The 4 Horsemen of Highschool // Highschool DxD x Darksiders

Chapter 107

3rd POV

Leaving aside the fate of the red dragon that had its reputation soiled by a spiteful Horseman, there are other things that require attention. In fact, a full day has passed since Diodora's victory over Seekvaira. A full day of planning ahead and strategizing for out red headed beauty, and yet she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss. Adding to the pile, it wasn't helping that her blonde bishop was having second thoughts right before the game. Rias was aware of the apparent history between Asia and Diodora, but simply having the knowledge served her in no way currently.

It's been a few times now that she's rewatched Astaroth's previous game to get a feeling for this sudden boost in power and ability, but with each new details surmised came along another layer of insecurity on her mind. She contemplated as well on her classmate's words, but she has no way of knowing what 'third rate Desmond' could possibly entail. One could suppose that a first rate past Desmond would mean something ten times worse, but without actual feats, there's no perspective to be drawn. Besides, these games were for the younger devils. If Sona didn't go to Bruce for direct help despite their close relationship, how could she have the nerve to ask that of Leon, with whom, not long before, she was butting head at almost every turn.

No. This was her game and her peerage. As the king, it's her duty to come up with a plan for victory. Quite ironic, isn't it? The main advantage she had over Sona was firepower, and not the tables seemed to have turned slightly. Her attitude, in turn, pushed the other members of the peerage to look past their prejudice slightly and take things more serious. Koneko, albeit still avoiding any contact with her sister, continued to train her sage arts and Akeno, although reluctant, has accepted to meet her father once again just for the sake of the match.

The ones unrelated to the fight that was about to occur had their hands full as well. The leader of the 3 factions, accepting that a direct alliance with the horsemen won't just happen so sudden, shifted their focus towards a more urgent matter, that of the Old Satan Faction, as they've awfully quiet ever since their first attack at Kuoh Academy. Alex and Scarlett, less versed in the politics of the supernatural, were taking their time with Kuroka. Maybe Scarlett more than Alex, as the girl was lacking any meaningful purpose as long as her lover was outside trying to further his control over the horseman's powers. Anna sure wasn't minding seeing Kuroka more often.

Alas, we end up at the aforementioned brothers, still split up in their attempt to push past the status quo they've been comfortable with for the past year. Objectively speaking, the base form of a Horseman meant barely a quarter of their full potential. The oldest, along with Death were the furthest they could be from the rest, as the Gremory manor and Hell itself has become rather noisy following the start of the games and frankly, they'd rather sleep in peace, as opposed to being woken up again by a devil.

The twins, most peculiar, have abandoned their previous ideas regarding hunting and instead chose to spar with one another. Although they were siblings, fighting an actual person served as a better stimulant for Bruce need of turmoil. In turn, he served as a perfect attacker for Desmond to attempt to bring his toys out. Bullets were flying left and right, up and down, changing direction at the slightest contact with a more sturdier surface. In opposition, Desmond's whip wasn't put to use, as it'd defeat the purpose of the Hollow arsenal. Of course, whenever a bullet did manage to cut into his skin, the blood that would gush out would jump towards the blond, corroding the patches of grass it landed upon, seemingly boiling despite the rather cool temperatures. In rest, his focus was on evading the projectiles, feeling as if he could almost get a grasp of the Storm hollow and its boost of speed. Their bodies were moving quickly and swiftly, but one look at their eyes denotes a deep trance, as if their minds were diving deeper into the essence of the Horseman while their physical beings were on autopilot. It's a good thing they're at the outskirts of the nearby town, or else innocents might get caught in the crossfire of these 2.