Chapter 170: Impressions and Church Investigators

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As the match progressed, Devils all around the Underworld understood the potential that the Peerage of Rias Gremory had for the future. Mainly in the Rating Games scenario. Having an Evil Piece capable of wielding the Holy attribute, Holy Lightning on top of it, was something that would give her an overwhelming advantage in any Rating Game. Proof of that was the fast retirement of Rizer Phenex's Queen, Yubelluna, who was a veteran in rating games. Taking their minds to the other two peerages of the same generation that had potential as good as Rias Gremory's, they could already see the rising of a new generation of Rating Games champions. As the match ended, various ideas were already forming inside the Devils' heads to try and get themselves on the good side of the Heiress.

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Inside another 'VID' booth, Rias Gremory's parents watched the match with different emotions showing on their faces. Venelana, Rias Gremory's mother, had a look on her face that showed how proud she was of her daughter to gather such powerful peerage. Not that she had no idea of their abilities since she would always look after her daughter's training sessions when she lived with them. Zeoticus, Rias Gremory's father, had a complicated look on his face. On one hand, he was very proud of the power that his daughter was showing, since her strength reflected directly in the future of their clan. On the other hand, if things continued as they were going right now, the contract that he had made for an arranged marriage with the Phenex family would be nullified. Not that he was sad about it because since the day after he announced the signing of the marriage contract, every other member of his family started to give him the cold shoulder. His 'princess' would absolutely not talk with him unless it was extremely necessary, while his son, Sirzechs Lucifer, would treat him just like he treated any other Devil Lord. But the worst of them was his wife. Venelana had denied even sleeping in the same bed as him. When he had asked about her desire of having another child, which until then they were still trying for, Venelana only coldly replied to Zeoticus that she would not put another child in the world just for he/she to be sold by him. Maybe it was for the good of everyone, including his own, that his daughter would win the Rating Game. He missed his bed dearly.

Sirzechs Lucifer was delighted with what he was seeing. His bet into bartering a Rating Game between his little sister and possible future brother-in-law had paid out. He knew that Rias' Peerage had the strength to win, but it would be a near thing. Lucky enough, this generation's Red Dragon Emperor had entered the peerage and pulled the chances even more to Rias' side. Now he just needed the match to end with victory.

When the match ended, everyone in it let out a sigh of relief. Venelana and Sirzechs look at Zeoticus with questioning eyes. Sensing their questioning gazes, the Devil Lord only replied that he had long ago regretted signing the contract and that it was good that Sirzechs had found this way to solve things since the contractual way would have hurt the family greatly. Venelana nodded in approval of her husband's words, while Sirzechs rolled his eyes at the shamelessness. Maybe, tonight, Zeoticus would go back to sleep in his bed.

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Rizer Phenex's parents watched the match with some hope in their eyes. They had since long before noticed the change in the behavior of their youngest son. Different from his two elder brothers, he had let the wealth and power of his family go over his head after he reached puberty and had lost himself in reckless behavior. They had hoped that arranging a good marriage for the guy would have brought their old son back, but it just got worse. Even more when word reached them that the girl in question, the heiress of the Gremory family, had very strongly rejected the arranged marriage.

They watched with wide eyes as the 'enemy's' Queen made easy work of one of Rizer's bishops with the use of Holy Lightning, and got afraid for what their daughter, Ravel, had to face alone now. Luckily, Yubelluna appeared to protect Ravel and give her time to escape, just to have the Holy Lightning now aimed at her.

The couple then watched as Rizer received the news of the incoming defeat, together with the retirement of his Queen. Then, they had a glimpse of the old Rizer for the first time in years when he ordered Ravel to retire from the match.

As the fight ended with Rizer's defeat, the couple was happy. Not because their son had lost against his not-anymore-fiancee, but because they had seen a glimpse of the old Rizer. Walking out of the 'VID' booth, they walked to the infirmary. The couple had a long talk ahead of them with their youngest son.

–

Back within the VID that contained Serafall and Sona, the group finished watching the final battle in silence. When Rias Gremory's victory was announced, Sona let out a sigh of relief.

*sigh*

"She did it."

Sona said in a low voice, that was heard by all due to their enhanced senses.

"Yes, she did."

Tsubaki added. She too had been rooting for Rias' victory since she knew the redhead heiress for a long time now.

"It was a good fight too if one considers their range of power. Kiba had improved his swordsmanship and learned not to rely only on the sword in his hands."

Musashi said while analyzing part of the battle, making the other more experienced people in the room nod their heads.

"Akeno did a wonderful job in controlling her power too."

Kuroka said while petting Shirone, that was still on her lap.

"Yes, if she had used the full extent of it, her enemies would not be going to recover from the damage. Her father, Barakiel, was infamous during the Great War not because of his strength, but because of what happened to the Devils that survived a meeting with him. I remember reading journals of battlefield healers from the Great War that depicted Devils becoming nothing more than living vegetables after surviving Barakiel's Holy Lightning attack."

Serafall said while having her eyes closed and enjoying Erik's ministrations.

"Your rival is getting strong, Sona."

Erik said to Sona, who nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, she is. But we are not going to lose. Right, guys?"

Sona replied to Erik, with determination burning strongly in her eyes.

""Yeah!""

The other members of her peerage replied with determination too. Even Aika, the newbie of the group, agreed with that. She had just seen a live battle between Supernatural beings for the first time. A battle that her friend, Issei Hyoudou, was part of. And Aika didn't want to lose to him. Not with the kind of 'past' that they had together. Aika then smiled mischievously. She couldn't wait to see Issei's reaction to seeing her sprout a pair of Devil wings and how her body had developed after her reincarnation as a Devil. Maybe she would have him take her first. After all, his display of strength during the Rating Game had left her kinda horny.

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Back at Kuoh High School, after Rias Gremory was declared freed from her arranged marriage, her mood couldn't be better. Her victory over her ex-fiance, Rizer Phenex, had been recognized and the marriage contract had been voided with the blonde man himself asking her forgiveness for his rude behavior in the meeting before the Rating Game. For Rias Gremory, it seemed that something in the battle had changed the guy, and it was for the better.

The next surprise came when Sona, together with her entire peerage, came to the Occult Research Club's room to congratulate her friend on her victory and to introduce her new Bishop to them. Before going out for training, Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima had visited Sona, but the King had not revealed the identity of the 'third bone', as Erik had called them.

Issei Hyoudou's reaction to Aika Kiryuu's introduction was hilarious. The boy had wide eyes and could not close his mouth at the sight of the girl's new devilish body. Aika Kiryuu, taking the boy's reaction as a very good sign made a beeline to him and stole a deep and sloppy kiss from him, whispering in his ears that she very much wished to explore her new body and needed help for it, which was replied by Issei with an absent-minded nod of his head. Happy with the answer and reaction that she got from Issei, Aika Kiryuu went back to her place 'behind' Sona, who had some blush signs on her face due to the scene she had just seen. But she could not complain. She knew very well what she was getting when she invited Aika Kiryuu to join her peerage.

One person that didn't like the scene had been Rias Gremory. The vision of Aika Kiryuu giving such a s*xy kiss to her paw, Issei Hyoudou, had bothered her more than she could imagine and she could not put her finger on the 'why' it had bothered her so much.

–

Time seemed to pass quickly again.

Aika and Issei had gone through the last 'step' during their extra exploration of Aika's new body and had drowned each other in the lustful bliss that was s*x. Even so, even with Aika now having such a body that fitted Issei's tastes so well, the girls' tastes had not changed and at the end of the day, both horny Devil teenagers agreed in becoming friends with benefits. Issei, much to his horror and pride, got mercilessly teased by Akeno Himejima about his new experience while getting the impression from the older girl that she very much wanted to develop some experience in the field too.

Three weeks after the Rating Game with Rizer Phenex, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri received an official announcement coming from Satan Leviathan's Office. Some fragments of the Holy Sword Excalibur had been stolen from their wielders with the probable culprit being the rogue Fallen Angel Kokabiel. Since one of the last known activities from the rogue Fallen Angel had been in the city of Kuoh, the Church would be sending two of their members to investigate the place and search for any clues regarding his activities. Both Governors were expected to not attack the investigators without probable cause and, at the same time, keep an open eye on them.

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a/n: About Aika's body development, it is my idea that the Devils, being the embodiments of sin that they are, have some help from their magic and nature to develop their bodies to the 'perfect' shape that each one of them envisioned. So, a new devil, that is maturing, will be having fast changes on their bodies. Much faster than any normal human would have. Aika, who was a somewhat plain girl while human, after becoming a Devil, would have her body slowly change to fit her idea of a perfect body.