A meeting finally drew to a close with a predetermined result, yet in a manner that no one had anticipated.
By the time the group left the drawing room and stood outside the Gremory mansion, they were ready to bid each other farewell.
"Well then, I entrust my daughter to you, Lord Leon."
Lady Phenex bowed slightly to Leon. Her words were filled with sincerity and an even deeper appreciation than before; it was clear how satisfied she was with Leon becoming her daughter's master.
"Rest assured," Leon replied, crossing his arms. "Since she is a member of my peerage, I will naturally look after her. I won't let anything happen to her."
"I believe you," Lady Phenex said meaningfully. "The ability you have demonstrated makes that promise much more convincing."
Having personally witnessed Leon use his "Peerage Transformation" trait to take her daughter in, gaining a massive surge in strength as a result, Lady Phenex no longer harbored any doubts about Leon's future. She believed that the man before her would surely become a pillar of the devil world, and might even one day shoulder its entire future.
Even now, his strength was enough for her to look up to. Recalling the scene of him unfolding ten devil wings and creating countless natural disasters with a wave of his hand, Lady Phenex felt that even the current Leon undoubtedly held a place of prominence in the Underworld, his power ranking among the very best.
She looked forward to this man's future with great anticipation.
"Ravel, you know what you must do, right?" Lady Phenex turned to her daughter standing behind Leon, speaking with earnest gravity. "Since you have taken Lord Leon as your superior, you must fulfill your duties as a peerage member. Follow your master's orders and get along well with your fellow companions. Only then will you be a worthy daughter of the House of Phenex, understood?"
"I understand, Mother," Ravel nodded heavily. "I will certainly not bring shame to the Phenex name."
Lady Phenex nodded in satisfaction, then glanced at her son standing beside her—who, at this moment, she found incredibly eyesore.
"It's time to go. Riser, aren't you going to say goodbye to Lord Sirzechs and Lord Leon?"
At those words, Riser—who had suddenly become very well-behaved—had a twitch at the corner of his mouth. He had been trying his best to minimize his presence; why did she have to bring him up?
Riser felt irritable, but when he saw Leon casting a half-smiling glance toward him, he shuddered, nearly having a stress reaction. He admitted it: he was starting to be a little afraid of Leon.
Although Riser had heard various rumors about Leon from different sources, they were just rumors. He had no idea that this person, who seemed so "pauper-like" to him, was actually such a terrifying figure.
Between Leon's "Peerage Transformation" trait and his true strength—while the high-ranking officials of the Underworld led by Sirzechs knew the details intimately—such knowledge was restricted to that upper echelon. Well-informed people might know a little, but those less connected knew nothing at all; they only knew Leon as a pure-blooded devil found in the human world, the successor to the defunct Eligos family and a rising star about to make his debut.
Unless one had close contact with Leon or possessed powerful intelligence sources, learning of his exploits was by no means easy.
As the third son of the Phenex family, Riser wasn't exactly ill-informed, but he had looked down on Leon from the start. Why would he have bothered to study him seriously?
So, when he saw Leon reveal eight wings, he was stunned. When he saw Leon activate the Balance Breaker of "Zenith Tempest" and jump from eight wings to ten, he completely short-circuited.
One had to understand that even though Riser had debuted and performed in the Rating Games, his strength had only reached the High-class Devil level, and his wing count hadn't kept up at all. Forget eight or ten wings—Riser hadn't even reached six yet. Even the eldest son of the Phenex family, Riser's eldest brother who possessed Ultimate-class strength, didn't have eight wings yet.
And the result? This "pauper" he looked down on was already an Eight-Winged Devil, could reach ten wings through a Sacred Gear Balance Breaker, and could freely manipulate natural disasters. His power was terrifyingly strong. Who was Riser supposed to complain to?
He was starting to feel lucky—lucky that he had been stopped by Leon's peerage when he tried to attack him, otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.
No, the Master was a monster, and his peerage members were monsters too. Weren't they supposed to be rookies who had been reincarnated for less than a few months and had never touched supernatural power before? Then what did that make him, getting restrained by such rookies in a single move? A useless waste?
Thinking of this, Riser felt a bit depressed. He didn't even want to look at Leon anymore; he just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
"W-We are leaving. Lord Sirzechs... L-Lord... Leon..."
Riser forced a smile that was as strained as possible, struggling to bid farewell to Sirzechs and Leon. Especially when mentioning Leon, he was forced to use an honorific, which made him feel like dying. If he had known this would be the outcome, why on earth would he have come here to pick a fight?
Riser felt wretched.
"Safe travels," Sirzechs said with his usual gentle expression, acting as if he had just witnessed a perfectly normal transaction. "Come visit again sometime."
"If there is a chance, we will."
Lady Phenex bowed to Sirzechs once more before taking Riser with her, vanishing into the magic circle that expanded beneath their feet.
The moment the magic circle opened, Riser dove in like he was escaping, turning into a streak of fire. He looked like he didn't want to stay for even a single second longer. That pathetic display, compared to his previous "delinquent noble" posturing, was a hilarious contrast.
Leon watched the spot where Riser had vanished and suddenly remarked:
"Is it really a good idea to let a man like that become Rias's husband?"
The words he spoke as if in passing caused the gentle smile on Sirzechs's face to slowly fade.
"You don't think it's good?" Sirzechs asked without looking at Leon.
"Does Lord Sirzechs think it's good?" Leon asked pointedly.
"My opinion isn't important," Sirzechs said meaningfully. "I have branched off from the main house, after all. From the moment I decided to become a Satan, I discarded the Gremory name. I have no right to interfere in family matters. And those who do have the right to interfere, including my parents, all believe this is a good thing."
If that weren't the case, the House of Gremory wouldn't need an alliance with the House of Phenex. It was precisely because it benefited both families that the so-called engagement existed.
"My parents are too anxious. They are worried that no one will be able to inherit the Gremory house in the future, so they have always hoped Rias would marry," Sirzechs said casually. "The Phenex family is also anxious. Even though they have three sons and one daughter, they want their lineage to continue so it won't one day go extinct."
This was a fear shared by almost all pure-blooded devil families. There was no helping it; of the original Seventy-Two Pillars of pure-blooded devils, how many had already vanished?
Marbas, Valefor, Buer, Gusion, Leraje, Eligos, Botis, Bathin, Marax, Ipos, Aim, Bune, Ronove, Foras, Gaap, Marchosias, Haphas, Malphas, Raum, Vepar, Sabnock, Vine, Bifrons, Haagenti, Crocell, Alloces, Caim, Murmur, Orobas, Amy, Vapula, Zagan, Volac, Andras, Flauros, Andrealphus, Cimejes, Amdusias, Decarabia, Seere, Dantalion, Andromalius...
All of those were Pillars that had already gone extinct. More than half of the once-illustrious Seventy-Two Pillars had vanished by now. How could the remaining pure-blooded families not feel worried? Especially as the number of pure-blooded devils dwindled and the Underworld population was gradually filled with half-bloods and peerage devils, those pure-blooded families were scared to death that their lineage would end with them.
This anxiety was even more severe in families that placed a high value on pure blood.
What if there are no more pure-blooded devils in the future? What if the traits and characteristics passed down through generations disappear? What if the devils of the future are replaced by those reincarnated from other races?
Sirzechs's voice seemed far away, yet also very close.
"The more an older devil values tradition, the more they worry about such things. That is why an alliance between two pure-blooded houses is a form of 'political correctness' in the devil world. No one can escape it."
"Of course, just because you can't escape it doesn't mean you can't block it. Take Sona, for example. Didn't she successfully break her engagement through her own ability?"
As for the fact that the Sitri family had already set their sights on Leon, viewing him as a future son-in-law, Sirzechs didn't say it out loud. If the parties involved weren't in a hurry, why should he, an outsider, be?
Sirzechs also didn't want Leon to know that even though Sona Sitri had successfully broken one engagement, her family would still look for a new one for her. As long as she wasn't married and hadn't produced an heir, the Sitri family would continue to worry about their lineage and push her into another arrangement. This might make the promising young man before him feel repulsed by the current state of the devil world, so Sirzechs felt it was better not to be too explicit.
Besides, if such a marriage were to happen, everyone would be happy, so why not? One could only say that the current Patriarch of the Sitri house had gone to great lengths. To ensure his daughter wouldn't object to the marriage again, he had specifically chosen someone Sona favored, even ignoring the objections of his eldest daughter who was a Satan.
"So, Rias can only decide her own future through her own ability, is that it?" Leon felt he understood Sirzechs's subtext.
"Not necessarily," Sirzechs smiled. "If someone were willing to stand up for her and defy all of this, there might be a way."
"For example?" Leon looked at Sirzechs. "You?"
"No," Sirzechs shook his head. "I can only support her from the shadows. I cannot help her rebel openly."
This was, after all, a decision made by his own elders. Even as a Satan, he shouldn't interfere. Furthermore, precisely because of his position as a Satan, he couldn't casually meddle in the internal affairs of a pure-blooded family; doing so would only lead to suspicions of abusing his power for personal gain.
"Support from the shadows?" Leon seemed to understand something and fell into thought.
"This is also thanks to you," Sirzechs said, looking at Leon with a smile. "Because I acted as a bridge for you and Ravel, the Phenex family now owes me a modest favor. This favor might not help Rias directly, but I can do something indirect with it."
Sirzechs was already negotiating in secret with the current Patriarch of the Phenex family—Ravel and Riser's father. He believed this would surely buy Rias some time or secure some favorable conditions. Then, during this period, he might be able to work on Leon's mindset and help bridge the gap between these two young people.
If something were to happen between Leon and Rias, it might lead to a result where three parties are happy and only Riser gets hurt. Compared to Riser, Sirzechs much preferred Leon. As for whether this would make the Sitri Patriarch jump in anger, that was none of Sirzechs's business. He wasn't doing anything overtly; if the young people developed feelings on their own, what wrong did he do?
At worst, it would be a fair competition. Rias and Sona were already friends and rivals; adding a layer of being romantic rivals wouldn't matter, right? Thinking about how things might turn out if they developed smoothly, Sirzechs actually felt a bit of anticipation. He wanted to see blood flow—cough, no, he wanted to see the perfect ending where two families loved each other.
Eligos Territory, Ancient Battlefield Camp.
When the magic circle appeared before the campfire, Leon and his group had returned not only unscathed but with an extra person, making the place even more lively.
"Alright, the business is settled. You all can go back to your special training."
Leon clapped his hands to get the girls' attention and spoke.
"Special training?" Ravel clearly didn't know about the collective training of the Eligos Peerage here. She stopped looking around and turned to Leon. "Do I need to train as well, Lord Leon?"
"You?" Leon looked at Ravel, rubbed his chin, and then said: "In your case, come with me to a certain place first."
Where to? Ravel was confused.
Leon spoke one word.
"Tokyo."