Chapter 191: NO / YES

After all this time, the Dragon God had finally come looking for him.

Ophis descended until her feet touched the ground in front of them. Quetzalcoatl and the other Aztec gods remained alert to every movement she made, though the small figure seemed to pay them little attention. Her entire focus was on Damon.

"Do you know her?" Quetzalcoatl asked without taking her eyes off the Dragon God. Damon answered without hesitation. "I wouldn't say I know her, but I've seen her once before." The golden-haired goddess raised an eyebrow, silently asking if he was serious.

"It was a long time ago." Damon continued studying Ophis as a few memories returned to him. Kaguya, the Dimensional Gap, and somehow ending up in the middle of a war between angels, devils, and fallen angels. It definitely hadn't been one of his happier moments.

Ophis stood completely still before finally breaking the silence. "Damon."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. Honestly, he hadn't expected her to remember him. "So you know who I am."

"Yes."

Damon expected the dragon to say something else, but Ophis added absolutely nothing.

"Okay..." he replied, crossing his arms. "What exactly do you want? Because you came here looking for me, and as far as I know, I have nothing to do with you."

With the same blank expression, Ophis raised one small hand toward Damon. The redhead tensed for an instant, expecting a sudden attack, only for the dragon to say something completely different. "I want you to join the Khaos Brigade."

"Uh, what?" Damon was completely caught off guard. Of all the things he had imagined Ophis might want from him, that hadn't exactly been near the top of the list. Even Quetzalcoatl turned her attention toward the redhead, clearly surprised by the Dragon God's incredibly direct proposal.

Ophis didn't seem to understand why her answer had caused so much surprise. Her small hand remained extended toward Damon while her expression stayed exactly the same. "Join the Khaos Brigade," she repeated, as though she simply hadn't spoken clearly enough the first time.

Damon lowered his eyes toward the hand Ophis was still holding out to him. "Yeah, I heard you. What I don't understand is why the hell you want me to join you." The redhead relaxed his shoulders once he realized the dragon genuinely didn't seem to have any intention of attacking him.

Ophis lowered her hand. "You are strong."

Damon blinked. Was this really the Dragon God of Infinity? It wasn't exactly a secret that Ophis lacked emotion, but this was on another level entirely. "Uhhh... I guess thanks, but that doesn't answer my question."

Ophis tilted her head, unable to understand what was so complicated about what she had said. "Khaos Brigade needs strong people. You are strong. I want you to come."

Damon didn't even know how to respond to that. He had expected some more complicated reason, some hidden objective, or at the very least a slightly more detailed explanation. But from how completely serious the dragon sounded, he knew there was nothing more behind her words.

"Alright..." Damon let out a quiet sigh. "Let's try this another way. Why do you need strong people?"

"Great Red."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "What about Great Red?"

"I want him gone," the dragon answered simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"From the Dimensional Gap," Damon confirmed.

Ophis nodded. "That place is mine. Great Red is there. I want him to leave."

Damon fell silent as the pieces slowly began falling into place. So that was the reason behind the Khaos Brigade. Or at least Ophis's reason for being involved with them.

"Hmm, let me see if I understand this." Damon raised one hand as he spoke. "You have an entire supernatural organization working with you because you want Great Red out of the Dimensional Gap."

"Yes."

"And now you want me to join because you think I can help you do that?"

"Yes."

Damon slowly began shaking his head. "No."

Ophis seemed to short-circuit for a moment. "No?"

"No," Damon repeated in the same flat tone, making sure the dragon perfectly understood what he had just said. "I have absolutely no reason to join the Khaos Brigade, much less go looking for a fight with Great Red when he hasn't done anything to me."

Ophis fell silent as she processed his answer. "But you are strong."

Damon closed his eyes for a moment while Quetzalcoatl discreetly brought a hand to her mouth, hiding a small smile as she noticed just how much patience the redhead needed to get through this conversation.

"That's not how it works, Ophis." Damon opened his eyes again and pointed at her. "Just because I can help you doesn't mean I have a reason to. Besides, after what happened with Grigori, the Khaos Brigade hasn't exactly left a good impression on me."

Damon crossed his arms again. "I know about some people connected to your group. So before I even consider anything involving your organization, I'd like to know what the hell those people are actually doing."

Ophis answered without changing her expression. "They help me."

Damon waited for more. "That's it?"

"Yes."

The redhead let out a small, disbelieving laugh and looked away. "Of course it is."

Honestly, the longer Damon spoke with Ophis, the clearer it became that the Dragon God didn't run the Khaos Brigade the way anyone would expect from someone considered its leader. It seemed much simpler than that. They helped her with Great Red, and as long as they continued doing so, Ophis had very little interest in whatever they chose to do on their own.

"Then let me ask you something else," Damon said, keeping his arms crossed. "Do you care what the members of the Khaos Brigade do as long as they help you with Great Red?"

Ophis answered with the same calmness, seeing nothing wrong with the question. "No."

Damon regarded the Dragon God flatly. "Hmm. Figured as much."

Xochiquetzal followed the conversation with an obvious mixture of curiosity and disbelief. Even Tlaloc seemed to be trying to understand how such a dangerous organization could have a leader who apparently had no interest in most of what her own subordinates did.

"Then you have my answer." Damon focused fully on Ophis again. "I'm not joining the Khaos Brigade. If I ever have a reason to fight Great Red, it'll be for my own reasons, not because some organization wants to use me to do it."

Ophis kept her eyes on him. Her expression didn't change in the slightest, but she also made no move to leave. "I do not accept this answer."

Damon let out a small laugh. "You're pretty persistent."

A deathly silence fell over the area. Quetzalcoatl and her fellow Aztec gods tensed, ready to react if the situation suddenly took an unexpected turn. No one knew exactly what was going through the Dragon God's mind, but the fact that she had outright rejected Damon's answer was hardly a good sign.

Ophis raised one of her small hands, causing more than one person to take a step back.

Damon, however, stayed exactly where he was. He followed the movement carefully, his face calm on the outside even though things were very different internally. He was more than ready to go all out if the situation demanded it. "Before you do whatever it is you're thinking about doing, think carefully about something."

"You want my help against Great Red." Damon uncrossed his arms as every trace of amusement disappeared from his expression. "Right now, my answer is simply no. But that doesn't mean you can't come back tomorrow, a month from now, or a hundred years from now and ask again if that makes you happy. But if you try to force me to do something I don't want to do..." The redhead met the Dragon God's empty eyes directly. "Then Great Red won't be the only problem you have to worry about. You'll have a problem with me too."

Damon didn't release his power or take a fighting stance. There was no need. He simply remained serious while Quetzalcoatl and the others waited in silence. "And trust me, Ophis." A small smile slowly returned to the redhead's face. "As a Greek, I'm pretty good at holding grudges when someone gets on my nerves."

Ophis took her time considering her next move. Damon could practically imagine the pieces falling into place behind her expressionless face.

In the end, the Dragon God lowered her hand, finding no flaw in the redhead's logic. After all, Damon was basically telling her that his answer was no for now, not necessarily that he would never help her in the future if she came back under different circumstances.

Ophis nodded before beginning to rise from the ground. "I still want you."

Damon blinked once. The redhead looked Ophis up and down before raising an eyebrow. "Yeah... I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm not into little girls."

Ophis appeared genuinely puzzled by the remark. She tilted her head slightly, her blank expression unchanged. "What does that mean?"

Damon laughed nervously. Of course she didn't know. In fact, he was fairly certain Ophis didn't even know how to lie or be sarcastic, which was part of what made talking to her so strange. "Nothing. You'll understand someday," the redhead dismissed.

The small interaction seemed to calm more than one person nearby. Ophis, meanwhile, remained focused on Damon, feeling something strange she couldn't quite understand. Giving it little thought, she continued rising into the air. "I will return."

"Great. I'm available every Thursday on Olympus. I teach classes every afternoon at three. Stop by whenever you want," Damon replied playfully, having no idea just how seriously the Dragon God would take his words.

Ophis accepted the information without question and filed it away in her mind so she could return the following week, but Damon spoke again before she could get too far. "Ophis."

The Dragon God stopped in midair and turned toward him. Damon's expression became considerably more serious again. "I don't have a problem with you as long as whatever you do doesn't affect my people. But if someone from the Khaos Brigade goes after anyone under my protection again, I'm not going to go easy on them."

Ophis didn't seem offended or concerned. She simply answered with complete indifference. "Do whatever you want. I don't care."

Damon nodded, already beginning to get used to the dragon's brutally direct responses while Quetzalcoatl raised both eyebrows behind him. "...Alright. I guess that makes things pretty clear."

Ophis answered with a simple nod before continuing on her way. Her small figure gradually disappeared above the camp until she vanished completely, taking with her the suffocating presence that had kept everyone alert from the moment she arrived.

Silence lingered after her departure until Quetzalcoatl finally relaxed her shoulders. "I definitely expected something more frightening from the Dragon God of Infinity."

Damon let out a small laugh as he continued looking up at the sky. "Trust me, the fact that she talks like that doesn't make her any less dangerous."

"I can imagine." The golden-haired goddess looked toward the point where Ophis had disappeared. "What I didn't expect was to see her trying to recruit you like she was asking you to go for a walk."

"Honestly, neither did I."

Damon had absolutely no intention of joining the Khaos Brigade. That much was clear, and no matter how many times the Dragon God came back to ask him in the future, his answer would remain the same.

But at least now he understood a little more about what Ophis really was within her organization. And from what he had just discovered, it seemed there was still plenty he needed to learn about the people operating behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Some time had passed since the events in the Underworld, and little by little, things had begun to calm down. At least enough for certain things that had once seemed impossible to finally become reality.

Among them was one of Rias Gremory's greatest wishes.

The redhead smiled as she looked toward the entrance of Kuoh Academy while walking toward it. For years, she had wanted to experience something as simple as attending a human school, living among humans, and, even if only for a while, enjoying a life similar to that of an ordinary teenage girl. After everything that had happened recently, Rias had honestly believed that dream would have to wait for a very long time.

That was why she was more than grateful to her mother.

Venelana had managed to convince Damon to allow her to settle in Kuoh with her peerage and attend the academy. Rias didn't know exactly what her mother had said to convince him, but honestly, she didn't care enough to ask. What mattered was that she could finally live her dream, and that was what mattered most to her.

Even so, no matter how much she tried to enjoy the moment, Rias still had a bitter taste in her mouth whenever she thought about Damon. She couldn't help it. There were far too many things about him that still bothered her, but right now, the biggest one was probably Grayfia.

Ever since Damon had taken her away, Grayfia hadn't returned to the Underworld even once. She hadn't contacted them either. Nothing at all, not even a letter. It was almost as if she didn't care about them anymore.

What bothered Rias most was thinking about Millicas, who was now growing up without his mother by his side. She could understand that Grayfia had her own reasons and responsibilities to fulfill for the survival of the Underworld, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

And although she would never admit it out loud, she missed her too. Grayfia was always correcting her, scolding her, or telling her that she needed to behave with more dignity as the heiress of House Gremory. Rias had complained about it plenty of times, but now that the woman was no longer around, she felt her absence far more than she had expected.

While Rias was lost in her own thoughts, Sona Sitri walked calmly beside her.

Unlike her best friend, Sona wasn't particularly excited about starting a school life among humans. In fact, she hadn't originally planned to come with her at all. However, Rias had practically begged her to join her, and as much as Sona might pretend otherwise, she had a hard time saying no when it came to her best friend.

Besides, the more she thought about it, the less she disliked the idea. One of Sona's greatest dreams was to someday create a school in the Underworld where even low-class devils could receive a proper education regardless of their social standing. Spending a few years inside a human academy could give her experience and knowledge that might prove useful in the future.

That said, Sona knew it was crucial never to forget who truly owned this territory. That fact alone was enough for her to understand that she needed to be careful with every decision she made. She still remembered perfectly well the first time she had met Damon, and now that she could look back on the encounter with a clearer head, she had to admit it had been rather terrifying.

The recent events involving Grigori certainly hadn't helped either. Damon's name had once again spread quickly throughout the Underworld, and by this point, it was difficult to find a devil who hadn't heard some story about the red-haired god.

That had sparked Sona's curiosity far more than she had expected, to the point where she had begun researching him on her own. To her surprise, however, she had found very little.

Damon was mentioned in a few ancient texts related to Greek mythology, but even there, his presence was strangely limited. Some books barely spoke of him, while others didn't mention his existence at all. For someone who currently seemed to hold so much influence, the lack of historical information surrounding him was rather suspicious.

That was precisely why Sona had already decided to visit a temple that, according to what she had discovered, was dedicated to Damon and located right there in Kuoh. It was another reason she had chosen to accompany Rias. Perhaps she could find more information about the Greek god there.

She also had to admit that she was beginning to develop a genuine curiosity about Greek mythology in general.

"Sona. Sona... Sona."

A hand waved in front of her eyes until the black-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts. She blinked several times before finding Rias looking at her as if she had gone crazy.

"Huh? Sorry, Rias. Did you say something?" Sona asked as she adjusted her glasses.

"I said we're already at the school," the redhead replied, pointing directly toward the entrance of Kuoh Academy. She then narrowed her eyes as she studied her friend. "I don't know what's been going on with you lately, but you keep getting lost in your thoughts more and more often. Are you sure all that chess and those books aren't eating away at your brain?"

"I already told you, Rias. I'm fine. I just like thinking more than most people."

Rias studied her for a moment before shrugging.

"If you say so. But you know, if you ever want to escape that world of books, I can show you the true joy of anime," the redhead declared before walking toward the academy entrance.

Sona shook her head at her friend's childish attitude. After the reality check the Underworld had recently received, she had expected Rias to mature at least a little. Apparently, she had been far too optimistic.

Putting the thought aside, Sona followed after her and crossed through the entrance of Kuoh Academy. From that day forward, both she and Rias, along with their respective peerages, would spend the next several years of their lives there.

Sona could only hope everything went well.