Soon, Sirzechs and Grayfia's wedding anniversary arrived.
In the Underworld, they fell in love—one a hero of the Reformist Faction, the other a combatant from the Old Maou Faction.
After overcoming countless trials of partisan strife, the two finally walked down the aisle; their love story had become almost legendary in the Underworld.
Even the harshest Devil would not make them work on their wedding anniversary, unless a major incident occurred.
The two spent the day traveling around, returning home only in the evening for a family banquet.
At the family banquet, father Zeoticus Gremory, mother Venelana Gremory, Sirzechs's peerage, and Rias's future peerage were all in attendance.
This included Nelliel, the Toujou sisters, Uzumaki Naruto, Haku, Kimimaro, Uzumaki Karin, Gaara, Pakura, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and others.
As for Sona, although she spent most of her time with Rias, she was still quite young, and her parents missed her.
She basically spent five days a week with Rias and two days with the Sitri Family.
Serafall, meanwhile, followed Sona wherever she went.
Sona was closer to Serafall than to her parents, yet there was no denying that Sona had a harmonious relationship with her parents.
Of course, this family gathering had nothing to do with Aizen and Kisuke Urahara.
While they were considered 'on their side,' Rias at most treated them as 'partners' rather than servants.
Daily care was one thing, but inviting two antagonistic people to such a family gathering would be asking for trouble.
Naturally, since it was a family gathering, it was just that—a gathering.
After eating together, the children ran and played in the hall, while the elder brother and sister-in-law, the father and mother, and several members of Sirzechs's peerage chatted about something.
Without waiting for a specific moment, Rias presented her gifts to them when the time seemed right.
"Oh my, this is the first time Little Rias has given us a gift."
Venelana looked at the gift box in front of her and couldn't help but cradle her cheeks, her face full of a gentle smile.
"Yes, it's so moving for Papa."
Zeoticus wiped away a tear, appearing a bit less composed than usual.
"Not just for the Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law, but there's even one for us?"
Beowulf couldn't help but wipe his eyes, deeply moved.
"Why don't you open them and see?"
Rias said with a smile.
Sirzechs and Grayfia exchanged a glance, then were the first to open their gift boxes.
What appeared from Sirzechs's gift box was a Formula composed of Magic Formulas.
The spherical Magic Formula formed a very complex Formula; it was Rias's Fusion Equation.
"This is the finished product of the second-stage Fusion Equation, and it is also the core technique for me to reach the level of Transcendents."
Rias said, "This power is quite dangerous and the difficulty of construction is relatively high, so it cannot be leaked for the time being. However, I can still manage to give a finished product to my family."
Sirzechs's was the second-stage Fusion Equation; because it was a finished product, it integrated into the magic source in the form of a Magic Formula, thereby granting him a perfect Fusion Equation.
Whether in Sirzechs's normal state or his Devils True Form, he could achieve a much higher efficiency of magic power quality through this.
Roughly estimated, Sirzechs's power when manifesting his Devils True Form might be no less than that of Shiva, the God of Destruction.
"What a precious gift."
Sirzechs turned slightly solemn, then smiled. "But I shall accept it."
Sirzechs naturally understood the preciousness of this gift, but since it was a gift from his sister, he would naturally accept it with care.
As the strongest among the Devils, his greatest duty was to do his utmost to become stronger so that he could protect the Devils.
Although the powers of the Three Factions were strong, the strongest was still the God of the Bible.
By his own power, he had single-handedly raised the Biblical Pantheon to the highest peak.
No, rather, the God of the Bible was the very source of the Biblical Pantheon.
Lilith, Lucifer, and the Fallen Angels were all created by the God of the Bible.
Devils, on the other hand, were beings born through the Magic Formulas of Lilith and Lucifer.
Given the current external situation, although the combined strength of the Three Factions remained number one, their high-end combat power was seriously insufficient.
Now, having a way to further strengthen himself was not only for Sirzechs himself but also an enhancement for all Devils.
Then again, had Rias's power already grown to such an extent?
Unlike Sirzechs, who found it difficult to fully control his power, Rias was surrounded by an astonishing layer of Power of Destruction, yet she perfectly concealed her own pressure.
Unless she did so intentionally, she would not let her aura leak out at all.
Even Sirzechs didn't know what level Rias had reached. After all, when Rias was born, the quality of her Power of Destruction wasn't as abnormal as his, yet he hadn't expected that Rias's true 'abnormality' lay in her wisdom and research capabilities.
"Is this... a stopwatch?"
Grayfia asked.
"Inject your magic power to perform the recognition ceremony, then try pressing it."
Rias said.
Following Rias's words, the binding was soon established.
The stopwatch also possessed artificial intelligence, but the level of intelligence was low, at most serving as an auxiliary.
After glancing at Rias again, Grayfia pressed the button.
Instantly, with the stopwatch as the center, a small-scale world formed around them.
"This is..."
Grayfia looked at the surrounding scene in surprise.
Time has stopped?
Grayfia looked at Sirzechs beside her in shock; he was also frozen in place.
But that was impossible.
Because Sirzechs's power was so vast, it was fundamentally impossible for Grayfia's power to stop Sirzechs's time.
"This isn't stopping time, but inserting time."
At this moment, Rias's voice appeared. She was not stopped but was able to move within it just like Grayfia.
Rias explained, "Unlike the Evil Eye that pauses a certain area, the main function of this stopwatch is to insert time. The principle is to insert a segment of special time into the original flow of time where only one can move freely, and then bring the results back into the normal flow of time after the ability ends. Therefore, the range of this time stop indirectly reaches the entire world."
"Apart from the user's basic qualities, it is very difficult to break. Currently, as far as I know, besides me as the creator, even Agares, whose magic attribute is time, could not do it."
"And inserting time is just one application. Stopping a certain person's time, stopping the time of people within a certain range, accelerating an object's time, slowing an object's time, and so on—all of these can be done freely according to one's will."
Hearing this, Grayfia said in shock, "Power of this level is already comparable to a Sacred Gear, isn't it?"
"Pretty much."
Rias smiled. "After all, it was manufactured with a Sacred Gear as the prototype."
"However, there is one point: the release of a Sacred Gear, that is, the Balance Breaker, requires you to add your own soul essence before it can truly take shape."
"Until then, this stopwatch has no 'Balance Breaker form.' Even if it forcibly reaches a 'Balance Breaker' state, it only strengthens the power and cannot tap into the true potential of the magical device."
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