The Sitri estate's grand banquet had ended, and the families had withdrawn to their chambers. Yet Riser had not left. He stood waiting in the moonlit garden, his golden eyes fixed on the quiet pond. When Sona finally came, calm as always yet betraying a faint curiosity, he turned to her with a slow smile.
"You were probably wondering," he began, "what the second gift was."
Sona adjusted her glasses, her voice carefully steady. "…Yes. You caused quite a stir with that… 'secret gift' statement."
"Good," he replied smoothly, stepping closer, the moonlight catching his flame-colored hair. "Because this one isn't for the Sitri family. It isn't for politics. It's for you."
She frowned faintly. "For me…?"
Riser nodded. "The second gift I promised you… is power."
Sona stiffened, surprise breaking through her composure. "Power?"
"Yes." His tone was steady, stripped of the usual arrogance. "So you can stand without fear. So you won't ever have to hide behind walls, or numbers, or treaties. I want you to stand as my equal—and for that, you'll have to suffer."
Before she could question him, his aura flared.
For the first time, Sona saw Riser Phenex's true strength. Flames that did not burn, but devoured the very air around them. His body glowed with an ethereal radiance as his presence surged to the level of a Maou, the raw might of an Immortal Martial King radiating from every movement.
Sona gasped softly, the sheer pressure forcing her to steady herself. "This… you… you were hiding this?"
Riser only smirked. "That's just the base."
Then, his form shifted. His body was wreathed in golden phoenix fire, his skin etched with radiant markings. Behind him, the spectral image of an enormous Immortal Phoenix spread its wings, flooding the garden with impossible majesty. His aura expanded, warping the very space around them—this was no longer Maou-class. It was something higher. Super Devil level.
Sona's eyes widened, her logical mind momentarily overwhelmed by awe. "…Unbelievable…"
His aura receded, collapsing back into his body, and he exhaled calmly. "This is what I've never shown anyone. And what I will teach you… is the foundation that makes it possible."
He extended his hand, and for the first time, Sona saw black flames coat his skin—not fire, but something denser, sharper, more primal.
"This is Haki. The power of will. It isn't magic. It isn't bloodline. It's something any being can cultivate, if they endure enough."
He raised one finger. "Observation—sight beyond sight. At the lowest level, sensing presence. At the highest… seeing the future itself."
A flicker passed his eyes, and he effortlessly described Sona's next movement before she even made it: "You're about to adjust your glasses with your left hand."
Her breath caught as she realized he was right.
He raised his other hand, hardening it with dark steel-like armament. "Armament—body and spirit made into an armor. At its peak, Ryuo, the power to strike without touching, to destroy from within." He released a blast that shattered a boulder behind her without laying a finger on it.
And finally, his aura surged again—raw, kingly, suffocating. The grass around him bent, the pond rippled violently, and Sona herself felt her knees weaken.
"Conqueror's Haki. The will to dominate. And infused with flames…" He clenched his fist, black and gold fire swirling, "…it becomes an overwhelming force that even Maou would fear."
He let the aura fade, stepping closer until he stood before her, eyes sharp yet strangely tender.
"This is what I want to teach you, Sona. Not as a devil. Not as a Sitri. But as my partner." His voice lowered, almost a whisper. "But understand… to gain this power, you will bleed. You will suffer. You will crawl against the edge of death itself. So I ask you—"
He leaned in, golden eyes piercing hers, his voice a soft growl.
"—will you bleed for this power, Sona? Will you endure it, to stand beside me as my equal?"
The night was silent except for the sound of her quickened heartbeat.