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Chapter 239: Interlude 11

"Rias – "

I just needed to shape it a little bit, feed in my Demonic Power and force it back into shape. Then... "HAAAH!" I shouted, throwing my Power of Destruction away, destroying a few dozen trees. I let out a long breath, falling to the ground.

"RIAS!" I heard a shout behind me.

"Sona?" I blinked. "When did you get here?"

"I\'ve been calling your name for fifteen minutes, Rias. I couldn\'t get close because you were throwing around your Power of Destruction!" She looked annoyed

"I was training." I huffed, trying to stand up, but my legs were still wobbly.

"I noticed." She snorted, reaching over and helped me up. "Rias, look at you, you\'re a mess."

"What? Am I supposed to be clean after doing my training?\'

"That\'s not what I mean and you know it." Sona glared. "Look how many cuts you have.....and you can barely stand. You\'re completely exhausted, this can\'t be healthy to push yourself like this everyday."

"I did just a light workout then practiced my Power of Destruction, it\'s not that big a deal." I waived her off.

"Rias, are you going to fall if I let go?"

"....no?"

She raised an eyebrow and I looked away. "A light workout, huh?

"What\'s the big deal!? We\'re supposed to push ourselves to get stronger." I started to get feeling back in my legs.

"Yes, and it\'s a gradual process. Destroying yourself every day isn\'t healthy. Look, your calves are swollen! You\'ve been working yourself to exhaustion, then emptying all your Demonic Power to the point where you have nothing left. How are you supposed to heal properly if you have absolutely no energy after destroying your body?" She gestured around us where the area was completely destroyed.

"It works, I\'ve gotten better. I wasn\'t able to put out that much power a couple weeks ago." I pointed out.

"That\'s not the point." Sona sighed. "We\'re not Humans, Rias, we\'re a fair bit sturdier than them.. However we also have our own limits, and you\'re completely ignoring them. I certainly don\'t fault you for trying to get stronger, but you\'re being reckless about it."

"I don\'t see the issue." I hesitantly took a step away from her arms. "See, I\'m good."

Sona pushed her glasses with a look that said she didn\'t believe me. She raised a finger and shot a ball of water at my forehead, I immediately fell back down and couldn\'t get back up.

"Oh, Rias." Sona sighed again, looking at me before sitting down on the ground next to me. "Rias, we\'re friends."

"It feels like you\'re about to break up with me." I shot her a smirk.

"Rias, I\'m being serious."

I let out another long sigh. "I know, Sona. Just say what you want to say."

"Rias, why do you think I\'m here, right now? This is a property your family owns, why would I just show up?" She waived her arms around. "Your queen – Akeno, asked me to talk some sense into you. You\'ve been j neglecting your other duties, and as soon as you have free time, you\'ve disappeared to train."

"Why are people getting upset that I\'m training!? My parents made a huge deal that I was being lazy, now that I\'m not, it\'s suddenly an issue!?" I shouted in annoyance.

"Rias, that\'s not what everyone\'s worried about. You constantly come to school covered in bandages, exhausted and sleeping in class. You\'ve pushed your duties off to Akeno, and haven\'t managed the territory at all in a few weeks."

"I\'ve been busy. I don\'t have much longer before my Marriage is supposed to happen." I scowled. "I refuse to marry someone that\'s not someone I choose. If I have to go through this every day, then I will."

After thinking about it, I realized I didn\'t really hate Riser.....mostly. I hate what he represented, the fact that my choice in a husband was taken from me without my consent. I was supposed to be the heir to the family, and I\'m being forced to marry someone against my will.

"Rias, if you want help with training, I\'m always here. I saw you practicing your Power of Destruction, you know I\'m better at control and Magic than you are. I would have quite a few ways to help you in that regard. Not to mention, Koneko and Kiba have a better understanding of the physical portions, why aren\'t you using them?"

That\'s....a good point, though I could only bite my lip in embarrassment. "I just...."

"Wanted to do it on your own?" Sona offered.

"It sounds stupid when said out loud." I sighed.

"Rias, what\'s wrong?" Sona asked.

"Nothings wrong." I pulled my knees in, curling up. "I\'m just tired of being treated like I\'m weak. You know that Riser sent me a letter? Basically, told me that I might as well just get married now and save myself the hassle." While I didn\'t hate Riser for his \'part\' in my forced marriage, I hate that he\'s an insufferable ass.

"Since when do you listen to Riser? We\'ve gone to plenty of parties and different gatherings where he runs his mouth and you usually ignore him." Sona replied. "No. You started getting more into your training, but you really started going overboard recently. Is this about Takao – Wilhelm again?"

"It\'s not." I denied.

"Rias....why are you so hung up on him?"

"I\'m not!"

"Rias...."

"It\'s just.....I don\'t know." I don\'t know why his situation made me so...annoyed. "I felt like I did something wrong. If I was nice to him, and didn\'t pretend like he wasn\'t there, do you think he would have still ran away? I felt like it was my fault, that I should have done something more. And I was so worried about him. Then, he keeps popping up doing these ridiculous things and it felt like a slap in the face."

"So you\'re pride was hurt?" She looked at me. "I can relate in that regard. Don\'t forget, he blew me up and I will certainly pay him back for that. But you\'re hung up on him in a different way."

"No...maybe? I don\'t know." I sighed, it was difficult to put into words. "I know it\'s stupid. I felt like...it\'s not fair. How long had he been training for? He\'s only been aware of the supernatural for....weeks, months. And now, we find out he fought a God and walked away!? What the hell have I been doing my whole life!?"

No one could even answer me on how he got so strong. It\'s like it just happened overnight and they\'re all confused too. He won\'t even talk to us at this point, not that I could blame him. I could literally take a bus to where he\'s staying, but I know I\'d be kicked out immediately. It took some work to find out what actually happened with Okita since everyone was trying to keep the rumors from being spread. I only knew that they fought each other, and Wilhelm was the winner.

"There\'s even rumors of him using the Power of Destruction." I buried my head into my arms. "The images are blurry, but it looked kinda similar....." I said quietly. "He wasn\'t supposed to be able to do that. And If he can even do that, then what am I even worth?"

"Rias." Sona put a hand on my shoulder.

"I know what you\'re going to say." I sighed again. "I know it\'s stupid and all that its just –"

"I feel that way about my sister sometimes." Sona interjected. "It seems like no matter how hard I try, she\'s always so far ahead of me in everything and it looks so easy for her. She prances around dressed up like she does, handles all her duties to my begrudged admiration, and still is so strong that I can\'t even put it into words. How am I supposed to match up to that?"

I knew that Sona had some envy towards Serafall, but I didn\'t realize they extended that far.... "I wanna be better." I muttered. "I feel like a joke and I hate it. I used to be so proud of my title – being called the Crimson Haired Ruin Princess, it made me feel special. Now though, it feels like people are laughing at me when it\'s mentioned."

"Then let\'s be better." She smiled. "I know what I need to work on. But you need to start using your peerage better. There\'s no excuse for how much you\'ve ignored them."

"Ugg I know." I groaned. "Mom and dad already got after me about that awhile ago. I guess I just got so caught up in my own stuff that I never bothered to even care about it." I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"How is your family?" Sona inquired.

"Better, I guess." If it could be called that. "Brothers not....acting weird much anymore. It was strange to see him like that. I think Grayfia finally talked some sense into him. Though, it\'s still a bit of a sore subject around him and he just goes silent whenever it\'s mentioned."

"I\'m sure the rumors going around aren\'t helping that." Sona muttered. "And it wasn\'t ever something we could have hidden. At this point, the whole underworld knows about Wilhelm and the fact that he fought Susanoo. A lot of people are asking about him."

I can\'t even browse the Devil.net without people talking about him. People asking questions why he wasn\'t seen around us, why he\'s never been spotted in the underworld. It wasn\'t hard to put two and two together.

What are we even supposed to say? \'Sorry, you know that son of the current Lucifer, the one who fought a literal God, yeah we fucked that up and he doesn\'t like us, sorry.

And the Old Satan Faction was using it as an opportunity to drag us through the mud. It\'s even more ridiculous considering that they despise Half-Devils.

"I\'ve been hounded a few times myself." I ran a hand through my hair, removing some dirt. "Sairaorg actually asked about him too, wanted to go meet him."

"Oh Satans, that would only end up badly."

"What, you think they\'d not like each other and fight or something?" I asked.

"No, I think they\'d get along well, and then get into a fight for fun." She deadpanned. "That muscle head is...admittedly very likable in his bluntness, so I\'m sure they\'d get along if Wilhelm wasn\'t so....distant."

Distant? I guess that\'s one way to say it. He ran away from us and refused to even respond to any letters. Mom said she sent him one and he\'s yet to respond, so there\'s very little hope on that front.

"No use in thinking about it now." I looked up at the sky, the clouds were starting to get a little dark. "I should probably head back."

"You okay?" She asked with concern in her eyes. "I can help you if you want."

"I can walk on my own now." I slowly stood up. "Besides, if my peerage saw you carrying me in, they\'d just worry even more." I shook my head.

"Before you go, I did have something to talk about – in regards to being the other overseer of the city."

"Hmm?"

"Got a call from Serafall, we\'re not allowed to leave Kuoh for the time being. Besides going back to the underworld, that is."

I blinked at that. "What?"

"Yeah, she said that it isn\'t a good time to be interacting with the Youkai right now or rather, anyone under the Shinto umbrella. And I don\'t have to say to not go over to Kyoto, right?"

I let out an indignant huff. "I\'m not stupid." I crossed my arms. Though....I heard Grayfia offhandedly say that brother considered that at some point.... "I\'m not going to go over there and start shouting for Wilhelm." I rolled my eyes.

"It isn\'t just that." She stated. "I\'m talking about the political aspect. Wilhelm fought a God, Rias. That isn\'t something anyone can ignore. He went from some \'nobody\' to front and center on the world stage. And from what I\'ve understood, and some hints from Serafall, he\'s thrown his lot in with the Youkai faction."

"Yeah...I read some stuff about Wilhelm and Yasaka being in a relationship." I thought over what she said. "I guess they went from some third-rate faction that needed the backing of the Shinto Pantheon to being something we have to keep an eye on."

It wasn\'t really a secret that they weren\'t very powerful. Their strongest were their two leaders that each ruled over half of Japan\'s Youkai. Yet, neither of them would be a real match against any of our Satans. Throw Wilhelm into that mix, and suddenly they have a lot more weight to throw around.

"It\'s not just him either." Sona looked hesitant to say anything. "Serafall told me a secret, so don\'t go spreading it around. There was talk about someone who was supposed to be dead popping up in Kyoto alongside him."

"Someone supposed to be dead? That isn\'t really weird, don\'t we have – "

"No. I mean dead, dead. Not reincarnated or anything like that. As in this person was supposed to have been killed during the Great War, and it was well known."

"Who?" I was a little curious now. She sounded really serious.

"How good is your Irish mythology? Specifically, the Ulster Cycle."

I gave her a dry look. "Seriously?"

"You need to keep up with other factions more, Rias. You\'re going to be the head of your family at some point, you can\'t be ignorant of these powers. One of theirs is in the top 10 strongest in the world, someone who can fight your brother with the possibility of winning." She glared at me.

"Lugh, right?"

"Satans, alteast you know that." She sighed.

"Alright, so who\'s this mystery person?"

"Scáthach, the woman who trained Lugh\'s son – the Irish Hercules. And one of the few people in the world who claimed the title of Godslayer."

There was a moment of silence as she waited for my response.

".....I only vaguely remember the name."

"Dammit, Rias." Sone facepalmed. "Go read when you get back!"

"Fine." I huffed, sticking my tongue out at her. I brushed myself off, even if I still looked like a mess. "...can you create a teleport circle for me? I\'m kinda out of juice here..." I said sheepishly.

Sona broke out into a fit of giggles before creating one on the ground.

***

I stepped out into the club room back at school. I saw my peerage all looking at me.

"Rias!"

"Buchou."

"Senpai!"

Several shouts rang out and I realized how much I made them worry. "Everyone\'s here." I gave them a smile.

"Sona managed to talk some sense into you?" Akeno crossed her arms with a huff.

"Yeah..." I sighed. "We had a talk, and I realized I wasn\'t going about this the right way."

"Good." Akeno smiled before stepping over and wrapping me up in a hug. "It was getting horrible having to deal with all the paperwork!"

"Oh, you\'re still doing that." I deadpanned. "You did such a good job managing everything, think of it as a promotion!" I patted her shoulder with a smile.

"Noooo, Rias!" Akeno began to cry on my shoulder.

"There, there. I\'ll send you over to Sona for lessons on how to manage everything." She just cried harder, but my smile couldn\'t be bigger. Tease me will you?

"Rias okay?" Koneko asked, and I had to resist the urge to rub her head.

"I\'m good, just a bit tired." I reassured her before looking at both Issei and Kiba who were a bit more reserved. Well, I think Issei just didn\'t know how react without shouting and Kiba seemed to be acting as his minder.

I let out a sigh before taking some heavy steps over to the sofa. "Alright everyone, I have some things to talk about. This is mostly for you Issei, since you\'re relatively new." I adopted an even smile, even if I felt a little bit anxious talking about it. "I have an arranged marriage, and the wedding date is coming up."

"WHAT!?" Issei blurted out.

"Yes." I said dryly. "As you might expect, I\'m not too happy about it myself. I\'ll be challenging it, but it\'ll come down to a rating game. I\'ve been throwing myself at my training since....." I paused but let out another sigh. "Ever since I saw Wilhelm fight, I couldn\'t help it, but Sona pulled me out of my slump."

"Hard to believe that he was sitting in class here not that long ago." Kiba muttered. "I even got some inspiration for my Sacred Gear based on what I saw him doing."

"Strong." Koneko said simply.

"That handsome! I\'ll get stronger than him, then I\'ll build my own harem! How dare he take those foxy oppai for himself!" Issei exclaimed.

Of course he\'d focus on that....

Maybe I shouldn\'t have given him access to the Devil.net?

But it was a weird thing to think about, how I technically have a great niece now, even if it wasn\'t by blood. And it just further added to my depression with how I was so ambivalent towards him before. I\'ll never be able to pet the cute fox now.

"So...." I decided to carry on. "We\'re going to train, and we\'re going to win. It\'ll be our debut and I want everyone to see how amazing you all are." I turned to Kiba. "You have a better grasp of physical training, so I want you to think up a training regime for us in that aspect."

"Will do, Buchou." Kiba nodded.

"Akeno." I called out.

"Here, Rias." She stood up straight.

"You\'re the best one here when it comes to magic and control. I want you to create a training regime to help all of us better control our Demonic Power. I\'m too used to throwing mine around without a second thought. Issei here is a completely newbie –" Which is admittedly my fault.... "Koneko is too used to using it just to punching things out of existence. We need to learn to use it more efficiently."

"I\'ll get started."

I clapped my hands. "Riser Phenex, he\'s the man who\'s our target. Right now, our biggest weakness is our stamina. The Phenex clan have the most ridiculous regeneration, so they can simply wait us out. While we can\'t play that game, we can atleast minimize how effective it is while devising strategies."

I looked around the room once more. "Issei, you have a secondary job. You\'re going to read up on all the information I give you about Rating Games alongside everyone else familiarizing themselves with the public knowledge about Riser and his peerage."

I neglected him for too long.....I can only hope that these next few months are enough to whip him into fighting shape.

Maybe I should see about Koneko using her true power and Akeno using her Fallen Angel half before the game?

And then there\'s Gasper....

So much to do.

Still, it felt good...

Before, I was barely making progress, even as I collapsed after my \'training\' each time. But for some reason, I felt like I had now taken a bigger step forward now.

Maybe seeing Wilhelm like that, it was just the kick I needed.

***

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