Starting with No Game No Life: Infinite Chests

"Not long ago, I encountered a stray exorcist wielding a holy sword. Although to me, the holy sword doesn't mean much, I can't deny that only a few people can truly wield one. The Church has even fought fiercely over this in the past. But now, a stray exorcist is easily using one. What do you think that means?" Riku said slowly.

Of course, he was making this up after all; that white-haired perverted priest had already been dealt with by him ahead of schedule. But it wouldn't be hard to arrange for someone else to wield the holy sword if needed.

Hearing this, Xenovia and Irina's pupils contracted as they spoke in low voices:

"Valper Galilei?!"

And Yuuto's eyes grew cold with murderous intent. Valper Galilei was the mastermind behind the Holy Sword Project, the one who had personally ordered the poisonings.

"That's right. Based on the information I have, it was Kokabiel who stole three of the Excaliburs. Now that a stray priest has one, it means Kokabiel is working with Galilei," Riku continued calmly.

"I see. Then what's your purpose in sharing this important intel with us?" Irina asked seriously.

"First, I want to help my student Yuuto get his revenge, which means I'll need your information. Second, I have ties to the Church and Heaven myself, and I don't want to see you sent to your deaths. Does that answer satisfy you?" Riku replied without a hint of hesitation.

Ties to Heaven?

This left everyone present stunned. Koneko in particular had a strange look on her face. She knew about Riku's position in the Underworld, but now he was claiming a connection to Heaven as well. His background was way too mysterious…

"You don't want to see us die?" Xenovia and Irina were also curious about Riku's so-called ties to Heaven, but they were even more focused on his latter comment.

That's right, they understood. They were throwaways for the Church. Expecting two holy sword wielders alone to defeat a Kokabiel was impossible.

Holy swords may be a devil's nemesis, but they're useless against fallen angels. Sending just the two of them for this mission, the outcome was obvious.

"Don't underestimate our will and faith," Xenovia replied without hesitation. "Even if our odds are less than ten percent, both Irina and I came here prepared to die."

"At the very least, we must destroy all the holy swords and not let anyone get them," Irina said resolutely.

"In that case, our interests are aligned," Riku smiled slightly.

"My wish is for Kiba to kill Galilei and destroy the holy swords. Your goal is also to destroy the holy swords," Riku continued.

"Although you're subtly shifting our objective to just destroying the swords, which is a bit different, given our current circumstances, you're right. Even just destroying the holy swords is going to be a tough task, let alone taking them back alive," Xenovia shook her head. "And now we know for sure that Kokabiel is working with Galilei."

"In that case, I accept your offer to work together." Xenovia extended her hand.

"Wait, Xenovia, are you really going to cooperate with devils? That's not something the Lord would permit," Irina protested, a bit agitated.

"But do you think we have a chance if we don't? Dying isn't the problem, I just can't accept risking my life and still failing the mission, or not even managing to destroy the swords," Xenovia said firmly.

"As I thought, Xenovia, your faith is a little… off," Irina said, deflated. "But this is our only choice right now."

"And besides, our main contact is a human teacher, right? That's what we'll say if anyone asks," Xenovia said.

That made Irina's eyes light up.

"You're really good at twisting logic," Riku said, smiling wryly.

"But, here's to our cooperation." With that, Riku shook Xenovia's hand.

Yuuto looked on with gratitude, remembering this favour deeply and secretly vowing to repay it in full in the future.

Only Schwi watched quietly and shook her head. She didn't know exactly what Riku was planning, but she understood that, for Riku, this was all just a game.

After that, Riku lifted the seal on the holy swords, allowing Xenovia and Irina to finally relax.

"Thanks for treating us tonight. We'll be resting at the church nearby for now. If you need anything, you can find us there. Well, goodbye," Xenovia said, standing up and thanking him.

"Bye-bye~" Irina also stood up.

With that, Xenovia and Irina left briskly.

"Yuuto, head back to the clubroom and update Rias on what happened," Riku said, glancing at Yuuto.

"Uh, what about you, Teacher Riku?" Yuuto asked instinctively.

"We're off to the arcade for a bit. I heard there's a new game out today," Riku replied nonchalantly.

"A new game?!" Koneko's eyes sparkled.

"Can't miss that," Schwi added, her eyes also lighting up with interest.

"——!" Seeing the three of them react that way, Kiba could only roll his eyes, feeling a bit exasperated. Weren't they supposed to be gathering intel together? How did it turn into a trip to the arcade?

"Got it." Yuuto nodded helplessly and disappeared alone into the night.

As for Riku and the other two, they did exactly as they said, tearing it up at the arcade and having a blast.

But after half an hour, a faint vibration rang out, making Riku stop his game.

"Teacher Riku, what's wrong?" Koneko, who had been watching Riku and Schwi sweep the arcade, asked curiously.

"It's nothing. Just that our target has appeared," Riku replied, a playful look in his eyes. "Looks like it's a few days earlier than I remember. Must be the butterfly effect."

"Location: 3,503 meters southeast," Schwi said, her eyes flashing with data.

"All right, time to move. Looks like things are about to get lively tonight," Riku said quietly.

With that, Riku, Schwi, and Koneko left at once.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination: the church where Xenovia and Irina were staying.

But now, the church was covered by a powerful barrier.

Of course, "powerful" only applied to other people.

CRACK——!

In the next instant, under Koneko's shocked gaze, Riku casually kicked out and shattered the barrier into pieces.

Although Koneko wasn't sure just how strong this barrier was, when she saw a figure flying in the sky above, with ten black wings spread out behind him, she immediately understood its level.

A fallen angel, a being recorded in the Bible itself, Kokabiel's barrier had just been blown apart with a casual kick.

For a moment, Koneko realised she'd been deceived by Riku's usually unserious facade. She'd heard stories of how powerful Riku was, but seeing it with her own eyes was another matter entirely.

"Huh, you actually broke my barrier? How interesting." Above them, Kokabiel looked down at the three approaching figures, his voice full of surprise.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Without paying Kokabiel any mind, Riku glanced at the battered and clearly exhausted Xenovia and Irina, shaking his head.

"Ahem, we were attacked as soon as we returned to the church," Xenovia said, glancing at Riku and breathing a sigh of relief.

"My Excalibur Mimic and Xenovia's Excalibur Destruction were both stolen," Irina said bitterly, glaring at Kokabiel with frustration, her voice weak.

"Seems that way." Riku shot a glance at the holy swords in Kokabiel's hand, his face unbothered.

"Oh? Am I being ignored here? How irritating." Seeing that Riku didn't even look at him, Kokabiel couldn't help but sneer, "Brat, are you looking to be wiped out?"

"Why don't you stop being an eyesore, you two-bit birdbrain. I'll give you three seconds to vanish. If you're still here after that, I won't mind erasing you a little ahead of schedule," Riku said, his tone flat as ever.

Even though Riku didn't deliberately release any killing intent, his calm gaze alone made Kokabiel's heart skip a beat.

"...!" Kokabiel frowned, suddenly on guard. This guy... is no joke.

"Heh, interesting. Looks like you're worthy of joining tonight's feast. If you want to beat me, come to Kuoh Academy. I'll be waiting for you there," Kokabiel withdrew his pressure, his voice cold. "Then, I'll kill you myself."

With that, Kokabiel disappeared in a pale yellow magic circle.

With that level of power, and he still thinks he can kill Riku? He must still be dreaming.

Schwi shook her head, muttering. Clearly, lately, she'd been corrupted by modern internet slang.

With the oppressive presence in the sky gone, Xenovia and Irina finally relaxed, collapsing to the ground and panting for breath.

The fight had only lasted a short while, but Kokabiel's overwhelming power had been utterly hopeless. And he'd only been toying with them.

If they'd previously thought they had even a ten percent chance of victory, now Xenovia and Irina knew those odds were approaching zero.

"You two really are in a sorry state. Want me to heal you?" Riku walked over to Xenovia and Irina, eyes running over their battered bodies as he spoke.

"Thank you," Irina replied at once.

"Sorry to trouble you again. Looks like I owe you yet another favour," Xenovia said earnestly. "If I make it out of this alive, I'll be sure to repay you properly."

"You'd better remember that," Riku replied, his lips curling in a mischievous smile.

"Wait, wait, if you mean repaying you with my body, that's a little..." Noticing Riku's grin, Irina panicked, stammering.

"Repaying with your body, huh? That's not a bad idea," Xenovia said seriously, completely missing the implication.

"Hey!" Irina was left speechless, eyes wide.

"H-Teacher, is that what you were after all along?" Koneko gave Riku a long, suspicious stare.

"You people have quite the imagination," Riku retorted, exasperated.

"All right, enough fooling around, let's heal up and get back to Kuoh Academy. Rias and the others are no match for Kokabiel." With that, Riku roughly pressed his hand to Xenovia and Irina's stomachs.

Xenovia didn't react, but Irina's face flushed bright red. Compared to Xenovia, who grew up in the church and didn't even know about such things, Irina, who was brought into the church a bit later, clearly understood a lot more.

At that moment, a strong, pure holy light emanated from Riku's hand.

"Huh?!" Both Irina and Xenovia were stunned that Riku's holy power was at least ten times purer than their own!

What kind of joke was this? They were supposed to be holy sword wielders!

Koneko was even more surprised. This holy power, while strong, didn't make her feel uncomfortable at all. Normally, at this level of purity, even the holy swords couldn't compare, and she would have been sickened by it.

Only Schwi shook her head with resignation. Riku was taking advantage of the situation again; he didn't even need physical contact to heal them.

In the next instant, Xenovia and Irina found their injuries completely healed.

"All done. Thanks for the treat," Riku said, dusting off his hands with satisfaction. Naturally, you had to collect a reward when healing someone.

Irina, still reeling from how powerful Riku's healing magic was, twitched slightly at his words. As expected, he'd done it on purpose.

Still, compared to the healing, this was nothing.

"Now that you're healed, it's time to head back to Kuoh Academy," Riku said calmly.

The girls all nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, hovering in the air around Kuoh Academy, Sona and her team kept their palms raised, magic circles glowing in front of them. Waves of magical energy pulsed from their bodies as they worked hard to maintain the barrier enclosing the school, preventing any energy from leaking out and causing catastrophic damage to the surroundings.

"Sona, sorry for being late," a familiar voice called, and Sona finally relaxed a little, looking up at Riku and the others as they appeared.

"Teacher Riku, the situation inside doesn't look good," Sona said, her face grim.

As she spoke, she opened a passage in the barrier.

"Relax. It's just a two-bit birdbrain. I'll settle things in a few minutes, no need to panic," Riku said with total confidence.

"...!" Sona, Tsubaki, and the others all had black lines on their faces. He's talking about a powerful fallen angel from the Bible, can he really afford to be this cocky...?

But remembering Riku's track record in the Underworld, Sona and Tsubaki shook their heads and let it go.

"If he dares lay a finger on my students, that birdbrain must be tired of living," Riku said calmly.

With that, Riku, Schwi, Koneko, Xenovia, and Irina slowly faded from Sona's view.