15: Peanut Gallery
"Ah good, we made it just in time then." Zeoticus mentioned as he opened the door to their private booth. In fact most of the guests were already inside their booths. "There's my son, so tell me, how's it look?"
"They haven't started yet. Right now they're being teleported in and everyone went to their private viewing chamber." Sirzechs sighed as he mentioned that. "There are too many people here. The only ones I signed off on were Sona and him."
"So we're going ahead with this then?" Zeoticus cut off the disgust of the other patrons since this wasn't about them.
"Yeah… we all need this and as soon as we can I'll be sending messages to them as well." Sirzechs trailed off. The groups had been teleported down to the field.
"Oh there they are dear… I'm a bit worried though." The woman next to Zeoticus mentioned as she stared at the Phenex Family. "A full Peerage and a cohesive group that they're facing."
"I know Venelana… but she is very headstrong. You know she would fight tooth and nail against it." Zeoticus chuckled but it was clear that he wasn't happy about this.
"Who's that though…? I don't remember that person being part of my baby's Peerage." Venelana stared at the boy that was with them willingly standing front and center. She took one look into his eyes though… and her entire body shivered in fear. "I don't like his eyes…"
"That would be the mage that she hired." Sirzechs brought up. "Grayfia has assured me that he has nerves of steel and is capable of standing against even ultimate class devils."
"I can attest to that." Zeoticus added. "He was at our home yesterday during the meeting."
"Why wasn't I told about that!?" Venelana started to complain only to stop when she noticed the strained look on her son and husband.
"Have you seen his gaze… like truly looked into his eyes? It's heavy… and for some reason I feel like I'm standing against an ancestral killer, a demon slayer." Zeoticus muttered. "You looked into his eyes when you saw him, didn't you?"
Venelana turned away but eventually nodded as well. She hadn't exactly meant to. She was worried about her child's choice in allies.
"It's fine, mother. As far as we can tell he has been fully loyal to Rias." Sirzechs assured his mother as she sat down on the couch that was provided for them to watch.
"That doesn't mean I'm not worried." Venelana sighed, placing her hand against her cheek. "What does he want in return?"
"We don't know. He won't say unless you're friendly with him apparently. At least that's what we've gotten from Rias. She won't say more to keep him on her side. I don't like it but given the circumstances, it's the most prudent choice." Sirzechs sat down as well. Grayfia returned at that point standing behind him. Venelana immediately got up and forced her to sit down next to Sirzechs.
"Dear, Don't demean your relationship like that. We're family after all." Venelana smiled at Grayfia's blush.
"For now, lets just see if that faith was misplaced or not then." Zeoticus muttered. He hadn't told anyone about why Rias was willing to do what she was doing. He was still processing that himself and his dad's mind wasn't liking it at all.
"So that's who my little Sona-tan is all bothered by?" Serafall giggled as she looked at the human. He was cute by her standards and Sona seemed the most bothered by her accusations.
"It's not like that!" Sona argued… only to be betrayed.
"Yeah! Prez is just always fawning over the secret pictures she took of him when he smiles is all. That has nothing to do with her huge crush on the guy." Momo brought up with a straight face.
"Momo!" Sona screeched as Serafall embraced her.
"My poor Sona-tan is finally becoming a woman but to not be putting more effort into it. How shameless you've become my lil' Sona-tan." Serafall gleefully smirked doing her own form of skinship as she fondled Sona's modest chest. "Well have to get them nice and big so you can sway him from Rias-tan and Akeno-chan!"
"Stop!" Sona knocked her sister off with her water magic and covered her chest with her arms. "He's not that kind of guy to care about chest size!"
"That's right. Sona already owes him a favor anyways." Tsubasa mentioned off hand. "Though he hasn't collected on it so who knows what she's going to give."
"That brute! I'll stomp him to protect my lil' Sona-tan's eventual yuri yuri time with me in the future!" Serafall jokingly stated in the most serious voice possible.
Unfortunately, the only person unable to come to the meeting was Genshirou Saji, who was still getting accustomed to his new state as a devil. Serafall took the time to actually look at this new guy that caught her precious little sister's attention.
He was cute, but that was all she could tell at the moment. He was one of the greatest mysteries that had been investigated by Ajuka Beelzebub in a long time. No records about who he was, no known bloodline with which to follow, no relatives to seek clarification on, and to top it all his name was common in over twenty different prefectures across Japan. It would be intriguing if he wasn't also the object of affection her sister had latched on to.
The worst part was when she looked into the still frame of his eyes. He was dangerous, something her sister impressed on her but that she didn't take seriously. He was a human after all, no human aside from those at the top of the Vatican were capable of going toe to toe with them. This human scared the ever loving shit out of her soul and she couldn't even explain why. It felt primal… unbreakable. Even the demon slayers she had to face centuries ago didn't make her feel this worried.
Though her rational mind merely chalked it up to being trained in his past. Overall it didn't mean anything that his eyes were intimidating. He was merely human, albeit one who attracted her precious little sister. That needed to be monitored at the very least.
Regardless, she went to go do her little announcing gig since that was the favor Ajuka asked since he created the field for their use today. At least she would be able to do the little skit she prepared to have some fun with it.
Diodora scowled at the sight before him. His property stuck near that human piece of shit which incensed him far too much. It didn't matter that he was here now about to be killed. The sheer gall he had to get her to look at him like that was infuriating.
Still, he liked that his handiwork was nothing more than a devil bitch now. He could take his time breaking her into his obedient fuck toy. After all he was just a human, an easy kill as far as he was concerned.
His mind wandered more to what he was going to do to Asia. Her on her knees… covered in whip marks with the light extinguished from her eyes… the stuff dreams were made of.
"So… why did you come then, Agares?" Sairaorg questioned his contemporary fellow devil. "This isn't exactly an event you usually show interest in."
"Does that really matter? I'm here to keep an eye on the competition. Out of all the devils on our level Rias is one of us isn't she?" Seekvaira mentioned keeping what she was thinking about close to the vest.
"My reason is obvious. I was asked to be here by my aunt." Sairaorg cut that off. "You don't come out here for no reason."
"So you're not that much of a meathead then. They wanted me to keep an eye on the rookies. Depending on how this goes either Riser or Rias is going to be counted amongst those numbers." Seekvaira sighed as she reluctantly admitted at least a small truth. She didn't need to say her other reasons.
"That's actually a thing?" Sairaorg quirked his head. "Am I part of it?"
"I think that goes without saying you idiot. Alongside you, me and Sona, today they're going to decide who's going to be part of the generation that devils are going to put their trust in for the future." Seekvaira muttered. "At least that's what I've gotten from them talking. I don't know for sure."
"Well… regardless, let's see who's going to win this first before we get that set up." Sairaorg turned back to the field noticing that there was a human in her cousin's team. "Well that's weird. What's a mage doing down there?"
"I heard that that mage is a match for Fallen Angels and is around mid level threat at the very least. Also they are the contracted mage of her Peerage." Seekvaira announced from some notes she was holding. "A useful thing for any up and coming devil, wouldn't you say?"
"I suppose… still doesn't really make sense why she would have one at this point. She hasn't even been cleared for Ratings Games yet." Sairaorg wondered aloud clearly questioning what was going on.
"Doesn't matter. Let's see what he's doing first then we'll see if it was a mistake or not." Seekvaira sat back watching the match. She allowed herself a cursory glance of the human but didn't really seem to care about such a thing. She didn't even look into his eyes and neither did Sairaorg. There was no reason to do so.
"Seriously… you agreed to that shit son." Lord Phenex, patriarch of the entire clan, advocate of keeping up the bloodline in some way, was now sighing in sheer exasperation since his once glorious plan was going to shit because his youngest son was too much of an idiot to make himself appealing to someone who was planned out to marry him. It didn't help that he was just hearing about the bet that had been made. "And your sister? What did she think about all this?"
"She was strangely all for it after I spoke with her alone." Ruval admitted. "It kind of freaked me out but I get why. Unfortunately, it's that devil thing we talked about. You know the one about power."
"Seriously… this is not good. And what of our bloodline? Is this how things are going to go then?" Lord Phenex glared though the fire that had been in his eyes was slowly petering out to ashes. They were running out of purebloods and the only thing left would be seen as a horrible option even in his eyes.
"It's either we do this or we lose everything, and that's only if it actually goes they're way. Riser assured me that he could handle the other team easily." Ruval assured his father. His mother finally spoke up though.
"You know he's going into this too fully obsessed with himself. He's going to underestimate them." Lady Phenex mentioned which caused both husband and son to sigh in agreement.
"We have to trust he's not going to do that. He's a Phenex after all." Lord Phenex mentioned though even they could see the tired lines from his eyes. He might have been in the prime of his life but what was going on behind the scenes was getting to him.
"Father… have we made any discoveries?" Ruval whispered under his breath while his mother got up to get a drink.
"Several devils dead, skinned and most of their flesh gone. No we haven't. I can attest to anyone that this isn't the Old Satan Faction. Most of the dead are their numbers but with how horrible a quality their recruits are, they are leaving whole corpses behind." Lord Phenex grunted as he adjusted his seat. "We still know nothing about why it's happening."
"Let's hope it's nothing too bad… otherwise things could get bad around here." Ruval muttered before quieting down for his mother. There was no need to worry her for the moment.
"There's that jackass…" Raynare muttered under her breath as she stared at Ritsuka. The bastard who put her in this position. She couldn't even fawn over Azazel because he had made it clear that she was nothing to him…
"Damn it all… there with Rias-senpai and Akeno-senpai…" Issei gritted his teeth as he said that. His fellow fallen stared at him with utter contempt especially with how idiotic his libido was. They ignored him as Azazel pulled him over.
"Now I want you to watch what you're going to go against if you try to fight him, got it Issei-san? This will most likely be him acting seriously." Azazel boasted slightly to Issei which incensed him much further. The others could see that he was trying to make Issei contemplate getting stronger. He had been very… lethargic after learning that Ritsuka hadn't forced anyone into his companionship like he had been lied to.
"I'll beat that bastard someday and take my place as a Harem King." Issei insisted to himself as he got closer to the viewing portals.
"Seriously…?" Raynare felt her shoulders fall at that title.
"Let him dream. It's not something that will be easy for him but he can dream… probably." Azazel waved off her concern clearly telling her to keep quiet.
Azazel could tell that Issei as he was now, wouldn't be getting a harem since he was obsessing over two women who would never show him the affection that he wanted. That unfortunately made it very apparent that his three subordinates were not going to give him the time of day either…
(Ritsuka fires off Phoebus Catastrophe)
Sona gulped. This situation wasn't happening to her today. She was just dreaming at this moment. She looked around at her Peerage who were all gawking at the fact that almost the entirety of the Phenex group had been knocked out of the competition in one move.
"Um… I wasn't just dreaming, was I?" Meguri muttered as she slumped down.
"He was supposed to be human…" Tsubaki managed out under a shuddering breath.
Sona turned back to the action before her. She focused her own camera on Ritsuka's face and he looked extremely content in his action. His eyes were even smiling as he mentioned keeping a promise…
'Did he promise to take out more than half of them in one blow for Rias?' Sona shivered slightly. She wasn't feeling so bad about her loss now… though she was feeling a bit different now. She couldn't even tell what she was feeling now that she knew that the human wasn't going to be all talk.
Serafall continued her own commentary… but this wasn't natural. Mysteries were being piled upon and piled upon now. A human mage regardless of who they were could never be this powerful without a Longinus of some sort. From her short conversation with Azazel she knew that this wasn't the case. The only arrow styled Sacred Gears weren't this sophisticated and none of them actually were able to do something this dangerous.
Though even through all that she couldn't deny that he was powerful… maybe powerful enough to be with her sister. Maybe that would even open up a little Sona-tan and Levi-tan yuri yuri time on the side. It was something she could think about at the very least.
Sairaorg looked extremely pleased at this point. Seekvaira was trying to calm him down since he immediately wanted to fight the human now that he had proven his power in some way. If two arrows could do that to an entire Peerage, he wanted to see if he could tank it without too much problem.
"Calm down damn it all! They're already fighting against another group and they're still not cleared to take part in real Ratings Games." Seekvaira managed to force Sairaorg to sit down.
"Can you blame me!? It is great that I can find someone with some hidden power! Our battle could be glorious!" Sairaorg boasted boisterously. He looked really eager like the battle maniac he was.
"That may be but I've heard that there are many more problems with this particular game. At least that's what I've heard on the grapevine." Seekvaira advised her fellow pseudo meatheaded devil.
"Rumors? About?" Sairaorg grinned out though he had clearly ignored that as the action was acting up once more.
"I don't know… I just heard that deals were made behind the scenes. And that mage was one of those things that were being dealt with." Seekvaira muttered since she still wasn't sure about things going on between the two families.
"Sounds rough… well it has nothing to do with us. Still, that makes more sense now to me. No wonder I was asked to come for moral support if worse comes to worst." Sairaorg closed his eyes for a moment before opening them once more. "Though that's neither here or there at the moment. What's important is that this is going to become a very entertaining match for all of us that aren't part of the Phenex family."
Seekvaira couldn't exactly argue that point. Especially if the rumors were true. This sort of thing would piss off a family member more so than anyone else watching.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!? WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK!" Diodora screamed at the top of his lungs. His fantasy was broken as he watched the shit show going on before him.
That stupid human mage not only managed to show off his strength, he also managed to take out nine devils in one shot. They weren't even full devils but it still pissed him off because his deal was now at risk. His sweet little nun toy was at risk of never coming into his possession. And Diodora started to tear the room apart in his fury.
Even so, he didn't take his eyes off of Ritsuka. More so now than ever, he wanted the prick dead. He was nothing more than a threat to his continuous hunt of cute virgin nuns to violate and he already got in his way once.
Ruval Phenex stared at the screen, mouth wide open. A trait shared by his father who was staring at the screen with an equal amount of confusion. Lady Phenex, however, was now intrigued.
The night before she had been asked several questions about getting a male's attention by her daughter. At first she thought she was talking about the Knight on Gremory's side. When she said that that wasn't the guy she meant, she was starting to connect the dots now. She was told about the deal about Riser's Peerage being transferred over to the mage on their side which didn't make any sense since he wasn't a devil.
Now… now she wasn't so worried since she knew the other person was strong enough to protect her pride and joy if that's what she decided on.
"What the hell was that!?" Lord Phenex growled as he turned to his son.
"I don't know! Nobody has actually been able to figure anything out about this guy and we've not gotten any closer to figuring it out. Chances are he could be a space alien for all we know!" Ruval complained as he ran his hands down his face.
"How do we have nothing on him!? He's just a human!" Lord Phenex argued back as his wife tried her best to console him.
"Even Mephisto admitted that he didn't have a hand in his appearance. In fact no one knows where he came from!" Ruval shouted back as the two continued arguing about what was actually possible.
Lady Phenex sighed as her family was getting more and more incensed even though the fight was still going on.
Issei nearly slumped over. He had just watched a bevy of extremely attractive women get taken off the field in one fell swoop. He didn't even get to ogle them in their outfits for very long. What was worse was that that bastard he was against was the one who did so to the smiles of Rias and Akeno. It burned his insides.
Azazel, however, was now appraising Ritsuka far differently. He looked over his three stooges who were now cowering slightly… though Raynare looked more intrigued now. He noted she was always the one who lusted after powerful people.
"So, what have you all learned from this?" Azazel broke the silence as his crew turned to him.
"I just have to try harder and I'll beat that guy." Issei confidently stated… which wasn't the answer Azazel was looking for.
"Don't pick fights with strangers…" Mittelt mentioned which Kalawarner nodded to. Both were slightly broken by the events of last week.
"Go find powerful people." Raynare muttered under her breath.
Azazel rubbed his eyes seeing as his group still wasn't getting the whole deal with why he went through the trouble of this. For Issei, he wanted the boy to give up this path and go down a better path, that most likely would have given the boy what he wanted. Now that wasn't going to happen with how obsessed he was. For his three other Fallen, he at least had some success with Mittelt and Kalawarner, even if it wasn't exactly the lesson he wanted to impart.
Raynare, however, just switched her target of affection for someone who was just as powerful.
Seriously, there were some days where being the leader of an organization just wasn't worth it.
"Keep watching before you make decisions." Azazel sighed which got everyone back to watching the action.
"So this is what he's capable of…" Zeoticus stared down at the screen. Nine devils, half breed though they may be, were taken out in a show of force.
"I knew my gut feelings were right on this matter." Sirzechs mentioned with utter certainty.
"Rias made a very good investment, didn't she dear?" Venelana smiled as she switched the camera to her daughter. She looked utterly surprised. "Though it seems her mage is keeping secrets from her as well. I suppose he's the heroic type, isn't that right Satan Red?"
"Mother, I am better than that in all situations." Sirzechs boasted.
"No you aren't. You panicked when Millicas started watching other shows about heroes." Grayfia giggled as she teased her husband who balked at the utter betrayal.
'Okay… so the human has power behind his words… that's going to make this awkward if I have to speak with him.' Grayfia quietly coughed softly enough to not gain any attention as she looked on what was going on next.
"So what do we make of him then? I mean it's obvious so far that there are so many things going on that we still don't know about. This boy here has secrets hidden that could be a game changer for all of us so long as we approach this right." Zeoticus sighed as the boy seemed to be waving off his feat. He certainly kept his word from the day before.
"I don't know yet. Personally, I know Rias wants to make him part of her Peerage but he has already declined putting a piece inside him. That Magician's Contract they made are the only thread that they have but respecting his wishes is giving Rias exactly what she wanted." Sirzechs muttered though the pride in his voice was unmistakable.
"She really didn't want to marry Riser, whose bright idea was that?" Venelana questioned as her husband hung his head down. "Oh, dear… no. You didn't."
"It was more of a spur of the moment since we got reports of the Old Satan Faction starting to get uppity. An alliance was something we had been talking about for a while. Call it the long term plans of an old man." Zeoticus scratched the back of his head clearly hoping it wouldn't get too serious now.
Nobody had much to say about that. While they were some of the strongest devils in the underworld, that didn't mean that they had the capacity to keep things going smoothly. Sometimes, some things had to be compromised to keep the peace.
(Lobo is summoned and does his final attack)
"So… he's the dog to my cat." Sairaorg muttered under his breath. He had tamed the Regulus Nemean lion which in his mind meant that they were merely two sides of the same coin.
"Uh… I don't think that is the case here. Seems like he has to coexist with his beast while yours can do as it pleases." Seekvaira tried to keep abreast of the conversation. It was difficult when her fellow devil was kind of weird when it came to fighting. "Still… that was utterly brutal of him. You usually see that in old world devils and not new age ones."
"Such is how a warrior should strive to be. Utter force to crush your enemies and the means to keep your allies alive. My cousin has truly found a good member for her Peerage. That Knight is strong." Sairaorg commended the mage since he showed such a good fight.
"Uh… the mage isn't a Knight." Seekvaira corrected him.
"Ah then he must be a Bishop, my bad." Sairaorg nodded his head.
"Not a Bishop either. Or a Rook before you say anything." Seekvaira uttered. A sigh escaped her lips as she realized that Sairaorg didn't understand.
"He is far too strong to be a Pawn. Even if he used the maximum number. That fight was in no way comparable to an eight time power pawn." Sairaorg mentioned, staring a bit wide eyed at Seekvaira.
"No… the mage is still human. Nothing more." Seekvaira finally admitted to her fellow devil.
"Huh… don't that beat all…" Sairaorg sat down and started contemplating things in relative silence.
Seekvaira, for her part, decided to start keeping track of the skills that this mage had started producing. An Archery magic which made a rain of energy arrows and a giant wolf familiar that seemed to court death were the two feats which seemed to make up this mage's skillset. There was bound to be more but without actually speaking to said target that would be left to speculation… or spying.
It was a project for another day. She needed to make her own mini gunplas for her own matches later. This was a side project for much later.
Diodora was frothing at the mouth. The idiots had lost so badly that it wasn't even funny. The real problem for him came when he estimated his own chances of enacting his own plans.
They were shunted to the side by fear of that mangy mutt and the brutality it showed to Riser's face and body. That hate boiled over and before the teams could be pulled back to their respective rooms he stormed out of the room and left the entire area.
As far as he was concerned the fight never happened and the mage was merely living on borrowed time. It didn't help that subconsciously he was really worried about actually pissing off that mage since it was very clear that bloodlines didn't matter to him. He had seen that whenever Riser attempted to complain about it. That jackass would just ignore every word that came out of Riser's mouth before swiping his blade across his arms or legs whenever he tried to get out of his confinement.
It didn't matter. He had a lot of time in the world to go for it. He just needed to pick the right time.
Sona was still gawking at the scene she had witnessed and had so many questions. She wanted to know where the wolf came from. She wanted to know what kind of tactics Ritsuka was taught to be that brutal to his enemies. She wanted to learn why the system didn't pull Riser out of trouble the first time his head was caved in by a sickening crack. Too many questions were spinning about his head and it wasn't going to go away until she knew.
"Wow… didn't expect that…" Tsubasa mentioned as she focused the camera view on Ritsuka. "He looks all sweaty and dirty now."
"But don't you like that?" Momo wondered allowed.
"Well yeah… and your point is?" Tsubasa argues back.
"Nothing. I'm just wondering why you're pointing it out." Momo commented as she looked at the still.
"Mostly to wake up our King. She's been staring this entire time." Tsubasa pointed out to the chuckles of everyone else in the room.
"Quiet all of you! It's not like that!" Sona snapped as everyone went quiet but with a knowing smile plastered on each of their faces.
"I managed to crop some of the frames of him for you, Sona." Tsubaki broke the silence as she handed several pictures of Ritsuka over to Sona.
Sona was blushing intensely to the point where she didn't look anyone in the eye. Tsubaki looked at least guilty for saying something out loud. Indignant, Sona took the pictures putting them away in her school bag.
"Anyone says anything they're handling all the paperwork for the entire year." Sona threatened everyone. To their credit, no one said anything but they all had the same smile on their face which made Sona glower at them. She didn't need to be reminded about her crush on some random guy… who managed to outsmart her and prove to be more powerful than he appeared to be.
Serafall, however, was much more subdued on this front.
'A human just beat a mid rank devil without breaking a sweat… oh, scratch that. He's sweating now.' Serafall mused before rubbing her eyes with her fingers. She idly fantasized about waking up in a world where things made sense. She didn't. 'Okay… now I'm thinking that letting Azazel see this wasn't the best of circumstances.'
Serafall, while being a damn good magical girl in her own opinion, was also the public relations officer between the multiple factions that existed. Having someone this dangerous and not on a leash was courting trouble. An extreme amount of trouble that could threaten devils if he wasn't tied to something.
She doubted heavily that anyone in the Gremory household would force a piece on him just to make certain those fragile alliances she so painstakingly made between factions didn't go to waste. That left her with one option. Sona had to seduce him to join her Peerage or get him under her own to make sure no one could take advantage of him. There was a small twinge of worry that the plan wouldn't work but she had to try. The worst case scenario was looming in her mind and she didn't want another war to break out.
Azazel was amused. He had rarely seen something so brutally effective happen to a devil. While he shouldn't have taken joy in the boy's suffering, he couldn't deny that small part of him that was still stuck in the past when war broke out. He accepted that side of him and moved on to thinking about the offers he had gotten. Peace was something he was looking forward to.
"What the fu…" Issei stared at the scene before him. That bastard had mangled the chicken bastard, as he called him, so horribly that it made their fight look like a tickle fight. He had gone very easy on him, extremely easy in fact. Five punches compared to thirty seven times of being smashed against tree trunks hard enough to crack a skull was nothing. Issei was lost in his own fears now.
"So this is what we dodged…" Kalawarner breathed out. She was only slightly intimidated. Certainly, her entire body wasn't shivering in fear at the moment.
"We were just that good at dodging the bullet." Mittelt added… in the most unconvincing tone possible. Her own eyes were pinpricks at this point thinking back to what happened to Dohnaseek, wherever he was.
"I fucking told you!" Raynare snapped at the two. She was the most confused about her own feelings.
She flashed back to that night… as he held a blade against her though she started to remember situations far differently than what had happened. To say she was fantasizing about far more illicit things would have been an understatement to be sure. The only other sadistic being that would compare would have been Akeno Himejima.
For Raynare, who was in love with her own carnage, this was a very good thing.
'Maybe Azazel isn't as good as I thought…' Raynare allowed her thoughts to shift as her target of her affection switched to someone far more comfortable with using their power.
Azazel wondered about saving the video of the fight. While his Fallen would try to use that to pick a fight, they would also realize that there was someone far outside of any ring of influence. He was far more likely to end things brutally and with a certain finality that didn't exist in other beings.
He also didn't want a certain someone to see it since it was very clear that he would go pick a fight at a moment's notice. Sighing, he still saved a copy for later. While he would try to keep it under wraps, he was still going to review the fight. Ritsuka had secrets and the mad scientist in him wanted to know what else the human was hiding.
"Oh that's surprising…" Zeotcius mentioned as he looked over the wolf in question. "That's a full blown wraith."
"A Wraith? That's impossible. It's listening to someone and working for them willingly." Sirzechs waved that off as crazy. "Wraiths kill humans on sight out of envy for the living. I mean no Spirit mage has ever gotten a wraith to work for them willingly and that relationship he had with that beast is not something a wraith would allow."
"Ah, that makes sense now. He's a spirit mage. Aren't most of them insane due to controlling spirits? No one ever actually has stayed alive when they head down this path. The spirits attempt to use the body to bleed into it, taking over and making the body as their own." Venelana mentioned as if one mystery was solved.
"Spirit Mages are incapable of getting wraiths to follow them. This is something different... " Grayfia offered even though she was uncertain of what was going on.
"I feel like we're missing the point though. Rias has won." Zeoticus stopped that train of thought though the questions were still very much on his mind.
"I'll be back. I should go meet with them." Grayfia admitted as she got up and raced out the door.
"We need to figure out what this mage is capable of. Sirzechs, meet with him. Figure out a way to get him to talk. I'd rather not have any surprises later on." Zeoticus muttered to his son who nodded in agreement. "I might try my own way of getting him to talk later."
"That seems prudent at this point." Sirzechs sighed as he looked at the scene. The boy was being healed by his sister's newest Bishop.
'So there was a trade off for his power then? Or is it this one in particular…' Sirzechs mulled it over silently. Curiosity ebbed away at his will. The presence of a wraith being subservient… even at the barest of senses meant that he probably wasn't a spirit mage in the traditional sense. The wraith also didn't have a physical body from what he could tell, but the mage still treated it as if it did which immediately struck him from being a necromancer.
A meeting would have to come sooner or later and it seemed that it was better to do so on his own terms rather than wait for things to travel down a bad path to a dead end. Though from the look on his father's face he seemed to be dreading something else.
'I wonder if the Phenex family is going to handle this well…?' Zeoticus silently thought as Grayfia appeared before his daughter. She took them away and got up himself. "I'll be back then."
"Seriously…" Ruval looked at the footage over and over again. He seriously couldn't believe that that had happened.
"I thought you said that he had this under control!" Lord Phenex yelled though his eyes were focused on the scenes of Riser being manhandled by a large ghost wolf. "This doesn't look like it's being handled!"
"Riser said he would have this handled. He accepted this outcome the moment he decided to go after a woman who didn't even love him, father." Ruval growled out, pointedly glaring at his father. The two didn't stop glaring at one another until a polite cough from Lady Phenex brought them out of their anger.
"It's far too late to lay the blame. A deal was made and we are nobles of our word, are we not?" Lady Phenex stated though she kept her eyes closed in thought. She didn't like what was going to happen but her children made the deal and they had to deal with the consequences.
"Dear… do you know what you are saying? We are condemning one of my sons to being seen as a failure and my daughter to the hands of some mage." Lord Phenex choked on his own rage as he said those words.
"I know what I am saying but I doubt our daughter cares much. Besides, should she manage to capture that mage's eye, who's to say that that power won't become a phoenix reborn?" Lady Phenex pointed out… though even she knew that it was a long shot. She needed her husband to calm down so he didn't do anything stupid should he see the mage in person. Sometimes she wondered why he decided things on his own without her word on the matter… especially when it came to spreading the bloodline.
"It's fine… I've already taken things into account and should they at least become allies then it would make the Phenex family stronger for it. Though I have some things I need to take care of soon enough." Ruval trailed off keeping that last sentence under his breath. Someone needed to become ashes.
"And who will be taking them to the mage then? If I go I will attempt to incinerate him on sight." Lord Phenex grumbled looking very disgruntled about everything. It didn't help when a battered and bruised Riser was teleported into the room. His wounds weren't healing as fast as they should have.
"I'll take them in a few days. I will have them all shifted over to me and transfer them over." Lady Phenex sighed as she looked over her returned son. He wasn't able to focus on anything, his entire body was shaking from fear. While they didn't usually deal with it, they could still feel the air of death hanging around Riser still.
"Jeez… he did a number on you." Ruval muttered to a still quiet Riser. "Seems like you'll be helping me with paperwork for a very long time like I said when you didn't take me seriously."
"Come along son… let's get you cleaned up." Lord Phenex sighed as he stood up and began forcing his son forward.
"Go ahead, mother. I shall be the one to speak with them when they come for a meeting. Nothing more is going to happen today." Ruval waved her off which she reluctantly agreed with. Ruval nursed his temples realizing that he had made a losing bet… but now there were a few more details that were slipping into place.
Diodora had secret information that came from the Fallen Angels and he definitely didn't get said information from Azazel or his men. A rogue exorcist which had been killing people in Kuoh had been fought and escaped from fighting a human mage which he had learned from a report by the Gremory heiress. Rogue Exorcists usually would only work with Fallen Angels because of their united viewpoints about heaven and such.
Ruval could see that things weren't adding up right. He could go to the council with his findings but without proof he would get stuck through so much governmental red tape. Azazel also was still an enemy for the moment so he wouldn't say the truth at all unless it was convenient for him.
Ritsuka sat on the ground to the complaints of his friends. He didn't really hear them though since he was still breathing sharply focusing on the fire in his body. It was slowly burning out but he needed some time to cope with it.
"What's wrong with him?" Grayfia pointed out when she joined the group.
"Lobo has a lot of hatred, he kept a lot of it back but it still leaks through sometimes." Ritsuka answered without much protest. "Ice magic?"
"Are you asking if I have ice magic or to use it on you?" Grayfia quirked an eyebrow though her mask of professionalism didn't come off.
"Both. Yeah, both sounds about right." Ritsuka nodded though his breathing was slowly coming back to normal.
Grayfia quietly did a little ice magic making a block of ice with her own magical prowess. As she touched the block against Ritsuka a good portion of it started melting. The quiet murmur from everyone wasn't missed. Ritsuka ignored them slightly if only because his body was starting to feel better now.
"So… Lobo?" Grayfia questioned which everyone intently listened to.
"Lobo is a wolf from the plains of, I want to say New Mexico, he has a very intense hatred for humans and really high capacity for murder. I think his record is two hundred and fifty sheep in a single night if I remember correctly." Ritsuka explained, standing up and finally breathing normally. The block of ice had lost a good forty percent of its mass.
"And he listens to you?" Grayfia asked further since he was being so forthcoming.
"Nope. He allows me since he thinks of me as his pup. He's a big softy most of the time and if you're not his enemy then he ignores you. Also if he doesn't respect you he may chew on you for a bit before getting bored and running off." Ritsuka nodded as if it was just that simple.
"And what's to stop him from chewing on you?" Grayfia sighed… she was becoming exasperated because of this human. He clearly was dancing around a real explanation but she couldn't call them outright lies. This mage was careful with his words telling the truth which sounded like lies. They weren't but with how fantastical they sounded she wasn't exactly sure.
"Nothing except for our connection." Ritsuka smiled as if it were all that simple. Grayfia contemplated holding the mage against the wall until she forced him to explain clearer… but that impulse vanished when she noticed that he hadn't broken eye contact with her.
'Does he know what I'm thinking…?' Grayfia hid her surprise behind the mask of professionalism she wore.
Rias and the others shrunk back since they could feel the pressure that Grayfia exerted. Though it started pushing some theories into everyone else's head. While Ritsuka didn't speak at length about which spirits he could call upon or what they were capable of, he had gone on length about Lobo.
They didn't know if it was because he was more comfortable with talking about it, or if it wouldn't change anything in the long run. Rias made a mental note to look for any references to a wolf that could kill that many sheep in a single night. It was the only thing they had to go on and it made sense in this case.
"I'll take your word for it." Grayfia sighed as she turned to Rias. "Rias, I'm happy for your victory over Riser and as promised the engagement has been annulled as of this moment. Though Ruval shall be coming to discuss terms though I'm not exactly sure what he meant."
"Oh. Don't worry about it Grayfia. That was from the meeting yesterday. I shall handle it immediately. Come along then Ritsuka." Rias announced as she proudly stepped out of the room into a larger hall.
"Huh… me? Oh right. Yes, lead on." Ritsuka wandered after her.
"We shall return home then Rias!" Kiba called out as Akeno and Koneko got the transportation glyphs ready.
"Understood. We'll be back shortly." Rias called out as Grayfia followed the two out and the rest returned home.
"What deal did you make Rias?" Grayfia whispered to her younger sister in law.
"It was kind of a big deal… promise you won't get mad?" Rias cringed slightly as she bit on one of her fingers.
"Depends on the deal." Grayfia evenly stated though with her hands clasped tightly together making Rias unwilling to be so forthcoming.
"Uh… we doubled down on our agreement. Him and I as theirs and his Peerage for him." Rias mumbled. Grayfia let out a sharp sigh but it was clear she was pissed.
Ritsuka, oblivious to the conversation, was taking in the scenery. The devil things weren't very hellish. There wasn't a theme of inferno and eternal suffering but there were a lot of vibrant reds to accentuate the area. He was also sensing a lot of people behind the doors. He saw two people exit one room, a man who looked like he lifted a lot and a woman with a cold gaze on her face.
They noted him and he waved as he usually did. They nodded in acknowledgement but left before doing anything else. Neither looked him in the eye though, from what he could note.
Another door opened and Azazel stepped out and forced his three flunkies and his apprentice to march out. They didn't notice him since Azazel was on top of their movements from the moment he opened the door. He gave off a cocky grin with a nonchalant wave of the back of his hand as they all left as well.
Ritsuka was a bit confused since he was certain devils and fallen angels were against one another. That was ushered aside when he remembered the dealings he had with him before.
'So… is this what they meant by dealing with eventual things later. Something peaceful?' Ritsuka mused but he continued walking after the pair.
They were much closer than he once thought, probably sisters. It wasn't something to dwell upon. They had come up to a new door and with a quiet shrug of her head Grayfia had the two enter.
Ruval sat down across from Zeoticus while the two waited to finish their deals. It wasn't overly tense but the two didn't speak to one another. Both nursed a small glass of wine, each unable to properly speak about their confusion and surprise. Things that didn't happen, happened. History was made before their eyes and no one could make an explanation. The video of the match had hit Devitube and already generated over a million hits within five minutes after posting.
The first hundreds of comments all wanted to know who the mage was. The next several were immediately erased because of the raunchiness of the female viewers about what they wanted to do to said mage. Several more wanted to steal that mage for themselves and it just continued from there.
"Fun times… am I right?" Ruval muttered taking a long drawl from his glass.
"As always. We are in the spring of our future." Zeoticus answered back.
Venelana and Sirzechs had left. She had to pick up Millicas from his tutoring session as a favor for her son and something important came up that needed a satan to look over it. The door opened as the people of the hour came in through the door.
Rias, of course, looked content over her victory. Ritsuka, however, seemed to walk with a small amount of trepidation. He was constantly glancing over his shoulder as though he was uncertain of being safe. Both devils took note of the wariness.
"Congratulations Rias Gremory, as promised I'll uphold my end of the bargain and within three days my brother's Peerage shall be transferred over to your mage." Ruval announced without even the smallest amount of poise behind his words.
"Thank you Ruval Phenex. I'm sorry that it came to this." Rias quietly answered noting that he was slightly buzzed. She supposed seeing his brother defeated so thoroughly was cause for a sedative of sorts.
"He knew what he was getting into and I knew that there would be consequences. That is the crux of being an adult." Ruval muttered rubbing the side of his head.
"He's right Rias. Things like this shouldn't be done even in the sanest of moments." Zeoticus admonished his daughter and while she looked properly repentant about it, the sly smile of victory still wormed its way across her lips.
"Be that as it may, I take it that that is all you want to discuss?" Rias looked at the two who shook their head.
"We would like to speak with your mage. He has done something that has never been done before." Zeoticus stopped the two before they could back out of the room.
"Me? What would you like to know?" Ritsuka responded. While he retained that cool expression on his face, internally he was panicking. He really didn't want to discuss things about his magic but if he didn't, he wasn't sure they would let him go. Also he was certain that he wasn't on the surface of the planet which would make it even harder for him to escape.
"Oh you know, small talk. After all you've been training for all these Ratings Games and your own magical lessons." Zeoticus began pouring a glass of wine for him as well.
As far as actual plans to get him to talk… this was actually horribly done. Ritsuka was immune to most poisons… which meant alcohol was included. The only drink that actually managed to break through his poison immunity was something Shuten had him drink. He didn't actually remember what happened that night though.
"Sure… I suppose I could talk about some things." Ritsuka nervously sat down taking the offered glass. "Though are you drinking with me?"
"...of course we are." Both poured their own glass though it was reluctantly done.
What started as a simple conversation turned into something really strange for Ritsuka. Since he wouldn't drink unless the other two drank they finished one glass for every glass he drank. There were seven bottles now on the ground and two drunk devils and one still sober Ritsuka sitting at the table. Rias has been held back by Grayfia who was now very concerned since her father in law was technically sloshed at this point.
"Ya know… ya know… I always wanted to be a hero-like person…" Zeoticus slurred out. Ruval nodded as best he could while Ritsuka watched the exchange. He looked back at Rias who was a bit miffed but said nothing.
"What stopped you?" Ritsuka sighed as he drained another glass. It did absolutely nothing for him unlike the other two devils who were completely drunk.
"Be a hero. With a cape! That would be great." Zeoticus sang sung away as he drained another glass. Then a serious look came on his face. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"
"Nothing. Why?" Ritsuka answered carefully. He didn't outright lie because he wasn't planning anything. Rias had planned what she wanted for him in the long run and he would go along with it since he was a man of his word.
"I… can tell. She likes… urp… you. I know." Zeoticus slammed his glass down which was surprisingly fortified and didn't shatter. Ritsuka blinked at the sight and his mind instantly wandered to where he could get cups like that. It would certainly keep the Kings group from smashing their cups whenever they had a drinking contest.
"Okay…" Ritsuka muttered.
"Father, I think you've had enough." Rias patted her father on the back but he was still drunk.
"My baby girl is growing up so fast!" Zeoticus cried out in a goofy manner which made Rias sigh in exasperation.
"Grayfia, can you take father home to sleep this off." Rias spoke to her sister in law.
"Yes Rias, please take Ritsuka and head back home." Grayfia muttered as Rias assisted Ritsuka up. She was blushing with every moment they were close to one another. She was feeling very self conscious now since her father was so blatant about her attraction.
As they left the room Ruval sat up straight once again. His cheeks were rosy while Zeoticus did his best to shake off his stupor. They were still drunk but their tolerance levels were extremely high.
"That didn't work…" Ruval stated. He pushed the empty glass away. "He wasn't even drunk after thirteen glasses of wine. We learned he was born here in Japan and that he didn't know what happened to his parents. That's all we managed to get."
"I was hoping that talking about Rias… would have jostled him. He was calm and collected throughout the entire meeting. Damn… that didn't work at all. And now he probably thinks of us as drunks who do things as a whim." Zeoticus whined as he drained the last of his glass. "I'll have to rely on Sirzechs to get something since Rias is so intent on keeping this mage for his own group."
"She does know more than she's saying but being friends would get him to speak more openly about himself." Grayfia added as she helped her father up from his seat. "After all, he helped Rias without asking for anything in return."
"What about my brother's Peerage?" Ruval brought up. "What about him asking for them?"
"They were trying to make the price too high so you would give up Ruval. That's what Rias told me while you were interrogating him." Grayfia sighed as she was finally told why such an inane deal was placed on the table. "Personally I see that as a foolish idea to put against devils, our pride would force us to rise to the occasion."
"Urgh… I thought it was a power play, not a deterrent. It was the mage… wasn't it? He suggested it." Ruval swiped a hand down his face as he realized he wasn't being played for a fool. He played himself for a fool.
"Yes. It seems that it was a strategy he employed once but she didn't elaborate on it." Grayfia mentioned as she helped Ruval up from his seat. With a little magic she set up two teleportation glyphs for the two patriarchs to return home.
When they left Grayfia served herself her own glass of wine. She needed something to take the edge off with how crazy the day had been and there wasn't exactly any other way to do so at the moment.
Rias led Ritsuka back to the teleportation glyph… quietly mulling over her father's actions. It had been slightly mortifying with how blunt he had been… but she could tell very well. Ritsuka had known already which stayed her outburst from being more vocal. She didn't want Grayfia to know though. Her brother could be a bit… extreme in dealing with her independence on these matters.
"Ritsuka... " Rias started… stopping only due to not really knowing what to say. She had a few thoughts on her mind. The biggest one was to figure out how he drank so much wine, but she did remember that he talked about poison resistance a long time ago.
"Is it about the wine thing?" Ritsuka commented as he stared at Rias.
"Well that was one of the things on my mind about you." Rias admitted placing her hands behind her back. "The other thing… was something more… personal."
"Ah… for the first one my poison resistance works on alcohol. It means that I can't really get drunk… at least not by really weak liquors or something. It still burned going down though." Ritsuka chuckled as he rubbed his chest. "And what's the other thing on your mind?"
"About you… would you tell me the truth? I've noticed that you were very wary about Riser when you found out that he was part of the Phenex clan. You remained on guard about devils… taking your time to examine us with your eyes, watching our actions and demeanors. I know Akeno and I have been… forward with you but you did so only after you got to know us personally." Rias blushed at the last comment. It had been nagging on her for days now. She needed to know what Ritsuka experienced… before anything else happened.
Ritsuka remained silent. His eyes unfocused and he glanced away from Rias. While she was worried about offending him… she needed to know. He sighed and closed his eyes.
"Do you want me to tell you now… or with all your Peerage around?" Ritsuka frowned… something rare for her to see.
"Everyone… is it bad?" Rias questioned as she could feel that she was walking on a landmine at this point. This kind of thing could have changed everything… but she knew it had to be done.
"It depends… on some things I want to ask you first." Ritsuka brought up as he rubbed the back of his head. "Close the door."
Rias did so as they entered the glyph room. She gulped slightly feeling a bunch of tension building up in her heart. She was actually feeling scared now.
"Are devils demons?" Ritsuka started asking the most obvious question.
"No… demons were our progenitors… but they have all died out due to their own nature getting them killed. Devils are, I guess, more human than they were back then. We've evolved to a point where we coexist with regular humanity because we can't survive anymore as they did. We have become better for it as well." Rias explained as concisely as possible. She didn't know how well she could portray that they were fundamentally different, but she didn't have to.
"Good. I'm glad to know I'm still a good judge of character. I could tell the very moment I looked into your eyes." Ritsuka released a breath he was holding on to, smiling to himself. Rias was flattered but she didn't allow herself to show it. She needed to see where this was going.
"You are part of the Seventy Two Pillars of Goetia… am I right?" Ritsuka asked, letting a neutral look take over his face.
"...yes. Gremory is the family I'm part of… I figured you knew already." Rias turned her gaze to her feet… they were more interesting at the moment.
"Yeah… I know but you are different from what I've seen. I'm not going to say much until I can speak with all of you… but I'll tell you that I have had to fight against a version of the pillars of Goetia. They were different and were demons, not devils." Ritsuka sighed as his gaze turned a bit bitter. Rias was more worried now, more so than ever. "That will not transfer over to you, Rias is Rias. That can never change and I accept you for who you are."
"I… I never figured that you would have history with the entirety of the Goetia." Rias clenched her body now that she could tell what his gaze represented. Even so… even so, she didn't let it paint her perceptions. "I don't think of you any differently Ritsuka, you helped me out without asking for anything for this particular problem. Tomorrow… will you tell me your story?"
"Yeah…" Ritsuka let out a shuddering sigh, he seemed somewhat relieved to Rias to get that off his chest. He had finally let the mask fall away, anxiety had appeared in his eyes, doubt painted his posture and the confidence he usually carried himself with no longer seemed to exude from him anymore.
She could see it now. Ritsuka was a tired man… tired and clearly stressed to the point of losing his mind. He quietly put the mask he wore back on though even his smile was strained as he looked at her.
"I hope… you don't think of me badly when you know the truth." Ritsuka admitted keeping his gaze low and towards the floor.
"Honestly… with how you've saved me… I don't think I could." Rias answered his own self deprecation.
The two quietly walked to the glyph. Ritsuka's steps were heavier than usual, and Rias didn't have her normal confident stride. Neither were close to each other but didn't part very far either.
"Ritsuka." Rias called out to him getting his attention.
"Hm?" Ritsuka turned his head.
"Would you hold my hand…?" Rias blushed as she asked her important question.
Without a word Ritsuka offered his hand, and Rias grabbed it willingly. Though she forced their fingers to lace together, the message was clear. Just as he had accepted her, she would accept him, no matter what happened next.
Author's Notes:
This chapter is indulgent which many of the readers over on AO3 agreed it was. Still it was written so I'll keep it as part of the series because if I just go an rewrite it then we'll be bogged down by rewrite after rewrite. And I'm sure people hate seeing a story they like only to see the author say they're going to rework it entirely. That would be annoying wouldn't it.