Eugene started to open his eyes as he raised his head. He noticed that the burns he had received had already disappeared, as well as the pain he accumulated. He was shaking his head as he tried to recall the last thing he could remember.

As he got up, he realized that he was sitting in a chair outside of the combat zone. This must be where students go to rest after a hard training session. It seemed that the fight with Axel was over with, but he couldn’t remember who had won.

“Wakey wakey boss~” Came the sound of his bull familiar who was facing right in front of him, which made Eugene jump from his seat.

“Diagnosis complete. No signs of any damage accumulated from earlier fight. Seems the Combat Ring has indeed reset your health state to before the fight began.”

Abdul was standing next to him having finished examining Eugene and was now standing at attention while holding a towel in case Eugene needed to wipe off any sweat.

Seeing those two Eugene relaxed as he greeted them, “Hey guys….”

He almost was afraid to ask for the results of his fight, but he built up some courage to do so anyway. “S-so… how did we fair? .... did we win?”

Sife and Abdul looked in Ryuze’s direction, who was crossing his arms and looking away. His expression being hidden from Eugene and the others. Despite that, it was easy to tell what the Dragonoid’s mood was.

He then started to speak; his voice low “No lord Eugene…. We did not win…I apologize my lord…”

The Dragonoid lowered his head in shame, Eugene looking at him sadly as silence filled the air for a few seconds. That was until Sife began to pat on Ryuze’s back hard while laughing loudly.

“Now now don’t go giving our summoner the wrong impression. You two may not have won but you didn’t lose either!! ~”

Ryuze’s expression changed from sadness to annoyance. It seemed Sife’s action was able to get the Dragonoid out of his funk for the moment. Eugene was curious about what Sife meant earlier and Abdul was quick to answer before the boy could ask.

“Answer, the results of the fight between Master Eugene and Axel have concluded in a draw.”

Eugene was a bit surprised, in all honesty he wasn’t quite sure if he and Ryuze would have won against Axel in the first place. Not with so little time to prepare, with little knowledge of his opponent. To just be able to reach a tie was a lot for Eugene was enough for him.

But it didn’t seem Ryuze thought the same thing. Seeing him like this, Eugene wanted to talk. Though he found his words choking up before he could say them, he managed to say something to him.

“R-ryuze?”

Ryuze didn’t move but still responded. “… Yes, lord Eugene?”

“Even if we didn’t win, we still showed them how strong a Dragonoid can be. You even came in par with his familiar.”

Ryuze stood there, not moving an inch. But a small smile was forming at the edge of his lips. “If that is what you say lord Eugene.”

Eugene sighed a bit, even if it didn’t cheer him up. He was glad to at least get something out of Ryuze, maybe later he could do something to get him in a better mood.

“Apology for the interruption master Eugene. But you must get ready to return home.” The robot butler stated, while waiting patiently for Eugene.

Eugene immediately looked at the clock and realized that it’s been hours since school ended. He tried to move from his seat, only to realize how sore his body was. It seemed that fight from earlier really took a lot more out of him than he thought. He nearly lost his footing before Sife managed to grab him.

“Whoa now, take it easy there boss. The combat ring may have helped you recover from damage, it still couldn’t stop your exhaustion. You still haven’t gotten your body to adjust to that much physical exertion just yet. Don’t worry, just lean on me and I’ll help you move till you feel better. ~” Sife offered, giving off his usual smile.

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Eugene decided to take his advice, getting Sife’s help in supporting him up. With everyone up and able to move, they were ready to love but were immediately met with Axel and Androcles. They both looked just as beat up as Eugene and Ryuze, there was an air of frustration coming off of them.

It seemed Axel was ready to yell something at Eugene, though he stopped himself before quietly talking to himself and looking away. “Didn’t win…”

Androcles on the other hand didn’t have such restraints. He began to blow up towards Eugene and the others.

“Don’t think this is the end. We’re going to make you pay. Especially you!” He pointed his finger right at Ryuze, who didn’t seem like he was paying to mind to him.

Ever since they messed with Androcles’ hair, the skull faced demon has been a lot more talkative. The way he was talking and acting, Eugene couldn’t help but realize how much he and his summoner were alike.

Not wanting to deal with the two any further, the group tried to leave only to be stopped by Androcles as Axel began to speak.

“Where are you all going? We’re not done with you yet.”

Seeing this, Ryuze stepped up as he stared at the two dead center “…Move aside. Now.”

Neither of them budged, it seemed both of them were adamant in getting in the way. Androcles even stepped closer to the Dragonoid, looking down at him as his hair began to move. “Or else what lizard?”

Things were getting really heated, if nothing happened soon then a fight may happen between everyone. Sife and Abdul picked up on it as they took a fighting stance. Sife with his fists up while Abdul had his palm out with an open compartment on it ready to fire. Both of them had a serious expression on their faces.

Eugene was the only one who was panicking, there were rules for these kinds of situations. Not just school rules either. If this situation doesn’t calm down now, they could all get in trouble. But just as he was contemplating on what to do, more people started to walk in. It was Alphonse and Ripley.

“H-hey Eugene, I wante- uhm a-are we interrupting something?” Alphonse nervously asked after seeing the intense air around them. All the while Ripley looked like he couldn’t care less on what was happening, though he did raise an eyebrow when looking at his fellow demon.

Axel and Androcles seemed extra annoyed for getting interrupted, more so from seeing it was those two that came in. “None of your concern Demi-human. Get out of here now.”

Alphonse shook a bit when he responded, though he didn’t move. He looked at Eugene who was just as worried about the current situation and neither knew what to do. Ripley could only shake his head over the predicament. He seemed ready to leave himself when the fire demon started to speak up.

“Hah pathetic, seems we got us here a hornless demon amongst us. I thought they were rare. But makes sense, your summoner looks weak so deserves a weakling familiar instead.” Androcles snickered to himself.

That seemed to get to Ripley, as his expression darkened. “…What did you say?”

“You heard me, see this?” Androcles then pointed at his horns at his head. “A no horned demon can’t even fandom reaching the level of a four horned one. Especially when I got two big ones right here.” He started to laugh after making that comment, his summoner joining in too, having agreed with him.

“Hah, you’re right about that Androcles! A weakling for a weakling, very fitting indeed!”

The expression on Ripley’s face only further darkened, his arms visibly shaking. It seemed like he was ready to unleash an aura of anger but the cuffs on his bodies were restricting them. Seeing this, Eugene and his familiars had tensed up and slowly backed away. Axel and his familiar on the other hand either didn’t notice or were that confident as both of them were still chuckling between themselves.

Alphonse though had pulled out his book out while looking right at Ripley, at the moment not looking nervous. “Now Ripley….”

Ripley could only sigh, though the aura he was trying to let out wouldn’t go away. Instead, he decided to negotiate with his summoner. “How about this little summoner, allow me to exert my full power upon them and I will go along with this familiar nonsense for today.”

“…. Make it a week and you won’t hurt anyone during the time then you can have it for two minutes.”

Ripley waved his hand in an act of small agreement as he answered. “Very well, not like I could since you set up that non-aggression rule anyway.”

Seeing this exchange, the two started to mock them. “Hey look Androcles. The little doggy needs his master’s permission. ~”

“His ‘Full power’ I’m soooo scared. ~”

Sife started to nervously sweat while barely keeping a grin. “Well, I say those two were made for each other dontcha think boss?”

Eugene slightly nodded as Alphonse began to write in his book, all the while reading what he was writing. “For the agreement of going along with his role as a familiar for a week, Ripley began to feel the restrains on his body loosen.”

The chains and cuffs on his arms and legs began to open, the moment that they did the aura that was being held back started to explode, his full power returning to him. “But Ripley knew that it was only temporary, soon enough the full power he has unleashed will be locked back away in two minutes, with no way for him to stop it.”

Sure enough, the intense aura around Ripley continued to explode with no signs of stopping yet. Even Axel and Androcles could feel it, their laughter amongst themselves stopping. Being replaced with fear instead.

But Ripley wasn’t done yet. Horns started to grow out of his head. Four large horns started to grow and curve into a spiral at the back of his head, they were twice as large as Androcles’. Two smaller ones also grew on his forehead as well.

As soon as Androcles saw them, fear started to grow in him. He started to back up in an effort to put distance between him and Ripley as his hair dropped into submission. Even Axel could tell how dire the situation is getting. Neither of them showed the same mocking tone they had earlier as the demon beast stepped closer to them with his anger in full display.

“Now then, why don’t we have a little chat?”