Chapter 652 - 652: [652] : Runeas: I'm Also a Fiancée, You Know

He'd only planned to come by for a quick look today, yet somehow ended up competing in a match himself.

Not that it really mattered. After all, the whole point was to establish the Gremory family's prestige. Sooner or later made no difference—what mattered was the quality of the opponent.

And as the undisputed number one among the younger generation of devils... Sairaorg shouldn't be too bad.

After completing registration, Bokue and the others headed directly to the competitor lounge.

The coliseum's soundproofing was quite impressive, yet even so, when the girls peered down through the lounge window, they could still hear the faint roar of the crowd below—like a tsunami crashing against the shore.

"This lounge feels... really high up."

Irina and Xenovia couldn't help but murmur the moment they entered.

This was the highest point in the entire coliseum. The only things at the same elevation as the competitor lounge were the opposing team's lounge on the other side of the arena and a handful of VIP observation boxes.

It felt a bit like the top-floor viewing box where the Kure Clan watched matches during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament on Ganryu Island.

The reason for this design was simple: the competitor lounge was essentially the backstage area. Being here meant you'd be stepping onto the stage to fight at any moment.

To ensure the entire audience could clearly see the competitors make their entrance, the venue officials had not only placed the lounges at the arena's highest point but had also designed the exit to the dueling platform like a diving board. A teleportation circle at the end transported competitors directly to the stage.

"Sirzechs-chan and the others are probably in one of those VIP boxes with Mr. Azazel and Lord Michael, right?"

Serafall pressed her face against the lounge's glass window, pointing toward a VIP box some distance away at the same height.

Since the entire coliseum was circular, even though the boxes were roughly in the same direction, the curvature meant they could see the VIP observation area from the lounge.

Unfortunately, the VIP boxes had been designed with tinted windows from the start—like car windows with dark film. Combined with today's particularly harsh Underworld sunlight, it was impossible to see clearly inside from the outside.

"Oh, speaking of which—I haven't seen Sirzechs-chan in such a long time!"

The moment her precious grandson's name was mentioned, Chysis's eyes lit up.

She quickly turned toward Runeas beside her, her voice uncharacteristically excited.

"I apologize, Lady Runeas—I forgot to tell you earlier. Your descendant, my grandson—Sirzechs Gremory—has become one of the Four Great Demon Lords of the entire Underworld. He now holds the title of Lucifer."

"R-really?? That's incredible..."

Runeas blinked, momentarily stunned by the news. Her initial surprise quickly mingled with a tinge of regret.

"What a shame the original Lady Leviathan is no longer with us. If she were still around, I'd absolutely have to brag about this at our next girls' night."

"G-girls' night??"

Rias was shocked yet again.

She'd never imagined her ancestor had been so close to the original Leviathan. And apparently girls' nights had been a thing even back in ancient times...

Just then, Serafall sidled up from nearby, cutely poking both her dimples with her index fingers while pouting.

"Don't worry~ If Rias-chan ever wants to have a girls' night with big sis, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"L-Lady Serafall!"

Rias's cheeks flushed instantly.

She'd only been expressing surprise, okay? She wasn't envious of people having girls' nights!

She wasn't a little kid anymore.

But before she could say anything else, Serafall continued.

"Oh, but even if Rias-chan doesn't want to, it won't matter~ After all, we'll probably have plenty of opportunities for girls' nights in the future. Maybe we can even add Sona-chan to the group~"

"Sister!"

Now even Sona, who had been silent this whole time, turned bright red.

To Rias, this might have sounded like simple girls' night talk. But as her sister, how could Sona not understand exactly what her sister was actually implying??

Knock, knock, knock.

A sudden rhythmic knocking came from the door.

When everyone turned to look, they saw the lounge's door handle being pressed down from outside.

The next second, as the door swung open, a muscular male figure appeared in everyone's view.

It was Sairaorg.

"Oh? Everyone's already here?"

Apparently not expecting the lounge to be so packed, Sairaorg paused briefly upon entering. But he quickly recovered and waved in greeting.

"Yo~ Long time no see, everyone! Hahaha, I really didn't expect to run into my brother-in-law Bokue here at the coliseum today. Honestly, I only came to register with my peerage, but somehow I ended up on the fighting stage! Hahaha!"

"Same here~"

Bokue shrugged and spread his hands.

"So how's your condition? Ready to go?"

"Absolutely!"

Sairaorg thumped his solid chest heartily as he spoke, producing a sound like muffled thunder.

"I've been really looking forward to sparring with you, brother-in-law. This is the perfect chance to test exactly how strong this so-called 'number one of the young generation' really is."

"Mm..."

Bokue hummed noncommittally.

Of course, what he was actually thinking was—could this really serve as any kind of test? Even if Sirzechs came to spar with him, it would still be over in an instant.

"By the way, brother-in-law—how do you want to do this? Skip straight to the main event?"

Sairaorg asked, eyes gleaming.

Clearly, getting to face Bokue directly today was a massive windfall for him. It was like going to the convenience store for some snacks, buying a lottery ticket on a whim at checkout, and unexpectedly winning the jackpot.

Right now, Sairaorg was radiating fighting spirit from every pore.

As for "skipping straight to the main event"—that undoubtedly meant bypassing the tedious preliminary peerage battles and jumping directly to King versus King.

"Works for me."

Bokue nodded.

"Perfect, perfect! Then it's settled!"

Sairaorg was overjoyed, his voice rising several pitches.

"Well, Rating Games are mainly supposed to test the [King]'s tactical planning and strategic adaptability. Having the [King] personally defeat all enemies is not only tactically unreliable but also draws negative public opinion—people would say the team has no future. But... who cares about rumors anyway, right? Hahaha!"

Sairaorg laughed heartily.

But just then, he suddenly noticed that beside Rias and Mio stood another "Mio."

Though not completely identical in appearance, that signature crimson hair clearly indicated... and she was studying him with apparent interest?

"Uh, who might this crimson-haired young lady be?"

"Hm? Oh, I forgot to introduce myself."

Runeas smiled slightly and walked over to Bokue's side. She wrapped her arms around his arm and flashed a cute V-sign.

"I'm Runeas Gremory—Bokue's fiancée and Rias's half-sister from a different mother desu~"

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