75 Sometimes, to change a person for the better, some merciless tough love is needed

The wind howled through the dense forest, stirring the leaves and causing Adam's cloak to billow ominously around him.

Gone was the amiable demeanor, replaced by a serious intensity that seemed to radiate from his glowing eyes, fixed unwaveringly on the redhead with a pressure that sent shivers down her spine.

Taken aback by the sudden change, Rias felt a knot form in her stomach as she faced the silver-haired boy's piercing gaze.

Her lips pursed, her greenish-blue eyes widening in surprise at the shift in his attitude.

"... How?"

She asked hesitantly, her confidence wavering despite her earlier bravado.

The silver-haired boy remained silent, instead, summoning forth two familiar abyssal vortexes from his palms.

As they dissipated, two metallic swords materialized, one held in each of his hands.

Without a word, he flung one of the swords towards her, the metal weapon hurtling through the air with surprising force.

Rias hurriedly readied herself, barely managing to catch the weapon in her hands

"You wanted that sword of destruction, right?" He inquired, his tone serious.

The Gremory devil wanted that sword of destruction that was surprisingly compatible with her own power of destruction. And although the Admin did say that he plans to take that sword away, he also put forth a condition for her request

"Yes" The red-haired girl nodded, unable to deny her desire for the weapon "But if I defeat you in swordsmanship... You will give it to me, right?"

The condition of besting him in swordsmanship... It sounded impossible, especially considering his skills and power

"Don't worry, I'll limit my power to match yours."

Adam assured her with a smile, the seriousness of his aura dissipating momentarily.

Boom

A faint sound of crackling lighting reached their ears, feeling something light drop on her head, she looked up, noticing for the first time that the cloudy sky was darkening

Clattering drops of water started lightly pouring down on their surroundings, hitting both of them as the rain began to fall.

"Besides...." He began, his voice cutting through the sound of the rain. "Your knight is a swordsman, right? You should have learned a thing or two from him."

The evil pieces took the form of chess pieces. Those things were the Devil race's way of transforming other races into devils. They were invented because of the low fertility of their race

And Rias, as a high-class devil who owns these evil pieces, obviously has a peerage of her own

And her knight, Kiba, is a swordsman. Although that doesn't necessarily mean the red-haired devil herself knows proper swordsmanship, it is indeed logical to assume that she has at least learned the bare minimum

"I...."

Rias clenched the sword in her hand tightly as she hesitated to speak. Although it was indeed a logical conclusion, it wasn't true in her case

She rarely trains with her Power of Destruction, so where would she find the motivation to train with a sword?!

"Heh"

The silver-haired boy chuckled, interrupting her spiraling thoughts as the droplets of water stained his clothes

"If you never trained before, then it is never too late to learn..."

As the rain began to intensify, he trailed off as if he knew her thoughts.

The boy shifted his stance slightly, his slightly wet silver hair billowing from the wind as he grasped his sword and readied himself

"Right now!"

With a shout full of passion, Adam disappeared from her view, blurring into motion as he launched himself in her direction

Rias' greenish-blue eyes widened at his unexpected attack. Having only a split second to react, she only had time to clumsily raise her sword, hoping this could be enough to defend-!

Clack

The clash of metal echoing through the surrounding forests was the only thing she registered before she was flung backward from the strength of his strike

Catching herself, she hurriedly altered her path to reduce the distance she was launched

"For a lazy and spoiled devil, you have good instincts"

The silver-haired boy seemingly praised the red-haired devil, his voice sarcastic as his tone revealed his barely concealed insults

"You...!" Rias wanted to retort, but nothing came out of her mouth

She gritted her teeth as she stood up, looking at the boy opposite of her with anger in her eyes

"Didn't you say that you would limit yourself to my level of power?!"

She glared at him, frustration bubbling within her.-!

"I did," he shrugged, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It's not my fault that you don't know how to correctly use your body to fight at close range."

"That's not true-!"

"It is true" He countered, his gaze unwavering as he gave her with a harsh look "You barely know how to utilize your magic, and yet you expect to be able to use your devil body to its full potential?"

"I-"

She faltered for a moment-

"Think of Sairorg Bael" He tilted his head, bringing his hand in the air and wiggling his finger as if to chide her for her forgetfulness

"He doesn't have talent for magic and he didn't inherit the Power of Destruction... Yet, he is stronger than you, why is that?"

Sairorg Bael can be considered Rias's cousin... But because he didn't inherit the family's POD, he was excluded from the family. And those old devils probably think of him as a shame to the Bael family

But it is an undeniable fact that...

"He..." The busty devil hesitated for a moment, thinking back to her cheerful cousin "-Trained his body anime style?"

That's right, without talent for magic, he decided to fully focus his attention on sculpting and training his body

"That's right" Adam nodded "Not only did he train his body like the people from One Piece... But he also had the correct mentality"

The red-haired devil became deep in thought after he said that

"Mentality-?"

But before she could delve deeper into the conversation and ask further, the silver-haired boy turned into a blur once again, flinging himself in her direction

"Wah-!?"

She wasn't even prepared to block- having only a moment of reprieve before the iron sword reached her midsection, slashing it open

Before she had the time to register the pain, an unknown force grabbed ahold of her, pushing her and launching her backward

"Ouch-!"

The red-haired devil winced in pain as she crashed into the tree- having stopped her unwilling flight in its track

She winced once again as she instinctively put her hand on her midsection, feeling the texture of blood flowing from her body and painting her uniform scarlet

"That's right"

Looking towards the one who caused this injury, she saw him walking towards her, his hand extended forward as his palm was facing her direction

Evidently, not only did her slash at her with a sword- causing her an injury- but he also used telekinesis to fling her backward

... And Rias only realized it now that she saw his hand being extended

....If he threw her backward without going through the trouble of showing such a motion physically, she would be befuddled- even though she had seen him using this power before

"Despite not wanting to rely on the Gremory family..." The boy looked at her, a trace of mockery flashing in his now golden eyes "You undoubtedly think that you are entitled to everything just because of your status"

Gritting her teeth, Rias forcefully endured the pain of that small wound and stood up fiercely

"That's not true!!"

She retorted, clenching her hands tightly as she gripped the sword with surprising strength

It wasn't as if the redhead was never injured before.... It's just that those times she was injured can be counted on two hands- that is why she isn't used to pain

"Are you sure?" Adam tilted his head, his voice sarcastic

Not replying to him, Rias pushed her body to the limit, copying his stance from before....

... And promptly launched herself at him, her sword being held in front of her as she tried slashing at the hateful guy in front of her

The silver-haired boy tilted his body slightly, barely dodging her amateurish slash as the sword grazed his body

... At least that's how it looked like

"Didn't everything everything you have come from the Gremory family?"

He continued, putting his free hand behind his back as he slashed back at her

Trying to dodge, Rias stepped back, trying to put herself out of his range, but she was too distracted by his comment to do it properly with her mere experience

"Hiss-!"

She hissed as she partly succeeded, the sword finding its target at her arm- producing a new wound on her hand that thankfully wasn't preoccupied with holding an object

"Your Power of Destruction..."

Distracted from the pain of the new wound, she was in no condition to counterattack

Adam mercilessly swung his sword at her neck, seemingly not caring whether she could block his attack

Widening her eyes, the red-haired devil gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she clasped her sword with both hands and brought it up to block the incoming attack

Clack

Booom

The sound of clashing metal and booming thunder reverberated once again throughout the humid yet gloomy forest, the atmosphere between the two of them heating up and getting tense

"Haa-!"

Rias shouted out as she successfully blocked the opposing party's attack, although as a consequence, she was pushed back- taking three steps backwards she couldn't utilize her full strength in her current condition

"Your status as a high-class devil..."

He continued mercilessly listing off all the things that she obtained due to her family

Adam slightly threw his sword in the air, the intense wind and the rain surprisingly not affecting it before catching it and flipping it off to the side

That angered Rias even more, doing tricks while battling her- it was as if he was underestimating her and treating her as someone who couldn't even scratch him!!

Indignant, she took the initiative and stepped forward despite the pain, getting close enough to reach him and throw an attack at him

She slashed at him, but Adam blocked it quite easily and directed it to the side as the sword slid off smoothly

"Your authority over Kuoh town...."

Not giving up, the busty devil attacked him once again, ignoring his jab as she learned that paying attention to it would impair her combat ability

It still hurt mentally though!

"Tch...!"

Clicking her tongue, Rias didn't give up- having already composed herself as she went back to trying to injure the silver-haired boy

Clacking sounds of metal colliding echoed through the surrounding forest as the red-haired devil tried to compensate for her inexperience by overwhelming the Admin with countless attacks

It seemed to work at first. He seemed to have trouble dodging her attacks, but…

As the battle progressed further, the silver-haired boy improved at a speed visible to the naked eye! It was as if a sword expert had lost his memories, yet he regained all his experience by fighting with opponents

It was pure bullshit!

But as the battle progressed after a certain point…

Adam started blocking almost all of her strikes with his own sword expertly- not only that, but he also dodged attacks that he couldn't block properly as if he had predicted her attacks

The few times he struck her, he succeeded in injuring her.

Now the once beautiful body of Rias Gremory was slowly being filled with wounds- wounds that were ruining her already wet school uniform that stuck to her body with a scarlet color, a scarlet color that she wasn't used to, and one that was slowly clouding her mind with stinging pain

Getting tired of being of being the one receiving an injury all the time, the busty devil sharpened her focus to the limit, trying to find a weakness to be explored

Widening her eyes, she found a blank in Adam's defense, with all her determination, she pressed on, trying to take advantage of this weakness she found

She charged at the silver-haired boy, using her body for the first time as she punched him in the face, her sword at the ready

He smoothly dodged her punch, raising his sword in order to attack her back, but-!

That was her intention! Using her sword, she slashed at him as fast as she could, using all the power contained in her body

Slash

Adam instinctively retreated, his gaze falling upon the small wound that marred his forearm.

"Huh...?"

With a detached air, he observed as his sleeve tore from the redhead's assault, exposing the evidence of her determination to the elements.

Raindrops cascaded onto the wound, tracing rivulets of crimson down his arm and imbuing his black attire with a subtle hue of defeat

"Yes-!"

She exclaimed triumphantly-!

"Nice job, you learn quickly"

He cut short her momentary celebration, acknowledging her success in landing a hit on him for the first time in their battle.

"But..."

Before Rias could gather herself, Adam charged at her with renewed vigor, his sword slicing through the air with relentless ferocity as if the wound didn't affect him in the slightest.

Though somewhat surprised by his sudden onslaught, the devil girl still managed to take a step back, narrowly dodging his attack

Emboldened by her previous success, she thrust her sword forward, aiming for his chest with determination.

However, the silver-haired boy swiftly shifted his stance, effortlessly deflecting her attack-

She stumbled forward, and her already shaky footwork faltered further as she struggled to regain her balance.

Before she could react, Adam sidestepped her, positioning himself behind her with unsettling ease. He raised his free hand in the air

Feeling an ominous premonition, she tensed her body, Rias gritted her teeth as she prepared herself for the expected feeling of the pain of tearing flesh

Slap

"Eeep-!!?"

Rias was thrown into the air, squealing as she felt a rough hand slapping her backside without holding back in strength

Landing less than gracefully, the red-haired devil rubbed her butt cheeks that turned red from that intense slap.

Looking at the perpetrator, she glared at Adam who smirked in response, clearly amused by her reaction.

"Getting confident in a fight and lowering your guard is a fatal mistake- one that could get you killed" He taunted, his words carrying a warning that sent a chill down her spine.

"Those combat instincts are indeed yours, but...."

Pointing his sword at her, the silver-haired boy stopped in his tracks, his smirk widening as a cruel glint flashed in his golden eyes

"Even your peerage members- your so-called family- were given to you by your brother, so does it matter?"

She gasped, eyes widening in pure bewilderment at what he just implied-!

Before she could process his words further, the golden-eyed boy flashed in front of her, his sword lazily held by his side as he cocked his arm back

Tightening his hand into a fist, he let loose, his fist connecting with the red-haired girl's gut with brutal force that gave her no chance to defend herself

The impact sent Rias flying through the air once more. She felt the world spin upside down, her vision blurring as she struggled to stay conscious.

Leaning on the ground, the red-haired devil struggled to get up as she helplessly watched Adam approach her

"Your cousin, despite not having the Power of Destruction, decided to put his focus on something else..." The silver-haired boy trailed of, a trace of admiration appearing in his glowing eyes

"... His body" He continued- now genuine respect crossing his features "He decided that if he can't progress with magic..... Then he will not only train his body to the limit, but he will also put more effort than anyone else... He would work and train much harder than the other devils- who will just wait for their power to increase as they grow older"

...

Admin-san respected Sairorg Bael..?

The unexpected revelation of Adam's respect and admiration for Sairaorg Bael left Rias momentarily stunned.

But….

That's right, the sincerity in his tone, devoid of any pretense, spoke volumes about the genuine regard he held for her cousin, even though the currently golden-eyed boy hadn't even met him

"Get up"

An authoritative voice broke her out of her thoughts, his words echoed around her, urging herself

"Get up!"

As the temperature around him dropped, Adam was looking at her coldly, all previous emotions disappearing from his face as he pressured her to continue

"But I-!"

"I said get up!"

Boooom~

Not getting the chance to refute him, Adam continued, his voice ringing out with cruelty, accompanied by the ominous rumble of thunder that seemed to resonate with his emotions.

"If your cousin, who doesn't have a talent for magic, can do it... Then why can't you do the same?"

Now that struck a chord deep within Rias, stirring a newfound feeling in the confines of her mind

'That's right...' She thought to herself, a newfound resolve suddenly being forged inside of herself

If he can do it... Then why can't she do the same?

If someone like Sairaorg Bael, devoid of magical talent, could achieve greatness through sheer determination and hard work…. Then why couldn't she do the same?

She was the little sister of the strongest devil, with boundless potential waiting to be unleashed.

And if she didn't seize the opportunity to surpass her limitations and develop that same potential, then wouldn't she just become a waste?!

As the realization dawned on her, a flame of determination hidden behind her greenish-blue eyes lit up.

She pushed aside her doubts and insecurities, channeling her inner strength to forcefully rise to her feet once more, ignoring the pain of her wounds

With renewed vigor and determination, Rias squared her shoulders and met Adam's gaze with unwavering resolve.

She was ready to face whatever challenges this guy had in store for her…

She would never submit to an opponent in battle! Her greed and her pride as a sinful devil would never allow her to do something like that!!

.....

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A/N:

So.... Long time no see

Went to Istanbul, turkey for a weekly school trip

... And yeah, now that I'm writing this out, it seems absurd to go to another country for a school trip... But I suppose I have gotten used to it as it isn't a rare occurrence in my region

Anyway, after returning home, I entered a weird state

I became extremely lazy... Like, for a few days, I didn't even want to go to school, and neither did I want to work out. I also didn't have the motivation to play games

Well, now I'm better... I still don't want to go to school (Who does?), but otherwise, my motivation is (mostly) back

Enough of my problems. I have also realized once again that I'm really untalented in writing fighting scenes. But beyond that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter