste like ancient stone or bad magic. It tasted like dark chocolate.
"Huh,"
Elias mumbled, looking pleasantly surprised.
He quickly uncorked the two small bottles. He drank the silver Phoenix Tears and the red Dragon Blood in one big gulp.
The tears tasted like sweet honey, and the blood felt like warm, spicy cinnamon tea.
Finally, he placed the glowing Angel Feather on his tongue. It dissolved instantly, tasting like sweet cotton candy.
"Wow,"
Elias said, licking his lips.
"That was actually pretty yummy."
Rias and Akeno stared at him, completely speechless.
Suddenly, Elias felt a sharp, burning pain in his chest.
The four different, incredibly powerful magic types were trying to fight each other inside his stomach.
The Devil energy and the holy Angel light clashed violently.
But the pain only lasted for one single second.
His Adaptivity power woke up. It wrapped around the magic and immediately broke it all down.
His body learned how to use the Phoenix healing, the Dragon strength, the Devil magic, and the Angel light. It blended them together perfectly without any weaknesses.
Elias let out a long breath. A massive, invisible wave of pressure blew outward, pushing the grass flat around his feet.
"Elias..."
Akeno whispered, her eyes wide.
"Your energy... it is massive."
Elias looked at his hands. He felt amazing.
He closed his eyes and thought about the magic inside him.
With a simple thought, a pair of black bat wings ripped out of his back.
Then, he focused again. The bat wings turned into beautiful white feathered wings.
He flexed his arm, and tough, red dragon scales covered his skin like armor.
He had total control. He could show any trait he wanted, and with another thought, he could hide them all perfectly.
He looked just like a normal human again.
Elias stepped away from the bench to test his new strength. He looked at a large, solid boulder resting near the edge of the woods.
He didn't use any magic. He just pulled his fist back and lightly punched the giant rock.
CRACK!
The massive boulder instantly shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.
The wind from his punch was so strong it blew the pieces deep into the forest.
Elias stood still, looking at his fist.
He remembered the terrible night at the shrine.
He remembered how much it hurt when the Fallen Angels pierced his chest, and how the Himejima Elders burned him to ashes.
He had died multiple times that night just to get strong enough to survive.
But now?
Elias smiled. He felt a deep, unshakable confidence in his heart.
If he had to fight those Elders and Fallen Angels right now, he wouldn't need to adapt.
He wouldn't need to die even once.
He could defeat them all in seconds without breaking a single drop of sweat.
He turned around and looked at Rias.
His eyes were calm, but they held the power of dragons, devils, and angels.
"Alright, Rias,"
Elias said, giving her a reassuring thumbs-up.
"I am ready. Let's go cancel a wedding."
Jelopy: Alright, See ya again at Monday 13th. I am going to stack advance chapter on my page. [email protected]/jelopy_jelopy. $5 only and there were illustrated for each chapters.