A Mutant's Ascension

[Unknown Location, Kuoh Town] 

"So, Yachiru Unohana had been missing for nearly five days??" Walburga, the leader of the group known as Hexennacht asked curiously. 

"Yes, this is the best chance we are going to get before the Tournament starts" Kamilla, Walburga's trusted aide said. A few days ago, they were contacted by some Devils. 

The Devils wanted them to attack Sona Sitri and her peerage and get rid of them before the Rating Games Tournament. Apparently, the Devils have discovered that the upcoming Rating Games are going to be a big deal and they have also discovered that they were being trained by Yachiru Unohana. 

Obviously, the Devils wanted to get rid of the toughest competition, but instead of dirtying their own hands, they decided to contact Hexennacht. The Devils from the Bael Clan Faction knew about the activities of the Chaos Brigade. 

Apparently, the Bael Clan and the other leaders belonging to that Faction were very unhappy that Hela had taken away their birthright. So, Zekram Bael himself decided to pay for the hit. Since the Hexennacht was already planning to attack Sona Sitri, an additional incentive wasn't going to hurt. 

"Are you sure that this isn't something like a ruse? It might be a trap" one of the members questioned from the side. Walburga had to agree, it might very well be a trap. 

"True… it might be a trap, but I have been very careful. My speciality is stealth and information collection" Kamilla proudly proclaimed and murmurs broke out inside the room. 

"That might be, but remember, we are risking our whole group by attacking them, I don't want to be caught in an ambush" one of the other members pointed out, and several members immediately agreed. 

Soon, murmurs broke out inside the room and it soon transformed into a full-blown argument as everyone started to pitch in their own arguments. Walburga's eyebrows started to twitch in irritation. 

"Enough!!" Walburga exclaimed loudly, making everyone silent. Walburga glared at everyone inside the room except for a select few. 

"All of you might be forgetting that I am the leader. Do I need to remind anyone of you why I am the leader?" Walburga questioned coldly. Loud gulps were heard throughout the room, but nobody dared to say anything. 

"Good. Kamilla, please go and keep an eye on Kuoh Academy, if Yachiru Unohana isn't there, then we attack after school" Walburga said with a firm tone, once again, she glared at everyone inside the room, daring anyone to interfere. 

"Of course, milady" Kamilla bowed respectfully and walked out of the room. 

"The rest of you start your preparations. We will attack today if Yachiru Unohana isn't there" Walburga ordered and the other members quickly shuffled out the room without saying anything else… 

[Studens' Council Room, Kuoh Academy] 

"So, how may I help you, Rias?" Sona asked as she leaned back in her seat. She crossed her fingers in front of her face and used them to support her chin. 

Rias shifted uncomfortably on the couch. She gulped loudly as she tried to gather her bearings. She had the whole conversation planned inside her mind, but now that she was sitting in front of Sona, she couldn't form her words. 

Rias coughed in her hand to gather some of her dignity. "I need your help, Sona" Rias blurted out in one breath. 

Sona simply quirked her brows and glanced towards Akeno Himejima, Rias's Queen who was sitting beside Rias, and then she glanced towards the other members of Rias's peerage. Finally, Sona glanced towards her own Queen. 

"How may I help you, Rias?" Sona asked with a neutral look on her face. Sona was prepared to help Rias, but that didn't mean that Sona was going to go out of her way to hand over everything at Rias's feet. 

Even though their friendship had strained after Issei Hyoudou's death, Sona still considered Rias as her friend. She wasn't going to do anything foolish, but she will still try to help Rias, but before helping her friend, she needed to know what her friend wanted. 

"I need to recruit new members for my Peerage or there is no way I could participate in the upcoming Rating Games" Rias answered. She tried to hide it, but she sounded slightly desperate, which wasn't missed by Sona. 

"I understand… But what sort of help do you exactly need from me?" Sona asked carefully as she leaned forward. Her elbows resting over her armrests. 

Rias bit her lip. "I need some recommendations, I also need a place to stay along with my Peerage" Rias said and Sona hummed in understanding. 

"All of you are welcome to stay at Sitri Mansion, and I can also give you some recommendations, but I need to recruit too, so we would need to share" Sona pointed out and Rias nodded her head in understanding. What Sona was asking wasn't something outrageous. 

"Both of us need one Knight each, I already have two candidates. Kimiko Murayama and Emiko Katase, both of them are members of the Kendo Club. You can choose either" Sona said and started to smile. She slowly stood up and leaned against her table. 

"How do you plan to invite your member?" Rias asked, all of her Peerage members have been recruited in desperate moments of their lives, but Sona was completely different. She had approached all of her members and she had only invited them by giving them a chance to join her. 

"I will ask them like always" Sona revealed as she started to walk towards her window. "If you want I can call the two of them here and ask them… I suppose you aren't good with this sort of strategy" Sona said and a small chuckle escaped her lips. 

"That would be really good. I don't think I have time to approach them appropriately, but are they any good?" Rias asked and it was Yuuto Kiba who decided to answer. 

"They are average at best in human terms, but they are young, so they can still get stronger with time" Kiba answered and Tomoe Meguri, Sona's knight, started to chuckle. 

"True, but they simply need appropriate guidance. You won't believe what can be achieved by the right incentive" Tomoe Meguri said cryptically. 

"Incentive… An incentive to live is a perfect reason to grow strong" Sona added looking pretty amused. Sona's eyes started to shine in amusement. Rias and her peerage members gasped after hearing Sona's words. 

Rias and Akeno had noticed that Sona had changed, but they never accepted Sona was going to say something like that. Rias turned towards Tsubaki and Sona's other peerage members to see their reaction, and she was shocked to her core when she saw that all of them were amused instead of being horrified. 

"Sona…" Rias muttered in a worried tone. 

Sona simply scoffed. "Grow up, Rias. Everything isn't sunshine and rainbows, you already know that" Sona argued back. 

"I know that! But that doesn't mean that I am going to threaten my own Peerage members" Rias snapped and Sona started to chuckle. 

"Oh… Rias, still so gullible. You see I never said that I threaten my Peerage members with death, but all of us know that we are going to be killed if we aren't strong. That is why we push ourselves beyond the limits!" Sona grinned at the end. 

Rias was taken aback by the passion in Sona's voice. What surprised her, even more, was that none of Sona's Peerage members argued back, in fact, all of them believed in Sona's sentiments. She had no idea how Sona had changed so much in a month. 

"You see Rias, power is the most important thing in the World. There is no good and evil in this world, there are two groups of people, the ones who seek power and the ones who are too much of a coward to admit it" Sona said in a firm tone as her eyes started to glow. 

Rias along with her Peerage members flinched back… Rias couldn't help but shudder in fear. She wouldn't admit it, but she found herself afraid of the prospect of fighting against Sona and her peerage in the tournament… 

[Outside Kuoh Academy] 

Kamilla was standing over a building's roof just outside the Kuoh Academy. She had a clear view inside the Students' Council Room. She couldn't help but feel extremely gleeful. Their initial plan was to kill Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri along with the Peerage members, but Rias Gremory was removed from Kuoh Town. 

Pity… but they could have still made it work as Sona Sitri was still in the town and right now, it was under her management. Unfortunately, their plan was stalled when Yachiru Unohana, the murderous maniac decided to coddle Sona Sitri and her peerage. 

They decided to wait… and lo and Behold, Rias Gremory decided to deliver herself on a silver platter as soon as Yachiru Unohana decided to leave. This is good news, Kamilla couldn't wait to inform Walburga about this development. 

For a moment, she felt like Sona Sitri noticed her, but Kamilla simply shrugged it off. So, Kamilla activated her communication circle to inform Walburga… 

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1585 words in this chapter.

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