Beyond Critical - Chapter 20.1

For a moment, not a sound was made.

Then Rias stood up from her seat, palming her forehead with a tired sigh. She looked, ever so done with things.

And Riser had just arrived.

"Now then Rias, it's a bit sudden, but how about we go visit the location of the ceremony and catch up?" Riser offered, making his way over towards Rias and casually throwing his arm around her shoulder, "The date is set anyway, why don't we just get it over with and we can get to the fun side of things."

Rias' eye twitched, "Get off of me Riser." she huffed in annoyance and pulled his arm away, taking a step back.

In return, Riser just laughed.

"Hey, who the hell do you think you are!?" Hyoudou exploded, "You're being impolite towards buchou, what the hell kind of attitude is that to take towards girls?!"

…What?

Kaito gave the older boy a dead stare. As did Koneko.

That was the pot calling the kettle black. From the literal sex pest, sex offender who should have been locked up long ago for perving on random girls he didn't even know.

At least in the context here, Riser knew Rias. Though, that probably flew right over the hypocrite dragon emperors head.

"Eh, who the hell are you?" Riser in return gave Issei a bored, uncaring glance.

"Heh, I'm Issei Hyoudou!" Issei jutted his chin out proudly and declared, "I'm I am the pawn of Rias Gremory!"

"Uh-hu? Good for you I suppose kid." Riser said, and turned away from him, utterly dismissing him and redirecting his attention back to Rias.

Issei trembled on the spot at the sheer disrespect he just took, "And who the hell are you!?" he demanded.

Riser sighed in annoyance, "Honestly, you didn't even tell your servants about me?" he directed at Rias, before cupping his chin, "Actually, he doesn't seem to recognise me at all beyond our connection. Is this a reincarnated human then? That's the most likely I suppose."

Rias rolled her eyes, "It's because there was no need to tell him or any of them really, you're not that important." she shot back.

Riser gave a laughing snort, "My, you're as harsh as always, if I was still a young cherry boy you might have just brought me to tears with that."

Grayfia took that as her cue to step into things, lifting one hand and gesturing lightly at the blonde man, "This person is Riser Phenex-sama. He is a pure blood high class devil and is the third son of the legendary Phenex family," she explained, "And also the the chosen spouse for the next head of the Gremory family."

"Eh? Spouse? But…isn't Buchou the heir to the Gremory family?" Hyoudou asked, confused.

God get a clue man.

"Honestly, must we go through this song and dance every time?" Riser gave a tired sigh, making his way over to slump casually into the couch opposite Kaito, "Don't you ever get tired of being so obstinate Rias?"

"Don't you? I've said it many times over the years and I'll keep saying it. Riser, I won't marry you, so give it a rest already." Rias growled back at him, crossing her arms.

She was especially riled up. Completely unlike how she'd acted the few times Kaito had met her before. Not that he blamed her. Sure, her choice in partner ended up being just as bad, if not worse than Riser, but it wasn't really about Rias' bad taste.

It was the simple fact that she was being forced into it and not allowed to choose for herself that got her so riled up. He could relate. In the end it was never about Riser and she would probably be as obstinate with anyone she was forced into marriage with.

Rias quite simply, detested people having the power to order her around and have to do what they told her.

The exact same as him. And why he refused to become a devil unless he was allowed to become high class from the get go. Sure technically, he had to do what Serafall told him now, but that was more a give and take. She was his boss by another name, not his master.

Riser rubbed the back of his neck, "Y'know it's more our parents being pressing about these things, I was fine to wait, even if I lay awake at night anticipating our wedding night," he huffed, "We're not really in any position to do anything about it, the best we can do is literally make the best of it."

"Yeah, well keep dreaming, it's not going to happen," Rias rolled her eyes, "It's none of my parents business, or yours for that matter who I choose to be my husband." as she spoke, her beautiful blue eyes flickered over briefly to meet Kaito's own for a split moment, before returning her attention back to Riser.

Hmm? Was she still considering that as an option?

She growled audibly, "Everyone is hurrying things forward too much when I was explicitly promised I wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense until I finished university here in the human world."

Riser shrugged, "Your parents and Sirzechs-sama simply fear the chance of your bloodline and house going extinct," he replied swishing his finger airily, "In the previous war there was massive casualties on all three sides and the amount of houses that went extinct weren't small, there's only half of us Pillar families left at best now, isn't it natural for we pureblood devils to protect our bloodline and make sure it flourishes by joining our houses together in matrimony? A child between the two of us would be extremely valuable to our race even assuming they inherit either of our abilities, but on the off chance they get both…well, I'm sure I don't need to explain to you how valuable a devil child that has access to both the Phenex clan's immortality and your own Power of Destruction would be, hmm?"

Hmm, actually, that was a topic that interested him. It was alluded as a possibility here and there, but never really breached.

"What are the odds on that by the way?" Kaito interrupted their little squabble, "You pureblood devils are pretty barren and low in potency as far as the swimmers go, so how many devils have actually inherited more than one bloodline at this point?"

"Hmm? Another reincarnated human?" Riser gave him a bored look, which Kaito returned, "Honestly Rias, don't you educate your peerage at all? To answer your question human-kun, it's very rare. Ajuka-sama theorises that it is a one in one hundred chance, how he came to such a number I'm not so sure, but regardless I am not in any position to question the genius of the legendary Beelzebub-sama."

"That so?" Kaito mused. A one in one hundred chance wasn't great odds at all, for a devil. And wasn't a guarantee that at least one in a hundred pureblood devils would inherit the power of both parents.

He idly wondered how his sacred gear would effect that kind of thing? When in use, it boosted everything about his body, from his strength, to his speed, to the rate he recovered and even senses. It should, by that logic, apply even to his sperm as well.

If he was capable of using Ddraig's Gift as well, he'd be capable of massively boosting the fertility of male and female devils alike.

As it was, he would just be limited to the potency of his own sperm.

Not that he planned on having kids anytime soon. He was biologically immortal more or less now, which was still a bit surreal to think about and wouldn't need to think about that for a long time yet.

"Moving on," Riser turned his attention back to Rias, "Your brother Sirzechs-sama left the Gremory household behind when he became the Satan Lucifer. That means you are the only one who can carry on the Gremory bloodline now."

"…No it doesn't?" Kaito interrupted again, "Pretty sure Sirzechs has a kid who's a Gremory, and Rias' parents aren't in danger of dying anytime soon as far as I know, so they could pop out some more kids as well."

Under the slightest scrutiny that argument fell apart instantly.

Instead of being annoyed though as he expected from Riser, the blonde man just shrugged, "You'd think so wouldn't you? I'm only parroting what I've been told by Rias' parents themselves, I can only assume they have no interest in any more children and Sirzechs-sama has greater plans for young Millicas," he retorted, "Again, not really my business. If you wish to dig deeper into such a thing, well, Sirzechs-sama's queen and wife is right here, you may feel free to bother her about it, though I don't recommend it human-kun."

Well when he said it like that, it did make some little amount of sense. And painted Rias' parents in an even worse light. Especially since he knew Sirzechs was against the marriage.

He looked to Grayfia who met his stare head on impassively, not blinking at all.

Riser might have been afraid to get on Grayfia's badside. But, unlike him, he, like Grayfia, was the member of a Satan's peerage, not that Riser knew that.

"Care to weigh in?" he asked.

"No." she replied simply and offered nothing more.

Lovely.

"Well, there you have it." Riser snorted.

God politics was a pain. He hadn't even gotten fully involved yet and already he decided that it sucked.

"This is so complicated, I didn't know the underworld had such complex things going on." Hyoudou groaned.

It wasn't really though. It was literally as simple as one plus one equals two. Lots of devils were dead, they were endangered, so an arranged marriage like this was made simply to birth new devils and keep the bloodlines and species as a whole going, the more the better.

"Putting this aside, it doesn't matter anyway," Rias brought the topic back on point, "I won't destroy the Gremory House. I do plan on taking a husband."

"Oh?" Riser's eyes lit up, "So you'll marry m-"

"But I won't be marrying you Riser," Rias cut him off before he could get his hopes up, "I will marry someone who I want to and who I think is a suitable match, we devils of the old houses should have at least that much of a right."

Riser gave a heaving sigh, eyes narrows as he stood up, "You know Rias, I've actually been very tolerant of you I think. I always try at least to be pleasant with you and am understanding of your plight in this, but I do you know bear the name of Phenex and represent my clan here. I can't just have you insult us like this with your attitude," he told her, voice lowering to an almost threatening degree, and as he did, Kaito felt the ambient temperature of the room rise as the mans magic power spiked aggressively, "I even came out of my way to meet you here in the human world, and you do know how little I like it here, remember? The winds of this world are stale and filled with filthy pollution, it's very difficult to bear it as one who of the Phenex Clan that governs over both fire and wind!"

As he finished speaking, great wings of burning flame erupted from Riser's back, casting the Occult Research Clubroom in an hot, amber glow, "I will definitely take you back to the underworld with me," he growled, before gesturing broadly at the other side of the room, where Kaito and the rest of Rias' peerage, "Even if I have to incinerate all of your servants and prove my convictions!"

The heat in the room swelled to oppressive levels and Kaito could see sweat breaking out on the skin of Rias' peerage. Personally, Kaito found it quite pleasant.

He was hotter after all.

"…Just by touching those flames, we'd get reduced to cinders." Hyoudou swallowed heavily as Asia clutched at his arm worriedly.

Akeno didn't react much, beyond a tightening of her hands, while Kiba's hand went to his waist as if to draw a sword and Koneko sitting beside Kaito, tensed like a wound spring, her breathing becoming a little laboured.

An oppressive darkness spiralled out from Rias' body to meet the flames erupting from Riser's back and clash against them.

And Kaito wished they'd just get to the damn point already. This posturing with nothing going on was getting annoying.