The Phenex Rises
Chapter 4
Kokabiel focused his red eyes on Riser, all signs of mirth and excitement gone. There was no anger either, as if the loss of his arm wasn't concerning to him. Instead, he focused on Riser intensely without showing a hint of emotion.
A split second later Kokabiel was directly in front of Riser with no sign of how he'd moved. Riser didn't even have time to fully comprehend Kokabiel's presence being so close when Kokabiel's light-covered leg impacted his face. The powerful blow detonated the light energy in an explosion that set Riser backflipping through the air out of control until he violently slammed into the ground, hitting hard enough to cause an explosion of dust and debris.
Riser lay in his own personal crater staring up at the sky while blue and yellow flames flickered around him, his Phoenix Devil fruit repairing the damage his own heritage couldn't handle. Frankly, without the Tori Tori no mi, Model: Phoenix, he would have been dead a dozen times over by now. He was truly grateful for it, and everything else the system had given him. Though, he did kind of wish he had something strong enough to actually put an end to this fight against Kokabiel.
He still hadn't used his ice powers in the fight but his dismissed the very thought of using them. For starters, he'd hardly done any practicing with them. He'd been focused purely on his physical strength and his fire powers. Fire had always been his primary focus so it was no wonder that he'd been so heavily focused on it. Even the system had been focused on it giving him things like mastery over it and the Fire Dragon Slayer magic. There was even a flame version of Total Concentration Breathing that he wouldn't be the least bit surprised to get for a reward some time.
Riser slowly pushed himself to his feet, taking his time to buy a few moments to think and figure out what he was going to do. He no longer considered beating Kokabiel to be possible. All he could do now was buy time for someone else to arrive.
He grit his teeth at that, hating the feeling of weakness it gave him. He wasn't some pathetic little soy boy loser that needed someone else's help!
What was he going to do though? He was low on Demonic Power so magic was almost completely out of the question. Well, his Devil Fruit was a Zoan and he could transform. He braced himself and called on that power within him. Blue flames roared to life as he held his arms out, T-posing as the flames turned his arms into blue wings with yellow highlights. At the same time, flames surrounded the lower half of his legs and turned them into large bird feet with sharp talons. The wings and feet might have been made of fire but they were still solid.
As Riser prepared to launch into the air and see if his half-transformed state would bring about a miracle, a stream of lightning shot through the air with a clap of thunder. Kokabiel brought his wings around in front of himself as a shield and easily tanked the lightning with them. While his wings continued to hold off the lightning stream coming from the tips of Akeno's fingers, Kokabiel calmly addressed her, "Are you going to get in my way daughter of Baraqiel?"
Akeno clearly didn't like that question as she was instantly enraged, "Don't lump me with that thing!"
The power of her lightning increased noticeably, but still had no effect on Kokabiel as he continued to block it with his wings. It was just a few moments later that her lightning faltered and she lowered her arm while breathing heavily. Kokabiel opened his wings once more and laughed lightly, mockingly, "So, you've fallen so low as to become a devil?" He glanced at Rias where she floated not too far from her Queen, "You have such an interesting house Gremory girl." His eyes flickered over to where Kiba was fighting a stray exorcist he'd picked to replace the missing Freed, "A piece of refuse that survived the holy sword project." His gaze fell on Akeno, "Baraqiel's daughter." His gaze moved to Riser, "An interesting fiance." Finally, his gaze settled on Rias once more, "And I even heard you had the Red Dragon Emperor, though that seems to just be a rumor."
Akeno looked away from Kokabiel at the mention of her parentage. Even from on the ground Riser could see the look of shame that briefly adorned her face. Akeno might not be his favorite person in the world, in fact, he outright disliked her no matter how beautiful she was, but he felt like he would need to slap some sense into her as he'd done for Kiba.
[System Alert! New Quest!
She's a Fallen, but will she have fallen for you?
Akeno, a fan favorite, for some reason. The Half-Fallen daughter of Baraqiel with access to the power of Holy Lightning. How strange that she would rather, if you believe Rias's lies, become your unwilling sex puppet than use a little Holy Lightning to kick your ass in that Rating Game eh? Well, whatever gets her off. NOW! How will you handle her?
Option 1: Simp ahoy! Babble some kind of romantic nonsense and get her over her issues.
Option 2: Life sucks, get used to it. Introduce her to reality, whether she likes it or not.
Option 3: I don't give a fuck. Do nothing.
Reward: You know how this works by now right? Do your thing and I'll give you what I think you deserve. Now fuck off! You're in the middle of a fight you know?]
Kokabiel slowly lowered himself to the ground. Upon touching down his wings vanished. His gaze flickered between Riser, who was still half-transformed, and Rias who was slowly lowering herself to the ground. As Rias touched down, Riser had a thought that brought a small smile to his face. He didn't know if it would work out exactly like he hoped, but it should do something and it would give them all a chance. He dismissed his partial Zoan transformation and focused on his new plan.
"Rias!" When she looked over at him, Riser called out, "Akeno!" With both of their attention on him he very loudly, in front of the still very cocky Kokabiel, explained part of his plan, "Rias, I need you to blast me with as much fire magic as you possibly can! Akeno, I need you to blast me with as much lightning magic as you can!"
Rias scowled and glared at Riser, "Why would I waste Demonic Power pointlessly throwing it at you?!"
Riser scowled, "Just do it Rias!"
"You have no right..."
Riser's head snapped over so he could glare at her. His look was so focused and intense that she cut off what she was going to say. His voice was a feral growl that sent a shiver down her spine, "Just. Fucking. Do. IT."
He focused back on Kokabiel who looked mildly amused and a little interested in what might be happening. Riser's black flames might have presented a bit of a threat to him, but he highly doubted the boy could produce them again without getting enough rest. Something he had no intention of letting him get. This new course of action was unlike previous ones and he found himself curious about what the boy was up to.
"Now dammit!"
Riser's voice snapped both girls out of their daze at his domineering attitude. They'd both seen him try to be domineering in the past but he'd only come off as a condescending prick at the time. It was nothing compared to how he was currently behaving. Akeno couldn't help blushing a little as she gathered her Demonic Power and prepared to unleash it on Riser as Lightning. She hoped it hurt him, just a bit, so she could enjoy his screams, or even grunts, of pain.
Rias gathered her Demonic Power along with her anger at Riser to fire it all at him as a powerful stream of fire. Elemental magic might not be her specialty, but she could easily perform simple attacks with most of them. At the same time, Akeno unleashed a stream of lightning directly at him.
Riser, having been waiting for the attacks, exhaled as they closed in. Just before they impacted his body he opened his mouth wide and inhaled drawing in both the fire and lightning magic. The streams of fire and lightning swirled around his mouth as he ate both forms of magic, swallowing them down and taking their energy into himself. It wasn't a perfectly smooth process though. He was a Fire Dragon Slayer, not a Fire AND Lightning Dragon Slayer. The fire was easily eaten helping him recover his own reserves and increasing his power.
The lightning, on the other hand, was fighting him violently. It didn't want to be eaten so smoothly, but Riser wasn't willing to give up. If Natsu Dragneel could do it then he sure as hell could do it too! He continued eating the lightning even as it ripped his insides to shreds, they just regenerated back a moment later anyway. He closed his eyes, ignored the pain, and focused on taking the lightning into himself in the same manner he was eating the fire.
His already growing strength skyrocketed as he finally tamed the lightning, at least partially, and began greedily eating it. The streams of fire and lightning only lasted for a few seconds each, but when they were over and everyone could once more see Riser, they stared in surprise. Even Kokabiel looked interested.
Riser slowly exhaled a stream of smoke and ash as the last of the lightning-inflicted wounds inside of his mouth healed. His lips curled into a hungry animalistic grin that showed off shark-like teeth. On his face covering his forehead and going down the sides of his head while highlighting his eyes were dark red scales. When he finished exhaling, Riser's eyes finally snapped open, golden-slitted reptilian eyes glared at Kokabiel with malicious intent.
The thing that shocked everyone present was that they could clearly feel the power of a dragon coming from Riser. Rias and her peerage had gotten used to the presence a dragon gave off thanks to spending time with Issei. Meanwhile, Kokabiel was as old as dirt and experienced many things, including both Ddraig and Albion at their prime fighting each other. He would have to be dead not to feel the draconic power wafting off of Riser now.
This brought the same question to the mind of everyone watching, 'how?'. Riser was from the Phenex Clan, not the Bune's. Did he have a Bune ancestor somewhere or something? There was no telling about that, but what they all could tell was how strong Riser had suddenly become. His presence alone was enough to make Rias and her peerage tremble. Though Kokabiel's sick grin only showed how excited he was becoming.
Riser began to deeply inhale through his nose, the force of the suction actually causing the air around him to whirl as it worked to fill in the vacuum he was creating. At the same time that he used Total Concentration Breathing to inhale far more air than should have been physically possible, he began pooling an obscene amount of Demonic Power into his lungs. Riser didn't stop until he was nearly bent over backward from trying to expand his chest as much as he possibly could to get every last bit of air into his lungs he possibly could.
He paused for a moment, then his entire body snapped forward like a released spring. His mouth flew open to unleash an air-shattering roar that unleashed a wide beam of fire and lightning directly at Kokabiel.
Kokabiel laughed in delight as he summoned up his wings and wrapped them around himself as a shield once more. The beam of fire and lightning slammed into his wings with enough force to push him backward. Kokabiel didn't lose his balance and fought to maintain his position but found his feet leaving deep tracks in the ground as he was continuously pushed back.
'Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar.'
The beam only lasted for a few seconds, yet in those few seconds, the blast had broken the bones in two of Kokabiels wings, a very impressive result by his reckoning. With the attack finished, Kokabiel whipped his wings open and dismissed them once more, "Not bad..."
Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Riser appeared directly in front of him and buried a fist covered in lightning and fire deep in Kokabiels stomach. Riser's other fist whipped round and slammed into the side of Kokabiel's head, nailing him in the temple and snapping his head to the side.
'Lightning Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.'
Riser pulled on more of the volatile lightning and fire magic inside of himself causing an aura of fire and lightning to roar to life around his body. He didn't let up for even a moment on his assault. His fists grew tighter as he focused more power into them condensing his power further and increasing the temperature even more.
He poured all of his anger and frustration into the flames, feeding them and making them stronger. That one moment of weakness he'd felt went into the flames as well. He fed it every last distracting emotion until all he was left with was pure determination to pound Kokabiel's face in until even his own father wouldn't have been able to recognize him.
Blow after blow hammered into Kokabiel unopposed as Riser moved at a speed greater than he'd previously been capable of. Every time his fists connected with Kokabiels face, he felt his finger bones crack and reheal a moment later. Even with every punch breaking his hands on Kokabiel's body, he didn't let up. He pushed himself to his very limit, putting every last scrap of magically reinforced muscle into his blows as he possibly could.
The onslaught lasted for nearly a minute as Riser vented every bit of emotion and Demonic Power he could putting it all into every blow until he was nearly drained once again. Riser finished his barrage with a thrust kick that sent Kokabiel sliding back a dozen feet. Riser stood in place, his arms hanging limp while his legs trembled. He was completely spent, barely having enough stamina left to remain standing, let alone fight. Even so, he refused to fall to his knees in front of Kokabiel.
Kokabiel slowly straightened up from the hunched-over position Riser's kick had left him in. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he watched the aura and draconic features fade from Riser's face. With a scoff, he turned his head to the side and spit out a glob of blood. Facing Riser once more he grinned showing off his blood-covered teeth, "You surprised me once again, but is that all?"
Riser glared at Kokabiel with his once more dark blue eyes. Kokabiel nodded as if Riser had spoken, "I see. A last stand yes? A final push with everything you had." Kokabiel opened himself up in a grand gesture as he lifted his right arm and what was left of his left and held them open wide, "Wonderful! Truly!"
He lowered his arm and a half and looked at the trembling Riser who refused to let his legs give out, "It looks like this is the end for you. Be proud, and know that everyone else here will be joining you soon."
Kokabiel dashed forward, his right arm pulled back. Riser tried to will himself to move, to do anything but collapse. He wasn't sure how well his Phoenix Devil Fruit could regenerate his body with how weak he was feeling. A powerful blow from Kokabiel just might actually kill him this time. He ground his teeth together as he fought against the reality of his situation.
Even as he saw his death looming before him, Riser refused to close his eyes. It meant his eyes were wide open when a buxom young woman in a skin-tight black suit dropped down in front of him and interposed a massive sword between herself and Kokabiel. The clash between Kokabiels fist and Durandal rang out over the field.
Riser could admit to being surprised that Xenovia had decided to intercede between himself and Kokabiel. He had no idea what the girl was thinking, but he was thankful nonetheless.
Xenovia glanced over her shoulder without completely taking her eyes off of Kokabiel, "You did good Riser Phenex. It's time to let us take it from here."
Blasts composed of the Power of Destruction flew by his sides and impacted Kokabiel. A split second later a small fast-moving blur of white passed by above him and slammed into the fallen leader sending him back a few steps. Another split second later Kiba seemed to appear from out of nowhere, a new sword that was half black and half white held in his hands as he slashed at Kokabiel. As they attacked, he felt a hint of warmth at his back. With some effort he turned to look and spotted Asia behind him, her hands glowing green as she tried to use Twilight Healing on him.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry I can't be any help to you Riser-san. Twilight Healing won't let me heal you for some reason."
He could hear the stress and despair in her voice so he pushed himself to just barely manage to give her an understanding smile that seemed to brighten her up. He really was bone weary. He doubted he was even capable of taking a single step without falling flat on his face. Even the thought of talking made him feel like he would pass out. Still, his tiredness didn't stop him from watching the events unfolding in front of him.
Everyone was fighting together like they'd been doing it for years. Well, most of them had, the only new addition was Xenovia but she fit in like she was meant to be there. The three melee fighters were all attacking Kokabiel in a rotation. When one of them would get knocked back or thrown away, another would immediately jump in to keep the pressure up. Meanwhile, Rias and Akeno floated in the air taking potshots with their magic immediately after a melee fighter was knocked aside.
Watching them all fight so closely together, Riser slowly came to realize he'd made a mistake. Deep in his mind he went over what he remembered of the DxD anime and came to a startling realization. There wasn't a single top-tier villain that was taken out by just a single individual in the main cast. Anytime there was a Kokabiel level threat they fought as a group. They supported each other, fought together, and won together. Even if it was just something as stupid as Rias letting Issei play with her nipples so he could use his Balance Breaker.
This wasn't the Riser Phenex show this was his real world, his life now. There was a lot he could do on his own, so much he could accomplish with just his two hands. Beating Kokabiel wasn't one of them. He'd been arrogant, cocky, and just plain stupid to charge in and try to take Kokabiel on all alone. Even when he'd included Rias and Akeno in his plan, he hadn't asked them or worked it out with them, he'd just demanded they give him their energy so he could waste it giving Kokabiel a bloody lip.
Mentally, he switched gears, it was time to work as a team, something he didn't even do with his own peerage, most of the time. He closed his eyes and began taking in deep breaths to employ Total Concentration Breathing. It would help him rapidly recover his stamina while also mildly increasing his Demonic Power recovery rate. With some stamina, he would be able to move and he still had his body to throw in Kokabiel's face to slow the fallen down.
As Riser focused on his breathing, Kokabiel blasted Xenovia back with a massive ball of light energy. She fought against it using the flat of Durandal to block it until she managed to twist the sword and slice the light energy in half. Kokabiel chuckled and he examined her, "You're really fighting hard for someone who lost their master, huh?"
Riser opened his eyes to watch the event unfold. Frankly, he didn't remember Kokabiel having such loose lips. Spilling Akeno's heritage and now this? The guy clearly loved messing with people's heads.
Xenovia glared at Kokabiel as she demanded, "What do you mean by 'lost their master'?!"
Kokabiel put on a faux 'contrite' face as he shrugged his shoulders, "Oh my, I let it slip."
Everyone could tell by his tone that he hadn't let anything 'slip', it was all calculated. He got the reaction he clearly wanted as Xenovia shouted, "Answer me, Kokabiel!"
Kokabiel looked at Xenovia for a brief moment before he began to laugh. It wasn't a pleasant sound and was clearly mocking them all. He was obviously amused by himself as he laughed loudly. Soon enough his laughter stopped and he addressed them all, "That's right, since I'm trying to start a war, there's no point in hiding it any longer." His eyes moved over to stare at Riser, "Especially since one of you knows already." His previous relaxed manner from laughing vanished as he glared at everyone, "In the previous three-way war, God died along with the four Great Devil Kings!"
Everyone jerked as if they'd been physically slapped. The believers among them clearly taking the news the hardest of all. Xenovia denied it as impossible while Asia began silently crying. Rias was the one to openly doubt him, "That's impossible! I've never heard anything about that!"
Kokabiel grinned viciously, showing off his sharp teeth as his eyes bore into Rias, "During the war, the devils lost their kings and almost all their high-level devils, and the angels and fallen angels lost almost everyone but their leaders. The pure angels couldn't increase their numbers and pureblood devils are rare. Every side has been ruined to the point that they rely on humans to survive! Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, they all had to seal away this information so that the god-fearing humans would continue on!"
Xenovia collapsed to her hands and knees, vehemently denying what Kokabiel was saying. Kokabiel scowled while he practically spit out his next words, "What I really can't stand is that with all of them dead, it was decided that continuing the war was pointless! I can't stand it! If we had continued fighting we would have won! Even that bastard Azazel declared there wouldn't be another war! FUCK THAT!"
Asia, with tears still streaming down her eyes, climbed to her feet and held her hands together over her breast as if she were praying, "God doesn't exist anymore... Then what about all the love that is given to us?!"
Kokabiel scoffed, "Micheal is doing a pretty good job of keeping the angels and humans together in God's place."
Xenovia, somewhat recovered from her shock but now using Durandal to hold herself up, looked at Kokabiel with almost blank eyes, "Archangel Micheal is acting as God's agent? Then... we've..."
Kokabiel shrugged his shoulders, seemingly uncaring of the emotional damage he was dealing to the devout, "As long as the system keeps working, prayers and exorcism will still work to a certain extent."
Hearing Kokabiel, Asia collapsed to her knees once more.
Riser continued to breathe deeply drawing in air and recuperating his lost stamina. He'd finally felt strong enough to begin fully using the Total Concentration Breathing technique, energy flooded into his body and allowed him to stand tall and proud once more. Even if he looked like crap from all the dust and dirt marring his ripped and torn suit.
Kokabiel spread what was left of his arms and shrugged his shoulders, "However, the number of believers has drastically fallen and without someone to manage the balance between good and evil, well, it's no wonder that contradictory things like that Holy Devil Sword," He pointed to where Kiba was kneeling to catch his breath, "would exist now. Otherwise, such a thing would be impossible."
He gripped his one remaining hand into a fist, "I will continue the war even if I have to do it myself by taking your heads!"
Riser took that moment to scoff, "Quit fucking around." Riser slowly walked forward while cracking his knuckles and tilting his head to the side to crack his neck, "We're not going to let you destroy this town, let alone take our heads for such a stupid reason." He glared into Kokabiel's eyes, "I told you before. Go and commit suicide somewhere else! We're going to fight you until the end! No matter how many times you knock us down, we'll get up to throw another punch."
Riser clenched his fists and tapped into what Demonic Power he'd managed to recover to coat them in Hellfire, "In short. Fuck. You."
Riser burst forward, his launch breaking the earth beneath his feet as he used all of his physical might enhanced by his breathing technique to close in on Kokabiel. With shouts of effort, Xenovia and Kiba both took off right behind him, all three of them closing into melee range with the Cadre.
Their charge came to a grinding halt when the barrier surrounding the school shattered like glass. The sky, which had been locked in the reds of early nightfall, suddenly shifted to the black of night with the moon shining bright. There, floating in the air above them with shimmering blue wings spread wide was a suit of white armor that sported blue gems on his hands, arms, knees, and chest.
Vali had finally decided to show his face.
[System Alert! New Quest!
It's time to D-d-d-dd-ddd- Duel!
Not bad kid. You did pretty good considering you didn't have plot armor and a literal force multiplier in your left hand. Sure, you got your shit kicked in a few times, but that's alright. You learned from this and grew! That's what really counts!
…
Are you buying it? 'Cause I'm not. Lame try dude. I expect better from you next time! Maybe this will help.
Reward: Skill Eater (Black Summoner)]
Riser looked down at his hands where two gloves had just suddenly appeared. Lucky for him, everyone else was looking up. The gloves covered his hands and went up to just below his elbows. They were black with a wide blue stripe on the upper arm that led to a small blue gem, similar to the ones on Divine Dividing and Boosted Gear, that were surrounded by a golden ring and hand lines going down to the second knuckle of each finger and his thumbs.
Information on the items entered his mind and set his imagination on fire. The gloves were simple in concept and infinite in execution. By touching someone with one of his hands, he could copy any 'skill' they had. Each glove could only hold one skill at a time and copying a new skill would remove the old skill. The kicker was that the definition of 'skill' was fairly broad.
Rias's Power of Destruction would count as a skill, but so would any named moves she had that used the Power of Destruction. If he copied her ability to use Power of Destruction, then he would only be able to use it for the basics and would be barred from using her named moves. Unless, of course, he used the second glove to specifically copy that move. While he was curious about playing with the Power of Destruction, it could do something far more impressive, it could copy the powers of Sacred Gears.
However, like with the Power of Destruction, he was limited in what he could copy. For example, if he were to copy Kiba's Sword Birth, he could copy the basic function of the Sacred Gear and make his own demonic swords to use, just like Kiba could. However, there was no chance in hell of him EVER reaching his own Balance Breaker, turning it into some form of subspecies, or even copying Kiba's Balance Breaker, Sword of the Betrayer. Well, he could copy the Sword of the Betrayer by using his second glove, but he would have to treat them two like separate abilities.
In the case of a Sacred Gear with far more abilities, such as the Boosted Gear, he would only be able to copy two skills from it at a maximum. So, he could copy the basic boosting ability and the gift ability, but then couldn't copy Ddraig's flames or the Penetrate ability, or anything else from it.
He could see some possibilities though and it sent his heart all aflutter just thinking of them. In fact... He looked up into the sky where Vali was still posing for dramatic effect. There was an opportunity for an excellent skill to copy right in front of him.
Kokabiel glared up at the sky, "The Vanishing Dragon?!" He practically growled, "Don't get in my way...!"
He was violently cut off as Vali moved so fast that he seemed to vanish, even from Riser's sight, to appear behind Kokabiel an instant later. Everyone's heads jerked in Kokabiels direction as a horrific sound of ripping came from him. Vali had just violently ripped two of Kokabiel's wings from his back.
After casually discarding the wings, Vali spoke for the first time, "Your wings are like a filthy crow's. Azazel's are dimmer, more like everlasting darkness."
Kokabiel glared at Vali as he clutched his shoulder near where his upper most wings had been ripped off, "You bastard! What are you trying to do?!"
Vali's voice was very clearly mocking as he asked, "Someone who's fallen lower than the ground doesn't need wings, does he?"
Apparently, that was just the right thing to say to Kokabiel to piss him off. With an inarticulate roar of rage, Kokabiel launched himself into the air and held his one good arm above his head. A light spear appeared and began growing massively in size as he fed more and more power into it. It grew until it was at least as long as a ten-story building. Riser could only thank his good fortune that something like that hadn't been aimed at him. He had no idea if he could hope to survive something that powerful.
Vali, meanwhile, calmly raised his left hand while Albion's voice came from his wings...
[Divide!]
The massive spear that Kokabiel summoned shrank rapidly until it vanished into nothingness having lost even the energy needed to maintain its shape. Vali's body shifted positions as he prepared to charge Kokabiel, "This is boring. I thought I would be able to have a little more fun with you."
Riser may have taken a little bit of schadenfreude-fueled satisfaction from Vali saying that to Kokabiel after everything Kokabiel had spouted off at them. He watched as Vali blitzed through the air and slammed a fist into Kokabiel's stomach with enough force to bend the fallen in half while he vomited up blood, "You've been getting a little out of hand." Riser snickered at what he considered a pun while Vali continued, "Azazel asked me to bring you back, even if it took all of my power."
Vali instantly became a fast-moving streak of light that zigzagged all across the sky. He picked up a tremendous amount of speed before dive-bombing directly into the ground where Valper had placed the alchemical circles to forge the pieces of Excalibur together. He impacted with tremendous force, using Kokabiel's body to not only break the fall, thus creating a small crater, but to also break the circle, ending the threat it posed to the city.
As Vali exited the crater with Kokabiel held under his arm like a sack of potatoes, Riser walked over to the edge of the crater directly in front of him. Riser held his hand out toward Vali in the way of men everywhere, "Thanks for the save."
Vali's helmet tilted down to look at the extended hand and for a moment Riser thought he would refuse the offer to shake hands. Vali was an anti-social battle maniac, after all. To his surprise, Vali calmly reached out and shook his hand. As their hands clasped, Riser used his left hand to surround Vali's and silently copied the most basic ability of Divine Dividing, Divide.
Their handshake ended soon enough with Vali commenting, "It was interesting to watch you fight. I look forward to the day when you're stronger."
His helmet shifted so that he was looking at Rias, "Tell the Red Dragon Emperor that we will meet, soon."
Without another word, Vali turned into a blur of white light and vanished from sight. Riser chuckled a little to himself as he collapsed onto the ground and lay on his back to stare at the sky. He could hear Rias and Sona talking in the background but he paid no attention to them. He was still exhausted, even if he'd managed to recover some of his stamina. It had been one hell of a day.
As he tried to relax, Rias walked over and stood above him to stare down at him. From where he was laying he could clearly see up her skirt and could even clearly see the entirely of her right breast, her shirt having been torn in the battle. He found it odd that in the past Rias didn't like him looking at her at all and now, here she was, displaying quite a lot of herself to him.
Judging by the scowl on her face, she had a lot to say, "You have a lot of explaining to do. Since when can you just EAT MAGIC? What was with you feeling like a dragon after you did?! You even had scales on your face and your eyes changed! What was all that?! And where did those weird gloves you're wearing come from?!"
Riser stared up at her for a moment as her chest heaved while she tried to catch her breath after yelling her questions at him. Instead of answering, Riser calmly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and immediately began to fake snoring.
Riser let out a soft sigh as he tried to relax on one of the couches in the Occult Research Club room. Rias was glaring at him heatedly. He'd completely ignored her and refused to answer any of the many questions she had about the battle against Kokabiel a couple of days ago. As far as he was concerned, it was none of her business. She'd had her chance to be his confidant as his wife and constantly spit on it for years. Why the hell would he tell her anything personal now?
Akeno had been acting rather weird around him as well and he hadn't a clue why. Yes, her heritage had been blurted out to all and sundry, and no, he didn't care. Mostly because he already knew and he disliked her so much. Seeing her give him little smiles and blush a bit was freaking him out. Which... come to think of it might be exactly why she was doing it. Well played Akeno.
The other members of Rias's peerage were treating him a lot better though. He might almost consider Kiba to be a friend. Meanwhile, Asia no longer looked at him as if he were evil personified and Koneko didn't look like she was constantly holding back the desire to drop-kick him across the room.
Progress!
Why was he putting in any effort at all to be friends with Rias's peerage? He figured it was the best way to make sure the next few years were more bearable. He would much rather have a friendly relationship with everyone but Rias than have to worry about what everyone was doing behind his back at all times.
The real change in the room though, was the presence of Xenovia, his newest pawn. After everything was over and Xenovia made her report to the Vatican, she was excommunicated. Not surprising and basically the only way things would go with her knowing God was dead. What was surprising was her approaching him and asking to join his peerage rather than Rias's. Even more shocking, she'd spoken to Rias first, gotten Rias's 'unbiased' opinion on how much of a sex fiend and degenerate he was. Then she'd decided that his perversions and strength made him perfect for what she wanted.
Now. He neither liked nor disliked, the Xenovia in his memories. So he had no real bias when she asked. He'd weighed the pros and cons and chosen to reincarnate her. Aside from her beauty, Xenovia was an expert swordswoman, the wielder of Durandal, and the adopted daughter of Griselda Quarta, a very high-ranking member of the church. Comparing all of that to his literally zero reasons for saying no, and of course he'd chosen to reincarnate her into his peerage.
What surprised him was that after he'd fully recovered from the battle against Kokabiel, his strength had risen by a fair amount. He'd been just strong enough to turn her with a single pawn. Once reincarnated it made sense. She was in the middle of Mid-Class while he was firmly at the peak of High-class. The power disparity between them was not insignificant.
Xenovia was dressed in the Kuoh Academy uniform, she would be transferring into the second-year classes to join Asia, the only other ex-church member, and to see what normal school was like. It wasn't like she could just laze around the house with Riser all day. She had an actual identity in the human realm and would be expected to be a student given her age.
In short, Riser was too lazy to spend all his time memory charming well-meaning law officers trying to get her to go to school every time she stepped outside on a weekday.
Seeing that everything was going well and no one was giving Xenovia a hard time just because she was a member of his peerage, he left the room by means of teleportation. He would much rather spend his free time trying to get stronger than sitting around doing nothing but listening to teenagers chatting.
After stepping out of the teleportation circle within the house he shared with Rias, he paused and looked into the living room where someone, who didn't belong there, was sitting down. Even with only being able to see the top of her head from behind, he knew immediately who was waiting in his house. After all, there was only one being with the amount of power he was feeling that wore their black hair in twin tails and didn't often care about propriety.
He sighed to himself and mentally prepared for what was sure to be a trying conversation as he made his way into the living room. Walking around to the front of the couch, he was happy to see he was right in his belief of who had come to visit his home.
Sitting on his couch, sipping a cup of tea, and acting as if it were her own home was one of the most powerful devils in the underworld and the only female among the four leaders, Serafall Leviathan. Riser calmly took a seat on the couch opposite the one Serafall occupied. Seeing that she was wearing normal business attire, he assumed she was there on official business and looked her right in her eyes as he asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit, Lady Leviathan?"
Translation, 'What the hell are you doing in my home uninvited?' Naturally, he couldn't actually talk to her in such a manner and had to class things up with manners. He wasn't raised to be a ruffian and was taught not to use uncouth language when speaking with prestigious individuals. The Satan in charge of Foreign Affairs was definitely someone deserving of manners. Even with her... reputation.
Serafall smiled brightly and bounced in her seat causing certain assets to bounce as well. Sadly, he was only a man and his eyes did dip for just the briefest of moments. A moment too long as he could see the knowing look in her eyes when his met hers once more, "No need to be all stiff and formal Riser-chan! Ria-tan and So-tan are practically sisters so that practically makes us family!"
Riser sighed at her eccentricity but decided to just go with the flow. If she didn't care about him being proper then he wasn't going to put in the effort to be more pretentious. He slouched back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other while crossing his arms over his chest to be more comfortable, "Why are you here Serafall?"
Serafall was known for putting on an air of childishness and being eccentric often making people forget just how dangerous she was and just how much power she could bring to bear. If she desired it, she could freeze the entire island of Japan and change the weather of Earth on a global scale. She was a living natural disaster of epic proportions, a living ice age waiting to be unleashed, so when she spoke, he would listen even if he found it annoying.
Thankfully she seemed to be in a good mood as she gave him a cheerful smile, "I'm here to talk to you about the reports we got from Ria-tan and So-tan on the Kokabiel incident. We expected one from you but never got it."
Riser carelessly shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't see the point. Rias and Sona had it covered."
Serafall nodded agreeably, "They did a good job of it for sure! We were just hoping to get some more details from you on the events that happened."
Riser rolled his eyes so hard they could almost be heard, "So that's what this is about. You're just here digging for information." He snorted, "I bet it was supposed to be Sirzechs doing this 'interview' considering he's the Satan of Internal Affairs while you're in charge of Foreign Affairs. But, given our 'history' and clear distaste for one another, it makes sense you would be sent. Lord Beelzebub would much rather spend his time on research and good luck getting Lord Asmodeus out of bed more than once a week."
Serafall pouted and let out an over-dramatic sigh, "Why do you have to be so perceptive? Couldn't you just be like other boys your age and be super excited to brag about your achievements to someone as cute as me?"
Part of Riser wanted to point out that Serafall was literally centuries older than him and probably didn't qualify as cute so much as a loli-baba. The smarter, saner, part of him shot the clearly defective part and buried it in an unmarked grave. Instead, he asked, "And do the Satans often stick their noses into private clan business to try and pry out secrets?"
Serafall's pout became outrageously overblown. Seeing it having no effect on him, she turned her head to the side and crossed her arms under her bust as she acted like a petulant child, "Mou, you're no fun!"
She turned back to face him with a playful smirk, "Or maybe I'm just not dressed right?"
Before he could make any objections, Serafall jumped up from her seat and pulled a Magical Girl wand out of nowhere, "Miracle Levi-tan will cheer the pouty boy up and get him to brag like all good boys should!"
She gave the wand in her hand an intricate spin as she twirled on the spot. Her business suit appeared to explode off of her body making her appear to almost be naked. Only almost because there were strategically placed flares of light that kept her privates private. Gold and pink light flared around her as strips of cloth appeared from nowhere and wrapped around her before turning into clothing with little flashes.
Honestly, Riser was a bit impressed as he watched the transformation sequence. It looked just like one from an anime but done in real life with magic making the 'special effects' really special. He could see how her show was so popular if it had these kinds of production values. When the light faded, Serafall stuck a classic pose, peace sign and all, as she declared, "Miracle Levi-tan has arrived!"
She pointed her wand at him while placing her other hand on her hip. A small bounce on her heels had her now scantily clad chest bouncing enticingly, "Now! Tell Miracle Levi-tan what she wants to know! In the name of fighting evil!"
Riser snorted and couldn't help playing along and hamming it up a little. Serafall was probably the most laid back of the Satans, and definitely the most attractive, so why the hell not? He straightened in his seat as he scoffed, "I'm sorry Levi-tan, but why should a foul villain, such as myself, reveal their abilities to the hero?! No! You shall only learn of my abilities as I use them to fight against you! Muahahahahaaaa!"
After lowering his head back down from his very over-the-top villain laugh, he was surprised to see a shocked-looking Serafall staring at him so intensely there were practically stars in her eyes. She threw her hands up in the air as she gave a little excited jump, "That was amazing! You should totally play a villain on my show! With your looks, the right costume, and a little acting you could totally pull off the arrogant pretty-boy villain looking to crush the pretty heroine!"
Riser chuckled a little, "I wouldn't mind that. It honestly sounds like fun and since I'm stuck here in the human realm, it also sounds like a good excuse to get away for a while."
Serafall plopped down on the couch and studied Riser for a bit as she got a little serious, "I admit, I feel a bit bad for you Riser-kun. You did everything that was asked of you and you're still being punished for it. Even having Sirzechs be a big meanie to you because you won that silly duel. I still don't know what the big doofus was thinking. There was no way a newly reincarnated devil was going to beat you, even if he was the Red Dragon Emperor. Not without fighting dirty and cheating, anyway."
She sighed and shook her head, "I'll level with you Riser-kun. We, the four Satans, are both curious and worried about your sudden growth and unheard-of abilities. Sirzechs might have meant for the gift of Arondight to be a small slight against you, giving you something you should have never had any use for, but then you held it! You even used it in the fight against Kokabiel. I could see your new little pawn being able to use the sword after you reincarnated her, but for you, a pureblooded devil, to use it? The holy portion of that blade should have tried to kill you. Yet, it didn't."
She shook her head, "Then there are the things you did in the fight against Kokabiel. Regenerating from wounds inflicted by light weaponry? I know the Phenex healing factor is ridiculous, but it's not that strong! Where did you learn this new breathing technique you taught to Ria-tans Knight and Rook? The closest thing we ever heard of were Qi breathing techniques from China but they're nowhere near as effective or powerful. And then you actually ate fire and lightning magic?! How does that work? Even more, it somehow made you temporarily part dragon?!"
She fixed her blue eyes on him firmly, "There are a lot of weird things happening around you that don't make any sense. We feel that we need to be informed of what is going on with you and these weird things." She leaned forward and turned deadly serious, all signs of playing around absent from her features and voice, "Are you a mutant?"
Riser paused as he considered how to answer. In the Underworld being labeled a mutant wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It fully depended on the mutation itself. For example, Sirzechs was a mutant. His abilities with the Power of Destruction and its strength within him were unheard of. Not even the progenitor of the clan had been so powerful. Ajuka too was a mutant, though his was in the intelligence department, not something the Astaroth clan had been known for in the past.
Other mutations were less flattering. Sairaorg would be considered a negative mutation due to his complete lack of not just the Power of Destruction from being a Bael, but also his complete inability to use Demonic Power at all. It was unheard of and made him an outcast. He could play some of his abilities off as different forms of magic he developed easily enough. He could pass off his Phoenix Devil Fruit as a mutation in line with his bloodline without anyone questioning it.
Riser sighed and leaned back in his seat to get comfortable, "Fine. But not a word of this will EVER be leaked beyond the four Satans. If any details of my abilities leak to the public I will KNOW it was one of you four as you are the only ones I will have told. Not even my family is aware of these things."
Serafall made a locking motion over her lips, "Your secrets are safe with us!"
He narrowed his eyes at her, "I want your solemn vow that Sirzechs won't open his big trap and tell his parents. Despite the four of you supposedly being divorced from your families, you and Sirzechs show a disturbing amount of favoritism toward them." He tapped his lower lip with his finger, "Actually, if he thinks telling them I'm some sort of vile mutant will help end the marriage agreement between our families, then he's welcome to tell them."
Serafall looked surprised, "You don't want to marry Ria-tan? If so... why didn't you just throw the rating game or the duel with the Red Dragon Emperor?"
He gave Serafall a flat look, "Aside from pride? Rias has known of our arranged marriage for years. It was also no secret that to escape it she would have to beat me in a Rating Game. She could have spent years training herself and her peerage to be stronger, to be prepared for the battle. Yet, what did she do? She ran to the human world to pretend to be a human while looking for a mythical 'one thing' that would let her beat me."
He scoffed, "Then when, by some miracle, she actually finds that thing, what does she do? She BRAGS! If she'd kept her trap shut and spent the next few years training that sex offender in secret, she would have had all the power she needed to beat me. Until very recently, I didn't take my training too seriously. I likely would have continued not to."
He shook his head, "Worse! Look how well she actually did against me when she was being so lazy! If they'd trained it would have been a complete curb stomp with me as the loser. I would accept something like that. Maybe not gracefully, but I would accept it nonetheless. But, throwing the match and letting her win? Rewarding her for being a lazy spoiled brat? No. I couldn't let something like that stand. It would have forever stained my reputation and I refuse to live in a world where I give in to her petulant demands!"
Serafall listened, not judging, just taking it all in. After a moment to let Riser collect himself she asked, "And the Duel?"
Riser grimaced and looked like he'd just smelled something disgusting, "Did you hear all of the details? Did you hear what that vile worm dared utter in the presence of so many nobles?"
Serafall shook her head, "I only heard about Sirzechs overstepping his authority to the point of abuse and practically forcing you to duel the boy."
Riser snorted derisively, "Of course that was missed. That weak little fuck had the gall to storm his way in and declare to the entire Underworld that my fiance's virginity belonged to him."
Serafall grimaced, "Yeah, that's pretty bad."
"And then Sirzechs forces us to duel. Can you imagine the humiliation and damage to not just my reputation but to my family name that would have happened if I'd just thrown that duel? I would be the Cucked Phenex that let some weak little bastard waltz right into his wedding reception and take his bride."
Serafall sighed and nodded in understanding. What he said made perfect sense to her. But that was only the most recent event so she asked, "But why don't you want to marry Ria-tan?"
He sighed and closed his eyes, memories of half a decade ago appearing in his mind's eye, "I did, once upon a time." He smiled softly at the memory, "I was so excited when my father told me I would be marrying the Gremory Heiress. As a third son there really wasn't much I could do for my family. Between the Rating Game champion and the news mogul, what could I have done to impress the world and improve the prestige of my family? And there it was, my purpose! I would marry Rias Gremory and become Lord Gremory. Together we would make a family of unparalleled power by combining our bloodlines into one. A gloriously powerful family that elevated both the Phenex and Gremory names to new heights!"
He sighed at the old memory. It really had been his dream once upon a time, "And then I met Rias in person. She hated me the very instant that she heard we were to be married. I doubt it would have mattered who it was she was engaged to. Just the fact that it was done without her permission made her hatred a given. I tried to be nice and patient, after all, she was only twelve while I was eighteen. I was more mature and was sure she would grow more mature over time."
He laughed at his past self's naivety, "She never changed. It didn't matter to her, I was the villain for daring to take her freedom from her without her consent. Never mind that it was our parents who made the contract. I admit that I eventually stooped down to her level and began treating her as she expected me to, like a snobbish jerk only after her body. Five years of being treated like the scum of the earth will make anyone a little petty. Then there was the duel Sirzechs forced and I realized something."
He went silent, clearly lost in his thoughts. This prompted Serafall to ask, "What did you realize?"
"That it wasn't worth it. That she wasn't worth it. I don't hate her. Hatred requires effort. She's not worth any effort on my part. I realized I didn't want to marry her and spend the rest of eternity dealing with what I had experienced for the last five years. Unfortunately, and unlike Rias, I am a good son. When my father refused to end the contract, I didn't fight and throw a temper tantrum. Fortunately! He saw fit to extend the deadline to my execution by allowing Rias to finish her pitiful and useless human education. I am hopeful that I might find a way out of the marriage before then as it seems Rias has actually given up on that!"
He snorted a little laugh, "Ironic really."
He focused on a silent Serafall, "Ah, well, I probably shouldn't have unloaded all of that on you, but thanks for listening."
She shrugged her bare shoulders, "It's alright. I did ask." She gave him a playful smile, "Now! Spill all the juicy details on your mutation! No more sidetracking!"
Riser playfully rolled his eyes, "Fine, I suppose I can do that for you Levi-tan. What do you want to know first?"
"Oh oh oh! The magic-eating thing that made you all dragony!"
Riser chuckled, "Alright. It's nothing all that special. I might not have spent a ton of time training to get stronger, but I've always trained in control over my Hellfire." That was a lie, "I eventually developed a technique that allowed me to eat fire, and fire-related magic to restore my own powers and make myself stronger. I modeled it after the domineering power of dragons and it eventually became a somewhat draconic power. I'm not entirely sure of the how and why, just that it works pretty nicely."
Pure Grade-A bullshit, but believable enough for a 'mutant' devil. Serafall considered that for a bit but couldn't really think of a way to prove, or disprove, anything he'd said. So she moved on, "And being able to use Arondight, a holy sword?"
Riser shrugged his shoulders, "Ask God. Oh, wait."
Serafall gave him a flat look, "That isn't something you should just bandy about. We've kept his death a secret for a reason. You will make sure to keep it a secret."
Riser sighed but nodded his head, "Well, with him gone Kokabiel said the systems of heaven still 'mostly' worked. Only mostly. Mistakes are bound to happen. That's the only thing I can think of for why I can naturally wield holy swords despite being a devil."
Yup, that one is totally the fault of Micheal not knowing how to run things properly. That was his excuse and he was going to stick with it!
Serafall sighed but, again, could think of no way to prove or disprove his claims, "Regenerating despite the wounds being made by Light weaponry?"
"I'm just that good."
"The breathing technique?"
"Old scroll I found once. I've since lost it."
She narrowed her eyes at him for his clear evasion of her questions, "Are those your final answers?"
He nodded, "They are for now. I might be willing to reveal more in the future at a time and place of my choosing."
Serafall sighed but nodded in acceptance. Realistically, there was nothing they could actually do to force Riser to reveal anything to them. It would all be covered under clan secrets, something that other people shouldn't look into. Still, she got more than she hoped to and even got a good reading on who Riser was as a person thanks to his little rant. So, overall, she accomplished a bit of what she wanted to and gained some extra information for free!
She climbed to her feet and gave a little spin that flung her skirt up and gave Riser a full view of her panty-clad ass, "Thanks for having me Riser-kun! Until next time!"
The ground beneath her began to glow blue while showing the Leviathan crest. Riser gave her a little goodbye wave, "See you around, and be sure to have someone contact me about that guest spot in your show."
The glow and crest vanished leaving Serafall staring there staring at Riser with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She quickly recovered and began vibrating in excitement, practically dancing in place, "You meant it when you said that? You really want to be on my show?"
Serafall constantly asked people to be in her show but more often than not, only newly reincarnated devils or commoner devils were even remotely willing. It made finding new people to play the constantly changing villains a real chore. They almost always had trouble finding someone until the last moment which led to someone with no acting experience and barely any prep time playing the villain, poorly.
Riser gave her a nod, "Sure I meant it. In fact, I wouldn't mind playing a recurring villain, if you'd like."
Why wouldn't he want to? He was a devil that would live for eternity if he wasn't killed off. Though devils often told recruits they had lifespans of ten thousand years, that was a little white lie. The truth was, no one had a clue how long devils lived for. No devil had ever died of old age. Most often devils died in combat. So, as far as Riser knew, he would live until something killed him. That could be a year or a million years. Who knew?
With that being the case, why shouldn't he have some fun playing an over-the-top villain in a kid's show?
Serafall jumped in circles expressing her delight at Riser's decision until she jumped at him and pulled him into a tight hug. He was a bit surprised but took a moment to touch her back with one of his new gloves. She had a little something he wouldn't mind copying for a bit, "Yes, yes, yes! This is so awesome! I have to go talk to the writers right away!"
The blue glow and crest appeared once more to teleport Serafall away, "This is going to be amazing! You're awesome Riser-kun!"
With that, she vanished leaving Riser alone in the house once more. He chuckled to himself, "She's certainly excited. I'll look forward to my debut as a bad guy."
[System Alert! Hidden Quest Complete!
Miracle Levi-tan is a go!
Yo! Did you really just agree to be in some lame girly children's show? Worse, a magical girl one and as the villain who will get slapped around like some weak beta male?! DUDE! NICE! Who cares about any of that when the magical girl in question is Serafall fuckin' Leviathan? Admit it, this is just the first step in your master plan to get under that pink skirt and into them white panties! Hell yeah! Take this as your reward!
Reward: Devil Trigger (Devil May Cry)]
Huh. Well, isn't that interesting?
10.3k words.
I want to take a moment to answer a question a few of you asked about why Riser didn't feed his black flames to Arondight and then attack Kokabiel with it. Well, the answer is simple. Neither I, nor any of my Patrons, thought of it so neither did Riser! Still, it's an awesome idea and it will be featured in a future chapter for sure.
Anyway! I hope you guys liked this chapter. I tried to make it so Riser put up a good fight but, realistically, it was an unwinnable fight for Riser as he currently stands. The system gives him access to skills, but he still has to train them and get better with them for them to reach their full potential. He will eventually reach that level of power though, it's just going to take time and effort.
If you're interested in reading more this story is up to chapter seven on pat-reon slash thomasdarkrose
Let me know what you think of this chapter!