17 Chapter 17

Hearing Rias's burn, Riser hit that mythical spark of primordial rage where a normally sane man decides. 'I am going to smack a bitch.' And completely blacks out in that moment of going to lay hands on their target.

"Ahem," I spoke grinning as I interposed myself between Riser and Rias who was still behind her desk and even Akeno who was behind Rias was ready to lay out some lightning onto Riser seeing the irate man advancing on her king. "You don't want to do that... You are a guest, go sit down or I will make you sit." I said quietly as I lost the smile at the burn, and I looked down at the slightly shorter man's dark blue eyes with my golden ones, and seeing how serious I was, the High-Class Devil stopped in his tracks.

"Get the hell out of my way peon, I have a woman to discipline." He said slowly and then raised up a hand in front of my face that was coated it golden flames.

"Put down that hand, before I sow it into your face you big baby bitch." I responded just as cockily before I gracefully stepped back as Riser went to slap at me with his flame-coated hands and then the man was instantly smashed into the clubrooms wall with a pillar of ice as Grayfia came out of a teleportation sigil she made behind Riser and out of his view.

"Riser Phenex, attempt to lay your hand again on a servant of the Gremory Peerage at your own peril," Grayfia said as she allowed the pillar of ice that pinned Riser into the wall to disappear leaving the devil to audibly heal his very fractured ribs and other bones.

"Understood Strongest Queen..." Riser said almost snarling but seeing the white-haired maid raise an eyebrow at his attitude Riser's face went still as he attempted to put on a poker face.

"Now as the Queen of Lucifer, I will be acting as an unbiased intermediary between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex due to the insult of Riser Phenex's actions of sending an unannounced familiar into Rias Gremory's territory and even spying upon her personal holdings. What say you, Riser Phenex." Grayfia droned on as she took the center field of the room.

"Riser merely allowed his familiar to explore Japan freely, it was completely by coincidence that it made its way to Kuoh and was looking in on Rias... Perhaps it sensed our great connection?" Riser mused and I could only snort at his bullshit.

"Rias, isn't it a sign of mental instability to be speaking in the third person? Couldn't you use the fact that he is lacking in sound mind to evade this engagement?" I asked making everyone in the room giggle except for Riser himself who blushed in outrage at my words with even Grayfia subtly coughing into a hand to cover her own little titter at my joke.

"You will find surviving past the day of my nuptials for these insults difficult." Riser suddenly yelled as he pointed at me and for a moment, I considered looking to Grayfia or Rias for intervention but then I realized that in this devil society where might made right, I needed to stand up for myself as caustic words were all well in good, but I needed to be able to back it up.

"Yeah? What are you going to do? Use your family's wealth to hire assassins or something? Or are you going to be a man and do it yourself?" I asked and with me asking bluntly if he was going to use his family's connections to do such things, he wouldn't be able to set up some skivy shit as with myself being connected Rias's that would be an attack on not only her but the whole Gremory house which included her very very scary older brother.

Seeing Riser about to retort I continued. "Look I know Rias's comment about your manhood being the reason you are so obsessed with little girls has... Thrown you off. But let's be honest. This is only going to end in a Rating Game as Rias utterly refuses to marry you so let's skip the little grandstanding and set the date to our dance where you attempt to hurt me, and I laugh at you and your little dick-waving contest."

Riser had gone past the whole eruption of anger and had seemingly entered a numb state as he nodded and looked to Grayfia and spoke in a hoarse voice. "I Riser Phenex demand a rating game between myself and Peerage versus Rias Gremory and her peerage for the insults levied towards my noble self."

"We agree!" Rias yelled before Grayfia interjected and the sister-in-law gave Rias a gimlet eye before nodding before looking to Riser.

"Very well... Due to the excitement of the day and due to planning a possible wedding, we will postpone this rating game for a full week so as to allow invitations to all the Underworld may watch the Rating Game, and then possibly the wedding in the next couple of days after the game should Riser win." Grayfia spoke.

"Heh, although you have actually gotten a couple more pieces, my peerage is actually full and actually has Rating Game experience!" Riser boasted snapping his fingers and then a large teleportation array burst into life behind him with his full peerage coming out of the teleportation, already basically posing.

"Dude..." I said flabbergasted at that little realization and then Riser burst into laughter seeing my face.

"Haha, you peon do you now see the difference between Riser Phenex and you? Watch as I actually have women and a full harem at that!" Riser said in maniac triumph after 'getting ahead' of me in something and even went as far as grabbing the busty form of Yubelluna, his queen, and the so-called Bomb Queen to make out with her in full view of his possible fiancée

"No, you fucking tool, I saw they were all already posing as though they were in some cringe esports showcase, and with how instantaneous your teleportation was, I knew they must have been holding those damned poses for the whole ten minutes you have been here." Then I pointed to the actually classily dressed blond beauty with ringlets for hair. "Dude is she your sister?! Is that how depraved that you would sink your claws into your younger sister!" I said dramatically and I saw Ravel's face turn an atomic red as she looked to her brother in horror as she herself realized how I could have gotten that conclusion from how Riser called his whole peerage his harem.

"Absolutely not you low-class devil!" Ravel screeched stomping forward to surprisingly kick Riser in the shin and making him grunt as he was pulled away from Yubelluna by the strong-headed younger girl. "Riser, let's go! We already have a Rating Game set, and Mother and Father will already be pissed at you for how this meeting went."

"Fine Ravel!" Riser groaned before he locked eyes with me and then looked to Ei who was still beside me and then he frowned but I saw he had evil thoughts brewing within his head. "What is that person doing here anyway? She isn't even a devil anyway?"

"She is mine," I said cutting off anything Rias could say, and I could all but feel Ei preening beside me and Riser's eyebrow perked up at the realization that she was only attached to a low-class devil.

"Hmm... Maybe you aren't of such bad taste having such a beauty beside you and herself being so obediently silent." He mused aloud making all the girl's faces in the room twitch in unison and sensing the bloodlust aimed at him he coughed. "Anyway, I want her." He said making my face darken at how fucking arrogant he was before he continued, and my face smoothed over into a veneer of calmness. "During our rating game, not only will my wedding to Rias be on the line, I want that woman to be my maid as well." He said pointing at Ei who merely blinked at the man who in her own mind was just an animal gibbering for attention.

"And what will you offer the ante of a woman who has holy lightning running through her veins and could pass it down to her descendants? Ei shows it for the gallery." I ordered with Ei holding up her hand with unmistakably holy lightning bouncing between her hands. For a moment I saw Akeno's face twitch at the sight but then she smiled, and I realized she probably saw me giving the holy lightning to what amounted to a being that was my servant as a sort of insult to the power she so loathed.

"Riser..." Riser had no immediate answer and then he did the unthinkable for Rias, he looked to his own peerage to see what he could offer up to match mine. "Riser will offer up Yubelluna, and these twins Ni and Li... These three are equal in worth to that woman." He said proudly.

For a moment I wanted to scoff but seeing the truly uncaring expressions on the girls that he offered up I realized that either they didn't care that he was offering to trade them away, they were completely assured of his victory, or maybe like Diadora, he had broken something inside of them after he got them into his peerage.

"Lady Grayfia will you bear witness to this deal?" I asked after a moment as everyone watched to see what I would do and I realized that I couldn't bitch out or even pull the, I wouldn't sell or bet my woman card as Rating Games were the definition of Human Trafficking with how pieces were traded in order to better a team not to mention Devils fascination in owning people.

With Grayfia taking her place as the bet's keeper as it were, whoever lost would have to pay up due to Grayfia's strength and political power.

But honestly hearing his offer, I realized I could have Yubelluna teach Klee bomb magic and then I could even copy over Koneko's Nekoshou bloodline to those Nekomata that Riser was offering up.

"Yes... I will guarantee, the terms of this deal go through with the Rating Game's winner taking whoever has been betted. Do you consent to this deal?' Grayfia asked Ei and the dark purple-haired beauty nodded.

"Master won't lose." Ei simply replied earning an amused huff from Grayfia who turned back to Riser.

"There you have it. Now leave and do not leave the Underworld nor send any familiars lest you wish to taste my displeasure." Grayfia warned Riser who nodded at the Strongest Queen's warning not to get up to any funny business.

"Very well Riser can see when he is unwanted. I will be leaving now." He said before walking back into his peerage and then a pillar of flames engulfed the peerage as they teleported out and left little flames on the carpet that Akeno tittered putting out with little streams of water magic.