The club stood motionless as Riser took a step forward, aligning his body as if he were facing something he already considered his. Grayfia remained to the side, posture neutral, no movement beyond what was strictly necessary.
"Well then, Rias, my future wife, let's talk alone. Send your servants away." Riser kept his head high, his voice carrying an order disguised as politeness.
Rias did not move.
"They are my family, and they are staying."
Riser's laugh broke the silence, short and filled with self-satisfaction.
"You really think you get to stay?" His gaze swept slowly across the group. "Some of you would do well to warm my bed." His hand opened in a casual gesture. "The rest can be discarded without effort."
"You will not touch any of them, and you will not harm the boys." Rias kept her voice clear, her stance firm.
Her aura of destruction flared around her in a sudden surge, red and dense, crawling over her skin like visible, controlled heat.
Grayfia shifted her weight slightly, prepared.
Gasper took two steps forward and stopped beside Rias. His hand found her waist without hesitation.
"Calm down, Rias. He's not worth it."
Rias recoiled half a centimeter at the touch, her arm lowering as the tension eased by involuntary reflex. The aura shrank around her body, as if obeying a silent command.
Control returned.
Riser's jaw tightened. The shock at Gasper's gesture was immediate, sharp, impossible to hide. His stare locked onto the contact between them, then snapped back to the boy's face.
"You are touching my fiancée," Riser said without raising his voice. "And you do so as if you had that right."
"I am Rias's servant. Her opinion is the only one that matters." Gasper kept his hand firm at her waist, his body still, his stance unmistakable.
Rias stepped forward half a pace and pulled Gasper even closer, pressing his arm against her body without hesitation. "He can do whatever he wants." Her hand slid up Gasper's arm, the motion slow and deliberate. "As long as he stands by my side, every decision goes through me."
The space between them closed a little more. No request. No permission. Just choice.
Riser let out a humorless laugh. His foot pressed against the floor, the sole grinding under the force. "You think this is provocation enough?" His fist clenched. "You are playing with something you do not understand."
Heat rose in the room as a direct consequence of his stance. His uniform collar loosened slightly. The air above the table began to ripple, distorted by uncontrolled thermal energy.
"Step away from her." Riser took another step forward. "Now."
Gasper did not move.
Rias kept her arm locked with his. Her body remained firm, pressed against him, without retreat.
"You do not give orders here," Rias said evenly. "Not to me. Not to him."
The floor cracked under Riser's foot as he shifted his weight forward. The heat climbed another degree, enough to slightly warp the air above the table.
"I can reduce this place to ashes in seconds," Riser leaned in. "And you know it."
Grayfia stepped forward. The sound of her heel striking the floor was clean and sharp, enough to mark her presence.
"Riser Phenex." Her tone did not rise. "Control yourself."
Riser turned his head toward her, his jaw still locked. "He provoked me."
"You crossed the line first," Grayfia replied, keeping the exact distance. "Any escalation beyond this violates the agreement."
The heat dropped a fraction, not fully dissipating but forcibly contained. Riser straightened, his fist slowly opening.
"So this is how it will be." He adjusted his collar with two fingers. "You hide behind a servant." His gaze returned to Rias. "And turn this into a spectacle."
Rias did not answer right away. Her arm tightened once more around Gasper's waist, the gesture brief and decisive, enough to shut down the intimidation attempt.
"I choose who stands by my side," Rias said, her eyes fixed on him. "And you do not interfere with that."
Riser took a single deep breath. His body stopped advancing. The heat stabilized.
"Fine." His smile returned, more rigid. "Then we will settle this properly."
Grayfia inclined her head slightly. "The Rating Game will decide everything."
Riser stepped back, creating space for the first time. "Prepare yourself, Rias." His gaze passed over Gasper once more, without wavering. "None of this will remain after the game."
"That's only if you win." Rias kept Gasper close, her arm firm around his waist, not retreating a single centimeter.
Riser let out a short laugh.
"Win?" He spread his hands, pacing a few steps across the room. "I have never lost." His finger pointed at Akeno. "She is the only one there worth anything." The gesture slid to Kiba. "A broken swordsman." Then to Koneko. "Brute strength with no reach." To Saji. "Dead weight." And finally, a brief glance at Asia. "A fragile piece."
Another laugh followed, longer this time.
"An incomplete peerage, without experience, without victories." He stopped before the table. "While I have a full team, trained, tested, accustomed to winning."
Rias stepped forward, her body moving before any words. Her arm tightened around Gasper's waist, the contact becoming even more evident.
"Are you finished?" her voice came out sharp.
"Not yet." Riser tapped two fingers against his temple. "Seven days." The gesture was clean. "In seven days, we meet in the Rating Game." His eyes swept across the group. "And after that, all of this ends."
Riser turned his face toward Gasper, his expression rigid as he took a step closer. His gaze dropped straight to Gasper's hands at Rias's waist, every detail pushing harder against the thin line between restraint and attack.
"I will rip those hands off myself, servant."
"Funny for you to say that," Gasper replied evenly. "Seeing your fiancée let a servant like me touch her while she feels disgust toward you."
Riser's fist clenched.
"It's almost comical," Gasper continued, his tone unchanged. "A pure-blood Devil watching his fiancée in another man's arms." His arm remained firm around Rias. "And you can't even get close."
Riser raised a finger, pointing directly at Gasper's face.
"You—"
"Enough." Grayfia cut in, the word dropping between them without any need for elevation.
Riser's advance stopped instantly. Grayfia placed herself between them with a single step, posture straight, hands aligned at her sides, no extra movement beyond what was required.
"It is time to end this visit," she said, her gaze fixed solely on Riser. "Everything will be decided in the Rating Game."
Riser kept his finger suspended in the air for a full second, as if trying to preserve his intent through sheer will. Then he lowered his arm, the movement short and restrained.
"This will be entertaining." He turned toward Rias, his smile fractured by controlled tension. "Enjoy your seven days."
"You can count on it. I'll take good care of Rias during those days." Gasper said directly.
Grayfia turned her gaze to Gasper, her voice clean, neither harsh nor gentle, simply neutral. "Gasper, moderate your words."
"My apologies, Grayfia." Gasper answered immediately.
Riser opened a portal with a wide gesture, large enough to assert presence. The distorted surface formed behind him, fragmented light shaping the exit.
"See you at the game." He stepped through the portal without looking back.
The distortion closed behind him in silence, the last fragment of light vanishing from the center of the room.
Saji let out his breath all at once, his shoulders dropping as if his body finally accepted being still.
Asia inhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling in a steadier rhythm, hands held close to her body, saying nothing.
Grayfia remained at the center of the room for a moment, posture aligned, hands folded in front of her. Her gaze moved first to Rias, then to Gasper, unhurried.
"Rias Gremory." Her voice was level. "While the agreement remains active, you are still Riser Phenex's fiancée."
She did not raise her tone.
"As a lady of House Gremory, your posture must reflect that." Grayfia kept her focus. "Public exposure and gestures that openly signal defiance are not acceptable before the Rating Game."
Rias did not reply. Her body remained firm, her arm still close to Gasper's.
Grayfia then turned to him.
"Gasper." The word came out clean. "You are a servant of Rias Gremory."
She kept the exact distance.
"Until the Rating Game, your role is containment, not provocation." Grayfia continued. "Responses that escalate conflict compromise protocol and your mistress's position."
Gasper nodded once, without speaking.
"This is not censorship," Grayfia concluded. "It is maintenance of hierarchy and scenario."
She looked back at both of them.
"Any resolution will occur in the Rating Game." Her words closed the matter. "Until then, discipline."
"Now that protocol has been fulfilled…" Grayfia paused briefly. "I can speak as myself."
Rias stayed where she was, still aligned with Gasper, without answering.
"You have a chance to change your destiny, Rias." Grayfia's voice lowered. "Do not waste it."
No one interfered. The group remained still.
"Riser did not come out of affection," Grayfia continued. "He came because he believes he still controls the board. That belief is what keeps the game stable."
"I know," Rias replied.
"Then use it." Grayfia held her gaze. "Prepare yourself. Strengthen your team. Do not provoke before the right moment." There was a faint softening in her tone. "I am rooting for you."
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
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