[300 PS = 1 Chapter Bonus]
*
When I realized that I needed to become a devil to gain more mana and improve my physique, I also realized how difficult that would be.
Of course, any devil would want the user of Boosted Gear as their servant, but I didn't want to be anyone's servant.
However, not wanting to be a servant conflicted with the very idea of becoming a devil, because the only way to be reincarnated as a devil was by using an Evil Piece.
Evil Pieces were how noble devils bound their servants to them, and anyone from other races who became devils also became servants of some noble devil.
It seemed like an inevitable fate, because no matter which piece I got, whether it was Queen or Pawn, I would still be a servant.
I was about to give up on the idea when I finally thought, "Wait a minute, there are also King Pieces!"
Since I had read the High School DxD novel, I knew how important King Pieces were. For that very reason, obtaining one would not be easy. The King Pieces were banned early on in the Rating Games because their promotion ability was used to increase the user's power tenfold to a hundredfold!
Still, that was the only way I could think of to become a devil and not be anyone's servant!
The question was: would the privileges I had as a Boosted Gear user and for handing over a Fallen Angel on a silver platter be enough to get an item like that?
As I looked into Rias Gremory's eyes, I waited for the answer to that question.
She took a deep breath. "A King Piece? That's..."
"Don't tell me it's impossible. I know it's not," I said, turning my back on her as I began to walk.
"Anyway, the more time passes, the more time the other Fallen Angels in the city will have to notice Raynare's absence. I've done my job, now do yours."
"Folks, let's do it..." Rias muttered, looking at the trees behind her, from where Akeno Himejima, Yuuto Kiba, and Koneko emerged.
Watching this out of the corner of my eye, I smiled and left the woods.
There was a small chance that Rias Gremory wouldn't get what I wanted, but I wouldn't be devastated if that happened.
I knew that if she failed, Sona Sitri would succeed.
As I walked out of the park, I watched the moon rise higher and higher in the sky.
["Boy, the chances of your plan working are slim. I think you know that."]
A vein popped out on my forehead. "You have very little faith in me for someone who saw firsthand how I defeated that Fallen Angel."
["It was an ingenious plan, that's all! If you had waited for a few more boosts..."]
'I'd be dead now,' I thought of saying, but I didn't.
Smoke bombs were my backup plan in case everything went wrong, and I realized I would need to use them as soon as I witnessed the terrifying speed of a supernatural being.
At first, I thought that with one or two Boosts, I would be on par with a low-ranking creature like Raynare.
However, that didn't happen.
On second thought, I remembered reading somewhere that the power difference between an ordinary human and a devil was up to ten times.
The only ones who broke this rule were the base Issei and Asia Argento.
"I would need three consecutive Boosts to reach the power level of an ordinary devil, but two is the maximum I can maintain without running out of mana..."
I analyzed coldly and scratched the back of my neck hard. "Arghh... I really need my plan to work."
*
"Tonello-san, can you speak English?" The girl sitting next to me suddenly asked.
"Of course he can!" Another girl behind me exclaimed. "If he's an exchange student from America, he definitely speaks English fluently!"
"Hmm. Actually, maybe not." A third girl, this time sitting in front of me, said.
I raised my hand and tried to say something, but they continued to argue about me. My days had been like this since I arrived at this school, which made me wish that the system had listed my nationality as Japanese instead of a transfer student from America. However, it made sense for me to be a transfer student because I didn't have all the Japanese customs or the appearance either.
The three girls only stopped arguing when the classroom door opened and a girl with long black hair entered the room.
This girl had a beauty that could paralyze anyone and seemed even more beautiful than the girls on the covers of magazines. Her voluptuous body caught the attention of the boys, while her delicate features and long black hair tied in a ponytail caught the attention of the girls. She was Akeno Himejima, the vice president of the Occult Research Club and also...
"The class representative has arrived!" The girl in front of me whispered, putting her hands together as if she were thanking God. Her eyes literally sparkled.
Everyone in the room was excited and talking loudly because the teacher hadn't arrived yet, but all that typical noise was replaced by a silence of admiration.
What was a silence of admiration? Well, I wouldn't have been able to answer that question either until that moment. I could hear everyone's breathing in harmony as their heads followed Akeno as she walked across the room.
Interestingly, Akeno took a different route to her desk that morning. Instead of simply walking straight to the window and then up the row to her seat, she entered the aisle by my chair.
Her eyes were fixed on mine, and I thought she was going to talk to me, but at the last moment she walked right past me and stopped to talk to the girl sitting behind me.
"Momo-chan, can you go to the class representative meeting with Kishin-san in my place today?" Akeno asked, bowing slightly to Momo Fujihara.
"Sure, Akeno-san, you know I don't mind going to those meetings in your place. I'm sure you're really busy."
Akeno smiled without showing her teeth, which was more than enough reward for Momo.
"Thank you, Momo-chan. If there's any problem, please send me a message."
"Okay~!"
To everyone else, that interaction was just that. However, I saw when Akeno purposely dropped a piece of paper on the floor.
I picked up the piece of paper and opened it. To my surprise, there was a message written on the paper.
'During lunch break, wait a minute after leaving the room and then follow me. Your request will be granted.' I read it in my mind.