Chapter 21

Rias admitted it—she absolutely didn’t have that kind of courage! At least not before Shoyo became her peerage member.

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Rias?” Sona asked, catching Rias’s gaze once again. But unlike before, Rias's confidence was clearly wavering. Meanwhile, Shoyo quietly observed the two. It felt as if even the heavens couldn’t tolerate him simply watching the fight from the sidelines…


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[Ding!]
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[Sign-in location – The Queen’s Defeat (1)!]
[Sign-in story: Defeat Rias Gremory’s Queen, Himejima Akeno.]
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[Sign-in location – The Queen’s Defeat (2)!]
[Sign-in story: Defeat Sona Sitri’s Queen, Shinra Tsubaki.]
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“Oh? This could work...” Shoyo muttered. He still valued quantity; with enough of it, he could make up for the lack of quality. If the quality was too high, he might not complete it—just like the story involving the Maou and magical girl Serafall. Regardless of which Maou he was thinking about, one thing was certain: he needed guaranteed strength.

Shoyo raised an eyebrow, shifting his focus to Sona and Rias, who were locked in a tense staring contest.

“I did make a deal with Ajuka-sama. What's wrong with that?” Sona said, adjusting her glasses confidently.
Rias, you want to snatch Shoyo-kun from me? Try again in your next life!

Shoyo understood Sona's mindset. It was like a gacha game—the more time and money one invested, the more they valued their account. A mother who sacrifices everything for her child will cherish them more. Sona had gambled the future of the Sitri family on Shoyo. How could she possibly allow Rias to take him away?

Of course, Rias had her side of the story too.
You made your promise after becoming head of the family?
I paid the price of pieces worth a total of nineteen!

Cough cough… “I still haven’t been successfully reincarnated today. I feel really sorry for both of you.” Shoyo decided to intervene before things escalated. If they continued staring like this, these two might actually end up dragging each other off for a duel.

Upon hearing his words, Sona responded instantly.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Shoyo-kun. You earned Ajuka-sama’s approval with your own strength and potential. That is already the greatest repayment to me.” Her voice was modest, but she still deeply cared about his words.
Even with 33 worth of pieces, he couldn’t be reincarnated?
What kind of existence is Shoyo-kun?

“There’s nothing to be sorry about for me either. As long as Shoyo-kun fights for me as my peerage member in the future, that’s enough,” Rias added, locking eyes with Sona again.

Rias recalled that Sona’s main goal was to build schools in the Underworld, whereas her own goal was to become the strongest in the Rating Games.
Our goals don’t clash, right? Then the command of Shoyo-kun in battle should be mine!

“I’ll naturally take action when it’s time,” Shoyo said, rubbing his chin.

Rias’s fiancé was still that roasted chicken, wasn’t he?

Even if it took some effort, with his current strength, it wasn’t impossible to defeat him.

“However, before all that... how about we have a friendly match? Just to prove I’m worth the value of these thirty-three pieces?” Shoyo smiled.

“Ara ara~~~~ Shoyo kun is really energetic, isn’t he~~? Even though he just fought yesterday,” Akeno said, smiling sweetly, though her eyes were serious.

Rias’s future might depend on this man. Let me confirm it properly.

Rias was her dear sister, someone who had grown up with her. She absolutely couldn’t allow her to be handed off to that roasted chicken. If Rias actually married him, knowing his nature, he might even force himself on the peerage members like them.

“Akeno-senpai, please forgive my impoliteness, but you all can come at me together,” Shoyo said.

“Don’t worry about hurting me. I absorbed so many devil pieces before—I can still protect myself.” He smiled.

Normally, three devil pieces could promote a talented person straight to Middle-class devil. But here he was, with the equivalent of thirty-three pieces… and it had only brought him from peak Low-class to Middle-class.

Everyone—including Rias and Sona—was shocked. They assumed Shoyo would challenge them one at a time. But to face them all at once? Did he know how much the difficulty increased?

“Alright, I want to see Shoyo-kun’s strength too,” Shinra Tsubaki said as she adjusted her glasses. As Sona's vice-president and fellow glasses-wearer, she took the challenge seriously.

“My sword is swung for Buchou. If Shoyo-kun also wants to become Buchou’s sword, then I definitely need to understand him better,” Kiba Yuuto said with a smile. Unlike Akeno and Tsubaki, Kiba truly welcomed a friendly match with Shoyo.

“Since everyone’s on board, I guess I have no choice but to agree,” Rias sighed.

Honestly, though she’d heard from Koneko that Shoyo had repelled her sister, witnessing it herself was a different matter.

“Sigh~~~ Do as you please,” Sona said, knowing she couldn’t stop it now.

“Tsubaki, go and call the others.”

“Understood.” Her glasses glinted as she nodded. She had never expected the Shoyo she once thought would just quietly serve on the student council to have grown so powerful in a single day. Even Maou Ajuka wanted to take him in as a disciple?! What she couldn’t have imagined was that it wouldn’t be Shoyo who’d boast about being the student of a Maou, but rather Ajuka who’d be proud to say he once taught Shoyo.


More than ten minutes later, in a remote mountain range outside Kuoh Town.
This was the chosen battlefield.

“My peerage members—Shoyo-kun probably knows them but may not be familiar with their abilities...” Sona began.

“No need, President. Just tell me their chess piece attributes. After all, I won’t get detailed info on enemies in the future either,” Shoyo replied with a smile.

He knew their abilities well. He had simulated fighting them as a mere human. Even before awakening the system, if he risked his life, he could take out everyone except Sona, Tsubaki, and Yura Tsubasa, the Rook with extreme defense.


“Ahhh~~~ As expected of Shoyo-kun~~ Still so handsome~~” one of Sona’s peerage members muttered, her eyes sparkling.


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