Underworld.
After fixing up the terrain a bit, as well as putting a bounded field around it, I stood in front of Rias and her entourage as they prepared for battle. Merlin and Mo-chan positioned themselves a bit to the side along with Gabi so that the latter wouldn't accidentally get hurt. Now...
- "Before we begin, there's something I want to say," I began, drawing the demons' attention.
- "What is it?" Rias asked.
- "Of course, defeating me in a clean fight is out of the question. You're too weak to damage even the hairs on my head. Perhaps if you train for the next couple or three hundred thousand years, you might be able to do something, but..."
- "Get to the point!" Rias interrupted me with a twitching eye.
- "To win you'll need to hold out for... let's say... three minutes. For that, in addition to Merlin and Mo-chan, you'll get Archer as a trainer."
- "I'm not Mo-chan!" shouted Mo-chan.
- "Artoria will be sad," Merlin added sadly, considering that the Servants training the demons lived with them and not in the residence.
- "And if you win, sensei?" Issei asked.
- "Who cares! I won't kill you, right?" I smiled and waved my hand, causing the demonic annoyance of everyone, "So, let's go to..."
- "Let's go!" Rias interrupted me, and the next moment Kiba was beside me, already swinging his holy demonic sword.
My magic circle flashed, blocking the blow aimed at my head, but then Xenovia and Koneko appeared right behind me, also launching an attack. Two more circles appeared, or rather tried to, as Gasper stopped time for them with his gaze. And taking advantage of that, Rias, Akeno, and Issei in Balance Breaker used Spears of Destruction, Holy Lightning, and Dragon Shot, which were fueled by Asia's mana.
At the last moment, Kiba, Xenovia, Issei, and Koneko jumped back, moving out of the line of fire, and I grinned.
Not bad.
BOOM
An explosion sounded, and the resulting cloud of dust, power, and mana blocked my view. The bounded field placed moments before the hit protected me, and right now I could feel the demons taking up positions around me to continue the attack.
They weren't grouped together in a single pile, but spread out so they wouldn't become a convenient target. Rias took the farthest position with Gasper and Asia, Akeno in the sky, Issei in front of everyone, acting as a rearguard, and Xenovia, Kiba, and Koneko around me individually. The distance between them was great, but not enough to not have time to help each other if needed.
Well, they're really making progress. They only needed to hold out for three minutes, and the demons could very well have relied on defensive tactics to just stretch the time, but instead they decided to deny me the opportunity to attack by scrapping a seemingly foolproof plan.
I didn't hear any commands from Rias, which meant that they were working out tactics to deal with an opponent superior to them. So, she concluded that it would be foolish to sit this one out.
That's pretty good.
I snapped my fingers and a magic circle lit up beneath me, from which golden chains immediately burst out, dispelling the cloud and tearing towards each of Rias' entourage.
Kiba, Xenovia and Koneko, apparently from experience, decided to dodge rather than block, as did Akeno and Issei, and immediately continued their attack. Rias created more and more spears, which flew not directly at the chains, but went around them, stabbing into the links and forcing them to change their trajectory. Asia was constantly feeding Rias with mana, and Gasper was stopping the missed chains, making his King's job easier.
I started moving around the field while Issei constantly stalked me, reinforcing himself by knocking back chains and firing Dragon Shots. Kiba, Xenovia, and Koneko helped him move forward while Rias tried to fire her spears at me in parallel with her defenses.
- "So, you've decided to build your tactics around the two nuclei of Issei and Rias, huh? You're really making progress, aren't you..." I started, and in a flash I was behind Rias, "What if your plan goes a bit wrong?"
- "What?" was all Rias could say as I touched her, and then a bright light enveloped her body. And Asia and Gasper were thrown aside by a gust of wind.
- "The President!"
- "Rias!"
- "Asia!"
- "Gya-kun!"
- "Calm down," I said as I saw the demons rushing toward me, "Like I'd hurt her. Well, too much."
- "Where's the President?! What are you doing with her…" Issei shouted at me, to which I grinned and pointed my finger downward. And when all pairs of eyes lowered down, genuine shock appeared on the faces of the demons, Gabi tilted her head, Merlin giggled, and Mo-chan snorted unhappily, for....
- "Meow?"
- "P-president... I-is that you...?" Issei asked in a trembling voice, stepping out of the Balance Breaker.
- Meow!
- "Ara-ara," Akeno cooed, and the fighting attitude completely eroded from the atmosphere, "You're so..."
- "Sweetheart..." Koneko said in a hypnotized voice, as well as with her movements.
- "Do you... understand her, Koneko?" Kiba asked.
- "Meow?! Meow, meow, meow!" the little red cat with blue eyes started pounding the ground, twirling her head from side to side and trying to say something.
At this, Koneko quickly turned her head toward me, and was met only by my sweet smile, for it was already too late. The golden chains instantly ripped out of the ground and bound all the demons, collapsing them, rendering them unable to move, and sucking out their mana. A look of shock now appeared on their faces, which gave way to realization.
- "It's not fair, Sensei!" Issei immediately cried out.
- "You know how to play dirty, Sensei," Kiba added awkwardly.
- "A defeat is a defeat," Xenovia said sternly.
- "You're bad," Koneko pouted, as did Gasper and Asia.
- "It seems our plan needs some tweaking, eh, Rias?" Akeno giggled.
- "Meow! Meow, meow!" Rias protested in the guise of a cat and tried to create spears, which, unfortunately for her, resembled small needles with the corresponding power.
- "Those are the words of a noble lady, tomato-san?" I grinned, "Didn't your parents teach you not to swear in front of children, hmm? And of course, you lost."
-0-
After a while, we gathered in the dining hall. I, of course, had already returned Rias to her normal appearance, and was standing by the table, with Merlin, Gabi, and Mo-chan positioned behind me.
Rias kept clucking, crossing her arms over her chest and throwing one leg over the other, expressing obvious displeasure. Akeno was still giggling, Koneko, Asia and Gasper were dreamily reminiscing about Rias's cat, Kiba had his head down in shame, Issei was sprawled out on the table, and only Xenovia didn't seem particularly upset.
- "Why did I think this was going to be a serious fight? What else should I have expected from someone so immature, mean, low, dishonorable, narcissistic..."
- "Yeah, yeah, we get that you're upset, tomato-san. Calm your tits down, finally," I chuckled.
- "So, what punishment awaits us?" Rias asked, clucking her tongue and taking a deep breath, "By the way, we've been through a lot, and you won't be able to break us."
- "Oh? Since you asked," I smiled, "Wait a minute. He should arrive about... now."
And at that moment, Archer entered the hall with a cart, on which there were eight plates covered with a lid.
- "Archer-sensei!" Issei rejoiced, and then froze and shuddered, "Wait a minute... This scene reminds me of something..."
- "Reminds you of something, Issei-kun?" Kiba asked.
- "Yes... It's like something like this happened before, but I can't remember what it was..." Issei said uncertainly, causing everyone, except for me and the Servants, to be apprehensive.
Archer silently placed the plates in front of the demons and stepped aside, then looked at them pityingly.
- "I don't like the look on Archer-sensei's face..." Asia said, and Koneko sniffed at the plate, then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
- "Koneko!" The demons rumbled, but I stopped them with a cute smile on my face.
- "So, why don't you get some refreshment after such an exhausting and exciting fight, hmm?" I asked, and then snapped my fingers, making the lids disappear, revealing a very flavorful Kotomine-style lava.
- "What is this!!!" Rias exclaimed.
- "Just looking at it makes my eyes water!" Kiba joined in.
- "Was it always this hot here?" Asked a sweating Asia.
- "I don't know why, but I'm horny," muttered Akeno.
- "I don't want to eat it!" Gasper protested.
- "It's just food," Xenovia shrugged and brought a full spoonful to her mouth, "What's wrong with it..."
And as soon as the mapo tofu was in her mouth, she suffered the same fate as Koneko, causing her to fall off the chair and her body to sweat and twitch uncontrollably. And seeing this scene, every demon in this room got a chill.
- "Now I remember!" Issei exclaimed, "Last time, I fainted as soon as I tried this!"
- "It's too late, Issei-kun..." the sweat-soaked Kiba smiled awkwardly.
- "And you want us to eat it?!" Rias was outraged, "That thing corrodes even my Power of Destruction!"
I, like Merlin, only chuckled at that, Gabi looked at the mapo tofu with interest, Mo-chan moved away, yes, yes, even her, and Archer rubbed his temples and gave me a disdainful look.
- "Can I have another Master...?"
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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