Chapter 22: Mission Objective: Beat the Bird, Save the Princess!

All eyes were on us as we entered. I took a glance at Grayfia and saw her cold red eyes looking into my own. I then redirected my attention to the blonde man.

"I feel kind of hurt. Y'all are having a party and you all didn't tell me." I said, although my tone obviously wasn't playful as my eyes bored into the man who was playing with Rias' hair.

"A party? Ahaha! Yes, you could call it that. I didn't know you had such positive human pets serving you Rias." The blonde man laughed.

"Enough! How many times must I say it for you to get it through your head!? I don't want to marry you Riser!" Rias shouted as she stood up, surprising everyone in the room. I had seen Rias act out of character two nights ago, but it was still weird to see and wasn't something I saw myself getting used to.

"I think it is you that needs to get it through your head, Rias. We are engaged and I am your husband to be. Fighting that will only lead to heartache." Riser smirked.

"I never agreed to that! I have said time and time again that I wish to decide for myself who I will marry! Me!" Rias growled in frustration, her crimson demonic power was starting to radiate from her body.

Riser stood up and his own magic power started to rise. "It is my job as your husband to put you in your place when you act up, I hope you'll forgive me for this, My Dear Rias." Riser taunted as flames danced around his body.

"Enough." A single word said with such grace and authority it caused both Rias and Riser to instantly drop their demonic powers. "I am here as the mediator of this meeting and I will uphold my duty as the Queen of Lord Lucifer." Grayfia announced.

"Understood." Rias said defeatedly.

"I wouldn't want to piss off the Strongest Queen. If it is Lord Lucifer's wish, we will play by the rules." Riser grinned before looking at Akeno. "Can I get some more tea?"

"Of course, Lord Riser." Akeno said, grabbing the pot and pouring the man his tea.

Riser took a sip before turning back to Akeno with a shit eating grin. "Your tea is quite amazing, I look forward to drinking this tea of yours everyday." Had his gaze been on her face he would have noticed the twitch of her eyes, but he was too preoccupied staring at her chest.

"Thank you, My Lord." Akeno said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes and a bow.

Riser then turned his attention to the rest of the ORC before frowning. "Rias, your peerage is terribly weak. We'll have to do something about that once we're wed."

Rias' face twisted into shock before it morphed into pure hatred. "You will not touch them!"

"Last I checked, as your husband I would have as much control over your peerage as you, or have you forgotten?" He asked.

"I think I understand." I said as I put my fist on my palm and nodded sagely.

All eyes turned to me, and Riser seemed amused by my sudden outburst. "Go on then, tell us what you have figured out, Pet of Rias."

"I understand why you're so enamored with the idea of marrying Buchou."

Riser's eyebrows raised as he looked towards Rias who seemed to be just as confused as him. "Well then out with it!"

"Well…With how you've been talking it's obvious your parents don't love you enough to raise you properly, so you're seeking that love from Buchou." I said with a nod

Silence.

"Are you perhaps the middle child? Always being outdone by your older sibling, while your parents coddle your younger one? I could be wrong but your personality just screams "My parents don't care about me so why not fuck up other peoples lives."" I mocked.

Before Riser could talk I decided to continue. "Perhaps you were bullied in your younger days? Always looked down on, so now you make it a habit to belittle everyone you meet. Your a carbon copy of those shitty delinquents I used to fuck up back in the day."

No one spoke for what felt like minutes as my words hung through the air.

"...Unimportant fried chicken." Koneko said as she ate her sweets.

Issei looked between Riser, Koneko, and I before he started dying laughing. Tears started forming in his eyes and he dropped to his knees. Koneko's sudden unexpected insult no doubt took him out.

"Dude! Me…Me personally! I ain't taking that level of disrespect! How can you just sit there with your beak caught between your legs!" Issei rolled.

The restrained laughter on Rias and Akeno's faces could be seen by all. Rias tried to recompose herself by drinking Akeno's tea, but when she saw Issei stand up just to fall back to the ground laughing again she couldn't hold it in. She spat the tea out and started verbally laughing. Akeno, seeing this, stopped restraining herself and joined her King.

Asia, God bless her soul, didn't quite understand why everyone was laughing but smiled seeing Issei enjoying himself. Even Koneko couldn't stop the giggles from forming. Yuuto had long since given up and had taken to laughing into his hand.

"Enough!" Riser shouted.

"Damn, did we strike a nerve? Guess we were really stepping on eggshells there…" I said and everyone looked at me before starting another wave of laughter.

"Isamu you suck!" Issei shouted, the tears falling out of his eyes told a different story though. The man was literally rolling on the floor. "Such a shitty joke…Why am I laughing!"

"A shitty joke, like his life?" Rias asked, and that was the last straw. I hadn't expected her to come with a follow up like that and I doubled over in laughter.

"Shitty joke, shitty life, shitty chicken." Akeno giggled.

I had taken to rolling like Issei. These combo attacks were too much.

"I said enough!" Riser shouted standing up and letting his demonic power roar free before glancing at Grayfia and calming down.

"Haha…Hey, why did the chicken cross the road?" Issei barely managed to wheeze out.

"Why?" I asked through heavy breaths.

"To-"

"I said shut the fuck up!" Riser shouted, sending a blast of fire toward Issei. Yuuto moving quickly made a flame delete sword and slashed at the fire, putting it out with a single swing.

"Enough. I thought I had made myself clear, Lord Riser." Grayfia said, although now she was flaring her power. Everyone stopped laughing upon feeling the room's temperature fall several dozen degrees.

"Playing by the rules is pretty hard when we don't even know them." I said, gaining Grayfia's attention. "Let's cut right to the chase. Is there I can put an end to this joke of an engagement?"

Everyone was surprised by my sudden question, but none more so than Rias.

"Isamu, you don't need to-"

"You're right. I don't. However my mind was made up the moment I made that promise."

Rias looked at me with a face full of hurt. It was clear she didn't want me to burden myself with her problems, but any objections to my decision would be a clear attack on my own word. And with the exception of some jokes, standing by my word is kinda my thing.

Grayfia looked at me for a few seconds before closing her eyes and answering. "There is." My heart jumped in excitement upon hearing those words. "However, such a thing is very rare, and a majority who signed the engagement contract must agree with such an action."

"Tell me what I have to do." I demanded calmly.

"Under all devil engagement contracts there is a challenge clause for someone wanting to object to the union of the two. The challenge, if allowed by majority vote, will take place between the challenger and the challenged. Many centuries ago, the loser of the challenge would be required to forfeit their lives, whether it be for daring to disgrace the union of two devils, or for failing to live up to the expectations set by the family. Nowadays with a lesser devil population, such a fate is prohibited." Grayfia explained, her words slow and bold so everyone could follow along.

"My father, Lord Gremory, and Lord Lucifer would never sign off on this! They want this marriage just as much as I do, if not more!" Riser laughed. It was as if he had heard the best joke of his life and he was definitely enjoying our hopeless faces.

"So, how can I ask for their blessing?" I asked with a complicated expression. If they didn't approve of this, then I would have to find another way to help Rias out. Which is something I could do, but this option was just too perfect.

"You already have." Grayfia said with closed eyes. "I have been recording this entire meeting per request of my king. Both the entire Gremory family as well as the Phenex family have been watching live. With the exceptions of Heir Ruval and Lord Ruxal."

I cringed hearing this. We had just insulted the entire Phenex family, and that isn't exactly the best first impression. Issei looked concerned for his safety. He had no doubt went the furthest with laughing, so it was understandable to feel a bit caught off guard. Though that didn't come close to how I felt. Skipping past the chicken jokes, I basically called his parents deadbeats in regards to Riser. I could feel the glare from Lady Phenex and I hadn't even met her yet!

"Well, go big or go home." I whispered to myself. I already went off the deep end, I just had to pray now that Lord Gremory and Lord Lucifer would come through.

A crimson magic circle appeared by Grayfia's ear; the faint voice of a man could be heard before the circle disappeared.

"The Lord's are currently deliberating." Grayfia announced.

I knew there was no point in worrying, not right now so I went and took a seat on the right hand couch. Akeno saw my nonchalant expression and took a seat next to me.

"So I~sa-"

"Please don't." I stopped her quickly. Now was definitely not the time, and with people I have never met before watching us, I felt pretty uncomfortable.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit, but perhaps now isn't the best time." Akeno giggled before clinging to my arm.

I said nothing, keeping my gaze on Grayfia. As I did, I finally got to take my time and admire her beauty. Her sparkling silver hair fell perfectly down to her beautiful perky breasts. Her deep red eyes that I honestly enjoyed looking into more than any other woman. The fact that she was a maid and an absolute powerhouse only increased her attractiveness in my eyes. Her power felt even stronger than my mothers, and if what Ddraig said was true, then she would easily overpower her.

Grayfia noticed I was staring at her and stared back. My crimson locked on her scarlet. Unlike other random women, I often found myself not wanting to look from her eyes. Even with Rias and Akeno I felt a certain awkwardness at first when I looked into their eyes. The maid's eyes broke from mine when she noticed Issei gawking at her breasts like an idiot. Her cold stare was all that was needed to thoroughly scare him shitless.

The sight seemed to be amusing to Akeno because she was stifling her giggles.

Another five minutes of silence before another magic circle with the Gremory crest appeared by Grayfia's ear. We all perked up and tried to listen to their conversation, but the circle was too quiet.

Finally the circle disappeared and the suspense was killing me.

"It seems the vote was 2-1, in Mr. Satoru's favor." Grayfia announced with the smallest of smiles. Her emotions didn't escape me for a moment.

Happiness, Relief, Hope.

It seems this maid wasn't as cold as she let on.

"Alright!" Issei jumped up with his fist in the air. Everyone had a similar reaction, albeit way more restrained. A smile graced the lips of Koneko, Yuuto, and Akeno. While Asia ran up to Rias and grasped her hands with small tears in her eyes. The absolute angel Asia was brought a small smile to Rias' lips.

"How can this be!" Riser shouted, making his dissatisfaction and disbelief known.

"It seems Lord Lucifer and Lord Gremory both think such a spectacle would be rather entertaining to see. In My King's own words, "The fight between the Immortal Phenex, and an Egyptian Demigod is too interesting to ignore.""

I frowned hearing this, my gaze shifted to Rias who was blushing profusely. She noticed my gaze and mouthed 'sorry.' She had spilled the beans, and while it's not like I was trying to keep it a secret, I'd rather my existence stay as lowkey as possible. At least until I know more about the world.

I facepalmed as I started regretting my own stupid and lustful decisions that led me here. Of course fighting for the hand of a devil heiress was the opposite of lowkey, but my horny ass was too blinded by horniness.

I recalled the words my mother said to me the day I turned 13.

"Isa, there are two killers of men. Money and Pussy."

Why had I not taken her words seriously!

I had finally noticed that Riser was looking at me like I had grown a second head…Did this dumbass not know? Could he not sense it!? While I did make an effort to hide my divine aura, to do so completely would take complete mastery of my domains. Considering I had five they were all leaking some level of divinity that even a baby should be able to sense!

Even Raynare and the other fallen showed signs of sensing it, and they were low to high class scrubs!

"This…pet." Riser pointed at me and looked at Grayfia with pure anger. "He's a demigod?"

"Indeed." Grayfia replied coldly.

Riser clenched his fists in anger. It looked like he was about to blow the entire building up, but the chilly breeze that filled the room, warned Riser of his fate if he did such a thing. He scoffed as he looked at Grayfia. Taking a few steps backward he looked me dead in the eye with the meanest glare I've experienced to date.

"Count your days, False God!" Riser held up three fingers. "I give you three days to wish your loved ones well. Your endlessly lucky I cannot kill you during our fight, but know this…The night Rias and I wed, I will burn your ass to a crisp and fuck her on your ashes!" Riser shouted as the flames of his teleportation circle burned bright. When they dispersed he was gone.

"..." I had nothing to say. I had to hand it to him. If he was strong, I would have been slightly intimidated. The look in his eyes told me he absolutely planned on honoring his word.

However, the fact remains that Riser is at best high high class. The question wasn't if I would win, it was how I'd win.

I looked at Grayfia and saw the same small smile on her face. Even she can tell this is gonna be a massacre.

"Well then, my job is done here. I will be taking my leave." Grayfia said with a bow. A bright crimson circle appeared under her feet and in a flash she was gone.