Chapter 37 - 36

Both teenagers sat in the hospital bed, exhausted.

"... Do you really have to be so sullen? It is just one loss, not such a big deal." One of them said.

"Yeah right, if I was not restrained so much I would have beaten you black and blue. I demand a rematch!" Soma said with a slight pout of annoyance on his face.

Sairaorg just laughed it off.

"Fine by me, but I have no intention of losing either. Besides, I learned a lot from this fight and want to try fighting you again, and if you want to go all out maybe I should bring out a little extra from my side as well." Sairaorg said, wondering if he should try facing Soma while using his Longinus.

Sure, he normally wouldn't even consider it, but the gains from fighting Soma were far too great and maybe he could get inspiration and grow better while using Regulus if he fought with it against Soma.

"... Come with everything you have and I will do the same. Besides, don't worry about injuries or whatever, in this world, there is nothing I cannot heal." Soma said smugly, making Sairaorg laugh.

"Hahahaha, you really are one prideful person. It is almost like you actually are better at healing than at fighting with how you say it."

"Humph, I am not giving out empty boasts here. If there is a better healer in the world, I want to see it and learn from said healer. Besides, even death doesn't mean much to me if I have all needed resources, much less small stuff like lost limbs or stuff like that. It is super easy, barely an inconvenience." Soma just humphed at this and didn't say anything more.

"Oh really?" Sairaorg said, not believing him.

"Yeah."

As Sairaorg heard the matter of fact tone that Soma spoke, as if his words were the most natural facts, his mind blanketed for a moment as he thought about Soma's words.

He wanted to speak some more, but was interrupted as the doors were opened and Riser entered the infirmary, beside him both Aya and Ravel.

"Bro, how are-"

"Soma-kun, are you okay? Want me to bring us home?" Aya cut off Riser who felt his eyebrow twitch slightly. He was not used to being ignored, but he let it go since this was Soma's friend/companion that came with him.

"I am fine, trust me. It was a nice sparing match and I am alright right now." Soma said while patting Aya's head.

Ravel looked down for a bit before giving a courtesy and speaking.

"On behalf of House Phenex, I apologize for letting one of our guests receive such injuries due to internal matters of the family."

Soma, seeing her try to be all formal, smiled and spoke.

"That is fine, it is not that big of a deal and I even got to experience a bit more tonight. But, if you want to compensate me further, how about that date we talked about before you decide where we go and we share the bill?"

Ravel blushed as she heard this and stuttered a bit.

"W-W-Well, if t-that is what you want, I can make the sacrifice and reluctantly agree to it." She said while trying to act coy even if no one was buying it.

The only one who had a slightly sour expression was Aya who turned to Soma with pleading eyes, startling him for a moment before he spoke.

"Aya-chan, we can go eat out later as well, how about it?"

Smiling shyly she just nodded her head.

Riser, seeing this, gave a wry smile as he knew his sister clearly had competition. Well, now that she would mind it anyway, Phenexes are known for having too great a sex drive and liking multiple partners and Ravel is still exploring her sexuality and Riser has seen her giving glances to some of his Peerage members.

Of course, he did not want to know any details or information about it and wanted her to stay a pure virgin until she was at least 150 years old or married, but he was not blind to reality either, just wilful ignorant.

Yep, she has never had a single perverted thought in her life and Riser refuses to acknowledge otherwise.

Soma then turned to Riser and asked.

"So, what happened? Did you have to apologize in the end?"

Riser slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah, I apologized for my 'mistakes'. But at least I did not get the worse of it."

"Oh."

"Rias tried to say that I was too weak to warrant marrying her and some such nonsense because I 'lost' this honor duel. So I just asked, if she was so confident I was the weaker one between the two of us and unworthy of her, she just had to prove it right then and there on a fight between the two of us. She tried to push for a rating game, but I explained how I was merciful enough not to do it considering she only has five Peerage members and of them one is basically crippled by you, thanks by the way."

Soma just smirked.

"My pleasure."

"And of the four available one cannot be used as the little vampire cannot control his sac... why am I feeling a chill?" Riser said as killing intent oozed all over the infirmary.

The origin? Soma, of course.

"A vampire, you say? And where is such a dangerous being at exactly? I hope it is in the Underworld for security, possibly within dense and secure bounded fields that would stop any spread of its influence." Soma said calmly. Well, even if he said it calmly his killing intent now was no worse than the one he exuded when he was facing Issei, only calmer and more all-encompassing.

Vampires, or dead apostles as Soma knew them by, are dangerous abominations of the world that should be exterminated on sight. The only one he knew from the Throne that was not like that was Carmila, and she was a sadistic monster most of the time and liked bathing in the blood of humans.

On a good note though, she made great cookies sometimes and was a great teacher in the art of torture and blood control techniques, even if Soma was not that good at those. She said a few times he could just become a Dead Apostle like Zelretch if that was so since it wouldn't interfere in his research in regards to Heavens Feel, but Soma refused the notion entirely. Unless he was absolutely desperate he would not take that sort of step considering how dangerous it would be for himself and those around him.

Notwithstanding, as far as Soma knows vampires are beings that should be killed 99% of the time unless it was a proven beneficial one that did not hunt humans to serve as snacks and delighted in the production of Ghouls. One single dead apostle could mean the destruction of an entire town or potentially country, such a danger should not be left unchecked, or allowed to exist as far as Soma was concerned.

Feeling the coldness and power Soma was emanating, Riser did not speak further for a while due to the sheer killing intent Soma was emanating. Ravel trembled the slightest bit as she was slightly touched by the killing intent while Aya did not feel it at all.

Sairarog was the one to speak next.

"Soma, do not worry. As far as I understand it was not quite a vampire but a damhpir that is a servant of Rias and she has it sealed due to not being able to control its power, but it is gentle and kind in nature."

"Well, at least it is sealed." Soma said, wondering if she had at least put the thing in a coffin of silver and how many layers of seals she let it be surrounded by. Personally, he hoped at least 47 barriers of various effects to make it unable to exert any strength and influence in its surroundings.

"And she has it under watch with her in Kuoh academy." Sairaorg said and, just like that, Soma's killing intent returned together with anger over such incompetence as his mind was running through zombie apocalypse scenario after zombie apocalypse scenario and thinking if the dumb red head was actually stupid enough to let a damn dead apostle in a human city, and in a damn school of all things!

How many layers of security would she even have considering he could walk around setting up his own security in the place (when he attacked the Student Council) without anyone noticing? Incompetence and stupidity, that is what this is.

Sairaorg, seeing Soma's reaction spoke up.

"Calm down, I can take you to meet that little fella and you can see it is no danger."

Soma, hearing this, looked coldly at Sairaorg before speaking.

"You can take me there, but the judge if it is a danger or not will be myself."

Sairaorg sighed, this new friend of his had far too much pride. Really, he was like a devil at heart that happens to be human in body.

Riser, seeing that things calmed down, continued to speak.

"Anyway, since she only really has three Peerage members she can use for now and can't win against me in a rating game but still was claiming I am too weak, I just asked if she wanted to face me one on one. Bro, you had to see how fast she shut up and her turning to her brother for help. Thankfully lady Leviathan was there and she did not let him try and force some other ridiculous thing to justify it. Besides, I just said that, even if I was not worth it, who says SHE is worthy of choosing who the next Lord Gremory is? It would be her parents choosing again and the next one might not be as nice as me."

Seeing Riser's smug smile Soma chuckled, calmed down about the impending zombie apocalypse that might erupt at any time in Kuoh due to the stupid devil's decision.

"So, when is the wedding exactly?" Soma asked to make sure.

"Well, after this engagement ceremony is done with, unless the Gremory family wants to declare war on my family, which is stupid as it would mean a potential civil war reigniting since my clan is the richest and hers in the top three greatest influence in our society, or one of us die, the marriage will go down in a few months." Riser said and Soma nodded before speaking.

"Fine, but do not count on my fighting again on your wedding night, at most I prefer to fight on the sheets with some bridesmaid or something." Soma said as a joke and Riser laughed while believing this as a fact 100%.

Aya, as the only human, was a bit embarrassed but she ignored this. Soma was a good person in her eyes and heart so he isn't doing anything bad, right?

"So, how about if we give you some Phenex Tears and have you healed up for the party." Riser said and Soma shook his head.

"No need, I can heal myself at any time by now with what I have on hand." Soma said.

Riser raised a brow as he heard this and spoke up.

"If that is so, then why are you still here?"

"Because the beds are comfortable and I don't want to deal with nobles ogling me like if I was a piece of meat." Soma said, already imagining how the devil nobles would swarm him wanting him to join their peerage.

Nope, too annoying. He would much rather just stay in this comfortable bed with Aya and Ravel by his sides, that would be much more comfortable.

As Riser heard this he sighed before speaking.

"Fine, you can stay here for now but I need you out in the hall during the ending dance and for the bachelor party. I have to reward you for the help you gave me this time around and before as well." Riser said and Soma perked up slightly as he heard of a bachelor party.

He normally would be worried about a devil's bachelor party, but considering it is Riser he rather doubted anything bad was gonna happen besides the kind of 'bad' that Soma enjoyed.

As for Sairaorg, he tuned out the rest of the conversation as a certain thought kept repeating itself on his head.

'Can he heal my mother?'

///---///

"Thank you all for coming to this special day for houses Gremory and Phenex." Riser Phenex said while, by his side, a very sullen and displeased Rias tried to pretend she wasn't even there anymore.

All the guests were smiling at the scene, equaling Rias to just a spoiled little princess who many of them wanted to please from how cute she looked now. On the distance Lords Gremory and Phenex were a bit uncomfortable at this scene as they did not originally want to show up at this party as to let the focus of the party be their kids, but after the challenge was made both came with their respective wives to watch over it and stop anything in case everything got out of hand.

Really, Rias' chances of canceling this were nil to none from the start, depending a lot on getting public opinion on her side and her brother pulling the string. But, with Serafal stopping Sirzechs from interfering further due to the risk of war and letting Rias be the one to try and convince others of how right she was, she could only achieve something if she could defeat Riser directly since both her Peerage members lost in terrible and humiliating ways due to being overpowered by the opposition.

Sure, Riser's Queen lost to her own, but the victory was by basically cheating in the fight by using holy lightning AND cheap shotting her. They were clearly equal in power, so calling Riser's Peerage member weak is an over exaggeration by all means, and Riser had all 15 pieces while Rias only had three able-bodied ones.

It was as Serafal said, regardless of the result of the competition the marriage would happen, and even if Rias won the victory was with the smallest of margins anyway.

"Now, let me and my beautiful bride open the dancefloor." Riser said, giving his hand for Rias to take as the two went to the dance floor.

The dance was very stiff and uncomfortable, but they were two beautiful people and were trained in such things in their youth so it was not all that terrible.

After a while of the two dancing more people went to the dance floor as well, becoming rather lively overall.

Soma, who had left the comfy bed by now, went to search for someone to dance. Normally he would take either Aya or Ravel, but Soma thought it wise to let Aya rest a bit more and stay far away from the devils who might have bad thoughts, and Ravel stayed with her as she did not trust anyone coming to Aya to find an issue. Besides, Diamond had presented itself to the two and was having an animated talk with Ravel about how to make Aya look better, what make-up to use, and fashion.

Gods, Soma hated fashion. He knew about it enough as to know about disguises, but he still hated it in general.

As Soma was searching for a dance partner, someone actually got to him first and touched his shoulder.

Turning, Soma was surprised to see that it was Serafal there who was actually using a Mahou shoujo costume of all things. She wanted to speak, but Soma decided to take the initiative considering the situation in general.

"Care for a dance?" Soma said with his most charming smile, one he had spent at least 80 hours practicing with that crazy bitch Kiyara and that lovable spy Mata Hari, both would not shut up until he found the most perfect charming smile and could use it at a moment's notice.

Serafal, who wanted to ask something else, was slightly dazed by that smile and nodded her head without thinking. Needless to say, Kiyara and Mata Hari knew what they were doing in regards to seduction in general.

Taking Serafal's hand in his Soma put his arm around her waist and began to guide her on the dance floor.

They danced for a good while, attracting many gazes as both were quite noticeable by now. One was a Satan, the other was a human that, even while limited by several rules, was at least equal to the strongest devil of this generation.

After a bit of dancing Soma couldn't help but speak.

"It seems like you like Mahou Shoujos, isn't it?"

Serafal, looking at her own clothes actually chuckled and said.

"What gave you a clue?" She said with a playful smile that Soma answered by rolling his eyes.

"The fact I am not blind, perhaps?"

Serafal giggled a bit before speaking.

"Hey, I heard from So-tan about why you attacked her."

"Oh."

"Yeah, she wouldn't stop until she told me everything. She is far too dedicated sometimes, I tell you." Serafal said while shaking her head at the stubbornness of her sister, which was rather like her own even if she didn't like admitting to it. "Anyway, you do realize that, if you had killed Sona, you would have died too, right?"

Soma did not say anything, he knew he was far too hasty but he was still somewhat confident he could have escaped anyway.

Serafal, interpreting his silence as admitting he would die for doing that, looked down as she spoke.

"... You really care for your family, huh."

"Of course I do, if it is for my family I'd even fight the Gods... and slaughter them all." Soma said instantaneously and without preamble or hesitation.

He knew it was saying too much, but he would find some way to do it or die trying in a blaze of glory, like a hero.

Serafal gave a sad smile.

"Yeah, and I would do the same for my sister."

The two were silent for a while before Serafal spoke up again as if to return to her normal way of acting.

"Anyway, do you know where that magical girl is? I was searching for her." Serafal said with some excitement in her voice.

"... What would you want to talk to her about?" Soma said defensively and Serafal realized that it would not like good to ask him this now.

Truly, she got so giddy with finding a true magical girl that she lost notion in regards to who she was talking with. She had seen what Soma did to that little pervert, and she was not stupid enough to not realize how protective he clearly was with the girl.

"I just wanted to ask her how she became a Mahou Shoujo and talk with her a bit."

Soma looked at her for a bit before speaking.

"... She lives with me, you can come to visit if you want." He said knowing that, if it was in his home, he wouldn't fear even if this Satan had bad intentions.

Anything below the level of that dragon he buried would not be able to do anything much in his house, and even those stronger would be hard-pressed to be any true threat.

Serafal, not knowing the state of how his house is, only smile and nodded happily, until she heard his next few words.

"And about how she became a Mahou Shoujo, I made the stick she is using." Soma said easily enough, making Serafal freeze.

"... What?" She said and Soma shrugged.

"I wanted to make sure she was safe and protected, and while her gear is good for run away, it is not good enough in my eyes." Soma said.

"... Tell me this, if you wanted to make her a strong gear for defense and power, then why was it a Mahou Shoujo." She asked and Soma sighed.

He had the meaning of 'why' the kaleidosticks had to be Mahou Shoujo transformation devises hammered in his mind enough to make it all but instantaneous as to why it was so.

"Because Mahou Shoujo is the ultimate and strongest power in the multiverse." Or so says Zelretch, that crazy vampire fucker.

As for Serafal, her mind was blown as she realized something.

She found her Soul Mate, her destined one, because what if not destiny that brought two of the greatest minds of this world together that together reached such an ultimate truth? And someone so like her, it was uncanny.

Holding tight she did not let Soma end this dance as of now, she still wanted to talk more with him, dancing happily to the tune.