The Phenex Rises - Chapter 9

Riser let out a soft sigh and tightened his arms around the warm body pressed against his chest. He smiled at the recollection of what had happened with Xenovia the previous night. He’d worn her out after just a little over an hour of enjoying themselves. It turned out that she was exceptionally sensitive, something he’d fully exploited when he’d discovered it.

He lifted himself up and gave Xenovia a gentle kiss on the cheek. She smiled in her sleep and snuggled deeper into the blanket. Riser decided to let her sleep in and removed himself from the bed. He had something he needed to address before getting into his day.

[System Alert! Hidden Quest Complete!

Ohhhhhh Yeaaahhhh

Congrats on FINALLY sleeping with one of the main cast! Took you long enough! Still, Xenovia first? Not bad my man. I’ve got just the reward for you! Something I’ve been kind of neglecting giving you, but what can I say? Fire is fucking awesome! So, it got left behind a bit.

Reward: Wind Manipulation Mastery]

Riser considered the flood of information that entered his mind. It was a lot like what he’d gained from his Fire Manipulation Mastery. He didn’t get even an iota stronger, but he did gain complete mastery of the wind portion of his inherent magic. It also came with a similar set of katas he could go through to slowly increase his strength that were different from the fire ones and would stack. Something else to add to his daily routine. It was interesting… but yeah, fire was better.

Once he was dressed properly, he left the room and made his way through the house to the one room he disliked above all others, Issei’s room.

He didn’t bother knocking, he had no respect for Issei or his privacy. Lucky for Issei, he was alone in the room. If Riser had spotted Rias in there with Issei, he would have raised hell about it. Not because he gave a shit if Rias and Issei fucked, but because it would paint Rias in a worse light and give his family another political edge to use.

It wasn’t being cucked if you didn’t have a relationship or any desire for the woman. Rias might be ‘his’ but he didn’t give a damn if she wanted to defile herself with Issei, or anyone else for that matter. He cared far more for Xenovia and Ingvlid and would destroy anyone who even tried to touch them.

He grabbed Issei by the ankle, through his blanket, surprising the boy awake, “W-wut?”

Riser didn’t say anything and just began dragging Issei away. He might have smiled and taken a little extra pleasure in the sound of Issei hitting the ground as he was dragged off of the bed and landed on the floor. After the loud thunk of Issei’s head hitting the ground, the boy started screaming, “What’s going on?! What are you doing?! Let me go!”

Riser scoffed, “You’re going back to the underworld. You haven’t earned the right to be back in the human realm among your betters yet.”

Issei continued to shout as Riser dragged him through the house without a care in the world. Naturally, this drew everyone’s attention. Rias and her entire peerage all came out in various states of dress. Kiba was the only one fully dressed while the girls were all still in their various night clothes. Except for Rias and Akeno who were both wearing simple yukatas since they slept naked.

Rias stomped up to Riser and blocked his path to the teleportation circle. She looked furious and even Riser had to admit that he thought it was kind of cute. She glared at him as she demanded, “What do you think you’re doing with my pawn?!”

Riser looked at her like she was stupid, “Taking him to the Underworld. Something you were supposed to do after the family day at the school. You’ve kept him here past the deadline for long enough. He’s going back, your parents and mine demand it. He’s still not fit to be in the presence of others and you know it.”

Riser leaned forward and glared into Rias’s eyes, “He’s still constantly harassing Xenovia and Ingvlid trying to turn them against me. Since it’s clear to everyone that you are incapable of disciplining and training him properly, he will return to the Underworld where someone can do what you clearly refuse to do.”

Rias had a combination of guilt and anger on her face and was about to reply, possibly with something scathing, but Riser cut her off while sporting a wicked grin, “But, I’ll make you an offer. Your pet sex offender can stay in the human realm…”

Seeing the bright, but cautious look on Rias’s face, he ruthlessly crushed it, “If you allow me to castrate him.”

Gasps came from Rias and Asia, for different reasons. But Riser ignored the both of them when Issei began to struggle even harder to get free, “Let me go you bastard! I’ll kill you before you can touch me!”

[Boost!]

 Riser glanced over his shoulder to see the Boosted Gear on Issei’s left hand. Instead of dealing with Issei and his bullshit, Riser lifted his leg and stomped down on Issei’s crotch, “Shut up, your betters are talking.”

Issei squealed like a stuck pig and curled up as best he could to protect his crotch from more abuse. Riser was still holding him by one of his ankles so it didn’t help much. Riser turned back to a furious-looking Rias swinging her open palm toward his face. He casually caught her wrist in his free hand. She glared hatefully at him, “How dare you abuse my pawn like that?”

Riser narrowed his eyes at Rias while pressure slowly built on everyone nearby from him releasing the hold he had on his Demonic Power, “If you’re going to refuse to do your job as a King, then someone else will have to do it for you. Frankly, you’re such a failure as a King that I’m ashamed to be engaged to you. Your failures reflect on me and I refuse to deal with it any further. Your pet sex offender is going to the underworld, as BOTH of our families demand, and he will stay there until he becomes a proper pawn.”

Rias looked offended and angry as Riser ripped into her for her failures. Asia looked a little upset but was more focused on using her Twilight Healing to heal the damage done to Issei’s crotch. Kiba had an awkward look on his face; part of him agreed with Riser, and the other was mad at himself for that agreement. Akeno, well she had a twisted smile on her face, her sadistic side enjoying the verbal lashing Rias was taking. It also didn’t hurt that she partially agreed with Riser. She’d been there and watched as Rias did nothing to help any of them with their issues. Riser had done more for them in a few weeks than Rias had done in years.

Riser used his grip on Rias’s wrist to pull her to the side and clear the hallway. With the way she was glaring at him, he half expected her to explode and try to kill him. Not that it would do her any good, at all. She’d barely gotten any stronger since their rating game while he’d grown in leaps and bounds. That didn’t even include all the other things he had at his disposal thanks to his system.

He could see it in her eyes as she impotently glared at him, she knew she couldn’t do anything to actually stop him. Once she was out of his way, he walked past her, dragging Issei once more. Asia scrambled after them as she continued to try to heal Issei. Riser made no move to stop her, though she was forced to when they arrived at the teleportation circle.

Riser felt a little bad when he saw the tears in the corner of Asia’s eyes. He sighed and tried to offer her something to placate her, “I’m sorry things have to be this way Asia, but if Issei continues as he is, he’ll end up making the wrong person angry and end up dead. All it will take is offending one noble and his head will be on the chopping block.”

Asia clasped her hands in front of her chest and stared at him with her wide blue eyes, “But why can’t he stay here?”

Riser sighed and gestured down the hallway with his free hand, “He can’t stay because Rias does nothing to properly train him. She allows him, all of you really, to just do whatever you want. While that’s fine, most of the time, since you’re mostly good people. The sex offender isn’t a good person and if he continues on his current path, he will be killed.”

Asia looked like she was going to say something but Issei got there first, “Bullshit! Oppai are meant to be shared and praised! Nothing else matters but glorious oppai!”

Riser just stared down at Issei in disgust. He shook his head and turned back to Asia, “I know for a fact that if he said that in front of Lady Paimon, she would demand he be killed.”

Lady Paimon was one of the few devil women with an exceptionally small bust. It was a sore point for her and she was known to have one hell of a temper when it came to remarks about her bust. Issei would be far from the first person she’d demand to be executed over an unappreciated comment aimed at her. Being the last pure-blood member of the Paimon Clan of the seventy-two pillars gave her enough political power to see it through as well.

Asia looked conflicted but slowly nodded. She might be mostly blind when it came to Issei’s behavior, but she wasn’t blind to the looks people gave Issei when he went on one of his rants about oppai. It didn’t take much for her to imagine someone taking offense. She let out a soft sigh but nodded her head, “I understand, but please be gentle with him.” She gave Issei a soft look, “I’ll pray for you Issei. Please, come back soon.”

Riser had to fight to keep from grinning. Those gentle words from Asia dealt more damage to Issei than anything Riser had ever said. The look on his face was something Riser would treasure for a long time.

Feeling a lot better, he triggered his teleportation. Flames surrounded himself and Issei for a moment and when they cleared, they were in the arrival room of the Gremory Mansion. He frowned slightly at what greeted him. He had expected to meet Lord and Lady Gremory, of course. What he had not expected, but probably should have, was the sight of Sirzechs with Grayfia standing right behind him.

He blatantly ignored the Satan and instead focused on his future parents-in-law. That was something that still annoyed him. He didn’t have anything against Lord or Lady Gremory themselves. In fact, he would be proud to have them as his in-laws if their daughter was anyone but Rias. Hell, he’d even take Sona over Rias and he disliked Sona almost as much. At least Sona would be willing to do her duty, even if she didn’t like it, if he fulfilled her requirement. Even after losing the Rating Game Rias was resisting with every fiber of her being.

He put those thoughts out of his mind and focused back on the present. He dragged the silent and embarrassed-looking Issei out of the teleportation circle and dropped him in front of the Gemory’s. Lucky for Issei he slept in his boxers so he had those and the blanket as his ‘clothing’.

“One sex offender and embarrassment to the Gremory Family delivered, as promised.”

Lord Gremory gave Riser a disapproving look, “What it really necessary to say it like that?”

Riser looked slightly chagrinned, “My apologies Lord Gremory. It’s taken all of my patience to not simply take his life and be done with it. His attitude, if anything, is getting worse. Rias’s constant coddling of him and refusal to discipline him in any way has led him to believe that he can do as he pleases with no consequences.”

Both Gremorys looked disappointed at the news but not surprised. Riser glanced at the still silent Satan then returned back to the Gremoy’s, “I realize it’s not my place to say anything about Gremory family affairs, but I would suggest that Lord Lucifer not be the one to pick whomever will attempt to train Issei this time.” That earned him a glare from Grayfia, which he ignored, “His clear attempt to get Issei trained to become stronger under Tannin in an effort to circumvent his oath to me was both blatant and annoying.”

His gaze moved to Sirzechs, “If I knew your word meant nothing to you, I would have requested something else. Be aware my father knows of your attempt.”

Sirzechs grimaced slightly at that. It would definitely make what he was there for a lot harder to accomplish. Riser turned back to the Gremorys, noting that one of their butlers had taken Issei in hand and was leading the boy away. Lord Gremory cleared his throat and nodded to Riser, “You can be assured that the young man will be given to a proper teacher this time. I wish to cast no aspersions on Tannin, but he was not an appropriate choice to train someone so unruly.” He glanced at his son, a clear sign he hadn’t agreed with Sirzechs choice of tutor. His eyes moved back to Riser, “This time the young man will remain here until he has learned proper etiquette and can be trusted to behave in an appropriate manner.” He gave Riser a small bow of his head, “Thank you for putting up with him this long, Riser.”

Riser waved a hand in dismissal, “I was only doing what is expected of me.”

That caused small frowns on the faces of everyone present. It was a bit of a dig at not just Issei, but also at Rias and Sirzechs for their various failings. It could even be a dig at Lord and Lady Gremory for thair failure in raising Rias properly as they clearly spoiled her rotten or allowed Sirzechs to spoil her.

Lord Gremory cleared his throat to put an end to the awkward atmosphere that Riser’s comment brought forth, “Yes, well. Thank you, once more, for bringing the boy here. But I believe my son has something he wishes to speak with you about.”

Sirzechs cleared his throat and drew all attention to himself, “Yes, I wished to speak with you about the events of last night, Riser.”

Riser narrowed his eyes at Sirzechs, “Lord Riser.”

There was a flash of annoyance on Sirzechs face, but it passed quickly, “Of course, Lord Riser. I wish to ask some questions about the events that transpired last night.”

Riser smiled, “No.”

Sirzechs frowned, “No? I don’t think you understand the implications of what you revealed. We really must discuss what you did and how you did it.”

Riser continued smiling, “No, I will not reveal clan secrets to an outsider. Even as the head of Internal Affairs, you do not have the authority to delve into the secrets of any of the seventy-two pillars. To do so could very well lead to demands for you to step down, or even a full-blown civil war if you persist. I will only answer your questions under duress, is that the route you wish to take?”

Sirzechs glowered at Riser, but it was nothing compared to the death glare Grayfia was giving him from behind the man. Riser didn’t care. He had zero respect for Sirzechs anymore and even less for Grayfia. Finally, Sirzechs spun on his heel and began walking away, “Come Grayfia. We’re wasting our time here.”

Riser smirked at that before he turned his attention to the Lord and Lady Gremory, his smirk becoming a pleasant smile, “It was nice to see you both once more. If you will excuse me.”

With a bow Riser once more erupted in flames and teleported out of the Gremory mansion. As his flames vanished, Zeoticus turned to his wife, “Well, that was quite interesting, wouldn’t you say, my love?”

Venelana sighed, “Did we make a mistake by giving Rias so much freedom while growing up? It was such a different time when Sirzechs was growing up, the tensions and the civil war…”

Zeoticus sighed and wrapped an arm around Venelana’s waist, “We raised Rias much as we raised Sirzechs. Our mistake was not being stricter with Rias to counter how Sirzechs spoiled her at every opportunity.” He scowled, “This has, unfortunately, placed us in a position where, if the contract with Rise is voided, it will be impossible for Rias to be contracted with anyone else.”

Venelana hummed, “And how do you know this?”

Zeoticus grunted, “I asked around, on the pretense that it was possible Rias or Riser would find a way to end the contract. No one, not even the Glasya-Labolas boy, Zephyrdor, was interested and he has a reputation for going after anything female within sight. Rias’s choice of Pawn has truly and completely ruined her reputation among the pure-bloods. At this rate, the only one willing to marry her is that little gremlin of hers and I refuse to let him touch her!”

Venelana nodded in agreement, “So, if we wish for her to retain some dignity among her peers, Riser is the only option?”

Zeoticus nodded gravely, “I am afraid so, and he has made it abundantly clear that he is completely uninterested in her. We must tread carefully or Rias will become a pariah among the nobles.”

Venelana looked in the direction Sirzechs left, “We must also reign in Sirzechs. If he continues as he has, he will find some way the end the marriage. We cannot allow that. This… will be difficult.”

Zeoticus nodded in agreement. There would be much work ahead of them.

—--Line Break—--

Riser smiled brightly as the flames of his teleportation vanished and he came face to face with a trio of friendly faces, “Lady Bael, Lady Abaddon, Lord Bael.”

The three in front of him had various reactions. Misla was giving him an indulgent smile known to mothers everywhere. Kuisha had a playful smile. Lastly, Sairaorg actually looked mildly offended at Riser addressing him ‘properly’.

Sairaorg walked up and clapped Riser on the shoulder, “Stop with the stuffy crap. Kuisha said you had something new? Let’s see it!”

Riser laughed and wrapped his own arm across Sairaorg’s shoulder as the pair left the area. Much to the amusement of the two women they left behind. Soon enough they arrived at their usual training grounds. Once they arrived they took to opposite sides of the field. Riser addressed Sairaorg, “Alright, this new thing is pretty weak at the moment. It’ll take me a lot of effort to make it stronger, but that’s where our training comes in!”

Sairaorg laughed and nodded, “Makes sense! Though one of these days you’re going to have to tell me where you learn all these new things! I want to learn more.”

Riser chuckled at that. So far he’d only taught Sairaorg Total Concentration Breathing but the big lug had taken to it like a fish to water. He’d mastered it completely in just a couple of days. In his own way, Sairaorg was a certifiable genius. He couldn’t wait for Sairaorg’s father, Lord Bael, to see just how powerful Sairaorg was and begin quaking in his boots in fear that his estranged son would come looking for his rightful position as head of the family.

Riser gave himself a small reminder to see if he could do something to either awaken or give Sairaorg The Power of Destruction. If he could use it, he would instantly be able to do anything he wished to his pathetic father and take over the Bael clan. Riser doubted even that old bastard Zekram would be a match for Sairaorg wielding the Power of Destruction. It would be one hell of a show…

Provided he could actually convince Sairaorg to fight for the leadership of his clan.

Riser dismissed that thought and focused on the present once more. He curled his fingers into claws and dragged them down the front of his face. Black energy twisted and condensed into the featureless bone mask he’d summoned previously. Sairaorg looked curious and hummed, “That doesn’t seem to be doing much.”

Riser nodded, “I know.”

Sairaorg, Kuisha, and Misla all shuddered at the dual tone of his voice. The second layer having a dark, cold, sound to it that sent shivers down their spines. It might not have provided Riser with much power, but it definitely had a good creep factor going for it. Other than that, Sairaorg found himself rather disappointed at the reveal, “Is that it?”

Riser laughed, a rather haunting sound through the mask, “It will grow in power, I promise. It needs my demonic power and conflict, as I said previously. After me and you fight for a bit it should evolve and grow a bit stronger, possibly significantly stronger.”

At least Riser hoped so. A Gillian was a really powerful hallow, though they ended up as little more than fodder as the power scale of Bleach grew. On the bright side, CERO!

Sairaorg took Riser’s words as an invitation and began their spar by blasting off of the ground and appearing before Riser with his fist cocked back. Riser only had a moment to bring his arms up to guard, for what little good it did him. Sairaorgs fist smashed into Riser and obliterated the entire top half of his body. Literally everything from the waist up was just gone, though only for a moment before a wave of flames restored the missing half of Riser’s body. A small hello from Sairaorg to get things going.

As soon as he reformed, Riser counter-attacked with a strong punch of his own that Sairaorg was forced to block. Riser had grown significantly stronger with his constant training and the special abilities that he had gained. When he punched Sairaorg now, the other man felt it and could no longer ignore it.

Granted, that was with Sairaorg sticking to his base form. Once he broke out the Touki and Total Concentration Breathing it was a whole different game. The two went into a furious exchange of blows. Riser did his best to dodge and block the attacks Sairaorg was throwing at him while sending as many attacks back at the other man as he could. Riser had learned, extremely fast, that he was better off dodging or blocking attacks than just letting them through. It drained far less of his resources, namely Demonic Power and Stamina, both of which fueled his various regenerative abilities.

As they fought, Riser could feel a change coming. Cracks began forming on his mask as he fought his friend as hard as he could. The energy he’d fed into it began going wild as more and more cracks formed. As his fist clashed with Sairaorg’s a massive crack ripped right down the center of the mask releasing a burst of writhing black energy.

Sairaorg backed off while Riser gripped the sides of his head and groaned. It felt like a knife was being driven into his skull as the mask exploded into thousands of pieces. Even without the mask, the black energy that filled it didn’t dissipate. Instead, it wrapped around his entire head and began to constrict while forming into a new shape.

Slowly the black energy sank into a newly formed pure white mask. The new one was much like the original had been only with minor changes. Instead of being purely flat, it now sported a long, pointy, cone-shaped nose, and a set of square-shaped teeth curved into a smile.

When the mask finished forming, the pain faded away and Riser felt new strength flooding his body. It still didn’t compare to the boost he gained from his Devil Trigger or a single use of Boost, but the difference between the basic Hollow mask and his new Gillian mask was like night and day. The boost he gained was probably somewhere around twenty-five percent of his base strength. Which would grow as he fed Demonic Power into it.

Riser grinned behind the mask as he instinctively felt the three new abilities his freshly evolved mask gave him. He only truly cared about one of them though. Riser looked at the distance between himself and Sairaorg, then judged it to be enough. He raised his right hand and curled his fingers into a claw shape. It started as a black ball, almost like a black hole that began sucking energy into it and growing brighter. Bright red energy began to flow into the palm of his hand gathering into a ball of power that continuously compressed in on itself. The strength of it gathering energy created a suction force around Riser that caused dust and debris to move around in eddies. Sairaorg’s eyes widened as the energy waves from the forming Cero sent a shiver down his spine.

Riser laughed as he clenched his hand closed, seemingly making the energy disappear, only to brace his arm with his other hand to hold himself steady. A split second later he opened his hand wide. A massive beam of red energy with a black core wider than Riser was tall, blasted out of his palm right for Sairaorg. It obliterated the ground in its path and continued toward Sairaorg unabated.

Sairaorg crossed his arms over his chest and was instantly covered in a bright white cloak of energy as he fully tapped into his Touki to reinforce his body. Everyone that wasn’t Sairaorg watched, transfixed, as the beam of energy slammed into Sairaorg and instantly blocked him from view for the entire duration, a little over ten seconds.

When the red light from the beam faded it revealed Sairaorg still standing where he’d been though the ground around him was gouged out with only the area directly behind him undamaged. He was almost entirely unharmed. Only almost because, to the shock of everyone, his arms were slightly scorched and bleeding. It was by far the most damage Riser had ever managed to inflict on Sairaorg. Most interesting, to Riser, was that the Cero took hardly any energy from himself to be fired. It seemed to gather the majority of its power directly from the air itself.

There was silence as Sairaorg slowly uncrossed his arms and calmly examined the wounds. They weren’t bad and would likely heal in a day or so, probably less. Even so, he found himself to be rather impressed with what Riser had managed to accomplish. Seeing his new friend pulling out new tricks and constantly growing stronger brought a sort of pride that he didn’t know how to identify. Still, he couldn’t let Riser think he was ‘strong enough’ just yet.

Looking at the bloodthirsty grin Sairaorg was giving him, Riser only had a single thought, ‘I regret everything.’

—--Line Break—--

“Regret. So much regret.”

Sairaorgs boisterous laughter was all that greeted Riser’s complaints. The pair had fought each other for over an hour. An entire hour where Riser threw everything he had at Sairaorg, including his new mastery over wind magic, and didn’t manage to accomplish much of anything. His only consolation was that he could tell Sairaorg was using more and more of his Touki every time they fought. It meant he was getting stronger and it was an excellent feeling that he thoroughly enjoyed.

The remembered pain of getting beaten down, not so much.

The only saving grace was that the pain faded nearly instantly and only became a vague memory after that. Either way, he always ended up exhausted after his fights with Sairaorg.

He wouldn’t trade it for anything.

He looked up into the playfully smug face of Sairaorg and rolled his eyes but accepted the hand being offered to him. The pair clasped wrists so Sairaorg could haul Riser to his feet. Once standing, Sairaorg looked Riser over with a small frown, “You’re holding back on me again.”

Riser snorted, “I wish I was.”

“I heard about what happened at the peace conference. You have the powers of both heavenly dragons, why are you not using them?”

Riser had an ‘ah’ look on his face, “Oh! That. Simple. That’s not something I always have and comes from a pair of items. It’s not power native to my body. Using them against you would be like cheating to me. If we ever had a reason to truly fight, like a Rating Game, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them. But here? Training with you? They’re pointless. Say I used the power of Divine Dividing to cut your strength in half a couple of times and managed to beat you. What would that accomplish? Nothing. The point of these fights is for me to get stronger so that, one day, we can have a real battle and put our all into it.”

Sairaorg’s face split into a massive grin, “I see. I’ll be looking forward to the day we can both go all out and fight with everything we have.”

Riser’s grin grew to match Sairaorg’s, “As will I.”

Riser knew that even with the Skill Eater gloves he wouldn’t win against Sairaorg using Regulus. That was fine though because he would get there eventually. He was still growing by leaps and bounds and with Broken Limiter, he would never stop growing. However once he felt he had enough strength, he would consider giving it to others to help them grow stronger. He’d start with his own peerage members, naturally. Xenovia would likely make excellent use of it.

That was a thought for the future though.

With their sparring done for the day, Riser made his way home. He wasn’t looking forward to being in the house with a likely still angry Rias, but he didn’t have anything else to do in the Underworld…

Scratch that. He teleported into his personal mansion and lifted his hand to summon a calling circle. A few moments later an image of Serafall in her work attire appeared hovering over his upturned palm, “Riser? To what do I owe the honor?”

At least she was still being polite, unlike a certain other Satan, however this wasn’t a formal call so, “Hey Levi-tan, I was calling to see if you wanted to talk about my guest spot on your show.”

The change in Serafall’s demeanor was instantaneous. She stared at him with wide eyes and a look of hope on her face, “Do you really truly mean that?! Oh oh oh! I would LOVE to talk about that! Come by my office right away!”

Riser chuckled and nodded, “I’ll be there in a few moments.”

After ending the call, he was wrapped in flames and teleported to the greeting area for Serafall’s building. It was kind of an embassy since, as the Satan of Foreign Affairs, she often had meetings with people from other factions and pantheons. He walked to the front desk where a secretary was sitting and waiting to greet visitors. As he walked up, she perked up and gave him a business smile, “Welcome, how can I help you?”

“Riser Phenex here to see Serafall Leviathan.”

The woman’s eyes lit up a bit, “Ah, she just informed me of your arrival.” She gestured to the bank of elevators, “Go on up, she’s waiting on the top floor.”

The elevator ride was fairly boring, it didn’t even have crappy music! When the doors opened on the top floor he was treated to a nice view of the city as well as the sight of Serafall spinning around in her chair while wearing her magical girl outfit, “Riser! You came! Ohhhh this is so exciting!”

So saying, Serafall hopped to her feet and ran right up to him. She clasped her hands in front of her prodigious chest, lightly bounced on her feet causing said chest to jiggle enticingly, and stared up into his eyes as he towered over her in height, “I have soooo many ideas! I think you’d make a wonderful villain!”

Riser chuckled, “Can I lay out my idea first? If you don’t like it we can discuss yours.”

Sarafall gave him a skeptical look before rolling her eyes, “Everyone wants to do their own thing!” She sighed and slumped her shoulders, “Fiiiiiine. What’s your idea?”

“Well, I am sad to say I’ve never really watched your show.” That earned him the stinkeye from Serafall, “But I can guess a bit about it based on the genre and common tropes. I assume your character is a high school student?” Getting a nod he moved on, “I also assume your character has a normal identity and all that jazz?” Another nod, “Any love interests or a kind of will-they-won’t-they thing going on?” Yet another nod accompanied by a depressed frown over her show being so predictable, “Excellent. So, here’s my idea.”

Riser proceeded to explain his plan in detail for his character and its recurring role in the show every couple of episodes. As he explained, Serafall’s eyes widened and a wicked smile slowly curled her lips. It would have been clear to anyone that she loved what she was hearing. When he finished, Serafall grabbed and pulled him into a, literally, bone-crushing hug, “That’s an awesome idea! I’ll get the writers on it right away! This is going to be amazing!”

Riser shared a mutual cackle with Serafall, this was going to be interesting.

—--Line Break—--

Riser stepped off of the teleportation circle at the house he shared with Rias. His discussions with Serafall had taken a few hours, but they now had a plan and he would be visiting her to film his role in the near future. Like most shows, they filmed episodes months before they came out so it would be quite a while before his role would show up. He didn’t mind though because he knew his role would be a ton of fun.

While walking through the house, heading to the training area, he was intercepted by Ingvlid. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue. In fact, it would be something he would happily encourage and enjoy. There was never a reason not to spend time with Ingvlid.

…

Unless she was looking at him with narrowed eyes, her arms crossed under her breasts, and her foot impatiently tapping on the ground. He instantly recognized the danger signs, especially when her eyes narrowed, “There you are.”

He froze like a deer in headlights wondering what he’d done to upset her. Nothing came to mind. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she got right to the point, “So, while you were gone, hiding away in the Underworld, Xenovia and I had a talk. Imagine my surprise when she filled me in on the events of last night.”

Riser felt slightly better at that, “I did plan to tell you about the things that happened during the peace conference, but there was no real danger and nothing bad actually happened. I didn’t feel the need to rush to you, wake you up, and fill you in. Then, this morning, I had to drag that pervert off to the Underworld and decided to do a few things while I was there.”

Ingvlid looked approving when he mentioned taking Issei away, but that changed back to annoyed extremely fast, “I wasn’t talking about any of that!” She stomped up to Riser and grabbed his shirt to pull him down so they were eye-to-eye, “I’m talking about what you and Xenovia did after!”

Riser blinked at that, “Xenovia told you?” Seeing her eyes narrow he sighed, “Of course she did.”

Xenovia was a rather blunt girl and would probably see no reason not to tell Ingvlid all about them having sex the previous night. Well, it wasn’t as if he was ashamed of what had happened, not even remotely, so he nodded to himself, “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

Ingvlid practically growled as she jerked hard on his shirt and pulled him toward her until their lips crashed together. Riser’s eyes widened in shock. He hadn’t seen the kiss coming at all. He wasn’t blind to the fact that Ingvlid was attracted to him. He was no clueless blushing schoolboy, but he hadn’t thought her feelings had grown to such a degree!

After the rough kiss, she shoved him back and glared into his eyes, “You’re taking me on a date this weekend.”

Yet, despite the confident attitude, which was nothing like Ingvlid’s normal behavior, he could see her cheeks slowly growing darker as her embarrassment over the situation she’d put herself in grew. Riser stared at her for a moment before he nodded, “Date, got it.”

She gave him a firm nod before spinning on her heels and power-walking away. He could swear he heard her letting out a whine that was slowly building in volume. Well, it looked like her little moment of confidence was now turning into embarrassment. He ignored that though and licked his lips, he could still taste her cherry lip balm. That kiss had definitely been very unexpected but not unappreciated.

With a pep in his step, he resumed his journey to the training room. He had a lot of energy to burn off now and a date to plan later. That was definitely something to look forward to.

—--Line Break—--

Riser lifted the heavily reinforced bokken, a wooden sword, to block a downward slash from a very real, very sharp, sword being wielded by Kiba. The only reason Kiba’s blade didn’t completely slice through Riser’s wooden one is that it was made by Kiba and could be reinforced to be more durable by injecting Demonic Power.

The reason for the disparity in their weapons was simple, Riser could survive being sliced in half by a real sword, Kiba could not. The bokken made by Kiba and wielded by Riser would only give its creator a nasty bruise, at best. It made their spar more interesting for Kiba and helped Riser improve faster to avoid being turned into sashimi.

Kiba was going all out and the only thing that was preventing Riser from being sliced into confetti was his superior speed. Even with his base form, Riser was now faster than Kiba going full speed with his Evil Piece. However, that did not mean that he was winning, far from it. Despite having the edge in speed and managing to keep up with Kiba, it was clear who the superior swordsman was to anyone who happened to watch the fight.

Regardless of that, the two participants continued to fight hard and fast, their arms little more than a blur to the pair of people watching them spar. Eventually, Kiba managed a tricky feint that put Riser off balance. Taking the opportunity presented, Kiba’s blade flashed through the air and slid through Riser’s neck.

There was a feminine gasp from the watchers as Riser’s head burst into flames to heal the damage instantly. Once the flames faded, Riser lowered his bokken and let out a sigh, “Damn. Even with superior speed I can’t beat you.”

Kiba chimed in, “Yet. You are getting better. Unfortunately, if you become any faster, sparring with me will become pointless without restricting your speed.”

As Kiba spoke, the watcher who had gasped, Asia, walked over to the pair of them while summoning her Twilight Healing. Kiba gave the ex-nun a soft smile and calmly sat down on the ground so it would be easier for her to heal the few bruises Riser had managed to give him. Koneko, their other observer, walked over and looked up at Riser, “My turn.”

Riser set the bokken down and walked away from Kiba and Asia with Koneko following him. Once they had enough space it was time for his second spar of the day. Koneko wasted no time and charged Riser fist first. Despite being a Rook, an Evil Piece known for strength and durability, Koneko was swift. That came down to her race, Nekoshou. The combination of racial advantages and Evil Piece bonuses made her into an excellent melee combatant. It also didn’t hurt that hte dichotomy of a tiny woman with immense strength was entertaining. As Riser blocked her blow with his forearm, feeling the bones inside snap from the force, he believed it was entirely possible that she could be as strong, or even stronger, than Sairaorg. Granted, that required her to stop holding back.

She was yet another victim of Rias’s inability to truly help her peerage with their issues. Hers, like everyone elses, would have been pretty simple to dispel with a bit of logic.

The two of them moved back and forth, attack and counter attack. Riser regulated his strength to keep from giving Koneko anything worse than a bruise while she went all out and constantly broke his bones. He was relatively certain Koneko enjoyed sparring with him because he was the only one she could go all out against without concern for the damage she was dealing. It also helped Riser to continue to close the gaps in his defenses anytime she landed a decisive blow against him.

The two sparred for nearly an hour before Koneko had to tap out from sheer exhaustion. While she was getting healed up by Asia, Riser made his way to his room. He had a date to get ready for.

—--Line Break—--

Riser examined himself in his mirror. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a matching vest, white shirt, and red tie. His golden hair was combed to perfection, and he had to admit that he looked good.

He stepped out of his room and made his way down the hall to Ingvlid’s door where he knocked.

“Coming.”

Riser was made to wait a few moments until the door opened to revel his date for the evening. The sight of her took his breath away. She was wearing a white shirt that exposed an immense valley of cleavage and had slits in the sleeves all the way up to the shoulders giving them a flowing look. Her top was matched with a black skirt that reached to the middle of her thighs, just a bit too long to count as a miniskirt. To cover her legs she wore a pair of sheer white stockings held in place by a garter belt, something that Riser found immensely sexy. To finish it all off, she was wearing a nice pair of strappy black heels.

Seeing Riser silently starting at her in undisguised shock sent a thrill down Ingvlid’s spine. Ever since the day Riser had awoken her, she’d had a little bit of a crush on him. The fact that he had done nothing but tell her the truth since the moment they met was something else she loved about him. She’d taken her time looking through the internet, the devil net, and any other sources of information she could find or that Riser could provide her with.

She’d seen information on Riser before he’d awoken her and the information she’d found didn’t truly match the man she’d met. Sure she could see hints of what might had led to things being taken out of context, but she otherwise couldn’t see the man that was on the internet actually being the Riser she knew. She wanted this date to learn even more about the man she was considering spending the rest of her life with, as a member of his peerage. Well… maybe as more too. Which is why seeing him gaping at her chosen outfit for their date was a thrill she enjoyed immensely.

She might have also appreciated the way he was dressed. She, and most women she used to know, would have found Riser to be an exceptionally handsome man. She simply couldn’t see what problem Rias had with Riser. He was handsome, came from a wealthy family, and was a wonderful man. She’d seen a couple of her friends married off to men a dozen times their age with perverse desires that still sent shivers down her spine. She would honestly be thrilled if her parents had arranged a marriage with someone like Riser.

She shook those thoughts off before they could bring her mood down. Now was not the time to think about all the things she’d lost when she succumbed to the sleeping disease. Instead, she let her lips curl into the sultry smile she would never admit to practicing for hours in the mirror to achieve. When she spoke she lowered the tone of her voice a little to have it match her smile, “Lord Riser, it’s not polite to just stare at a girl.”

Riser quickly shook his head and got himself back under control. Who could blame him for zoning out a little bit due to what Ingvlid was wearing? Even in regular jeans and a t-shirt she would be a ten out of ten. In her current outfit she put the famed beauty of angels to shame! He quickly put on a sheepish smile, “Sorry Ingvlid. It’s just, this absolute beauty opened the door and I was floored for a moment there.”

He felt like he got a little something back when he spotted a light flush to her cheeks caused by his compliment. He held his hand out toward her, “Shall we begin our date, my lady?”

Ingvlid reached out and placed her hand into his, “Yes, I believe we should, good sir.”

Both of them laughed a little at the old fashioned ways they addressed each other. Ingvlid looped her arm through Riser’s and they made their way out of the mansion and up to a car Riser had purchased just for the occasion. He stepped to the passenger side and opened the door to the Nineteen Seventy Nissan Skyline GTR. He was in Japan so he might as well own one of the truly beautiful classics produced by the country.

Seeing the car caused Invlid to smile in appreciation, “It’s beautiful.”

Riser held the door for her as she lowered herself into the car, “Thank you.”

Just her comment on the silver painted classic was worth the over thirty million yen he’d spent to buy and them fully restore the vehicle to its prime using only original parts. The part of him with a human past was disgusted with himself over spending nearly two hundred thousand US dollars on a car. On the other hand, that amount of money was a pittance to his current lifestyle. He spent more on a single suit in this life than he spent on an entire car in his last one. It was a difference of perspectives, but one that occasionally snuck op on him and surprised him.

It was weird for him to get into the drivers seat of the car since it was on the opposite side from what he was used to. Riser had only ever driven a car in his last life. Thankfully he had decades of memories doing it so it was something he could do with ease. It was just odd driving in Japan when he was used to America. Yet all thoughts of that went away when he turned the key in the ignition.

He closed his eyes and savored the sound of the engine roaring to life and the gentle vibrations it caused the vehicle. He’d always wanted to own a nice classic car like this. Now that he did, he didn’t think he could ever go back.

He opened his eyes and put the car into first gear. While they slowly pulled out of the driveway, Ingvlid turned to look at him, “So, where are we going?”

Riser grinned while he drove down the road, enjoying the feeling of driving once again. Teleportation was great for getting around, but it lacked the joy driving a nice car brought. He turned his smile toward Ingvlid as he answered, “First, a nice dinner. After that… it’s a surprise.”

They drove in a comfortable silence, enjoying the sights until they crested a hill and Ingvlid caught sight of the ocean near Kuoh for the first time. She got out some, but mostly only locally and the ocean was a good thirty minute drive down the highway. Ingvlid let out a squeal of excitement as her eyes sparkled, “I’ve missed the ocean so much!” Her amber gaze moved to Riser, “How did you know?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “I figured you might like to see the ocean after being cooped up for so long. You’re a Leviathan, one could say that water is in your blood.”

Ingvlid giggled and turned her gaze back to the ocean, “It’s always so beautiful.” She frowned a little, “Though I do not appreciate the things I’ve learned humans are doing to it.”

Riser nodded in understanding, but gave her a suggestion, “Well, there’s nothing that could stop us from cleaning the oceans up. You’re strong enough to do a lot and if you get stronger you can do even more.”

Ingvlid’s head snapped to stare at him with eyes widened in surprise. She clearly hadn’t thought of that and he could see her beginning to vibrate in excitement, “Do you really think so?”

Riser nodded, “I do. We’d have to be careful and sneaky about it, but it’s possible. I’m sure we could come up with all sorts of plans that would let us clean up the oceans while keeping magic a secret still.”

That seemed to greatly excite the young woman as she bounced in her seat. It was a ver ydistracting sight. Luckily for him, his reflexes, senses, and observational ability were infinitely greater than a humans. He could easily drive without having to actually keep his eyes on the road. This made it possible for him to fully enjoy the way Ingvlid’s prodigious chest juggled as she bounced.

It was a glorious sight.

Sadly, it came to an end when she calmed down, though he didn’t miss the sly, yet shy, smile she gave him. The little minx knew what she was doing! He didn’t have any time to really question her on it, they had arrived at the restaurant Riser had chosen. Despite their choices to dress to impress, he’d chosen a more down to earth restaurant.

After parking his car and engaging the enchantment that would hide it from the notice of thieves. The last thing he wanted was to hunt down and murder some idiot for stealing his car. He opened the door of the restaurant causing a flood of scents to wash over them. The headiest scent was that of tonkatsu ramen broth. He’d chosen the highest rated ramen-ya in the area.

His head snapped to the side as he heard a rather… sensual moan come from his date. Seeing him looking at her caused Ingvlid to blush. She stuttered a bit before managing to squeak out, “It smells so good.”

Riser grinned and guided her in where the hostess quickly had them seated. The place was nothing like a five-star restaurant but was more like a family diner in its layout and decorations. It had a nice comfortable atmosphere that everyone could enjoy.

Naturally a beautiful young couple like themselves drew some attention. Men were checking out Ingvlid while women were checking out Riser. It took a fair bit of restraint for him not to laugh when he heard the hostess, who had a good view of the parking lot, telling the manager about the car he was driving.

It wasn’t long before they had their orders in and delivered. As they ate, they talked.

“How’s your research into modern life progressing?”

Ingvlid smiled at the question, “I think I know what I need to know.”

“I’m glad to hear it. How are things with the others in the house?”

Ingvlid hummed and eventually smiled, “A lot better without that skeevy little boy in the house anymore. Xenovia has been exceptionally happy lately.” She eyeballed him as she mentioned that, “She’s especially happy that she can pray once more. I don’t get it, but I’m happy for her.”

Riser nodded, “I don’t get it either. It’s just how she was raised. I don’t begrudge her the act though. I’m even happy for her if it makes her happy.”

Ingvlid nodded in agreement, “Kiba and Koneko are very nice. I really enjoy spending time with Koneko. She’s adorable and nice.” She gave Riser a beaming smile, “She even shared a cookie with me the other day!”

Riser chuckled at that. Koneko was notorious for not sharing her sweets with anyone. Sharing one with Ingvlid was definitely a big deal. She continued, “Akeno is… she’s alright but I don’t like how she’s always trying to tease me.”

She gazed at Riser, “Or the things she says about you.” There was a small bit of… jealousy there? He wasn’t sure as she continued, “I don’t like her talking about you like… that.” She flushed a little at the memories of the innuendo that Akeno had spouted at her.

Riser sighed and shook his head, “There is something deeply wrong with that girl.” He focused on Ingvlid, “If it helps, I have no interest in her at all. Frankly, I’d be happy if I never had to see or talk to her again.”

That seemed to perk Ingvlid up and make her happier. Though it faded a bit as she moved onto the next topic of discussion, “Then there’s Lady Gremory.” Riser grimaced at the cold tone and formal name, clearly Ingvlid didn’t approve. She continued, “I don’t like the way she talks about you behind your back. In her world you’re the pinnacle of evil, the font from which all things dark and horrible come. Every time she talks about you I feel the urge to drown her in an oceans worth of water.”

Riser sighed and shook his head, “I’m sorry you have to deal with that.”

Ingvlid frowned, “It’s fine if she doesn’t like you. Not everyone likes everyone. But whatI really can’t stand is how she’s always telling me I should stay away from you. In her mind you’re some horrendous…” She blushed deeply, “Some horrendous sexfiend that’s going to do all kinds of things to me. Even against my will.” She scoffed, “I’d like to think I know you better than that.”

Riser smiled at her, “I’d like to think you do as well. I’m glad you’re not taking her words at face value, but you know she isn’t entirely wrong. I did sink down to her level for a while there just to push her buttons.”

Ingvlid chuckled, “You’ve told me and I understand. I think I probably would have done something like that in a similar situation. Honestly, I’m surprised you don’t hate her.”

Riser shrugged his shoulders, “Hate takes effort. Hate means letting her live in my head rent free. Hate means thinking about her. It’s just not worth all of that to hate her, so I don’t. Instead, I simply don’t care about her. She’s not worth the effort of hating. Thus, I am indifferent to her. Let her waste all that time hating me. I just don’t care.”

Ingvlid tilted her head as she thought about his words before she smiled brilliantly, “I see. I’m kind of glad to hear that.”

Realizing what she said, she blushed and looked away from him. Riser pretended not to notice how red her cheeks were getting. He wasn’t a blushing virgin schoolboy so he could clearly see the crush she was harboring for him. Only his desire to keep from pushing her one way or another kept him from acting on it. Once she officially made her decision to join his peerage and expressed her desires clearly would he move forward. It was almost the exact opposite of the problem he’d had with Xenovia being too forward.

They lapsed into conversation about other topics to get to know each other better. Ingvlid was a smart girl and a quick learner, but she was still getting used to modern times. Which led to what he had planned for the second half of their date.

—--Line Break—--

Riser guided a curious looking Ingvlid into the building they’d just pulled in front of. She looked around the small lounge area curiously but it was rather empty. He led her up to a counter and addressed the young man behind it, “One room for two hours.”

He ignored the curious look that Ingvlid was sending his way. Once he paid, he led her to their assigned room. The moment he opened the door and led her into the comfortably appointed room her confusion turned to curiosity at the sight of the small stage with a microphone. Her gaze moved to Riser once again, “What is this place?”

Riser grinned and led her to the center of the room to pick up a book from the table, “This, my dear, is called a Karaoke Bar.” He held the book out to her, “It’s a place people come to eat, drink, hang out with friends…” As she opened the book and saw the long list of song titles, he finished, “and sing songs.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and instantly focused on him, “Sing? We can sing here?”

Riser’s grin grew at the hopeful and excited tone she asked with. He nodded, “You can sing any song in the book or, if you wish, you can sing any song you know without back up music.”

The high pitched squeal of excitement let Riser know he’d chosen wisely. He remembered that she liked to sing and now she could sing to her hearts content for the next two hours. Which was fine for him, he wasn’t much of a singer himself.

As she flipped through the book looking for a song with a title she liked, since she wasn’t completely up to date with current music, he sat on the couch and used the built in phone to order them some drinks and snacks, mostly sweets for dessert after their excellent dinner.

The glow of pure happiness on Ingvlid’s face as she selected her first song was a truly breathtaking sight. One he would remember for a long time to come.

—--Line Break—--

9.8k words, I couldn’t really think of anything else to add for another 200 words so this seemed like the perfect place to stop.

Hope you all liked it!