Rias didn't complain and listened quietly to what Riser said. When Riser pointed his palm to the ground, the magic circle began to glow.
"—10 days. If it's you, you should be able to improve your servants."
"Rias, the next time we meet will be in the game."
Saying that, Riser disappeared into the light of the magic circle.
Rias sighed after Riser left and looked at Gilgamesh. She swallowed her pride and spoke.
"Gilgamesh-san, I need your help," Rias said to Gilgamesh, who stared at her.
"I refuse," Gilgamesh said quickly, to everyone's shock.
"B-but I haven't even said what I wanted," Rias said, surprised.
"You're probably going to ask me to train you, and my answer is no," Gilgamesh said to her.
"B-but why?" Rias asked desperately.
Gilgamesh stood up and looked at her.
"There are two types of arrogance. The first is when you're not up to the task, and the second is when your dreams are too big," Gilgamesh said to Rias. "You got yourself into this, so you should get yourself out."
Rias and everyone looked down at the floor, dejected. What Gilgamesh said was true—Rias had gotten herself into this, so she should get out on her own.
Although what Gilgamesh said was true, he knew he'd have to help Rias one way or another.
Looking at them all so sad and dejected, Gilgamesh almost felt pity.
Gilgamesh sighed, something he'd been doing a lot lately, and made a golden portal appear at his side, drawing everyone's attention. From the portal came an orange aura, which Gilgamesh grabbed and threw toward Koneko, who absorbed it.
"What did you do?" Rias asked cautiously.
"I gave a Sacred Gear to Koneko," Gilgamesh said, making everyone widen their eyes in surprise. Rias opened her mouth to speak. "To answer your question, yes, I can do that," Gilgamesh said, making Rias close her mouth since her question was answered.
"This Sacred Gear is called [Variant Detonation] and has the ability to cause explosions wherever the user makes contact," Gilgamesh said to Koneko, who gave him a grateful look.
Gilgamesh knew this Sacred Gear would be very useful for Koneko. It could generate explosions on anything the user touched, and if Koneko used her Nekoshou side, she could combine the power of this Sacred Gear with her youkai power.
"Well, that's it. Good luck to you all," Gilgamesh said before heading to the door and leaving the room.
Rias sighed as she looked at all her friends.
"Come on, everyone, we have a battle to win," Rias said, with everyone responding cheerfully.
With Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh was walking back to his house with a serene expression, and everyone stopped to look at him. He was already used to the attention he received.
[So, what are you going to do about Riser?] Ddraig asked about Riser.
Both Ddraig, Arashi, and Regulus were begging their master to kill Riser right there.
"It's not time to kill Riser yet; he's still useful," Gilgamesh said, hearing a grumble from Ddraig.
[So what are you going to do about Lucifer's manipulation?] Ddraig asked about Sirzechs.
Gilgamesh had come to the occult club at Sirzechs's request, and now he understood why.
Gilgamesh had two theories about it.
The first was that Sirzechs wanted Gilgamesh to protect Rias from Riser, but Riser wouldn't be foolish enough to do anything against Rias with Grayfia there.
So that left only one option.
Sirzechs wanted Gilgamesh to kill Riser.
Sirzechs knew of Gilgamesh's protectiveness toward humans and that he wouldn't take insults well, and he also knew of Riser's contempt for humans.
Thus, Riser would provoke Gilgamesh, and he would kill Riser, freeing Rias from the marriage.
It might be drastic, but one couldn't forget who Sirzechs was.
He is Sirzechs Lucifer, the Crimson Satan and the strongest of all demons, and you don't achieve that position with hugs and kind words.
Sirzechs is a monster. An adorable monster with a heart, but that doesn't make him any less of one. No matter how much you sugarcoat it, when people think of the leader of the Demons, they don't think of Ajuka, Falbium, or Serafall. They think of Sirzechs.
You don't gain that kind of power or recognition by asking politely. Sirzechs is the one true Demon Lord because he's the best of them. Not just in power, but in charisma, cunning, and cruelty. He fought his way to the top, leaving battlefields full of corpses in his wake, and has held his position unchallenged for two hundred years.
There's a reason he's called the Crimson Satan.
That was the color the battlefield turned wherever Sirzechs passed.
Gilgamesh knew Sirzechs would do anything to free his sister from her marriage.
But regardless of the reason, Sirzechs tried to manipulate him.
Gilgamesh also admitted that Sirzechs had the courage to try to manipulate him to do this.
But even Buddha's patience has a limit of three transgressions.
And Sirzechs had already crossed two of Gilgamesh's.
"We won't do anything for now, Ddraig. After all, I don't want to get rid of one of my sources of entertainment so soon," Gilgamesh said to the Heavenly Dragon of Domination, who laughed.
[Do you think all your enemies are entertainment, partner?] Ddraig asked.
"Only the ones I find interesting," Gilgamesh said to Ddraig, who laughed.
[For someone who likes peace and avoids unnecessary battles, you have some pretty crazy plans,] Ddraig said, laughing.
"I may not like pointless fights, but that doesn't mean I'm not ready for them. After all, I do what I want—that's what a dragon does, right, Ddraig?" Gilgamesh said to the Red Dragon of Domination, who laughed in agreement.
[Exactly, partner. We do what we want, when we want, and anyone who stands in our way will feel the wrath of the Red Dragon Emperor,] Ddraig said, roaring in agreement.
Gilgamesh smiled at his friend's words.
He had a feeling the next few days would be interesting.
10 Days Later.
Gilgamesh's House.
It had been ten days since Gilgamesh's meeting with Rias, her peerage, and Riser.
From what Gilgamesh knew, Rias had gone off and spent those ten days training for the marriage and then had her fight against Riser.
But as expected, Riser won.
Even that time wouldn't be enough for Rias and her peerage to stand on equal footing with Riser and his peerage.
Gilgamesh and his group watched the battle on television—don't ask how his television is connected to watch something from the Underworld.
The battle started normally, with Kiba advancing on one side and Koneko and Issei heading to the sports field, while Rias went to face Riser and Akeno went to fight Yubelluna.
Koneko managed to defeat all her opponents with relative ease, especially since she was able to use the power of her Sacred Gear, making her punches even more powerful than usual since they could cause explosions on impact.
Issei managed to unlock all his Sacred Gears, but the [Flame Shake] was useless since it could manipulate fire and would be ineffective against the Phenex. Incredibly, Issei managed to create a perverted move, using the [Night Reflection] to create shadow tentacles to grope the girls, but he got so distracted by it that he ended up being eliminated.
After that, Koneko left the field and met Kiba, who had easily defeated all his opponents.
Meanwhile, Akeno was fighting and winning against Riser's [Queen], but Akeno got careless and was nearly eliminated because Yubelluna had a Phoenix Tear.
Then Koneko and Kiba arrived and started helping Akeno in the battle against Yubelluna, and they were winning. However, Riser's [Queen], in a suicidal attack, used all her magical power to explode everything, eliminating Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko.
She only managed to eliminate them because they were celebrating victory and got distracted. If they had been attentive, they could have escaped.
While this was happening, Rias was fighting Riser, but her demonic power wore out faster than Riser's endurance. Since Rias didn't have a healer like Asia in her group, she only got more exhausted, and when Akeno, Kiba, and Koneko were eliminated, she got distracted and was hit by Riser, causing her elimination.
Currently, everyone in Gilgamesh's group was at home relaxing, as they had nothing else to do.
However, a great red glow appeared in the room, originating from a magic circle.
Everyone went on guard, but Gilgamesh waved his hand, making everyone relax and calm down.
When the light dissipated, Sirzechs Lucifer and his wife, Grayfia Lucifuge, appeared, both wearing noble clothing.
When Sirzechs opened his eyes, he gave a gentle smile to Gilgamesh.
"Hello, Gilgamesh-kun, how are you?" Sirzechs asked amicably, hiding his nervousness. He could still remember the display of power from the King of Heroes that day.
"What do you want, Sirzechs?" Gilgamesh asked quickly.
"Can't I visit a friend anymore?" Sirzechs asked innocently.
"We're not friends, Sirzechs," Gilgamesh replied. "But your visit is a surprise, especially with your sister's wedding happening soon."
Sirzechs narrowed his eyes at the mention of his sister's wedding.
"So you know about it," Sirzechs said calmly, with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes, after all, I had a little encounter with Riser Phenex. But you should know that, since it was your plan. You really have the courage to show up in front of me after trying to manipulate me," Gilgamesh said to Sirzechs, who widened his eyes.
All the members of Gilgamesh's group turned an offensive look toward the Crimson Satan.
"What are you talking about, Gilgamesh?" Sirzechs asked, trying to play dumb.
"Sirzechs, I'm not a brainless brute fighter; that's Mordred's role," Gilgamesh said.
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!" Mordred shouted/questioned as everyone laughed.
"I apologize for that," Sirzechs said sincerely.
Gilgamesh simply waved dismissively.
"So, what do you want?" Gilgamesh asked.
Then, at that moment, Sirzechs did something that surprised everyone, including Gilgamesh.
Sirzechs took a few steps forward and knelt before Gilgamesh, placing his forehead on the ground.
"Please, I beg you, help my sister," Sirzechs said from the bottom of his heart.
At that moment, he was no longer Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the Four Great Demon Kings, the Strongest Devil, and an irregular demon who reached the Top 10.
At that moment, he was just Sirzechs Gremory, an older brother who only wanted the best for his sister and was willing to do anything for it.
Nothing else mattered to Sirzechs: reputation, pride, power—he didn't care about any of it. All he wanted was to see his sister happy.
"Why don't you ask another demon to interrupt the engagement?" Gilgamesh asked.
"If we interrupt this engagement, it's very likely a new war would break out between our clans due to the losses that occurred during the war. But if it's someone completely from the outside with no ties to the Underworld, they wouldn't be able to contest anything," Sirzechs explained.
"But if I do this, my friends and I become targets for the Underworld," Gilgamesh said.
"I promise I'll do everything to ensure no demon comes after you, but above all, in the Underworld, we respect power above all else. All you need to do is demonstrate unshakable power, which I know you possess," Sirzechs said.
Unshakable power, huh? Gilgamesh reflected on that.
"Very well, Sirzechs, you have a deal, but I want something in return," Gilgamesh said.
Sirzechs quickly stood up and looked at Gilgamesh.
"What do you want?" Sirzechs asked quickly.
"I want three wishes and your word as a Maou that you'll fulfill them," Gilgamesh said.
Sirzechs fell silent for a moment and reflected. By giving his word, he'd have to fulfill any request, which could harm the demons. But if he agreed, his sister would be free from the marriage.
Sirzechs's choice was obvious…
"I accept," Sirzechs said to Gilgamesh, before pulling a pamphlet with a magic circle from his clothes and handing it to Gilgamesh. "This magic circle will take you directly to the ceremony," Sirzechs said before stepping back.
Gilgamesh nodded in agreement, and Sirzechs approached his wife, creating a magic circle that enveloped them before disappearing.
Gilgamesh sighed before turning his gaze to his friends, who were looking at him with doubt.
"What are you waiting for, everyone? Get dressed; we're going to crash a wedding," Gilgamesh said to them, and they smiled.
From this day forward, the entire supernatural world would be shocked to learn one thing.
The King of Heroes had returned.
And he wouldn't allow anyone to stand in his way.
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