Issei's attention suddenly shifted when he caught sight of a small figure slipping past the edge of the crowd.
It was Koneko.
For some reason, she looked like she wanted to leave the party as quickly as possible. Her usual blank expression was still there, but something about the way she moved felt different. She looked tense, as if she was trying to escape before anyone noticed.
Issei narrowed his eyes, then turned toward Adrien.
As expected of his teacher, Adrien had noticed it too. He was still sitting casually at the table, but his gaze had already followed Koneko across the hall. When Issei looked at him, Adrien met his eyes and gave him a small nod.
That was enough. Issei had seen that nod many times during training. It usually meant. Handle it yourself.
"I'll be right back," Issei said, standing from his seat.
Asia looked up at him with mild concern. "What is it, Issei? The Demon King will be greeting everyone soon."
"Don't worry," Issei replied with a reassuring smile. "I just want to say hello to someone I know. I'll be back in a minute."
The elevator descended all the way to the first floor, and the moment the doors opened, Rias and Issei stepped out into the hotel lobby.
They quickly began asking the nearby staff and guests if they had seen Koneko, carefully describing her appearance. At first, no one had any clear answer, but after speaking to a few more people, one member of the staff mentioned seeing someone matching her description heading outside.
Rias's expression immediately tightened. "My suspicions were correct. She was acting strangely…"
"Yeah, but who would she follow all the way out here?"
At his question, Rias fell silent. Her eyes lowered slightly as she sank into thought From the look in her eyes, it was clear she had either suspected something dangerous from the beginning, or she had just connected the pieces in her mind.
Without wasting another moment, Rias raised her hand and summoned one of her bat familiars. The small creature formed from demonic energy, flapped its wings, and flew out through the hotel entrance, disappearing into the night sky.
After a short while, the bat familiar returned, circling once above Rias before landing near her.
"You found her?" she said quietly. "In the forest? Around the hotel?"
Leaving the brightly lit hotel behind, Rias and Issei rushed into the night-shrouded forest. The trees stood thick around them, their branches and leaves blocking parts of the path, but not enough to stop them from running. Flying would have been faster, but with so many guests still gathered at the hotel, there was a chance someone would notice them. For now, moving by foot was the safer choice.
After a few minutes of dashing through the woods, Issei suddenly slowed down and slipped behind a tree. Rias noticed his movement and quickly hid herself behind a nearby bush, keeping her presence low.
A short distance ahead, Koneko was moving through the forest alone. She looked tense, her head turning from side to side as she searched the area. Her usual calm expression was still there, but her movements were restless. She was clearly looking for someone, or something.
Then Koneko stopped. Her gaze fixed on a point deeper in the forest.
"It's been a long time," an unfamiliar voice called out.
Without making a sound, a woman stepped out from between the trees. She wore a black kimono that blended naturally with the darkness around her. Long black hair fell around her shoulders, split neatly at the front, and her hazel-gold eyes gleamed with sharp, cat-like pupils. She a very attractive voluptuous body too.
"—! …You!" Koneko gasped, her whole body trembling in visible shock.
The woman in the black kimono smiled faintly, her cat-like eyes softening with something that looked almost affectionate. "Hello, Shirone. It's me, your sister."
Hidden behind the tree, Issei's eyes widened in surprise, but he kept himself still and silent.
A black cat emerged from the darkness and brushed itself against the woman's feet, letting out a soft meow. "I'm impressed you managed to find your way here, Shirone. All it took was one little black cat sneaking into that party to lure you out to me. Meow."
"Kuroka…" Koneko's voice trembled, but this time it was filled with anger rather than shock. "What is all this about?"
Kuroka tilted her head slightly, smiling teasingly, "Don't make such a scary face. I only have a little business to take care of. I heard a lot of famous devils were gathering here for a party, so I thought I'd come have a look. Meow."
"Hahahaha! Don't tell me this is a member of Gremory's Familia?" another voice suddenly called out.
Issei and Rias tensed immediately.
A new figure appeared from the shadows of the forest. He was a handsome young man wearing a full set of armor that looked like something out of ancient China. The moment Issei saw him, he recognized him at once. It was Bikou, the descendant of Sun Wukong that had appeared during the attack at the three factions meeting.
All of a sudden, Bikou's gaze shifted toward the trees where Rias and Issei were hiding.
"There's no point trying to hide," he said with an easy grin. "People like Kuroka and me use hermetic sage magic. We can sense you through even the smallest changes in your qi."
Koneko's eyes widened when she saw them step out from their hiding places.
"…Issei. President."
Rias's expression was tense, but Issei kept his eyes fixed on Bikou. He stepped forward casually. "Yo, monkey. How's Vali doing?"
Bikou laughed lightly. "Hahaha. He's doing just fine."
Then his eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Issei more carefully. "But you… you look like you've gotten stronger. Your aura feels way heavier than when we last met."
Issei raised an eyebrow. "You use sage magic, huh?"
Bikou looked genuinely surprised for a moment. "I'm shocked you even know what that is. From the information we had on you, you were just a dumbass who chased after women."
Issei nodded seriously.
"Yeah, women are the best." Then he shrugged "But hey, I don't judge if you're gay either."
Kuroka's lips curled into an amused smirk, and she slowly shifted her gaze toward Bikou, clearly waiting to see his reaction. Bikou's smile twitched, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at Issei.
Rias, however, had no patience for their exchange. Her demonic power started rising around her as she glared at the two intruders. "What are you doing here? Is this a terrorist attack?"
"No, we didn't come here for anything like that," Bikou said, raising both hands lazily. "We were just told to stay on standby here in the Underworld. Right now, we're off duty. Kuroka wanted to take a peek at this devil party, and since she wouldn't be able to get back to base easily on her own, I came along. That's all. Is that a problem?"
"So you're the Red Dragon Emperor who fought against Vali, meow," Kuroka said. "You look more interesting than I expected."
Bikou let out a bored yawn and rested his staff against his shoulder. "Kuroka, let's head back. There's no point hanging around. They clearly won't let us join the fun."
"Indeed," Kuroka replied, her smile never fading. "Let us return to base. But I shall be taking Shirone with me, meow. I left her behind last time, after all."
Koneko's body stiffened.
Bikou frowned slightly and glanced at Kuroka. "Hey, come on now. That'll put you on Vali's bad side, you know?"
"I am sure both Ophis and Vali will agree once they understand that she possesses the same powers as me, meow,"
"You might be right…" Bikou admitted, though his tone made it clear he didn't want the trouble.
"Unfortunately for you two," Issei said, his voice calm but firm, "you're not taking Koneko."
Bikou stared at him for a moment, then let out an amused laugh. "Heh, that's brave of you. But you see, you can't really compete with Kuroka and me here. So how about a special deal, just this once? Hand over the girl, and we'll get out of your hair. Sounds pretty fair, right?"
Rias's demonic power flared sharply at his words, and Koneko's expression tightened.
But Issei didn't step back. "Are you sure I can't compete with you?" he asked.
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Yo, when we reach 200 Power stones I'll drop a bonus chapter.