"Sona? What are you doing here?"
"Rias. I'm surprised to see you here as well."
I sat idly on a tree branch, watching and listening to the conversation below me despite the distance between myself and the two women.
Just roughly a minute ago, Rias Gremory had appeared in a magic circle. Beside her were three of her peerage members: Akeno Himejima, Koneko Toujou, and Kiba Yuuto.
[Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess] [High-Class Devil] [Rias Gremory] - Level 49
Reputation with [Rias]: Neutral
The women themselves were far more beautiful than even any succubus, with Rias having long flowing crimson hair, large perky and plump breasts, along with a curvy body. Her hips were wide, her waist thin, and her behind thick. Instead of the typical Kuoh Academy uniform that I usually envisioned when I thought of her, she was dressed in a rather casual outfit.
She had on a tight white T-shirt, which was tight enough that the outline of her large breasts were visible, along with a simple pair of tight black shorts. Her shorts cut off at her thighs, showcasing her long porcelain legs, and were tight around her thick thighs.
She was also even weaker than I had imagined. I knew that the monsters in the Familiar Forest were pretty tough, but Rias wasn't even at the level of a General. Granted, the level didn't take into account her Power of Destruction, which was a seriously dangerous technique.
With that, she was probably actually closer in strength to someone like Ragnat. She couldn't keep up with the former prince in pure physical ability, but she had a pretty much one-shot move.
Meanwhile, her Queen in Akeno Himejima was equally as beautiful. She had long raven hair, breasts that were somehow even bigger than Rais's, and an equally as curvy body. She was dressed a bit less casually, as she had her typical shrine-maiden outfit on.
[Priestess of Thunder] [Fallen-Devil] [Akeno Himejima] - Level 37
Reputation with [Akeno]: Neutral
Just like with Rias, Akeno was also surprisingly weak. But, again, just like with Rias, it didn't take into account her lightning techniques.
Finally was her Rook, Koneko Toujou, also known as Kuroka's sister Shirone.
[Nekoshou-Devil] [Koneko Toujou] - Level 20
Reputation with [Koneko]: Neutral
On a branch nearby, Kuroka was watching the girl stiffly, looking as if she wanted to leap down and grab her but holding herself back.
The girl was more cute than sexy, but as I looked at her I was reminded about how unfair devils really were in this world. Despite the girl definitely being petite and having an incredibly cute face, she still somehow managed to be sexier than any human I had ever seen.
She was short, with short white hair and a toned yet soft-looking body. Her thighs were thick, and her all-around thick lower half made up for her petite upper half.
She was also wearing a rather casual set of clothing, as she had a simple white T-shirt and shorts on. She would've been matching with Rias if it wasn't for her shorts being more purple-colored than black.
Her level was more understandable, as I imagined it hadn't been all that long since she joined Rias's peerage. She also was afraid to utilize her Nekoshou abilities, so most of her actual strength came from being a Rook.
Kiba Yuuto, the 'pretty boy' and only male member of Rias's peerage, was there too, as he stood a few feet behind his King. He certainly lived up to the 'pretty boy' reputation he had, as his face was handsome and his body was fit.
[Devil] [Kiba Yuuto] - Level 19
Reputation with [Kiba]: Neutral
He was one level lower than Koneko, but they were roughly the same.
On the other side was Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra, as the duo of beautiful women stood across from Rias's group in the forest. Compared to the insane sex appeal of Rias's peerage, they were definitely a bit more normal looking, but still supernaturally attractive compared to a normal human.
[High-Class Devil] [Sona Sitri] - Level 40
Reputation with [Sona]: Neutral
Sona had a short bob of black hair and piercing eyes that were hidden underneath her glasses. Her frame was also more on the petite side, but like with Koneko her bottom half made up for the lack of size on her breasts, as she had thick thighs and a plump rear.
She was dressed up a bit more than Rias's peerage, looking more like she was attending a semi-formal event than searching for a familiar in a forest. She wasn't wearing a full-on dress or anything, but she had a loose blue t-shirt that had a small bow on the front, along with a more expensive-looking skirt.
She was a bit weaker than Rias, but still a bit stronger than Akeno. The intelligent girl was actually pretty skilled with her clan's water magic, so she likely was a bit stronger than her level portrayed.
Slightly behind her stood her Queen, Tsubaki, who was also dressed a bit more formally. She had on a tight green shirt that accentuated her large breasts - which couldn't compare to Rias or Akeno's, but still would be considered huge as far as human standards go - and a matching skirt with Sona that covered her thick thighs.
She also had a beautiful face, which was framed by her long rear-length black hair and glasses.
[Devil] [Tsubaki Shinra] - Level 32
Reputation with [Tsubaki]: Neutral
Similar to Sona, her Queen was only a bit lower level than Rias's Queen.
"There's a lot of requests to look for familiars now that the forest is open again," The 'Familiar Master' Zatouji explained, the middle-aged man standing to the side of both groups, "So we're combining some of the groups. You don't mind, right?"
The man was a lot more chilled out after being charmed by Velrissa, which might've been a problem if either Rias or Sona knew him beforehand. Luckily, they didn't mention anything about his usual 'enthusiasm' about finding familiars dying down a bit.
"It's fine with me," Rias said simply, glancing over at Sona and causing her gorgeous hair to swish in the process, "Do you mind, Sona?"
"Not at all," Sona hummed as she nodded. A small smirk appeared on her face, "It'll make it even better when you see what amazing familiar I make a contract with, Rias."
The two childhood friends had a bit of a friendly rivalry, and Rias matched her smirk with one of her own, "I'm sure whatever you find will look dull next to mine, Sona. Onii-chan said you could even find dragons in here…"
"Dragon's respect intelligence." Sona pushed up her glasses on her nose, "I would think I'm more likely to form a contract with one than you."
"Are you saying I'm dumb?" Rias pouted, and Akeno giggled behind her.
"Stop riling up my King so much, Sona-san, fufu," She giggled.
"There's still one more we're waiting for," Zatouji interrupted the banter as he glanced around the forest.
"One more?" Sona raised an eyebrow at him, "Who else is coming?"
Her question was answered a moment later as an orange magic circle appeared on the floor. A burst of fire shot upward out of it, and suddenly a short blonde woman was standing in the middle of it. Behind her was a much taller woman with long purple hair.
[High-Class Devil] [Ravel Phenex] - Level 25
Reputation with [Ravel]: Neutral
"...Ravel Phenex?" Rias muttered, her eyes hardening slightly as the girl appeared.
As opposed to Rias's group's casual wear and Sona's semi-formal wear, Ravel Phenex looked like she was heading a formal gala right after. She was wearing a long pink dress that nearly dragged on the ground and which had a bow on the front.
She was also supernaturally beautiful, as the woman's face was thin and pretty as it was framed by her twin drills of blonde hair. Her body was also curvy, though it was mostly hidden by the long dress, but her decently sized breasts and small waist were still visible.
Her level was also a bit of a surprise. I knew the girl's main battle prowess came from her strategies, but she was barely stronger than Koneko and Kiba - both of whom were likely newly reincarnated devils.
The woman behind her had more of a 'sexy' vibe. She had long purple hair that flowed down to her rear, and her body was nearly as curvy and thick as Rias and Akeno's. She was dressed in what looked to be a mixture of a corset and a dress, which pushed up and accented her massive breasts.
She had long soft legs, which were visible as the dress parted by her thighs, and was wearing a flurry of jewelry around her neck. She also had stockings on her legs, a headband with a jewel wrapped around her forehead, and she was holding a staff with an orange ball on top.
[Devil] [Yubelluna] - Level 15
Reputation with [Yubelluna]: Neutral
Considering how weak the woman was, I figured that she must've been reincarnated recently. During Rias's rating game with Riser, she had been closer to Akeno in power as opposed to being weaker than even Koneko and Kiba.
"Rias Gremory? Sona Sitri?" Ravel glanced around at the two peerages curiously, "Why are you all here?"
"Because the forest just reopened recently, there are a lot of-" Zatouji started to explain, but now that the three main guests were here, I decided to drop the act.
"Actually, none of you will be doing any familiar hunting today," I said casually as I leaped off the tree, my voice echoing down to them. I landed in front of the group in a crouch, the ground under me shaking lightly from the impact as the ground dented.
I wasn't kitted out in my armor at the moment, as I was confident I wouldn't need it against the group. Even during the early events of the show, none of Rias, Sona, or Ravel were all that powerful, and considering that they didn't have familiars yet, they were likely even weaker at the moment.
Instead, I was dressed in actual comfortable clothing for once. While I hadn't publicly announced my new faction to the world and left the forest personally, I had been able to send out some succubi to get supplies. They looked the most human-like out of any of the races under my rule, so they could pass as devils pretty easily.
Now, I had on a simple tight black T-shirt that accented my muscular frame, along with some comfortable gray sweatpants. I hadn't minded the animal/monster skin clothes that I had been wearing mostly before, but these were much more comfortable.
"Your Highness," Zatouji fell down onto a knee as I arrived, bowing his head at me. His actions instantly alerted the devils that something was wrong, and they stiffened.
"Who are you?" Rias asked bluntly as she tensed, taking a step sideways to stand protectively in front of her peerage.
"I'm wondering the same," Sona said stiffly.
"My name is Valon," I hummed easily, grinning at both of them, "But that probably doesn't mean much to you. You may refer to me as the Beast King."
"Beast King?" Ravel muttered, glancing over at the kneeling form of Zatouji, "Hey, familiar master! Is this guy a familiar too?"
"He feels like a devil," Tsubaki softly muttered to Sona, who nodded in agreement as she sensed my demonic power.
"Of course not," Zatouji growled, spinning around and glaring at Ravel lightly for her question, "His majesty cannot be compared to something as lowly as a familiar! He is the great ruler of this land!"
I asked Velrissa to ensure that Zatouji was loyal to me when she used [Charm] on him, but it seemed she might've done a little too good of a job.
"Have you heard of a 'Beast King,' Sona?" Rias asked, glancing over at Sona.
"I haven't," Sona muttered in response.
"Neither have I," Ravel hummed, looking at me with a cautious look, "But, who cares? I'm just here for a familiar! Familiar master, show me where the strong ones are, now!"
"You guys don't seem to understand," I interrupted as Ravel pointed at the kneeling Zatouji demandingly, "None of you will be finding familiars today. In fact, none of you will be leaving this forest either."
"That sounds threatening, wouldn't you say, Sona?" Rias asked her friend, looking slightly arrogant as she raised her hand, "I don't think this guy knows who he's dealing with."
"He's pretty cute," Akeno giggled behind Rias before Sona could answer, taking a step forward next to her King as a trail of lightning danced on her fingers, "Can we keep him, Rias?"
"I agree - with you, Rias, not Akeno, but…" Sona trailed off, clarifying what she meant mid-sentence and pushing up her glasses again as a slight bit of nervousness crept into her voice, "He has a lot of demonic power. I don't think he'll be easy to handle."
"Hmmph, who cares? An inferior beast shouldn't talk to his betters so casually!" Ravel raised her hands, her flat palms pointing at me, "I'll cook him!"
A second later, twin bursts of fire launched out from her hands. They streamed towards me, but the Phenex cut off her attack abruptly as a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Don't try that again," I said simply as I appeared next to her, moving so quickly that it looked as if I had teleported.
"Get ready to fight!" Rias called back to her peerage as she lashed out her hand, a ball of pure black destruction in the form of the Power of Destruction flying at me.
If it hit me it probably would've hurt at least a little bit. Even with my [Phenex Immortality] the attack was pretty scary.
But, that was if it hit me. Her low level wasn't for nothing, as the attack seemed to fly towards me at a crawl. I reached down, casually swooping up Ravel in a bridal carry as I stepped out of the way effortlessly.
I suspected I was right about Yubelluna being recently reincarnated because the woman didn't even try to stop me as I took Ravel. She simply glanced over at Rias and Sona, looking at them for help as she seemed confused.
"P-Put me down, you beast!" Ravel squeaked out, shoving against my chest as she tried to roll out of my arms.
I set her down gently, grinning lightly at the girl, "Hey, you should be thanking me, y'know? That would've hit you too."
"Yes, please try not to destroy our allies, Rias…" Sona trailed off, the woman looking even more nervous at how quickly I had moved.
"She's a Phenex, she would've been fine," Rias huffed, apparently holding a grudge against Ravel for being forced into an engagement with her brother, as the attack still would've hurt Ravel even if she could just regenerate any damage it did.
"You guys are way too casual about this," I hummed, clapping my hands as the sound resounded throughout the area and turned all eyes to me, "You don't seem to understand what kind of situation this is."
Faster than any of the devils' eyes could process, I appeared in front of Kiba. He quickly raised his hand, not waiting to see what I would do as a sword appeared in it from his sacred gear. He swung it wildly at me, but I just casually raised my finger.
My END was far stronger than whatever flimsy sword his scared gear could manage, as the boy had clearly still not mastered it yet, and it literally broke in half as it hit my finger. One half of the sword remained in his hand, but the top half of the blade flew into the ground with a clang.
Kiba's eyes widened, but he doubled over and fell to his knees a second later as I lightly jabbed his gut. Granted, it was 'light' for me, but the boy was heaving and gasping from the blow, so it wasn't actually all that light.
"Y-Yuuto!" Rias shouted panickedly, but the Nekoshou next to Kiba acted first.
Koneko stepped forward, launching a punch at my chest quickly. I raised my hand in response, grabbing her wrist and easily stopping the punch as Koneko's normally emotionless eyes widened.
"Kuroka," I called out casually, and Kuroka leaped down next to me in an instant.
"T-Thank you!" She said gratefully, looking slightly nervous as she reached out and placed a hand on Koneko's head. Koneko's eyes widened even more in shock as her sister suddenly appeared, and she took a step back.
A moment later, Kuroka's hand glowed and Koneko's eyes slowly fluttered shut. The older sister caught Koneko's body as she fell unconscious, holding her gingerly.
Kuroka hadn't actually told me about how Koneko was her sister yet, but I didn't need my prior knowledge of the world to connect the dots. It became apparent by how nervous she was since she heard my plan to kidnap Rias.
I suspected that the reason the older Nekoshou was being so friendly to me in general and constantly trying to seduce me was because of Koneko as well. She likely wanted me to help her get her sister and protect them, but she clearly didn't expect for it to happen so soon.
"K-Kuroka? The SS-Class criminal?!" Sona spit out, her eyes wide as she took a step back. She raised her hand, her eyes narrowing at me and Kuroka.
"We need to leave, Rias!" She shouted, but Rias's face twisted in anger as she shouted back.
"She just took my precious Koneko! We can't leave her," She shot back, and she raised her hand as Akeno did the same.
"I didn't warn you two yet, so I will now," I hummed as I appeared in between Rias and Akeno faster than they could react. I grabbed both of their wrists, cutting off their attacks as I squeezed them tightly, and they both hissed in pain.
"Don't try that again, okay?"
I pushed my arms outward, flinging both women to the sides and causing them to fall on their thick asses as Sona flung a high-speed ball of water at me. I casually sidestepped it, letting it fly past me and explode on a nearby tree.
"I'm sorry, but you have to leave her, Rias! We can't beat them-" Sona paused, her eyes wide as she stared at the ground under her, her palm held outward, "W-Why can't I…"
"The familiar master already told you," I grinned widely, casually taking a few steps towards her as a magic circle didn't appear under her, "This is my land. If I don't want you to leave, then you won't leave."
In reality, it was Tiamat preventing them from leaving. The large dragon was positioned a couple dozen miles away, but she was skilled enough in magic to create a huge field around this section of the forest. She called it 'anti-coward' magic, but in essence she was disrupting the type of magic that devils used to teleport.
"W-What are you saying?! This forest is under the jurisdiction of the four Maou!" Ravel huffed, glaring at me, though there was some worry in her eyes now, "Do you know who I am? My family won't let you get away with this!"
"Y-Yeah, Onii-chan will make you pay for what you did," Rias glared at me as she pushed herself back onto her feet, "I am Rias Gremory, sister of Sirzechs Lucifer! If you don't give me back Koneko and let us leave, you'll regret it!"
"I know exactly who you are," I said simply in response, causing her to tense again, "Rias Gremory, the sister of the Lucifer Maou. Sona Sitri, the sister of the Leviathan Maou. Ravel Phenex, daughter of the Phenex Clan. I know who you are and who your family is, but I don't care."
I snapped my fingers, and a jolt of magic went through my contract with Tiamat. It was nice having the dragon as a familiar because it meant I could summon her whenever I wanted.
The air filled with tension as a blue glow appeared in the gloomy forest area, expanding outward and lighting it up. A second later, the blue glow materialized and took the form of a towering blue dragon.
"T-Tia… tiamat…" Sona spit out, her eyes staring disbelievingly at the dragon's appearance, "W-Why… how…"
"Do you understand now?" I asked, a grin still on my face, "Whatever connections you had don't matter anymore. Your families won't be coming to save you."
I activated [King's Aura] and [King's Command]. The effect was instantaneous, as all of the surrounding devils were suddenly slammed down onto their knees by an invisible force. Their heads bowed to me as they were unable to raise their eyes from the floor.
"You're mine now."
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AN: Thank you for reading! Sorry for the infrequent updates lately, they will become more frequent again from now on!
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