The Phenex Rises - Chapter 8

AN

You guys know I don't like putting stuff up here but this is kind of important. This chapter took me so long to write because I tried to do something new. In this chapter is the very first Lemon scene I've ever written. It's an experiment so... be gentle if you dislike it entirely, okay? Anyway, you've been warned!

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With Gasper's time stop ended, everyone who had been frozen in time could move once more and joined in on the counterattack. Koneko was particularly vicious when she realized that Gasper had, essentially, been tortured and his Sacred Gear forced into a Balance Breaker state.

Riser felt slightly sorry for the magicians who encountered her. He might kill them, but her powerful blows, enhanced with Total Concentration Breathing, were shattering their bones and likely crippling many of them for life.

Sona and Tsubaki had also joined the fight. Sona acted defensively, using her larger reserves of demonic power to generate barriers to protect herself and her Queen. Meanwhile, Tsubaki summoned her weapon which Riser was pretty sure was called a naginata. Sona would block and Tsubaki would attack. It was effective, but it made them significantly slower than anyone in either his or Rias’s peerage since their members, minus Asia and Gasper, were fighting on their own and taking down magicians.

The less said about Akeno and her perverse giggles and moans as she unleashed bolts of lightning on the magicians, the better.

With so many new threats, the magicians decided to ignore Riser. Not that anyone could blame them as he’d killed at least half of their number by himself. They realized that as long as they didn’t target him, or the girl with blue/green hair, they would be fine. This left Riser with time to watch as Azazel did something that truly interested him, he pulled out his artificial Sacred Gear and forced its balance breaker to activate.

Azazel’s transformation into a suit of golden dragon armor similar to both Issei’s and Vali’s was accompanied by a shockingly large increase in his power. Riser didn’t have much he could compare what he was feeling from Azazel to. While he knew Sirzechs was powerful, he’d never felt the Satan unleash his full might. The same could be said for many of the truly powerful in the Underworld as they kept themselves restrained. That made what he was sensing from Azazel the most powerful thing he had ever sensed in his life.

He didn’t like how it made him feel. Intellectually he accepted that many people were stronger than him. Hell, he regularly had Sairaorg kick his ass to help keep himself humble and to grow stronger.

It was the sheer gulf of power between himself and Azazel’s current state that bothered him deeply. He knew there were threats in the future that made Azazel look like a chump. If that was the case what did that make Riser? Cannon fodder, that’s what. He couldn’t stand that thought and planned to use it to force himself to grow in strength.

Riser clenched his hands into fists as he watched the short bout between Azazel, clad in the golden armor created by Fafnir and wielding a bident made of light, and Katerea exuding a dark aura amplified by one of Ohpis’s snakes. The two flew past each other at high speed but it was instantly clear that Katerea came out of the clash the loser. Blood gushed from a wound caused by Azazel’s Light Bident and she was left panting in clear pain with her clothing destroyed.

He couldn’t hear what was being said from on the ground, but he could see that Katerea was clearly not taking her inevitable defeat very well. Her arms stretched out to latch only Azazel’s left gauntlet where they fused to it. He watched, confused, as Azazel casually sliced off his own arm instead of dismissing the armor to get out of her grasp. Maybe her fusing spell or technique went through the armor to his flesh? Riser didn’t know but he observed Azazel then taking the bident and launching it at Katerea. Her end was as pathetic as the rest of her ‘fight’ against Azazel had been as the bident pierced her head.

The little pureblood part of his mind couldn’t help lamenting the loss of Katerea Leviathan. The Devil race had so few purebloods left and she was from a legendary bloodline on top of that. She might not have inherited her ancestor's greatest ability, but it was always possible that any of her children would have. Oh well, luckily for himself, he had another Leviathan waiting for him at home. One with a much sweeter attitude that seemed likely to join his peerage sometime in the near future.

He didn’t have much time to contemplate the lost opportunity, even if the odds of Katerea ever agreeing to join a peerage were zero. Things heated up as everyone felt a boost to their morale with Katrea defeated. Riser calmly watched as everyone went on the offensive to take out the remaining magicians. It was a one-sided slaughter.

He was slightly irked when he saw Issei running around with a sword blade sticking out of his Boosted Gear gauntlet. It looked like he’d still been given Ascalon, though he had no clue why that would be the case. Up to this point Issei hadn’t won a single fight or done anything to help anyone out. Well, unless you counted the one good punch he’d managed to land on Raynare, but who cared about that?

All of Issei’s victories and other big moments had been negated by Riser’s actions. He was still a nobody who couldn’t properly use his Sacred Gear. It made Riser wonder just how stupid some people were.

The moment they finished taking out the last of the stragglers, was the moment Vali made his opening move. Seemingly out of nowhere Valie slammed into Azazel’s back and drove him into the ground with the force of an explosion. Riser snickered a little as the attack ‘just happened’ to land close to Issei and send the idiot sprawling.

With his opening move finished, Vali jumped from the crater and landed a short distance from it, gathering everyone else's attention to himself. Azazel crawled out of the crater and, aside from the missing arm, didn’t look the worse for wear. Given the slightly amused smile on his face, he hadn’t taken the attack seriously. That impression was further reinforced when he calmly lay at the lip of the crater and rested his head on his one remaining hand, “I must be losing my edge.” His gaze moved to his adopted son, “Vali.”

Vali, having returned to the air after body-slamming Azazel, looked down on everyone, “Sorry, Azazel. Things looked more interesting on this side.”

Riser calmly looked at Vali, having known the betrayal was coming. Issei, on the other hand, shouted like an idiot, “Vali?! But I thought Riser was the one who would betray us!”

Riser’s head jerked to look at Issei. There was a huge temptation to just kill the fucker right then and there so he’d never have to deal with the sex offender again. Sadly, now wasn’t the time. Frankly, if he was going to murder Issei, it would be after he got his hands on a Sacred Gear extractor. Boosted Gear was a powerful tool and one he wouldn’t mind having in his arsenal. Even if he didn’t use it himself he could easily give it to Xenovia, she’d make excellent use of the boost to her physical abilities. Combined with Durandal it would make her a truly formidable warrior.

Azazel cut through Riser’s daydreams about murdering Issei when he spoke up, “Hey Vali, there’s something I’d like to ask you. Shemhazai has gotten wind of a dangerous faction. I think he called them the… Khaos Brigade? And the person in charge of it, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis.”

That name drop sent shockwaves through everyone in the know. Riser couldn’t blame them. Ophis, the Dragon God that represented infinity, chaos, and nothingness, was not an entity to be taken lightly. At least, not by those who didn’t know how to deal with her or the truth about her. While Riser had respect for her and the power she could wield, he didn’t actually fear Ophis and was honestly looking forward to the day he met her in person.

Vali’s voice sounded a bit cocky as he answered Azazel, “It’s true that I’ve sided with Ophis. But neither of us is interested in world domination. We just came together so we could use out power. That’s all.”

Azazel let out a dramatic sigh, “That’s good. For a moment there I worried you’d become friends with Katerea since you both had your Devil King seats stolen from you.”

Both Rias and Serafall verbally questioned what Azazel meant prompting Vali and answer their curiosity, “My name is Vali Lucifer.” That sent a wave of shock through the watchers before he continued, “I am a descendant of the dead Devil King Lucifer.” His voice took on a haughty tone as he talked down to those who didn’t know the truth about him, “I’m a half-blood, born of the grandson of Lucifer and a human woman.”

Riser understood why he said it. Half-bloods were looked down on just as much as reincarnated devils. They were seen as lesser, but there wasn’t really anyone present at the moment who would actually care all that much about his half-blood status. Though, he supposed, he might have cared and looked down on Vali for it in the past. While other people muttered various things about Vali’s revelation, Azazel wasn’t all that distracted. Frankly, he knew everything already and was just helping his wayward son get the information out there to the others. He was such a good dad!

“While you have the blood of a real Devil King, because you are also half human you were able to gain a Sacred Gear, the Vanishing Dragon, Divine Dividing.” Azazel chuckled, “Your very existence is almost like a joke.”

Vali ‘stood’ proud in the air as his head tilted at an angle to show him being cocky, “The word ‘miracle’ probably exists to describe me.” As his words faded eight massive demon wings formed behind him, showing that he was firmly within the Ultimate tier of power among devils even without Divine Dividing.

Well, he wasn’t wrong. What were the odds of the great-grandson of Lucifer himself being born with one of the most powerful Sacred Gears to exist? Probably a few trillion to one, if not more. Of course, it was only possible at all because God was dead and Micheal sucked at controlling the systems of Heaven.

Azazel had to finish it off with some praise, naturally, “Vali is the strongest White Dragon Emperor the world has ever known.”

Vali’s helmet turned to look at where a shellshocked Issei was standing, “Hyoudou Issei, don’t you think fate is cruel?”

“What?”

“I am the strongest dragon with the blood of the Devil King. But you… You’re just a lowly human. Before you became a devil you were just a below-average high school student. That is to say, aside from the Boosted Gear, you are nothing.” Issei glared, ineffectually, at Vali even as he continued to hammer on the boy, something Riser was greatly enjoying, “It’s disappointing. It’s so disappointing it’s funny. Even though we’re rival Sacred Gears, we’re serrated by more than the sky from the earth.” He paused, “No, by more than that.”

Riser was honestly fanboying a little inside as he listened to Vali ripping into Issei. He knew that in the story Vali did it to get a rise out of Issei so he could have a good fight. But, right there and then, he could tell that Vali meant every last word. At least in canon, Issei had some good showings under his belt by this point.

Issei was glaring at Vali with almost as much anger as he usually aimed at Riser himself, “So what?!”

Vali crossed his arms over his chest, “Well, how about this, you can become an avenger. I’ll kill your parents. If I kill something as precious to you as your parents, wouldn’t you be able to act on that grave fate? It would be a lot more exciting for your parents than dying normally after a boring life. Yes, I think that’s what I’ll do.”

Riser stroked his chin as he applauded Vali for going the full Itachi/Sasuke route by playing the role of Itachi. His gaze moved over to Issei who was staring at the ground with his hands curled into fists and his teeth clenched hard, “I’m going to kill this bastard.”

Rias turned to Issei in shock, “Issei!”

Issei threw his head back to shout at Vali, “I’m going to fucking murder you!”

[Welsh Dragon Over Booster!]

The bracelet that Azazel gave to Issei flashed while the Boosted Gear transformed into its balance breaker state by using it as a fuel source. In moments Issei was clad in a familiar red armor. The green lenses of his helmet glared at Vali in the sky, “Like I’m going to just sit around and let you kill my parents!”

Riser felt his heartbeat increase as his excitement grew. Yes! It was finally happening! Oh, he couldn’t wait to see this!

There was no time for talk as Issei launched himself into the air, “Ascalon!”

[Blade!]

The dragon-slaying blade of Ascalon appeared once more. Vali’s wings flashed as Albion’s dignified voice echoed out for everyone to hear, “The Dragon Slayer? I won’t be able to deflect even one cut from this.”

Vali scoffed, “It’ll be fine as long as I don’t let him cut me, right?”

With those words, Vali became a streak of white light that moved through the air at speeds Riser had trouble tracking. Truly, the man was a speed demon. Rias made to move toward the fight, calling out Issei’s name but was grabbed and stopped by Sirzechs. When she looked back, he explained, “The auras of those two are past your limits.”

Issei chased after Vali, moving faster than he possibly could outside of his Balance Breaker. Yet it was doing him no good. Vali slammed a fist into Issei’s chest with enough force to make Issei spit out a mouthful of blood.

[Divide!]

At the same time, he robbed Issei of half of his strength just before the boy slammed into the ground. Issei hit the ground and rolled to a stop face down in the dirt. Rias, still held back by Sirzechs called out, “Issei?!”

Riser watched, spellbound with his heart hammering ever faster than before as adrenaline flooded his system in his excitement, as Issei forced himself back to his feet. His whole body was shaking and everyone could hear the strain in his voice as he addressed Rias, “You don’t have to worry about me…”

Vali snorted derisively and cut off whatever else Issei might have said, “He’s right, you don’t have to worry.” Vali’s gaze fell on Issei, “That was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever experienced. I’ve fought normal humans without Sacred Gears that are stronger than you.” His voice lowered and conveyed his disappointment perfectly, “You couldn’t even bring out some power after I threatened your family. Pathetic.”

There was silence as Vali and Issei stared at each other. Eventually, Issei collapsed and his Balance Breaker state faded, the bracelet shattering. Without something to continue pushing him, Issei didn’t have the emotional energy to keep going.

Euphoria.

That was what Riser felt watching Vali rip Issei into metaphorical shreds. Without the right motivation, meaning breasts in some manner, Issei was nothing special. Part of Riser, the part that remembered his last life, actually liked Issei and thought his adventures were a ton of fun. Watching Issei go gaga over breasts and getting huge power boosts after playing with Rias’s nipples was hilarious. Seeing Issei and Ddraig do hilarious or impossible shit all for the sake of breasts was a fun thing to watch.

That was the thing though. It was only fun to watch as an anime or read as a manga. In real life? It was fucking annoying as hell and disturbing on a level Riser hadn’t known existed. Worse, Issei was supposed to be the protagonist, the one who did everything to save the world and whatnot. So, logically, Riser should have been helping Issei in whatever way he could. He should be supporting Issei and pushing him to get stronger to make sure they all survived the multiple major events that would come up.

He couldn’t.

First, he had his pride and he would much rather the world burn than ever do anything to help Issei. Second, he refused to make the Underworld suffer through something like the Oppai Song. And, finally, he knew, without a doubt, that he would become even stronger than Issei at his peak, given enough time.

His attention was pulled to Vali when he spoke once more, his tone taking on a much more interested timbre, “However, there is someone here that’s far more interesting.”

When Vali’s gaze dropped to look directly at Riser, it drew other eyes to him as well. Riser cocked an eyebrow and smirked back at Vali, who continued speaking, “After all, rumors say you were able to beat that weakling rival of mine even with him using his Balance Breaker.”

Riser chuckled and nodded, “I did. Frankly, I should have killed him when I had the chance. Maybe then you’d get a rival worthy of the word.”

Vali actually laughed at that, it was hardly more than a chuckle, but anyone looking would have seen the devastated look on Issei’s face. He could take a lot and keep coming back for more, but the casual dismissal was far more devastating than anything previously done to him.

Riser uncrossed his arms from his chest and walked toward Vali. As he strutted, fire erupted from his back and formed into a perfect imitation of feathered wings. He floated up into the air until he was level with Vali, “Are you sure you wish to do this? I promise you, you don’t stand a chance of defeating me.”

Everyone could hear the wide smile in Vali’s voice as he answered, “Good! Good! Come at me with everything you have!”

Riser chuckled and clenched his hands into fists, orange-red flames roared to life around them. Vali’s wings flashed as Albion spoke aloud, “Vali, beware those flames. They feel similar to Ascalon.”

Considering the flames were Dragon Slayer magic, Albion wasn’t too far off the mark. Granted the mythos behind the flames and the sword were different. The end result was the same. They were both designed and meant for killing dragons.

“Hoh? This will be more entertaining than I thought.”

Riser chuckled, “Pay close attention, you might not get another chance.”

Fire exploded out of Riser back and launched him at Vali with blistering speed. Riser’s right fist met in a clash with Vali’s as they both threw strong punches at each other. The clash of their fists caused a small shockwave and exclamations of shock as they watched the armor around Vali’s fist crack.

“Not bad, but…”

[Divide!]

“Not good enough!”

Everything seemed to freeze as everyone expected something to happen to Riser after losing half of his strength. Except… nothing did. There was no sign of Riser weakening and, even more telling, Vali’s posture expressed his absolute shock. It was Albion who spoke what the pair were feeling, “I-impossible!”

Riser’s lips curled into a wicked grin, “It gets worse.”

He held up his right hand and showed the blue-purple gem to Vali. It flashed with a green light as a familiar voice filled the silence.

[Boost!]

Everyone felt the sudden pressure that filled the area as Riser unleashed his full might and then doubled it. He was at the lowest rungs of Ultimate Class without any of his multipliers or tricks. With a single boost, he moved firmly into the middle of Ultimate Class and outclassed all but the most powerful people in the area.

He could hear the exclamations of shock and surprise coming from those watching him. Several questioned just how it was possible for him to use the signature ability of the Boosted Gear without having the Sacred Gear. Into the muttering a single strong voice called out from the gauntlet that had manifested on Issei’s arm, “How do you have my ability little bird?!”

Riser looked down toward where Ddraig called out from. Seeing the look of completed defeat on Issei’s face brought a smile to his own. He addressed Ddraig, “Pardon my language but I’ve always wanted to say this. Fuck you, that’s how.”

Azazel chuckled, “He must’ve found himself a Twice Critical, they are a dime a dozen.”

[Boost!]

Riser’s power rocketed up even further as the second boost came through. With it, any ideas that he might have somehow gotten his hands on a Twice Critical were dashed. Riser turned his gaze to Azazel and smirked victoriously, “Wrong.”

Before anything else could be said, Riser dodged to the side letting Vali pass by him. Vali had taken the time to recover from his surprise and launch an attack while Riser was distracted. Riser refocused on the fight at hand. He planned to scare the shit out of everyone watching, otherwise, he never would have revealed his ability to boost or his immunity to the powers of Sacred Gears.

Vali spun around and charged back at Riser once again. This time Riser was ready and caught Vali’s punch with his left hand. Vali stopped in surprise while the grin on Riser’s face grew, “Surprise!”

[Divide!]

Vali’s power was instantly cut in half.

[Boost!]

Shouts of “Impossible!” came from multiple sources, the loudest two being Albion and Vali.

Vali jerked his hand out of Riser’s grip and made some distance between them. Vali’s power had dropped drastically, as one would expect. Riser could feel the hateful glare coming from Vali as he practically growled out, “How did you do that?!”

“Fuck you, that’s how.”

The snarky answer from Riser only seemed to infuriate Vali. He clenched his fists tightly and glared at Riser, “I didn’t think I would need to use this, but it seems as if you are worthy. It’s time for me to get truly serious.”

His body curled slightly as he began chanting, his power rising a little with each word, “I, who am about to awaken, am the heavenly dragon who lost all to the principals of supremacy…”

Riser calmly floated in the air and allowed Vali to speak. He had no fear of the Juggernaut Drive and was a little curious to see it in person.

Before Vali could get to the next line of his chant, the barrier that had kept everything from being known by the public at large, shattered as someone new entered the stage. He came crashing down and landed right next to Vali causing the White Dragon Emperor to stop his chant and address the new arrival, “Bikou, why are you here?”

Bikou had the appearance of a young man with dark hair and eyes, a fit body wearing ancient Chinese style armor, and carried a staff that was a replica of the legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang. Bikou looked at Vali and calmly answered, “We’re going to fight with the northern gods, so I was sent to bring you back!”

Vali sighed, “I see, it’s that time already?” His helmeted gaze moved to look at Riser, “It seems we’ll have to continue this another time.”

Riser smirked viciously, “Why bother? This wasn’t even enough to qualify as a warm-up for me. I don’t like wasting my time on weaklings.”

He could feel the glare coming from Vali, though Bikou was giving him a curious look. Vali clearly didn’t like being called weak. Riser didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, Vali was weaker than him and would continue to remain that way as long as he relied so heavily on Divine Dividing. Truth be told, he considered Vali a moron of epic proportions. His goal was to kill Rizevim, the guy with a special ability to cancel out ALL Sacred Gears. It meant that Vali would be incapable of using Divine Dividing against the guy, period. Yet, Vali spent all his time trying to master his Sacred Gear and make it stronger instead of focusing on making himself stronger. What was the point of being the greatest most powerful user of Divine Dividing in history, if it did nothing to get him closer to his primary goal?

Yes, Riser was aware that the Sacred Gear was useful against everyone else. But that was the point! If Vali just went around using it to make everyone he fought WEAKER how was he going to get STRONGER? Riser wanted to get stronger as well, so he fought against someone who could kick his ass up and down the block without breaking a sweat. It made him stronger every time that he lost to Sairaorg. Hitting Sairaorg with a Divide would be pointless since he wouldn’t be beating a stronger opponent, he’d just be beating a weakling.

Before anything else could be said, Bikou began spinning his staff over his head, “Nice to meet you all.”

He slammed one end of the staff into the ground conjuring up a dark teleportation circle beneath himself and Vali. The White Dragon Emperor addressed Riser, “Let’s have a more intense fight the next time we meet.”

Riser just shrugged his shoulders, “Get gud scrub.”

That pair sank into the dark teleportation circle and vanished from the area. Riser smirked and dropped down to the ground.

[Reset!]

Riser ignored the callout from his glove and walked over to where Xenovia was standing. He could see that everyone was looking at him in various ways, mostly shock, surprise, or curiosity. However, he did detect a faint bit of hostility wafting off of Sirzechs. There was a single outlier. Xenovia was giving him a hungry look. He could only think one thing, ‘hehe, I’m in danger.’

It was clear, to him at least, that it was taking a lot of effort from her for Xenovia not to rip his clothing off. They hadn’t had sex yet, but he suspected that would be changing once they got home. His attention was pulled away by a comment from Azazel, “Well well, that was quite the interesting show. I’m curious how you managed to use not only the power of the Boosted Gear, but also the power of Divine Dividing.”

Riser turned to look at the one-armed leader of the Grigori and smirked, “Fuck you, that’s how.”

Azazel didn’t take offense and chuckled a little at Riser’s reply. He had a counter though and presented it, “We’re here for the sake of peace. Surely you’d be willing to explain for the sake of peace between the factions.”

Riser gave Azazel a flat look, “Sure, as soon as you have all your people come here and brief all of us on all of their abilities. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind exposing all of their secrets to everyone if it’s all for peace, right?”

Azazel scowled at that but conceded, “Fine, I get your point.”

Riser smirked at Azazel but didn’t gloat for long. Instead, he turned to look at Micheal who’d remained silent and passive during almost the entire event, “There is something I would like to ask of you Lord Micheal.”

Micheal’s passive look changed to one of curiosity, “What might that be?”

Riser turned to look at Xenovia and then Asia. While he did so, he caught sight of Rias trying to comfort Issei. He could see that what little pride Issei had was being eaten away moment by moment as she tried to make him feel like less of a failure. After looking at the girls, he turned back to Micheal, “I would greatly appreciate it if you could allow both Xenovia Quarta and Asia Argento to pray once more.”

Both of the named girls gasped at the request. Xenovia stepped up next to Riser and looked into his eyes, “My lord?”

She tried to address him with ‘appropriate’ terms when they were in public and only called him by name in private at home. He gave her a knowing smile but didn’t say anything aloud.

Micheal was caught off guard for a moment but hummed and asked the obvious question of the girls, “Asia, Xenovia, will you pray even though you know that god is not here anymore?”

Asia was the first to answer, being the much more devout of the pair. She closed her eye and clasped her hands together in front of her chest as if she was about to pray right then and there, “Yes. Even if there is no God, I want to pray.”

Xenovia, looking as serious as ever, nodded in agreement with Asia, “Same here. I want to pray with that to God, and to you Lord Micheal.”

Seeing what was happening, Irina walked to stand next to the pair, “I’d like to ask on their behalf as well Lord Micheal.”

That set off a round of apologies between Irina and Xenovia for the misunderstanding between them. Though a little different than canon, Irina had still believed Xenovia had betrayed the Church and Heaven.

Serafall giggled at the display, “So this is the friendship between devils and believers of God?”

Sirzechs was the next to speak, though he definitely looked reluctant given it was a suggestion brought forth my Riser, “Lord Micheal, will you do this as a symbol of our peace?”

Riser held back a smirk at that. He was one hundred percent certain that if his request hadn’t involved Asia, a member of Rias’s peerage, Sirzechs would have said nothing in support of the request. Being the sis-con he was he naturally had to support anything that would make Asia, and thus Rias, happy. It didn’t mean he had to like it though.

Micheal turned back to the two church girls and gave them a gentle smile, “Yes, it should be fine to have two devils that do not receive damage when they pray.”

Xenovia, Asia, and Irina all thanked Micheal before simultaneously collapsing their hands together and begging to pray aloud.

“O’ God…”

Both Asia and Xenovia flinched and gasped as a bolt of pain shot through their heads at their attempt to pray. Micheal laughed softly at the sight, “I have to return to Heaven and change the system first, though.”

Azazel, apparently needing to be the center of attention spoke up, “I’ll live here for a while.”

Riser cut him off before he could say more, “No you won’t.”

Azazel grunted and looked at Riser, “Why not?”

Riser just cocked an eyebrow, “We might be moving into an era of peace between us, but that doesn’t give you the right to just decide that you can live in devil territory without even asking the leaders of that territory for permission.” He smirked, “Unless, of course, it would also be fine for me to decide to live in Grigori territory.” His gaze moved to Micheal, “Or perhaps just plop myself down in a nice spot within Heaven without permission?”

Obviously, the prospect of a devil living in the territory of either the Grigori or Heaven didn’t sit well with either of the leaders. For obvious reasons. It was the same thing that normal human countries dealt with. America and Japan were at peace after World War Two, but you still had to have permission from either government to move into and live on their territory. To do otherwise was illegal.

Azazel frowned as he studied Riser, “You really don’t like us, do you kid?”

Riser shrugged, “It’s nothing personal but you two just rub me the wrong way. If you want to stay here you need the permission of myself, Rias Gremory, and Sona Sitri, all upstanding members of pillar clans. You being here without our permission could be seen as a threat being leveled toward those clans.”

Azazel looked annoyed as he asked, “And I take it I don’t have your permission?”

Riser smiled, “Exactly. Now, if you all will excuse me, it’s been a long evening and I’d like to get some sleep.”

As he turned to walk away Serafall spoke up from behind him, “I’ll be coming to talk with you tomorrow Riser!”

Riser waved over his shoulder to acknowledge her statement then addressed Xenovia, “Feel free to spend time with your friend Xenovia, I’ll see you later. Alright?”

Xenovia gave him a bright smile and nodded, “I’ll be home later, My Lord.”

[System Alert! Quest Complete!

The next stage!

Well… that was slightly less exciting than I had hoped. If only Bikou had shown up a little later, things could have gotten interesting! Still, your presence led to Vali dismissing his Rival as trash and focusing on you instead. I will always approve of anything that leads to Issei getting smacked down! On top of that, you’ve now got the full attention of not just your own factions leadership, but that of both the Grigori and Heaven laser focused on you! Good luck with that!

Still, this wasn’t nearly exciting enough so I’m downgrading your reward a bit. You can work on it to make it stronger though! Good luck!

Reward: Visored Form (Bleach)]

Riser teleported home as the information on his reward filled his mind. He hummed in interest at gaining it. Obviously, there were some changes to what one would expect of a Visored. For starters, he was never a Shinigami so he would have no access to Shinigami powers like any other Visored in Bleach could. Second, his world ran on magic, not spiritual powers. Well, Senjutsu aside. So his form used that same system.

Essentially, he could dawn a Hollow Mask, like all Visored, and would gain a boost to his basic abilities, speed, strength, etcetera. However, it was heavily nerfed just as the system said. Right now, the boost he would get from dawning the mask would be minimal as the Hallow it was based on was just a plain average weakling Hallow rather than something impressive like a Vasto Lorde.

On the bright side, he could upgrade its strength over time. To do so he needed to feed the mask his Demonic Power. Once it had enough power he needed to use it in combat to force it to evolve into the next stage. He would need the mask to go through all of the evolutionary stages of a Hollow until it reached the pinnacle. As it evolved it would unlock more Hallow powers, such as the Cero ability when it evolved into the Gillian stage.

Curious, Riser lifted his right hand to the top of his head and turned his fingers into claws that he dragged down. A simple white mask made of a bone-like material appeared and covered his face. The mask was completely flat with only two eye holes for him to see out of. He couldn’t see it, but his eyes had changed, the sclera becoming black while the iris turned a caustic yellow.

Riser scoffed in derision as he felt the ‘boost’ he gained from dawning the mask, it was minuscule, not even worth using in an actual fight. He doubted he was getting more than a one percent increase in his abilities.

It was fine though. He could probably get through the first Hallow evolution pretty quickly. In fact, he started pouring his Demonic Power into the mask causing a dark purple aura to surround the mask, similar to the skin coloring of a basic Hallow. It only took him a few minutes to fill the mask with power. Now all he needed was a fight and it would evolve into the next stage. On the bright side, feeding it his demonic power increased the boost the mask was giving him. At a rough guess, it had gone from one percent to ten percent. Still not great, but was getting better. It should have a qualitative increase once it evolved to the Gillian stage.

He took the mask off and examined it even as it slowly disintegrated, “Well, you’re useless for now, but you might be worth something after my next spar with Sairaorg.” He grinned widely, “If nothing else, being able to fire off Cero’s will be a ton of fun.”

Once the mask evolved into the Gillian stage he would gain power and access to the Cero and Kumon abilities. The Cero was just a blast of energy in the form of a red beam of destruction. He was curious how strong it would be. The Kumon or ‘air gate’ was the ability of a Gillian to travel from Hueco Mundo to the human world. In his case, it would give him the ability to travel to any realm. Not a huge boon given he could teleport, but still neat. Lastly was the Negacion ability. It would allow him to place a protective barrier around his allies that would make them invulnerable to all damage by shifting them into a slightly different dimension. He’d lose it when he evolved to the next stage.

Once the mask evolved into the next stage, Adjuchas, he would gain a large increase in power as well as some form of special ability. It would likely have something to do with his Phenex Clan traits. Maybe he’d finally get something to boost his wind magic? That particular aspect of his abilities had been very neglected while his fire magic and regeneration had become ridiculous.

Next came the Vasto Lorde stage of the mask, on top of whatever ability he got evolving and growing stronger, he would gain access to Sonido and High-Speed Regeneration. Sonido was a kick-ass movement technique while the Regeneration was self-explanatory.

As if he needed more of that! Still, it would make it possible for him to give out his Phoenix Devil Fruit with less worry about consequences. Despite being ‘evil’ he could tell his Hallow Powers weren’t as vulnerable to light and holy magic as one would expect.

The next stage was the last and most powerful one, the Arrancar stage. It would be the largest increase in power of all the stages and give him a huge array of special abilities. Bala, a smaller weaker cero that could be fired twenty times faster. Descorrer, an improved version of the Kumon. Hierro, an ability that reinforced his skin based on his maximum Demonic Power, the higher it was, the more durable he became. Pesquisa, a refined sensing technique that could definitely come in handy. And lastly, he would be able to develop different versions of the iconic Cero ability.

The easiest, and possibly most powerful, of them all is the Gran Rey Cero. By adding some of his blood to a basic Cero, it evolves and becomes many times stronger. So strong, in fact, that just firing it can disturb the fabric of space itself!

Yeah, he really, really wanted to fire one of those off just for the hell of it!

To further his cause of firing a Gran Rey Cero, he lifted his hand and conjured a magic circle. It beeped a few times before a holographic image of Kuisha appeared standing on his palm, “Lord Riser? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Riser sighed, “How many times Kuisha?”

“At least once more Lord Riser.”

He scoffed as she gave him an impudent grin, “Cheeky Minx. Anyway! I was hoping Sairaorg might be free sometime tomorrow for a good spar?”

“Can you not wait until your next scheduled one?”

It was a fair question but, “No, no I cannot. I learned something new and want Sairaorg’s help to make it grow stronger.”

Now Kuisha looked very curious. She’d seen his Devil Trigger form so something new would likely be just as interesting. She hummed and finally nodded, “It shouldn’t be a problem. My Lord doesn’t have anything important planned for tomorrow. I’ll find some free time and give you a call, Lord Riser.”

“Thank you Kuisha. Let Sairaorg know that the more he helps me with this new ability, the stronger I’ll become. Though it might take a while to get truly strong with it.”

Kuisha laughed, “I will, I’m sure that will make him happy. Goodnight Lord Riser.”

“Goodnight Kuisha.”

They hung up and Riser made his way to his bedroom. He wasn’t super tired, but he felt mentally exhausted. Thankfully, he would be taking Issei back to the underworld and dropping him off with his newest teacher. Tannin had, politely, refused to take Issei back. Riser was only dropping Issei off at the Gremory estate and letting them deal with him. As for why it wasn’t Rias dropping him off? Because she refused to. She was throwing a temper tantrum about it so it fell to Riser to be the ‘bad guy’ and do as their parents requested.

He shrugged off his clothing and climbed into his bed. Sleep definitely sounded like a good idea.

—--Line Break—--

(Warning: Lemon Incoming)

Riser awoke with a groan of pleasure. A very familiar feeling radiated from his crotch and sent shivers down his spine. His eyes fluttered and opened to the darkness of his room, meaning it was still night time not the morning. So, it wasn’t a morning blowjob.

He groaned again as pleasure rolled through him. He tilted his head to look down and saw the blanket over his body bobbing up and down. There were only two people who would come into his room and pulling the blanket to the side revealed the one he expected to see.

Xenovia looked up at Riser, her eyes appearing golden in the darkness as they locked onto his. Even looking into his eyes she didn’t stop her ministrations. Her head bobbed up and down with his cock firmly held between her lips. It was amateurish, clearly the first time she’d done it, but she made up for it with enthusiasm.

Neither spoke as they held each other's gaze. Her hand gently stroked what she couldn’t fit in her mouth, which was more than half of his length. She couldn’t deepthroat him yet so she couldn’t fit even half of his length into her mouth. It didn’t stop what she was doing from feeling good though.

It wasn’t much longer before Riser’s eyes closed and his back arched slightly. When he came it felt like he was releasing molten lead from his body. He refused to masturbate so it had been over two weeks since his last climax. It felt glorious for him. His eyes opened in time to catch sight of Xenovia doing her absolute best to swallow every last drop, only a tiny amount leaking from the corner of her mouth.

She licked the drop that escaped up and lifted herself onto her hands and knees, revealing her entirely naked body to his sight, “I’m sorry My Lord, did I wake you?”

Her tone was playful and somewhat teasing. Clearly, she meant to wake him. She crawled toward him, her breasts swaying so that her rock-hard nipples rubbed against his stomach. He spoke her name in a soft sigh, “Xenovia…”

She quickly reached up and pressed her index finger against his lips, “I want this, Riser. Please?”

The vulnerability in her voice when she pleaded with him made his heart ache a little. With her clearly wanting to continue, he had no reason to stop her. So, he nodded prompting Xenovia to give him a radiant smile. She continued to climb up his body until her crotch pressed against his and her breasts rubbed against his chest, “Thank you.”

She shifted her hips and Riser could feel just how hot and wet she was. He was mildly surprised there wasn’t steam rising from between their bodies as her lips split around his shaft from her rubbing. She gazed down into his eyes as he allowed her to take the lead, it was her first time after all, “I’ve wanted this for so long, but before it was just so I could have your child.” She blushed a little at that, “But now?”

She leaned down squishing her breasts to his chest, her eyes closed and her lips moving towards his. He closed the last of the distance between them and kissed her. The kiss was soft, just a pressing of lips together, but it conveyed so much more. When it ended they looked into each other’s eyes, Xenovia finished her thought, “For everything you’ve done for me, I love you.”

Riser reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. He cared deeply for Xenovia. It wasn’t quite love, not yet, but he knew it would be sometime in the near future. So, he spoke knowing what would come in time, “I love you too.”

Xenovia shifted her hips once more, rubbing herself against him, “Liar, but, it’s alright. I can wait until you really do.”

Riser shifted his hips rubbing himself against her, sending a spike of pleasure through both of them, “I’m sure it will be soon.”

Xenovia leaned down and kissed him once more, “I’m sure, now shut up and make love to me.”

Riser laughed lightly and wrapped one arm around Xenovia’s back. He rolled them over until he was on top of Xenovia. They maintained eye contact as he lifted his hips and used his free hand to line himself up properly. He slowly pushed himself into her, spreading her wide as he penetrated her. Xenovia arched her back and groaned loudly while he pushed deeper into her. The process was easy with no pain for her, she’d broken her hymen in training a long time ago.

Once his pelvis was pressed to hers, she opened her eyes and let out a content sigh, “So full.”

Riser chuckled and gave her another soft kiss, “You ready?”

Xenovia wrapped her arms around his neck and nodded. That was all he needed. He pulled his hips back and began thrusting slowly into her. Every thrust caused her back to arch and a soft moan to escape her. It was only a little bit before Xenovia groaned out, “Faster.”

Riser didn’t need further encouragement and started moving faster. The sound of flesh slapping together mixed with the progressively louder moans coming from Xenovia and filled the room. Riser felt Xenovia fluttering around his shaft, feeling her grow tighter while he continued to thrust. She panted heavily, her groans becoming deeper and more frantic, “S-something’s coming…”

Riser grinned as he leaned down to whisper into her ear, “You’re about to cum.”

His thrusting picked up speed and power, pushing Xenovia even closer to the edge. Her breathing became more ragged and her moans turned into whines. Her legs wrapped around him and held him in place without her conscious input. Her whines became higher pitched as he began twitching inside of her, his own orgasm building.

When he felt he she could hold on no longer, Riser whispered into her ear, “Cum for me Xenovia.”

Her back arched while she let out a high-pitched whine, her whole body spasming from pleasure washing over her. At the same time, Riser let himself go, his cock throbbing powerfully inside of her as he painted her insides white. Feeling the heat of his cum filling her sent Xenovia even further over the edge, her whole body shaking violently as his warmth filled her.

Riser was the first to recover from the post-orgasmic bliss. He gently pulled himself out of Xenovia and lay next to her while she continued to recover her senses. While she was still out of it, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to his chest so they could spoon. When she finally recovered, she hugged his arm to her chest, “That was wonderful.”

Riser grinned and whispered into her ear, “I hope you didn’t think just once would be enough?”

As he spoke he pressed his still erect cock against her ass cheeks getting a little squeak out of her. She turned her head so she could look at him with wide eyes. Seeing his playfully malicious grin only made her eyes widen further. She gulped but firmed up her resolve, “I can take whatever you can dish out!”

Riser’s grin only grew while his hand grasped one of her breasts and tweaked her nipple, causing her to gasp and then moan. Whatever was left of the night was going to be long.

—--Line Break—--

AN

Okay, I’m stopping there. This only came out to a little over 8k words, but another 2-3k words wouldn’t be enough for what happens next so it will need to wait until the next chapter.

Also, what do you guys think of my first Lemon scene? Like I said before, I’ve never written one before so I’m not sure how it turned out. Also, would you like to see more, where appropriate? Just keep in mind, that lemon’s won't become the main focus of the story, just something that happens naturally at the appropriate moments. Or should I stick to the more fade-to-black style I used in previous chapters where I only suggest what happened? Let me know!