Starting with No Game No Life: Infinite Chests

Holy swords lost their power? How could something like that happen? It was because of him?

Xenovia and Irina's expressions changed, and they looked at Riku with heavy faces.

"What did you do?" Xenovia asked in a low voice.

"I already said these things are useless to me. I just demonstrated that, is there a problem?" Riku replied calmly.

With his current abilities, sealing a mere holy sword was nothing but a thought.

"...!" Although they had guessed as much, actually hearing it from his own mouth still left Xenovia and Irina speechless. Their trump card had been effortlessly neutralised, and they didn't even know how he did it.

This completely confirmed what Riku had said earlier; the holy swords were nothing but trash to him.

"This time, we lost," Xenovia said as she re-wrapped the cloth around her sword, looking at Riku. "Maybe the holy sword is useless against you, but for devils and fallen angels, it's still an important weapon that fact won't change."

"So, please keep your students from interfering in our affairs. Irina, let's go," she continued, addressing Irina beside her.

"Yeah." Hearing this, Irina stood up as well, casting a wary glance at Riku before following Xenovia out.

But just as they reached the door, Irina seemed to remember something and turned to look at Asia.

"Asia Argento, you were once a saint, but now you're mixing with devils after being expelled from the Church? Do you still have faith in the Lord?" Irina asked solemnly.

"...?" Caught off guard, Asia was stunned for a moment, but then nervously yet firmly replied, "My faith in the Lord has never wavered."

"Is that so? If that's the case, then I advise you to leave these devils behind," Irina said quietly.

"No... I don't want to," Asia's body stiffened, but she replied without hesitation.

"So thoroughly fallen. It seems your so-called faith is actually blasphemy against the Lord," Xenovia said, shaking her head.

"You keep talking about your 'Lord.' If you knew the truth, you'd be the ones crying," Riku suddenly said.

His ambiguous words left Xenovia and Irina puzzled, but they knew it was pointless to argue further. So, the two just shook their heads and left.

"Excuse us," Xenovia said lightly, and closed the door behind her.

"What a hassle," Rias finally relaxed, her face full of frustration. "I can't believe something like this happened on my turf."

"Umu, thanks to Teacher Riku, things didn't turn into a huge mess this time," Akeno said with a smile.

"Mm, the H-Teacher was actually pretty cool this time," Koneko agreed with a nod.

Riku rolled his eyes at that.' Hey, Koneko-chan, could you maybe change your nickname for me before giving a compliment?'

Schwi just pouted, not saying anything more. Only she truly understood the real situation.

"Riku, I..." Asia started, a bit lost.

"No need to overthink it. Trust me, the Lord won't blame you," Riku turned and said seriously.

"Okay." Hearing this, Asia smiled, and the confusion in her eyes vanished. To her, Riku was like the heavens. Everything he said gave off a mysterious sense of conviction, making people believe him without question.

"Thank you, Riku-san." At this moment, Yuuto suddenly spoke up, still looking gloomy, but his gratitude toward Riku was clear.

"Yuuto, it seems you have a deep hatred for the holy swords. Could you explain why?" Riku asked slowly. "Xenovia mentioned the Holy Sword Project. I've heard a bit about it myself."

"That's right. I'm a survivor of the Holy Sword Project. Thanks to my friends' sacrifices, I escaped the Church and ended up meeting the president, barely surviving to this day. The only reason I lived was to destroy the holy swords," Yuuto fell silent for a moment, then finally spoke, his eyes full of hatred.

Rias, Akeno, and Koneko all fell silent, knowing the situation.

Schwi, on the other hand, didn't care much and just calmly ate her chips.

"Kiba, a holy sword, is just an object. Your hatred for it is meaningless," Riku said quietly, looking straight at him.

"You know—!" That struck a nerve, and Kiba's pupils contracted, his handsome face twisting with anger as if he wanted to say something.

"That's right, it really is meaningless. If you want to blame someone, blame the true culprits. The ones you should hate are those who masterminded the Holy Sword Project, those who gave the order to kill your friends, and everyone involved, not the sword itself," Riku said calmly.

"..." Hearing this, Yuuto fell silent. He had always believed that the existence of holy swords was the source of all their misfortune. If there were no holy swords, there would be no more victims.

But things were not that simple; the darkness behind it all was something ordinary people couldn't even imagine.

"That person has long since disappeared... I..." Kiba muttered gloomily.

"As a teacher, it's my duty to correct my students' mindsets," Riku said slowly. "Yuuto, there's a chance for you to take your revenge. If you want to know about it, just behave and do as I say for now."

"——!" That made Yuuto's eyes go wide.

Neither Rias nor Akeno tried to stop him. Instead, they looked at Riku with grateful eyes. Koneko also gave Riku a gentle look.

All three of them knew: if it weren't for Riku, Yuuto's hatred would almost certainly have driven him to do something reckless, maybe even turning into a stray devil, only to be eliminated in the end.

"Alright. If I can get my revenge, I'll do anything. Please, Teacher Riku, I'm counting on you." After a few seconds of silence, Yuuto regained some composure and replied respectfully.

"Not bad. I thought I might have to beat some sense into you first, but you didn't let me down," Riku nodded casually.

"...!" That made Yuuto's mouth twitch. Now he realised that if he had answered wrong just now, this unpredictable teacher probably really would have knocked him out to set him straight.

Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Asia all smiled at Riku's words.

In an instant, the heavy atmosphere became much lighter.

"Teacher Riku, I'll leave Kiba's matter to you. Just please, don't go overboard," Rias said quietly, knowing full well it was a futile request, but still unable to help herself from reminding him.

--

After that, Rias and Akeno went straight to find Sona Sitri. What had just happened was related to Sona and her group as well.

As for Riku, he took Schwi, Koneko, and Yuuto Kiba to the downtown area.

"Riku Sensei, you said you could help me get revenge…" As they walked, Yuuto looked at Riku, who was busy buying more street snacks for Schwi and Koneko. Yuuto couldn't help but feel exasperated and finally spoke up.

"Don't rush. Just go with the flow. The time isn't right yet," Riku interrupted, speaking with his mouth full as he chewed on a meat skewer.

This made Yuuto's mouth twitch as he looked speechlessly at Riku, Schwi, and Koneko, all happily stuffing their faces. Was this really reliable?

"Please show mercy to these lost lambs~"

"Grant mercy to us, oh Father~!" At that moment, two familiar voices rang out, drawing Kiba's attention. Instantly, he felt at a loss.

There on the side of the road at night, Xenovia and Irina were squatting next to an iron pot propped up on bamboo, holding golden bowls and begging for alms.

These were the same two once-formidable holy sword wielders from the Church.

Kiba's face twitched, and he suddenly felt his previous standoff with them was utterly ridiculous…

"Finally found them." Riku smiled slightly and muttered to himself. Of course, as he said this, both he and Schwi could have located them in an instant if they wanted, but since there was no rush, he chose to enjoy himself first.

"Honestly, even though this is a developed country, nobody will spare even a little money. This is why I hate countries with no faith," Xenovia complained.

"Don't say that, Xenovia. Let's keep begging. If we don't, how are we supposed to have the energy to take back Excalibur?" Irina clutched her loudly rumbling stomach and replied helplessly.

"Yo, you two are as lively as ever," Riku said as he walked over, teasing them.

"What part of us looks lively to you?!" Irina, the more playful one, instinctively snapped back.

After she finished, both she and Xenovia realised and turned, faces suddenly serious as they regarded Riku, Schwi, Koneko, and Kiba.

"Are you here to mock us?" Xenovia asked coldly.

"Yes," Riku replied matter-of-factly.

"——!" Both Xenovia and Irina froze.

Koneko and Kiba were also stunned. That was way too direct an answer.

"Should I call you naïve, or just plain stupid?" Riku glanced at the golden bowls in their hands and sneered. "Begging with golden bowls? You don't look like real beggars at all. Who would ever give you money?"

"That… makes sense," Xenovia finally realised, and she and Irina exchanged glances.

"And you could have just sold the golden bowls for money," Riku added.

"Uh…" Xenovia and Irina both froze again, their mouths twitching. Maybe they really had been acting dumb…

"Hmph, selling off the golden bowl used for begging would be an insult to our faith!" Irina huffed, embarrassed, and tried to justify herself.

"Agreed," Xenovia said, nodding earnestly.

"Oh, is that so? Then go ahead and starve." Riku grinned mischievously.

He raised the skewers in his hand, took a big bite, and looked like he was about to walk away, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Xenovia, I suddenly have the urge to cut him down, don't you?" Irina's eyes were fixed on Riku's meat skewers as she grit her teeth, her stomach growling.

"This guy is more of a demon than any devil," Xenovia said, her mouth twitching.

This was just too much. He came all this way just to taunt them in their hunger and then flaunt his food? What kind of person does that?

Koneko couldn't help but turn her head, unable to watch, while Schwi continued calmly devouring her food.

Kiba was starting to feel down. The holy sword wielders he once viewed as opponents were now reduced to this with just a few words…

"All right, I'll stop messing with you," Riku finally said, a sly smile on his lips.

That earned him another round of murderous glares from Xenovia and Irina. He actually admitted he was messing with them; his sense of humour was just too wicked!

"I want to ask you something," Riku said, changing the subject.

"No comment," Irina said, glaring at Riku without hesitation.

"Oh, that's a pity. I was planning to take you to a high-class restaurant for dinner while we talked, and I'd even help you unseal your holy swords. But if you refuse, oh well." Riku sounded full of regret.

This left Xenovia and Irina stunned, their eyes growing wide, and their stomachs rumbling even louder. A high-class restaurant!

Wait, no, it's about unsealing the holy swords!!!

They tried to hypnotise themselves in their hearts.

"W-wait, if you treat us to dinner, I suppose we can talk," Xenovia finally said, pulling on Riku's arm. Clearly, she'd surrendered to the promise of food.

"Hey! Xenovia, isn't that giving in too easily?" Irina said, wavering.

"Compared to faith, filling our stomachs is more important. Plus, he already sealed the holy swords. If we don't take this chance to unseal them, how are we supposed to fight?" Xenovia shot back, hitting the nail on the head.

"Uh…" Irina was stunned, but in the end, she could only look helplessly at Riku and give in. "Ugh! Fine, I get it already!"

Seeing this, Koneko suddenly felt mentally exhausted. Hey, aren't you two completely destroying your images here…? Is this really okay?

After that, Riku took everyone to a high-class restaurant.

What happened next made not only Kiba and Koneko, but even Riku, twitch their mouths in disbelief.

Because the way Xenovia and Irina ate was just like starving ghosts reincarnated, bowl after bowl of food disappeared.

"How long has it been since you've eaten?" Riku asked, rubbing his forehead, completely speechless.

"Hmm, just two or three days," Xenovia replied, chewing her food.

"Ah, finally full," Irina sighed contentedly, patting her stomach.

Riku glanced at the ten empty plates next to her and shook his head. He had no idea where she put it all.

"All right, now that you're full, let's get down to business." Riku's voice suddenly turned serious, snapping everyone back to attention.

Especially Xenovia and Irina, whose expressions became deadly serious.