Chapter 998: Bottom Out (This Crappy Game Granblue Fantasy Can't Even Be Opened!)

Duanmu Huai has always been resolute in doing things, or it can be said that he is too lazy to think. Not long after, Naruse Mio and Wan Liya entered Juwang College as transfer students.

And their appearance naturally attracted the attention of many boys in Juwang College. After all, Naruse Mio is beautiful and has a good figure. Although Wan Liya is relatively petite, she has also attracted the attention of some boys with potential criminal tendencies. Moreover, she is naughty and cute, which makes many boys excited.

Of course, excitement is excitement, when they learned that these two girls are relatives of Duanmu Huai, everyone had to stay away... Duanmu Huai is famous in this school, and no boy dares to feel uncomfortable in front of him. It is precisely because of this that Naruse Mio and Wan Liya did not encounter too much trouble on the first day of transfer.

However, for them, the next step is the real test.

"Hello, my name is Naruse Mio. It's our first meeting. Please give me your guidance, Senior Rias."

Standing in front of Rias, Naruse Mio bowed her head respectfully and saluted. Her statement was not wrong. After all, whether from the grade in school or the time they lived as demons, Rias was considered Naruse Mio's senior.

But...these two people are really alike.

Standing next to them, Duanmu Huai looked at Naruse Mio and Rias carefully at this moment, and had to admit that there were similarities between the two. For example, both of them had red hair, but Rias had long hair that was scattered, while Naruse Mio had twin ponytails, and in terms of temperament, Rias was more mature and stable.

In comparison, Naruse Mio still couldn't hide the temperament of a childish young girl. How to say it, it feels like Rias is a bit like the adult version of Naruse Mio.

But it must be said that both of them have good figures, and it is unknown who is bigger. Logically, it should be Rias, right? Or maybe Naruse Mio? Well... we'll have to compare them to find out.

"My name is Naruse Maria, nice to meet you, Rias Gremory-sama. I've heard of the red-haired Princess of Slayer for a long time. Today, I see that she is indeed worthy of her reputation."

Maria also bowed her head respectfully to Rias, and her little face, which usually had a sly and playful smile, was now tense and serious - it seems that she also knows the occasion.

"I have learned about your situation from Teacher Duanmu."

Rias also changed her expression when she was talking to Duanmu Huai, and her whole person was full of a kind of oppressive momentum. She was seen sitting behind the table, staring at the two of them, exuding a strong pressure and power.

"Oooooh..."

Feeling the pressure from Rias, Naruse Mio clenched her teeth, and Maria also showed an uneasy expression. However, just when Rias was about to say something, Duanmu Huai reached out and pressed Naruse Mio's shoulder, looking at Rias at the same time.

"Headmaster Rias, it's not a good idea for you to intimidate the new members like this."

"……………………"

As Duanmu Huai's voice emerged, the pressure from Rias instantly deflated like a broken balloon, and she looked at Duanmu Huai helplessly and sighed.

"Indeed, Mr. Duanmu, as the head of the Mystic Research Club, I shouldn't bully new members... Sorry, Naruse, I just wanted to try you."

"No, it's nothing, I don't care."

Nruse Mio shook her head and said in a low voice. To be honest, facing Rias just now did make Naruse Mio feel a little inferior. You know, before coming here, she had heard Maria introduce Rias, and learned that she and her were actually on par in terms of status. But after really facing each other, Naruse Mio found that the pressure she brought to her was beyond imagination.

Obviously, the other party was only one year older than her, but Naruse Mio felt that there seemed to be an unbridgeable gap between herself and Rias.

Fortunately, just when Naruse Mio was about to be unable to bear it, she felt Duanmu Huai's heavy palm—like a mountain, which calmed Naruse Mio's mood.

Seeing Naruse Mio calm down, Rias also coughed lightly, and then she clenched her hands seriously and stared at Duanmu Huai.

"Teacher Duanmu, in principle, I can agree to your request. But... I think you should also understand that as a member of the Gremory family, I am taking risks to protect you who killed Marquis Zorgi and the heir of the Wilbert family. Therefore, I think I have the right to ask for compensation."

"Go ahead."

Duanmu Huai certainly knows that there is no free lunch in the world, and what Rias said is also right. She is taking risks to protect Naruse Mio and Duanmu Huai.

"First of all, I want to know your true identity, Teacher Duanmu."

At this point, a sharp light appeared in Rias's eyes.

"At the beginning, I thought you were just a lucky artifact host, but I don't think an ordinary artifact host can easily kill Marquis Zorgi... So, I can protect you, but I want to know your true identity."

Before Zorji's incident, Rias had vague doubts about Duanmu Huai's identity. After all, even though he is the host of the artifact, his attitude is too indifferent. And that's not out of innocence of knowing nothing about the demon world, but more like a strong confidence in one's own strength. For example, Zorji, Duanmuhuai said he would kill him, and he didn't worry at all whether he would be in any danger later.

It seems that in his opinion, demons as powerful as Zolgi are as unworthy of mention as weeds on the roadside.

So the question becomes, can a person with such a big heart be an ordinary person?

"So that's the question. If you had asked me earlier, it would have been fine."

Under Rias' gaze, Duanmuhuai seemed very calm.

"Then, let me introduce myself again - I am Duanmu Huai, the Grand Inquisitor from the Tribunal... Well, please remember it."

"The Tribunal..."

Hearing this word, Rias' face tensed up.

"You are from the church..."

"I can almost guess what you are thinking, but I want to tell you that the Tribunal has nothing to do with the church you think of."

Of course Duanmuhuai could guess what Rias was thinking. He had already learned from Renali's shadow that there were currently three forces in this world, namely angels, fallen angels and demons.

As for humans, they are more like a subsidiary force.

"The duty of the Inquisition is to protect mankind and eliminate all entities that try to harm mankind."

Duanmuhuai looked at Rias and said.

"As I said before, the only goal of the Tribunal is to protect mankind. Therefore, whether it is angels, fallen angels, demons, gods or demon kings - as long as they dare to harm mankind, the Tribunal will not hesitate. Yes, in the eyes of the Inquisition, humans do not need to sacrifice for gods or demons. On the contrary, if gods or demons dare to harm humans, then our Inquisition will completely eliminate them."

Having said this, Duanmu Huai's body once again showed a strong murderous intent. Feeling this cold murderous intent, everyone's hair stood on end - as if they were standing on the edge of an abyss. As long as they One step would lead to a complete fall into a bottomless abyss.

"So, are we demons also the targets you want to destroy, teacher?"

Kiba Yuto, who was standing next to Rias, was also tense at the moment. He stared at Duanmuhuai and asked, while Duanmuhuai glanced at him.

"Hmm... How should I put it? The Tribunal's standards for judging humans are different from what you think."

"Not quite the same?"

"That's right."

As Duanmuhuai spoke, he took out the rosette from his arms and unfolded it towards everyone.

"This is the Inquisitor's Rose Knot. Did you find anything?"

"Why is there a skull on it?"

Naruse Mio looked at the rosette in Duanmuhuai's hand and immediately complained. Generally speaking, shouldn't rosettes be hung with crosses or statues of the Virgin? Making a skull made Naruse Mio feel a bit like those middle school decorations that the boys in her class played with...

"That's right."

Duanmu Huai fiddled with it.

"This is the standard for the Tribunal to judge humans. For us, as long as the skull is human, then it is a human. So in the eyes of the Tribunal, no matter angels, fallen angels or demons, as long as your skull is consistent with that of a human, then the Tribunal They will treat you as a sub-race."

"This is really......"

Hearing Duanmuhuai's explanation, Rias was a little dumbfounded. You must know that all angels, fallen angels and demons have always considered themselves to be a nobler race than humans. As a result, Duanmuhuai said as soon as he came up that they could be treated as a sub-human race...

Well, if some radicals listen to Duanmuhuai, they may start a fight on the spot. To them, this is as outright offensive as monkeys think humans are just mutant monkeys without hair.

Duanmu Huai doesn't care about this. Is the human supremacy of the Tribunal fake?

Not convinced? Are you convinced by the fist as big as a casserole?

"That is to say...don't you regard demons as targets that must be destroyed like the church does?"

"Frankly speaking? We treat angels, fallen angels and demons equally. As long as you don't harm humans, then everything will be fine."

Duanmu Huai didn't say the rest of his sentence, but he believed that someone as smart as Rias would understand what he meant.

"If that's the case, then that's OK."

Rias rolled her eyes and made a quick decision.

"Then, here's the reward I'm asking for - I hope a few of you can join me."

"I said, I will not be reincarnated into a demon."

Duanmuhuai once again rejected Rias's request, but this time, Rias just shook her head.

"No, it's not reincarnation, but a temporary contract."

"Temporary contract?"

"That's right."

Looking at Duanmu Huai, Rias nodded vigorously.

"I can help Naruse-san adapt to her power, teach her how to fight and some common sense about demons, but my request is that I hope the three of you can join my force and fight for me!"

Next, Rias also explained the situation to Duanmu Huai, Naruse Mio and others.

The reason why she made such a request was related to the "ranking game".

The so-called ranking game is a game in which demons with titles command servants to fight and compete with each other. Only mature demons can participate in the formal ranking game, so Rias has not participated in the ranking game so far. But she is about to reach this stage, so Rias hopes to increase the number of chess pieces in her hand to prepare for the next ranking game.

This is also the reason why she repeatedly looked for Duanmu Huai. In Rias's opinion, if Duanmu Huai can join her camp, then she can be almost invincible in the ranking game.

Generally speaking, the subordinates of this ranking game are basically demons reincarnated from chess pieces. But there is also a special case where a temporary contract can be made, that is, the demon is not reincarnated, but only the bonus of chess pieces is temporarily obtained to fight. Of course, almost no upper demons will use this method, after all, it is equivalent to mercenaries. For upper demons, compared with mercenaries, they still value their loyal subordinates more.

This is just like even if the nobles will find mercenaries to fight in the front, they still trust their own private soldiers the most. So generally speaking, temporary contracts rarely occur.

But since Duanmu Huai firmly disagreed with reincarnating as a demon, Rias had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.

"Hmm......"

Faced with Rias's proposal, Duanmu Huai was silent for a moment, then he turned his head to look at Naruse Mio and Maria. Noticing Duanmu Huai's gaze, Maria did not speak, while Naruse Mio gritted her teeth and said nothing, but from her eyes and expression, Duanmu Huai had already gotten the answer.

"Okay."

Duanmu Huai retracted his gaze and looked at Rias.

"Then it's settled."