After years of doing missions, Rod's physical abilities had already been strengthened to an absurd degree.
Riser didn't even see his movement clearly before he was sent flying by the punch. The flames around him instantly dispersed, and he crashed headfirst into the nearby flower bed, smashing a crater into the wall behind it. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb.
Rod's sudden move stunned Riser's peerage.
There were actually people in the Underworld who dared to lay hands on an Upper-Class Devil?!
Only after the shock hit them did Riser's peerage react, immediately drawing their weapons and glaring at Rod.
But the moment they did, Rias stepped forward as well, releasing crimson Power of Destruction from her body. The pressure and presence radiating from her made their expressions change.
Why did Rias's demonic aura feel so much stronger than the last time they had seen her?
"If any of you make a move, you'll have to get through me first."
The moment Rias declared that, they froze.
After all, they didn't have Rod's nerve to attack a pure-blooded Upper-Class Devil.
More importantly, Rias was Lucifer's own younger sister. If they injured her outside a Rating Game, ten lives wouldn't be enough to pay for it.
At that moment,
Riser struggled to his feet from the flower bed.
Rod hadn't used full force just now, and Riser's physique was already strong. On top of that, he possessed Phoenix blood, so his injuries began healing quickly.
Even so, while getting hurt still hurt, the pain to his pride was far harder to endure.
With a twisted expression, Riser glared at Rod.
"You dared to ambush an Upper-Class Devil! If you've got the guts, fight me head-on! I'll show you the power of the Phenex Family's-"
Before he could finish, Rod's figure shot forward again, and a knee slammed brutally into his face.
Riser took the hit full-on, his head instantly buzzing as he was sent flying back into the flower bed again.
Even the second attack was something Riser failed to react to.
Rod didn't even need to activate super-acceleration.
Afterward, he casually returned to where he had been standing before. Seeing everyone staring at him, he spread his hands and said innocently, "Don't blame me. He's the one who insisted I hit him. I've never heard such a request in my life."
Riser's peerage was dumbfounded.
This was the first time they had ever seen someone beat a man and still act this way.
But somehow, his argument was weirdly convincing.
Groans came from the flower bed, and his peerage hurried over to help their master up.
"Don't touch me!"
Riser looked at Rod with blazing fury.
"You think you can beat me?! I carry the blood of the Phoenix! No matter what wounds I take, I can recover instantly. I can drag this out with you all day!"
"Lavinia, your turn."
Rod couldn't be bothered wasting words with him.
Phoenix blood was indeed troublesome, but Rod wasn't without ways to deal with him. It just wasn't worth spending valuable time on someone like Riser.
At those words, Lavinia raised her right hand and lightly flicked her fingers in Riser's direction.
At once, a cold wind swept out, carrying endless chill as it blew toward Riser, whose whole body was still wrapped in flames.
The next second, every flame around him went out, and a thick layer of ice spread over his body. In an instant, he was sealed inside a huge block of ice, his face still frozen in an expression of shock.
"There are supposed to be a lot of Underworld specialties. Let's look around downtown a bit."
Once Riser had been turned into an ice sculpture, Rod turned to Asia and Lavinia and said just that.
"O-Okay."
Asia nodded, though she still looked a little conflicted.
Riser's situation was still on her mind, but since Rod himself had spoken, she decided not to worry about it.
Lavinia was even more straightforward.
She didn't care about Riser in the slightest.
And before they came here, she had already heard that the Underworld had a lot of delicious food, so she had purposely left room in her stomach.
"Rias, we'll head off first. Come find me when you're done."
Rod waved at Rias.
"Okay."
Rias nodded, then seemed to think of something and pulled out a red card from her pocket.
"This is a bank card. If you see anything you want to buy, just use this. You don't have to be considerate with me."
"Come on, I actually have some savings of my own. Why are you being so formal? We're friends."
"..."
Even so, seeing Rod say that while simultaneously taking the bank card from her hand left Rias feeling more than a little speechless.
"By the way, what's the limit on this card?"
Rod asked.
He really did have quite a few things he wanted to buy.
For example, the energy-restoring magical beast ingredients he had eaten at the hotel owned by the Gremory Family before.
"Don't worry about running out of money. I can afford this much."
Rias said with a bitter smile.
"Mm."
Rod nodded, then led the three girls away.
Kuroka had originally wanted to stay with Shirone and stubbornly refused to leave, but the moment Shirone said, "If you don't behave, I won't call you my sister anymore," Kuroka immediately became obedient.
"Then Big Sis will come see you later, nya!"
After Rod left with the girls, Rias turned her cold gaze on Riser and his peerage.
She didn't say anything. She simply let a deeply mocking expression appear on her face before leading Akeno and the others into the castle.
"Wait, Rias, are you really just going to leave our master like this?!"
Riser's Queen demanded angrily.
"And you even let the attacker go! Aren't you afraid the higher-ups will hold you responsible? Even if he escapes the Underworld, the enforcement squad will drag him back soon enough! Attacking a pure-blooded Upper-Class Devil is a serious crime!"
Hearing that, Rias merely lifted her eyelids and said, "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to Rod. The enforcement squad won't try do anything to him."
At that, she even let out a faint smile.
Compete with Rod in terms of background and status?
"On the contrary, when you go back, you'd better prepare yourselves to accept punishment honestly. By then, you'll understand exactly what kind of person that good-for-nothing Riser managed to provoke."
"And honestly, it's only because you aren't real enemies that you'll still get to see tomorrow's sun."
At those words, Riser's peerage felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, their faces stiffening.
If even Rias was saying this, then could it be that the man Riser had just provoked really was some honored guest?
But... he was only human.
They had indeed heard that important figures would be arriving in the Underworld one after another for the coming conference, but no matter how they thought about it, it shouldn't include a human.
"Believe it or not, that's up to you."
Rias couldn't be bothered explaining further and went into the castle with Akeno and the others.
After that, Riser's peerage carried Riser's frozen block away.
They still had to figure out some way to melt the ice off their master.
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