Chapter 4

-[Sona]-

She frowned at the seemingly nonchalant way the new student walked into the school compound as if he hadn't gone missing for weeks.

Rias had told her of what her familiar saw and her peerage was also aiding in the search but it wasn't a top priority. He was just a human mage who could be a potential candidate to recruit.

She was aware of Rias' situation and how desperate she was for a powerful individual to recruit into her peerage. She was also aware of all the years the red haired girl had postponed the issue.

While she would admit that it was a foolish thing to do, the girl was also her best friend so she'd let her have the first chance at recruiting him. There was nothing stopping her if Rias failed.

Mages weren't rare in Kuoh but most of them didn't want to join peerages so she didn't doubt that it would be difficult to recruit him.

"Liam Ross?" She asked, despite already knowing.

The boy nodded in confirmation. "Pleasure to meet you." He greeted, stretching his hand out.

"You're late." She ground out, ignoring the outstretched hand.

The boy didn't seem to mind as he easily withdrew his hand. "Well I apologize for the delay. I've had a rather eventful few weeks." His eloquent manner of speaking didn't lessen her irritation at all.

It certainly didn't distract her from the other discrepancy. "I see you've made alterations to the school uniform." She said pointedly.

He had abandoned the black blazer and ribbon and simply wore a dark cardigan over the white shirt. "I couldn't help but notice the feminine touch on it. Not really my style I'm afraid." He said nonchalantly, only fueling her irritation.

It took all she had to not outright scowl at him. Now she wished he was in her peerage where she would discipline and correct his unruly attitude.

-[Liam]-

Was it fun watching her get riled up? Of course it was.

He was also aware that her and Rias had been looking for him. He just happened to be getting out of the shower when one of her peerage members teleported into his living room.

Some white haired girl who he couldn't remember her name.

With the map that was given to new students among other things, he made his way to where his class was supposed to be.

Apparently, a 'B-' in charisma was well above the average judging by the female attention and the irritated looks from a certain trio in the back as he took his seat.

"We don't need more pretty boys here." One of them who he couldn't be bothered to identify said.

"Yeah. This was supposed to be our haven!"

"Damn it!"

The three of them ignored the glares from the rest of the students. The male to female ratio was extremely unbalanced, meaning that they were the only four boys in the class.

'Talk about inequality.' He thought as his mind travelled to other matters.

-[Later]-

Classes went as quickly as they came. His grade in intelligence wasn't just for show as he easily assimilated everything that was taught, not that he didn't already know most of it.

He didn't waste time in making his way to the exit. Just before he reached the school gate, a blond stood in front of him, waiting by the gate.

"Liam, right?" Kiba asked, getting a curious look from him. "The President of the Occult Research Club would like to speak with you. It shouldn't take long."

He was met with an elusive smile from the bespectacled boy. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you, I'm busy at the moment. Places to go and all that."

Liam moved past him only for the blond boy to grab his arm. "I insist. It won't take much of your time."

To be frank, despite his near brush with death when he encountered Dohnaseek, he wasn't afraid of the devils or any of the other supernatural races.

He could always retreat into his library and be safe for as long as he wanted. Food could easily be solved.

The realization allowed him to act in a more casual manner than someone who was in a dangerous world.

An amused smile played on Liam's lips as he faced Kiba. "Is that so? Kiba, correct?" He asked, getting a silent nod. "Tell me, what is it you desire?"

He used a bit of mind magic, subtly pushing the devil's purest emotion to the surface. Before Kiba knew it, he was already talking.

"I want…revenge." He confessed, a dark look on his face.

Liam's amused smile grew even more at his success. "Interesting. Tell me more about that."

Kiba seemed to catch himself at that moment as he realized what he said. His grip loosened, allowing Liam to shake him off.

"I appreciate the talk but I'll be leaving now." Liam said, walking off and leaving the stunned boy behind.

'I may not be the devil but I have my own tricks.' He thought.

It was his second chance at life. Why waste it being scared?

-[Rias]-

"He said no?" She asked Kiba who stood before her, looking distracted.

"Yes. He said he had other things to do and left before I could stop him." The knight said.

She frowned a bit. She had sent Kiba to bring him to the club to find out his stance on devils. He was obviously aware of the supernatural world so there was barely any need to hide it.

If needed, she was ready to use her 'assets' to convince him to join her peerage. She was attractive and she wasn't shy about it.

"We don't know if the fallen angels will try to attack him after he killed one of their own." Granted, it was in self defense, she doubted the fallen would care for an explanation.

Though they didn't say it, she and Sona were a bit relieved. They themselves couldn't attack the fallen angels without risking a war so they settled for the only thing they could do; monitoring them.

A fallen angel attacked a lone mage and got killed, devils couldn't be blamed.

She turned to Akeno. "Have your familiar monitor him for now."

The dark haired girl gave a short bow as she did as she was told. The boy was a stranger but he was a stranger who could possibly help her.

-[Liam]-

He needed essence and he needed it as soon as possible.

While it had yet to be determined whether physical stats could be raised the manual way, he was aware that magic reserves and regeneration were two that required him to spend on them.

He wasn't exactly comfortable with the amount of magic he could call upon so he was currently wandering the town of Kuoh at night. He didn't want to resort to killing regular humans to gain essence just yet so here he was.

Walking around the dangerous corners and streets of the town, hoping to get attacked. He'd looked up abandoned houses and unfortunately Kuoh had a lot of them.

He remembered that Viser lured men to abandoned houses so he was hoping to find her and finish her off himself.

Looking up from the map on his phone, he found himself looking at a large building. 'This should be it, unless there are many other buildings that look exactly like this.' He thought as he walked in.

The perks of mind magic, he could remember the exact way the building looked so he was 70% sure he was in the right place.

"Hello! Anyone home?" He called out as he leisurely walked, looking around.

"I smell something delicious." A female voice echoed, letting him know that he was right.

"Oh hello. If you don't mind showing yourself we can get this done in time for dinner. Dinner for me of course." He offered, looking around, his hands ready to cast a spell at any moment.

"What an insolent human. Will you taste sweet or will you taste bitter?" The voice said as a large figure emerged from the shadows, revealing a dark haired woman with a voluptuous and nude upper body and her lower half resembling that of a monstrous centaur.

"Ah there she is. Shame really, I would have loved to get to know you. If you didn't look like something straight out of a horror movie that is." He said, his smile growing as an enraged look appeared on the stray devil's face.

"You-!"

"Oh well, time to die." With a flick of his wrist, a white light shot forward. "Bombarda Maxima."

*BOOM!*