The open garden of the Phenex clan's current guest residence was drowning in the thick evening twilight, which was constantly torn apart by blinding flashes of golden flame. The air here, among the perfectly trimmed shrubs and marble statues, was heated to the limit, overflowing with the smell of ozone and burnt foliage.
Riser attacked relentlessly. His movements were fast, aggressive, and every strike was accompanied by a trail of roaring fire meant to incinerate any obstacle in its path. He poured all his anger into these lunges, all his accumulated fatigue, and all the stubbornness that had unexpectedly awakened in him over the past few days.
Jin did not attack in return. He simply moved. Easily, smoothly, with a frightening nonchalance, stepping off the line of fire a fraction of a second before the flaming fist could touch his face. He would take a short step to the side, lean his torso back, slightly shift his shoulder, and all the efforts of the noble heir went into the void, leaving behind only scorched air.
Another powerful right hook, enhanced by flames, sliced through the space. Jin lazily hopped back, breaking the distance, and stopped, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets.
"Well, well," he drawled, tilting his head to the side. "Isn't that a bit weak for a pure-blooded demon?"
Riser slumped heavily onto one knee, resting his hands on the scorched grass. He inhaled the scorching air deeply, with a wheeze, and with his other hand convulsively wiped the sweat that had broken out on his lips. Surprisingly, his eyes no longer held that blind, uncontrollable hatred that had clouded his mind during their first encounters. Especially after that half-hour of continuous, exhausting pressure they had just completed.
"Why the hell are you so slippery..." the Phenex wheezed, trying to even out his ragged breathing. The muscles of his body burned from the unaccustomed strain, demanding a respite he clearly wasn't going to be given.
Jin looked down at him, a light, provocative smirk appearing on his lips.
"Well, you're the one who wants to get stronger, right?" he asked nonchalantly, knowing exactly where to strike. "Hearing Ravel say that you still can't beat this Sairaorg of yours and even caught a case of the blues... It was honestly a bit awkward to hear."
Hearing the name of his rival, Riser snapped his head up. His face twisted, the remnants of his fatigue instantly evaporating, replaced by wounded pride.
"That's not what the fuck she said!" he lashed out, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Jin, getting exactly the reaction he had hoped for, only smiled wider.
"What does it matter?" he tossed out with feigned indifference. "The essence is the same."
Riser struggled to his feet, his chest heaving. He measured Jin with an irritated glare, tinged with incomprehension.
"Then why the hell should I try to hit you with my bare hands, without using long-range magical attacks?!" the demon protested. "I am a Phenex! My power is in fire and battlefield control, not mindless fist-swinging!"
Jin sighed quietly, his entire demeanor displaying exhaustion at the need to explain elementary things. He closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked at his improvised pupil.
"Do you remember Issei?" he asked unexpectedly.
Riser frowned, confused by the abrupt change of topic.
"That pup from Rias's peerage?" he clarified with disgust.
"Well, basically, yes," Jin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Long story short. Your methods of getting stronger are largely similar. Just like with his artifact, your regeneration and the power of your flames depend directly on your body. Thanks to the Phenex blood, the more physically enduring you are, the stronger your 'vessel' is, the more magical energy will be available to you. Just as your ability to recover from critical wounds will increase exponentially."
Riser blinked in puzzlement. The aristocrats of the Underworld were used to relying on their innate magical reserves and inherited talents, neglecting mundane physical training, considering it the domain of lesser beings.
"Where did you even get that from?" he asked with clear disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jin shrugged, his tone becoming more evasive and calm.
"I think so."
"Hah?!" Riser flared up like dry straw from indignation. "You're making me sweat like some commoner based on the fact that you just 'think so'?!"
"Calm down and turn your brain on," Jin reined him in. "According to many human and non-human legends, even fallen phoenix feathers, let alone their flesh and blood, contain a colossal concentration of magic. Your body is magic. So the stronger, denser, and more enduring your muscles and bones are, the faster you will heal and the harder you will peck your enemies. Well, at least to me, that hypothesis seems perfectly logical."
Riser opened his mouth to deliver a caustic retort, but the words caught in his throat. The logic in this insufferable blond's words was actually there, and it couldn't be refuted on the fly. He was angry at himself for having to listen to someone who had so recently trampled his pride in the mud.
"In that case..." the Phenex hissed through his teeth.
Behind his back, with a deafening roar, massive, blazing wings burst forth. The temperature in the clearing jumped by several degrees. Riser shot forward, flying at Jin with a doubled, almost frightening fury. Now, in every one of his strikes, in every sweep, there was not only physical power, but also the burning bitterness of the caustic jabs he was forced to endure.
And a few dozen meters away, on an open veranda, Ravel sat at an elegant wrought-iron table. She was unhurriedly sipping aromatic tea from a thin porcelain cup, a soft, genuine smile playing on her lips. She watched as her brother, casting aside his usual arrogance, stubbornly threw himself into the attack time after time, trying to surpass his own limits. And all this thanks to the guy who had so unceremoniously barged into their lives.
***
Late evening descended on the guest residence, wrapping it in a velvety silence. A massive banquet preceding the Summit of the Three Factions was scheduled for tomorrow, so it was decided that Jin would stay the night in the quarters provided for him.
His room was astonishingly spacious, with a restrained but flawless luxury. Jin sat on the edge of the huge bed, looking thoughtfully out the window, where the lights of the Underworld's artificial sky flickered. The events of the last few days layered on top of each other, creating a bizarre picture of the new reality he found himself in.
A quiet, almost timid knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.
"Come in," he said evenly.
The door slowly cracked open, and Ravel appeared on the threshold.
Jin felt his breath catch, and for a fraction of a second, his thoughts turned into absolute chaos. The girl was dressed in a light, flowing peignoir made of the softest pale silk, over which a thin, translucent wrap was thrown. The fabric clung softly to her figure, emphasizing her fragile shoulders and slender waist. Her golden curls were let down and fell freely over her back, giving her image a defenseless, domestic softness.
She shifted nervously from foot to foot, her cheeks burning with a deep blush, her gaze darting around the room, avoiding meeting his eyes.
Jin panicked internally. In his past life, he had never found himself in situations like this. His social experience tended towards zero, and his experience communicating with girls, let alone in such an intimate setting, was nonexistent altogether. He looked at her and realized a simple, undeniable truth: she was cute. Incredibly kind deep down. And, to be completely honest, she looked insanely attractive right now.
"I... I just wanted to make sure everything was to your liking," Ravel said quietly. "Tomorrow is a difficult day, and I thought..."
She trailed off, clearly not knowing how to continue the strained sentence.
"You know," he began, looking away, "to be honest... I'm probably a one-woman man."
Ravel blinked in surprise, her eyes widening. That was absolutely not what she expected to hear.
"And up until this moment, I've never loved anyone," he added, feeling incredibly stupid.
The girl frowned, a shadow of doubt and budding offense flickering in her eyes.
"Probably?" she repeated, her voice trembling slightly. "That is a very bad way to say you're rejecting me. You could have chosen gentler words."
Jin heavily, with some kind of universal exhaustion, ruffled his blonde hair, and, embarrassedly covering his face with his hand, said hollowly:
"No. It's the truth."
In his mind, he just howled. "Why the fuck is everyone in this world so damn sincere?! This is just so fucking embarrassing!"
He forced himself to remove his hand from his face and looked straight at her.
"To be honest," he continued, his voice taking on softer, calmer notes. "I could easily fall in love. But only if I can completely trust that person."
Ravel froze, catching his every word. The blush on her cheeks grew even brighter, but she didn't look away.
"If such a person appears," Jin spoke slowly, as if formulating these truths for himself for the first time, "I will devote all of eternity to her. I will support her in everything, whatever she sets her mind to. I will protect her. And, fundamentally... I will just be happy to be near her every single moment."
As he spoke these words, Ravel's face turned red all the way to the tips of her ears. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it would leap out of her chest. This was a confession. Clumsy, strange, but incredibly deep and sincere. Overcome with embarrassment, she lowered her gaze to the floor, unable to bear the intensity of the moment.
But suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, and the air became heavy, viscous, making it hard to breathe.
"However," Jin said.
His voice had elusively changed. The embarrassment and softness vanished. His tone became even, devoid of any emotion, absolutely empty.
Ravel looked up and froze. Jin's face had turned into a dispassionate, static mask. But the most terrifying thing was his eyes. The violet irises looked like two bottomless voids, reflecting neither light nor humanity.
"If the one I trust betrays me or abandons me," he continued in the same dead voice, "I will never forgive it."
Ravel felt an icy sweat crawl down her spine. She instinctively took a half-step back but couldn't tear her gaze away from his frightening eyes.
"In that case," he spoke slowly, each word dropping into the silence like a heavy stone, "I will destroy everything she loves. I will grind everyone around her to dust. Her family, her friends, her home. And if this Underworld of yours tries to stop me or doesn't forgive me for it... then I will simply destroy the Underworld itself."
He paused briefly, allowing the horror of his promise to hang in the air.
"And as for her... I will leave her completely alone, amidst the dead ruins of what she dared to trade me for. So that she can spend eternity looking at the fruits of her betrayal."
Ravel was overcome by genuine, paralyzing fear. She looked at him and realized one terrible thing: he wasn't joking. He wasn't trying to scare her for dramatic effect. His unchanging face and empty eyes read absolute certainty that he would do exactly that. She believed every single word he uttered sincerely, with her entire being, and that belief terrified her to the point her knees trembled.
For several long seconds, a dead silence reigned in the room.
And then Jin's face abruptly changed. The emptiness vanished from his eyes; his lips curved into their usual, slightly lazy half-smile. The oppressive aura dissipated without a trace.
"That's probably why I've never fallen in love with anyone," he said in a jokingly casual tone, as if they had just been discussing tomorrow's weather.
In his thoughts, he exhaled in relief: "Haaah... But if she tells anyone about what I just spouted, there's going to be an ocean of problems."
He looked at the girl, waiting for her reaction.
Ravel stood before him. Her small fists gripped the thin fabric of her peignoir until her knuckles turned white. Her shoulders trembled slightly from the stress she had just endured, and small, unshed tears glistened in her eyes. But despite all the fear, she hadn't run away.
She looked up at him. And in that gaze, through the veil of tears and fright, an unexpected, stubborn defiance could be read.
"What you just said... is unforgivable," her voice trembled, but she forced herself to speak clearly and loudly. "Please... promise me that I will never hear such words from you again."
Jin looked at this fragile, terrified, yet incredibly strong-spirited girl who found the courage to talk back to a monster that had just promised to destroy her world. His smile became slightly warmer and more sincere.
"Alright," he agreed, shortly and simply.
Ravel let out a shuddering breath, as if only just remembering how to breathe. She spun around sharply and headed for the door. Already grabbing the handle, she stopped for a moment. Without turning around, she tossed over her shoulder—and even from this distance, it was visible how brightly her neck had flushed:
"I... I will think about your words."
The door closed quietly but firmly behind her.
Left alone, Jin, sitting on the very edge of the bed, leaned back and fell heavily onto his back, staring at the ornately decorated ceiling. Tomorrow promised to be an incredibly long day.