That was not because Rod had looked particularly strong. After all, 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 extremely loyal tokusatsu fans. When they had free time, they would even play role-playing games together.
In other words, they played house.
So after seeing the move Rod had used at the end, it felt no different from watching the hero of a tokusatsu show descend into reality with their own eyes.
If this had not been a public setting, Serafall would probably have already rushed over asking for an autograph.
"What kind of item is that? It has the same effect as Phoenix Tears?"
Seeing Vali, who had been critically wounded and on the brink of death, recover like this, Azazel's face was full of disbelief.
And more importantly,
Phoenix Tears were meant to be drunk, while the liquid Rod had taken out had been poured onto someone's hand.
Hand sanitizer?
Wash your hands and your wounds heal?
Azazel felt as though his entire worldview was starting to crack.
Rod did not bother explaining anything to Azazel.
"Rod, why hasn't Vali woken up yet?"
Lavinia looked at him and asked.
"His physical injuries have healed, but his biggest problem is mental trauma. Though I don't actually know where that mental trauma came from. Maybe he saw how handsome I was, felt inferior after comparing himself to me, and then became jealous and hateful."
Everyone: "..."
They had seen narcissistic people before, but never anyone this narcissistic.
There was no way the White Dragon Emperor would start fighting over something that ridiculous.
"It's probably because of Lavinia."
After taking a deep breath, Azazel finally spoke.
At those words, everyone present turned to look at him.
Since they were all staring at him, Azazel knew there was no way he could keep hiding it.
After all, Vali had already joined the Khaos Brigade, colluded with the Old Maou faction, defected in the middle of battle, and even attempted to attack the leaders of the three great factions. That was an extremely serious offense.
Even as his adoptive father, Azazel could not shield him from that.
"Because of me?"
The blonde girl standing beside Rod looked surprised.
"Could it be because Vali... hates me very much?"
"Not hate. Rather... love."
Lavinia: "???"
Rod: "???"
Hearing that, Rod was not worried in the slightest about Lavinia putting a green hat on him. He trusted Lavinia's character quite a bit.
What was more, in terms of how long they had known her, Vali had known her even longer than Rod had. So if anyone was the one putting a green hat on someone, it would be him putting one on Vali.
Thinking of it that way, Rod suddenly felt as though the silver on Vali's head had turned much greener.
"Huh? A love triangle?"
Serafall suddenly blurted out.
"How is that possible?!"
Rias and Sona shouted in unison the moment they heard that.
Everyone instinctively turned to look at the two girls, who had reacted a little too strongly.
Realizing they had lost their composure, both of them flushed bright red with embarrassment.
"That's not what I mean."
Azazel sighed. He really had not expected this group's minds to run wild in such strange directions.
"About five or six years ago, Vali met Lavinia. At the time, I had sent him out alone to train. Later, for some reason, he got to know you, and then... you started taking care of his daily life, right? Back then, Vali was a little rebellious. When I told him to eat properly, he wouldn't listen and only wanted convenient cup noodles. But during the time he lived with you, he ate properly every day. I only realized that after he came back."
"So, although I don't know what method you used to make Vali so obedient, you left a very deep impression on him."
"Th-then... what exactly is this about love?"
Serafall pressed on like a gossip reporter.
At this point she was as excited as some paparazzo chasing a scandal.
"It's not romantic love between a man and a woman. It's more like familial affection. That's the kind of feeling Vali has toward Lavinia."
"Familial affection? Then is it a brother-and-sister kind of relationship?"
Rias nodded.
If that was the case, then it made sense.
After all, Vali should still have been quite young a few years ago, and boys at that age often developed affection for women who took care of them.
That affection could take many forms, including love or familial attachment.
"Huh? So it's only that?"
Serafall let out a disappointed sigh.
Then there was nothing interesting about it after all.
"It is familial affection, yes, but not sibling affection. It's more like... uh..."
At this point, Azazel found it a little hard to continue.
After all, when Vali had blurted those words out in an emotional state back then, both he and Albion had been completely stunned.
Even now, just remembering it still felt absurd.
"If there's more to it, then spit it out already, Azazel. This is completely unlike your usual self!"
Seeing there was still more to the story, Serafall grew impatient.
"Don't you know that stopping halfway through kills people?"
"Uh... actually, it's... more like a mother-and-son relationship, I guess. Yeah... something like that. It's not my guess, either. Vali said it himself before."
Azazel spoke with visible helplessness.
"M-mother and son?!"
"No way, it's that kind of relationship?"
"Th-that... are you sure you heard correctly?"
"That's... bizarre."
"Huh? So Va-Kun... that's what he was thinking?"
Everyone was shocked.
Even Michael and Grayfia, the two serious ones in the room, showed clear surprise on their faces.
So the White Dragon Emperor had thoughts like that?
That was really not normal.
"You're joking with us, right?"
Serafall looked utterly unconvinced.
"I'm not lying. Vali really did say it himself back then. Something along the lines of, 'Lavinia is a woman qualified to become my mother.' At the time, I felt exactly the way you all do right now. No... actually, I took it even worse than you."
Azazel spread his hands, fully giving up and putting it all out there.
In truth, he was not revealing everything just to satisfy everyone's curiosity. He was doing it because he wanted to protect his cub.
Vali had committed such a serious crime that punishment was obviously unavoidable.
So to protect him, Azazel had chosen to reveal this strange piece of Vali's childhood experience, hoping it would win these people's sympathy.
Because he knew Michael and Gabriel were upright people, Sirzechs and Serafall were emotionally soft-hearted, and with the three great factions on the verge of signing a peace treaty, Vali probably would not receive too severe a punishment if they gave Azazel face.
At the very least, he would not be sentenced to death for treason.
At the same time, the very moment Azazel said the words, "Lavinia is a woman qualified to become my mother," Vali slowly began to regain consciousness amid the noisy environment around him.
His head was splitting with pain, but because his hands had been washed with Rod's hand sanitizer, all his injuries had already healed, so he heard that sentence with perfect clarity.
Then, when he raised his eyes and saw that all around him stood a huge crowd from the three great factions, Vali instantly felt darkness close over his vision. Overcome by shock and rage, he fainted all over again.
And before he lost consciousness, Vali had only one thought:
I might as well just die.
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