As the next couple weeks went by Alex faced a few more opponents in the games, and was still undefeated. The major matches though, was the Sona vs Ravel, and soon the Rias vs Vali match.Rias"s match against Vali was being hyped up quite a bit, and since Alex removed Hades a while back, there were no issues surrounding this match like the novel. He also noticed that the team with Vienne and Balberith wasn"t partic.i.p.ating as well, since more than likely neither existed anymore after Hades couldn"t experiment with Lilith"s body. The part of the fight he was interested in though, was Koneko vs Kuroka. In the novel Koneko surpa.s.sed Kuroka and won, but this time around Kuroka has been benefitting from Alex"s job system, and Koneko has also undergone some major growth, in more than one area.
With the match of Sona vs Ravel, it was a battle of strategy more than a fight, as both girls focused on outwitting each other. It ended up lasting for quite a while, as both tried to manipulate their opponent into situations that would out the other at a disadvantage. Sona finally won using her superior tactics, and the power of the dragon King through Saji. The bad part was that he still couldn"t control the power, and went on a rampage, ending up costing his team points. Since the fight over Sona"s school didn"t happen he never managed to achieve balance breaker, and since the advances in Alex"s relationship with Sona weren"t a secret, Saji had seemed to lose all motivation for getting stronger.
Normally Alex wouldn"t let this bug him, except Saji was a part of one of his women"s strength, and having him like this made him a liability. The way Alex saw it he had two ways to deal with this, he could either eliminate him and be done with it, or he could give Saji a new drive for strength. The first would be the quickest and easiest, but it would leave a bitter taste in his mouth to kill off one of his girls servants simply for the sake of convenience. After thinking for a bit, Alex stood from his seat in the new game room, and went to find Sona. After a few minutes he found her in the library, where she was reading books on strategy of course.
"Ah-hem." She looked up when she heard the noise, and smiled when she saw him standing there. She marked her spot in the book and closed it before asking,
"Is there anything you need?" While trying not to seem too eager. Alex nodded and said,
"I want to talk about Saji in the last match." The smile on her face melted, and she looked a little depressed.
"I don"t know what to do about that child. He was once one of my most eager to improve, but now he seems to have lost all motivation for getting stronger." Alex sighed quietly, as he knew Sona was clueless in this regards. The reason he forced himself so much to appeal to her before was mostly because of her denseness to romance, a factor that worked strongly against Saji. From what Alex could tell Sona was the only one not aware of Saji"s feelings in the novel, even after he nearly died to protect her dream. He then said,
"Let"s get him and go to the training area, I"ll try to see what I can do." Sona nodded, and followed him as they went to collect Saji from the house he shared with Kiba and the others. His face twitched when he saw Alex and Sona, but grudgingly followed them. They then arrived in the training area, and Alex led them to one of the private rooms. Once there, Sona moved back a ways, knowing that if they came to the training area things were going to get violent. Alex then turned to look at him, and said,
"What"s with that face Saji, a proud servant of Sona Sitri and a possessor of one of the dragon kings shouldn"t be making a face like that." Hearing that Saji looked at Alex with anger, and said,
"What about it?! I may possess the power of a dragon King, I may be a servant of the family of Sitri, but I"ve had each of my dreams taken from me! What"s left for me to care about?!" Alex sighed, then flashed forward and kicked Saji in the gut, sending him flying back into the wall. Saji then started coughing up blood, and Alex said coldly,
"If there"s nothing left for you to care about, then you wouldn"t mind me just removing you right?" Sona"s eye twitched at Alex"s words, but didn"t move since she knew he wouldn"t just kill one of her servants. Saji on the other hand, showed some fear at Alex"s words, and looked to the side to see his master just standing there, watching. His mind started racing, was he really going to be removed just like this? Alex continued,
"You can"t be with the woman you love, and instead of either moving on or supporting her happiness you mope? You can"t fulfill your dream, so you give up completely?" When Alex threw each of these facts into his face Saji also felt that it was pathetic. Then he said,
"What am I to do then? The woman I long for loves another, and the dream I followed is over!" Alex shook his head, and asked,
"Does that mean that you just intend to ensure its harder for your master to follow her dream? She needs your help to do so, and yet you haven"t made any progress to help her, in fact she"s lost some prestige thanks to you." As he said that Alex flashed forward again and kicked Saji once more. Though he was still kicked backward, Saji now had a small fire in his eyes at Alex"s words. He hated being ridiculed like this, but he hated what Alex said even more, he was hindering his masters dream. He knew it was his fault they lost points in the match against Ravel, it was his own inability to control his powers. Yet instead of trying to fix this, he just moped because he couldn"t be with his master.
Alex then kicked him again, and again. With each kick Saji was showing more motivation, and was more determined to resist him. As she watched her servant being beaten up by her lover, Sona could also see that Saji was beginning to show some signs of regaining the fire he used to have. After being kicked by Alex several times, Saji continued getting back up. Alex then said,
"Just stay down, it"s what you"re good at." Saji showed a look of defiance, and shouted,
"I won"t, I am the p.a.w.n of Sona Sitri! I house the dragon King Vitra in my body, and I refuse to be a burden any more!" At that moment Saji"s body was enveloped in a black aura, and black flames started covering his body. Suddenly both Alex and Sona heard,
"BALANCE BREAK!"
And the flames turned into a black armor with what looked like tentacles coming out of it all over his body, with black flames. Alex smiled. He was sure that since Saji was most likely feeling inferior compared to him the last year, it would take inspiring confidence in him to trigger his balance breaker. Behind him Sona also had a radiant smile on her face as she watched her servant grow.
***
Several hours later Alex was in the dorms watching for his next match to be announced with his team. After Saji reached balance breaker, he spent the next couple hours sparing with him to temper his abilities with his armor. He then grudgingly thanked Alex for his help, even though he didn"t forgive him for stealing the one he loved. Alex was brought out of his thoughts by the announcements on the tv, and smiled as he looked at the match ups. With the exception of Miss Sapphire who wasn"t present, the rest of his team made various comments of shock, while Crom practically shivered in antic.i.p.ation.
His next match was against a group he expected, and was excited to fight, the team led by Typhon, King of the monsters, along with the three G.o.ds Vidar, Appolon, and Artemis. One of the exciting things was that both Vidar and Appolon were now the chiefs of their mythologies since Odin, and Zeus left. As he thought about the next match, the doorbell suddenly rang. When Alex went to open the door, he found a familiar pink haired, horned devil waiting for him. Alex smiled and asked,
"What brings you here Roygun?" The pink haired devil didn"t say anything, and simply snapped her fingers. Suddenly several magic circles appeared, and many hooded figures appeared in front of the dorms. They all then kneeled down, and Roygun said,
"I Roygun Belphagor, wish to join under the red dragon emperor alongside my peerage, and I wish for a chance to join your team in the tournament." Alex smiled and said,
"I like your determination, but if I said I may never partic.i.p.ate in the games again, would you still follow me?" He knew Roygun mostly just wanted to partic.i.p.ate in the tournament, and that she felt the games were all she had to live for. That was why he wanted to clarify with her that by following him she may never get to play again after the tournament ends. Surprisingly without any hesitation, she nodded and said,
"I understand, and still wish to follow you. Even if you don"t partic.i.p.ate in the games, you must have great plans in store for yourself. I believe that my experience fighting in the games as the former number two would be of great a.s.sistance to you. Please, let me join you!" Alex smiled, as he gained another subordinate.