Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
With Irene, Evangeline, and Kahlua deciding to join James second peerage, everyone was a bit excited. This would truly be the beginning of something that no one had done or witnessed before. Basically, everyone present was witnessing history in the making. However, they were caught off guard when Grayfia decided to leave without seeing things through to the end.
They were even more surprised when Issa stopped her and asked to join her peerage. Especially the Shuzen sisters.
"Dad, are you serious?" Moka was the first to voice out in surprise. "Have you thought about how Lord Lucifer would react if he heard about this?"
"I have, and I'm not looking forward to dealing with that." Issa admitted. "But, for a devil to reincarnate me, they would have to be at least at the minor god-rank. And I only know a few at that rank."
"Yeah, but still, this seems a bit suicidal." Moka continued, trying to dissuade her father.
"Ha, the mask finally broke, huh?" Flora said as she suddenly hugged Moka.
"Mask? What are you talking about?" Moka asked in confusion.
"You've been acting like you hate your father ever since he told you the truth about your situation." Flora said with a smile. "But now you're showing such concern about his safety. It's really quite cute."
Moka looked at Flora like she just grew a second head. Seeing the look in Moka's eyes, Flora began to doubt the conclusion she came to.
"Was I wrong?" Flora asked.
"Sure were." Moka replied. "I never hated my father, even when I thought he was going to sacrifice me. But I was going to make him pay for that decision. And after I heard the truth, I wanted him to suffer a bit. But never did I want any harm to come to him."
Not only Flora, but almost everyone who heard the exchange was surprised. The exceptions being Moka's sisters, James, and Mizore. Naturally Akua, Kahlua, and Kokoa understood how their sister thought, while James and Mizore knew because they asked Moka about it shortly after the Shuzens arrived.
"My apologies, I do not have a set of [Evil Pieces] of my own." Grayfia replied to Issa's question, putting an end to the discussions around the training room. "And as of now, I do not intend to create my own peerage. Things in my personal life are... complicated, at the moment."
"*Sigh* Well, it was worth a shot." Issa said, letting his shoulders slump slightly.
"However, if you would like, I can help you to get in contact with Lady Leviathan." Grayfia added. "If I'm not mistaken, after all this time, she has yet to add anyone to her peerage. Claiming that no one was suitable for her vision. Perhaps you would like to ask her as well?"
"Thank you, I would appreciate it." Issa replied with a slightly uneasy expression.
Although Issa had heard rumors of the eccentric Serafall Leviathan, he had no actual interactions with her over the centuries. So, he was unsure of what to expect exactly. However, those in the room who knew her personally tried their best to stifle their laughter and giggles. Sona, on the other hand, face palmed and prayed to everything unholy that Issa would be alright.
"Well then, if there is nothing else, I bid you all farewell." Grayfia said before bowing politely.
"So, you have no interest in staying to see the birth of a second peerage?" James asked with a smile.
"As much as I would like to, I must work with Lady Venelana to prepare a trading ritual." Grayfia said in reply. Then, before anyone could question her further, she teleported away from the training room.
Everyone was slightly stunned to hear that Grayfia was going to prepare a trading ritual with Venelana, however, no one thought much about it. Venelana was a strong ultimate-rank devil. So, it was not strange that she would start creating a peerage, even if she had no intention in competing in the [Rating Games].
"Anyway, let's get on to the main event." James said with a smile. "We can ask Auntie Venelana about it later. But for now, Irene, Evangeline, and Kahlua, could you please step forward?"
Wasting no time, the three James called on stepped forward and stopped when they were little more than an arm's length away from James. Then, James raised his hand in front of Kahlua and a few of his [Evil Pieces] appeared floating over his outstretched hand.
"A [Rook] and three [Pawns], huh?" James said to himself. "Even when you're already at the ultimate-rank, your potential must still be pretty good, Kahlua."
"Ehe." Kahlua chuckled bashfully.
A moment later, the three [Pawn Pieces] vanished. With just the [Rook] left in his hand, James took a step closer to Kahlua and pressed the [Evil Piece] into her chest. Having gone through this process ten times already, James did not wait until the changes to Kahlua's race were completed and moved on to Evangeline with his hand extended once again.
"[Queen], [Bishop], and four [Pawns]." James said as he saw the [Pieces] that appeared this time. "Hold on, I want to check Irene's compatibility, too."
Seeming not to care, Evangeline nodded her head. When she did, James extended his hand toward Irene like he had with the other two.
"[Queen], [Bishop], [Rook], and four [Pawns]." James muttered.
"I knew they would both be compatible with the [Queen Piece]." Rias said. "Now, pay up."
"You and your damn luck." Sona said. "If it wasn't for that luck, I'm sure that Yuuto and Gasper, no, most of your peerage would be in someone else's peerage."
"Cry me a river." Rias said with a radiant smile on her face as Sona handed her what seemed to be a picture of James cosplaying as a kid.
"Hold on!" James shouted when he caught a glimpse of the photo. "What the hell are you trading around, and why the hell do you have it in the first place?"
Before Rias and Sona, who were looking away from James awkwardly, could explain, James head snapped towards his mother who was grinning mischievously. When Leona noticed James' glare, her grin widened. Then, she moved her lips, allowing James to read them.
"Payback is a bitch." Leona mouthed.
Immediately, James knew that she was referring to the prank he played when he doodled on all the ladies' faces with a marker.
'Oh, Mother Dearest, this is not over.' James thought to himself.
As James and Leona exchanged devious glances, the rest of the people in the training room, except for Scathach, felt a chill go down their backs. Scathach, on the other hand, knew that both of them knew better than to get her involved in their little game.
"Anyway, let's get back to business." James said, looking away from his mother and back to the potential [Queens] standing in front of him.
"Let Irene do it." Evangeline said quickly, casually waving off the [Queen] position. "Even though I have the physical and magical traits to be a [Queen], I don't have the intention of being a second leader for this little group. I will help in teaching magic, though."
Other than the vampires, everyone was surprised how easily Evangeline gave up the position of second in command. The vampires, however, knew that Evangeline did not usually play well with others. In fact, if the two things she wanted most were not part of the deal, Evangeline would have never agreed to join James' peerage. Though, Moka was beginning to doubt that, as she noticed the rising interest in James that Evangeline had been showing.
"That's fine by me, I guess." Irene said with a wry smile. "But I gotta admit, I was thinking we'd have to fight it out for the [Queen] position. And to be honest, I was kind of looking forward to it."
"Damn dragons, always wanting to exert dominance." Evangeline muttered.
"Well, now that that is settled, why don't we get down to business." James said with a smile while extending both his hands.
At that moment, Kahlua finished her transformation and her devil wings extended. Then, she opened her eyes and smiled at James. An instant later, she shot forward and wrapped her arms around James, hugging him tightly.
As Kahlua's arms began to tighten, James' expression began to change. He could feel the bones in his arms and ribs beginning to creak under the overwhelming, raw, physical strength that the [Rook Piece] just increased. Eventually, after a few seconds, Moka noticed James' expression and the color of his face.
"Kahlua!" Moka shouted. "Are you trying to kill him?"
"Huh?" Kahlua was confused.
Then, Kahlua looked at James who was struggling to keep his arms and ribs from breaking with his demonic energy.
"Well, I know what we're going to have to work on first." James said with a pain filled smile on his face. "On top of stopping you from going berserk, we need to make sure that you have perfect control of your strength."
"You can leave that to this Scathach." Scathach said, stepping forward and grabbing Kahlua by the shoulder.
When Scathach's hand landed on her shoulder, Kahlua felt the strength in her right arm disappearing rapidly. Eventually, her arm fell and hung loosely at her side. A moment later, she was pulled away from James, causing him to let out a sigh of relief.
"And I'm supposed to be one of the physically stronger devils." James said while rubbing the forming bruises on his arms. "Anyway, where were we?"
As James finished speaking, he held out his hands towards Irene and Evangeline, again. On his left, in front of Irene, a [Queen Piece] floated above his open palm. On the right, in front of Evangeline, a [Bishop Piece] floated. Then, James took hold of both [Pieces] and simultaneously pressed them into the chests of the two women in front of him.
After the [Evil Pieces] sunk into their chests, Irene and Evangeline closed their eyes as their bodies began to change. Rapidly, Evangeline grew from a height of 4'7" (1.4 m) to 5'7" (1.7 m). Along with her height, her childish features were replaced with those of a beautiful woman. All the baby fat on her face was now gone, her hips widened, and her breasts grew.
"Wow, Eva's imagination sucked." Leona said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Cassiel asked curiously.
"She's even more beautiful than her transformation from before." Leona replied. "I'm guessing her imagination was where she got that older image of herself., thus, her imagination sucks."
Everyone who heard her agreed with Leona's assessment that Evangeline was more beautiful than the transformation she wore before. However, they also could not help but smile wryly at her comment about Evangeline's imagination.
On the other hand, Irene did not change in terms of appearance. However, it was clear that her energy reserves were increasing, even if only slightly. On top of that, her draconic aura decreased before being combined with the new devil aura that she was exuding.
After about a minute, both women opened their eyes and a pair of devil wings grew from their lower backs.
"So, how do you two feel?" James asked with a smile.
"I feel stronger." Irene was the first to answer. "Even if it's just a little bit stronger."
"This new body is going to take some getting used to." Evangeline said as she moved her body. Then, she cupped her breasts and spoke again. "On top of that, these are a lot bigger than I thought they would be."
While James and most of the males in the training room looked away, Issei's scream of "My eyes!" could be heard.
"*Sigh* That boy will never learn." James said as he unballed his ring finger and pinky.
"Did he just poke Issei in the eyes?" Rias asked, looking back and forth between James and Issei.
As her gaze swapped between the two, Rias was surprised when she saw Asia giving James a sneaky thumbs up.
*Thump!*
"Now, I believe that you three are due for some training." Scathach said after slamming the butt of her spear into the floor. Then, she stepped forward to stand in front of the three new devils.
Having seen the intensity of scathach's training, Irene and Evangeline took a step back while Kahlua only tilted her head.
"You two need to work on gaining perfect control of your bodies and energy." Scathach said, gesturing towards Irene and Evangeline. Then, she turned her attention to Kahlua. "On top of gaining control like those two, we need to beat... Ahem! I mean, get the habit of going berserk during a battle out of you."
"She was about to say beat it out of her, right?" Tsubasa asked.
"Yup." Momo replied.
"She definitely was." Tomoe added.
"Well, you girls have fun." James said with a smile. Then, his smile turned devious before he continued. "I think I'm gonna start drawing a new manga. And it's going to be a surprise for Sera-Tan."
"Seeing that smile, for the first time in a while, I feel sorry for my sister." Sona said with a wry smile.
While James was leaving, Mizore followed him closely. Surprisingly, Scathach allowed her to leave. But that was only because she was curious to see what James would draw after seeing his expression, and she knew that the process would be much faster if his assistant, Mizore, were present.