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"This person... does he know my movements?"
With the wisdom he had gained from years as a king in the Rating Games, Ruval naturally understood why he had ended up in this situation.
Was the gap between him and that young man truly this vast?
"It is already over."
The moment he finally came back to himself, holy radiance burst from the golden holy sword.
Boom!
The sacred light struck Ruval's body and swallowed him whole in an instant.
"Brother!"
Seeing her brother fall into such danger, Ravel could not help crying out.
How had the situation developed to this point in such a short time?
Her brother was one of the top figures in the Rating Games. He had defeated countless powerful opponents. Logically speaking, his battle experience should not have been lost to a human.
But this was not truly an issue of battle experience.
It was an issue of combat style.
The two of them were simply fighting on completely different levels.
"..."
"This young man is quite extraordinary."
Duke Phenex noticed it as well.
He even felt that if he personally took action, his situation would not be much better than Ruval's.
That was a gap that could hardly be bridged.
The holy sword's brilliance faded.
Ruval fell from the sky. Just before he was about to hit the ground, phoenix flames barely ignited around him, allowing him to stagger back into the air.
He knew it.
His opponent had held back.
Otherwise, if Anos had continued releasing that beam of holy light, it might have taken him out directly.
That pure and absolute holy power was terrifying.
"It seems I have lost."
Ruval admitted it very directly.
"This..."
Riser involuntarily took a step back.
He had not expected his older brother to concede so straightforwardly.
"With holy power that powerful, if you did not truly lack the aura of an angel, I might have thought you were some Seraph, or even that God himself descended in person. But it seems you do not belong to any of the three factions?"
Since he had already admitted defeat, Ruval had no intention of continuing the fight. Instead, he began asking about Anos with great interest.
He had his own considerations.
If Anos belonged to the Biblical factions, they should have heard of him long ago.
Yet in reality, neither he nor his parents had ever heard of this person's existence.
Seeing that her brother was fine, Ravel let out a deep breath of relief.
When she heard Ruval ask about Anos, she pricked up her ears even more.
Ahem!
She merely wanted to learn the identity of the person who had beaten her brother.
She absolutely had no intention of secretly gathering information so she could get a little closer to him later.
"I indeed do not belong to any of the three factions."
Seeing that the other party had sensibly admitted defeat, Anos withdrew the holy sword in his hand. Est returned to his body once more.
Since the other party was far more perceptive and decisive than his younger brother, Anos had no intention of pressing him further.
After all, he could not possibly wipe out the entire Phenex family here, could he?
If he did that, he would really become famous.
At least at this stage, Anos did not particularly want to become famous.
But after some time, once preparations on that side were complete, making a name for himself might not be impossible.
"Not one of the three factions, In that case, are you a hero among humans?"
Ruval frowned slightly. He did not doubt Anos's words too much.
If Anos was a hero, then it made some sense.
Most human heroes possessed powerful talent, bloodlines, or Sacred Gears. They were also among the targets that devils liked most for reincarnation.
If Anos was a powerful reincarnated hero, that could explain why Ruval had no impression of him.
After all, human lifespans were short, If they could not develop overwhelming strength within a century, they were basically finished.
Powerful humans would not necessarily die after a century, but they would undoubtedly enter a period of decline.
"A hero among humans? No."
Anos shook his head.
Considering what he had done in the Dungeon world, he really did not think of himself as a hero.
Selling firearms, brewing sacred wine, starting a Familia War for a girl, killing gods, deceiving a girl's feelings, and joining with a mother goddess.
Which one of those sounded like something a hero should do?
"Did I not already say it?"
"Anos Kanzaki, student council president of Kuoh Academy, Nothing more."
Anos said with a smile.
At least this title was one he could accept without shame.
"Hahaha! Interesting... Very interesting."
Duke laughed.
In his eyes, this young man was quite interesting.
"Riser, in a few days, go build this gentleman a villa complex in the human world."
Duke Phenex ordered his son.
"Huh?"
Riser pointed at himself, somewhat doubting his own life.
He wanted to say, "Old man, do you realize your son is still an injured patient?"
"Riser, yes, you... Consider it your punishment for casually destroying someone else's school building. You fought your former fiancée's peerage in a private setting. Was that not your own disgrace?"
Duke sternly reprimanded his son.
Unlike his son, he was an old fox.
He could sense that Rias's peerage seemed to have a complicated relationship with that young man as well. No wonder the young man chose to come straight to their door.
In a certain sense, Anos had actually saved Riser from physical suffering.
If Kuroka had acted, Riser would have been half-crippled at the very least.
"That settles it, Riser. Until supervision of the villa complex is complete, do not come home for the time being. Treat it as an apology for destroying someone else's school building."
Duke directly concluded.
"Yes... Yes, Father."
Riser originally wanted to clutch his head and complain fiercely, but after his mother glanced at him, he completely lost that intention.
His family discipline was still strict.
Whatever Mother said was absolute.
"In that case, Duke Phenex, pardon the disturbance."
One did not strike a smiling face.
In truth, if Duke had not said that Riser would come over to supervise the construction, Anos would still have casually fired a beam of holy light at him.
But if Riser was going to come over...
Then there would be plenty of time to slowly deal with him.
After all, Anos had only avenged the destruction of his school's old building.
The matter of Koneko's injury had not yet been settled.
"Um, Mother."
Ravel leaned close to Lady Phenex's ear and whispered something.
"..."
After more than ten seconds, Lady Phenex silently nodded.
"Ravel, as your brother's retainer, you also failed to fulfill your duty of supervising him. This time, you will go with your brother to oversee the work."
Lady Phenex also spoke in a stern tone.
"Hm?"
This sudden combination of moves left even Anos a little stunned.
So things could develop this way?
Of course, he could see Lady Phenex's intention.
She probably wanted Ravel to come into contact with him.
Although this was not harmful to him, and even came with plenty of benefits, the feeling was still somewhat subtle.
Was this how devils who had lived for thousands of years handled matters?
Although he had indeed shown sincerity by holding back against Ruval, he really had only been afraid he might accidentally fail to stop and kill Ruval instantly.
"Duke Phenex, Lady Phenex, we were rude this time."
Seeing that Anos seemed about to say something, Rias stepped forward first. She had sensed something unusual in the air.
"I apologize for not informing my parents about Anos sooner, which led to this misunderstanding. I am truly sorry."
Rias directly framed Anos as her boyfriend from before her engagement to Riser, setting the nature of the matter first.
It was not that she had suddenly found a boyfriend.
This boyfriend had already existed before Riser.
Ahem!
After all, her parents had not discussed the marriage contract with Phenex with her either. They had decided it first and only discussed it with her afterward.
"We know it was a misunderstanding. That is why we are having Riser make amends."
"Let this matter end here. Once we are prepared, we will issue a statement to the Underworld. That way, the engagement between Rias and Riser can be dissolved."
Duke Phenex said thoughtfully.
In truth, he also knew this engagement had been arranged somewhat hastily. It had been decided purely for the bloodline of pure-blooded devils.
Rias was obviously unwilling, while his son Riser was someone who accepted any beautiful woman who came his way.
Aside from being bound by the names of family honor and the future of devils, the two of them truly had no desire to be together of their own accord.
So let it be.
It would be better to help the lovers, and while he was at it, help his own daughter as well.
He had already noticed that his daughter was acting differently from usual.
Duke Phenex only felt a little mentally exhausted.
Why were both his daughter and his son so troublesome?
"It seems this has taken a rather unexpected turn."
Akeno Himejima said with a smile.
She had not expected things to end this way either, but as far as the result was concerned, it was indeed a good one.
And so, in a slightly strange way, Rias finally achieved her goal. Like Sona, she had broken free from the restraints of fate.
Of course, this also meant that the responsibilities on their shoulders had become even heavier.
If they were unwilling to be married off, then it was only natural that they had to produce even more outstanding results themselves.
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