Chapter 168: Updates

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After the deal was closed with the date for the game being chosen, it didn't take long for Rizer Phenex and his peerage to transport themselves back to the Underworld through the use of his orange magic circle. As they disappeared in the middle of motes of orange light that were now dispersing, Grayfia addressed the teens.

"I will be going now too, Rias. Your family will want to know about today's happening as soon as possible."

Grayfia said to Rias, who nodded her head in understanding. The silver-haired woman then turned to Erik and gave him a professional small bow.

"Thank you for your help too, Lord Ravenclaw."

Grayfia said to Erik, who waved at it.

"No problem at all, Grayfia. They have every tool possible to decimate the competition, they just have to know how to use it. Twenty extra days can do wonders with the right mentality."

Erik said to the maid, who understood the meaning behind his words and bowed again.

"I will be going now, then."

Grayfia said and started to cast her transportation spell, signaled by the appearance of a red magic circle around her and over the floor.

"Have a nice day~."

Erik said and the frosty maid disappeared in the middle o red motes of light. As Grayfia disappeared, the room went into silence and the teenagers turned to look at their teacher and counselor for their club. Rias then dropped onto one of the nearby sofas with a tired expression on her face.

"Thanks a lot for the help in extending the time before the Rating Game, Lord Ravenclaw."

Rias said with a grateful smile on her face.

"No problem at all, Rias. Just be sure of making good use of it."

Erik said and finished sipping his cup of tea. While was doing that, Valerie and Gasper, together with Issei, plopped into another sofa too.

"I thought I was going to die!"

Issei exclaimed with a tired look on his face, making Valerie start to giggle at it while Gasper cuddled to her side like the meek girlfriend that he was.

"'Your breast fondling technique is horrible.' Hahahahaha!"

Valerie said, repeating what Issei had told Rizer Phenex, and started to laugh uproariously again. Issei smirked at the memory.

"I regret nothing. The guy is supposed to be President Rias' fiancee and he was toying with another woman in front of her. He deserved it."

Issei said to them, making a small smile appear on Rias' face.

"And I was not lying too. He indeed had a very poor technique."

Issei added soon after, making Rias' small smile freeze on her face.

"Well, since my job here is done, better I get going. I promised the kids to take them to the park to play after school, and I like to keep my promises."

Erik said and got up from the armchair and floated the teacup that was in his hands to Akeno's tea cart.

"The tea was excellent, Akeno."

Erik said, getting a wide smile from the 'Nadeshiko'.

"By the way, talk with your mom before going to training. She said to the girls that she is missing you dearly just as is your daddy."

Erik said again to Akeno, who nodded her head in understanding. She had, indeed, neglected her family a little due to all the recent happenings in Kuoh. Erik then walked to the doors of the club's room.

"And don't forget to talk with Sona about what happened, Rias. And speaking of Sona, she had found the 'third bone'."

Erik said again without turning before walking through the doors and exiting the club's room, disappearing in the hallway while leaving behind a gobsmacked Rias Gremory. It took some seconds for her to recompose herself.

"Akeno, we are going to see Sona."

Rias said and got up from her spot on the sofa and walked to the doors, while Akeno nodded her head and followed after her King to talk with the President of the Student's Council. The redhead King wanted to know who the 'third bone' was, inform her friend of the incoming Rating Game, and warn her of their absence from school for an entire month.

As the older teenagers exited the room, Issei Hyoudou got up from his spot on the sofa and walked to where Erik's conjured armchair was still standing. He looked at the 'throne' with curiosity and make a motion to sit on it.

"I would not do that if I was you."

Valerie's voice was heard, making Issei stop mid-motion. The boy then looked at the blonde princess.

"Yeah? Why?"

Issei asked and took a sit on the comfortable armchair anyway. He wanted to know what the feeling of sitting like a Harem King was. And it was very comfortable. Valerie looked at the scene and smirked.

"Because Lord Ravenclaw conjured the armchair with the use of Wizard's magic."

Valerie said to Issei while trying to stall a little in the time.

"Yeah, I know that he is a Wizard too. He told me that."

Issei replied while a very pleased look appeared on his face. The armchair was very comfortable. Valerie's smirk intensified at the scene.

"That's not the point, Issei. The point is that a Wizard's conjuration tends to last just as long as it has the magic to maintain its form."

Valerie said to Issei in a convoluted way. She knew that the boy would not understand at first.

"And what does that means?"

*BAM*

Issei asked back, but just as he finished asking the comfortable armchair that he was sitting on disappeared, dropping him on the floor with a BAM sound and making Valerie giggle at the scene.

"It means that it will disappear at any given moment. A Wizard of Lord Ravenclaw caliber, with the kind of control that he had over his magic, would not waste more magic than the necessary."

Valerie replied in mid of her giggles, much to the unhappiness of Issei, who was caressing his hurt butt.

–

Thirty days later, Erik was sitting together with Serafall, Sona, and their Peerages inside a VIP booth that would receive the live transmission of the Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Rizer Phenex. The blonde guy, while disregarding all the advice coming from his family about the Rating Game, took the thirty days before the match and blew it into big proportions, seeing it as a way to boost his popularity among his peers. The result of it was that now a lot of third parties had their eyes on a match that should have been a particular matter between two families.

"Brother, do you think that Rias has a chance?"

Sona asked Erik. She was there watching the match as a friend of Rias and took the opportunity to show her peerage a live Rating Game. Her peerage was seating on sofas behind her with their newest addition to the group. Aika Kiryuu had, after two weeks of thinking about it, accepted Sona's invitation to join her peerage, becoming Sona's second Bishop and being reincarnated with the use of its Evil Piece. It turns out that the bespectacled perverted girl had very high compatibility with magecraft and had been discovered by Sona while trying to spy on her and her peerage. After talking with the girl, they discovered that Aika Kiryuu had already discovered the existence of Supernatural World due to some unlucky encounter some years back and that both the majority of the Student's Council and the entirety of the Occult Research Club members were not humans, including her friend Issei Hyoudou, who had been 'transformed' by them. After having all of her doubts answered, the girl received Sona's sales pitch together with an invitation to join her peerage. After thinking about it for two weeks, the girl accepted the invite and was now receiving a crash course about what was a Rating Game and the different kinds of matches that it could have from her Bishop colleague, Momo Hanakai.

"Oh, yes. Rias and her peerage have a very good chance to win this game. Just Gasper is enough to clean the ground with Rizer Phenex's peerage. If you add Valerie and Akeno to the count, it would be overkill."

Erik replied to his little sister while caressing Serafall's legs. The Leviathan Satan had taken the opportunity to 'steal' the spot in Erik's lap from Shirone, that was now being pampered by her elder sister, Kuroka, while still pouting.

"I am sensing a 'but' here."

Ingvild said after taking a sip from her teacup. The world-famous singer and idol had, after much insistence from Serafall, accepted to become the Satan's Queen. At first, she didn't want to accept it because of the problems that it would generate for Serafall due to her being a descendant of the original Leviathan bloodline. But after years of wearing down her resistance and teamed with some assurance coming from Serafall that Erik would take care of the old fools if they stepped out of the line, Ingvild gave in and accepted the Satan's Queen Evil Piece. As expected, Ingvild's Leviathan bloodline was not well received politically and socially. The social aspect of it was quickly solved with Serafall giving an interview where she told the 'public' about the girl's origins. That move had won the public's hearts in Ingvild's favor. After all, everyone loved some drama. The political aspect was solved when Serafall rubbed on the elders' council's faces the law that themselves had passed down about the responsibilities that one had to have in being a Peerage's King. And since the girl had committed no crime whatsoever, they could do nothing about it. Of course, that didn't stop the dunderheads in the council to send assassins after Ingvild in fear of the power that the Leviathan's bloodline contained. All assassins were sent back anonymously to the senders, one piece at a time.

"She already had two Longinus in her peerage and they, together with Akeno's Holy Lightning, were enough to decimate the competition. Now, with the addition of the Red Dragon Emperor of this generation to it, it would be overkill as I said. But, it depends on how Rias instructed them to take this battle on. All three of Rias' most powerful hitters have their own quirks that they tend to bring to battle. Akenos likes to play with her 'victims', Gasper doesn't like to hurt others, and Valerie doesn't care much for things. The three of them aside, Issei Hyoudou is a newly reincarnated Devil and is just adjusting to his new power, while Yuuto Kiba is too much of a knight. If Rias let them act on their own, she will lose this battle, now, if she gets to guide them as a King should, the win is guaranteed."

Erik replied to Ingvild as they glued their eyes on the magical screen that was now showing the beginning of the match with the members of each peerage being presented to the viewers.

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