9 Chapter 9

The following morning…

Ren and Ophis were in the ORC with Sona and Rias. They wanted to know about Ophis and why she is at Kuoh.

"Now, you told us that you'd explain," said Sona.

"That's right, Ren. A few days ago, you told me about the Ouroboros Dragon living with you, but you said it was a joke. As it turns out, it wasn't. Care to explain?" asked Rias. Protecting her territory is tantamount to her future.

"Ahem! How do I explain this? Ophis has been around Kuoh for more than a year. She's been living with me. Like I told you last night, there is nothing to worry about. Ophis doesn't do anything but wait for me to return home every day," said Ren. He smiled at the two.

Rias and Sona sighed.

"More than a year…The Ouroboros Dragon has been at Kuoh for more than a year and we didn't even know," said Sona. She sighed. She needed to tighten the security of Kuoh. First, the Fallen Angel, which was relatively easy to deal with, which they were lucky. However, if someone like Ophis came…No, even if it was someone far less than Ophis, they would be killed without even knowing due to their negligence.

"Ren? Is Ophis the reason why I can't turn you into a Devil?" asked Rias. She was curious.

"Nope, Ophis has nothing to do with that," said Ren.

"Wait! Rias! When did you try turning Ren into a Devil? We had a deal! We are to discuss which one of us would be inviting Ren to our Peerage!" shouted Sona. She was nearly cheated out of getting Ren in her Peerage!

"What am I supposed to do? I heard the news of a student's death. It scared me that I would lose someone close to me. I just wanted to protect him. I thought our argument would prevent us from protecting him. Who knew that he was aware of the Supernatural world and strong enough to bypass the Evil Pieces? 8 Pawns were not enough to reincarnate him," said Rias. That day protecting Ren was what she wanted to do. By being a Devil, he would get stronger quickly and have the power to protect himself.

"And don't pretend you wanted to do the same thing, Sona. I know because I saw Tsubaki heading to Ren that day for her to invite him. I merely asked bolted there myself and invited him to the ORC before you could invite him to the StuCo," said Rias. She looked at Sona with a raised eyebrow.

"I-I…I did no such thing! I don't know what you're talking about, Rias," said Sona. She was blushing that she was caught.

"Right…Anyways, the Ouroboros Dragon. How did you end up with her around you?" asked Rias. She was curious. A Dragon God is not something to be trifled with.

"It all started one day when I made a pie, cake, and cookie for Koneko. From what I know, she smelled the fragrance of the food I was baking…Ophis snuck into my house, took a pie on the table and started eating it, whilst she enjoyed herself on the couch in my living room as she watched…Hmmm…I don't remember what was on that day. Anyways, long story short, Ophis stayed around, and I wouldn't have it any other way," said Ren. If Rias and Sona asked him to make Ophis leave Kuoh, he was leaving as well.

"If Ophis had been here at Kuoh of more than a year and nothing happened, then so be it. Not like we can do anything about it. We can tell our siblings, but that wouldn't change anything. If we tell our siblings, we would probably be the ones to leave. The Devils do not have the manpower to go against the Ouroboros Dragon," said Sona. She was clear about how powerful Ophis was.

"Sona's right. We should leave this as is. From the looks of it, Ophis listens to you," sighed Rias.

"Okay, enough about the Ouroboros Dragon…Ren, how strong are you to bypass the Evil Pieces? I get that Rias and I are not the strongest Devils, but to think 8 Pawns were not enough," said Sona. It was not a Sacred Gear that prevented the reincarnation, because even a Sacred Gear of the Boosted Gears capacity would work with 8 Pawns.

"Hmm…thinking about it, when I used the Evil Pieces on Ren, it acted strangely. Two things happened. One, the Evil Pieces wasn't strong enough to reincarnate Ren, that was a given. But I also felt as if something was rejecting the Evil Pieces," said Rias. She saw the reaction of the Evil Pieces, and it was not the standard rejection.

"Something prevented it…?" thought Ren. He then remembered the system.

"System? Are you the one that prevented the Evil Pieces from working?" asked Ren. He spoke to the system in his mind.

[Yes, but as it turns out, I didn't have to meddle since the Evil Pieces were incapable of quantifying the Infinity Core. Hence, it was incapable of transforming it into Demonic Powers]

"That's cool! Hey System? Can I ask? Is there a way for me to get something like the Evil Pieces? To make my sort off Peerage?" asked Ren. He wanted to make his future harem into a Peerage.

[There is a way through the Missions. Do you wish for me to search for a mission regarding getting a Peerage?]

"You can do that? If so, please go ahead," thought Ren.

[Searching…]

[Searching…]

[Searching…]

[Searching… one mission found. Do you wish to continue searching?]

"No, I just wanted to see what type of mission I would need to complete when I want to have my own Peerage," said Ren. He was only curious.

[Understood. Do you wish to view the mission?]

"Please," thought Ren.

[Mission – Apocrypha

Difficulty - High

Objective 1 – Summon Saber

Reward – Resurrection - Saber

Objective 2 – Save the Homunculus

Reward – Homunculus Manufacturing

Objective 3 – Defeat Amakusa Shirou Tokisada

Reward – Servant-Class Peerage

Objective 4 – Enter the Greater Grail

Reward – Greater Grail Purification

Status: Locked]

"Hmm…those are not that difficult to complete if I use Incursio. The cheat armour," thought Ren. However, the mission is still locked. Even if he wanted to accept it, he can't.

"System? How do unlock it?" asked Ren. If he can unlock it, then it would be great, if not, then he has nothing to lose.

[Mission Unlock Condition: Defeat Riser and his Peerage]

"Oh, that's not too bad. I only need to find a way to fight for Rias in the Rating Game, and that would be the difficult part. Since I'm not a Devil and not part of Rias Peerage, how am I supposed to defeat Riser?" thought Ren. He was thinking.

"Hmm…System. If Riser were to come to Kuoh and I beat him up and his Peerage, would that be considered me defeating him?" asked Ren. If I can do that, then it would be epic. Riser won't even know why he was beaten up.

[No, because you didn't beat him at anything. You merely beat him up. That is not defeating him]

"Tsk! Then this would need a lot of thinking time," thought Ren. He sighed.

"Ren…?" called Rias. She waved her hand at Ren's face.

Ren then looked at Rias.

"Ren…? Are you okay? You've been staring at empty space for a while now," said Rias.

"I'm fine. Sorry, I was thinking about something," said Ren. He sighed. He was busy speaking to the system that he forgot he was in a meeting with Rias and Sona.

"Like we were saying. The Evil Pieces was rejected for some other reason. Whatever it was that rejected it, it seems that you would never be reincarnated to a Devil even if you were given a chance by a Satan. However, that's only speculations," said Sona.

"Well, it is for the best, I want to remain human. I want to see the limit of what I can do while I remain human," said Ren. He wanted to test out the limitations of his human body while using Body Tempering.

"I'm still curious…How strong are you, Ren?" asked Sona. Rias said the Evil Pieces was rejected for two reasons. One of them was that Ren was too powerful and bypassed the reincarnation of the Evil Pieces.

Ren thought about it. He was powerful when he has Incursio on, but without it, he didn't know how strong he was. If he could test his strength against someone, then that would be fantastic.

"To be honest, I don't know how strong I am. I've trained, but as I am, I've never fought as is," said Ren.

Sona thought about Ren's words. As I am, I've never fought as is, not I have never fought at all. Ren specified as he is, not ever. That would mean he has fought.

"What do you mean? Do you mean you've never fought just by yourself? Or do you mean you've never fought without your Sacred Gear?" asked Sona.

"You picked that up, did you? However, you are wrong. I don't have a Sacred Gear. But I do have something similar," said Ren. Incursio is neither a Sacred Gear nor a Teigu. It is something different.

"Ren, since you don't know how strong you are, why not spar with our Peerage members?" asked Rias. She wants to see how strong Ren is.

"Interesting. Who do you want me to spar with? I can use a sword, and I can use magic, and I am physically strong," said Ren.

Rias and Sona stared at Ren with wide eyes. They both have the same question in their mind, 'Why are you an all-rounder?

"How about we do it progressively? We can test your swordsmanship against Kiba and Tomoe. After that, we can test your strength against Koneko and Tsubasa. As for your magic, you can choose to spar with Tsubaki and me, or with Akeno and Tsubaki," said Sona.

"For my magic, why not you and Rias?" asked Ren.

"That's because the Power of Destruction is dangerous. One misstep in the sparring match and you can lose your life," said Sona. The Power of Destruction is capable of disintegrating anything it touches. She was afraid that if Ren is hit with the POD, he would lose a limb, or worse die.

"That's fair," said Ren. He thought it was reasonable.

"So? When do you want to spar?" asked Rias.

"I have nothing to do now, if you have a place to use as an arena, then we can do so now," said Ren.

With no one in school, they can use the track and field to spar. Sona could set up a barrier to prevent outsiders from coming into Kuoh Academy.

"We can use the track and field, and if we end up destroying it, we can repair it with magic," said Sona. She is as curious as Rias about how strong Ren is.

Ren was ready to see what he can do against Devils without Incursio.

When Ren was in the Beast Labyrinth, he was unable to test out his newfound strength.

Now…now he gets to.