3 Chapter 3

Riser Phenex (POV)

From the plush confines of my ornate couch, I observed my entire peerage. Fourteen uniquely talented individuals, handpicked not for their abilities, but their aesthetics. They were a testament to Riser's taste – or perhaps, his lack thereof.

I glanced at them, each with their distinct characteristics:

Yubelluna, the "Bomb Queen", a master of fiery explosive spells.

Mihae, with her fusion of healing abilities and fire-based attacks.

Karlamine and Siris, knights who manipulated the elements of wind and fire in conjunction with their bladed weapons.

Isabela and Xuelan, the rooks, whose immense strength is paired with their martial expertise.

Ile and Nel, the pawns, armed with flaming chainsaws.

Ni and Li, who had the finesse of hand-to-hand combatants mixed with ki-based prowess.

Marion, Burent, Shuriya, and Mira, each with their own specialized combat styles.

I surveyed each of them in turn, recalling their distinct abilities from memory. Glancing down at my own pawns, I suppressed a growl. The previous Riser had chosen them based solely on their looks. Taking a deep breath, I said, "Yubelluna, would you please prepare a training ground for us?" The sudden request visibly unsettled her, causing a rare break in her usually impeccable composure. "Are we going to train, Riser-sama?" she asked for confirmation.

That elicited surprised looks from everyone. I couldn't help but scoff internally. Whenever Riser summoned them to the room, it usually wasn't for training. It was mostly an orgy. Actual training was rare; most of the peerage took it upon themselves to practice in their free time. To the previous Riser, his power was absolute, so he didn't need strong peerage members, so either he was fucking them or just partying with other devil heirs.

Nodding at her, I watched her bow gracefully before disappearing through the door. Before tackling the gossip and whispers in the outside world about me, the ever-so-arrogant young master, I should concentrate on my peerage. After all, aside from family, they probably know me best. Heck, with the countless hours I've spent with them, they might even know me better than my own brothers.

Time for an Oscar-worthy performance.

I let out a deliberate sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes for effect. The immediate silence made the air thick, causing ripples of tension among my peerage. Ile and Nel, the newcomers and therefore the most naive, came to my sides, their eyes filled with concern. "Master, what's wrong?" Following their cue, the rest joined in with a cacophony of worried questions. Through the bond of our evil pieces, I felt their genuine worry and devotion. It was clear: Riser may have had his flaws, but he'd never forced anyone into his peerage. Sure, there was manipulation, but the tantalizing mix of wealth, eternal beauty, immense power, and the charm of a captivating young man was hard to resist. Many had joined of their own free will, lured by the promise of a dream.

Enough introspection.

"I just met with father... he complained about my image and how it's tarnishing the Phenex family's reputation."

"How dare they badmouth Riser-sama!"

"You shouldn't care what they think."

Ignoring their heartfelt suggestions, I rose from my seat and walked towards the mirror in the room. Charging my fist, I smashed it into the mirror, shattering it. As my hand bled, I shouted hysterically, channeling my magic, "Doesn't he KNOW who's tarnishing my reputation? It's that uppity witch. I didn't even want to marry her! It's all that wretch's fault!"  My voice lowered, "And her insufferable brother."

Gasp.

Reining in my outburst and magic, I looked over my peerage. Some who had been with me the longest were shocked at my words against the strongest devil in existence, while the newest ones, who had never seen the previous Riser enraged, were gasping due to the temperature increase and sensing my power.

However, I caught a few longing looks from my knights.

Looking at my now healed hand, I walked back to my peerage. Bending down, I placed my hand on the heads of Nel and Ile, who were the most shaken by my outburst. "Guys, I know I've wasted a lot of time that could've been spent training, but I want to... I want to change."

Looking down, my face obscured by my bangs, I murmured, "I want to be stronger, to be free. To break free from my constraints. Family, duty, fiancés, stigmas. Free from all of it." Standing back up, I met the eyes of my peerage members. Their expressions shifted from apprehension to an emotion I couldn't pinpoint. "I want to be free, but I can't do it without you. Will you all join me in my rebirth?"

For the first time, I smiled at them. Before anyone could answer, I was hugged from behind, feeling two different sizes of breasts pressed against me.

"Riser-sama."

"Ni-san."

Their addresses revealed their identities: Ravel and Yubelluna. Ravel probably snuck in undetected, maybe using some invisibility spell or another method. The room's wards didn't alert me since she was already registered.

All my speculation was cut short as the rest of my peerage joined in the embrace, causing us to tumble over.

"We'll cut down all those who stand in your way, Riser-sama."

"Master, we'll definitely support you."

"Yosh, let's train together."

Feeling some wandering hands on my body and sensing their happiness and newfound vigor, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The first genuine laugh in this new life. All my fears for the future got buried deep within my heart. "I should enjoy this more," I murmured.

Training

Standing in an open training ground, Ravel stood beside me. She was a Riser strategist and known to be pretty smart, so I could rely on her insights on how best to train my members and keep a check on them.

I started their training in the manner I thought would be best, "Yubenluna."

"Riser-sama," Yubenluna came forward from the assembled group. I continued, "I want you to fire a blast at that empty area."

Drawing a magical circle in her hand, boom, a blast erupted where she aimed. "Now, can you concentrate it? Make the area affected by the blast smaller but try to keep its potency?"

Confusion appeared on her face, but just as quickly, as if enlightened, she said, "I never thought of it that way. Let me try."

I warned her, "Try with a smaller potency first and slowly build it up. We have time."

She raised her hand, and the magic circle appeared, shrinking in size but becoming thicker. Suddenly, the circle cracked, and the magic fizzled out.

I saw Yubenluna's shoulders slump. Before she could brood, I encouraged her, "Try slowly; don't rush."

Taking a deep breath, she tried again. This time the circle became smaller, but not by much. When the blast went off, everyone could feel the difference. "Wow, sis, that was so cool!" "Yubenluna-senpai is so strong!"

"Okay, you lot follow me. Yubenluna, if you have any ideas or magic you want to train, do share."

Taking the rest of my peerage, I designated tasks that I thought would be helpful. The knights would spar with each other under gravity suppression, while the pawns would train under increased gravity.

The training grounds are loaded with all sorts of facilities that my family's peerages use. Sometimes Riser or his peerage use them, but since their king doesn't insist on training, they've grown lazy.

Finally, I looked at Ravel who had stayed silent from the start. "You're quiet today?"

Furrowing her brows, she shook her head, then took my hand and squeezed it. "You must be under a lot of pressure for such a big change."

I just shrugged. "Better now than later" Taking a deep breath and exhaling, I raised my hand dramatically. ". I just realized I'm also wasting my potential. Look at us; we are phoenixes; We have wealth and resources,presitige we can be so much more."

Rushing to hug me, Ravel melded into my side and murmured, "I will help you."

"Okay, watch them, see if they need adjustments, or find areas they can work on. I don't think I need to tell our little genius how to train, do I?" Ruffling her hair, I left for a secluded part of the facility.

Increasing the gravity seal in the area, I pushed until my body collapsed.

Biting my cheek so hard I tasted my blood, I pushed with my hands and started doing push-ups. Straining my mind further, I released fire from my body around me and focused on increasing the temperature.

Sweat started to drip from my forehead the drop quickly evaporated before it hit the ground.

Slowly, all thoughts faded, and I focused solely on increasing the heat, mindlessly moving my arms, which were now screaming in protest.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Lord Phoenix was at the training facilities, surreptitiously watching his son.

Days later

(Azazel's POV)

Adding an angelic rune to the already complex magic circle, he aimed to create a device able to enter heaven without alerting his dear brother. But this was challenging, especially since he had to focus all his mind to convert his magical energy to mimic the energy he used to have when he was still in heaven. The amount of energy he could gather was always minuscule; he had been saving the current amount for the past decade.

Stretching the rune, he was so close. This device would allow him to achieve what he always desired. He was so close.

Bang  "Azazel, open up! It's an emergency!"

His hand slipped. Boom The runic circle exploded as his rune stretched towards the center of the circle.

"Damn it, no, no!"

His efforts to secretly observe a bathing Gabriel were ruined. "Damn it all!" He shouted into the air, ignoring Penemue's banging on his lab door. "It's you, isn't it, you old geezer? Hiding somewhere? Bastard!" He cursed his deceased father.

Turning around, he yanked the door open, coming face-to-face with an irate Penemue. "Penemue, you'd better have a good reason."

She nonchalantly ignored him and handed him a letter. "Phoenix tears."

Instantly, his thoughts diverted from his dilemma, instead focusing on the letter. He looked up from the letter to Penemue and then back at the letter.

He read it twice, just to confirm it.

"Penemue, does this letter say they want a gender ray gun for phoenix tears?"

She just snorted. "Yeah, it's too weird. Is there any plan behind it?

"

He ignored her muttering and thought how this could be used against him or the fallen.

He went back into the room and rummaged through his pile of gadgets before picking up the gender ray gun. He tried all the analytic spells he knew.

'Maybe I missed something.'

Should I open it? 'Nah maybe it will mess it up. He kinda of forgot how he made it though. 

All the spells returned the same result.

He decided to add some spy spells to it, just to see what was up. Trading this for a newly acquired phoenix tear would be immensely helpful, and might even help him create a weakened version of the tears. H e couldn't but them directly from the Phenex house before, all he acquired were mixed and diluted versions other people sold.

Gorou (Issei's Father)

What a weird day at work today. Shaking his head, he enters the house.

"I'm home," he announces.

Miki comes into view, drying a plate. She greets him with a smile, "Welcome home, dear."

However, her smile morphs into a look of confusion, likely noticing his perplexed expression.

"What's wrong?" she inquires.

I hummed in thought before replying, "Today, the general manager called me. I got promoted."

Instantly, Miki, filled with excitement, puts the plate down and comes forward to hug him. He enthusiastically returns the embrace, but she can sense that he isn't as thrilled as she is.

"Are you not happy?" she asks.

He finally voices what's been bothering him. "The manager also selected me to test their new internet provider. We can now use the internet for free, for life."

Miki considers this and responds, "If it's just that, why are you worried? I thought it was something serious, like having to move to a different place."

He shakes his head, "No, it's just that getting a new provider seemed like a strange reward."

"Well, this way, our monthly expenses can be reduced. With how much Issei watches... certain online content, it was putting quite a dent in our budget," she teases.

Gorou chuckles, "What's for dinner?"

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Well, the third chapter.

The abilities of peerage members are some fanon, while others I picked from the wiki, so I don't know how accurate they are. Do you guys want to go fast pace or a slow pace? POVs for peerage members?

Do check my other story. It's a Sirius Black si.