"I can't take any more of this shit!"
I blinked as the world around me changed, being the very appealing forms of Rias and Akeno one moment, and then the much less appealing form of Riser Phenex a moment later.
The man looked exactly how I remembered him, if a bit more deranged overall, and not all that different from the other male Phenex's I had seen - that being his father and older brother. He was decently tall, looking close to six feet in height, with bright blonde hair and a decently muscular frame.
His frame was very visible, and to say the sight in front of me was unappealing was understating it, as Riser was butt-naked and bent over. I glanced around, taking in the room around us quickly.
It was clearly a bedroom, and a pretty luxurious one, too. There was a large bed in the corner, which, judging by the red sheets, red pillows, and even red headboard behind it, definitely belonged to Riser. There were a few dressers in the room as well, along with a massive mirror, which nearly took up the entire room.
Red walls, a red bed, and a massive mirror to stare at yourself all day? This was definitely the bedroom of Riser Phenex.
"J-Just calm down, please, L-Lord Riser!" A more feminine voice spoke, being the familiar tone of Yubelluna.
The reason Yubelluna broke the orb was pretty clear, as the contrast between their demeanors was stark. She was on her shapely rear, sitting in the corner of the rather extravagant room around us as she held up her hands defensively, looking more than a bit nervous and fearful.
She'd clearly been in some type of scuffle, as her usual robe looked slightly torn in some places, and her hair was ruffled and messy.
"No! I can't! That bastard ruined my life, and I won't just sit here and take it! I'll do whatever I want!" By comparison, Riser looked furious. His face was red with anger, twisted in rage, and there were even flames dancing dangerously on his palms as his eyes scanned over Yubelluna's body.
"First Ravel… then you… then even my own mother!" Riser shouted, hunched over a bit as he towered over Yubelluna, his eyes a bit crazed and flames flaring up around his shoulders, "That bastard! I can't listen to you rave about that piece of shit any longer!"
Wasn't this guy's whole bit that he usually referred to himself in the third person? He must be really pissed to be using 'I!'
"D-Don't speak about Valon like that-" Yubelluna tried to counter Riser's words despite the situation, but just caused Riser to burst out with more anger.
"Idiots! You're all fucking morons!" Riser raved, spit flying out from his mouth and landing on Yubelluna as she flinched away, "I can't touch you because of him! My sister refused to join my peerage because of him! My own mother seems to have lost all self-respect for herself, lowering herself to become a damn whore for that prick!"
"J-Just calm down-" Yubelluna stuttered, tears starting to form in her eyes as Riser bore down on her.
"SHUT UP!" Riser roared, his flames flaring up again as he glared down at Yubelluna, "I can't take this shit! The worst part of it all is how stupid you've all become! My brother vanishes out of nowhere, and then the bastard that eats his enemies and takes their strength can suddenly use our family's bloodline as he fights Sirzechs?! He killed my own brother, and yet none of you fucking idiots will believe me!"
"No, no. I'm sure they believe you," Riser had been rambling so quickly that it'd only actually been a few seconds since I arrived, but I had seen enough. I casually stepped forward, placing my hand on Riser's shoulder as his eyes went wide.
I flicked back my wrist, and in an instant, Riser was slamming into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Spit flew out of his mouth as the wall crumpled from the impact, cratering a bit as the wind was knocked out of him. I ignored him, turning to the distressed form of Yubelluna instead.
"It's been a while, huh?" I grinned lightly, and the woman's eyes went wide as Riser wasn't blocking me from view anymore.
"V-Valon," She breathed out, her eyes becoming filled with relief, "Y-You really came!"
"Of course," I just reached down, offering her a hand as I pulled her to her feet, "I told you, didn't I? Break the marble, and I'll be here before you know it."
I turned away from her before she could respond, looking back at Riser as he coughed, still clearly reeling from being flung into the wall so harshly.
"I'll deal with this quickly, alright? It'll only take a minute." I hummed, and Yubelluna just nodded at my words, staying still as I strided towards Riser.
"H-How are you here, you damn bas-" Riser's words were cut off as his head vanished in a splatter of blood.
One second, he was glaring at me, getting ready to stand up and do something idiotic in his anger. The next second, the top of his head slammed back into the wall, causing a burst of blood to splat onto it.
I casually shook my hand in the air, letting the few flecks of blood on my knuckles fall to the ground as I looked at Riser's now headless body, which looked rather gruesome as his bloody stump of a neck fell back against the wall. Luckily, I only had to look at the disgusting sight for a moment, as a flare of flames shot upward from his neck.
"GUH!" Riser gasped as bloodline ability reformed his head, leaning forward and reaching up as he clutched at his cheek with wide eyes.
"I didn't say you could talk," I said simply, my eyes boring down at the Phenex as my shadow cast over him.
Usually, I wasn't this cruel, but it didn't take a genius to see where the situation with Yubelluna was headed. If I hadn't given her the marble, then he wouldn't have shown any mercy to her, so I wouldn't either to him.
I casually crouched down, leaning forward as my eyes stared into Riser's large, fear-filled ones, "But, as I was saying, it's not that they don't believe you. They do, but it doesn't matter that they do."
"What do you-" Riser's head exploded again, and I looked down blandly as some blood splattered onto my shirt. I'll need to get that cleaned.
Riser's head reappeared a moment later, and he gasped again as he experienced his head being turned into mush. [Phenex Immortality] healed any wound, and even negated most of the pain you felt, but that didn't mean you felt nothing.
Granted, Riser had been a Phenex his whole life, and had probably experienced similar types of wounds considering his very reckless and bloodline-reliant fighting style. He wouldn't be too traumatized from something like this - probably.
"If you were an ant, and you watched your fellow ant get stepped on by a massive foot, what would you do?" I asked the strange question casually, staring into Riser's wide eyes as he breathed heavily, still reeling from having his head busted open twice in only a few seconds.
He didn't answer, just looking forward at me with a mixture of fear and anger. I grinned as he finally learned and nodded, "Good, I didn't say you could speak."
My fist shot forward again, and Riser's head exploded again. I leaned back a bit as it reformed, and he learned forward, gasping again.
"W-Why-" His head exploded again, and the amount of blood on the wall was starting to get to the point where I doubt it'd be able to be cleaned up.
Did [Phenex Immortality] regenerate the blood too? Considering his head didn't seem to be running out of it, I assumed as much.
"Why does a person stomp on an ant?" I answered his unspoken question as his head formed again, and he lurched forward, clutching at his face as he coughed roughly, "Because I felt like it, and because you're annoying."
I stood up, staring down as Riser continued to cough and gasp, and continued, "And, because that's the role an ant plays. In this cruel world we all live in, an ant's life is worth nothing to a human."
"To that ant, its life is precious. Valuable. Priceless. It's a life, after all," I hummed, my lips curling up into a smirk, "But to a human, they can choose to end that life whenever they want. That ant's life is worth nothing more than a simple annoyance. Tell me, Riser Phenex…"
My analogy was complicated, but it was true. An ant might've had ambitions - not in the same way a human did, as it was a creature of instinct that could think of nothing more than to eat and follow its queen's orders, but it had ambitions nonetheless. Those ambitions amounted to how the human who found it felt.
If they were in a good mood, perhaps they'd step by and let them live. Maybe put the ant in a cup, take them outside, and put them back into the wild. Or, if they were in a bad mood, maybe they'd end their life without a second thought.
"Do you think you're a human?" I asked Riser, my eyes boring into his wide ones, "Or, an ant?"
Riser opened his mouth, and my hand lashed out as he forgot my one rule. His head vanished, then reappeared a moment later as he gasped again.
"It's not your fault. To me, everyone is like an ant," I continued, uncaring of his gasping fit. "I could end any of your lives in the blink of an eye, and whether or not I do depends on you. Your family understands this - your mother knows that I killed your brother, as does your sister, but it means nothing."
Neither Layla nor Ravel had told me as much directly, but I was sure they had put it together. It wasn't a secret that I consumed the corpses of my enemies, and it also wasn't a secret that I'd suddenly be able to use their abilities afterward.
Anyone with half a brain, and who had been amongst the various devils watching my duel with Sirzechs, would realize what had happened. Regal Phenex had suddenly gone missing, and I could use [Phenex Immortality] now.
But just because they knew I had consumed a member of the Phenex Clan didn't change anything. They couldn't go against me, and they didn't want to. The Phenex Clan was smart, and they were willing to ignore what I had done and instead try to get into my good graces.
After all, there was no use crying over split milk. You could leave it there in a fit of anger, or you could be smart and clean it up.
"I squished an ant under my foot, but its fellow ants are much smarter than you," I finished, grinning down at Riser as he was staring at me with wide, terrified eyes, "They know not to try and bite me to get revenge - because then they'd simply get squished as well. Instead, they try to become useful, so they'll get crumbs from time to time."
The analogy was harsh, and I was definitely exaggerating. I hadn't become so arrogant throughout my rule that I truly viewed everyone as an ant, and I truly did care and hold feelings for Ravel.
But I needed to drive this into Riser's head. It was either this, or I used [Devour] on him so he could never cause problems again. The [Phenex Immortality] was so powerful that I'd prefer to keep any Phenex members alive, and Riser was also another person to create Phenex Tears for my Kingdom.
Overall, I just needed to leash him. To ensure that he wouldn't try something stupid again, and that he'd fall in line.
"Riser Phenex," I stared down at him, my lips curling into a smirk, "For doing something this stupid, I'm sure your mother will be visiting my palace more often to ensure your clan still has my favor. Don't forget that."
I needed to drive home just how hopeless it was to fight against me, and as Riser's eyes were filled with disbelief and horror, I knew it was working. Fighting against me would only cause him to lose more than he already had.
"There is no plan an ant can make to defeat a human. No amount of bites can prevent it from being killed. So, if you don't want to be squished…"
It was cruel, but necessary.
"Be a good, loyal ant for your King, alright?"
From that moment onward, I'd gain even more eager loyalty from the Phenex Clan, and Riser Phenex would never cause problems again.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out tomorrow!
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