Wrath!

Like before, there was no hesitation on Riser's blade.

He cut down Azazel's arm smoothly and was about to cut Azazel's body in half.

This sudden reversal left all of them stunned and unable to react.

"AZAZEL!"

Frankly, Azazel wasn't good at fighting. Fighting wasn't his forte, after all, but it didn't mean he was weak. Due to Vali's reminder, he quickly used all of his power to emit a holy light within his body to deter Riser, giving him a chance to escape and walk out from this favorable position.

Devils had a light as their weakness.

It was impossible for them to be immune to it as they were born that way.

It was the same case with Riser.

Still, he had a "Holy Resistance" and a "Light Resistance," which he received from Akeno previously. Nevertheless, it didn't mean he was completely immune, as the holy light that came from Azazel couldn't be compared to those low fries of fallen angels.

Yet, Riser had a "Crisis."

The more injuries he received, the stronger he was.

Even if his body was battered, full of injuries from head to toe, and many parts of his bones were broken, his aura was blazing.

Riser was like a great comet.

Even if his shine was only momentary, his figure was exceptionally bright tonight.

Facing the bright light that came from Azazel, Riser didn't move and kept hold of Azazel in place with his feet as his body was burnt due to the holy light.

"ARRGGGHHHH!!!!"

However, the brighter Riser was, the more panicked Azazel was. He didn't have a fighting talent like Vali, and he just wanted to spend his days researching, doing something fun, and flirting with a woman!

How could he die in this place?!

Then, in that moment—

"Down Fall Dragon Another Armor!"

Azazel took out a short golden spear from his pocket, and his body shone brightly. At that moment, his figure changed. He equipped himself with a handsome Golden Dragon Armor, fully covering his entire body from head to toe.

Still, if someone looked closely at his armor, they would see a resemblance of this armor with Vali's Scale Mail.

Yes, this was Artificial Sacred Gear that Azazel created based on Vali's Sacred Gear.

Naturally, it wasn't as powerful as Vali's Divine Dividing as Azazel wasn't a God, and it was impossible for him to create a Sacred Gear, considering God died and never disclosed the method to create the Sacred Gear.

Nevertheless, with Azazel's intellect, he was able to create Artificial Sacred Gear, which was capable of increasing his offensive and defensive capabilities.

Moreover, it also allowed him to summon a two-pronged Spear of Light.

At that moment, he didn't hesitate to stab this spear of light at Riser, hoping that he could push him away, giving him a moment of an escape.

Frankly, Azazel only hoped to scare Riser as he didn't want to kill Riser. After all, unlike Kokabiel or Vali, he was up-to-date with the news on the Underworld, including the devil society.

Azazel knew that Riser was Serafall's brother-in-law; killing him was definitely a problem.

—or rather, he didn't have the confidence to kill him!

Even Vali, who had reached the "Juggernaut Drive," was unable to do anything and was almost killed by Riser.

What about him?

Azazel wanted to cry at this moment, but then his eyes widened when he saw Riser grab his two-pronged Spear of Light with his left hand.

As this spear was made of light, naturally, it burnt Riser's hand.

There was no remaining of his skin, and what was left was the meat of his hand.

Azazel could even see the bones on the hand that grabbed his spear.

Those who saw it almost couldn't open their eyes since they could feel how painful it was just by looking at Riser's injured hand.

Yet... yet... Riser had never let that go.

His hand was like a vise, and Azazel was unable to do anything before his face was smashed by Riser's fist.

"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"

When Riser beat Azazel up, raining down his right fist cruelly at various parts of Azazel's body, he also activated the "Reflector" that he received from Vali.

As he had defeated Vali until he was crying, he also received his new reward.

Reflector.

It is an ability that allows the user to store and reflect back on any attack that the opponent landed on the user. The drawback is that the user is required to take damage.

As Riser received the damage from holding the spear of light and the light emitted from Azazel's body, he stored them and reflected all of them onto Azazel.

At that moment, the proud Artificial Sacred Gear was ruined into a mere wreck.

The handsome appearance of the golden dragon armor was no longer there.

What was left was Azazel's body, which was battered with various degrees of injuries.

[How dare you, a mere fallen angel, order me? Who do you think you are? I am above everyone!]

[Beat the hell of shit of Azazel]

[Reward: Researcher]

As expected, the more trouble he encountered, the more he got a reward.

Even though Riser was exhausted, he still worked hard as he was still clueless about many things in this world.

Nevertheless, the truth of this world was simple.

The stronger you are, the more respected you are.

So, there was no need for him to listen to the persuasion of his wife, Rias, and the others.

Riser was going to walk on his own path!

Yet, he had to say he was quite disappointed with his wife, who didn't believe in him.

Still, as Riser beat up Azazel, the others could only stare in a daze. Previously, they had hoped for him to stop so they could tend to his injuries as soon as possible. Moreover, after facing so many strong enemies, they were going to face the governor of the fallen angel; how could they not be nervous?

Yet, Riser still charged forward and won.

Yes, he won.

To their surprise, even if his body was battered and full of injuries, he never stopped and kept fighting.

This time, all of them were quiet.

No one talked.

Even Issei, who had been annoyed, could only shudder at Riser's brutality, making him recall the horror he encountered that day.

"Azazel! Azazel! Azazel!"

Meanwhile, Vali kept crying, calling the name of his father-like figure, who was beaten up by Riser.

If he was the one who caused Azazel to die, then—

As he cried, his eyes burnt the image of Riser in his mind as he was definitely going to have his revenge. He definitely wouldn't let Riser go, especially if Riser really killed Azazel.

Nevertheless, Azazel was already in the realm between conscious and unconscious. He was beaten so hard that he couldn't determine the reality and dream. It wasn't until Riser stopped that he looked at Riser with one of his eyes.

As for his other eye? Azazel was unable to open it and was beaten by him.

His consciousness was hazy, but he knew that he was about to die.

Yet, he still burnt Riser's visage that held him in a place with his foot.

His indifferent eyes look at him like a bug.

His callousness that thought that killing him was nothing but killing a small fry.

Azazel sighed helplessly, wondering why he provoked him.

He was wondering why he couldn't appear so polite when he asked before.

Yet, there was no medicine for regret.

Everything was too late.

"To be honest, I don't want to fight and live peacefully, but why do you force me to fight?"

For the first time, Azazel heard Riser's voice.

"Your first subordinate came to my wife and her friends. Your second subordinate came with the intention to kill me; then you came here ready to kill me, too. Do you want to mess with my life that much?

"Oh, this is my most horrible day." 

His voice was low and cold, yet blazing like the fire on purgatory.

Azazel knew that he had provoked that he shouldn't, and he knew that he was about to die.

If there was something that he was sad about, it was probably Vali, as he knew he couldn't protect Vali's life.

Riser created another blade of concentrated fire and swung it at Azazel's neck without hesitation.

"AZAZEEELLL!!!"

Vali screamed that name as he was in tears, feeling extremely regretful for causing so much trouble for Azazel.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Vali kept screaming as he was filled with a sense of powerlessness.

While he could hear Vali's scream, Azazel could only smile wrily as he couldn't even give a response since he was about to die, yet—

"RISER, STOP!"

At that moment, a powerful unholy filled with dread of aura spread over his direction, stopping his movement.

Riser grabbed the handle of his sword tightly, trying to endure his irritation and wrath since he knew the annoyance had come once again.