— — — — — —
"What's going on?"
When Azazel pulled out a parchment scroll and asked Ryo to sign it, Rias and Akeno were completely thrown. They had no idea what kind of deal had been happening behind the scenes.
Baraqiel, on the other hand, understood perfectly.
He glanced at Rias, hesitating. Should he step in and shut her up?
After all, she was his daughter's best friend. And more importantly, her status was… delicate. She was Sirzechs' little sister.
And everyone knew exactly how obsessive that man was when it came to her.
When Rias was born, Sirzechs had personally gone door to door issuing warnings. Touch her, and it would mean full-scale war with the devils.
Baraqiel also wasn't sure how deep Ryo's cooperation with the devils went. What if they already knew about this?
As for whether this was some scheme cooked up by Ryo and the devils to screw over the Fallen Angels… Baraqiel didn't worry about that at all.
If this counted as getting "screwed," he'd happily shout, 'more, harder, please.'
If there was a limit, he hoped it was ten thousand times over.
Face it head-on. No resistance.
"Nice. You know how to do business."
Ryo took the parchment, gave it a quick read. Aside from a clause prohibiting the wanton killing of Fallen Angels and granting a few high-ranking ones some autonomy, there weren't many restrictions.
In short, the Fallen Angels had practically been packaged up and handed over to him.
After finishing, he gave Azazel a thumbs-up and signed his name in a swift, flowing hand.
"Pleasure doing business."
He extended his hand with a smile.
"Business? We're family now."
Azazel grinned as he shook Ryo's hand, then gave a polite bow.
"So then, Governor… when do you plan to greet your new people?"
Rias and Akeno's expressions changed instantly.
Governor?
Azazel just called the Yokai Leader... Governor?
What exactly was written on that parchment? And why use a title like that…?
A sudden, uneasy thought hit both of them at the same time.
Had they just heard something they really weren't supposed to hear?
"Once the handover is complete," Ryo replied casually. He wasn't even sure how long that would take. After all, he was taking over an entire race of tens of thousands.
"I see. Then I'll take this time to relax a bit."
Azazel smiled, looking utterly relieved.
Stepping down as Governor felt like a massive weight off his shoulders. Forcing a researcher like him to manage a bunch of battle-crazed Fallen Angels had been torture. The fact that he'd lasted thousands of years was a miracle.
"Relax? Not happening," Ryo said with a smirk. "You're not going anywhere until the transition's done."
Then he turned his head slightly.
"Baraqiel. Keep an eye on him. If he runs, you're taking the blame."
"Yes, Governor."
Baraqiel answered solemnly, though there was a trace of amusement in his eyes.
"So it's really 'Governor'…"
With Baraqiel confirming it, there was no room for doubt.
Right in front of them, Ryo had essentially used Fallen Angel production technology as leverage to take control of the entire faction, becoming their second Governor.
Rias opened her mouth, stunned. Then, slowly, she turned to look at Akeno, her expression complicated… and a little miserable.
"I didn't know either," Akeno said, avoiding her gaze guiltily.
She hadn't expected to stumble into something this explosive just by tagging along.
Azazel stepping down as Governor of the Fallen Angels, handing the position to Ryo Yagami—a newly emerged leader of yokai. Who could have seen that coming?
Still… hadn't the two of them just witnessed the entire backroom deal?
A solution to the newborn problem, in exchange for control over the Fallen Angels?
It wasn't exactly a one-sided loss. If anything, it was a huge boon for the Fallen Angels. The fact that Azazel was willing to step down proved just how valuable it was.
This meant the weakest of the three factions had just pulled off a complete comeback.
If she were in Azazel's position, she might have made the same choice.
"…I think you just got me into serious trouble," Rias said with a bitter smile.
After hearing something like this, there was no way she'd be allowed to go home anytime soon. At least not until all of this was made public.
"You're the one who dragged me here," Akeno replied, a bit sheepish.
It was true. Rias had insisted on coming to see this "Fallen Angel production facility."
But if you traced things back further, the conflict between the Kyoto yokai and the exorcist families had been the reason Rias came to Kyoto in the first place—and that was because of Akeno.
Looking at it that way, they'd kind of dragged each other into this mess.
In a sense… they really had become "true sisters" this time. The kind that suffer together.
"Governor, what about them…?"
Baraqiel stepped closer to Ryo and asked in a low voice, switching roles with remarkable ease.
"You handle it."
Ryo didn't bother exposing his little scheme. He just handed the matter over.
Wasn't it obvious? Baraqiel was worried about his daughter and wanted an excuse to look after her.
"Understood."
...
..
Kuoh Academy - Occult Research Club
"Crunch, crunch."
Koneko Toujou sat on the sofa, munching on chips, her expression as blank as ever as she stared at the empty clubroom.
As one of Rias Gremory's peerage—and the younger sister of Kuroka—Koneko had followed Rias to the human world and was now attending Kuoh Academy.
The Occult Research Club was the school club Rias managed. It had four members in total, and aside from Rias, the rest were all her devil servants.
But today, something felt off.
"President and Akeno still aren't back… Gasper's hiding in the classroom again… so boring…"
She finished her chips, then moved on to spicy strips, shredded squid, roasted pork—eating steadily as night fell.
But as time passed, her expression grew more and more uneasy. Then serious.
"Something's wrong."
"They're past the time the President said she'd be back. Kyoto… something's happened."
She stood up immediately and walked to the corner of the room, where a magic circle connected to the Underworld was carved into the floor.
...
..
The Lucifer Satan's palace—
Sirzechs received a report from his subordinate.
"Rias is missing? When did this happen?"
"Today. The report came from Miss Rias's Rook, Koneko Toujou."
The devil knelt on one knee, his voice tense.
"How did she go missing? Where? Anything unusual before or after?"
Sirzechs suppressed the irritation rising in his chest, forcing himself to stay calm.
"Based on current information, Miss Rias and her Queen, Miss Akeno, appear to have gone to Kyoto together…"
"Kyoto?!"
Sirzechs' face turned slightly black.
'You're telling me my little sister just walked into Kyoto and got herself captured?'
Thinking back to his conversation earlier that day with Ajuka, Sirzechs was flustered.
.
.
.