Regardless of the school, he is known as a Demon

"Since you went and beaten one of the main team members for the Kendo club, you will have to take his place for the qualifying match that will be taking place tomorrow"

Sona reported the situation to Masaru while playing their number ##'s game of chess with him, it has been a month since he started attending the school and today was the parental visitation day.

The two of them were taking breaks after dealing with their respective troublesome matters Sona from Serafall and Masaru from Diana & Julia.

"That's fine, I will be happy to become a temporary team member for this tournament but on the condition that I won't be made to join their training. It will dull my battle sense if I were to combat against weaklings, this is no offence but a fact"

Sona thought for a moment and agreed with the condition as she could understand that Masaru was not lying to her.

"How was your sister today?" Sona flinched at Masaru's question, she gave him a short glare before answering.

"It was a bit of pain to deal with although she is busy being a Devil King she will still come on time, or more like she will arrive before the time due to her personality"

Masaru noticed Sona was smiling without she herself realizing it, he did not point this out and kept it to himself. Sona took the chance to counter ask Masaru a question he wanted to avoid

"How about Diana and Julia, I heard that things were exceptionally interesting with them and the teachers"

Now it was Masaru's face to cramp up, he loved his parents but sometimes they embarrass him at school with how they act.

'Thank god I studied hard to maintain my high rank in school. Otherwise, it might have made them lose their face with how they normally act'

He could remember how Diana was asking every detail of his classes while Julia was asking things not even related to his schooling!

"Let's just say the teachers find them interesting for being so proactive to get involved... in my growth" Masaru answered vaguely.

"But the one to look out for was Rias... That was amusing to watch"

Sona almost chokes on her tea when she heard this giggling, she knew what Masaru truly meant. Since Rias was too used to pampering since young that habit had made her parents and sibling become her living hell during visitations like these.

"heh, that's what she gets for being spoiled for so long" Masaru laughed about his other childhood friend not feeling a shred of sympathy, instead he basks in her sufferings to make up for his own.

"Let's make sure she does not hear this or we will not hear the end of it"

The two of them laughed but both of them did not let their guard down in the chess match.

"It appears several activities in the town is becoming quite active because of it under the jurisdiction of Rias and you. I am having trouble holding back so what are you two thinking to allow those crows and mumbling exorcist to enter the town without monitoring them strictly?"

Masaru played his move while asking about the sightings of Fallen Angels and Exorcist he came across in the town, he understood their difficulties but he needed to know what their thoughts are so he can make his move accordingly.

"It's difficult to send people to monitor them too close, with no information to determine whether or not they are in one of the three factions or in this mixed-race faction. We can only keep an eye on them from the distance for now"

Sona took a while to observe the chessboard before making her move, Masaru nodded as he found her move interesting before responding

"Well, that is fine as long as you two know of this. I guess my habit I develop throughout years of continued fighting is still doing it's magic, when I sense races that are not Devils I have a habit of investigating them immediately even by force if I have to. The way we live is far more dangerous compared to humans oblivious of the supernatural world"

"I won't mind if you make a move on the exorcist, because the church in this town has been abandoned ever since the incident of your aunt took place. It was like the church gave up on this area, they believed we would launch an attack when there was a change in management of this town"

Masaru who heard Sona thought for a moment nodded, this was the same report he once read from Akeno's investigation of the town before they moved here from Kobe town

"I will check on them when I have the time, well it's time for me to leave. I give up this match"

Masaru stood up leaving the room, Sona did not utter a word looking at the chessboard with a sigh

'Since when did he learn to play chess like this'

The situation on the chess was like a gamble move it depends on whether Masaru makes the right move he wins but loses instantly if he doesn't.

>\/<

Masaru came to the Kendo club after leaving the Student Council room, the advisor for the club was currently speaking with four other students who appear to be the main team for the boys.

"Student Council President Sona has already arranged a replacement for him, the replacement should be showing up soon. Just so that you all know according to Sona, the replacement is highly talented. Make sure to treat him well as we really need him to stay in the team, if we don't have a full team then we can forget about the tournament this year"

When the students saw Masaru approaching the advisor stopped and smiled when he saw Masaru, the legendary Demon King has arrived in their club.

"Welcome and thanks for coming as a reserve member for our team" The advisor thanked Masaru,

"No, I have caused trouble so it's only natural to take responsibility"

The advisor felt proud at this boy's humble, honest to a fault and responsible character, he looked at the four students

"Make sure to learn from him as well, teaching goes both ways for teacher and students" The four students nodded at the advisor not daring to refute but the four of them thought

'Learn from him what? How to beat up someone into a hospital legally for a week and not able to attend matches for a long time? How to become an infamous Demon king?'

When the advisor left Masaru looked at the students, "No need to get friendly, you don't like me and I don't like you. I know the rules of Kendo and there is nothing for you to teach me. You can continue your training preparations without minding me, you all already know my abilities so I will naturally not drag the team down"

Masaru was not cold but simply indifferent towards them, he knew that establishing a bond with them will be impossible for the short term unless he intends to become a full-fledged member. Unfortunately, that will not be possible, Masaru truly felt that his battle sense will weaken if he does not face life-threatening battles regularly.

It was a daily thing for Masaru dealing with the boys of the school's attitude towards him, thus instead of spending time with them, he would rather interact with Sakura who was part of the reason he decided to join the kendo tournament. To evaluate if she is worth it for him to make her join his peerage or not, but it also depends on her feelings as well.

"Ah! Masaru-kun! You came to accept the replacement invitation?"

Sakura was only wearing her Hakama and the wooden sword they use every time to spar in her hand, Masaru smiled bitterly as he could not expose his reason being to interact more with her.

"I could not reject it, I did after all beaten their strongest member"

Masaru went into the male's locker room, swiftly he changed his outfit to the standard black Hakama without the Bogu, when he came close Sakura tosses a wooden sword towards him which he caught effortlessly.

"So shall we begin?" Sakura took her stance while Masaru already prepared his,

"Ladies first they say"

Sakura did not fall for his provocation as this was their usual when sparring, they would taunt each other during the spar as if they were really fighting. Sakura began to change the pattern of her breathing while her movements held a resemblance to what Masaru used on her during their first battle.

Since Masaru was the creator of this sword technique, he had several ways to deal with this technique. With little effort, he managed to block her attack and followed up with an attack when Sakura's sword slash came in contact with his own sword.

'She really is a genius' Masaru thought as the two of them started to exchange strikes and counters, he kept his physical strength lowered to the level of a veteran swordsman. This information was given to him by Okita Souji, who was once human.

Masaru moved his sword towards her head while unleashing a strong invisible fighting spirit to give an illusionary impression on Sakura's consciousness that a strike was coming from the top but he used radical movements to leave an afterimage and came striking from Sakura's back, he kept the speed to a minimal where Sakura could barely follow.

"Mantis prey the cicada, unaware of the oriole steps"

Sakura felt complicated, she could feel there was a strike coming from the front but her senses were screaming from the back. She never encountered such a radical way of fighting, with her instincts screaming at her.

She dodged towards the left, it was only when she moved towards the left she could finally see where the attack was truly coming from. She felt surprised after experiencing the impression that came from the front was gone and the attack actually came from the back.

"How did you managed to do that?"

Sakura asked feeling a cold sweat run down her spine, that attack was really complicated and it was only thanks to her instinct that she managed to dodge it. Masaru who heard this stood straight smiling, he intended to test her battle instincts and he was surprised at her quick judgement.

"That was the real use of Fighting spirit, by igniting your fighting spirit to overwhelm your opponent's spirit which causes their mind to get the impression of what move they think you will make based on the information they perceive at that moment.

"This is similar to casting a shadow over your sword, by using your fighting spirit you can make your attack pattern obscure. This naturally is accompanied with footwork, I swiftly moved toward your back attacking you there, if it was not for your battle senses which felt my true presence at the back you might have fallen for this trick"

"This is so complicated"

Sakura muttered while rubbing the bridge between her eyes, Masaru could only laugh since he too once felt that way when Okita taught him this set of sword style.

'This girl seems to be worth it, but I won't rush. I need to see it more'

Masaru took his stance, he understood that some techniques can't be comprehended through explaining to them. The kind of genius Sakura was, is the same kind as Masaru. Evolution through life and death battles, only when they are threatened will their latent talent bloom fully.

"You will be able to figure it out, because there aren't many people who use their fighting spirit in this manner since it is the firearm era. Not many are still keeping up with the ancient teachings of the sword, staff, spear and such"

Sakura came towards Masaru once again, Masaru received her sword strike which contains more physical strength which one could not expect from a girl. Using the force that was trying to push him back, he spins around and slashed back against Sakura causing her to step back a few steps.

She was not sure why, but the strength of this strike felt extremely familiar to her. Masaru step forward before moving radically faster towards her, this battle already ignited his lust of battle. Only when battles tend to tilt in his disadvantage did Masaru become a battle whore, although he trained in the sword he was still far from reaching Okita Souji's level in pure technique.

Thus moments when he faces new techniques, he becomes excited as he studies them while forcing his opponents to bring out more techniques for him to learn. It will be on a moment like this that his father will say that Masaru was taking another step forward, a true battle enthusiastic who grows the fastest during combat.

Once the bell went off for the PE classes that were scheduled for the afternoon, Masaru and Sakura stopped while the latter collapsed on the floor wheezing but a smile could be seen on her face.

"Really, every time we fight you change your style completely making it hard for me to come up with a counter"

Masaru felt a little reluctant to end their spar at this stage, since the bell rang he had no choice but to let it go. At least from now on, he will have a chance to have more of such battles, he could not help but chuckle

"It's because I learn from another grandmaster swordsman, I was taught how to observe my opponents and learn their techniques through the movements of their muscles, mentality, breathing, eyes and stance.

"Through that, I can grasp the principles of how each work, then make them my own. If you experience the techniques of that old man, then you will be surprised at how amazing some of these techniques could be especially in how to use your own body as a real weapon"

Masaru spoke with a longing voice as he looked at the students leaving the training area, he knew that he could not bother Okita Souji too much since his master was a peerage member of Sirzech. Those old devils will interfere or make a scene if he were to get too "familiar" with the Devil King or his peerage.

"Remember this, the way of the sword has many paths for us to venture... But there can only one path that will suit you"

>\/<

Akeno and the girls along with Diana and Julia went to the school venue where the qualifying match for the Interschool tournament held in June, this match was in Kobe School. It was the first match between Kuoh High school and Kobe High school, the arena was quite packed especially Masaru's fan club that came to support him all this way.

"Look at those hot girls" One of the Kobe students began chatting while looking at Akeno and the girls with lust.

"What about those two mature ladies with them, damn I could wank for hours with this image of them alone"

Naturally, this discussion was heard by the girls of the same school who felt ashamed of the boys who spoke out such vulgar words.

The boys of the Kuoh High school shook their heads while telling their comrades about the Kuoh's Demon King Masaru.

"Fuck! Those girls are all his!?"

"His back!?"

"Why the hell is the Demon back!?"

"Injustice! Someone call the FBI! We got a lolicon here!"

The complete opposite was going on with the girls who spoke of the crown prince, it totally confused the students of Kobe how a single boy could have two titles that contradictory towards one another. But they themselves knew of this... Demon.

Masaru was busy fastening his bogu around his hakama to ensure ti will not loosen during the fight, one of the students came over

"To think the Demon would grace his presence in Kobe Highschool again, it really is good news for us since we can settle the scores between us from back then"

"Oh, you're the brat who I beat up after you tried to molest Akeno? Don't worry, the hospital will be even more hospitable for you soon" Masaru said causing the boy to feel a chill run down his spine.

Ignoring the opposing team, Masaru was met with one of his team members.

"We are really glad you came with us, Demon King!"

Masaru did not feel bothered about the title, in fact, he prefers this title over his wonder child that is still circulating in the devil world.

"But you better watch out, those guys who are jealous already spread your infamy to the boys of this school. They will use the opposing team to beat you up"

"Well it won't matter if they shared stories or not, because this school already knows of me," Masaru said with a nonchalant attitude, he was already used to how the boys were around him. Nothing more can surprise him anymore.

'But hell! These humans are still as ruthless as I remember if I was weak would I have not been beaten all the time? I really wonder who is really fit to be the devil with these boys? They are more Devil-like than me who is a Devil!'

Masaru sighed while gently caressing his bangs backwards before allowing it to fall back in it's place away from his eyebrows, "Well even if they did not know of me before it will still be fine, let them keep piling up their plans so I can crush them one by one. At least it keeps me from being bored"

The Student who heard this felt like coughing up blood

'Big brother, we are trying to scare you! can you at least be normal for once and act scared? To think you take it as a game!?' The student gave up trying to scare Masaru any further and decided he should report the failure to his comrades after the match.

'It appears the Demon King does not feel fear that easily'

Soon Masaru and the four mob characters were led towards the middle where they all seiza in a column facing their opponents on the other side of the arena, Masaru did not pay attention to what was being said around him he simply sat there silently pondering about how the manner he was sitting appears to be similar when his father screwed up big time and Diana was thoroughly furious about it.

'The manner of sitting does take some time to get used to, if my body was not as flexible as it is now then my legs would have been numb by now'

Masaru thought while moving a little, he could feel the sensation of numbness then he would move a bit before resuming his posture.

Once the opening was complete Masaru was called forward, Masaru and his opponent face each other; assume seiza placing their bokken to the side, and formally bow to each other.

Once done they retrieve their bokken standing up while proceeding to their positions opposite each other nine paces apart. When the signal was giving the opponent step hard on the floor while sending a strike at Masaru who blocked it, using a bit of force Masaru pushed his opponent to break his stance before launching a counter-attack that was blocked by his opponent.

'It's boring, unlike fighting with Sakura this match is a bit boring.'

Masaru thought as he thought of healing that senior of his so he can return to this competition, the match was settled within five minutes allowing Masaru to take his seat allowing the next person in his team to go up.

"What the heck!? Even the strong Kobe Students is no match for our Demon King!"

The friend of this student who just exclaimed, looked at him wondering "Why do you sound happy saying this?"

The student looked like he became wise as he gazes at the competition arena, the surroundings were waiting for his answer "Naturally I hate the Demon King, but I hate Kobe High school who kept beating us. Seeing how others fall in the hands of our Demon King is just as satisfying"

The Kobe students felt like beating up this shameless bastard who was enjoying their suffering,

The student friend nodded "Since we can't eliminate the Demon King, we can push him as our Joker to annihilate our competitions this year"

Diana was still recording the event of Masaru's first competition while Julia felt it was a pity.

"It's shame that girl who trains every other day with Masaru is not allowed to join the competition for the male competition otherwise she too will be able to take them out swiftly"

Diana nodded in agreement to what Julia just said while Akeno pouted, "At least Masaru-sama already made plans to take us out on a date again"

She and the girls felt a bit jealous about Masaru who trained at the Kendo Club, but in reality he spends more time with his peerage than the time he trains at the kendo club!

>\/<

"Sona Kaichou" Tsubaki came into the office smiling,

"Yes?"

Tsubaki coughed, "Ahem* They said the Demon King led the kendo team to victory"

Sona who heard this laughed along with Tsubaki at the mentioning of Masaru's title, the two of them tend to gloat at Masaru but still, they felt frustrated due to Masaru who liked his current title more.

"Well at least that is an upgrade from his wonder child, I suppose he already called as well right?"

"Yes, he intends to heal the student he injured to have him go back as he felt it was a bit lacking to continue" Sona nodded as she continued to deal with the pile of reports, she turn to look at Tsubaki

"Well he was a bit excited so let him experience it all, oh yes. Have the two girls agreed to the proposal?"

Tsubaki turn over the page that contained her memo notes, looking at the information Sona was inquiring about she nodded, "Yes, they will be coming to the Student Council office tomorrow to finalize things with us"

Sona took another sip of tea while gazing at the window, "Any reports of Rias's movements so far?"

"Yes, it appears she is actively monitoring Masaru. I feel like from this pattern she is looking for something that has to do with him or--- "

Sona completed that part "Or she is looking for an opportunity to have Masaru owe her a favour, she really is too prideful to simply ask for help. Masaru is going to lecture her, well that in itself will be amusing"

Tsubaki nodded while Sona sighed with a smile, it has been more than ten years since the engagement between Rias and Riser was announced, in those ten years, Rias never did make any effort in fighting against this fate as she probably thought her older brother will save her at the end of it.

'So you finally became conscious of the problem with Riser, it has even driven you in the corner that you seek such an opportunity.... oh Rias, what should I do?'

"Good work"

>\/<

"Urk! Why is senpai participating in a Kendo tournament" Yuuto felt the world was spinning as he never thought that Masaru would agree to join the kendo match.

Rias already somehow got the gist of Masaru's reason for joining the tournament. "Well he needs an excuse to watch over the one he chose, he is really too cautious. Instead of pondering over his choice, he should just talk to her"

Yuuto who heard this smiled bitterly, "Well sensei once told me that senpai is a cautious type after all, Masaru-senpai's situation is unique after all"

"Has he really stopped training under Souji-san?"

Yuuto had a complicated face at the question Rias asked, but still nodded his head before he explained. "Yes, ever since Masaru-senpai came to school he told sensei that he will be training on his own from now on. Apparently senpai is quite busy with something lately, and sensei is a bit lonely due to it"

Rias thought for a moment and remembered that her brother also told her that Masaru and his peerage is the busiest group of the younger generation, unlike the rest. Masaru was already stepping on the stage where the adults were involved in, she tapped her chin while remembering

"I have tried asking Sona what his devil duties entail, even she is not informed and Onii-sama dodges the question completely. All I know is that he is constantly busy, but what he is busy with I don't know" Rias bites her fingernail, what she desired was a way to accumulate achievements so she could use this to stop her marriage with Riser.

She did think of using a game of chess to break it off as Sona did, but on the night she casually challenged Riser to see his skill level she was left floored.

'Masaru is truly lucky, he got so many achievements under his belt before he even debuted in the Rating game'

Rias felt jealous of Masaru, but she understood the best that she will not easily be able to accumulate such achievements due to her environment where she grew up. They would not allow her to face so many dangers, and unlike her, Masaru was even more stubborn which was why he trained and faced many dangers.

She glanced at the report about the kendo match, she was following Masaru's movements to see if she could spot an opportunity. She could not ask for a favour due to her stubborn nature of not wanting to owe her friends, she wanted an excuse, make Masaru owe her a favour so she could get him to help her deal with her issue.

The reason she chose Masaru as one of her options, is due to the fact that Masaru was unafraid of the phenex family. He even dared mocked Riser in person surrounded by nobles and came out unscathed. This meant the support Masaru had behind him could make the Phenex family back down.

it was a shame that this report was in regards to Masaru's first Noble debut when he faced Riser who was stopped by his little sister Ravel in the end. Due to this, Ravel was mistaken for being in love with Masaru, despite the fact the little girl was wary of Masaru.