"Hard work betrays none, but dreams betray many."— Hachiman Hikigaya, airu

  <><><><>

  ~ If you like the story, please leave a review :)

  <><><><>

  Roy was right.

  Fianna had initially inteo join Velsaria's team, as Velsaria was the runner-up in the previous Bde Dance.

  However, Velsaria hadn't returo the academy.

  And after witnessing Roy's strength, Fianna had decided to joieam instead.

  "No way! Absolutely not!" Cire immediately objected, seeing Fianna flirting with Roy.

  "I agree with Cire!" Ri, surprisingly, was on the same side as Cire.

  Fianna, seeing their hostility, remained calm and turned her attention to Roy.

  "Roy-san, may I join your team?" she asked, seemingly aware that he was the one who made the decisions.

  "I uand your iions. You join for now," Roy replied, "but to stay oeam, you'll heir approval." He gestured towards Cire and Ri.

  Fianna's abilities were quite useful. Although she couldn't use her tracted spirit right now, she had learhe "Ritual Dance" duriime as a Princess Shrine Maiden didate.

  She could act as support for the team.

  And once she regained her tracted spirit, she could be their tank.

  Fianna's tracted spirit was a high-ranking Light Elemental, a knight spirit passed down through the Ordesia royal family.

  It possessed incredible defense and high resistao dark attacks, making it an ideal front-line protector.

  Cire and Ri were a mage and an ADC, respectively.

  They were vulnerable in close bat. Having a tank to absorb damage would allow them to unleash their full power.

  Cire pouted, hearing Roy's decision.

  Although she was the leader of the team, Roy's words carried more weight.

  She couldn't object.

  "Fine," she grumbled relutly. "For Roy's sake, I'll allow you to join."

  Ri was also unhappy but couldn't defy Roy's decision.

  Fianna, initially worried that her iions had been exposed, was relieved to hear that she could joieam.

  "Thank you! I'll do my best!" she excimed with a bright smile. "As a token of my siy, I have a mission to share with you."

  "A mission?"

  "Yes. Before ing here, I went to the Headmaster's offid accepted an S-Rank mission," Fianna decred proudly.

  She had used her status as a prio secure this mission.

  And Greyworth had only agreed after Fianioned joining Roy's team.

  Greyworth had even said that if Fianna hadn't joined Roy's team, she would have assighe mission to someone else.

  "What? An S-Rank mission?" Cire and Ri were shocked.

  Like team battles, missions were also a way to climb the school rankings.

  There were various types of missions: perf spirit dances, suppressing rampaging spirits, iigating sealed spirits, aing rogue Elementalists.

  pleting missions granted points that tributed to their team's ranking, simir to winning matches.

  And S-Rank missiohe most difficult.

  If Team Scarlet pleted this mission, their ranking would skyrocket.

  They might even reach the top spot.

  Cire and Ri were excited.

  They didn't even sider whether they could plete the mission. With Roy oeam, they believed they could overe any challenge.

  "Tell us, what's the mission?" Cire urged impatiently.

  "Do you know about the mining city, Gedonelune?" Fianna asked with a sly smile.

  "Gedenelune? I've heard of it. It's an abandoned mining city, right?" Ri recalled.

  Gedenelune was once a prosperous mining town, ri spirit crystals.

  But during the Sed Rubel War, the mines were depleted.

  The mines had been abandoned sihen.

  Now, Gedonelune was a ghost town filled with ruins.

  "Retly, there have been frequehquakes in the mines. Our mission is to iigate the cause," Fianna expined.

  Earthquakes caused by Earth spirits weren't unon.

  If a spirit was angered or rampaging, they would perform a ritual dao appease it or send the Sylphid Knights to subdue it.

  The mission seemed straightforward enough, but...

  "Don't joke with me. How iigating ahquake be an S-Rank mission?" Cire was skeptical.

  There were too many suspicious aspects to this mission.

  A simple iigation shouldn't be dangerous enough to warrant an S-Rank difficulty.

  "Well... it's not that simple," Fianna admitted. "There's a Strategic-Css Elemental, sealed by the former Ordesia Knights, that slumbers within those mines."

  "A Strategic-Css Elemental?!" Cire and Ri gasped.

  Strategic-Css Elementals were incredibly powerful.

  They couldn't be trolled by a single person.

  It required hundreds of Elementalists perf a ritual dao barely utilize their power.

  They were devastating ons.

  However, all the tries on the ti had signed a treaty to seal these seven Strategic-Css Elementals.

  "It's just a spirit. Why are you so scared?" Roy scoffed.

  "That's right. A sealed Strategic-Css Elemental isn't that scary," Fianna agreed.

  "So, the earthquakes are caused by this Elemental?" Roy asked.

  "That's one possibility. That's why the academy issued this mission," Fianna expined.

  "If the seal is indeed weakening, we'll have to perform a ritual dao reseal it."

  Havirained as a shrine maiden, Fianna was capable of perf such rituals.

  "Alright, then Team Scarlet accepts this mission!" Cire decred, smming her hand oable.

  pleting this mission would guarahem a spot in the Bde Dance.

  Roy and Ri nodded in agreement.

  ...

  ...

  Their versatiohe attention of the surrounding students.

  Seeing Fianna, the princess of the Empire, willingly join Team Scarlet, they erupted in chatter.

  "Hey, look! That male Elementalist is hitting on Princess Fianna!"

  "The 'Great Demon King' is at it again."

  "I'm a bit envious, to be ho."

  "Are you crazy?!"

  "But... look at his sharp eyes... I 't resist them..."

  "Don't you think... it would be fun to be pyed by him? Just a little bit!"

  "Y-Yeah... If he forced himself on me... my heart wouldn't be able to take it!"

  "No way! He's the Night Demon King! A Maou who wants to quer every girl in the world!"

  ...

  Roy overheard their whispers.

  The Night Demon King?

  'Hmm... not a bad title,' he mused.

  It seemed the number of girls sending him love letters had increased tely.

  His locker was often filled with letters and handmade snacks.

  But he was used to this kind of attention.

  After all, he was the most popur boy at Kuoh Academy.

  ...

  The mission to Gedonelune was scheduled for three days ter, so they didn't have to participate in any ranking matches for now.

  One m, Roy was enjoying his tea and pying games with Koneko when Rias approached him with a cheerful expression.

  "Roy, I have good news!"

  "Oh? What is it?" Roy asked, his attention still on his game with Koneko.

  "Velsaria is back!"

  "Oh, you saw her? How is she?"

  "Well... she's quite a handful, just as you said," Rias replied with a sigh.

  She had received news of Velsaria's return ao meet her, hoping to recruit her future Rook.

  However, upon arriving at the Sylphid Knights' headquarters, she had witnessed Velsaria brutally defeat all the other Knights, including her own sister, Ellis.

  Rias had initially wao intervene, but remembering Roy's words, she held back.

  Velsaria had then mocked Ellis and chosen four Knights who could still stand after her attacks to form her team.

  Throughout the whole ordeal, Velsaria had dispyed an arrogant and ruthless demeanor.

  She was obsessed with power, and Rias could sense a dark aura surrounding her.

  "Haha, don't worry, Rias. She'll e around during the ranking matches," Roy reassured her.

  "I suppose that's all we do," Rias sighed.

  But then, she smiled.

  Thanks to her charm, many girls were willing to follow her.

  However, her Evil Pieces were limited. Although she still had all eight Pawn pieces, they weren't mutated pieces.

  And the students in this academy generally had high potential.

  It would take at least tieces to turn one of them into a Devil.

  Rias naturally wao choose the most talented girls.

  ...

  That afternoon, Roy took Mitsuri and Makomo out for a stroll.

  As they passed by a clothing store, the girls' eyes were drawn to the beautiful clothes dispyed in the window.

  Roy chuckled ahem inside.

  "Makomo, do you like this dress?" he asked, pointing at a lovely princess dress with a gem-encrusted neckce.

  "Yes..." Makomo replied with a blush.

  "The's buy it," Roy decred, uned about the price. After all, the money was a gift from Greyworth.

  "Mitsuri, you too. Choose whatever you like. Don't hold back."

  "Okay!" Mitsuri beamed and began browsing through the clothes.

  She was currently wearing the academy uniform. She had discarded her Demon Syer uniform long ago.

  The girls soon chose their outfits ao the fitting rooms.

  Makomo emerged first, looking adorable in the princess dress and the sparkling neckce.

  "Makomo, you're so cute! e here!" Roy scooped her up and lifted her high in the air.

  Makomo, usually expressionless, blushed.

  Mitsuri then came out, wearing a geous evening gown that atuated her curves.

  She looked even more radiant than usual.

  "You look stunning!" Roy gave her a thumbs up, still holding Makomo in his other arm.

  Mitsuri giggled, pleased with his approval.

  "I'll take these two outfits. Please their school uniforms. They keep the new clothes on," Roy told the shopkeeper.

  Just then...

  BOOM!

  A loud explosion sounded from the distance.

  Smoke billowed into the sky.

  "What happened over there?" Roy wondered, looking towards the source of the otion.

  "It must be something with the Imperial Army," the shopkeeper replied.

  She reized the dire as the location of the Imperial Army base.

  "Let's go check it out. We have some free time," Roy said to Makomo and Mitsuri.

  They nodded in agreement.

  The three of them left the store.

  "Wait! You haven't paid yet!" the shopkeeper shouted, finally realizing what had happened.

  But Roy and the girls were already gone.

  Roy, hearing her shout, felt a pang of embarrassment.

  He had fotten to pay.

  But it would be even more awkward to go baow. He would have to pay her aime.

  ...

  They soon arrived at the se.

  It was the Imperial Army's arena.

  Roy stopped a girl who was running away and asked what had happened.

  It turned out that today was the day the Empire selected talented Elementalists to join the army.

  The winner of this sele process would be granted a tract with a Strategic-Css Elemental.

  Strategic-Css Elementals were incredibly powerful.

  Ordinary Elementalists couldn't trol them alone.

  That's why this sele process was held, to find someoh the talent to wield such a powerful spirit.

  <><><><>

  Support & Read 18 Advanced Chapters. Ahead of the rest!

  https://p-atreon./dragonnx

  (Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

  There is 8 Exg Fanfics already avaible on my Patreon!