Again and again, they were swallowed by flames—Again and again, they resurrected—A never-ending loop of death and rebirth.
It was pitiful.No—more like horrifyingly tragic.
Even Izumi shuddered watching it.He himself possessed an undying body thanks to his Reality Marble—but if he had to experience this kind of torture on repeat, he'd probably go insane.
And it wasn't just Izumi.Even Rias and the others were stunned into silence.
For the first time, they felt a deep, reluctant sympathy for Riser Phoenix and his little sister Ravel.
Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Underworld war camp, Sirzechs Lucifer sighed helplessly as he watched the broadcast.
"Those two members of the Phoenix family…I'm afraid they'll be traumatized for centuries after this.""But that human boy is truly amazing."
A faint smile tugged at his lips—Izumi had far exceeded his expectations.
With this, the marriage problem would be resolved without issue.
On the other hand, the Phoenix household…Their faces had gone completely pale.
What kind of monster is this human!?
If they could, they would have rushed onto the battlefield to strangle Izumi themselves.
He was too brutal.Far too brutal.
Izumi finally stopped attacking once the final explosion faded.For several minutes, the flames had devoured Riser and Ravel over and over again.No one even knew how many times they had died.
Only when the mushroom clouds died down did the inferno begin to settle.
The Phoenix siblings lay amidst the scorched rubble, completely drained.
Because of their special bloodline, they weren't automatically "defeated" and teleported out like the other servants.Their immortality kept them reviving long enough to experience maximum suffering.
At this point, the two of them were starting to wonder if life might be easier if they gave up their Phoenix regeneration entirely.
The flames still burned, but the explosions had ceased.Everything around them had been reduced to ash and smoke.
Thanks to some mysterious Phoenix-clan fabric, their clothes weren't blown clean off the way they would be in certain anime.Which at least spared Ravel from flashing half of the Underworld nation on live broadcast.
Izumi floated down toward the two siblings with Gae Bolg Alternative—The Spear That Shines at the End materialized in his hand.
He landed lightly in front of them, clicking his tongue in admiration.
"Wow. You two are really persistent.""Didn't die even after that. Phoenix power sure is handy."
Riser trembled as he lifted his head, terror twisting his face.
"Y-you… ah—!"
Izumi cut him off with a raised hand.
"Ah-ah, hush now.Talk again and I'll poke a few more holes in you."
And without hesitation—stab.
He thrust the holy spear right into Riser's right hand.
The same hand that had tried to grab Asia earlier.Payback delivered.Justice served.
Riser screamed in agony.
Ravel, watching her brother get skewered like barbecue, burst into tears on the spot.
"Waaaahhh!! Uuuu—!!Y-you demon!!"
Izumi blinked.
"Um… aren't you two the devils here?""Well, whatever. No point wasting those tears."
He crouched down and projected two small bottles from thin air.
Then—Right in front of the crying Ravel—He started collecting Phoenix Tears like a street vendor harvesting honey.
Phoenix Tears:A rare healing material normally produced only by awakened Phoenix bloodline users.And here he had a crying Phoenix right in front of him.
Of course he was going to harvest it!
Then he glanced at Riser's arm—the spear still embedded in it—blood pouring out like a faucet.
"Hmm. Phoenix blood should be valuable too."
He projected another bottle and happily collected Riser's blood.
Everyone watching—both in the activity room and via Underworld broadcast—froze.
Rias and the others twitched at the corners of their mouths.
"W-we should stop him before he starts doing… even worse things," Rias muttered.
After fixing their clothes (the explosion had tossed them around pretty badly), Rias, Akeno, and Koneko hurried toward Izumi.
Meanwhile, Izumi finished bottling the last of the blood and tucked it away.
Riser had completely lost hope.His spirit was utterly crushed.He feared Izumi more than death itself.
Ravel was no better—her tears had turned into hiccupping sobs as she stared at him with a mix of despair and fear.
Then she stopped crying.
Izumi frowned.
"…Hey.Why'd you stop?"
"You. Cry. Now."
"If you don't, I'll poke you next."
He glared at her.
But Ravel couldn't cry anymore—her fear was so intense her body had locked up.
If she had known the human world had such horrors, she would never have come.
Mama… I want to go home…
She was so terrified she literally peed herself, though the scorchingly hot ground vaporized it instantly.
The faint smell in the air told Izumi exactly what happened.He glanced at her.
"…Did you seriously…?"
Ravel nearly passed out from shame.
Just as Izumi opened his mouth to tease her further, Rias rushed up.
"Izumi-kun, that's enough!""Stop bullying them—they've already lost!"
Like a drowning soul seeing salvation, Ravel choked out:
"I-I surrender!! P-please let me out!!"
A white glow wrapped around her as she was instantly teleported away.
She had forgotten she could surrender until now.Fear does that to people.
Riser snapped out of his daze as well.
After so many deaths, his mental endurance was shredded.If he died even one more time, even Phoenix regeneration wouldn't save his sanity.
"I-I surrender!Rias… you win…"
With that hoarse cry, he too was teleported away.
Grayfia immediately moved them out.She didn't want to see what other horrors Izumi might invent if given more time.
Strangely… something about Izumi's mannerisms felt vaguely familiar to her—like someone from her dimly blurred memories.
She frowned but let the thought go and announced loud and clear:
"The match is over.Rias Gremory is the victor.Further settlement of conditions will be handled privately."
Izumi stood up with a sigh.
"Aww. I could've collected so much more material…"
Muttering regretfully, he and the others were teleported out of the ruined battlefield.