The room went quiet when Serzechs Lucifer appeared.
It wasn’t dramatic. No thunder, no hellfire. Just a soft distortion of space and a ripple of heat—and then the Crimson Satan himself stood in the middle of Rael’s manor study, smiling as if he’d simply dropped by for tea.
Rael didn’t stand, but his posture straightened immediately.
Rias rolled her eyes. “Big brother. Always the grand entrance.”
“I walked in,” Serzechs said, amused. “No theatrics this time.”
“You still bent space like you were tying a knot,” Rael muttered.
Serzechs grinned. “Force of habit.”
After a few polite exchanges, Serzechs got to the point. He rarely wasted time when it mattered.
“You two are off to a strong start,” he said, pacing the room slowly. “Your peerages are forming. Your influence in the human world is stable. But you’re missing something critical.”
“Let me guess,” Rael said. “Contracts.”
“Bingo,” Serzechs said. “Your power as Kings isn’t just measured by your pieces. It’s measured by what you do with them.”
He gestured, and a small magical diagram floated in the air — a circle segmented like a dial.
“A devil's power is reinforced by recognition, relevance, and retionships,” he expined. “That’s where contracts come in. Every successful contract your peerage makes with humans increases their resonance with the world.”
Rias nodded. “So... PR and spiritual feedback.”
“Exactly,” Serzechs said. “Each 100 contracts improves a servant’s overall rating by roughly 10%. Power, magic flow, control — all of it. The more they serve, the stronger they become. It’s how we avoid stagnation.”
Rael leaned back, thinking. “So this isn’t just busywork. It’s training with feedback.”
“And power scaling,” Serzechs added. “You’ll need that edge when Rating Games begin.”
“Games,” Rael repeated. “You mean combat.”
“Yes,” Serzechs said with a smile. “But packaged nicely.”
That night, Rael briefed Aria.
She didn’t look thrilled.
“You want me to go grant wishes and sign pacts with humans?”
“I want you to grow stronger,” Rael said. “This is how.”
She crossed her arms. “What kind of people even ask for this stuff?”
“The desperate. The curious. The dumb,” Rael said bluntly. “Filter them. Learn from them. Take the serious ones, skip the waste of time. But you need the experience.”
She sighed. “Fine. But if I get summoned for someone’s weird fetish, I’m freezing their bathtub.”
Rael smirked. “Deal.”
The next morning, Rael got a signal.
It came through a devil communication channel — the kind usually reserved for stray Sacred Gear tracking. One of the Gremory-linked sensors had fred. A spike of power. Unregistered. Unbound.
He followed it to a quiet park on the edge of town.
That’s where he saw her.
She sat cross-legged on top of the jungle gym like it was a throne, bck hoodie pulled halfway over her head, tails flicking zily behind her. Four of them, to be exact—white, tipped with faint red.
Her eyes glowed faintly when she looked at him.
“I was wondering when one of you types would show up,” she said, voice smooth, confident.
Rael narrowed his eyes. “You’re not human.”
“Half,” she said. “My mom was a shrine keeper. My dad was a pain in the ass fox spirit.”
“Youkai.”
She grinned. “Ding ding.”
He stepped closer. “Name?”
“Yuki. No st name worth saying.”
Rael activated his eyes.
Her energy was wild but yered — a Sacred Gear core wrapped in something older. Something mythic.
The scan pulled data fast.
Species: Half-Human, Half-YoukaiTraits: Elemental alignment (Foxfire), Enhanced agility, mental shieldingSacred Gear: Kōrei Amplifier — grants a temporary bance-breaker form that amplifies the abilities of one target she chooses.
She watched him watching her.
“You’re scanning me, huh? What do you see?”
“I see a potential Bishop.”
She tilted her head. “Oh?”
“You’re support-oriented. Your gear doesn’t boost you — it boosts others. You’re not a frontliner.”
“True,” she said, hopping down. “But I’m not exactly sidekick material either.”
“I don’t do sidekicks,” Rael said. “I do assets.”
She smiled. “Is that your version of a compliment?”
“It’s the highest I give.”
They walked through the park slowly. Yuki’s gait was rexed, but there was tension under it — the kind born from constantly watching your back.
Rael didn’t push. Just observed.
Eventually, she asked, “So what’s the catch if I join you?”
“No catch,” he said. “Just responsibility.”
She looked at him sideways. “You talk like a guy with a past.”
“I talk like someone who’s serious.”
“I like serious,” Yuki said, her grin fading. “Better than liars.”
Rael stopped walking. “Then here’s the truth. I don’t need you. But I want you. You’d strengthen my peerage. I’d give you protection, structure, and purpose.”
She looked up at him. “And you trust me to stick around?”
“No,” he said. “That’s what we’ll find out.”
Yuki paused. Her eyes shimmered.
Then: “Alright, Devil Boy. Let’s roll the dice.”
The contract ritual was easier this time.
The Bishop piece accepted her quickly, humming in sync with her Sacred Gear. When the light faded, she stood there — tails brighter, energy more focused.
Rael handed her a bck cloak. “Uniform.”
Yuki threw it on. “Stylish.”
“Don’t let the sass get in the way of the job.”
She smirked. “No promises.”
Back at the manor, Aria watched Yuki with narrowed eyes.
“She’s loud,” Aria muttered.
“She’s effective,” Rael replied.
Rias appeared at the door. “You’re multiplying.”
Rael nodded. “Second Bishop. Half-Youkai. Support type.”
Rias looked at Yuki. “Fox girl?”
“Shrine-born,” Yuki said, winking.
Rias leaned toward Rael. “You really don’t go for normal, huh?”
“I go for results.”
She grinned. “At this rate, you might catch up to me.”
“I don’t need numbers,” Rael said. “I need weapons.”
In his notebook that night, Rael added a new entry:
Bishop – Yuki. Hybrid. Sacred Gear: Kōrei Amplifier. Buff-focused. Battle intelligent. Watch tail count — more growth incoming.
His army was growing.
And the Rating Games were getting closer.
