Rias and Orion were alone in the room once Akeno left to gather the members of her Peerage.
"Hey, Rias. Could you set up an official identity for me in this place? Get me some money as well. I want to explore the city."
"Do you have experience with human society?"
"Yeah," Orion nodded. "I won't cause you any trouble. Don't worry."
"Sure, just remind me after the meeting, and I will contact Sona to set you up in your own apartment and everything."
"I'll just live at your place. I am primarily bonded with you anyway," he said. "Just get me some money so that I can explore the city freely and get a feel for everything here."
"Something I'm curious about…" Rias said. "Do you have a main body? Your current form emerged from me, and you were able to split yourself into a smaller part to send into Akeno. Do you know how this works?"
"…" Orion didn't say anything for a few seconds, looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes and a playful smile on his face. "Were you probing me when you automatically assumed that I could split myself and leave a piece on Akeno?" He called her out.
"Well… I just assumed," The icy exterior Rias had suddenly broken, and she looked away from him to hide her embarrassment. "Apologies."
"Don't try to be a schemer, Rias, especially not with me. You won't like it when I start reciprocating," he said emotionlessly, unaffected by her expression. "As for your question, my main body is inside you. Even if this form gets destroyed, I will be able to reform through my main body inside you."
"Would it weaken you?"
"Good question," Orion said, without any intention to continue.
"I'm being nosy, sorry," she said, standing up and bowing at him. "Can you help me out with another magic circle? It won't take too long."
"Don't be so polite with me, Rias," Orion said. "It makes me embarrassed. I'd rather that we address each other casually. Just keep in mind that this is an equal partnership between the two of us. Tell me about the circle."
"I want to make some subtle modifications to the Territorial Authority system in Kuoh. The core of the condensing spell is under the school, with two control tethers that lead to the Occult Research Clubroom and the Student Council Room. They help Sona and me remotely do many things. That's why I put so much importance on my identity as the Club President."
"Share the design with me," Orion said with a nod as Rias transmitted the image to him through their telepathic connection.
"Since I am no longer sending the authority that is concentrated on me back to the Underworld, I need to make sure that they don't notice it. Hence, my modification. It will divide the authority that Sona is entitled to in half, to be sent to both the Gremory and Sitri clans equally. Using your body as a medium will significantly reduce the amount of demonic energy that I need to expend. By the time they notice the reduced quantities, they will have far more problematic things to deal with than this."
Orion didn't say anything as black lines started extending from his feet all the way to the edges of the room, even covering parts of the walls.
"Once I activate the spell, maintain the circle for around five minutes. My modifications will be complete by then," Rias said once the circle was completed.
Her hands glowed with a faint crimson before she kneeled and pressed her palm on the circle that Orion had formed. The crimson spread through the entire circle, giving the black color a red tint, but that was all her energy did. She barely expended twenty units of her demonic energy before pulling back, but Orion realized that the circle was still receiving magical energy from the air around the circle.
How interesting… Is she using ambient mana to power the spell, or does it have to do with this room itself? At the very least, the magic she's using seems to go a lot deeper than the surface-level stuff I saw in the anime. Maybe they give more information in the novels, who knows?
The magic red tint all over the black circle started intensifying by the second, soon enough completely taking over the black color and turning the circle red. It illuminated the entire room with a bright flash before disappearing, once again leaving Orion's black magic circle outline.
Pity, I didn't get another enhancement. I guess the previous enhancement had more to do with the fact that Rias was a part of the spell than the channeling of magic energy itself.
"Thank you," Rias said. "You can come back inside me, for now. I won't introduce you to anyone other than Akeno. It would be a pain to explain what kind of special training Akeno is doing if you show up."
"Understandable," Orion nodded and melted into slime that quickly jumped on Rias and was absorbed into her.
…
Time passed quickly as the members of Rias' Peerage slowly gathered in the clubroom.
The first person to arrive was a blonde man with a sleek build and an almost feminine face. Rias telepathically introduced him to Orion as Kiba, her Knight. Kiba was a swordsman equipped with a Sacred Gear that allowed him to create swords. The next two to arrive were a blonde girl with an innocent aura that seemed to contradict her Devil nature. Accompanying her was a boy with a messy head of brown hair who, upon seeing Rias, immediately fixed his eyes on her chest, completely disregarding her face. Rias didn't mind and even teased him by offering to let him touch them as he devolved into a bumbling mess, making her laugh cutely. However, Orion could sense the emotionless interior behind her offer and laughed as she mentally introduced them to him as Asia and Issei. The last person to arrive, along with Akeno, was a petite girl with white hair. Rias told Orion that she was Koneko, her Rook. While Orion didn't find any members of her peerage particularly exceptional aside from Rias and Akeno, Koneko had an oddly captivating aura that had nothing to do with her physical appearance.
[What's the deal with Koneko? I can't explain it, but she has an attractive aura that is tempting me to go over and test my abilities on her.]
[Maybe you are a pervert.]
[How dare you? She is adorable and lovable, and not an object of sexual desire. If anything, I want to protect her from any perverted gaze. Also, I'm definitely not as big a pervert as that bumbling mess of a Pawn that you have. The attraction I feel toward Koneko has nothing to do with her physical appearance. Does she have some kind of special lineage?]
[She is a Nekoshou, a subspecies of the Nekomata clan. They are considered to be among the strongest within the Nekomata. Being very close to nature, they can even use natural energy to augment their physical abilities. Maybe that's what attracts you.]
[Maybe…] Orion didn't continue the conversation.
"All right, everyone, be on your best behaviour, okay?" Rias announced. "This meeting is as much of a test for you all as the Rating Game will be. Do not act up, do not get frazzled by their words. That shows weakness. Also, especially don't act up physically, you will get beaten up and embarrass me. I will contact Grayfia. You all are to stand behind me. Understood?"
"Why do I feel like that was directed at me?" Issei whispered to Akeno.
"That's because it was, pervert-senpai," Koneko said before Akeno could respond. "You wear your heart on your sleeve and have no such thing as restraint. And you're weak enough that even one of the other side's pawns could beat you up."
"Quiet, now," Rias said calmly as a faint magic circle appeared on the floor opposite them. Unlike Rias' red circles, this one was pure white and emitted a momentary blinding glow before dissipating.
Rias directly looked at the blonde man who had appeared on the couch opposite her with only the coffee table separating them. He had a confident smile on his face that bordered on arrogance and wore a set of ostentatious red clothing that screamed his noble status to anyone who looked at him. Similar to Rias and her Peerage, the man's servants also stood behind his couch, sporting similarly arrogant expressions on their faces as if they looked down on both Rias and her servants.
"Akeno, please make some tea for my sister-in-law and him," Rias commanded before turning to the white-haired woman standing on the side with a subservient expression and her hands in front of her. "I hope there weren't any issues during the journey?"
"None, Rias-sama," Grayfia said and gestured to Riser. "Thank you for asking."
"How about we just skip this farce and you directly marry Riser, Rias?" The arrogant blonde man spoke up. "Looking at the rabble you have collected, it's clear none of them stand a chance against Riser's Peerage. You can't even make up a full roster with your current state."
"The only way for us not to have this battle is for you to forfeit, Riser. I thoroughly loathe the idea of marrying you and joining your harem of a Peerage that includes even your sister," Rias said coldly.
"I will not stand for this," One of Riser's servants flared up with agitation. "I am not a part of my elder brother's harem. I am merely a part of his Peerage to get some experience before I get my own Evil Pieces. This insinuation is frankly disgusting, Rias-sama."
"A-a harem…" Behind, Rias. Issei's eyes widened as he roamed his gaze along Riser's Peerage, all filled with one hot woman after another.
"Who is this snivelling idiot that you picked up, wife?" Riser asked tauntingly. "Do you think he will be able to help you tip the scales in your favor? By the looks of it, I just need to send one of my pawns to show him her tits and that will be enough to floor him."
"Who I've chosen as my servant is none of your business, Riser."
"Oh, but it is, wife." Riser sneered, standing up. "What is yours will be mine when we marry. I should know firsthand who is going to serve me in bed, along with you, and who is to be sent to the fighting pits. That little healer girl of yours should serve as an admirable cocksleeve after appropriate training."
"Okay, that's enough, you little chicken shit!" Issei shouted. With a green flash, a red gauntlet appeared on his arm. "Don't you talk about Asia like that!"
[BOOST]