Watching Kiba's figure disappear, Rias clenched her hand tightly and bit her lip. Ever since she had fallen for Yusuke, she had come to see most other men as revolting primates. That feeling, however, never extended to those she considered family, such as Kiba, her father, and her brother.
Because, in the first place, she never saw them as potential mates. More precisely, she did not even think of them as men.
So, even though she had turned into a yandere, consumed by her obsession with a single man, she still cared deeply for her family. Seeing Kiba abandon her like this hurt more than she wanted to admit, especially at such a critical moment when she needed support the most.
"Kiba-senpai," Koneko muttered as she walked back into the clubroom. She was in a foul mood herself and only wanted some sweets to cheer up. "How selfish. How stupid."
From their point of view, Kiba's actions were dumb. He could have asked for their help instead of running off alone, all because he feared dragging Rias into his problems. What he failed to realize was that his very actions could still implicate her, since to everyone else, he was her Knight.
"Koneko!" Rias suddenly called out. She then asked, "When did you become this strong? Did you finally change your mind?"
As the one who, in a sense, had given Koneko a second life, Rias knew her better than anyone else. It was Rias who had lifted her from the depths of depression and that cold, lifeless life, giving her everything she had at this moment, including her name.
Rias knew almost everything about Koneko, even her fear of Senjutsu. So seeing Koneko now, openly using Touki, left her genuinely stunned.
"Yes, Rias-buchou," Koneko stopped in her tracks and turned to face Rias. "The fear, the sadness, the loneliness, and the despair I felt back then... I was able to overcome them because of Yusuke-senpai."
The rarest and most precious thing in the world is love. It is also one of the most powerful driving forces behind change. The three women present had each been transformed by it, though to varying degrees.
Koneko was arguably the most traumatized member of Rias's peerage. Her sister had slaughtered their previous master, and Koneko had witnessed the horrifying scene of her older sister, who had been like a parent to her, drenched in blood. She had been held captive, interrogated by the authorities, and even faced the threat of execution. These experiences had driven her inward, shutting down much of her emotional life and leaving her distant and withdrawn.
Before, the mere thought of Senjutsu or any Youkai or Nekomata power was enough to make her freeze in fear. But because she wanted to be with Yusuke, she was able to overcome all these traumas. In a sense, Koneko had grown not only physically stronger but also spiritually.
"Koneko," Rias muttered, her expression layered with complexity. Everyone could see Koneko's affection for Yusuke, and naturally, Rias found it displeasing, though it did not compare to the bitterness she felt toward Akeno, who had 'backstabbed' her.
"Ara, Koneko-chan, you've grown up. I am sure Yusuke-kun would be very proud of you," Akeno chuckled at the scene. She moved toward the OCR, and as she passed Koneko, she gently patted her head.
"..." Koneko swatted her hand away, her expression clearly annoyed. She disliked Akeno for stealing Yusuke. If she were ever forced to share him with anyone, it could only be Rias. As for any other woman, she would never accept them.
...
When they returned home, Murayama, Aika, and Tsubaki gathered the other women and led them to the underground training facility. Yusuke, on the other hand, declined their invitation and stepped out for a walk by himself, leaving Asia watching after him with quiet disappointment.
Being constantly surrounded by obsessive women 24/24 could be more than a little overwhelming. To keep his sanity, Yusuke would occasionally slip out on his own for some quiet time. Unfortunately, even that was usually impossible with that bitch of a system muttering weird nonsense in his head.
But today, it was strangely silent, much to Yusuke's relief.
With one hand in his pocket and the other holding his smartphone as he watched stupid Japanese reels, Yusuke crossed the road without any specific direction in mind. The perk of having Observation Haki was that he could doom scroll as much as he wanted without worrying about running into anything.
As he swiped through the videos, Yusuke thought about the three Phenex Yanderes. The original plan had been to quickly finish their quests, raise his level, and then complete Rias's quest. But now that they were completely absent, he had to figure out a way to contact them, which was difficult since they were in the Underworld, inside the territory of the Phenex house, the same house whose heir's woman he had just stolen.
They probably weren't going to like him visiting them at all, especially if he planned to steal more women.
"What are these three doing? Could it be that they are cooking something?" Sitting on a bench in the park, Yusuke looked away from the screen and stared at the sky. "Man, if only this system had the function of tracking them and knowing what they were doing."
[You are becoming more and more like them,] the system commented.
...
The Underworld, Phenex House.
"Mother," Ravel said as she entered Eleonora's bedroom, "I already talked to the other two. We are just waiting for your order now." She held her hands together in front of her and glanced at her mother, who was facing away.
"Good, I know you will not disappoint me, Ravel." Eleonora's hand held a brush, moving gracefully as she drew on the canvas. Her attention was entirely on her work, and even while speaking to her daughter, she did not spare her a single glance.
Ravel stood still, waiting for her mother to finish, her eyes fixed on the large image on the wall. It was a picture of Yusuke taken during their battle. Her mother had gotten a record of the fight and printed very large pictures of him, hanging them in multiple places around her room.
It seemed she was completely unconcerned if anyone else saw it, and she showed no fear that her father might find out.
Her mother had changed drastically ever since that battle. In the past, whenever Ravel came to see her, her mother would be very happy and dote on her, clingy and touchy toward her daughter. But now she did not give her a single glance, much less hold her. She also showed an interest in the idea of having a peerage, something she had never cared about before.
It was all because of her mother's obsession with Yusuke, but Ravel could understand that. After all, she too was obsessed with him. It was just… why did it have to be her mother?
'Yusuke-sama, what should I do?' Ravel thought, staring at Yusuke's picture. She had not seen him for a long time, and her longing for him was driving her crazy. If her mother had not stopped and restrained her, she would have already gone to the human world to see her destined love.
'When I go back, I'll masturbate at least thirty times before sleeping… if only I could get new materials. Should I do like Mother and draw images of Yusuke-sama?'
"What do you think? Is it beautiful?" Eleonora's voice brought her back to her senses. Ravel stared at the drawing.
It was an image of Yusuke wearing a white suit, holding Eleonora, who was also dressed in a white wedding gown. His hands were around her slender waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck. Both stared at each other with obsessive eyes, their lips only a few inches apart.
In the background, a blue sky stretched endlessly above fields of white flowers, with white pigeons flying through the air.
"Mother, aren't you worried about how Father would react?" Ravel felt a deep discomfort looking at the image. One was her own mother, and the other was her future husband. Just seeing her mother acting completely obsessed with Yusuke made her feel both sad and pained.
If it had been any other woman, she would have already tried to stab the shit out of her. But this was her mother, and more importantly, she was helpless and powerless against her. Not just Ravel, but all the other peerage members were powerless against her.
"Hmph! That stupid monkey… don't worry about him." Eleonora was very satisfied with the drawing she had made. She could not wait to show it to Yusuke. Walking toward her daughter, her fingers traced Ravel's face as she spoke in a soft, gentle, motherly voice. "You are doing a good job, Ravel. Soon we will have what we want, and then…"
"We, both mother and daughter, will marry Yusuke and live happily together forever."
Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "As for the others, they will soon understand the price of even touching what is ours!"
"Yes, Mom!"
"Good girl. You can go back to your room now… if you want, you can take some of my collection to spend the night."
"Mom, how could you say that?!!!"
"Emm… can I really take anything?"
...
"Gaaah!!" A hideous, beast-like creature with a human-like face roared in pain as it was sent flying, crashing into a wall.
[Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!]
Issei's boosted gear glowed, amplifying his power. He aimed at where the creature had been and fired a red beam of light. "Dragon Shot!"
The red beam struck the creature directly, producing a red explosion that engulfed it completely, reducing it to ashes.
"Man, you've become ridiculously strong! One shot and a Stray Devil is gone." Saji, watching the scene from afar, came over and patted Issei's shoulder, speaking in amazement.
"Haha, you've gotten strong too. I bet you could've taken it down just as easily," Issei said, rubbing the back of his head with a shy laugh. He always felt awkward when being praised. "Let's work together and become High-Class Devils."
"At that time, I'll have my harem! I'll become a Harem King!"
"Yusuke Aoki, I'll become like you and have my own harem too!"
Previously, Issei had already been strong enough to fight a Stray Devil and defeat it on his own. But after being reincarnated at Riser's Queen, he had become much stronger.
Given Issei's potential, using any other pieces would not have been enough to reincarnate him. Especially since Riser had already used four Pawn pieces to reincarnate Saji, he would have needed either two Rooks, worth five Pawns each, or a Queen, worth nine Pawns. Considering that Issei was the Longinus owner and possessed limitless potential, Riser decided to take a gamble and use his Queen piece.
After becoming a Devil, Issei received a boost in every aspect. He became much faster, stronger, and gained demonic power, though the demonic power was a bit disappointing. By the standards of a normal Devil, especially one of Queen rank, it was very weak.
Issei's demonic power was so weak that it was even less than Saji's, a Pawn.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, without any warning, bullets shot at them from afar. Issei's expression turned serious as he pushed Saji out of the way. A bullet struck him, piercing his shoulder. Issei winced and rolled on the ground, hiding behind a wall. "Damn it! It hurts so much!" Staring at the wound, he saw smoke rising from it.
[Those are bullets infused with Holy power. They are poisonous to Devils like you,] Ddraig told him.
"Issei! Are you okay?!" Saji shouted as he got up from the ground and rushed toward him.
**
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