It wasn't because of how strong Rhode had proven himself to be. No matter how strong he was, that had nothing to do with them. The real reason was that, in private, both Sirzechs and Serafall were hardcore fans of Tokusatsu—superhero shows. In their downtime, they even played role-playing games together.
Commonly known as "playing house."
So, seeing Rhode use that final move was like seeing the protagonist of a live-action superhero show descend into reality. If this weren't a formal public setting, Serafall would likely have rushed forward by now to beg for an autograph.
"What kind of item is that? It has the same effect as the Tears of the Phoenix?" Azazel asked, his face full of disbelief as he watched the near-dead Vali regain his vitality.
More importantly, the Tears of the Phoenix had to be drunk. The liquid Rhode poured out was just splashed onto the skin.
Hand sanitizer? You can heal wounds just by washing your hands?
Azazel felt his worldview beginning to crumble. Rhode didn't bother explaining it to him.
"Rhode, why hasn't Vali woken up yet?" Lavinia asked.
"His physical injuries are healed, but his biggest issue is mental trauma. Though I don't know where his mental trauma came from—maybe he saw how handsome I am, felt inferior, and then developed a deep-seated jealousy and hatred toward me."
Everyone: "..."
They had seen narcissists before, but never one quite like this. Why on earth would the White Dragon Emperor pick a fight over something so ridiculous?
"It's probably because of Lavinia," Azazel said after taking a deep breath.
Seeing that he seemed to know the inside story, everyone turned their gaze toward Azazel. Under the weight of their collective stares, Azazel knew he couldn't keep hiding the truth.
After all, Vali was now a terrorist who had joined the Khaos Brigade and conspired with the Old Devil Faction. Defecting on the battlefield and attempting to assassinate the leaders of the Three Factions was a grave offense. Even as his foster father, Azazel couldn't shield him from this.
"Me?" the blonde girl beside Rhode asked in surprise. "Is it because Vali... hates me?"
"It's not hate. It's... love."
Lavinia: "???" Rhode: "???"
Hearing this, Rhode wasn't worried about Lavinia cheating on him; he trusted her character completely. Furthermore, Vali had known her much longer than he had. If anyone was "stealing" anyone, it was Rhode stealing her from Vali. Thinking of it that way, Rhode felt like Vali's silver hair was looking a lot greener than usual.
"Ooh? A love triangle?" Serafall suddenly blurted out.
"No way!" Rias and Sona shouted in unison.
Everyone instinctively looked at the two girls, who were suddenly quite agitated. Realizing their loss of composure, they both turned beet-red with embarrassment.
"It's not for the reasons you're thinking," Azazel sighed. He hadn't expected this group to have such overactive imaginations.
"Vali met Lavinia about five or six years ago. I sent him out to train on his own at the time, and for some reason, he met you. Then... you started taking care of his daily life, didn't you? Vali was a bit of a rebel back then. I'd tell him to eat a proper meal and he'd refuse, insisting on living off cup noodles. But during the time he lived with you, he actually ate well. I only found out about all that after he came back."
"So, while I don't know what you did to make Vali so obedient, you left a very deep impression on his heart."
"Then... what was that about 'love'?" Serafall pressed like a gossip reporter. She was as excited as a member of the paparazzi.
"It's not the romantic love between a man and a woman. It's more like the affection one feels for a family member. That's how Vali feels about Miss Lavinia."
"Family? So, like a sister-brother relationship?" Rias nodded. If that was the case, it made sense. Vali was quite young back then, and boys that age easily develop attachments to women who take care of them.
"Eh? Is that all?" Serafall sighed. That was much less interesting.
"It is family affection, but not the brother-sister kind. It's... uh..."
Azazel stopped there, finding it a bit difficult to say. When Vali had emotionally blurted out the truth back then, it had stunned both him and Albion. Even thinking about it now, it felt absurd.
"What is it? Just say it, Azazel! This isn't like you at all!" Serafall urged, her curiosity piqued. "Don't you know that leaving a story half-told is agonizing?"
"Fine. It's... well... it's basically a mother-son dynamic. Yeah... that's it. I'm not guessing, either; Vali told us that himself."
Azazel spread his hands, looking helpless.
"Mother... Mother and son?!" "No way, that's the relationship?" "Are you sure you didn't mishear him?" "That's... kind of weird." "Eh? Little Vali... actually thinks that way?"
Everyone was stunned. Even the serious types like Michael and Grayfia wore expressions of utter shock. No one expected the White Dragon Emperor to have those kinds of... leanings. It was definitely not normal.
"You're making fun of us, aren't you?" Serafall asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
"I'm not lying. Vali said it himself. He said something like, 'Lavinia is a woman who is worthy of being my mother.' I felt the exact same way you do now when I heard it. Actually... I found it even harder to accept."
Azazel shrugged, having finally laid it all out.In truth, Azazel's decision to lay everything bare wasn't just to satisfy everyone's curiosity—it was a calculated move to protect his "kid."
Vali had committed a grave crime, and he certainly wasn't going to escape punishment. To protect him, Azazel chose to recount Vali's childhood trauma, hoping to win the sympathy of those present.
He knew Michael and Gabriel were fundamentally upright and righteous, while Sirzechs and Serafall were highly emotional. Furthermore, since the Three Factions were on the verge of signing a peace treaty, they would likely give Vali a lighter sentence out of respect for Azazel.
At the very least, it would keep him off death row.
Coincidentally, just as Azazel blurted out the line, "Lavinia is a woman who is worthy of being my mother," Vali began to stir amidst the noisy surroundings.
He woke up with a splitting headache, but because Rhode's "hand sanitizer" had already healed his physical wounds, his hearing was sharp. He heard every single syllable of that sentence with crystal clarity.
Opening his eyes only to see a massive circle of leaders from the Three Factions staring at him with varying degrees of pity and shock, Vali felt his world turn black. His blood pressure spiked so high from sheer humiliation that he promptly passed out again.
His last thought before slipping back into darkness was simple:
I'd be better off dead.
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High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (320 Chapters – Ongoing)
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