Chapter 28: Final day of training

-with Lucias-

"Artoria, how the situation?"

Lucias asked as he entered the large room located above the simulation room where Rias' final trial took place.

"How to say this... I can't believe they're having a hard time keeping up with the children"

Artoria answered with a large frown on her face as she observed the battle happening below them as a massive explosion occured and pierced a giant hole through the mountain while Erza, summoned a giant Mithril shield in front of her to absorb all of the mana contained within the powerful attack.

"Well... I wouldn't say that they're doing bad..."

Lucias said with an amused smile on his face as he arrived in front of the large transparent glass of the room.

"... How's your condition, Lucias?"

Artoria asked with genuine concern, remembering his pained and struggling appearance from before after he took in the rune of lust from Issei's body.

"Let's just say... I had the help of a certain someone to control the side effects brought by the rune"

Lucias answered before patting her head to indicate that he was fine.

"Are you sure, Lucias?"

Artoria asked once again with a suspicious expression on her face as she stared directly at his golden eyes.

"Yes, you don't have to worry, Artoria"

Lucias assured before giving her a soft kiss on her cheek.

"D-Don't do that so suddenly!!"

Artoria shouted with a flustered expression on her face as she held her blushing cheeks with her hand while pointing at Lucias' direction.

"So... does that mean I can do it if I inform you first?"

Lucias teased with a light grin on his face while observing her flustered appearance as she tries to find a way to retort his words.

"T-That's not what I meant!!"

Artoria shouted in embarrassment causing Lucias to chuckle at her innocent and cute reactions to his advances.

"S-Stop laughing!"

Artoria shouted with extremely flushed cheeks while clenching her fist in both anger and embarrassment.

"Sorry"

Lucias said with a large grin on his face before hugging her from behind, giving her a peck on her cheeks as he placed his chin on her shoulders.

"You don't like it?"

"T-That's not it..."

Artoria muttered in a whisper before leaning her back against his chest causing Lucias to smile as he gently tightened his arms around her.

"Sorry... I wasn't able to take you out on a date..."

Lucias whispered with a guilty expression on his face.

"... It's alright, I know you're busy Lucias, so I understand"

Artoria said before turning her body around to hug his body in her embrace with a shy expression on her face.

"I know I'm being selfish but... can we... spend some time together for today..."

Artoria requested causing Lucias to unconciously smile as he patted her soft blond hair with his right hand, staring at her with eyes filled with affection and care.

"Sure"

"R-Really?"

Artoria asked in confirmation, staring at him with anticipation while tightly hugging his body.

"Yes, you don't have to be shy about it, as your fiancée, it's only natural for me to spend some time with you if you asked me"

Lucias said in a soft tone, ignoring the fact that the rest of his servants were now watching them at the door, peaking at their interactions with anticipation.

"...but... you were always busy so..."

Artoria muttered as she buried her head in his chest with a tinge of red visible on her cheeks. Even though she wanted to tell him to spend some time with her, she always hesitated when she sees how busy he was with his work and how tight his schedule was in the past, but he always never forgot to visit each of them every day to spend some quality time with them despite his busy schedule.

"I'll will always create some time for you, Artoria. I'm happy that you're considerate of me but... I hope you can consider your own happiness, Artoria. I promised that I'll make all of you happy on the day that I proposed to you 4 years ago"

Lucias said before gently hugging her soft body in his embrace causing her cheeks to increasingly blush from the fluffy and comfortable feeling that she felt in her chest when she heard his words.

"I-I love you L-Lucias"

Artoria said with a shy expression on her face as she worked up the courage to confess her feelings to Lucias, who was sweetly smiling while gazing at her direction.

"I love you too"

Lucias responded before giving her a passionate kiss on her lips, catching her by surprise, but didn't push him away as she wrapped her arms around his neck to enjoy their passionate kiss.

"So a lot of things changed... Saber wouldn't act that girly if it was before"

Tohsaka muttered as she held her chin while glancing at her past servant, EMIYA with a complicated expression on her face.

"I... still need sometime to digest this..."

Tohsaka muttered in a tired voice before gazing at Jeanne who was preparing to come in without disturbing the atmosphere between Lucias and Artoria.

"Oh... It seems like it's already finished"

Lucias said as he gazed at the transparent window with an amused smile while hugging Artoria in his embrace.

"... So they lost"

Jeanne said as he walked beside Lucias followed by Mash, EMIYA, and Tohsaka from behind, watching Erza slash her sword down at Kiba, shattering his sword with ease before inflicting a deep cut in his chest, causing his blood to splatter on the grass below them.

"It's there 3rd try but... they might have to adopt to their opponent as fast as they can because the 3 of them gets stronger by every fight they get into"

Lucias said, watching their wounds and bruises heal with the help of their body suits.

"... I don't really understand why you let 5-8 year old children fight them..."

Tohsaka muttered with a frown watching the 3 kids wipe the blood off of their clothes with a casual expression on their faces.

"I know it looks irresponsible but... if I let them fight even an adult human of my faction... I don't think they'll survive for even a few seconds... since all of my subordinates were given the best resources and training in this 5 years so they're all adept and experienced in the battlefield"

Lucias explained as he watched the entire stimulation room reverse back to how it was before, initiating the fourth round of their final task.

"... Are your members monsters?"

Tohsaka asked in shock, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Not quite, in terms of physiques, power, and magical capacity most of them pale in comparison to the other races"

"Then why?"

"It's because they were all trained to adapt and overcome any situation they were put in. They are all skilled survivalist who will use anything found in their environment to their advantage.

They lack potential in terms of strength and physique, so they focused in improving their knowledge and intelligence in tactics, and strategies, that is the strongest aspect of the humans of my faction... The other races specializes in different fields but the humans are the one in charge of most of the operation of my faction"

Lucias explained with a light grin on his face as he gazed at her direction.

"Let's take Riku for example, he can't use any magic and his physical strength is weaker than most of the higher officials of our faction but... only a handful of people can truly beat him due to his resourcefulness and keen mind"

Lucias said while projecting the basic status of Riku to everyone inside the room, showing how low his status points were compared to a devil in the same level as him.

"He can stand toe to toe with a Satan-Class devil with ease and... it's impossible for any information and opportunities to get out of his sight and grasp"

"... Aren't you afraid if he defects?"

"You underestimate they're loyalty to me, Tohsaka-san"

-with Riku-

*Achoo*

Riku sneezed causing him to rub his nose as he entered his house where both his wife and daughter are currently staying at for the time being while their mansion was still being reconstructed by the dwarves to suit their current standing within the faction.

"Welcome home Riku"

Couronne immediately greeted with a warm smile on her face, seeing her husband come home from work as their daughter quickly ran to him with an excited expression on his face.

"Daddy!"

A little girl with the same features as her mother shouted in joy as she ran towards her father's direction.

"I'm home, Couronne, Stephanie"

He said with the same warm smile on her face as he carried and hug his daughter in his embrace.

"How was work?"

Couronne asked as she went back to the kitchen to cook their dinner.

"The same as ever, the devils have been moving quite aggressively this past few days that it's been giving us a pain in the neck to manage the territories under our faction"

Riku answered while gently placing his daughter on an empty chair in the dining table as he gazed at his wife's direction.

"... Sorry, Riku. I can't help you that much with your work"

"Couronne, I told you before I don't mind. We both have our respective work in the faction so you don't have to feel bad"

Riku retorted in a helpless voice while playing with his daughter.

"But still..."

"...then help me 'relax' later in bed if your feeling guilty"

"You... please don't say such things in front of our daughter"

-with Sephie-

"... Sephie-sama, we found him"

One of the scouts they scattered across the globe said with a serious expression on his face, causing Sephie to stop her pen from signing the contract placed on her office table.

"Which one?"

Sephie asked with a frown, remembering the amount of targets they currently have.

"The one who attacked Asia-sama. The fallen angel named Kokabiel"

The man reported causing Sephie to unconsciously smile as she placed the pen down on her table.

"I thought he was on house arrest"

"He escaped, Sephie-sama. Now the fallen angels are desperately searching for his whereabouts to execute him for treason"

The man reported in a respectful manner as he stood unfazed from her natural charm since he was specifically trained to become her messenger to avoid inflicting charm and seduction to their loyal retainers.

"Where is he?"

Sephie asked as she stared at the man in front of her with a frown on her beautiful face.

"At Kuoh, Sephie-sama"

The man quickly answered without hesitation, standing in an upright position in front of her.

"Hmm... Report this back to Lucias-sama and let him handle the case since... killing him directly will not be enough to satisfy our anger"

Sephie said in an ominous voice as she snapped her finger, causing 10 female grim reapers to appear from her shadows.

"Order the wardens that we placed in Kuoh to track Kokabiel down and don't let him out of their sight. Tell them to wait for further orders from Lucias-sama on what to do with him"

Sephie ordered while tapping her finger at the wooden table below her causing all of them to respectfully kneel down on the floor before disappearing from the shadows to immediately execute their mission.

"You are dismissed"

"Hai!"

The man saluted before leaving her office, leaving Sephie alone in the brightly lit room as she gazed at the list of names carefully placed inside her drawer.

"So all that's left is the Naberius Clan... The crime they committed is quite... severe and I doubt that any of their descendants would survive after the treaty is signed between our faction"

Sephie said with a light smile on her face before taking a document from the stack placed on her side, containing the reports of the rescue mission that took place a few hours ago.

"... Let's just focus on treating the rescued nekomatas... They're still quite scarred for what they experienced in the past, so we have no choice but to call Nia back to the headquarters to erase their traumas and memories..."

Sephie muttered in a complicated tone before placing the documents down on the table as she leaned back against her comfy chair.

"I wonder... How will the devils try to excuse themselves out of Lucias-sama's wrath"