Gasper touched down on the rooftop and undid the transformation mid-movement. The wings compacted back into shadow, the silhouette returning to human form in a single continuous adjustment, his feet settling onto the concrete without unnecessary sound.
Riser remained near the edge, his body supported as before, the horizon line still ahead. The silence he maintained was broken by the simple fact that he was no longer alone. The weight shifted. His shoulder adjusted a few centimeters.
His face turned.
The annoyance appeared first. A brief tightening of the jaw, the muscle clenching for half a second. The interruption was not welcome.
Then recognition came.
Riser's gaze fixed on Gasper.
The annoyance disappeared.
A smile spread across his lips, slow, far too confident to be casual. The kind of smile that required no external validation to exist.
"Well, well." His voice came out clean, filling the space effortlessly. "Isn't it the insolent servant who came to be destroyed by the great Riser."
Riser stepped away from the ledge calmly. His torso turned to face forward, his feet adjusting their stance for the first time since the game began. The smile remained.
The heat began to rise.
There was no explosion, no wide discharge. The increase was progressive, concentrated, the rooftop surface reacting in subtle visible distortions as energy accumulated above the concrete. The air around Riser's body began to ripple in short, contained waves without dispersion.
Gasper remained still.
The silence was a choice.
'My best chance is to use the Twilight Flame to cancel his regeneration, but I have to do more than that. I want to prove superiority. So I'll prove I can be the best support a king could have.'
Riser took two steps forward, reducing the distance with clear intent, the smile never fading.
"What's wrong, servant." His voice maintained the same level. "Not so insolent now that you're standing before the great Riser."
Gasper did not respond.
'And that's how I secure my promotion to High-Class Devil.'
High-Class Devil. Since he had taken on that body, that goal had remained fixed, even when circumstances forced him into a role he had not chosen. Rias' servant, bound to others' decisions, uncertain of his own future. Now, there, before Riser, the path began to take shape with enough clarity to seize by force. Power. Recognition. The real possibility of building his own peerage.
Riser's smile began to falter.
The silence that once seemed submissive no longer felt comfortable. His eyes narrowed. The heat around his body rose another level, concentrated, more aggressive. The concrete beneath his feet showed new thin marks, superficial cracks forming in direct response to the increasing pressure.
"Interesting." Riser tilted his head slightly, his tone shifting without raising in volume. "You don't answer."
He took another step. Now they were close enough that any movement would be an attack.
"Or you think that silence will save you." The smile returned, tighter. "Or you're trying to disrespect me."
The heat rose again. No explosion. No wide release. The energy was pulled inward, compressed, controlled. Riser's body became the point of origin, not the environment around him.
Gasper remained motionless.
The lack of response began to genuinely irritate him.
Riser clicked his tongue once.
"You touched my fiancée." His tone remained too calm for the content. "You provoked me in front of everyone." His right arm shifted a few centimeters, his fist slowly closing. "And now you stand there as if you have any right."
He laughed briefly, low and short.
"Don't confuse courage with stupidity." His gaze traveled down and up Gasper's body, evaluating. "You're nothing more than support. A well-trained tool, nothing else."
The heat intensified once more. The air distortions grew denser, closer to Riser's body. His wings remained folded. There was still no attack.
"I can reduce you to ashes right now." he continued. "And still walk out of this game whole." The smile returned, full of certainty. "My fire always brings me back."
He stepped closer again, now invading Gasper's personal space.
"I am Riser Phenex." The name was spoken as an absolute declaration. "Heir of one of the oldest houses in the Underworld." His fist closed completely. "A king is born above worms like you."
The concrete cracked beneath his feet.
"I'll teach you the difference."
In the observation area, the focus shifted entirely to the rooftop of the isolated building. The field projections clearly showed the point where the two presences had separated from the main flow of the game.
Lord Phenex stood with arms crossed, his body leaning forward just enough to demonstrate direct interest. No visible concern over earlier eliminations.
"Pieces are pieces." he said evenly. "The game was never decided by them."
Lord Gremory nodded beside him, his gaze fixed on the projection of Riser. "The strength of a Phenex isn't measured by numerical advantage." His hand rested on the back of his seat. "Riser was raised to win direct confrontations. Always has been."
The image showed the heat concentrating at the rooftop, contained, controlled, without dispersion beyond the immediate area. No outside interference. No protocol breach.
Sirzechs remained silent.
His posture did not change. His hands stayed resting on the chair's armrests. His gaze did not shift a single degree from the central scene. No comment. No explicit agreement. Only continuous observation.
Grayfia stood one step behind, as required by her role. Her hands were aligned before her body, fingers still. Her expression remained neutral, offering no open reading to those around her.
The projection adjusted its angle, bringing Gasper into focus for the first time in that isolated zone. The difference in presence between the two combatants was evident, but no technical data indicated a definitive advantage.
Grayfia did not move.
'This is the moment when discipline decides everything.'
The heat on the rooftop intensified again in the images. The concrete reacted under mounting pressure, fine fissures forming around Riser's feet while the base remained intact. No attack had yet been launched.
Lord Phenex released a brief sound of approval deep in his throat. "He's comfortable." The comment carried no emotion. "When Riser reaches that point, the opponent has already lost half the battle."
Riser raised his right hand. The flame appeared compact, dense, rotating over his palm without dispersing. His smile widened, too broad to be restrained, sustained by absolute certainty of dominance.
Gasper remained still before him. His body did not retreat. His face did not turn away. A short smile appeared in response, without verbal provocation.
"You've lost your mind, worm." Riser kept the flame active, arm extended. "Fear has driven you insane."
Gasper did not answer. His gaze remained fixed.
The Sacred Gear's symbol activated without visible fanfare. There was no outward expansion. No dispersed effect. The field of action was immediate.
Riser's body froze instantly. The flame remained lit in his hand, suspended at the exact point it had reached, neither advancing nor extinguishing.
The violent smile stopped on his face.
Below on the field, the effect spread in synchrony.
Karlamine, retreating from Kiba, had her body interrupted mid-movement. Her blade remained suspended inches from its target, muscles rigid, unable to complete the motion.
Siris, advancing against Saji with her Zweihänder raised, stopped with the weapon overhead, its weight locked in the air without falling, without continuation.
Neither of them collapsed. Neither advanced.
Asia placed a hand on her chest, her body halting along with her gaze.
"What's happening?"
"That's Gasper's power." Kiba said without diverting his attention from the immobilized knights.
Saji pointed upward with his chin, where one of the bats hovered nearby. "Look. The bat did that."
In the sky, Yubelluna maintained unstable altitude, visible marks from the previous clash on her body. Her movement ceased at once, wings frozen mid-beat.
Ravel also stopped. The flames of her wings remained active, but without motion, her body suspended rigidly, unable to react.
Rias halted midair, her body pausing for half a second as she sensed the general shift across the field.
"Akeno, Gasper, he—"
"Yes, Rias." Akeno kept her distance from Ravel, eyes sharp. "That's Gasper's Sacred Gear. Our young dhampir is incredible."
Rias held her gaze toward the rooftop. A brief, controlled smile appeared on her face.
The bats closest to the immobilized bodies opened their mouths simultaneously. The voice came out synchronized, clean, without echo, spreading across the entire field from them.
"I used the Forbidden Balor View." The voice remained steady. "Let's defeat the enemies together and win this Rating Game."
The field remained motionless. None of the Phenex team pieces could react. Flames, weapons, and wings stayed suspended exactly at the point they had been interrupted.
Rias advanced a step in the air, her wings adjusting with minimal precision. Her gaze moved over each paralyzed target without haste, without hesitation.
"You heard him." Her voice was firm, without elevation. "Let's end this game." Her focus shifted toward the rooftop where Riser remained frozen. "Let's end this engagement contract."
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