Chương 17: The Fall
Sorry. I got a new job and have been attending training.
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Today is supposed to be the day my sister will finally be free from the cruel fate of being engaged to that waste Riser.
I couldn't sleep due to my excitement. Finally, she would obtain the freedom I had failed to provide her. I even prepared a big party to celebrate her victory. I went as far as to invite most of the prominent figures in the underworld.
Yet what was supposed to be an easy victory for my sister wasn't.
"The winner of the rating game is… Riser Phenex. Therefore, he may ask any three wishes from the Gremory house-hold." Hearing the announcer announce the victor, no matter how hard I tried I didn't want to accept it. for a moment I even considered going in there and killing him directly but knowing I couldn't I just slumped into my chair thinking about what just happened.
"Oh really." As the words left his mouth four magic circles began forming behind him. from them oppressing auras exuded causing those weaker spectators to have difficulty breathing while a few of them passed out directly.
as the light dimmed and the circles disappeared one by one those still conscious could see figures appearing in their place. Many eyes dimmed realizing the power these people exuded.
The first two who appeared weren't as shocking as they were only High-class in strength, though that doesn't mean they weren't shocked but compared to what they felt form the other two it's understandable their impact would be downgraded.
One of those two is a woman none of them have ever seen. She had brown skin; her clothing was revealing yet what drew their gases was that her clothes seemed to be made out of bones. None could deny that she was beautiful, but her beauty was ignored upon sensing her strength. She was a Super-class and quite a strong one at that.
Though once the fourth member of the peerage appeared all eyes dilated further and more members if the audience proceeded to pass out. they sensed it; she was at the Ultimate class. She was equal to the four Maou, the peak of the devil society!
There were audible gasps upon this realization and many turned to look at the strongest Maou among the four, Sirzech.
He was shellshocked, a 14-year-old was on the same level as him. How could he not be shocked? He was seen as a prodigy reaching ultimate class after a few hundred years and yet here in front of him was a little girl who made him look like garbage.
How could this be happening he asked himself. He went through battles and wars before reaching his current strength and yet…
Though he was immediately pulled out of his thoughts by a voice, one he knew all too well.
"So, Rias what was that you were saying about me not having a peerage." Riser asked in a condescending tone while having a smirk on his face.
As if completely forgetting that someone on the level of her brother stood against her she yelled.
"So, what, you are still the incompetent fool you have always been." She then yelled at her peerage or at least those who remained conscious to aim at Riser. This was still a rating game and it would end if the king was taken out.
Finished giving orders Rias charged at Riser while preparing to cast destructive magic. You could tell she was betting all she had on being able to take out Riser as it was her only chance at victory. Though what happened next not only shocked her but the entire world more than his sister.
Releasing an aura so powerful that the very ground began to crack and fall apart from the sheer pressure alone began emanating from Riser. All except those Riser chose felt the aura come crashing down on them. The remaining members of Rias peerage passed out while she slammed into the ground sinking a few inches into it as she received the full brunt of it before passing out.
His aura was felt all across the underworld, causing all within a certain range of him to pass out. the only ones within the arena still conscious were those with Riser the four Maou's, Azazel and Michael, though they were on the ground with pale completions trying their best to breath.
The aura was felt even in the human world. Though the humans not associated with the moonlit world didn't feel it everything else did. Every being paled from the oppressive aura they felt, those tuning in even more so seeing from where the aura was originating. From a Devil.
The church was already thrown into turmoil at the revelation of Ravel's power but now that a being on par with the dragon gods appeared within the Devils, they could only kneel down and pray to their god seeing as even the arch-angel Michael couldn't even stand in its presence not knowing their god was already dead.
The fallen angels were less affected compared to the church but still shaken to their core. Azazel who was present had such a sorry appearance. Seeing their leader in such a state drove them mad and fear began to creep into their hearts at what would happen to them if this Devil had a prejudice towards fallen angels.
Those not watching the match didn't know its origin and assumed a new being on par with the dragon gods was born or the very dragon gods were clashing though no matter what the cause was they all swore to stay far away in fear of losing their lives. Though somewhere in between dimensions a dragon of colossal size opened its eyes starring far into the distance. After staring for a few moments it once more closed its eyes and continued as if nothing had ever happened.
In the human realm, a little girl in a black and purple dress looked intently at the tv while softly muttering. Those around her were pale and shaking except for one. While he was pale and shaking, he wasn't shaking in fear like the rest, no he was shaking with excitement. Looking at a being who was strong enough to match the little girl near him but also because of a certain brown-haired teen who his partner told him was the one.
While the world was through into turmoil the cause of all this began restraining his aura until it was felt no more. As soon as his aura resided as if by magic all those who passed out from it began regaining their consciousness.
Smiling Riser waited until those withing the arena regained their barring's before turning to Grayfia asking her to announce the conclusion of the fight.
"The winner of the rating game is… Riser Phenex. Therefore, he may ask any three wishes from the Gremory household." Everyone present could feel the reluctance in her voice though despite her feeling nothing would change.
Hearing her Riser turned to Rias with a mocking smile.
"So, Rias what was it you were saying about me being a useless piece of shit."
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! How, tell me how. You were a weakling I could have easily crushed so tell me how did you get so strong!" She screamed after hearing Riser and seeing the bright smile on his face.
"I don't have to answer that since, well, I'm not the one who lost. So, I believe its time I make my requests is it not." You could see the glee in his eyes.
Rias turned towards her parents to see if they could help but they just shook their heads telling her they were powerless. Losing hope in her parents she turned to her brother but to her dismay, he looked away not even willing to meet her gaze. Resigning herself to her fate she slumped down and began to cry.
"Oh, come on, there's no reason to cry now is there. Anyway, ill start making my wishes so could you please pay attention Mr. Gremory."
"Speak what is it you want." Was the only thing Mr. Gremory said while looking straight at Riser with obvious hate in his gaze.
"First I want Rias to release her peerage and never be able to have one ever again." Hearing the request, he shot up from his seat ready to attack Riser only to calm down at the last moment.
"Fine, what's your second wish." Riser smiled at his response while Rias looked at her father in pure disbelief. Not having a peerage would greatly weaken her, not to mention making her a laughingstock for not having a peerage despite her heritage. Her despair turned into hatred as she began staring daggers at Riser who just shrugged it off.
"Second. I want your half ownership of Kuoh academy as well as your clan's jurisdiction over the town and Tokyo." Hearing my request further angered him. While that town was small, he directly influenced it. Giving it away would place a stain on his name while Tokyo was one of the most prominent cities in Japan which he obtained jurisdiction over after a lot of struggle.
With gritted teeth, he asked what would be the final wish.
"Grayfia." Once that left his mouth an oppressive aura began to emanate from the VIP seats. Looking over Riser saw Sirzech looking at him with a murderous gaze.
"Now why would you the great Sirzech Lucifer care for a little maid from the Gremory family." The smile on Riser's face only makes the oppressive aura grow.
"While she may be a maid to the Gremory family she is my queen, so sorry to disappoint but she won't be going anywhere with you." He says with chilled words though a little condescending at the end.
To his words, Riser only smiles before seemingly teleporting next to Grayfia where he proceeded to surround his hand in blue flames and stab her in the heart where he then pulled out a queen chess piece. Grayfia instantly died the moment the evil piece was taken out of her though as she was falling, she was surrounded in golden fire that quickly healed her body followed by white fire.
While this occurred all those around were frozen dew to Riser using his aura to prevent anyone from moving. After five-minute Grayfia who had just died opened her eyes. She tried to stand but wobbled and was about to fall but was caught by a hand. Tracing the hand, she saw that it was Riser who caught her.
"With this, I believe you no longer have any relation with her, correct." Hearing Riser's words Sirzech clenched his fists and despite his whole being wanting nothing more than to just go down there and tear Riser into pieces he knew he was powerless.
"That's right." You could feel the murderous intent leaking out while he spoke those two words. Though he did make a mental note to investigate those golden and white flames if possible, like the rest of those who bore witness to their power.
Smiling Riser proceeded to ignore him completely while looking at the peerage or previous peerage of Rias. They shivered under his gaze though that didn't last long as he did the same thing, he did to Grayfia to all of them. While they were being reborn, he disappeared for a few seconds only to come back with gasper who like the rest was covered in white flames.
A few minutes later Riser stood where he had previously been but this time, he had a full set of evil pieces except for the king piece in his hand.
"I'll be keeping these, after all knowing how cunning those of the Gremory family are I won't be stupid enough to trust any of you."
"What do you mean. When have any of us done anything cunning or underhanded!" Rias yells not fully understanding her predicament due to the intense hate she was currently feeling.
"Oh, so you wish for me to explain, very well." Looking over at Rias former queen Akeno Riser began to speak.
"Akeno Himejima. It's said you lost your mother at an early age to rough magicians and fallen angels who detested your existence. While that part is true it's not the whole truth. Under Rias and her family, you were led to believe your father had abandoned you and your mother to die while he safely escaped. That's wrong."
"What do you know you bastard! If he had been there mother wouldn't have died, but like the coward he is he abandoned us to save himself." Akeno began to shed tears once she realized what Riser was saying and couldn't help but blurt in between sobs.
"Little Akeno, if your father had really abandoned the two of you do you think your mother would have lasted as long as she did." Asked Riser with a questioning look while Akeno's attention was somewhat grabbed.
"The answer is simple, no. Your father who you presumed to have abandoned you and your mother was facing off against dozens of fallen angels and many skilled magicians. Those that killed your mother were the few that managed to slip by." Akeno who heard this didn't want to believe it. Seeing her denial Riser appeared next to Baraqiel and proceeded to take him into the arena.
"If you don't believe me then maybe you will after seeing this." Saying so Riser lifts up Baraqiel's shirt to reveal nothing but scars. Akeno's eyes dilated upon taking in the sight. She may hate him but deep down she knew he was her father.
"You see this, this is what he got from fighting with everything he had in order to protect you and your mother. Look at this, you see here how there's a scar on each of his left wings. Upon noticing some magicians slipping by he wanted to go to where you and your mother were but in that moment of distraction, he had his wings cut off. They were later reattached with the help of Azazel. So, tell me Akeno, do you still believe your father abandoned you and your mother as you believed, or more precisely as you were left to believe."
Hearing what Riser said Akeno seems to come to a realization. He wasn't there yet he knew all of this. He couldn't have been lying since all he said about Baraquiel's wounds matched what he said. Turning towards Rias, Akeno saw her becoming pale.
"IS THAT TRUE RIAS!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Though Rias only looked away unable to meet her friend's eyes.
"S.s.so it is true." She muttered in fear though it quickly turned into rage.
"I TRUSTED YOU. YOU WERE MY BEST FRIEND YET YOU NEVER TOLD ME!" Akeno yelled to an ever-shrinking Rias who kept getting paler with every passing moment.
"I'll tell you why Akeno. It's because she could use your insecurities and lack of someone to lean on so she could become the said person you could lean on. I mean honestly with the Gremory family backing her she must have looked really reliable to you when you were at your lowest, not to mention she used her family to convince your father that you staying with her was the safest option for you. Though do you know why she did all this. It's so she could have a servant with good potential, nothing more, nothing less."
Hearing Riser, Akeno finally lost it. she had trusted Rias; she saw her as her best friend… as a sister and yet to think she would manipulate her at her lowest for her own gains. As she was about to charge at Rias, Riser appeared in front of her making her glare at him.
"Not yet Akeno, there's still much more to be said, then you all can vent your anger on her." Riser said while trying to calm her down. She relented knowing that even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to bypass Riser.
"Now onto the next one, Yuuto Kiba." Hearing his name spoken caught the boy's attention and after what happened with Akeno he decided to pay full attention on what Riser was about to say.
"Tell me, do you really think no one knew about the holy sword project. Well your wrong, the Phenex family knew so the Gremory family most definitely knew. Though we didn't care since we had no relation to any of you though there were Devils who went to check it out one of which was Sirzech Lucifer." Riser gave him a bit of time for the information to sink in before continuing.
"What do you think would happen when the Maou himself found someone that was worth more than one point for him? He would obviously want to give said person to his sister to join her peerage. But he didn't want them to just follow her. No, he wanted them to revere her. So, like with Akeno, he let you hit rock bottom before Rias magically appeared where you were. Like seriously how would the heir of one of the biggest clans in the underworld suddenly appear at that location at the exact time you were about to die from the poison. Though seeing that you still had distrust for her and Devils as a whole he fabricated an incident where you would run into a stray devil where your master would once more magically appear out of nowhere to save you." Finished with what he had to say he just stares at the boy awaiting his next move.
Unexpectedly it wasn't an outrage, but he fell to his knees crying. He began to mutter the names of his friends and how they wouldn't have had to die if she had only helped them. Riser just kept looking at the boy with pity in his eyes. He went up to the boy and pat him on the shoulder.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looks up to see Riser who then removes his hand from his shoulder but keeps it extended. It took a moment for him to realize what he meant but ultimately took his hand. Once on his feet, Riser told him to head over to where his peerage was as he would be helping him until he got back on his feet. Kiba just nodded while walking towards the peerage while tears continued to fall.
Finished with Kiba Riser proceeded to turn to Gasper. Looking at the boy/girl… looking at Gasper, Riser simply said four words
"I can free her" Hearing him Gasper shot up where he stood asking if what he said was true.
"It is. Rias could also do it, but she believes that the gains would not be equal to the losses, so she never did." Gasper turned to Rias to see her looking at the ground. He begins to cry while grabbing onto Riser's outstretched hand asking, no begging him to free her.
Riser tells him to wait a moment. He then disappears and reappears a few minutes later with a worn-out women and bloodstains on his clothing. He places the women down gently and proceeds to heal her with golden flames
Gasper seeing her kneels down next to her while crying. Riser tells him that the golden flames will heal her in a few minutes. Gasper bows towards him while saying thank you over and over again. Riser simply smiles at him while turning his attention to Asia.
"You know it's her fault that you were captured and put through that torture. It was her job to manage that part of town and keep out anyone who wasn't given permission to be there yet not only did she not do her job she even let them do as they pleased. They kidnapped humans which they then proceeded to torture, eat and experiment on. She had noticed you and was planning on how to convince you, a nun into becoming a Devil. That's when she found out the motive of those fallen angels. They were after your sacred gear. Now all she had to do was wait for them to capture you and extract your gear ultimately killing you before she would magically appear and save your by turning you into a Devil."
Hearing all this Asia said it wasn't true in a soft voice though you could hear the doubt in her voice.
"Tell her the truth Rias. You know her personality well enough to know she always sees people for the good in them while denying their bad side."
Hearing him Asia turns to Rias waiting for her response, but it never came. Tears began to pour down from the young girls' eyes at knowing the one she thought as her savior was actually the executioner.
As she was crying Issei went up to her and embraced her. He felt pity for her, he too knew what it was like to have someone appear all of a sudden and offer him a new life. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if Riser turned out to want not to see him as more than a tool, so he went forwards and embraced the poor girl.
Seeing this Riser shook his head but didn't say anything. Finally turning to the last prominent member of Rias previous peerage.
"Koneko Tōjo. I hear you have a sister. A sister you despise." Hearing me she begins glaring at me though she doesn't talk.
"Now don't go glaring at others so easily as it'll ruin your cute face. Do you know why your sister killed her master? No, it wasn't because she became crazy from her newfound power like many believe. No, the reason was a more… noble reason."
Explain is all that left her mouth. Figuring he knew more to it than her and seeing as he already knew more about her friends then they knew themselves she decided to perk up at what he was saying.
"You see her master conducted experiments on her in order to find out a way to recreate her Senjutsu abilities in Devils. You see, your sister surpassed her master in strength through Senjutsu, so he wanted to create an army of powerful Devils for his own use. Though at first, they were obtaining results they eventually stopped. So, they decided to experiment on you while you developed your Senjutsu so they could monitor how one mastered it from the beginning. Your sister getting wind of this killed her master so you wouldn't be experimented on."
At this point Koneko was wide-eyed staring straight at Riser as if trying to see if he was lying or not.
"You know this isn't really a secret. Like with the holy sword project most big families knew and just like with the holy sword project it was Rias who took into her peerage the sole remaining member."
Koneko turned towards Rias who didn't meet her gaze.
Koneko then went forwards and slapped her. Knowing she wouldn't outright try to kill her like Akeno Riser let it happen as it might make it easier for the young Nekomata to accept the truth about her sister.
"You should come with me Koneko. I'm sure your sister will meet with me sooner or later as one of her comrades is bound to have a fight with one of my peerage members, so you'll reunite with her eventually."
Hearing Riser's proposal and reasoning she doesn't say anything but goes and stands next to Kiba.
Seeing that all he had planned to do for the day was accomplished Riser gives one last look at Rias whose eyes are looking dimmer and dimmer as time passes.
Looking away he signals his peerage to head back home and then they proceed to teleport out of there while bringing along the new members.
His parents and friends who were in the stands also proceed to teleport away. Once everyone is gone Riser himself disappears.
It is now a few hours since the end of the rating game. The four Maou's are sitting in a room around a table while the head of all the prominent families in the underworld including Azazel are all present.
"Tell us Sirzech why you have called for this meeting." Asks one of the heads after having been in silence for a few minutes.
Hearing someone speak Sirzech stands before speaking.
"You all know that now except for the dragon gods no one is a match for Riser now." They all nod while giving him a weird look for stating the obvious.
"The question is how we're going to proceed. The dragon gods have for as long as we know remained impartial towards any and all matters concerning the world, but Riser is a different story. He won't hesitate to go after those that have wronged him and is more than willing to cause chaos if it helps him."
"I disagree with you Sirzech. My little Sona has met him many times now and each time she's seen him he's acted respectfully or friendly towards all those present with the exception of your sister. He's never once shown a nature of wanting to cause chaos and if he was as you claim him to be then why didn't he act before as I'm sure he's had that level of power for a while now. So, I say no to your claim. He was only after your sister. The reason should be obvious no. his reputation throughout the whole underworld has been thoroughly tarnished for years and the cause of it is none other than your sister." Stated Serafall in a serious tone before standing up and leaving not wanting to get at all involved in Sirzech's little revenge scheme.
Hearing her the clan heads began to think. How long has he had that level of power and if he's had it for a while then why didn't he crush Rias sooner? The answer came quickly, he wanted to thoroughly ruin her.
Realizing that the target of Riser's anger was only Rias and by extension the Gremory family the leaders began to leave one by one not bothering to look at Sirzech.
So, what if you're an Ultimate-Devil. So is his little sister and he himself is much stronger. Once they returned home, they ordered for all ties connecting them to the Gremory family be cut then and there not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.
All the clan heads left. Now there were only Sirzech, Beelzebub and Azazel in the room.
"Well ill be taking my leave now Sirzech. While I am concerned someone on par with the dragon gods is out there, he has shown no hostility towards the fallen angels as a whole. So, I can't take part in whatever it is your thinking." Saying his part Azazel proceeded to leave leaving only the two best friends in a silent room.
Upon returning back to the mansion Riser had rooms arranged for their guests before leaving once more. It wasn't until two hours later that he returned from having the Gremory transfer their part of the school's ownership to him.
They had dinner and he told them to get some rest as they would have a long day tomorrow.
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