NGJ Chapter 55: Provoked x Poultry

A/N: I AM ALIVE!!!!!!(That food poisoning really fucked me up)

I could feel Riser grow more and more agitated under my grip. His stats are definitely higher than mine and that's a fact. In fact, that goes for all of his stats even luck.

After all, he comes from an established clan of Devil nobles, having access to the best of resources, trainers, and connections from birth. Even if he did not take his training super hardcore like someone like Sairaorg he is still strong.

Because you see, unlike Rias he actually put effort into training instead of doing the exact same thing I did in high school which was ignoring my studies until the last second to read manga and novels.

Even still, the gap was not immense or anything. I would be able to defeat him with some effort like a boss monster if not for one thing. No, the biggest thorn stuck in my asshole because of this bastard was.

Immortality. 

The Phenex immortality will be a pain in my asshole. Because I have to fight an unkillable bastard with a passive RCT that costs less running 24/7. An ability I would most certainly want if I did not have RCT whose healing was actually better in some aspects.

To top it off, he has massive Mana reserves and fire kinda counters undead as their natural weakness. Normal undead are useless, Wiz would die near instantly if she was hit, corpses would get incinerated before using corpse explosion. Grave Buster would not deal much damage, Burning Sea my strongest spell is basically useless, Cursed Crystal Prison that I learned from Wiz, my second strongest spell is barely good against him.

It's a frustrating and annoying matchup, to say the least. At least against Hanami, I had the element advantage, and against Toji I had far more versatility and abused RCT to win. A battle of endurance against a Phenex is a bad idea and at the same time the only reliable way to defeat them.

One of the main reasons I didn't want to get involved really. I got by with the fallen because they were incompetent and weren't immortal. Riser is neither.

But Toji didn't train a b i t c h.

I could feel Riser heating up from anger as he started tapping into his lineage power which gave him not only Immortality but also Fire and Wind manipulation. The full package one might say.

"You are overstepping your bounds  mage . Even if you are Rias' pet I will not allow you to sully my name." His eyes narrowed as patches of flame appeared on him as he got serious.

Normally any other person's hand would be burning right now and they would shamefully pull their hand back like Riser intended but I was built different. Which is a codeword meaning I am cheating.

I didn't flinch but a vein popped on my forehead. This piece of cooked fucking poultry did not just fucking call me a pet. I flared up my cursed energy as a film of blue-black flame framed my figure. Two people can play at this game called intimidation.

"Miraculous, a chicken with the comprehension skills of a retarded goldfish. I am almost impressed by you, but that would require you to have anything impressive in the first place. I am a sorcerer you moron and I am certainly no pet." I glared back and spat out with ice.

[-30 Affection with Riser Phenex]

That seemed to hit a nerve as Riser gnashed his teeth in response and before anyone other than Grayfia whom I already made sure would stand down Riser raised his hand and blasted me with a wave of scorching flame.

*BOOM!!!*

The flames washed over me and they certainly hurt but not much because I had already prepared for this situation. I created an Intermediate Fire Resistance potion using sulfur and gunpowder. Using that along with RCT made it seem like I was unharmed as the fire gave away.

I grinned at him as his eyes widened and he withdrew his hand. Bluff, it is certainly one of the most useful things ever. Fake it till you make it. 

"That all? I must say even the summer heat hits harder than that." I pointedly decided to ignore my but-ass-naked self like everyone else did. Before anyone else responded Rias jumped up in a panic.

"RISER ENOUGH! You will not hurt my friend!" As she said that I saw a dark crimson aura envelop her, That aura sent chills down even my spine, the power of destruction is no joke. But it felt like everyone got stopped when Grayfia clapped her hands, making everyone fall silent.

"Lord Sirzechs had already predicted such a situation would occur. As such I have been tasked to carry out a last measure if no agreement was to be reached."

Seeing no one interrupted her she continued speaking.

"Lady Rias, if you insist on your stance on this marriage then Lord Satan Sirzechs has proposed you to settle this issue through a rating game between both of your peerages."

Hearing these words Riser looked incredulous. 

"Rias, you cannot be serious. You are not even a qualified player let alone have any experience while I already have a dozen wins under my belt. Are these all of your servants?" He said in a mocking tone as Rias felt trepidation.

"Yes, so what?" Ah, you poor naive girl. You may be charming but sometimes your head is emptier than a balloon.

"Really Rias? Do you really expect to take me on when you haven't even filled half of your peerage? Don't make me laugh." Laughing he snapped his fingers, making the magic circle ignite, teleporting 15 girls into the room.

Honestly except for 2, the rest looked generic enough for me to gloss over. One was the Boob- I mean Bomb Queen Yubelluna a voluptuous woman with long, wavy purple hair and quite a revealing dress. She was quite strong, around Akeno's level if not a bit weaker.

The other one was Ravel Phenex, a beautiful young girl with dark blue eyes. She has long blonde hair tied into twin tails with large, drill-like curls and blue ribbons keeping them in place wearing a pink frilly dress. Her stats were not worth mentioning, she was far weaker than the queen with her lineage hard carrying her.

"I have 15, in other words, a full set of pieces. Give up Rias. Or do one of your peerage members have to die for you to realize it?" Riser gestured to his peerage while his sister kept sneaking looks at my abs(Pants brought to you by shadow storage).

[+10 Affection with Ravel Phenex (For having sexy abs)]

"Do you still intend to challenge me Rias?" Riser stared challengingly at Rias while on the other I heard a hushed voice say under their breath.

"?Why is that guy naked?"  Honestly, I am surprised someone actually mentioned my half-naked self but everyone pretended to not hear little Ravel.

Hearing Riser's words and seeing his peerage Rias looked at me with repidation. Although she seemed confident of the outside she was not free from doubt, as she should be, Riser is no pushover but she is.

But regardless I showed her a confident smile, edging her to challenge that cocky chicken. Seeing my confidence Rias regained hers and faced Riser. Now having completely made up her mind.

"Riser Phenex. I, Rias Gremory, Heiress apparent of the Gremory Family challenge you to a rating game!"

"Tch, seems like you won't learn until your peerage does. Fine, I accept this ridiculous proposal of yours. But first, Mage!" The angry chicken thigh pointed to me.

"That's sorcerer to you, asshole, but go on." Another vein popped up on Riser's template making me all the happier provoking him.

"I heard about your situation from Grayfia, will you be participating as a participant on Rias' side?"

"Did you think I would miss a possible chance to beat your ass? If so you must be dumber than the seagull that snatched my fries, or maybe you are related?" 

*Snicker* *cough! cough!*

I saw Ravel snicker as Riser shot her a glare that shut her up while I shot a finger gun and a wink her way. At least someone appreciated my trash-talking.

"Fine then, I will crush you in this rating game, I swear on the name of the Phenex clan. I am giving you all one week." Saying that Riser shot me a seething glare and teleported away with his peerage along with Grayfia.

Now that everybody had left Rias turned to me.

"Although I was already planning on challenging him to a rating game now that I did. What do we do now Akira?" Rias asked me awkwardly as she was supposed to be the king yet she had to rely on me here.

"Well, isn't it obvious? We make the most of this week as we can by training. Do you know a good open and isolated location suitable for training?" I already knew she did, of course, I just needed her to say it.

"Yes, my family own a private lodge near the mountains, away from most civilization. We can train there." Hearing that I clapped my hands to gather everyone's attention.

"Well then, what are we even waiting for, let's head out."

It took a bit for everyone to gather their belongings but after they did Rias teleported us to her training mansion.

It was training time.

!Powerstones would certainly be welcomed!

A/N: What did you think about this chapter? Did you like how Akira interacted with the characters and vice versa? I like reading your comments even if I do not respond so don't forget to leave your thoughts below.

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