The golden rays of the setting sun bathed the roof of the Occult Research Club building, casting a warm glow along the corridor.
There, Rian walked leisurely, both hands tucked into his pockets.
Like pages of a book turned slowly by a gentle breeze, four days had passed in the blink of an eye. Every event felt like nothing more than a fleeting moment.
Three days earlier, at his own request to Rias, Rian had sparred alone against the entire Peerage of Sona Shitori.
That battle ended far more quickly than anyone had expected. With his Six Eyes and Limitless Technique, Rian was practically unbeatable.
Even though Sona's Peerage members were far stronger than the enemies he'd faced in the Resident Evil world, they simply had no opening to bring him down.
What made it worse—or funnier, depending on perspective—was that in the middle of the fight, Rian still found time to flirt with every member of the Peerage, not just their King.
To be fair, they were all beautiful girls—and Rian had one fatal flaw: he found it impossible not to flirt when the opportunity presented itself.
(Note: In this DxD timeline, Saji is not a member of Sona's Peerage.)
Rian could still remember it vividly—the flustered look on Tsubaki's face when he cornered her with a kabedon, the shy blush that spread across Momo and Reya's cheeks when he teasingly brushed his fingers against the corners of their lips.
Tomoe, Tsubasa, and Ruruko had trembled ever so slightly when Rian whispered sweet words into their ears.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips, light and amused. Those memories were simply too funny to forget.
Still, with all that said and done, Rian's first mission was officially complete. Only two more remained before he could return to the Infinity Room for his System Evaluation.
Even so, satisfaction still eluded him. Rian wanted to defeat more non-human beings.
After all, the more he conquered, the higher his evaluation score would be.
Coincidentally, according to the information he got from Akeno earlier that day, Rias was expecting her fiancé to visit that evening.
Because of that, the crimson-haired devil had politely asked Rian to head home early, saying the meeting was a private affair.
But Rian, despite being a member of the club, didn't exactly feel obligated to follow that rule.
And of course, he refused her request… quietly.
That was why Rian was now walking down the club building's corridor—he planned to beat up Rias's fiancé and his entire Peerage.
Right or wrong, politics, consequences—he could think about all that later. As long as no one died, there shouldn't be any major problems.
But suddenly, Rian sensed something unusual. Several unfamiliar demonic energies had appeared inside the building.
Moments later, he arrived at the main clubroom door, the place where the members usually gathered.
Rian frowned, pausing before entering. Instead of barging in, he found himself wondering what kind of opening line would make for a good first impression.
A few seconds later, Issei's loud voice echoed through the wall, filled with emotion and defiance as he argued heatedly with someone.
The topic was clear: Rias Gremory's engagement.
Issei's tone rose higher, burning with raw courage and passion, especially when it came to the girl he cared for.
But before the argument could go any further, his opponent—the source of one of those unfamiliar demonic energies—suddenly released his aura.
A thick, scorching wave of demonic power burst through the room, sweeping the air like an invisible storm.
"Heh," Rian muttered with a faint smile. "I just thought of the perfect warm greeting. Thank you, dear fiancé of Rias."
Without hesitation, he lifted his leg and kicked the door—hard.
Crack!
The door was blown off its hinges, sent flying several meters before slamming against the far side of the room with a heavy crash.
The impact instantly silenced everything.
Everyone inside froze, their heads snapping toward the source of the noise.
With unhurried steps, Rian walked in through the shattered doorway, moving like the calm center of a storm that had just passed.
The air inside felt thick, heavy. The scent of dust mixed with the lingering pressure of demonic energy that still vibrated in the atmosphere.
Rian's gaze briefly fell on Issei, who was lying on the floor with Rias and Asia beside him.
His eyes then shifted. Behind his dark sunglasses, Rian's cold, calculating gaze swept across the room—filled with quiet curiosity.
Seventeen unfamiliar devils stood in various positions, each emanating a distinct aura. And one thing was certain: Rian didn't recognize a single one of them.
Three among them radiated pure demonic energy—on the same level as Rias herself.
The first was Riser Phoenix—a tall, handsome young man… well, about 2% of Rian's total maximum handsomeness. He looked to be in his early twenties, with short blond hair and deep blue eyes.
Riser wore a maroon blazer embroidered with gold along the right side, paired with matching trousers and polished black dress shoes.
The white shirt beneath his blazer was left mostly unbuttoned—only one button fastened at the center—just enough to reveal a glimpse of his chest, likely because he thought it made him look attractive.
The second was Ravel Phoenix, a beautiful young girl with deep blue eyes and long, twin-tailed blond hair styled in large, drill-like curls, each tied with a blue ribbon.
Her outfit was that of a noble lady—a lovely pink dress with a long skirt reaching her feet, adorned with delicate white ribbons.
Lastly, standing in another corner of the room was a stunning woman with a graceful yet piercing aura—Grayfia Lucifuge.
She appeared to be around the same age, with shoulder-length silver hair braided into two neat strands on either side, each tied at the end with a small blue ribbon.
The woman's attire was a classic French maid uniform in shades of blue and white, complete with long sleeves and a crisp white headband.
A striking shade of red lipstick graced her lips, the only touch of makeup she seemed to need.
Riser frowned sharply, glaring at Rian before turning to Rias.
"Who allowed this lowly—"
Before Riser could even finish his sentence, Rian moved—a flash of Blue erupting around him—then drove his fist, infused with energy, straight into Riser's face.
The impact shattered Riser's jaw instantly. The floor beneath Rian cracked under the sheer force as the Phoenix heir was blasted across the room, crashing through a window and tumbling harshly across the courtyard outside.
The entire room fell silent in shock. Even the Phoenix Peerage froze, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Onii-sama!!" Ravel cried out in panic, whipping her gaze toward Rian. "You filthy lowborn!"
Without hesitation, the two Nekomata sisters—Ni and Li—lunged at Rian.
But from the perspective of the Six Eyes, their movements were unbearably slow.
Rian swung his right hand in a single, effortless motion — creating a gravitational convergence point that pulled and hurled every member of the Phoenix Peerage out of the room.
A deafening crash followed as the far wall exploded outward, reduced to rubble by the impact of multiple bodies slamming into it.
After casually tossing them out, Rian clapped his hands once, brushing off invisible dust, then stretched his back with a faint sigh.
"Hmm… turns out throwing people around with Blue feels pretty satisfying."
Across the room, Rias who had been frozen in shock — slowly rose to her feet. Her crimson hair shimmered under the fractured light filtering through the broken wall.
She stared at Rian, her eyes sharp but betraying a flicker of unhidden curiosity.
"Rian…" she finally spoke, her tone calm yet laced with quiet authority. "Do you even realize what you've just done? Who you just provoked?"
Rian turned his head slightly, his gaze unreadable behind his shades, though a faint, amused smile tugged at his lips.
"Your fiancé, right?" he replied casually. "So what? Am I not allowed to beat them up?"
His tone carried no sense of guilt or hesitation — as if what he had done was nothing more than roughing up a few street thugs, not tossing around a room full of high-ranking devils.
Rias let out a long sigh, staring at him in silence for a few seconds.
"…You really—" she bit her lower lip, struggling between irritation and reluctant admiration. "—don't know the meaning of fear, do you?"
"Fear's just a reaction," Rian replied, walking leisurely toward the shattered window. "And I stopped reacting a long time ago."
From the corner of the room, Koneko glanced up with her usual blank expression. "…Idiot," she muttered flatly.
Before Rian could step onto the broken window frame, a fireball shot toward him — cutting through the air with a sharp hiss.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the room, scattering fragments of glass and dust everywhere. Instinctively, everyone turned toward the source of the blast.
Yet not a single person looked genuinely worried. Rias merely sighed softly, while Grayfia remained perfectly still, her calm expression unchanged.
They all knew, an attack like that could never harm Rian.
With Infinity active, no physical or magical assault could ever reach him; everything simply stopped before it even had the chance to touch him.