POV: riser phenex
Convincing Tobio Ikuse hadn't been difficult.
He was desperate, after all. His classmates were missing. His school had become a hunting ground for something he didn't understand. All I had to do was promise that I could help him save his kidnapped classmates, and he didn't even hesitate. That's the thing about humans. You don't need to lie to manipulate them. You just have to offer them something they want more than the truth. So when I told him I was a devil and that I could help, he didn't flinch. He just asked what I wanted in return.
"Nothing," I told him. "I'm not your enemy."
He asked questions. The usual ones. Why would a devil care?. I told him what he wanted to hear: I don't like what the Utsusemi Agency is doing. I don't like chaos in the human world. And I don't like monsters kidnapping children and turning them into weapons. His friend was in danger, and in moments like that, humans stop thinking. They cling to whatever light they can find, even if it comes from a devil.
That was enough for him, for now.
I made sure to appear confident but cooperative. I didn't push. Just offered help and waited for him to follow. It worked.
He believed me. Desperation does that.
He brought me to meet the rest of his group. Lavinia Reni and Natsume Minagawa. Lavinia didn't trust me from the start. I could see it in her eyes, although she appeared carefree, she was quite perceptive. But she didn't argue. Natsume was more cautious than I expected, not unkind, just measured. I didn't push too hard. Let them come to their own conclusions. I could tell they were watching me. Judging me. That was fine. I preferred it that way.
Still, they agreed. They had no other leads. I had power, resources, and experience. I could get them inside one of the labs that the Utsusemi Agency was using to hold the missing students.
We moved together.
A raid on an Utsusemi Agency lab. It was buried under an office building. We neutralized the guards. Lavina froze one. Natsume put another to sleep. Tobio was focused. Efficient. I barely needed to do anything.
The place was worse than expected. Students strapped to machines. Magic experiments. Living weapons. Tobio nearly broke down when he saw one of his classmates. Natsume pulled him back. We called for medical extraction and moved to secure the rest of the wing.
Until the creature showed up. One of Utsusemi's mistakes. Patchwork flesh and too much mana. It charged. I put it down with one strike.
Too easy.
Later that night, another raid.
We weren't alone this time.
Cao Cao's group.
I recognized them immediately. This wasn't supposed to happen. In the original timeline, the Hero Faction didn't interfere with Utsusemi or any of the slash Dog events. Something's changed.
Cao Cao. Arthur Pendragon. Jeanne. Heracles. George. Leonardo and he was older than the canon timeline. Le Fay. The early Hero Faction, though not fully formed. They were young. Still feeling out their ideology. Still willing to take risks.
When Jeanne and Heracles ran into Tobio and Natsume, they assumed the worst. Jeanne struck first. A sword appeared mid-air, aimed for Tobio. I caught it with two fingers.
Heracles came next. His glowing punch carried explosive force. I stopped it with my other hand.
Both stared at me, stunned. I didn't teleport. I just moved faster than they could see. Jeanne's blade stopped against my fingers. Heracles' punch met my palm. Neither attack even made me flinch.
I smiled politely.
"I suggest you ask questions before you try to kill my allies."
Le Fay arrived a few seconds later. She noticed immediately that something was wrong and tried to talk them down. She seemed the only one willing to look past species.
Cao Cao wasn't so quick to relax. He looked at me with contempt. Ah yes, the guy had a hate-boner for the supernatural. To him, I was just another devil. Another problem. I let him glare.
We stood in a triangle. My side. His. Utsusemi. The air was tight. One wrong word and the whole place would have gone up in flames.
Something rose from the lab's lower level. Massive. Misshapen. Covered in seals. Another Utsusemi creation. This one was unstable.
It roared and attacked all of us indiscriminately.
The standoff ended. We fought.
Tobio struck first. Lavina followed. Jeanne and Arthur flanked. Heracles brought brute force. I watched.
I only stepped in to stop the creature from collapsing the room. Held back, observed the others. Measured them.
Cao Cao's team had potential. Not just strong. Disciplined. Smart. They weren't fully formed yet, but I could see the shape.
Longinus users, most of them. Dangerous.
They weren't involved in this event in the original timeline. That confirmed it. This world is different.
And that was fine.
I don't cling to the canon timeline. Only opportunities.
This group would become the Hero Faction. In canon, they opposed all non-humans. Wanted humanity to stand alone.
Now, I had a front-row seat to their formation. Maybe even a hand in shaping it.
It could be useful. Or amusing.
I would observe.
And if needed, intervene.
--------------------------------------------
Names were exchanged quickly. Cau Cau, Jeanne, Heracles, Leonardo, George, Arthur, Le Fay. They didn't waste time posturing, their attention on me and watched me carefully. Reasonable. I was a devil, after all. Tobio introduced Natsume and Lavinia and I introduced myself politely.
We moved through the building as a group. Fourth floor, then to the fifth. More Utsusemi units waited for us, guarding something. Or someone. A man stood among them. He wore a coat like it belonged in a lab, but his stance said soldier.
When the last Utsusemi fell apart in a soft, wet thump, the man behind them stepped forward. He looked ordinary. Small, slim, hair cut too neat for a place like this. He had a file in one hand and an easy, practiced smile.
"Ah, well done, everyone," he said. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. I am Kazuhisa Doumon. You may call me Director Doumon, if you like. I represent the agency that governs this little facility."
He gestured around like he was giving us a tour of a garden, not a building crawling with monsters and corpses.
"And unfortunately for you," he added with a pleasant shrug, "I must ask you all to come with me. Quietly, if possible."
Cao Cao stepped forward first, twirling his spear like it was a walking stick.
"You plan to capture us?"
Doumon's smile didn't move. "For study. For the good of the Agency, naturally."
So this was their next obstacle. At least he is polite, thought Riser.
He snapped his fingers. More Utsusemi rushed in. My eyes tracked everyone.
Tobio's team handled themselves well. Lavinia froze enemies mid-step. Natsume moved quickly, striking with precision. But it was Cao Cao's people who stood out. Jeanne cut down constructs with speed and grace. Heracles tore them apart with brute strength. Le fay used her spells. George provided barriers and buffs, while Arthur's sword moved like an extension of his will. Excellent teamwork observed Riser.
But then Kazuhisa summoned something bigger.
A massive clay doll emerged, powered by something beyond simple magic. Tobio and Natsume attacked together, but they were overpowered. The doll caught them both and slammed them into the floor, pinning them with surprising precision.
"Don't struggle," Kazuhisa said. "You'll only make it worse."
Arthur took one step forward and raised Excalibur Ruler.
He didn't speak loudly. Just a command:
"Stop."
The clay doll froze mid-motion, its limbs jerking against invisible threads. Then, Cao Cao walked up calmly and tapped it with the tip of his spear.
Ash. And its master along with it.
Tobio was freed. He thanked them immediately.
We moved down to the final floor. The deeper we went, the colder the air felt.
And then we saw her.
Sae Toujou.
She stood alone, her expression calm. A smile on her face that wasn't quite right. Tobio tried to call out to her.
That's when the real enemy made his entrance.
"I am Hanezu," the man said. "Leader of the Utsusemi Agency."
He spoke in a calm, measured voice. His expression was composed, but there was something brittle beneath the surface. Riser had seen it before. Men who wrapped deep hatred in the language of righteousness.
Hanezu looked directly at Tobio, as if no one else in the room existed. "You are Himejima Tobio, aren't you? Or rather, Ikuse Tobio, child of an exiled branch of the Himejima. You were born under their name but cast aside from their blessings. Just like the rest of us."
Tobio frowned, confused. Hanezu didn't wait for questions.
"Utsusemi. That's what we call ourselves. Do you know the meaning?" He smiled faintly. "It's an old word. It means 'human', but more precisely, it means a cast-off shell. Like the hollow skin a cicada leaves behind. That's what we are. Born into lineages full of power and prestige, but not granted the spiritual gifts that gave us value. Our families called us useless. Hollow. Not people. Just... failures."
He looked around the room, but his gaze settled again on Tobio.
"We were supposed to disappear. We were expected to accept our roles as weak, broken. But we didn't. We remembered. And now we act. The Five Principal Clans cast us out. I intend to return the favor."
Riser observed quietly. The man wasn't ranting. His words were too still for that. This was practiced, almost rehearsed. A statement of belief, not a plea for sympathy.
Hanezu continued, "Ikuse Tobio, you have potential. More than they ever imagined. You possess a Longinus. A power strong enough to warp fate. Why waste it defending the very system that discarded you? Why fight for their world? You could destroy it. You could remake it."
He took a step forward. "Lend us your strength. Not for our sake, if that bothers you, but for your own. For everyone who was ever rejected. Help us tear down the monsters in the shadows of those clans. Replace them with something honest."
Tobio didn't answer. His eyes were downcast, uncertain. Riser could tell he wasn't convinced, but he was listening.
Hanezu smiled again, almost wistful now. "We were hollowed out by our own bloodlines. Do you understand what that does to a person, over time? You lose the part of yourself that believes you matter. And then the rest crumbles."
He looked tired.
"But you, Tobio... you were born with a blade. A black one. Tainted, they called it. Cursed. That's what makes you different. It wasn't supposed to exist. You weren't supposed to exist. And yet you do. That means something."
Riser tilted his head slightly. Hanezu's ideology was consistent. Broken, but consistent. His hatred had been curated over time, turned into doctrine. He didn't want justice, he wanted erasure. To delete everything that had made him feel like nothing.
"Let them suffer as we have" Hanezu said quietly.
Tobio looked shaken. Lavinia stepped closer to him, silent, uncertain. Natsume stood rigid, clearly disturbed by what she'd heard.
Riser said nothing. There was no need. This wasn't his moment. This was Hanezu's performance: raw, damaged, and meant to manipulate Tobio into sympathy or guilt. Riser understood it for what it was.
But what mattered wasn't what Hanezu believed. What mattered was whether Tobio would be pulled in by it.
And Riser was very interested in the answer.
Tobio was quiet for a long time after Hanezu stopped speaking.
The silence in the room wasn't empty. It felt dense, like a wire pulled taut. Riser watched Tobio's posture, the way his shoulders were tense, his eyes lowered, jaw clenched. He looked less like someone uncertain and more like someone holding back emotion with effort.
Then, finally, Tobio spoke. His voice was steady but quiet.
"No."
Hanezu blinked. "You would side with them?" His tone stayed calm, but there was a crack in it. "With the same clans who exiled your family? Who turned people like us into experiments?"
Tobio raised his head.
"I don't care about the clans," he said. "I care about my friends."
Riser noticed it then, the resolve in his eyes. This wasn't passive resistance. It was the kind of refusal that came from conviction.
"You hurt them," Tobio continued. "You hurt Sae. You used my classmates. You took people who had nothing to do with the clans and dragged them into your war. Just because you suffered doesn't give you the right to hurt other innocent people. Did you really expect me to work with you after all of that?"
He stepped forward.
"You say we were both born cursed. That we're the same. But we're not. I don't want to tear anything down. I just want to protect the people I care about."
Hanezu's face shifted slightly. Not anger but disappointment. As if he had truly believed Tobio would understand. He can't seem to grasp why someone whose friends he brain washed and turned into a weapon would not want to work with him.
"I never wanted to kill anyone," Tobio said. "I still don't. But I'll fight if I have to. And I'll stop you."
There was nothing dramatic in his tone. No grand declaration. Just a quiet, painful honesty. Riser could tell the refusal wasn't easy. Tobio was clearly shaken, and beneath that anger was sorrow, grief for what Hanezu had become, maybe even pity.
But his decision was firm.
"I won't become like you," Tobio said.
The words landed with more force than a blow.
For a moment, Hanezu didn't respond. He stared at Tobio like he was seeing something unfamiliar. Then he looked away, expression unreadable.
Riser folded his arms, mildly impressed. That level of control, that clarity, it wasn't common. Most people would have either lashed out or broken under the pressure.
But Tobio didn't. He chose restraint, even when it hurt. Riser could work with that.
Hanezu raised his hand.
"Sae."
A large lion appeared from thin air, summoned by her. She didn't hesitate.
Lavinia stepped forward to act, but George calmly interrupted.
"We're surrounded."
All around us, figures appeared. People. Hostages. The relatives of the original victims, used to anchor the Utsusemi experiments.
Hanezu gave an order. His subordinates moved to attack.
Tobio panicked. "Stop! Don't hurt them! I surrender!"
Cao Cao cut in. "Don't. That heart of yours is admirable. But they started this. We'll finish it."
Leonardo looked bored. "I'll take care of it."
His shadow stretched. From it, three monsters emerged. Each of them at the level of high-class devils.
They tore through Hanezu's troops in seconds.
Tobio stared.
Hanezu went pale. "You… You're the wielder of the Annihilation Maker..."
Leonardo didn't even respond.
Cornered and seeing that odds don't favour him, Hanezu did something stupid.
He grabbed Sae and put a knife to her throat. "One move, and she dies!"
Tobio froze, hands up. "Wait! We can talk!"
But I didn't wait.
I moved. No sound. No flash.
One moment, I was standing. Next, I was behind Hanezu.
A light tap to the back of his neck. And put a spell on his soul. A safety measure in case he escaped.
He crumpled.
"C-rated villain tactics," I said. "Always the hostages. Never any originality."
Everyone turned.
Tobio ran to Sae, who still didn't respond.
She raised her hand and tried to attack Tobio.
He didn't react in time.
I stepped in again. Tapped her forehead with two fingers.
She collapsed.
"She's fine," I told Tobio. "Just under control. I broke the link that was controlling her mind."
He nodded slowly, still trying to process it all.
The others looked at me.
Jeanne was frowning. Heracles narrowed his eyes. Even Cao Cao looked thoughtful.
I didn't care.
They were wary now. That was fine.
Better they understood who I really was.
--------------------------------------
Tobio held Sae tightly in his arms. She was unconscious but breathing. He muttered a quiet "Thank you" in Riser's direction, his voice low with emotion.
The moment didn't last. A teleportation circle snapped open, its purple glyphs twisting midair. A woman stepped through it: an elderly foreign woman in her latter sixties dressed in violet robes and a witch hat with a sharp glint in her eyes and an upright posture that appears almost youthful. She wore a pair of earrings and multiple rings on her fingers.
"Well, this is unexpected," she said smoothly, eyes scanning the ruined lab. "I came to see the dog. Instead, I find the Utsusemi scattered like trash. How pathetic"
Riser studied her quietly, arms crossed. Her aura reminded him of ancient fire sealed in velvet.
"Augusta of the purple Flames," Lavinia said flatly, stepping forward. Her posture changed. Tension coiled into her limbs.
A second figure followed through the circle, much younger. A girl with a bright smile and bouncing steps.
"Ooooh, what a weird room! Who's the boy holding the girl? Or wait! Who's the icy one with the pretty golden hair? And who is that beautiful man with crimson eyes?"
"Walburga," Augusta said without turning. "Focus."
But her own gaze had already locked onto Lavinia. Her lips curled.
"I see. So Grauzauberer sent someone. Mephisto finally decided to kill me. Fitting, he'd send you, Lavinia Reni. And you just following his orders like a good pet. Tell me, did you even ask him for his motive?"
"I'm not here to debate motives," Lavinia said coldly. "I'll know soon enough if you deserve to die."
Walburga leaned forward, examining Lavinia like she was art. "She's so pretty! I want to know her name!"
"You're embarrassing yourself," Augusta muttered. Then louder, "That's Lavinia Reni, the ice princess. Magician. Dangerous. And this" she gestured to the bubbly girl beside her "is Walburga, my disciple."
Riser remained silent, watching closely.
Lavinia stepped forward. Magic gathered around her feet, cold and slow. Ice spread in an even circle around her. Behind her, a towering woman of pure frost began to take shape: a three-meter tall ice doll taking the form as a woman in a dress without a face with six eyes on the left half of her face.
"Absolute Demise," Riser said under his breath. "She brought out the Longinus early."
Augusta raised an eyebrow. "Lovely. A true Longinus bearer. How delightful."
She raised her hands. Purple fire burst from her palms, swirling and condensing into the shape of a massive, humanoid figure, horned, armored, and aflame.
"Incinerate Anthem," Riser confirmed. "This should be interesting."
The tension in the room was heavy. Tobio held Sae protectively, while Natsume and Le Fay stood just behind him. Jeanne, Heracles, and the rest of the Hero Faction watched in silence, their expressions focused.
The battle began without words. Augusta struck first: blasts of purple fire shooting like artillery. Lavinia responded instantly. The frost giant blocked the fire, its limbs forming solid shields of crystal. Magic clashed and detonated midair, freezing and burning the ground.
"You're strong," Augusta said calmly, deflecting another wave of ice. "But let's raise the stakes. Beat me, and I'll tell you about Glenda, your precious master."
Lavinia didn't hesitate. She drove the frost princess forward, launching a volley of razor-sharp ice shards.
"You should stay out of this," Augusta warned as Tobio took a step forward. "This is between us."
"You're using people," Tobio said. "Sae, Glenda—what do you even want?"
Augusta smiled faintly. "What any of us want. Power. Legacy. Truth. You wouldn't understand. But she might." She gestured to Lavinia. "That girl has more potential than you know."
"Leave them alone," Lavinia growled, her voice shaking.
Augusta's gaze flicked to Sae. "There's more inside her than you think. Glenda saw it."
Lavinia's eyes narrowed. "Don't speak her name."
"Why not? She is a good friend" Augusta said, amused. "She gave us everything we needed. Willingly."
"Liar, she would never work with the likes of you. You tortured her," Lavinia hissed. "You used her."
Augusta raised a hand. A magic circle formed. Inside it, Glenda's face appeared, calm, expressionless.
"master?" Lavinia said, voice cracking.
"We have nothing to say to each other," Glenda replied, tone cold. "This was always the path."
Lavinia staggered back. Her magic flickered. The ice giant shuddered.
"Poor girl," Augusta said softly. "Your mentor never cared. But I will. I'll use your body better than you ever did."
She rushed forward, hand glowing with purple light, aimed at Lavinia's forehead.
Then Augusta stopped mid-lunge.
Riser was standing in front of Lavinia, having moved between them in a blur. He didn't shout. He just moved. His fist slammed into Augusta's stomach.
The force was immediate. She flew backward, smashing into the wall hard enough to leave a dent. She coughed blood, barely catching herself on one knee.
"Still breathing?" Riser asked casually. "That's a surprise."
He began to walk toward her, but suddenly, his body froze.
He glanced down. "Ah. Excalibur Ruler."
Three shadows rose up around him, monsters from Leonardo's Annihilation Maker.
Then Cao Cao stepped forward. His spear gleamed. He pointed it at Riser's chest.
"Really?" Riser asked, raising a brow. "You want to protect her?"
"She's human," Cao Cao said flatly. "And she wields a Sacred Gear. That makes her our responsibility."
"So," Riser said dryly, "if she didn't have Sacred Gear, I could kill her? What's your scale? Is hypocrisy a prerequisite for joining your little club?"
"She's still human," Cao Cao said. "You're not."
Riser smiled. "Neither are those monsters you keep summoning. But I won't lecture you, boy. You'll learn."
Everyone remained frozen. The air was thick with tension. Lavinia slowly stood up behind Riser, her body still shaking.
Riser kept his eyes on Cao Cao, an amused expression curling on his lips. He flexed his fingers once, then pushed a thread of his will through his body. The paralyzing grip of Excalibur Ruler broke like paper.
Arthur blinked in disbelief. "He broke it?"
"His will," Arthur said slowly, eyes narrowing, "it's greater than mine."
Before things could escalate further, a smooth voice broke the silence.
"Well, well," it said, melodic and curious. "What do we have here? An ethical dilemma. Mmhmm."
The new arrival stepped into the room. He was tall, regal, with raven-dark hair that contrasted his unnaturally bright eyes. His face was flawless, his movements almost rehearsed. And yet Riser felt nothing: no aura, no pressure, no presence. But every part of his instinct screamed one thing: run.
"Who are you?" Heracles asked warily, already on edge.
The man smiled, slow and deliberate. "Satanael," he said. "First and mightiest of the Fallen. Who was here before humanity was."
Riser didn't let his expression change, but his thoughts raced. Satanael? He wasn't in the original arc. He appeared later. He shouldn't be here. Why now? What changed?
Satanael looked around calmly. "You defeated Augusta. And Hanezu. Interesting. New generation defeating the old one, how cliche. Well, let's see..."
He raised his hand.
It wasn't killing intent. It was clinical, detached curiosity. He released a fraction of his aura. Tobio and Natsume dropped to their knees, screaming. Raw terror hit them like a physical blow.
Everyone else reacted on instinct.
Cao Cao charged with his spear. Arthur raised Excalibur Ruler. Jeanne, Heracles, Lavinia, Le Fay, George, all struck together. Riser held back, watching.
It didn't matter. They never reached him. Something unseen threw them all against the wall like ragdolls.
" How rare, so many Longuin wielders gathered in one place. It almost reeks of his Grand plan. Too bad he is dead."
Leonardo, barely fazed, raised his hand and summoned six dozen shadow beasts. Behemoth-like monsters surged toward Satanael.
"Now this is interesting," Satanael said.
He summoned light spears with a casual motion and skewered the beasts. They fell, but then rose. Then more came. Stronger. Faster. Adapted.
Satanael raised an eyebrow. "Ah. So they evolve. Interesting way to use Annihilation maker. One needs to instantly kill them in one attack or they adapt and it is a matter of time before they defeat you. A flaw in your design, though."
He vanished. A breath later, he stood in front of Leonardo. He tapped his chest with a glowing finger. The boy fell unconscious.
"The weakness," Satanael said softly, "is the caster. Always the caster. So you must either hide yourself so that your enemies can't reach you or have strong allies to defend you."
He turned, addressing the others. "You all have talent. Potential. Years from now, you may even pose a challenge."
Then the others either out of anger or fear attacked him simultaneously.
Cao Cao activated the True Longinus. Arthur unleashed Excalibur Ruler again. George twisted the battlefield with Dimension Lost. Lavinia summoned the full force of Absolute Demise.
They coordinated. Tactical. Controlled.
Satanael sighed.
Twelve black wings erupted from his back.
Riser's heart skipped. Twelve? That's seraph-level. Satan-class. He's beyond anything here.
And Satanael proved him right. In seconds, he dismantled their offense. Cao Cao was the last to fall, defiant but clearly outclassed.
Satanael looked over the room of battered young warriors and smiled, almost kindly.
"You have courage," he said. "And skill. But not yet the power to face me. You need time."
Then his eyes landed on Riser.
Riser felt it instantly. As if a mountain had pressed onto his chest. His breath caught, and his instincts screamed at him to run. But he didn't. He looked back.
"You are a descendant of Amador Phenex."
Riser's gaze sharpened. "You knew my grandfather?"
A smile flickered across Satanael's face: thin, brittle, reverent.
"I did. He was a curious devil. A hopeless romantic, through and through. Arrogant, yes. Proud and powerful. But most of all, foolish in the holiest way. He fell in love with an angel. And she, by some miracle, loved him in return."
The hall held still. Something sacred clung to the silence.
"It was real. Their love. Not some illusion born of temptation. No seduction. No corruption. Just two souls, so utterly unlike, and yet drawn together like breath to flame. While our kind waged war across the skies and tore creation apart, they dreamed. They whispered of peace. Of building a place between heaven and hell where neither sword nor sin would rule."
He looked far away now, as if speaking to memory rather than audience.
"And Heaven… did not condemn them."
A pause.
"To the surprise of many, the archangels did not call her naïve. They rejoiced. For angels are creatures of perfect clarity, and what they saw between those two was beautiful. They believed in it. In them. To love purely, even across the veil of damnation, that, they said, was closer to God's will than all the choirs of war. They hoped that their union might be a sign. A wound healing. A path home."
Riser barely breathed.
"But Hell… Hell does not forgive dreams like that. For hell is the place for those who rejected God's grace"
Satanael's voice hardened, touched by the old bitterness.
"Lucifer scorned it. The Satans called it betrayal. Asmodeus, in particular, saw it as heresy. Still, she would not fall. She would not trade her wings for his flames. And so he tried to rise. Not by conquest, not by trickery, but by love and Faith. He sought Heaven not as a conqueror, but as a supplicant. To be judged. To be accepted. To be with her."
His voice lowered to a reverent hush.
"And he was struck down at the gate by Asmodeus himself. Before he could speak a word. Before Heaven could answer."
He looked at Riser then, eyes dark with the memory of it.
"And the angel…? She wept. Then vanished. Some say she turned into starlight, others say she wanders still, searching for the place they dreamed of. A heaven where devils might walk unburned."
He stepped back, as if the telling had left him tired.
"A devil who tried to fly upward. A love sanctified by angels and shattered by hell. Is there anything more beautiful? Or more damning?"
Riser took a slow breath. Then he stepped forward.
"Let's see how strong his descendant is," Satanael said softly.
Riser didn't respond. He launched forward, vanishing from sight. Satanael raised a brow, and the battle began.
Riser struck first with Dismantle , an invisible slash that tore across the floor toward Satanael. The air screamed as pressure was ripped open. But Satanael didn't move. He raised a hand and the slash dissipated on contact with a shimmer of light.
Riser appeared beside him and used Cleave. His palm touched Satanael's shoulder, activating the adaptive slashes. The force surged outward, adjusting for Satanael's energy level. But nothing happened.
Satanael stood unaffected.
"Interesting," Satanael muttered.
Riser stepped back and flung both arms outward. Wind coiled around him in a violent spiral, lifting debris into the air. He gathered fire into a massive swirling vortex, and the heat crushed the surrounding air.
Fire Field.
The flames exploded outward, surrounding Satanael in a violent typhoon of heat and force that stripped the walls and shattered the ground. Reality seemed warped. Sensors from orbit would have picked up the sudden disruption of the Earth's magnetic field.
Satanael stepped forward calmly. The typhoon parted around him.
"Remarkable. Fire that disturbs Earth's Magnetic fields. Very impressive for someone who dances at the edge of ultimate-class. And yet so young. You may just be another Sirzechs Lucifer ."
Riser didn't pause. He raised his hands, wings of fire bursting from his back.
Fire Phoenix.
A dark flame consumed his body, and he transformed into a massive phoenix-shaped avatar of fire. The heat blazed, burning crimson into the air. The phoenix roared and dove, striking Satanael with enough force to register on seismic sensors.
The impact sent a wave across the city, and the ground cratered.
As the smoke cleared, Satanael stood at the center, untouched.
But a single black feather fell.
Riser reformed, breathing hard, a single feather in hand.
Satanael looked down at it, then at Riser. "You took that from me. Impressive."
Riser coughed, smoke trailing from his mouth.
"You're not just fire and arrogance," Satanael said. "You have potential."
Then gravity around Riser intensified. His body was pinned to the ground, unable to rise.
"But you're still a child playing at war," Satanael said. He approached slowly. "You fight like one who has seen glimpses of transcendence, but not yet stepped into it."
He raised a finger. Riser felt the pressure building, crushing, blinding.
Then it vanished.
Satanael turned away.
"You did well, Riser Phenex. Your grandfather would have been proud."
The ancient fallen spread his twelve wings. Light shimmered off the feathers.
"Grow stronger. If you survive long enough, we will speak again."
And then he vanished and with him he took Augusta, Walpurga and Sae toujou.
Riser lay still for a moment.
He had lost.
But he had earned something.
Silence fell over the battlefield. Riser rose slowly, dusted himself off, and held the black feather tight.