DxD: The Holy Knight!

"As expected, it is Dorte city," Rias said.

Rias and Akeno arrived at the city gates.

The name of the settlement was inscribed on the stone as dorte city.

"What's going on with this city? How can it have such a bizarre title as the slaughterhouse?" Akeno asked in confusion.

"It all started with the reforms carried out by the devils and the widespread use of evil pieces in the underworld," Rias recalled.

"You know that if you perform well as a devil and achieve outstanding victories in the rating games, even if you are a reincarnated devil, you will be personally granted a title by the maou."

Akeno nodded.

Issei worked desperately every day to complete his devil contracts.

He did it all in an attempt to obtain a noble title bestowed by the maou and fulfill his harem dream.

From the devil reforms to the prevalence of evil pieces, quite some time passed.

During this period, a new devil aristocracy composed entirely of reincarnated devils naturally emerged.

The pure blood devils had always looked down on these newly promoted individuals, though it was undeniable that they held some extraordinary qualities.

Rias carried the burden of an arranged marriage within her clan.

These newly emerging nobles, created by the devil reforms, made the pure blood devils who were severely weakened by the great war feel a genuine sense of threat which lead to political tension.

"Dorte city is the territory of the newly noble Dorte clan."

"Because of their outstanding performance in the rating games, they were granted the title of count."

"Count!" Akeno was shocked.

The rank of count was extremely high even among devil nobles.

To grant it to a mere reincarnated devil was simply unbelievable.

"It's said that he was previously a powerful exorcist within the church."

"He stole a secret treasure from the church, defected, and then offered the treasure to a pure blood devil to become a servant."

"Before defecting from the church, Shelby already had the strength of an ultimate class devil."

"After being reborn as a devil, he trained for a period of time and his strength reached a new level, making him a true maou class being."

"No wonder those oldies in the underworld agreed to bestow such a high title as count upon a reincarnated devil."

"Just as Yasuhiro said, as long as someone has great strength, any objections will be silenced," Akeno said.

"After Shelby became a new noble, he naturally broke away from his master and began to build his own peerage." Rias suddenly pointed casually at the street.

"And this is where he selects his peerage members."

"Could it be?" Akeno's expression changed, as if she realized something.

Rias pointed to the crowd in front of them and explained.

"All of these residents in front of us are wanted criminals from various major factions."

"Shelby gives them basic protection so they don't have to worry about being hunted down."

"Of course, Shelby is also a smart man and won't openly harbor key wanted criminals from the major factions."

Rias paused for a moment and explained further.

"These wanted criminals are nothing to the various factions. As a maou class being, Shelby still has some face."

"As long as he doesn't cross the bottom line of any faction, they are willing to grant him some leeway."

"Of course, the church is an exception."

"Even if Shelby is reincarnated as a devil and becomes a new noble, he's still their number one wanted criminal."

"Getting back to the main point, Shelby issued two specific rules in this city."

"First, living in this city requires sealing one's power and living the exact same life as ordinary people."

Akeno realized the truth.

"I see. So that's why we only vaguely sensed that the residents here weren't human. What about the second rule?"

"It is a time limit for living in this city. Every time someone comes to dorte city, they can only stay for ten days."

"If they want to continue living here, they can only steal the time of other people, which means killing them."

"Only when someone can survive here for an entire year will they have the opportunity to become a member of his peerage."

Akeno was stunned.

So that was why this city was called a slaughterhouse.

Sure enough, in order to gain time to live in dorte city and avoid being hunted down by outside factions, the criminals had no choice but to start killing again.

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