Chapter 188: Neither Hard nor Soft Tactics Work
"In that case..."
Azazel stared at Kalawarna with an inexplicable gaze for a moment before revealing a regretful expression.
"Then I'll just have to wait until something unfortunate happens to Professor Kalawarna before applying for the position again."
"Are you threatening me?"
Rias refused to back down, saying: "If anything happens to Kalawarna, be prepared for war to break out again."
"War? With just you few?" Azazel laughed heartily, looking at everyone with mockery.
Unmoved, Rias said calmly: "I am the next heir of the Gremory family. You may be strong, but can you stand against our entire family?"
"Impossible. The Gremory family would never go to war with me over some trash." Azazel sneered contemptuously, completely dismissing Rias's words.
"You can try."
Rias remained calm, but this calmness finally sent a chill down Azazel's spine.
He stopped smiling and asked gloomily: "Would you really go that far for some trash?"
Rias didn't respond, merely watching him expressionlessly.
After a standoff, Azazel suddenly deflated. "Ah, how terrifying. And here I was, kindly trying to help improve your strength, yet..."
"Enough nonsense. I will never agree to your conditions."
Rias didn't even bother with polite pretenses anymore - this exchange had practically torn all facades between them.
"Please leave now. This is a school, and unauthorized personnel are not permitted."
Azazel casually walked over to the sofa as if completely oblivious to everyone's disdainful looks, and laid down on it directly.
"I can't attack you, but I don't want to leave here. What can you do about it?"
Seeing Azazel's shameless behavior, everyone felt angry but truly had no way to deal with him.
The emotionless white-haired loli suddenly blurted out: "Shameless..."
Azazel glanced at her and said cheerfully: "What an adorable little girl, not even using any curse words."
After all these years, he had encountered every kind of battle and enemy imaginable. Such weak insults only struck him as cute.
Seeing that Azazel truly wouldn't leave, Rias could only gather everyone and prepare to move elsewhere.
There were many empty classrooms at Kuoh Academy - at worst, they could just renovate another one.
But just as everyone was about to step out, Azazel stood up, clearly intending to follow wherever they went.
"Split up."
After a moment of silence, Rias threw out these three words and strode decisively toward the school gate.
Haruto and the others exchanged glances and were about to split up when they saw Azazel follow Rias toward the school gate without any hesitation.
The key was that Rias was the King - the others were just her servants. If he could deal with Rias, the others' opinions wouldn't matter.
Haruto and the others couldn't possibly let Rias be followed alone by Azazel. Even knowing he wouldn't dare make a move, they didn't want to take the slightest risk.
After walking a few steps, Rias realized this approach wouldn't work either. Unable to bear it any longer, she demanded: "How long do you intend to follow me?"
"Hmm?" Azazel tilted his head, scanning his surroundings. "Are you talking about me? I'm not following you—I just happen to be walking this way too."
Rias didn't bother arguing further. It was clear that forceful methods wouldn't work, and Azazel intended to pester her until she agreed.
She had no doubt that no matter what she did—whether bathing or sleeping—Azazel would stick around.
After all, with strength at the A-rank, sleep and food were optional. It would come down to whose willpower was stronger in this stalemate.
"Haruto, Akeno, take everyone else home first."
Rias decided to dismiss the others, returning to the clubroom to face Azazel in a prolonged standoff.
"Club activities are suspended until the Three Factions Summit begins."
Hearing this, Azazel couldn't help but silently admire Rias's decisiveness. She truly was impervious to both soft and hard tactics, already prepared to hold out until the summit.
"President, I'm not comfortable leaving you alone with this leech."
Rias's approach was the simplest and most effective, but Haruto couldn't agree. Who knew what tricks Azazel might pull during that time?
Even if he didn't succeed, the mere thought of Azazel catching a glimpse of Rias in a compromising position would irritate Haruto.
Though "leech" wasn't particularly harsh trash talk, the moment the word left Haruto's lips, an inexplicable rage surged in Azazel's heart.
He instinctively wanted to strike at Haruto, but his formidable power quickly alerted him to the abnormality. Azazel jolted in alarm.
He expanded his senses, meticulously scanning the area but found no trace of anyone influencing him.
Yet he couldn't mistake this feeling—he was definitely under some external influence.
Unable to locate the hidden manipulator, Azazel quietly cast several mental protection spells on himself and suppressed the induced anger.
Haruto remained unaware of Azazel's turmoil; otherwise, he would have recognized it as another effect of the Cuckold Protagonist Template at work.
Rias pulled Haruto into her embrace, her soft, ample bosom pressing against his cheek. "Haruto... but what else can we do...?"
They couldn't win in a fight, insults bounced off him, and reporting him was useless—she truly had no idea how to deal with someone as shameless as Azazel.
Haruto wrapped his arms around Rias Gremory's slender waist, nibbling her delicate earlobe as he whispered, "Not necessarily. There's one more way, though it carries some risk."
The sensitive ear attack brought a faint blush to Rias's cheeks.
Suppressing her shyness, she asked, "What way?"
Haruto subtly lifted the still-manifested Sacred Gear and murmured once more, "Boost..."
"Haruto... you mean to..."
Rias understood Haruto's plan. Azazel's advantage lay in his overwhelming strength.
If they could match him without relying on Satan-level intervention, everything would fall into place.
The Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet—this Sacred Gear's unique trait meant that, given enough time, even a Low-class Devil could wield power rivaling a single strike from the Devil King.
From the moment Azazel appeared, Haruto had been continuously using the doubling ability. With each ten-second interval, he had nearly amplified to the limit of what he could currently withstand.
He had never tested just how powerful such a strike would be before, but considering it was based on peak S-rank strength, it should be comparable to a Satan's attack.
"President, can we kill that guy?"
"No problem."
Rias nodded seriously. The fact that the Satan couldn't intervene didn't mean she couldn't.
Appearing in Kuoh Town without permission was equivalent to invading her territory. As long as she flatly denied knowledge of the Three Factions Summit, she could claim ignorance.
As a minor devil girl who had always lived in the human world, it would be perfectly normal for her not to know about such matters.
Conversely, as the next head of the Gremory family, it would also be normal for her to know about it.
How she chose to explain it depended entirely on Rias herself - there were plenty of ambiguities to exploit on this matter.
"That's good then."
Haruto released Rias and murmured in a low voice: "Boost, Explosion."
Tremendous power flooded his body. As Haruto completely stabilized it, his entire form began to tremble.
"Haruto, are you okay? Don't push yourself too hard."
"I'm fine. I can probably maintain this for about three minutes."
The massive energy aura caught Azazel's attention. As the disguise of the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet vanished, his eyes widened in shock.
"This is the Red Dragon Emperor - one of the thirteen Sacred Gears!!!"
Azazel spread his black wings, his self-made Sacred Gear armor manifesting on his body. "No wonder I sensed a hint of threat from your left hand last time. So you're the one chosen by the Red Dragon Emperor. I never expected your natural talent to be this remarkable, reaching high-class devil strength so quickly."
Azazel had detected the presence of a Sacred Gear in Kuoh Town before, but at that time the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet was still hosted within Issei Hyoudou.
He had assumed the energy he sensed back then was Haruto's, completely unaware that the Red Dragon Emperor would actively change hosts.
In this state, Haruto's time was precious, and he had no leisure to explain the reasons.
Haruto's figure flashed, accompanied by a sonic boom. A steel-like crimson dragon claw appeared before Azazel, grabbing his face and slamming him violently into the ground.
Azazel's heart jumped with alarm. He wanted to defend, but it was already too late. With their strength equal, Haruto completely overwhelmed him in close combat.
Boom!
A deep crater appeared on the ground as Haruto and Azazel vanished from everyone's sight, with only dull impacts and tremors continuously emerging from underground.