The Game of the Century

"Do you have some time darling?~"

Fia approached me in the middle of my talk with Seekvaira and Albedo coming back from the courtyard.

"What is it? I'm going back to the table..." I need more wine, shrimp and cherries... and Grayfia.

"The main dance is going to start soon but we'd like to sort out the conditions for the rating game beforehand if that's not a problem for you?~ could you lend me this big bad dragon for a moment, girls?~" Fia giggled and hooked her arm with me, stating her intentions to the two girls beside me.

"Not a problem, Lady Lucifige" Seekvaira and Albedo both bowed before going their own ways, this is not something they can meddle in.

Fia began leading me to where the satans and Grayfia were.

"Are you enjoying yourself? surrounded by beautiful young girls left and right while your mother-in-law gets busy, what a difficult life you must have~" she whispered in my ears, this woman...

"In my eyes, you're the most charming, Fia".

!!!

As expected of the mother of Grayfia and Layla, she blushed and went into disarray, however... she was quick to recover herself compared to both of her daughters.

"You should not say something like that out loud to your mother-in-law, liar… I have seen how you look at them".

"How do I look at them?~"

"I'm not getting into details here, Richter" she 'smiled' it seems she was jealous and doesn't even care to conceal it.

"Before you said there is a candidate, who is that?~" I decided to take out this topic, I know who the candidate is, but teasing her is free of charge.

"…" Fia just smiled without giving an answer, as if I don't know.

"I thought you said you wanted someone to cuddle and be loved by, all of a sudden I'm your marriage candidate?~ aren't we moving too quickly mother-in-law?~"

"I- n-never said it was you".

"Then do you dare say his name?".

"Y-Yes, he is the Count of Monte Cristo… and he is the king of the world!"

"That person doesn't exist. Why not be a little honest and just admit you want more than just cuddling?~" I exhaled a light breath against her neck, making her shiver. This time she couldn't control her blush.

'Stop teasing me you bad dragon! w-were in public!' She sent me a flustered mental message that slanted a chuckle.

"It is your daughter that has corrupted me… she showed me the delights of the humanoid form".

"I'll have to scold her later…" Fia huffed and hugged my arm tighter, our little banter had to be stopped because we arrived at our destination.

Grayfia was speaking with Lord Bael, Lord Agares and the four satans; Sirzechs immediately grew apprehensive with my arrival, no need to shit yourself every time you see me, boy... I think smashed him too hard.

"Master…"

I nodded towards my maid and they all set up a barrier that separated us from the rest and isolated noises and peering.

"Very well, let's set up the conditions for the rating game… the judges will be me, Lord Agares and Lady Lucifuge… it shall take place a week from now in Lilith City under the sight of the whole underworld. The offensive is the four satans; the defendants are Richter Golden-Haze and Grayfia Lucifuge. Do you all accept?" Lord Bael didn't beat around the bush and stated the conditions of the game.

"We accept". The four satans said, awaiting my words.

But I wasn't about to just follow the flow, this time I had no reason to.

"There is something that is not clear for me, however.. what do I win out of all this?~"

!!!

Everyone's gazes became solemn as Grayfia sighed, it seems she expected me to say as much.

"Me compensating the Agares Clan for the losses is my way of abiding by my maid's wishes. I shall compensate for the territory lost and the lives lost, however, the underworld council's outrage doesn't have anything to do with me~"

My words brought silence to the room, it seems they realised this too... so far they thought I was abiding by everything out of 'goodwill', I was merely being condescending and being rightful for the damage I caused, but not anymore, accepting this duel without them putting anything on the table is akin gifting my time away.

I could very well be in a beautiful cave, looking for ways to return to Helius, mating with my maid, or eating shrimps instead of wasting time there

"Master has raised a fair point… it is me who has compelled him to abide by your laws as a part of the devil community, he has acceded due to his love for me, not for you. But the truth is my master has no need to do so. If you desire for him to play in this rating game, I'm afraid you will have to stake something that's worth my master's time. We have already stayed one week with the purpose of meeting you Ajuka… any further than this is already out of my master's schedule".

Lord Bael grit his teeth as I smirked, I guess he never experienced true helplessness until now.

All the satans remained silent and looked at one another without creating an answer.

"What can we possibly give to compensate? for your time?" Ajuka frowned, he already knows, told by Grayfia what our predicament is... and according to her, he is the only one that can help. He could use a favour of his as a stake for the game, but that's not nearly enough for me to involve myself.

"Ricchan, can't you make an exception…? w-what... d-don't tell me you want me to offer myself!? y-you naughty dragon! Sera-tan won't be yours yet!" The leviathan began to hug herself and twist with a naughty expression.

"…"

"…"

Everyone ignored her as I sighed.

"Then how about you four owe me a favour of my choosing if a win?" I decided to go cheap, staying in this underworld for another week could result in some fruitful encounters for me as I don't intend to stay here further if there is no reason for me to do so, the Earth looks more promising and with more powerful individuals, there is the dimensional gap too.

Aside from gorgeous-beyond-belief women which the Earth also has, the underworld has nothing else to offer.

"We accept, but if we win you have to apologise to the devils publicly…" Sirzechs clenched his hand and said, making everyone glare at him, but his demand was within reason.

I merely chuckled while Grayfia resisted the urge to giggle.

"I accept your rating game then, let's have fun~"

"Then I have a request, Lord Bael, let the battle not be in Lilith, I'm afraid even the strongest barrier won't suppress our combined power, let alone if he is also included…" Sirzechs suggested, it seems he intends to go all out, I know the battle will be more interesting this time since he knows what to expect, I'm going to use exactly the same strength I used before so let's see what he brings to the table~ there is also Ajuka and Serafall.

"There is a desolate land at the western edge of the Astaroth Territory… I often use it to perform tests. we can fight there and record the fight with drones, then those drones could be protected by barriers. It is the best way to go around this" the Satan Asmodeous suggested, I almost forgot this geezer is here.

"Then Ricchan… I'll train as hard as I can for a week. Even if I can't defeat you… I'll try to defeat Grayfia-chan~"

"I will be waiting, Serafall~" My maid looked thrilled, she seems eager to test her strength against those four.

"Then how about we continue with this party, master… please come with me". Grayfia took my hand as we departed the isolation barrier only to see several couples dancing in the middle of the hall.

The Sitri, the Gremory and the Phenex. I looked at them with interest as they danced quite intimately in a flavour of movements I had never seen.

"Let's dance, master".

"I don't know how to dance, Grayfia…" I said, troubled...

Many pairs began their ascension into the dancing room.

I saw Lord Agares inviting my mother-in-law to dance and she accepted with a kind smile.

Ruval Phenex invited Sona Sitri.

Raiser Phenex invited Rias Gremory but the girl literally ran away as if he was a pest and he chased after her.

Sairaorg Bael invited Albedo Astaroth who also accepted and they started dancing.

It seems this activity is deeply ingrained in their society.

Ajuka took Sandalphon into the dance floor while Sirzechs led Layla.

I saw all the girls looking at me from their respective partners. With one eye they looked at me longingly, with the other they avoided Grayfia's killing intent.

Seekvaira hadn't been taken by anyone and she was looking at me as if requesting me to take her out, I sighed.

"Then teach me how it is done…" I decided to indulge her since she indulged me back then when she fed me.

The maid smiled and led me onto the dance floor in the middle of the hall. Soft symphonies were being played by Lucy and her bunch, she winked in my direction as the music transitioned to something a little more moved.

"There are many ways of dancing, master. The one we're going to do is what everyone else is doing, balls dancing… this method is often used in the human world for courtship, the man would usually take out a lady of his interest to dance in the hopes of courting her by standing up close and intimately. Alternatively, in the underworld, aside from courtship this dance is used to solve political issues or seek a pacific conversation between both parties~"

She held me and placed my right arm around her waist and the left one holding her right up in the air.

"There are many ways to dance, some more intimate than others, like this".

She placed us as close as possible, her belly touching mine and her chest rubbing against mine.

I looked at the other couples and none of them was this close except Ajuka and Sandalphon together with Venelana and Zeoticus.

'This is a dance of those in love, master~ if a girl encourages you into this position, it means she is in love with you or at the very least, desires to be wooed, like I am.'

'I see…'

'Aren't you going to kiss me?' She asked me mentally, my gaze turned towards her to see her glistening lips.

'If you want something; come for it, Grayfia~'

She pouted and her hands changed position, embracing my back against her body.

Grayfia sealed my lips with a tender kiss, I held her lower waist as we kissed and she began to move.

'Follow my steps'.

'It is difficult while we kiss…' I said, troubled.

'S-Sorry… I'm just a little jealous that's all.'

'Oh?'

'Those girls want to dance with you, they want to court you, I also can't monopolise you during the dance as it would be uncouth for a maid…'

'I don't mind just dancing with you…'

'…'

She kissed me again but for some reason, she shot a glance towards Layla who was giving us a sidelong glance and Fia who was doing much the same.

'I can't wait for tonight, master'.