Chapter 192: Three Methods
Rias looked at the pink hearts in Yuuma's pupils, deeply suspicious whether it would be just 'one more time' or 'countless times'.
After all, whether little Haruto provided his essence was entirely up to her discretion.
To prevent any unexpected complications with Haruto's condition, Rias decided to take her bath slowly, keeping an eye on Yuuma to prevent her from overindulging.
...
...
After Grayfia returned to the devil world, news of Azazel's death and its cause quickly spread, and Haruto began attracting attention from various factions and powerful beings.
This wasn't solely because of Azazel's death, but more because he was considered the current successor to the Red Dragon Emperor.
Whenever inheritors of the thirteen Sacred Gears appeared, they always drew attention.
Due to the Red Dragon Emperor and White Dragon Emperor being mortal enemies, their successors were particularly noteworthy among all races.
The gears of fate that should have been set in motion by Issei Hyoudou began turning once again in a different way, guided by the world's self-correction.
On the other hand, the fallen angels were deeply dissatisfied with the devils' response. However, when Grayfia revealed that Haruto had used Juggernaut Drive and remained unconscious, the fallen angels had no choice but to suppress their discontent for the time being.
Unless they wanted to start another war—something the angel faction would be more than happy to see.
Of course, since Azazel had brought this upon himself and was even killed by a junior, the devil faction secretly offered some concessions to the fallen angels to calm the situation.
Because of this incident, the timing for the three factions' meeting was finally firmly established.
Having already suffered heavy losses from the war, none of the races wanted to see such a situation recur. Every Devil King-level powerhouse was not only a top-tier combatant but also an excellent gene pool.
For a race to prosper and grow stronger, outstanding next generations were indispensable.
By mid-April, the weather in Tokyo began to warm gradually, and the Azazel incident had completely subsided.
The fallen angels in the cathedral slunk away from Kuoh Town in disgrace. The cathedral, which had repeatedly been used as a fallen angel stronghold, was completely destroyed during the search conducted by Yuuto and the others.
On the tenth day of Haruto's "coma," Grayfia once again visited the Occult Research Club.
Having received advance notice, Rias gathered all her servants, awaiting the investigation results from the silver-haired beauty.
"Miss Rias, is there still no sign of Lord Haruto waking up?"
"No." Rias shook her head. Over these many days, she had stayed by Haruto's side almost without leaving, even sleeping there.
"There are three methods to awaken Lord Haruto..."
Grayfia pondered for a moment before speaking slowly: "The first is to find either a Two Heavenly Dragons-level powerhouse or several god-class powerers to jointly break the seal temporarily from the outside. Once Lord Haruto's soul and consciousness escape, the seal can be reapplied."
Rias's expression darkened. A Dragon God-level powerhouse was simply impossible to find. While there were god-class powerers among the devils, gathering several at once... was basically impossible too.
"What about the other two methods?"
The silver-haired beauty spoke slowly: "I'm not certain whether the remaining methods will definitely succeed."
"As long as there's even a sliver of possibility, we must try," Rias said with unwavering determination.
Grayfia nodded. "The second method is to find a way to awaken the Red Dragon Emperor, making Him actively push open the seal. If Lord Haruto's soul and consciousness aren't dormant, he could emerge directly."
Awakening the Red Dragon Emperor—it wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't easy either...
Rias couldn't immediately think of how to accomplish this.
The silver-haired beauty continued: "Another method is to enhance Lord Haruto's power. As long as he reaches Ultimate-Class Devil level, there might be some possibility of breaking free from the seal."
"Would Ultimate-Class Devil be enough?" Akeno questioned with doubt. "Wasn't that seal meant to contain the Two Heavenly Dragons?"
The others shared similar doubts. Could such a powerful seal really be broken with just Ultimate-Class Devil strength?
Grayfia shook her head and explained, "The seal specifically targets the soul of the Red Dragon Emperor. Lord Haruto's soul was merely affected by some residual sealing energy. Moreover, I said it's only a possibility—it might require the strength of an Ultimate-Class Devil or even Satan-level power."
Haruto's current strength was just one step away from the Ultimate-Class Devil level, which was why Grayfia proposed this method.
With Haruto unable to actively cultivate, external forces might forcibly break through the bottleneck, but nothing more could be done.
"Due to Haruto-sama's unique ability, even if a breakthrough isn't successful, it can stimulate his soul consciousness. Coordinating from both inside and outside increases the possibility of breaking free from the seal."
The women nodded in agreement, their snow-white, flawless faces simultaneously flushing with a hint of rosy blush.
The silver-haired beauty phrased it euphemistically, but everyone present understood that the final method referred to dual cultivation.
"Let's first try to see if we can awaken the Red Dragon Emperor."
Rias looked at Yuuma, Mittelt, and Kalawarna. "Because dual cultivation seems to have limited effect—at least, ordinary dual cultivation doesn't accomplish much."
Yuuma and the other two blushed, lowering their heads without a word.
During the days Haruto was unconscious, the women took turns cleaning his body. Whenever it was Yuuma, Mittelt, or Kalawarna's turn, soft, breathless moans that made one's heart race echoed in the bathroom.
After so many days, no special changes were observed on Haruto, but the three of them had become increasingly alluring and seductive, with their strength steadily growing by a significant margin.
If this continued, Yuuma and the other two might even reach S-rank before Akeno.
"Rias-sama, if you wish to awaken the Red Dragon Emperor, I suggest you bring the original host here." Seeing that Rias had already made a decision, Grayfia offered her advice.
Rias had told Grayfia everything about how Haruto obtained the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet. After the initial surprise, the silver-haired beauty regarded Haruto with even greater importance.
Compared to ordinary successors who relied half on luck, Haruto's situation was extremely rare—almost unheard of.
Yet, under such circumstances, he still gained the Red Dragon Emperor's recognition, which was enough to prove his potential.
"Why bring that little guy here?"
Rias was somewhat puzzled. Issei Hyoudou was now completely ordinary, and she couldn't think of any way he could be of use.
"As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. To fully unlock the Sacred Gear's authority, given the current situation, the Red Dragon Emperor's soul has fallen into deep slumber and will only awaken when Haruto-sama's strength reaches Dragon God level."
Grayfia explained her thoughts. "Otherwise, once his injuries recover, Haruto-sama should have actively communicated with the Red Dragon Emperor. The only hope now is that some remnant of the Red Dragon Emperor's soul consciousness remains within the original host."
"Back then, the Red Dragon Emperor appeared because it sensed the host was in mortal danger, and the deprivation ritual targeted the Sacred Gear—meaning, it targeted Him."
"Now, if we simply remove the gauntlet from Haruto's left hand, it would be equivalent to depriving the Sacred Gear. Trying to use this method again clearly won't work."
"Of course, deprivation is one thing, but without the Red Dragon Emperor's recognition, anyone else who obtains it would merely have an indestructible glove."
"Yuuto, go bring Issei Hyoudou here."
Without hesitation, Rias removed the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet from Haruto's hand and instructed Yuuto to fetch Issei Hyoudou.
Before Issei arrived, the women tried many methods.
For instance, deliberately attacking the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, taking turns infusing it with magical power, or continuously attempting to communicate with the Sacred Gear using spiritual energy...
After a long struggle, the only result was making the disguised form of the gauntlet crumpled and wrinkled.
...
"President, I've brought him."
"Thank you, Yuuto."
Issei Hyoudou's eyes sparkled as he looked around the room filled with various beautiful girls, secretly fantasizing whether his spring had finally arrived.
Snapping out of his fantasy with difficulty, he nervously asked, "Um... Senior Rias, what did you want to see me about?"
Rias glanced at Issei and asked, "Grayfia, what should we do next?"
"I'll handle it. Even if the Red Dragon Emperor truly has residual soul consciousness, with your current strength, you wouldn't be able to detect it."
The silver-haired beauty curiously examined the original successor of the Red Dragon Emperor in this era. He had a good personality but seemed somewhat overly naive.
By comparison, she felt that Haruto was more suitable to inherit the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet.
As the silver-haired beauty approached, Issei's gaze was completely captivated by her impressive bust. Before he could activate his mental save mode, everything went black, and he lost consciousness.