104 Meeting with Riser Phenex

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

The Golden Week holidays have ended and the students of Kuoh returned to school. On top of that, thanks to Sona, Asia was added to the student body as a transfer student in the same class as the rest of the devils in the second year. The first day back, like most days after a holiday, felt much longer than usual to the students. However, they made it through the day without issue. Today, there was a notice posted on the doors of the MMA training hall that read: "There will be no club activities today. Activities will resume tomorrow."

Seeing the note, most of the members were a bit disappointed. But they understood that things happen out of one's control from time to time. However, there were two girls who were not convinced by that explanation.

"The devils must be up to something." Mio said suspiciously. "I still don't even know if we can trust them."

"That goes both ways, Mio." Maria said nonchalantly. "We kinda invaded another devil's territory, you know. It's a major kindness that they even allowed us to stay in the town."

Mio knew that Maria was right, but she did not want to admit it. She did not understand why the devils would not just confront them about their motives. But she did not trust them enough to tell them about their circumstances either.

"Let's just go home." Mio said irritably. "Maybe we should just leave the town, too."

"Absolutely not!" Maria exclaimed in protest. "Trust me, Mio, that would be a bad idea."

"Whatever." Mio said in a tone of uninterest. "If something doesn't come of this soon, I'll kill you a hundred times."

With that, Mio turned away and started to walk toward their home. Maria could only hope that the devils of Kuoh would come to them soon. She really did not want anything to happen to her and her sister.

At the same time, James, Mizore, Moka, Flora, and Shuna were seated in the Occult Research Club's club room along with Rias and her peerage. As they waited for Grayfia and Riser, they chatted about what to expect during the meeting while they drank tea and ate snacks.

"If I were a betting man, I'd put money on Riser acting like a cocky asshole from the moment he arrives." James said before taking a sip of the tea Akeno served.

"The only ones who would take that bet are the people who have never met him." Rias said with a huff. "He's the type that likes to bully the weak. At the same time, he fears the strong."

"Plus, the Phenex Clan's bloodline trait, [High-Speed Regeneration] makes their definition of strong really skewed." James added.

"What, are they able to regenerate like the Pheonix from legends?" Issei asked incredulously.

"Not quite, but close." Rias said with a nod. "As long as they have the will and demonic power, they are virtually unbeatable and unkillable."

"They would be a pain to fight." Koneko said while nibbling on a cookie and sitting on James' lap.

"By the way, James." Rias said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, what's up?" James asked, taking another sip of his tea.

"When did you two get so close?" Rias asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." James said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You saw that I was just as surprised as everyone else when she sat on my lap after I sat down."

"And what do you have to say about this, Koneko?" Rias asked the white-haired cat girl.

"I've decided to become James-Nii's mate when I'm finished growing up." Koneko said without raising her head. Instead, she just continued to nibble on her cookie.

Rias could only sigh at the predictable answer. Then, she looked at James again.

"How do you just pull the girls in my peerage toward you?" Rias asked in frustration.

"It's probably because I help them get over their traumas from childhood." James said nonchalantly. "Besides, I don't have all of them, right?"

As James finished, he looked at Asia, who was smiling happily while chatting with the oblivious Issei. Then, the rest of the group looked at Asia. And when they did, they all smiled happily. Feeling the stares from the rest of the group, Asia turned her head and saw everyone smiling at her. Immediately, her face turned a shade of crimson much like Rias' hair.

Before any conversations could continue, a teleportation magic circle bearing the mark of the Phenex Clan appeared in the corner of the room.

"Ugh. He's here." Rias said with discontent clear in her tone.

Before the magic circle revealed its occupant, both Rias and James peerages relocated to the seats lining the room. James and Rias sat on opposite sofas with proper postures and Akeno positioned herself behind Rias as she always does. A moment later, the magic circle revealed Riser Phenex, just as they all expected. Once the teleportation circle vanished, Riser began to speak in an arrogant, overly familiar tone.

"Rias, I have arrived." Riser said as he walked toward Rias without acknowledging anyone else in the room. "Now, let's head back to the Underworld and have our wedding ceremony, right now. I truly hate the Human World; the wind and fire hear are rancid."

As he finished speaking, Riser took a seat next to Rias and took a lock of her hair into his hand. A moment later, Rias swept his hand away and looked at him emotionlessly.

"If you have no intention of respecting yourself, at least show me the proper respect, Riser." Rias said while glancing at Riser out of the corner of her eye. "On top of that, to not greet another High-Class devil upon entry is quite rude."

Hearing that, Riser glanced at James out of the corner of his eye, then he snorted in disdain.

"A filthy half-breed has no right to be considered a High-Class devil like the two of us." Riser said dismissively.

In response to Riser's taunting, the atmosphere grew heavy. As Mizore, Moka, Flora, and Shuna released their auras, both Rias and Riser were surprised.

'They're all at the advanced-level of the high-rank.' Rias and Riser thought simultaneously.

After feeling the power of his peerage, Riser looked at James more seriously.

'Maybe his unofficial title of the strongest in the new generation isn't all talk.' Riser thought to himself.

"Well, half-breed, I must admit you choose your servants well." Riser said arrogantly.

Before responding, James raised a hand as a signal to the girls that it was nothing to worry about. Then, he calmly took a sip of his tea. At the same time, Akeno also served a cup to Riser.

"I suppose I'll take that as a compliment." James said with a smile. "As a player in the [Rating Games], I'm curious how you would rate them."

"They're quite good." Riser replied after taking a sip of his tea. "Far too good for a half-breed like you."

"Your disrespect is growing tiresome, Riser." Rias said, unamused. "And the jealousy leaking from you is quite ugly."

"Me, Riser Phenex, jealous? Of a half-breed?" Riser said angrily. Then with a snap of his fingers, another teleportation magic circle appeared in the same place Riser appeared from. "After seeing my peerage, you'll see I have no reason to be jealous of anyone."

A few moments later, Riser's teleportation circle revealed fifteen girls of all types, there were even two sets of twins. Upon seeing them, most of the members of the two peerages were unimpressed. The only person weaker than anyone in the peerage was Asia who just became a devil less than a week ago. However, there was one person who was affected deeply at the sight.

"Damn it." Issei muttered to himself as tears flowed down his cheeks.

Hearing the discontent muttering, Riser looked back to their source and questioned the sight.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Riser asked curiously.

"*Sigh* That's one of my [Pawns]." Rias said exasperatedly. "He has the dream of making his own harem in the future."

"What a clown." Riser said as he stood from his seat and walked over to his peerage. When he arrived in front of a voluptuous young woman with purple eyes, long wavy purple hair that falls to her waist and covers her right eye and uneven side bangs that reach to her hip and breast on the left and right sides, respectively, Riser looked back at Issei and smirked. "Let me give you a glimpse of something you'll never have."

Then, without warning, he pulled the purple-haired woman into his arms and kissed her deeply. Naturally, Issei was burning with jealousy. However, he neither spoke nor acted. Instead, Mizore and Moka were the ones who spoke.

"Truly, a man with no class." Moka said in disdain.

"I know, right." Mizore chimed in with just as much, if not more disdain in her voice. "To do that right in front of his fiancée, he truly has no respect for his partner or any class to boot."

While Mizore and Moka were insulting Riser over his lack of manners and respect for his fiancée, another teleportation circle appeared in the corner opposite Riser and his peerage.

Hearing the girls' disrespectful words to their [King] the cat girl twins in Riser's peerage lunged at Mizore and Moka. Before Riser could stop them, they were already in front of James' girls, throwing punches. Unfortunately, they were not present when the girls flared their demonic power a few minutes ago.

Easily, both twins' punches were caught by Mizore and Moka. Then, without wasting any effort, the cat girls were thrown across the room, crashing into a wall behind Riser's peerage, when Mizore and Moka swung their arms lightly. Even though he knew his girls were the ones in the wrong for attacking first, Riser's anger exploded.

"How dare the whores of a filthy half-breed harm the members of my peerage!" As Riser shouted, a reddish-golden flame began to form in his right hand.

Before he could launch the fireball, however, the voice of the half-breed he despised made him stop.

"I'd suggest we end it here." James said calmly while holding the hilt of a katana while gesturing behind Riser with his chin.

When Riser turned his head, what he saw made him go pale. There were several cherry blossom petal-shaped blades floating near the vitals of all fifteen of women in Riser's peerage. Then, the person who arrived from the latest teleportation circle also spoke in agreement.

"I also think it's time for this to end."

Hearing that voice, everyone turned their attention to its source.

"Oh, Big Sis Grayfia, you've arrived." James said with a smile while simultaneously recalling [Senbonzakura].

Grayfia returned the greeting with a nod. Then, she shifted her attention to Riser.

"I'd expect more of someone in your position, Lord Riser Phenex." Grayfia said in a neutral tone. "Instead of apologizing for the wrongs of your servants, you enable their poor behavior by acting just as wantonly as they do."

"There's no need for me to apologize to a filthy half-breed and his couple of whores." Riser shouted angrily.

Before James could flare his aura to shut up the arrogant Phenex, Grayfia's immense aura flooded the room.

"Have you forgotten to whom you are speaking, Riser Phenex?" Grayfia said coldly.

Riser's burning anger was immediately doused when he felt the chilling aura from the Underworld's publicly acknowledged strongest [Queen].

"My apologies, Lady Grayfia." Riser said, bowing politely.

"Well, Grayfia since you are here, and Riser has made enough of a fool of himself." Rias said, inserting herself into the conversation. "Can we put an end to this farce already?"

"I suppose." grayfia said while nodding to Rias' suggestion.

"Farce? What is the meaning of this?" Riser asked angrily.

"Riser Phenex." Rias said while making eye contact with Riser. "I have no intention of marrying you. In fact, I never have. So, I Rias Gremory, challenge you to a [Rating Game]. If I lose, I will marry you immediately. But If I win, I wish to never see you again. Unless we happen to meet as opponents during the [Rating Games] in the future."

For a few moments after Rias' declaration, the room fell silent. Then, Riser began to laugh uproariously. Eventually, his laughter died down and Riser spoke arrogantly.

"You wish to challenge me to a [Rating Game]?" Riser asked angrily. Then he flared his demonic energy to pressure Rias and her peerage. "You wish to challenge me, an advanced-level, high-rank, immortal being?"

Not even a moment later, Rias also flared her aura.

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Rias asked icily. "The only thing I have left to say to you, riser, is do you accept, or will you cancel the engagement without a fight?"

Feeling Rias aura, Riser was surprised, but not scared.

'So, our intel was wrong. She's at the same level as I am.'

"Fine, I accept your challenge." Riser replied confidently. "It's not like you have any chance of winning anyway. We'll have our [Game] ten days from now."

With that, Riser teleported his peerage away without waiting for a response. Then, Grayfia returned to the Underworld shortly afterward to report the results of the meeting and set up the [Rating Game] venue. Then, just Rias, her peerage, James, and the student members of his peerage were left in the Occult Research Club's club room. Eventually, James was the first to speak.

"Well, from what I can see, the only ones you guys would have problems dealing with are the two Phenex." James said with a smile. "If you play your cards right, you should be a free woman in ten days, Ri Ri."