At that same instant, Gilgamesh's body dissolved into golden particles, to Enkidu's surprise.
But his surprise lasted only a moment when Enkidu felt a sword above his shoulder.
Looking back, he saw Gilgamesh standing and smiling, with Balmung pressed against Enkidu's shoulder, emitting a blue aura of destruction. Most striking was that Gilgamesh had his [Sharingan] activated.
Looking around, Enkidu saw dozens of golden portals with swords and spears emerging from them, pointing at him, as well as chains made of blood that Gilgamesh created using his [Blood Manipulation] to restrain him.
"So you used an illusion to trick me and go unnoticed by my presence detection? That was pretty clever, but you rarely use those," Enkidu said, surprised.
"Well, we should always strive to improve. So, do you give up?" Gilgamesh asked, making Balmung glow even more with power.
Enkidu raised his hands in surrender.
"I give up," Enkidu said, smiling.
Gilgamesh dispelled his weapons and Balmung, as well as the blood chains, before smiling at Enkidu.
Soon, everyone approached, and Gilgamesh smiled as he saw them all laughing and talking joyfully.
They were his family.
And he would do anything to protect his family.
Another Day.
Kuoh Academy.
Currently, at Kuoh Academy, dozens of students could be seen heading home as school hours had ended.
Gilgamesh was walking through the corridors of Kuoh Academy, drawing attention wherever he passed.
He was currently heading toward the Occult Research Club.
Sirzechs had requested, via magical message, that he come to the Occult Research Club because Rias wanted to discuss something with him.
Gilgamesh had a slight idea of what this conversation was about and why Sirzechs had asked him to come to Rias's club. If it was what he thought, the Crimson Satan was taking quite a risky move.
Gilgamesh approached the door of the Occult Club and sensed several presences inside. Besides the usual ones from Rias's peerage, there was also Grayfia's presence and another demonic presence emanating a fiery aura.
Gilgamesh already understood why he was here.
When Gilgamesh opened the door, all attention turned to him.
Grayfia was standing next to Rias, while Rias's peerage stood in front of the window, and Rias was seated at her desk with a man running his hands through her hair.
He was a tall, handsome young man in his early twenties with short blonde hair and dark blue eyes.
His outfit consisted of a burgundy blazer with golden embroidery on the right, matching pants, and black dress shoes. Under his open blazer was a white dress shirt, only partially buttoned (just one button), giving a slight view of his chest.
Gilgamesh recognized who he was.
Riser Phenex, the third son of the Phenex House and Rias Gremory's fiancé.
Gilgamesh saw all eyes turn to him. He crossed his arms over his chest while looking at Rias.
"Rias, I came as you requested. What do you want?" Gilgamesh asked, ignoring everyone's gazes.
"Who are you? A servant of my lovely Rias?" Riser asked arrogantly.
"Just a human," Gilgamesh said, keeping a serious expression.
"Just a human?! That's ridiculous. What's a worm like you doing here?" Riser asked arrogantly.
Everyone in the room, except Riser, was sweating nervously, while Grayfia had fear in her eyes.
Gilgamesh only gave a glance to Grayfia, who shuddered but understood what he meant.
"Riser-sama, this is Gilgamesh-sama, the current Sekiryuutei," Grayfia said to Riser, who slightly widened his eyes.
"The Sekiryuutei? That doesn't matter. He's nothing more than a mere human, but I'll allow you to stay, insect," Riser said arrogantly, making everyone widen their eyes in fear.
Gilgamesh rolled his eyes at what Riser said. It was what most supernatural beings said to him before he killed them. He wouldn't fall for the arrogance of an idiot.
After all, what kind of adult takes a child's provocations seriously?
Gilgamesh simply sat on the nearest sofa.
"Stop it!"
Rias's irritated voice echoed through the room.
Rias stood up from the sofa and stared at Riser. Riser, on the other hand, was smiling as always.
"Riser! I told you before! I'm not marrying you!"
"Yes, I've heard that before. But Rias, that won't do, you know? I think your house's situation is quite serious."
"That's none of your business! If I'm the next heir of the Gremory House, then I'll choose who becomes my husband! My father, my brother, and everyone in the clan are rushing! It was also promised that I'd be free until I graduate from the human world's university!"
"That's right. You'll basically be free. You can go to college, and you can do whatever you want with your servants. But your Otou-sama and Sirzechs-sama are worried. They fear your family will go extinct. We lost a great number of pure-blood demons in the last war. Even though the war is over, our rivalry with the Fallen Angels and God hasn't ended. It's not rare for pure-blood Devil successors to be killed in pointless battles against them, leading to the extinction of their houses. Thus, for a pure-blood demon who is also a high-class demon, marriage would be the obvious solution for the demon forces. A high-purity devil. Even you know that such children will be important from now on, right?"
Rias and Riser began arguing about their marriage while everyone had worried expressions.
Gilgamesh had an amused expression on his face.
Although he had seen this in the anime, it was much better in person.
It felt like a soap opera drama.
It was good relief for his boredom.
"The newly produced Devils—those like your servants, reincarnated demons—are expanding in terms of strength, but that would make us, high-class demons with history, lose our place. There are ancient nobles who approach reincarnated demons because they're too powerful. Well, that might be fine. Newly produced Devils are also important for our future. But we can't allow pure-blood demons to go extinct, right? You and I were chosen to prevent pure-bloods from going extinct. My house is safe because I have my older brothers. But there are only two siblings in your house. And your brother is someone who left the house. So only you, Rias, can inherit the Gremory House. If you don't take a husband, the Gremory House will go extinct in your generation. Are you trying to crush a house that's lasted so long? Because of the past war, there aren't even half the number of demons referred to as the 72 Pillars. This marriage has the future of demons at stake."
"I won't crush my house. And I'm willing to take a husband."
Rias said, and Riser gave a big smile.
"Oh, as expected of Rias! Then let's—"
"But I won't marry you, Riser. I'll marry someone I acknowledge. Even demons from old noble houses have the right to choose."
Rias said this clearly to Riser.
Hearing this, Riser suddenly became displeased. His eyes sharpened, and he even clicked his tongue.
"…You know, Rias. I'm also a demon who carries the name of the Phenex House behind me. I can't let that name be tarnished. I didn't even want to come to a small, old building like this in the human world. Frankly, I don't like the human world much. The fire and wind of this world are filthy. For a devil like me, who controls fire and wind, I can't stand it!"
Suddenly, flames appeared around Riser and began to spread through the room.
"I'll take you back to the Underworld, even if I have to burn everyone here to do it," Riser said, though he clearly wasn't saying this to Grayfia, giving a look to Gilgamesh.
But suddenly, all of Riser's flames were extinguished against his will, leaving him perplexed.
Everyone widened their eyes at this and were snapped out of their shock by laughter.
When they looked at the source, they saw Gilgamesh holding his stomach from laughing so hard.
"You kill everyone here!? And that includes me?! That's ridiculous," Gilgamesh said while laughing.
Riser was getting more and more irritated.
"Don't think you're strong just because you have your Sacred Gear, human," Riser said with disgust. "The [Boosted Gear] is certainly one of the invincible and dangerous Sacred Gears. Depending on how you use it, not only I but you could defeat a Maou and God. There were a great number of possessors who had it before. But there hasn't been a single case where it defeated a god or Maou. Do you know what that means?"
Riser then laughed loudly.
"It means that Sacred Gear is imperfect, and the possessors were a bunch of weaklings who couldn't use it! You're no exception! How do you say it in the human world again? … Yes, pearls before swine. Fuhahaha! Yes, pearls before swine! That's about you!" Riser said.
Gilgamesh could feel Ddraig raging inside his mind, begging to kill Riser.
Gilgamesh sighed. He couldn't kill Riser now because he was somewhat useful for his plans, but that didn't mean he couldn't give a warning.
Gilgamesh turned his gaze to Riser, who froze when he saw the draconic glint in Gilgamesh's eyes.
The air froze.
No, it wasn't a metaphor… the air became stagnant as the feeling of 'death' permeated everything. The magic in the air literally froze as the only thing visible was the diabolical glint in Gilgamesh's eyes, glowing with pure bloodlust that made everyone freeze in fear.
Gilgamesh merely extended his finger toward Riser, and from it, a golden beam shot toward Riser's head.
In the next instant, Riser's head was literally blown off as his headless body fell to the ground.
Everyone turned their attention, shocked and even terrified, to Riser's seemingly dead body.
In an instant, Riser stood up, now with his head back in place, and looked at Gilgamesh in terror.
Gilgamesh had to admit that Riser's regeneration was impressive, regenerating his head in mere moments. Gilgamesh also had his regeneration, which allowed him to heal even lost limbs, but not his head.
Riser turned his terrified gaze to Gilgamesh, lost in his eyes, because at that moment, he saw his death.
In front of him wasn't Gilgamesh, but an immense red dragon looking at him with boredom, as if he were insignificant, and a single roar from the dragon made Riser see his death.
When Riser saw Gilgamesh's eyes, he froze.
It was the look of someone superior to you in every way, someone who, no matter what you did, would do it better.
It was the look of a King.
An Emperor.
A Supreme Ruler who reigns over all beings on earth.
But before anyone could speak, a massive wave of silver demonic power surged over the area, originating from Sirzechs Lucifer's wife, Grayfia Lucifuge.
"Gilgamesh-sama, Riser-sama, please calm down. If you two continue, I won't stay quiet about this. For the honor of Sirzechs-sama, I won't hold back."
Everyone quickly calmed down at Grayfia's voice, and Riser hid his fear behind his pride.
"…To be told that by the Strongest Queen, even I would be scared… I definitely wouldn't want to fight the people in Sirzechs-sama's group, known for being made of monsters," Riser said as he stood up.
Gilgamesh only gave a glance to Grayfia, who shuddered.
"Choose your next words carefully, Queen of Annihilation, for they may be your last," Gilgamesh said with a look that made Grayfia instinctively recoil.
Everyone widened their eyes when they saw Grayfia back down.
Deciding it was better to change the subject, Grayfia returned to her topic, as she didn't want to face Gilgamesh.
"Master, Sirzechs-sama and those from the Phenex House knew it would come to this. To be honest, this would be the last discussion meeting. Everyone knew this wouldn't be resolved, so they decided to resort to a final measure."
"Final measure? What do you mean, Grayfia?"
"Ojou-sama, if you want to push your opinion forward, how about resolving this in a [Rating Game] against Riser-sama?"
"…!?"
Everyone was surprised by Grayfia's words, except Gilgamesh, who just leaned back on the sofa and observed.
"As you know, Ojou-sama, only mature Devils can participate in the official [Rating Game]. But if it's an unofficial game between pure-blood demons, even immature demons can participate. However, in this case…"
"When it involves family and domestic issues."
Rias continued, sighing.
"In other words, Otou-sama and the others decided to have a game as a last resort if I refused, right? … To what extent do they intend to interfere in my life to feel satisfied…!"
"Then, Ojou-sama, are you saying you'd also refuse to participate in the game?"
"No, I won't, since this is a chance. Fine then. Let's settle this with a game, Riser."
Riser smiled at Rias's provocative words.
"Hee, so you're accepting. I don't mind. But I'm already a mature Devil and have participated in the official game. Now I've won most of the games. Even so, you still want to play, Rias?"
Riser responded with even more provocative words. Rias sent back a fearless smile.
"I will. I'll crush you, Riser!"
"Good. If you win, do as you please. But if I win, you'll marry me immediately."
Both stared at each other, their eyes fierce.
"Understood. I, Grayfia, confirm the opinions of both sides. I will be in charge of the game between the two houses. Is that alright?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Understood. I'll inform both families then," Grayfia said.
Riser put his hand on his chin, seeming to think of something.
"Rias, how about a match in 10 days? We could do it now, but that wouldn't be interesting."
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow at this. It seemed Riser wouldn't show his servants, perhaps the intimidation had some effect.
"…You're giving me a handicap."
"Are you against it? Is it humiliating? [Rating Game] isn't something simple you can win just with your feelings. If you can't use your servants' power to the fullest, you'll lose immediately. So it's not strange to train with your servants for your first [Rating Game]. I've seen demons lose countless times without using their power to the fullest, no matter how great their potential and power were."
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