"I am sorry."
Still, to stop the two from fighting, Sato decided to be clear. "I have made my choice, so I won't change my mind."
"Even so?"
"Even so."
"Sato-kun..." Sona's cold face melted as it became a blooming smile. "By the way, if I lend you to Rias for something, can you help her?"
"If it's your request, then I don't mind."
"Okay, you have heard him, right, Rias?"
Rias could only sigh helplessly and accept the situation while feeling frustrated as her favorite was taken away by her friend.
If it were someone else, she could throw a tantrum or even use her big brother's name, but it was impossible with Sona, as they were friends, and she also didn't want to become a sore loser despite how unwilling she was.
Still, inwardly, if she borrowed from him, then she would show him that she was the best!
For now, she decided to give up, but it was just a strategic retreat; everything was just the beginning!
However, Sona never narrowed her guards as she knew what kind of a sore loser Rias was, especially when in the past, Rias had also robbed her favorite doll, so this time, she would never let him go.
"Okay, Sato-kun, let's be a devil now."
"...now?"
"Yes."
"..."
Even if Sato was prepared to become a devil, he wondered whether it was so easy to become one.
"...is it painful?"
He didn't want to be in pain, after all.
"No, it's fine. The process isn't painful. Instead, it is so easy since all I need is this peerage piece to transform you into a devil."
"Peerage piece?"
Sato looked at the black knight piece in a chess, and he could tell that it wasn't a normal knight piece, as he could feel an energy contained within it. "...what is that?"
"I don't know."
"..." Sato.
"However, it was developed by the greatest genius of the devil, Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the Four Maous."
"Four Maous?"
"They are the leader of the devil. I will explain to you later how the supernatural works."
Sato had become part of the supernatural world after he joined her, so Sona wouldn't let him be ignorant, especially since he had been targeted by the supernatural world before, and would explain many things to him.
"Thank you."
This side of Sona was more reliable than Rias, he thought.
'What about Issei?'
When he thought of Issei, the original story, it felt like all Issei did was just train his physical ability and worked like a part-timer, who went to the client's works to do anything that they asked.
The work of a devil somehow became like a joke in the work of DxD.
Sato felt that if the humans' souls could make devils become stronger, then why shouldn't they make a contract with a soul as a cost?
Then again, the humans were too much, as there were billions of them in the world, so... the human soul was worthless in their eyes now?
After all, unlike before, when there were wars every moment, in this generation, every place was more or less peaceful.
At the current time, the chance of dying in a war is less than dying from overwork, which made him sigh in relief that he had a good, wealthy boss from now on.
Nevertheless, the current focus was on the peerage piece, an item that was used to reincarnate another race into that of a devil.
As for how it was created, no one knew, whether it was Rias or Sona, even the high-class devils, those that came from the aristocrat families and were the ones at the top, didn't know at all, but they knew that as long as they used this tool on someone, that person would become a devil, gaining their features and powers, but also their weaknesses, which were the holy and the light attributes, yet when one thought of the advantages of becoming a devil, who would refuse?
The increase of physical ability, flight, an almost immortal age, even a good life that was better than most people in the world, and also a good, gentle, and beautiful boss!
Who would refuse it!
As for the weaknesses, as long as one was strong enough, such weaknesses were nothing.
Still, as Sato had the Twice Critical, he also had a dragon-related weakness, as his Sacred Gear was created from a dragon, and as he became a devil, too, he would have a lot of weaknesses, which made him sigh.
Then again, as he had made his choice, he didn't back down. Instead, he was given a choice, which made him think deeply.
"Each of the pieces has its own features. The Knight Piece, which is the one that Rias holds, will increase your speed; the Rook Piece, the one in my hand, will increase your physical ability, especially on defense and attack; the Bishop Piece, this one, will increase your magical power; and there is also the Queen Piece, which will increase everything, but my Queen Piece was already used."
"I am sorry."
After Sona made her explanation, Tsubaki Shinra, Sona's Queen, made an apology.
"Why did you apologize?" 2x
Sona and Sato asked at the same time, which made the two look at each other; then they turned their gaze toward the beautiful woman with long, silky black hair and glasses, who seemed to show a fluster, breaking her calm expression away.
"....."
Tsubaki was silent for a while and said, "In my mind... he suits my position better, Sona-sama."
"No, you are her Queen. The one that she had chosen for, and I am just a new member, so don't make me feel awkward with your words, or say as if our Master made the wrong choice to choose you."
"I..."
While Tsubaki was at a loss, she looked at Sona, who was looking at her and nodded. "I never thought of choosing you as a mistake, Tsubaki. You are my Queen, the one that I have chosen as my right hand."
"Sona-sama..."
As he saw Tsubaki's expression, Sona sighed inwardly, thinking that everyone in this place had more or less had a tragic experience.
Still, Sona couldn't help but look at him thoughtfully, thinking that Sato's EQ was high since if she had talked at that time, it would have made everything awkward, but as he took the initiative to talk, everything was cleared up, which made her think that she had made the right choice to make him her peerage member.
"The Knight piece or the Rook Piece, which one do you want, Sato-kun?"
The Knight would increase Shinra's speed, and the Rook would increase his physical ability, especially in terms of durability and power; Sona felt that those two suited him well.
As for the Bishop Piece, while it should be able to be used by Sato, all of her Bishop Pieces were used.
Frankly, he suited the Queen Piece more as it would increase all of his attributes, from speed, physical ability, and magic power, but it was used already, so Sona could only choose the Knight and the Rook.
However, Sato felt like she had missed something.
The peerage was similar to that of a chessboard; didn't she miss one piece?
"It's similar to a chessboard."
"It was made to mimic that attribute, after all."
"Then, if that's the case, didn't you miss one piece?"
"...you mean the Pawn?"
"Yes."
"...do you want to become the Pawn?"
"Is that not okay? It is versatile, right? If we follow the rules of chess, then I can be promoted, too, right?"
"Well... that's true, but it won't give an improvement on your base, and the improvement is small."
"It's fine."
"...if you say so."
Sona wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything since even if the improvement of the Pawn was minimal, as he had said before, it was a versatile piece since it could be promoted to every piece, giving him an improvement in any attributes that he wished to.
Moreover, depending on the numbers, the Pawn that was used to transform him, the more it was, the better his improvements were, and at the same time, the more she used her Pawns, the more it showed of his potential, so she was also curious.
"Okay, let's start now."
"I am ready."
"Good."
Sona took all of her Pawn pieces and then used them to transform Sato!
The process was simple, and it should be easy, yet why did his transformation put so much pressure?
Sato wasn't sure, but it was like there was a twist on his body.
No, it was a whirlpool that absorbed everything, especially the energy that came from the Pawn pieces!
One, two, three, before all of the Pawn pieces of Sona were all consumed, and their colors and shapes also changed, yet no one realized it as they were just stunned by Sato's transformation, yet as everything was subdued, he was in a daze, feeling all the twist on his head disappeared, and everything was clear up, but all of a sudden, he was in another space, and wasn't at his apartement anymore, but he wasn't alone, in front of him, he saw another him.
"....." 2x
"Huh?" 2x
"Who are you?" 2x