Chapter 69

After leaving Kuoh Academy, Riku and Schwi strolled through the streets of Kuoh Town, enjoying street snacks and a carefree afternoon.

For Riku, even though devouring the world's sovereignty was important, he wasn't going to work himself to the bone for it. What's the point if you don't enjoy life along the way? Enjoying life comes first, chasing goals comes second.

Otherwise, if he exhausted himself to death, what meaning would any of it have? He might as well just live peacefully in Disboard.

"Hey, Schwi, do you want to check out the arcade?" Riku suddenly spotted a game centre along the street, nostalgia flickering in his eyes as he suggested it to Schwi.

"Arcade?" Schwi glanced inside at the various machines and the people excitedly mashing buttons, her eyes lighting up. "I want to try."

"In that case, let's go play for a bit." Riku smiled, taking Schwi's hand and leading her inside.

Soon, everyone in the arcade was left in shock as Riku and Schwi shattered all the high scores on every game.

While Riku and Schwi were playing, Sona Sitri, pondering for a moment, couldn't help but contact her older sister, Serafall. She simply couldn't find any information about Riku whatsoever.

"Ta-da! My adorable little sister Sona-chan, are you missing your nee-chan? Honestly, Sona-chan, you're all grown up now and still such a little sweetheart." On the other end, in the Underworld, Serafall replied playfully, clearly in a good mood.

"..." Hearing this, Sona's expression stiffened, tempted to hang up the magic communication immediately.

Her older sister was great in every way, strong, high-status, beautiful, but her personality was a bit much. She loved teasing Sona and doted on her to an extreme, going well beyond mere sibling affection.

Once, after Sona suffered a minor grievance in some small country, Serafall rushed over and froze the entire nation in ice, nearly causing an international incident. Thankfully, she reined herself in and reversed it... in the end.

So, as much as Sona loved her, she also tried to avoid her whenever possible.

"Big sister, can you not? I have something to ask you," Sona said with a sigh, her tone turning serious.

"Hm? What is it, Sona-chan? If I know, I'll tell you everything~" Serafall replied cheerfully, swinging her white legs while lying in her room.

"Do you know who Riku and Schwi are?" Sona asked after a brief hesitation, getting straight to the point.

"—!" At the mention of those two names, Serafall's face froze, her expression rapidly shifting between pale and flushed. Remembering the nightmare from a few days ago, she suddenly felt hot and trembled a little.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Sona immediately noticed Serafall's odd reaction and asked, worried. Were these two really so terrifying that even her fearless sister fell silent?

"Sona, how do you know those names? Tell me everything in detail," Serafall said after a deep breath, her tone unusually serious.

"Uh..." Serafall's rare serious tone caught Sona off guard, leaving her momentarily dazed.

No, not just serious... There was a tremor in her voice that was fear... Her sister was afraid of that man?!

Being perceptive, Sona instantly picked up on the strange undertone, her eyes narrowing.

After collecting herself, Sona calmly told Serafall everything she knew about Riku and Schwi. By now, she realised their backgrounds were likely even more terrifying than she had imagined.

"Sona, listen carefully. Whatever he asks you to do, do your best to complete it. Whatever you do, never offend him! And make sure to tell Rias about this as well," Serafall instructed in an uncharacteristically strict tone, finally relaxing a little when she learned Riku's intentions were simple.

She did not want her beloved little sister to get caught up and "disciplined" the way she had...

Although Riku treated Ravel and Schwi very well and only ever "disciplined" her, you could never be sure.

"I understand..." Sona replied after a moment's silence, her eyes flashing.

"All right, sis, I have things to do. We'll talk later." With that, Sona ended the magical call.

"Sona-chan, you'd better be safe... If anything happens to you, I'll find him, um..." Serafall muttered, conflicted, before burying her face in her pillow, unable to finish her thought. Was that man the nemesis of the Sitri sisters?

"In the end, I still have no idea what his background is. Judging by my sister's reaction, she definitely knows but would never tell me." Sona massaged her forehead, exasperated.

"President, there's no need to overthink it. At the very least, Riku and Schwi don't seem to have any malicious intent right now," Tsubaki couldn't help but say.

"Yeah..." Sona nodded slightly.

"Sona, are you there? There's something I want to discuss with you." Just then, a voice called from outside the door, making Sona's eyes flicker.

"Rias... So she's noticed Riku and Schwi's presence too," Sona murmured.

"Rias, the door isn't locked. Come in. I was just about to discuss something with you." Sona called out.

...

As dusk fell, school at Kuoh Academy had long ended, but Riku and Schwi were still at the arcade, engrossed in their fierce gaming competition.

In the end, it was a draw. Even with all of Riku's experience, Schwi's Ex-machina instincts were just too much...

"Senpai, I want to challenge you," came a calm voice just as Riku and Schwi were about to leave, prompting Riku to turn around.

There, a petite girl stood in her Kuoh Academy uniform, a beautiful girl with silver hair and golden eyes, not unlike Riku himself.

But what surprised Riku wasn't her cuteness, but her identity.

"Koneko Toujou, huh? I didn't expect to meet you here. Or maybe it's fate after all," Riku smiled. Koneko had a few hobbies: she loved good food and loved playing games. If she had any free time, she'd hunt for great eats around town and then hit the arcade.

"Senpai?" Koneko stared directly at Riku, who bore so many similarities to her, and spoke up again.

"You want to play this with me?" Riku said with a slight smile.

"Mhm." Koneko nodded, a hint of stubbornness in her tone. "Most of the top scores here are mine, so getting beaten… it bothers me a little."

That made Riku smile wryly.

"I'm going to try out some other games. You two play as much as you like, but no holding back," Schwi said, glancing at Koneko and then at Riku, her tone uncharacteristically serious.

Judging by Riku's micro-expressions and heart rate, Schwi could tell he felt something unusual toward this girl. Since that was the case, she didn't mind creating an opportunity for the two of them.

Seeing Schwi being so cooperative, Riku patted her head with a smile.

Schwi then took what coins were left and went to play other games.

Koneko sat down next to Riku.

"My name is Koneko Toujou. What about you, senpai?" Koneko asked in her usual monotone—a true deadpan girl.

"Riku Dola," Riku replied calmly.

"I'll remember that, Riku-senpai." Koneko nodded, immediately feeding coins into the machine and starting the game.

The two of them began playing a game that was similar to King of Fighters '97.

As expected, Riku easily defeated Koneko. Though Koneko's skills were enough to dominate this arcade, Riku was someone who could go toe-to-toe with Schwi, so beating Koneko was no trouble at all.

By the time Koneko ran out of coins, she still hadn't managed a single win. Even her normally unreadable face showed clear frustration.

"Wait, I'm going to get more coins," Koneko said, unwilling to accept defeat.

"Let's call it a night. It's getting late, and we should be heading back," Riku said as he stood up. "We can play again next time."

"Contact info." Upon hearing that, Koneko fell silent for a moment before asking.

"Sorry, I don't have a phone right now. But don't worry, we'll see each other again soon." Riku waved his hand in a carefree way.

With that, he took Schwi's hand and left the arcade.

"Weird siblings," Koneko muttered to herself.

"I should head back to the clubroom." With that, Koneko also left the arcade. She'd come by to play if she had free time, but night meant there was devil work to be done.

By now, night had fully fallen, and there weren't many people left on the streets. It felt a little eerie.

But neither Riku nor Schwi were an ordinary people, so there was nothing to worry about.

Elsewhere, under the dim streetlights, three boys were walking together, laughter echoing between them. All three wore Kuoh Academy uniforms.

"Hehe, Issei, this is the good stuff, isn't it?" a bald boy, Matsuda, said with a mischievous grin, waving the adult magazine in his hand at his friend.

"Hehe, Matsuda, Motohama, I can't believe you guys actually got your hands on this. I've wanted one forever!" said the one in the middle, Hyoudou Issei, chuckling.

"See, I told you. What could be more important than picking up stuff like this?" the glasses-wearing boy, Motohama, added, feigning seriousness.

These three were the infamous Perverted Trio of Kuoh Academy, and at this point, Hyoudou Issei had not yet become Rias Gremory's servant.

"Huh? Why are there black feathers?" Suddenly, black feathers drifted down from the sky, causing all three boys to stop and stare.

Looking up, they froze eyes wide in disbelief, the magazine dropping from their hands.

Hovering in the sky above was a woman with black angel wings and a spear of light, looking down on them coldly.

"Wait, am I dreaming?"

"You've gotta be kidding me…"

"Wow, what a rack!" Of course, Issei's attention was locked onto the fallen angel's chest.

"Honestly, Raynare-sama should have taken care of you ages ago." The woman's tone was full of murderous intent as she glared at Issei. "A mere human dares to stare at me like that? Die."

With that, the fallen angel's light spear grew even larger as she prepared to throw it.

"This looks bad…" Issei and his friends turned pale with fear, desperately wanting to run away.

But in the very next moment, the fallen angel hurled her spear of light, which tore through the air.

BOOM!

A small explosion rocked the ground, leaving a crater in the street. In the middle of it lay the three boys, their bodies mangled and blood everywhere, dying.

"Hmph. With all the strange happenings in Kuoh Town lately, and the exorcists' sudden boost in power, I can't risk letting an unknown Sacred Gear wielder live. Blame your own bad luck." With those words, the fallen angel flapped her black wings and disappeared.

Not long after the fallen angel left, Riku and Schwi appeared at the scene.

...

"Butterfly effect, huh…" Riku looked at Hyoudou Issei's corpse, shaking his head. "Honestly, I never thought the protagonist would die to such a minor villain."

With a protagonist's fate like Issei's, he shouldn't die even with this much chaos. The only explanation was that Riku's interference, swallowing the world's sovereignty, had introduced enough chaos to break Issei's plot armour.

"Hm?" Suddenly, Riku noticed a scrap of paper peeking out of Issei's ruined pocket, a slip with a blood-red magic crest and a faint magical aura.

"The Gremory family crest," Riku murmured as he picked it up, his eyes flickering. "So even after getting this, he still died. Rias didn't show up, looks like something delayed her."

Maybe whatever it was had to do with me.

Riku shook his head. Kiba had noticed something strange about him and had probably gone to alert Rias. And Sona Sitri had already met him, and maybe even contacted her sister.

So it was perfectly normal for those childhood friends to be holding a careful discussion about him.

Just then, a red light flickered on Issei's body, and a violent aura surged, trying to escape.

"The Boosted Gear, huh?" Riku murmured, raising his hand to cast a spell and intercept it.

"The Boosted Gear? Isn't that your…" Schwi asked, looking in surprise at the crimson gauntlet Riku had just captured.

"No, it's not the same as Riku's. There's a really strong aura inside, and it gives off a bad feeling," Schwi then shook her head, frowning.

"This is one of this world's true Sacred Gears, the original Boosted Gear. Mine is technically a Sacred Gear too, but it's far purer than this one that's full of curses. And the potential is much greater," Riku explained.

"I see," Schwi nodded slightly.

"This thing is useless to me now, but it might be interesting for research." Riku shrugged. With the knowledge of the God of the Bible, as long as he had the right materials, creating new Sacred Gears would be easy. Having a specimen was perfect.

With that in mind, Riku casually tossed the Boosted Gear into his system storage.

Just as he finished and was about to leave, a crimson magic circle suddenly appeared, centred on the slip of paper, catching his attention.

Schwi looked over calmly as well.

From the magic circle, five figures slowly emerged.

The most familiar to Riku were Sona Sitri and Tsubaki, whom he had already met. Then there was Kiba, whom he'd only seen once in passing.

The remaining two girls, though Riku knew them by reputation, this was his first real encounter.

Leading them was a tall girl with waist-length crimson hair, her posture full of the grace and dignity of a noble lady. Her face was so perfect it was as if she'd stepped out of a dream. But what drew the eye most was her dazzling red hair.

The other girl had no less beauty or figure. Her black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, giving her a spirited look.

Riku instantly recognised them: Rias Gremory and Akeno Himejima.

"Well, if it isn't little Sona and little Tsubaki. I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Riku said with a smile after glancing appreciatively at Rias and Akeno.

"...!" Sona and Tsubaki were both covered in metaphorical sweat. When did they become so close to him?

"Good evening, Mr. Riku." At that moment, Rias politely bowed to Riku. "I'm Rias Gremory, and these are my servants, Akeno Himejima and Kiba Yuuto."

"Pardon the sudden intrusion," Rias said, eyes gleaming with curiosity as she looked at Riku.

Earlier, she and Sona had been discussing Riku. When Sona told her about Serafall's warning, it had genuinely startled her. She'd ended up contacting her brother, Sirzechs, who'd given almost the same advice, if in a more relaxed tone.

After that, Rias and Sona began investigating Riku, only to learn what had transpired in the Underworld, how the Naberius family had been wiped out by Riku, yet the Underworld had taken no action. Even if Naberius was guilty, it should have been handled internally, not by an outsider, and yet no one raised a word. Clearly abnormal.

So, by the time they arrived, much had happened. Sona just happened to be with her, so they came together.

"Showing up out of nowhere… you're not here just to chat, are you?" Riku asked Rias and Sona calmly.

"Of course not. If I may be blunt, what happened to those three students from Kuoh Academy?" Sona pushed up her glasses, her face serious.

A student's death was a big deal.

"Are you suspecting me?" Riku's eyes narrowed, his tone frosty.

"Of course not," Sona shook her head. "With your status, Mr. Riku, there's no way you'd kill a few ordinary students for no reason."

"I don't know exactly who did it, but it was the work of a Fallen Angel. That much is certain." Riku shrugged and, with a gesture, pulled a black feather from the ground.

"Fallen Angels…" Both Rias and Sona frowned at that. Having Fallen Angels show up in their territory was nothing but trouble.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going." Riku shook his head, taking Schwi's hand and preparing to leave.

"Oh, right, Sona, make the arrangements. I'm going to be the Occult Research Club's faculty advisor." With a wave of his hand, Riku tossed this out as an afterthought.

Before Sona or Rias could respond, Riku and Schwi vanished on the spot.

"What an outrageous guy…" Sona said, rubbing her forehead in frustration.

"So he wants to be our Occult Research Club advisor… I can't figure out what he's thinking," Rias added with a wry smile.

"Ara, what a strange man… but for some reason, I quite like him," Akeno said with a smile.

Sona and Rias both blinked at that. Indeed, even though they knew next to nothing about Riku, and despite his unknown background and goals, they just instinctively felt he meant no harm.

"Rias, are you sure about letting him become your advisor?" Sona asked.

"Mhm. Let's just go with it. Since both my brother and your sister warned us, if we turned down even this simple request, it might make him unhappy." Rias nodded, her eyes flickering. "Besides, keeping him close means we can keep a better eye on his intentions, right?"

"Understood," Sona nodded, then bade farewell. "Well then, good night."

With that, a blue magic circle appeared at Sona and Tsubaki's feet, and they left.

After they were gone, Rias looked at Issei's corpse, shook her head, and instructed Yuuto to restore the area with magic and dispose of the bodies.

Lastly, she altered the memories of their families.

And so, the events of this night came to a quiet end, as if nothing had ever happened.