Can you feel the burn? (part 2)

Notice:

A Demon Lord's Hero isn't mine, it's written by the author Fahad09 and can be found in FF or Ao3. I'm mainly doing this to spread the word that the author Aerle is not the author of Dxd: A New Hero. Do not subscribe to his patreon to read chapters behind a paywall when you can read it for free from the real author on FF net or Ao3.

I'm doing this cuz I thought it looked familiar and realized it was just plagiarism, I went to ff net to see and in one of the comments another use was also stating that Aerle was copying and trying to get people to sub to his P@treon. Looks like it's not his first time doing this too, since that commenter said he also plagiarized a Naruto fic called "With the Eyes of God," by the author cloud9stories

Since in Webnovel Aerle can delete comments and bad reviews, it's quite easy for the dude to scam people and get away with it. 

I'm extremely petty and I liked the original fanfics so Ima just post most of the chapter to fuck this guy over lmao. Also if you see a Patreon link with the title of "Aerle" at the end, it's most likely a scam lol.

======== Chapter 5 (part 2) ==========

Almost half an hour later, I found myself standing in front of the corpses of the Fallen as I thought about the situation.

The church was as expected empty. While I did find a large basement that looked to have been set up for some kind of ritual that in itself wasn't too uncommon for a place like this and there was nothing else unusual about the place. No signs of a fight or struggle, no clues to what may have happened, there wasn't even any paper work or reports that would tell me what the fallen was up to before they got killed.

I examined the bodies before me one more time before I face palmed. This was gonna be mess.

I don't even want to think of how the Fallen Angels will respond when they find out that their entire branch in this city was wiped out. The only silver lining in this mess was that these guys were low ranked Canon fodder. A dime a dozen and expendable as far as the Fallen higher would consider and certainly not worth sparking a war over.

I may have felt bad for these guys if I hadn't known that they tried to murder an innocent teenaged kid just yesterday.

Still, that doesn't mean this won't cause problems.

Now the question remains, who could have done this?

It was impossible for Devils to have been done it. The guards would have prevented any other Devils from entering the City and neither Sona nor Gremory would have done something like this. Besides, unless the message was there to throw us off the trail, it looked like the killers were followers of God.

Exorcists? No, no matter how much they hate the Fallen, they would never desicrate a church with their corpses. Even the more extreme members of their order would have dragged the bodies outside the church before torturing them at the very least.

The Fallen Faction was naturally ruled out. Not only is every Fallen in the city currently hanging off the wall before me but they would have no reason to do this to one of their own, then destroy the Bounded Fields that protected their territory. If it was simple infighting they wouldn't have wanted outsiders to know about it.

Someone outside of the Three Factions? No, while it was faint I could still sense some lingering light magic radiating from the holes on their chest. That and the way the wound were cauterized indicated that they were pierced by light spears. As far as I know no one outside of the Heaven or Fallen Faction can create and use light spears, unless there was some kind of Sacred Gear I have never heard about. And presuming that the message is genuine then whoever did this wanted to punish the fallen for betraying God.

You know what, I give up. In the end finding the killers isn't even my job and even if I did find them I'm not sure if I should punish them or thank them. These fallen were anything but innocent after all.

For a moment a very worrisome thought hit me, what if someone caught me here in front of the group of dead Fallen and thought I did it? However I quickly dismiss the idea as I realized that there was no one in the city that can catch me in this moment. The fallen are gone, the Vatican were never here to begin with and all the other Devils are currently in school.

I laughed as the absurdity of the last thought hit me. Before I arrived here, the entire Devil faction of this city was repented by a group of inexperienced underaged High school students. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

Anyway, I'm not sure what I should do next. I'm tempted to call in the guards but there is nothing else they can do here and it's not worth blowing their cover over. There was also the possibility that whoever did this did not know about them and if they didn't, then they'd make a useful trump card. No, the best thing for me to do was contact Serafall and let her decide what to do. That way I can wash my hands from the political side of this.

I turned around and began making way out of the Church but not before giving the dead Fallen one final look over my shoulder.

Well, at least it wasn't all bad. Now when I try to convince Sona to set up a Bounded Field over the School and improve the ones at her home, I'll actually have a genuine reason to give her.

=========x==============x===============

The ringing of the lunch bell echoed down the walls of the staircase just as I set foot on the first step.

Well, so much for getting back in time for class. At least this way I don't have to try to explain myself to the teacher. It was a good thing that I didn't actually need to attend any of these classes to learn anything or at this rate I would have ended up having to repeat a year.

As I began climbing up the stairs up to the third floor, I thought about my recent discussion with Serafall. Communication between the human world and the Underworld had always been a fickle thing as the dimensional gap that separated the two worlds interfered with any form of magical communication. Until very recently it was hard to get messages across the void in a timely manner.

That was until technology advanced enough to fix the problem. Right now it was possible to send small bursts of electronic signals through the void to delivers short messages. It had to be very limited in size for it to work, so each dispatch had to be restricted to about 140 characters per message.

Yes, the human to Underworld primary form of communication is basically Twitter and Serafall and I had just basically just finished tweeting one another about the situation.

Long story short, it was decided that as long as it looks like no Devils were involved we'll take a hands off approached to the death of the Fallen. It was unlikely that Fallen Faction will appreciate us poking our nose in what was basically their business anyway.

She also decided to temporarily triple the amount guards patrolling the city border, at least until Fallen issue had been handled. The crows in the city were about gain a big boost in population in the upcoming days, so at least the bird watchers will be happy.

Reaching the third floor landing, I took a right turn and made my way towards the corridor that held the lockers to pick up my lunch. I was actually surprised to find out that they had lockers here as they were unpopular in many Japanese schools and my last one certainly didn't have one, but it looks like Sona had them installed as soon as she took over. It was good thing too or else I wouldn't have any place except my desk to store my stuff in.

Walking up to my new steel grey locker, I pulled out my key and unlocked it. After swinging the door open I took one look inside before instantly slamming it shut.

I took two full steps back and just stared at the now closed locker, not able to believe what I just saw. I just stared at it for several seconds and after seeing nothing happening, I hesitantly began to approach the locker once again.

Positioning my head right next to the edge of the locker's door, I quickly cracked it open just an inch, peered inside before slamming it shut again.

I placed my forehead on the cold metallic surface of the door as I felt a headache coming on. Really, why did these insane things keep happening to me? I mean after having traded my soul to a magic girl for a wish, walked into a Cthulhu ritual on my way to the bathroom and found out that Lucifer himself likes to dress his wife up in a French maid uniform, you'll think I'd be used to the insanity. But no, it just keeps surprising me.

Finally I stood back and swung my locker door wide open and asked the occupant, "Koneko, what are you doing?"

She swallowed her last mouthful of food she had been chewing before answering, "Eating"

"My food?"

She thought about it for a moment before nodding her head, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Tasty." She answered without hesitation, as if that would explain everything.

Koneko was sitting snugly inside of my locker, her cheeks covered with red sauce making her look so much like a child that I found it impossible to believe she was a teenager let alone a High school student. She had my open and now mostly empty lunchbox claps tightly in her hands. Even for her petite frame the locker was too small to hold her comfortably, she had to fold up her knees up to her chest and scrunch up like a ball to fit in – and if it wasn't the most adorable thing I've ever seen I might have been angry at her for stealing my lunch.

How the hell did she get in there anyway? The locker was locked from the outside and there is no way to open or close it from the inside. The only way I could think of her getting in was for her to teleport- oh dear she teleported directly into the locker didn't she? For food?

Seeing as how she was ignoring me in favor of searching for scraps inside of the lunchbox, I could believe it. I noticed my second lunchbox that she discarded beneath her legs. I had packed two boxed this morning in anticipation of Koneko joining me for lunch but it looks like I underestimated her appetite.

I looked down at my stomach as it let out a remarkably loud rumble. Not surprisingly really when you considered I had skipped breakfast this morning in addition to all of the work I had done. Koneko seemed to have noticed my hunger because I looked up to find her holding out a small strip of chicken out to me in her dainty little fingers.

"Share?" She looked so adorable when she said that with her head stilted slightly to the side that I couldn't help but laugh as I took a bite out of the offered food.

Still, that was nowhere near enough. "I'm still hungry." I muttered out sadly.

Koneko reach out with her soft little hands and began to gently pat my cheeks with a "There, there," as she apparently tried to console me. I couldn't even muster will to complain that she was the reason why I was going hungry.

You know, I just realized how unfair girls have it. If Rin had ever opened her locker and found me cramped inside with her lunch devoured I seriously doubted I would get off anywhere near as lightly as Koneko would.

I looked back down at my stomach as it let out another rumble. "If only my house wasn't so far away I could have snuck into my kitchen and cooked me another quick lunch, but if I did that I don't think I'll make it back to school in time. I'm gonna be enough trouble with Sona when she finds out I already skipped the entire morning classes, I don't even want to imagine what she'll do if I'm late for the afternoon ones as well." Seriously, Sona may let me get away with a lot of things she wouldn't allow anyone outside of her family to but when it comes to school matter, I don't she'll treat me any different from any other student.

"I guess I'll just have to eat from the canteen but I heard their food has always been kind of bland. It that true Koneko?" I asked her but she didn't reply, "Koneko?

I looked up to find that Koneko wasn't listening. She was sitting as straight up as she could in her the tiny locker as she stared blankly ahead. Slowly, almost mechanically, she turned her head to towards me. Her eyes, when she instantly locked with mine, looked like they were almost gleaming with their own inner light as she quietly asked me, "Kitchen?"

===========x============x===========

Koneko's eye tracked the food as I flipped them into the air and back into the firing pan.

I always knew that Kuoh Academy was a prestigious school, not only for the quality of their education but also for the quality of their facilities. You only have to take one look at the fountain that they had in the middle of the main courtyard or the actual school that could have easily been mistaken for a university building to know that. It's not really surprising when you realized that the entire academy is owned and funded by Devils.

…you know, now that I think about it that kind of scary. I mean the education of this city's children is literally being provided by the Devil. If any of the students here complain to their parents that going to school is like going to hell they're actually not too far off the mark.

But anyway, even though I knew about Kuoh's reputation, I don't thing I ever truly appreciated it until I entered the Cooking Club's Kitchen. It was only when I set my eyes upon the state of the art equipment filled the highest quality tools and first class freshly picked ingredients did I finally begin to believe in love at first sight.

Why didn't they ever have a cooking club like this in my old school?

To make things even better, none of the club members minded sharing their Kitchen. Whether that was due to me being a fellow cook or Koneko's pleading stare I'm not too sure but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it turned out that Koneko was a frequent visitor here despite her not being a member.

Right now I was cooking a quick meal of Stir fired vegetable and tofu. The cooking club still hand some leftover baked tofu from yesterday so it wouldn't take me too long to cook. The quality of the ingredients and a little bit of subtle reinforcement mixed in will guarantee a great meal. Of course I had to cook for both Koneko and myself, so I made sure to make enough food to feed five just in case.

Seeing the way she was drooling slightly as her eyes never left the food for a moment, I believe that I made the right choose. That she was still that hungry after already eating both lunchboxes that I prepared however was surprising. Seriously where did all that food go?

Still watching her gaze so longing at my food made me crack out a smile. Using my cooking chopsticks, I picked up a piece of tofu from the frying pan and tossed it towards her in a high arc. Her eyes turned upwards as they tracked the tofu and when it got close to her she open her mouth and caught it out of the air like a dog.

A couple of the cooking club members in the other side of the room broke out in applause and cheers for Koneko when they saw her little performance. Apparently Koneko's a lot more popular in this school than I first thought.

As I went back to focusing on my cooking, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to clear up a few things. "Hey Koneko," I asked while I stirred the food, "I heard Issei was officially made a part of Rias's Peerage. Is it true that he only ended up having Twice Critical?"

She didn't answer me but I caught her nodding out of the corner of my eye

While I didn't show it in the outside, I was internally doing a little jiggle at the thought of Gremory's face when she found out. Still, I knew that Koneko was close to her so I didn't let any of what I feeling show on my face.

"Strange though, I thought that you smelt a Dragon on him." I instantly realized how what I said may have been taken as an acquisition and quickly clarified myself. "Not that I'm claiming that you made a mistake or anything but did you guys figure out why he didn't have the Boosted Gear?"

Koneko shook her but crinkled her nose as she said, "Dragon, he still smells like one. But different from his Sacred Gear."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Huh, so Issei has the scent of two different Dragons on him. That was…unheard of to say the least. A person can only every have one Sacred Gear, period. While it's unconfirmed, there has been reports that when Azazel attempted to bond two Sacred Gears on a single person as part of his experiments. In each and every experiment has resulted on the test subject's immediate demise.

While it's possible that the reports were false as we don't have any reliable source of information in the Fallen Faction, it does fit with what we already know of Sacred Gears as there has never been a case of a single wielder bearing two of them.

And you can't gain a scent of Dragon simply by being near a one. Nekomata and other beings with a strong sense of smell can easily differentiate from a person's own scent and having someone's scent clinging to them.

No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't think of a single explanation to concerning Issei. Oh well, just another mystery in what was becoming a day full of mysteries. I decided to leave it alone for now as the mystery would soon solve itself with or without my involvement. Albion has long since awakened, it was only a matter of time for Ddraig to make his appearance as well.

I turned back my attention back onto my cooking. Today was the day that I promised to help train Sona and her Peerage, and I'm gonna need a full stomach if I wanted to do a good job of it.

==========x=============x=============

The courtyard was completely pitch-black. The sun has long since set and the flood-lights that were stationed overhead were turned off. The school's high walls blocked of any light from any of the surrounding buildings, leaving the place far too dark for anyone to navigate though.

Well, any human anyway. Devils were a completely different matter. We had no problem seeing in the dark.

It was still ten minutes to seven when I left the gymnasium and made my way to the courtyard, yet I still spotted a group of figures already waiting there for me. It didn't come as much of surprise for me that Sona and her Peerage were not only punctual but early as well.

I easily spotted Sona from where she stood with Tsubaki at the head of the group and walked up her. She had long since spotted me approaching and waited until I had arrived before she started speaking.

"Shirou, you're here early." She said with approval.

"I could say the same to you." I looked over the group and sure enough counted eight of them. The entire Student Counsel were all here. "While I'm not surprised to see you here on time and early, I didn't expect the same from the rest of your Peerage."

"Of course they would be. As members of the Student Council and my Peerage they represent both the school and myself. It is only natural that they would never dare to be late for anything – Right?" Somehow, even though we were in the dark with no source of light, her glasses flashed ominously when she adjusted them.

"YES, KAICHOU!" They all stiffened in place and yelled out as one in reply to her question. Even Tsubaki joined in, all of them looking vaguely terrified.

I had a feeling that there is a story behind that, one I'm not quite sure I wanted to know. Luckily that can wait for another time, for now it was time to train.

"Good. Now that you're here Shirou we can begin our regular-"

"Actually," I interrupted her, "I was hoping if you will allow me to test your Peerage one at a time before we do anything else."

She looked surprised at that, so I explained. "I don't need to see how you guys train or fight as a group because I know that they'll excel in that. Let's face it, when it comes to group combat and coordination that is an area that you greatly surpass me at. It's no exaggeration to say I have more to learn from you, than you from me in that particular field."

Sona showed no hint of pride or surprise at my comment; she merely nodded along with my assessment. Oh, so despite not having any delusion of grander when it comes to her strengths like so many of her fellow Devils, she doesn't lack any confidence in them either. That's a surprise. For Devil who's bears the Sin of Pride she shows remarkable little arrogance in her skill, just pure analytically assessment. I wonder if she was always like this or Serafall had something to do with it.

…No, Serafall definitely had something to with it. I'm sure of it, but I'm not gonna ask Sona what her sister put her through. There are somethings we are better off not knowing, usually anything involving Serafall is something that is better left lost and forgotten.

"I'm not here to help you fight as a team, I'm here to help you fight as individuals." I continued, "That is why I want to test your Peerage one at a time so I can examine their individual strength and weakness to know what I need to train them on."

She looked at me over her rims, examining me carefully before nodding slowly, almost hesitantly, in agreement. "Alright, if you feel it's necessary I can accept that. Do you have anything in mind?"

I smiled, "As a matter of fact I do." I jerked a thumb over my shoulder, "I already set up the gymnasium beforehand. Everything's ready to go, I just need my first examinee and we'll being."

Sona looked towards the gymnasium before turning back to me. "You have given this a lot of thought haven't you Shirou?" She adjusted her glass as she took a moment to think about it, "Very well. In that case, allow me to go first."

"Nope," I shook my head," sorry Sona but you're going to be last. You'll understand when it's all over and done, but for this to work you need to be the final one to take this little test of mine."

She glared up to at me, finally haven reached the limit of her patience. "The more I get to know you Shirou, the more you remind me of my sister." She shook her head and relented, "Fine, but this better be worth it in the end."

"It will I promise." I assured her before turning towards the rest of the Peerage. I deliberately looked over them even though I already knew who I was going to choose, "So, who wants to go first?" I asked.

Before Sona had a chance to select a member, someone spoke out. "I'll go," Saji walked forward with a cocky grin in his face, "after hearing so many rumors about you, I want to see if any of it is true."

I shook my head, "Sorry Saji, but Tsubaki is going first." I nodded to the calm and so far silent girl, "She's the Queen and it is the Queen who leads when the King cannot. But since you're so eager, you can go after her."

Saji halted in his tracks before nodding albeit reluctantly. "Follow me," I told Tsubaki before turning around and making my way to the Gymnasium.

I heard some hushed comments behind me, most likely Sona giving Tsubaki some kind of advice or encouragement, before I heard the sound of footsteps trailing after me.

=============x==============x============

Unlike the outside, the interior of the gym was brightly lit. While Devils can see in the dark just fine, even better than in the daylight, they are just as blind as anyone else in absolute darkness. Sight needs some light to function after all and since I had the curtains drawn, there was no light coming in from the outside.

The gymnasium was more or less a large basketball court. One side of the room was a large stage that was mostly used for events, announcements or plays. Other than that, the place was clear of any obstacles or obstruction, giving us a wide open place to fight in.

Once I reached the center of the court, I tuned and face Tsubaki. As usual she had a calm and serious expression on her face, not too dissimilar from Sona's. "Ok, Tsubaki this is basically going to be a combat test. Do you have a weapon with you?" I asked after realizing too late that she wasn't carrying her Naginata with her.

Much to my surprise she simply nodded and held out her hand to her right. In the air before her hand, a magic circle bearing the Sitri clan design appeared. The outer half of the circle began to spin clockwise, while the inner half began to spin in the opposing direction. As the blue light of the magic circle began to brighten, a long wooded shaft emerged from the heart of the circle.

Before long, the entire Naginata was drawn out of the circle before falling into Tsubaki's outstretched hand. Its job completed, Tsubaki dismissed the circle and it soon faded away like it was never there.

…you know, sometimes I forget they can do that. Teleportation; in my world that would have fallen into the realm of True magic, of Sorcery. A class of magic that is impossible to be replicated with science.

I know Magus back home that would have dedicated their entire life for that type of magic. I know some Magus families that would willingly and gleefully sacrifice their first born child to learn its secrets. And Devils as young as preschoolers here can cast these types of spells.

Sometimes I can't help but hate them, just a little bit, for the ease they can wield magic. As a human, I had to withstand an enormous amount of pain just to open my circuits so I would be able to cast so much as a single spell. As a Magus, I had to risk my life almost every time I practiced my craft, knowing that if I screwed up I may end up dying. Yet these Devils can use magic as easily as they can breathe.

Oh well, no point complaining about what you can't change. Besides, I'm a Devil too now so it's not like I have a right to complain anymore.

I raised my right hand and began tracing a weapon. After a few moments I felt the familiar and comfortable weight of a sword in my hand. It was a standard European blade, one which fit perfectly into one hand. It wasn't impressive to look at, just a simple steel-grey sword with a leather hilt. And compared to many of my other swords, it wasn't anything special.

It's not even a Noble Phantasm, just a very well made if mostly mundane sword. Though it did have some form of magical protections cast on it that, ones that prevented the steel from rusting and the edge from dulling. However, what made the sword special were its former owners. The sword was passed down from warrior to warrior for dozens of generations, many of whom were excellent swordsmen coming from many different styles. In most people's hands it would have been nothing but a good quality sword, in mine however it became something more, as the skills of all its previous wielders were now mine to use.

I didn't want to use Noble Phantasm in this fight, not after seeing how badly it rattled them when I did it in the Council room. Besides, I wanted them to think that they had a chance to win, at least at first anyway.

I held out my sword and took a proper stance.

"The rule of the fight is simple, keep going until you have nothing left to give. Don't worry about harming me or making a racket. I set up a Bounded Field earlier that will prevent all sounds from escaping the gymnasium and I already have made preparations in case of injures. And if worse comes to worst I have a vial of Phoenix Tear's ready for use."

Tsubaki walked until she was about six meters away from me before she stopped and took a proper stance.

I waited for a few seconds to make sure she was ready, before I called out the signal to begin. "Hajime."

==========x==========x===============

I swayed back as the blade of the naginata soared past my head, then side stepped the butt of the weapon as Tsubaki twisted the weapon around, using the momentum of her first swing to carry the attack through . Even as she missed she didn't stop the swing but instead flowed with the attack to make a third swing, this time with the blade again, although it's purpose wasn't so much to hit me as it was to keep me away as she returned back to proper stance.

It was actually pretty impressive sight. Ever move was textbook perfect. Each attack flowing into next then next, creating what appeared to be a never ending stream of strikes.

She never lost her cool either. Even though it had been almost five minutes since the start of the fight and she hadn't landed a single blow on me, her form never wavered. She kept clam and cool, not allowing her frustration to cloud her judgment, and continued her precise and well controlled attacks.

I had to admit, she was doing better than I thought she would. Most would have long lost their composure after missing so many times and would become more reckless in attacking until they end up overextending themselves.

Frankly, it was almost unfair of me to fight someone with a bladed weapon. In just one glance, I can read her naginata's history. I can see every strike or swing she had ever thrown with that weapon. I know all of her tricks, her tells and all of the minute details of her style.

Just from the slight way she sifted her toes of her back foot slightly, to better grip the ground with, I knew that she will attempting a thrust next which I promptly deflected with the side of my blade as I danced around her.

However the purpose of this fight wasn't to be fair, it was to learn about her and help her grow stronger. And from the history written into the very bone of her naginata, I learned more about Tsubaki as a person that I would have in year by any other method.

Diligence. If there was one word that would describe Tsubaki as a person it would be that. Every morning before breakfast and every night after dinar, without fail she would take her naginata to the backyard of house and train. One thousand swings followed by a thousand thrusts, never skipping so much as a single strike and added a dozen more for each time her form slipped. When she finished, she would spend the next thirty minutes going over the Kata of her style, making sure each set was done perfectly before going onto the next. And when it was finally done, she would go take a shower and start all over the next day.

In the one year, nine months and twelve days since she was given that naginata, she had never skipped so much as a single day of practice. Diligence, it describes her to a tee.

Instead of sidestepping the blow like she expected me to, I blocked it and rammed into her. This caused her to lose her balance, enabling to switch positions with her, thus preventing her from successfully trapping in the corner.

It wasn't a glamorous form of training but it didn't need to be. In the end nothing beats basic training. The reason why someone else's sword swing is faster than yours is because for each one hundred swings you did in practice, he did a thousand.

There are no short-cuts when it comes to real skill. If you throw aside all strategy, tactics and luck, when all things are equal the one who trained the most will always emerge as the winner. It was as simple as that. That was how one developed their skills. That was how the weak become the strong. In that regard, there was nothing I could teach her.

It was a good thing then that I wasn't planning to. I don't know what they expected when I offered to train them, but if they thought I had some kind of ancient or mystical training program set up that will magically boost their skill level like in one of those Magic Girl anime's Serafall made me watch then they're sadly mistaken.

What I came here to do wasn't to help improve in their combat skills. I was here to make sure that they can properly apply those skills.

The problem with training is that you're taught to restrain yourself. After all, when you practice your techniques with a partner or in a spar, you don't want harm to them. When you practice an arm lock that can break an opponent's arm you're taught to stop before breaking it. So every time you practice you automatically stop yourself before completing the move.

When you're taught how to gouge an enemy's eyes out, you always stop short of actually touching the eyes. Even when sparing in armour and shinais, you're taught to never fight dirty, to follow rules of courtesy. You're taught to never strike an enemy when their down, when that should be the best time strike them.

In short, you train your instincts to not harm your opponent.

This will cause your instincts to be blunted. In a real fight when you won't have time to think, that will get you killed, as all you'll have are instincts.

Take Tsubaki's for example. I raised my arm and blocked the strike with the back of my empty left hand. The room echoed with the sound of the ringing of metal as the naginata was halted in place, leaving my hand completely unharmed.

"!", for the first time Tsubaki expression has shifted away from the clam analytical look she was wearing since the fight started. She was staring at the hand that blocked the naked blade of her naginata wide eyes, disbelief clearly written on her face, clearly not believing that my body was hard enough to block her attack so easily.

She was right to disbelieve because there is no way my body, even with the boosted defense of a Queen, was capable of halting her attack and emerged without so much as a scratch to show for it.

It wasn't that Tsubaki lacked the strength to break through my defense; it was that she wasn't applying that strength. That was the problem with training, when the time for a real fight comes you have trouble adjusting. You teach yourself not to swing in full power in a spar and that carries on to the real fights. You can't just remove all the mental restraints you placed on yourself as if they were cloths.

Since the very beginning of a fight she was always aware that she was fighting with a real blade not a practice one. Something that cut flesh and sever limbs, and a part of her mind was always careful not to cut me with it. Despite her perfect form, there was a lack of power behind her strikes. A clear fear of what will happen if her attack connects.

I twisted my hand and griped the blade of the naginata before pulling her towards me. Still shocked over the ease I blocked her strike she was easily pulled of balanced and was unable to react in time to block my knee from slamming into her stomach.

Spittle flew out of her mouth as she collapsed onto her knee, breaking into a coughing fit as she relinquished her hold on the weapon. I spun her naginata around until I held it by its shaft and swung it over my shoulder.

"Did you know," I began in conversational tone, as if didn't have girl clutching her stomach in agony sitting by my feet, "that in a real fight between a skilled street fighter and a skilled professional martial artists, the street fighter has a much more likelier chance of winning despite being far less skilled."

Finally having gotten her coughing under control she peered up at me with confusion evident on her face.

"You see it's quite simple," I continued, "the martial artist for all his skills has no idea how to apply those skills in a real fight. While the street fighter knows how to effectively apply his admittedly far more limited skills into a fight."

I swung the naginata around and I held it out to her. "Allow me to explain what I'm doing here Tsubaki. I'm not her to train your skills but I'm here to teach you how to fight. How to apply those very skills you've cultivated for years in a way that can actually save your life when the time comes. In other words, I'm here to teach you what a real fight is, one where you have to kill or be killed." I nodded towards the naginata. "Now, take it and get up."

She looked up at me hesitantly before she reached out for her weapon and stood up.

The moment she took a proper stance I reinforced my limbs to the limit, dashed forward and aimed a solid front kick right into the middle of the naginata. The wooden shaft splintered and collapsed under the force of the kick and my foot tore right through until it slammed right into the middle of her chest.

Unlike last time she didn't simply collapse but instead went soaring backwards, tumbling several times onto the wooded surface of the court, until she finally skidded to stop after traveling halfway across the gymnasium.

She tried to push herself upward with her hand but collapsed almost immediately as she coughed out a glob of blood onto the floor.

I lowered my foot and slowly began approaching her, all the while making sure to keep an impassive look as my face, as if I wasn't cringing on the inside at what I had to do

It's sad, but words are rarely enough to get the point across, not with this kind of lesson. Pain has always been a great teacher and an equally great motivator. There is nothing better than pain that can simultaneously remind you that you're alive and how easily that life can end.

Right now that's exactly what I wanted from her. To make her realize that fighting was not a game. That it wasn't a tool to be used on some Rating Game match, but a weapon that to be used to stave away her death.

I stopped three paces away from her and waited for her to look at me. It took her a while, as she had trouble gathering her breath as her body kept shuddering with coughs, but eventually she did. She lifted her gaze to look up at me, eye shinning with unshed tears and drops of blood staining her lips crimson.

"Why didn't you volunteer?" I asked

She looked so utterly perplexed by my question that I'm sure she had no idea what I was talking about.

"When I asked Sona's Peerage for someone to take the test first, why didn't you volunteer?" I clarified. "Sona wanted to go first because she knew she needed to lead the rest of the Peerage. By watching her go unhesitantly forward the others would be encouraged by her actions. You however, did no such thing. You were too passive, only waiting for instructions from your King rather than acting on your own. Even Saji, for all his apparent bravado, just wanted to protect the other girls in the Peerage in his own way because he saw it as his duty as the only guy of the group. You on the other hand sat back and did nothing until you were ordered to.

"You need to understand Tsubaki, that you are not just any ordinary Peerage member. You are the Queen, and the Queen leads when the King cannot. Imagine if you will, how much better the others waiting outside would have felt if you had stepped up to the plate when I asked for volunteers rather than having been forced to go first?

"Sona, due to her obsession with Rating Games, is under the delusion that she need not worry who would lead her Peerage when she falls. That the battle is over once she leave the battlefield but life simply does not work like that. In war, the battle simply does not end when the King falls. The soldiers still live on and they'll still fight as long they have someone to lead them.

"That is the true purpose of the Queen. Not to simply be an extension of the King's will that mindlessly obeys every order but someone to lead the others when the King cannot." I pointed my blade towards her, "Do you understand Shinra Tsubaki?"

I locked my eyes onto hers, trying to convey the seriousness of my question. She stared back wordlessly for a moment, before opening her mouth to answer. Unfortunately instead of words, she vomited out a huge stream of blood instead before falling into another coughing fit.

Ok~, that did not go exactly how I planned. So much for my motivational speech. Going by how much blood she's coughing out I must have punctured a lung when I broke her ribs. Looks like a kicked her a little bit harder than I planned to. Luckily, I came prepared.

"Asia," I called out towards the stage, "you can come out now. I could use your help here."

Asia appeared from behind the curtains of the stage before hopping off the stage and calmly made her way over. She was another T-shirt, this time with the caption 'I'm a little Devil' with a Devil's hanging off the end of the 'L' in Devil. I was a little surprised to see that she didn't look worried or scared as she approached us, but instead had an intrigued look on her face as if she was trying to figure out some kind of puzzle.

When she got here she immediately kneeled next to Tsubaki, completely disregarding the blood spattering the ground, and began healing her using the power of Twilight Healing.

As she did that I turned back to Tsubaki and tried to complete my point.

"Tsubaki, I'll leave you with a choice." I waved a hand towards the stage. "There is a room behind the stage where you can rest in. If at any time you want to, you can quit this little test of mine and go to that room and relax. I'll not do anything to stop you or discourage you.

"Or you can continue this test. And over the next twenty minutes or so I'll beat you black and blue, break your bones over and over again, and leave you in agony that you have never felt the like before.

"But in exchange you'll learn how to fight, how to carry on fighting even with a broken body, how to apply those hard earned skills of yours in a real battle. Because I promise you this, one day you'll find yourself in a situation just like this one. Where you'll face an enemy who'll crush your face into the dirt, shatter the bones in your bones like twigs and dye the ground red with your blood. The only difference between then and now is that you won't be alone.

"You'll have the rest of your Peerage, your comrade and friends beside you, so you will not be able to run away like you can today, not without leaving them behind. And I will not insult you by even implying that you'll willingly abandon them. But make no mistake, it will not matter whether you choose to stay and fight or simply run away. Not as you are now, against that kind of enemy, your sacrifice won't make a damn against him because he will kill you and your Peerage without the slightest hesitation." I did not lie, because if he was truly coming and I failed to stop him, then that was exactly what was going to happen.

"Because just like today, you'll hold back. Your training will make you pull your blows without conscious thought or will. Cuts that should have been able to slice my hand in two will fail to even pierce skin because you've been trained to restrain yourself all too well.

"That is why, I will teach you. I will teach you how to cut without hesitation, to strike without restraint so that when the time comes you'll be able to fight back, you'll be able to win."

By this time Asia had finished healing Tsubaki and had already began to back away.

Placing her hands beneath her, Tsubaki pushed herself onto her feet. She wobbled for a second before she found her balance. She bounced a couple of times on the tip of her toes before she assumed a stance. Not even bother to pick up her broken weapon she simply took a basic boxing stance, hands held close to her head and leading with her left foot and shoulder.

"Emiya," She stated, "You talk too damn much."

I blinked owlishly at her, not expecting her to say that, before exploded out in laughter. Yeah, I admit it. I always sucked at speeches. There is a reason why Archer never had the 'Charisma' as a Personal Skill after all.

Still, that she was willing to fight me unarmed after all that was something that even impressed me. Looks like this one has steel in her after all. She may not have been strong, for now at least, but if all Queens are like her than perhaps I will no longer find bearing the title of Queen so shameful anymore.

Spirit like that is worth rewarding. After all I was the one who destroyed her old weapon, it was only right that I be the one to replace it. And I had just the perfect weapon for her.

"Fine but I can't allow you to fight me unarmed, not when the entire point is to learn to properly apply your fighting skills." I held out my left hand to catch the newly traced weapon before thrusting it point first at her feet. "It'd may not be a naginata but I think you'll be more than pleased once you have mastered it. Think of it as a replacement for breaking your last weapon."

In the ground between us was a Chinese halberd. It had a spear tip as a head with a single crescent-moon shaped blade attached to the side of the shaft. It was long, almost two meters in length with had a steel counterweight attached to the butt of the spear. While most of the spear's shaft was colored black it had a patch of gold next to the crescent blade were a painted leather cloth was attached.

While Tsubaki will not be able to access the full power of this particular Noble Phantasm, its passive abilities will still make it an incredibly powerful weapon for her to use. If she can master it that is.

"That weapon is unique, you'll never be able to find another like it in the world but I'll tell you about its characteristics later. For now it is time for us to continue our fight." I indicated with my sword for her to pick up the halberd, when I noticed her staring at the weapon with awe. After a few moment of hesitation she reached out and pulled the weapon out of the ground, marveling at it all the while.

It was good thing that she was a Queen or else she would have had a lot more trouble lifting the heavy weapon as easily as she did. As it was I doubted that any other class would have the strength and speed needed to properly wield the weapon.

"You can admire it later," I told her when it looked she had forgotten about me. I felt a small part of myself preen in pride at the look of reverence she was giving one of my blades. However I quickly shoved that part away for now and motioned her to assume her stance which she promptly did.

"Allow me to remind you Shinra Tsubaki, that after I'm done with you it'll be your comrades who will be tested next. And after them will be your King. So if you want to stop me or at least weaken me enough to lessen their burden even a little bit, then strike me down.

"Without hesitation, without restraint, you must strike me as if you're willing to kill me or else you won't leave so much as a mark on me. Now, will you prove yourself worthy of holding the same title as me, oh Queen of the Sitri?"

Once I saw she was ready I said, "Let us begin then,

"Hajime!"

===========x==============x===========

The punch went wide, the momentum pulling Saji forward as I easily side-stepped him and the blow. It was a messy punch, well telegraphed and with sloppy technique. It was painfully clear that he didn't much proper hand to hand training. I didn't even need to trace any of my swords for this fight despite his promotion to Queen.

Still, it had a lot of power behind the swing. I was actually impressed. I thought he would be the one that need the most help from my lesson, seeing as he was the newest to the Peerage, but it looks like it'll end up with him needing it the least.

True, his form was absolute crap but his instincts were remarkable spot on. He put his entire weight behind each punch and kept on fighting no matter how many times I hit him. Unlike Tsubaki who paused whenever she went down, Saji rolled and stood up right away as if he was expecting a kick to head if he didn't move fast enough.

Seeing how he moves, it's clear he'd had more than his share of fights. In many ways he's the complete opposite of Tsubaki. No skill or technique but he knows how to use what little he has well. He doesn't need to learn how to hold back because he was never properly taught how to fight in the first place but instead scraped what little he knows in actual fights.

I looked down at the lizard like Sacred Gear that was protruding out of his left hand. The Absorption Line, a Sacred Gear containing a fifth of Vritra's, one of the five great Dragon Kings, soul.

When I first heard of it I was curious how its wielder will behave. It is well known that a Sacred Gear reflects their wielder's personality. So what does it mean for someone to have a broken sacred gear? I was actually worried that whoever was matched with it would be broken, demented even. After all, what kind of mind would be matched with a divided soul?

But it looks like my assumption was wrong. It's clear that in some way, even divided, a Dragon's still a Dragon.

Saji rolled across the court's floor, bleeding off the momentum of my kick, before jumping back to his feet. He rubbed blood away from split lips with the cuffs of his sleeve before charging back at me, "You got to do better than that if you want to take me down, Aniki!"

I didn't bother raising my hands. I just ducked under the blow while simultaneously kicking at his legs, causing him to tumble forward but he was able to maintain his balance, if barely.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" That's another thing; he has been calling me Aniki the entire fight.

"What, 'Aniki'?" He asked just before charging me again.

"Yeah that." This time I caught his punch while twisting around and using his own momentum to throw him over my shoulder. He hit the ground rather harshly, clearly not knowing how to land and roll when thrown, but he soon got back to his feet. Though he was favoring his right arm now.

"Well," He stopped attacking as he talked, obviously trying to use the opportunity to rest, "from what I heard, because of your position as Queen to Kaichou's sister, it kind of makes you her brother right?"

"Well, yeah. Sure let's go with that." It wasn't quite like that but I didn't bother to contradict him.

"Then I figure I better get in the practice. You see," He stood up straight and jerked a thump at his chest as he declared, "I'm in love with Kaichou."

Oh, well looks like little Sona has an admirer.

"You see, Aniki. I have a dream, one that I will accomplish no matter what. And that dream is," He point straight up into the sky as he declared to the world with pride, "to knock Kaichou up –"

A fist appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Saji's face before he had a chance to finish his sentence, sending him cartwheeling three times in the air before slamming into the far wall of the gym and bouncing off it. He crashed into the concrete wall with so much force it actually left a small crater in it.

I stared, confused as to what happened until I looked down to find my hand extended outward while curled into a fist. It was only then that I realized that I was the one who punched him.

Asia jumps off the stage and calmly walks over to Saji's unmoving form, before crouching down and poking him a few times.

"Shirou," She tells me calmly, "I think you broke his neck." Then she reaches out, clasps his head in both of his hand before twisting it back in place with a sickening crunch that even made my stomach turn. She then places a palm on his neck which began glowing with the green light of Twilight healing.

"Umm…Asia," I asked, feeling more than little nervous for some reason, "aren't you even a little bit scared. I mean you just twisted Saji's broken neck back in place."

"Nahh, I've dealt with a lot worse accidents than this during my time as a Holy Maiden." She replied with a fond smile as she lost herself in memories. "I've had to deal with broken bones, severed limbs and I even help with child births. And trust me the there is nothing more horrifying than seeing a baby pushed out of a vagina. There was even that one time where I had to heal a person with a cracked skull. I could literally see into his brain and everything. We even found small pieces of his brain that we had to squeeze back into this skull before I healed him. That was actually rather fun." She finished, flashing me a bright smile.

OK, its official…Asia is scary.

"So," I began, deciding to ignore what I just heard, "any chance of Saji continuing?"

"Sorry Shirou but even with me here, a broken neck isn't something that you can just shrug off. He'll probably be out for a couple of more hours."

I shrugged, not really feeling any disappointment at that. After what he said, I had lost all urge to help train him. Looks like my theory that a Sacred Gear with a broken soul latching into someone that was also a bit broken was right after all. Hopefully the blow to his head will cause some memory loss and he'll forget that dream of his.

Or at the very least he'll forget that I broke his neck. I never want to see Sona's reaction if she ever finds out.

==============x================x=============

Really, they were impressive

The blue haired tom-boy, Tsubasa, spat a mouthful of blood from where she was kneeling on the floor before looking up at me. "Dude, someone has really got to introduce you to Akeno," she quibbled with a tired little smirk, "I have a feeling you two will get along great."

"Giving up?" I asked as I eyed her broken right arm.

"And end the fun already? Nahh, I love fighting dirty." She smiled up at me, revealing teeth that were painted red with her blood. The shield attached to her left arm erupted in blue flames, painting one side of her face an azure blue, "And there is nothing dirtier than fighting in your own blood." She roared as she charged

No matter what I did they kept standing up

Even as she collapsed onto the floor, her broken leg unable to support her weight any longer, she didn't make a sound. Her face remained stoic, giving her an almost bored look, as it did throughout the entire fight.

The raven haired Bishop, Momo, spoke for the first time since she set foot in the gym. "Did you put Gen-chan through this as well?" Even as she asked the question, I couldn't detect so much as a hint of emotion on her face.

In reply I simply pointed my swords towards the small crater in the wall where I smashed Saji into.

Her eyes linger at the crater for a long moment before her turned and faced me. Then she smiled – it wasn't a pretty thing

Her face was cast in flickering yellow light as lighting erupted from her hands, crackling between her fingers before she threw it at me.

Uncaring for their own wounds, only that of their comrades, they willingly threw themselves in harm's way to protect one another.

The pigtailed Knight smiled and laughed as we clashed our blades, as if she wasn't aware of the dozens of bleeding cuts that were gradually soaking her uniform in blood.

"You know Senpai," Tomoe chirped after backing away from out latest clash, which left another bleeding cut on her cheek, "I'm the mood maker of the group. That's why I always have to be smiling, because if I'm sad who will cheer the others up?"

She tilted her head while tapping her chin with a finger, "But~, if none of them are here watching than I don't have reason to keep smiling, do I?" Her grin seemed to stretch almost painfully wide.

"Here's a piece of advice for you Senpai. You have to always be careful around people who are always smiling. After all," like a candle being blow out her smile extinguished, leaving behind a cold and hard face that resembled nothing like the cheerful looking girl that was there a second ago, "you can never tell what their thinking behind that smile of theirs."

She charged at me, blade screeching overhead from the speed of her swing.

And if one shows fear or hesitation – I need but mention that their comrades would be next after them, then the fire will reignite in their eyes.

At mentioning the fate of the Pawn and her king should she fall, the final Bishop Reya's slow retreat was reversed as she charged at me.

Recklessly casting spell after spell as I was forced to dodge a rain of sharped hails and blades of howling winds. All the while she completely ignored my attacks, even as they cut deep into her flesh, in her efforts to get me.

If I broke their bones, they shrug it off and kept attacking until they simply had nothing left to give.

The sound of steel tapping on wood echoed throughout the gymnasium as Ruruko danced and skipped in those metallic boots of hers, her Twin-tailed hair trailing after her like streamers. Her steps were so fast that the tapping sounded like rain falling on a window.

Sweat poured down the Pawn's face, her breath coming out it short pants but she refused to slow down. Too tired to speak, she instead glared at me as she increased her speed yet again. Paying no mind to the way her movement grounded the bones of her broken shoulder together, she danced around me, looking for an opening to exploit.

I could not help but like these children.

I'll give Sona one thing, despite my initial misgiving she has chosen a good Peerage.

=============x=================x=================

I heard Sona enter the Gymnasiums from behind me. I had Asia cast a basic illusion over the basketball court, hiding all damage and blood stains. It was a simple thing, something that even a Low-Class can dispel with ease. That Sona didn't notice it yet just went to show how out if it with worry over her Peerage she was.

"Did you figure out why I left you for last?" I asked as I turned to face her, not waiting for her to answer. "How did it feel Sona, to see your Peerage disappear one by one before you? How did you feel to be unable to think or formulate a single plan with that incredible mind of yours, when you had no information or data to work with? How did it feel to know that all your plans and all of your tactics could not work when you were not there to hold your Peerage's hand and guide them?"

"Shirou," she stated calmly after she stopped a couple of paces in front of me, "where are they?"

I ignored her question as I began walking around her, "Now that you're alone without your Peerage, do you have any cards to play in your deck? In chess, you need pieces to set up a trap, to co-ordinate a defense or even mount an attack. So with that chess mindset of yours, what can you possible do alone?"

I spread my hands out wide and indicated the wide open court of the gymnasium. "The terrain of this battlefield is flat and empty so you can't use it to your advantage, particularly since I was the one who set the place up and know it better than you do. There is no weather, no possible outside interference that you can twist to your advantage. In this battlefield tactics and strategies won't work, all you can really do is rely on your own skill. Do you think that will be enough for you to win?" I halted right in front of her.

"Enough of these games, Shirou." She told me calmly before she repeated her question. "Where are they?

"Beat me and find out."

"TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!" She yelled, her mask finally slipping to show the worry she was so desperately trying to hide.

Instead of answering I forcefully dispelled the illusion using my own magic. All around us the signs of battle appeared. They court was a mess, small and large craters littering the floors and walls. Gash and cuts from swords coated the floor. Scorch marks from flames and lighting spells marked the walls. Footprints imprinted into the wood of the basketball court from Ruruko's metallic boots. But most of all, there was blood.

Lots and lots of blood.

Before Sona could begin to truly panic, I calmed her. "They're fine," I pointed towards Asia who stood in the middle of the stage, not bothering to hide this time, "my bishop Asia is the wielder of the Twilight Healing. She healed them all completely. I promise you, other than being completely exhausted they are completely unharmed."

The relief hit Sona so strongly that swayed in place and I actually thought that she was going to collapse for a moment.

"Why?" While it was clear she was trying to sound angry, it was equally apparent that she was simply too tired to muster any real emotion.

"Did you really think that Serafall sent me here on a whim?" I answered her question with another question. "Since the very second I was reincarnated into a Devil, she latched onto me, refusing to leave my side for more than a few hours at a time and even then reluctantly. Yet she suddenly sends me so far away that I was literally in a different world from her, didn't you find this in anyway strange?"

"War is coming Sona," I cut her off before she could answer. I nodded when her face paled dramatically at the news. Good, at least she knows to take this seriously, "She did not want me to let you know but I think you deserve to. War is coming, and I was sent here to try to stop it. Yet even if I succeed here in every way it will not be enough to stop it from coming but will simply delay its arrival.

"There are too many other fires to put out, to many other excuses that could spark the war to prevent it from coming. Serafall sent me here for two purposes. The first is to prevent someone trying to start the war in this city from succeeding. The other is to train both you and your Peerage.

"Do you understand Sona? I'm not here just for you but your Peerage as well, you should know why."

She shut her eyes and muttered, "The Civil War."

I nodded, even thought she could not see me for the moment, "That's right, the Civil War. She does not want you to go through what she did, not to experience that hell she lived through." I spun and glared right into her eyes.

"It broke her Sona. It broke her so badly that it took two hundred years and both you and me together to finally to put the pieces together." I gently poked her in the chest, "She wanted to save you from that so badly that she was willing to part from me for you. Do you understand Sona?"

She nodded solemnly. If there is anyone in the world alive other than myself that truly understood what parting from me meant for Serafall it would be Sona.

"War is coming Sona." I repeated myself. "And when it does, there is nothing you can do to keep your Peerage away from it. You will see them bleed, one way or the other. Other right here and now so they can learn how to fight and not bleed and die later on. Or they will bleed in the battlefield where they will just die." I stopped and took a step back.

"However Sona, I cannot treat you the same as I treated your Peerage." I informed her. "You are a Heiress, making you an equal to me in rank. I cannot force you into combat like I did with your Peerage. So instead I will offer you a choice, Sona Sitri."

I pointed towards the room behind the stage. "You can go and join your Peerage where they are resting, or you can stay here and be trained by me.

"But be warned. The moment we begin, I will treat you not as an equal but as student. I will treat you no different than I did your Peerage. I will break your bones, spill your blood and make you suffer like never before. But in exchange I will make you stronger, so that you may have a chance to survive the upcoming dangers.

"So what say you, Heiress of the Sitri, do you accept?"

Her reply came in streams of water that she conjured into the air around her, dances and fluttering like ribbon in the wind. A heartbeat later, their number grew from the four they began with, to so many in number that they filled the entire gymnasium, numbering far more than I could count. They twisted and turned in the air likes snakes waiting to strike at a moment command.

I smiled in pride at her.

That's right, this is how a King should be. With courage and through example, that is how a King leads his men.

Isn't that right, Saber?