Chapter 15

The once quiet arena started bursting with activity. A heavy oppression filled the air as the smell of blood and sweat permeating the air. The temperature kept on rising, as if someone was trying to roast the audience.

As the audience was getting rowdier Ryuu was half kneeling in pain. Even with all his training he couldn't help but grimace and groan as he knelt. He was riddled with injuries caused by a blade, but the biggest issue was the sword that pierced the right side of his chest.

Not only was it being an inconvenience in the fight, it also brought great pain and released what looks to be poison into his wound. As time went on this poison would heightened his sense of pain making him understand just what kind of a*shole he was dealing with right now.

Despite all that Ryuu's excitement was soaring, after all this is what he needed: the pain, the pressure, the rush! He would finally break out of his egg and start walking the Path of the Dragon!

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A few days earlier

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Ryuu was currently strolling through the market once more, seemingly in deep thought. He was gathering information on his opponent, turns out he'd fight a pretty well accomplished swordsman.

Like everytime he leaves his home he was under the effects of the Transformation jutsu. His long pitch black hair reverted back into a dark brown, in place of his shining golden eyes he once again had his subtle amber ones' which were just as unusual though gaining him a fair bit of attention.

(A/N: The Transformation jutsu is purely for plot convenience. I have been made aware that it should've been added elsewhere in past chapters as well, but I'm not gonna do that. I know it sucks but I feel that the moment I try to come up with something to add or change in the past chapters I'll either end up trying to rework it all or just drop it because it annoys and embarrasses me. I hope you can forgive me)

Regardless of the state of his surroundings Ryuu just tried to enjoy his freetime trying new stalls and looking for new and interesting innovations. After all, while the Underworld is several times more advanced then Earth, it still wasn't modern by any means.

During his exploration he was suddenly met with an urge to perform. Ryuu had always held a love for music, but he quickly realised that the devil race wasn't all that into arts.

A random idea popped inside his head: what if he were to perform on the streets to introduce some classics like Elvis or Michael Jackson. After all they did leave a huge mark on humanity during their time.

He eventually settled on "Burning Love" by Elvis Presley. Walking right into the middle of the market square he stood before the beautfiul fountain. Suddenly, a lot of different items popped out of nowhere.

It was a unique use of summoning magic. Ryuu has been trying to replicate an inventory or personal dimension, but simply lacked the raw energy to create them. So he had come up with something different.

He setup a room inside the Leviathan manor, where he carved a permanent summoning circle onto the floor. In order to get the items in and out of the room all he had to do was call upon the summoning circle.

In order to keep everything clean and organised he had his clone check the room periodically. The convenience his clone brought him went up a notch, and his appreciation: through the roof!

The items Ryuu called upon were an entchanted guitar, a speaker and a microphone. The guitar was modelled after the Gibson J200, the original vintage one. His equipment had two runes as their base, memory storage and memory replication.

Using his memories as guidlines, Ryuu uses the runes to emulate the different sounds he was used to hear. In a way the speaker alone could handle his impressive song library alone, but that would beat the purpose.

Instead of pursuing music and promoting it, people would just try to acquire the speaker. It was after all a very nifty little product.

Ryuu was already starting to attract curious glances the moment he walked up to the fountain. Something about his presence just tickeled the passerbys attention.

They failed to realise, that Ryuu placed some easy to replicate Harry Potter style spells onto himself and his surroundings. A confunding charm to attract attention and a glamour to boost his presence.

When everything was setup he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The crowd that was forming around him looked curiously. It wasn't everyday that things outside their usual routine was happening here in the main territory of the Sitri family.

While some were marveling at him and his equipment, some were feeling different emotions. Contempt, ridicule and lastly greed. Many in the crowd seemed to know that Ryuu was using some good stuff made of expensive materials. Given their unusal form and function they'd net a pretty good price.

Deciding to ignore everything surrounding him Ryuu started his perfomance. When they heard the sounds the instruments made they were first astounded, then confused and lastly amazed. After all they'd never seen or heard anything like this and didn't know what to anticipate.

With a little use of magic on his vocal chords, Ryuu didn't just cover Elvis, he replicated him. It didn't take long for the crowd to grow bigger. People were starting to let go of everything and just enjoy the rhythm.

If anyone from the authorities could see what was happening just now, they'd be beyond words. It was the first time since the civil war they'd seen such a happy and passionate atmosphere since the war.

The war took more than just devils and families, it had also taken a huge part of the culture and passion of their people. Even now, nearly sixteen years later people still didn't dare leaving their houses when it wasn't necessary.

Ryuu's actions today might have just sparked the light buried inside everyone once more. Halfway through the song the women in the crowd were getting especially energetic. Ryuu could feel the feelings and emotions in his surroundings lighten up and decided to turn the single perfomance into a full blown concert.

Stall owners with their incredible business acumen used this chance to promote their wares: food, beverages and even clothing to the people.

The quiet and somewhat dry market day suddenly turned into a beacon of passion and hope. The after effects it would have on devils and society would only be surpassed by the official release of the Evil Pieces.

Right now, no one had any worries. The past was simply forgotten, even if only for a moment. People would start remembering this man in front of them for a long, long time.

As always not everyone was with good intention. Many were already busy contacting their employers and backers, trying to make plans to maximise personal profifts, not that they would have any chances to stirr trouble in Sitri territory, considering the satan-damned Maou Leviathan was living closeby.

Some thought about stealing this guys equipment, thinking whatever Ryuu is doing is a hundred percent depended on it and that they could easily replicate everything.

The most interesting reaction came from the people that recognised Ryuus' disguised face as the fighter that popped the king of the middle-ranks head like a balloon.

The sheer contrast between his two identities made most of them laugh. They knew whoever was trying to plot against him was in for a rude awakening.

The people of the underground arena were just waiting for the musical perfomance to end so that a new one could start. One that would bring them even more entertainment.