Chapter 170: Initiative

When the meeting with Riser was over, Mephisto met Tannin to tell him what was happening.

Hearing that news, while Tannin felt unacceptable, he accepted it since a full-blown war was definitely not something he wished to see.

"...one year."

"One year. If you can bear it, then he is going to forgive you, so do your best."

Leaving those words, Mephisto no longer talked with Tannin.

Nevertheless, Tannin knew that there was nothing he could do. Everything started due to the fact that he decided to join this trouble. If he just did nothing and watched on the side, would he be troubled?

As for whether Riser was lying or not, Tannin knew that even a devil was an evil being; they upheld a promise, contract, and reputation the most. It might have been verbal, and no one else knew, but as long as they held on for a year, Riser would leave.

So, that was what he was going to do, especially when it didn't mean they were going to lose their access to Dragon Apples.

With that said, he quickly told his followers what had happened and told them to wait for a year.

His followers didn't say anything, and all of them just stayed in silence, but as they lowered their heads, many had confusion, doubt, and rage in their eyes, feeling that their king had fallen.

Nevertheless, those things didn't have anything to do with Riser.

Even though he was in charge of monitoring Tannin's territory, was there even a need for him to stay on Tannin's territory all the time? No way.

He just left the subordinates he picked from Phenex House, Sitri House, and other houses, telling them what to do before leaving with his peerage members.

Frankly, was it okay?

After all, Tannin and the others weren't weak opponents.

If he had just left a few people, wouldn't the dragons think of him as weak, thinking that they had a chance to defeat him?

Yet, this was what he wished for.

He wished they would attack him.

If they really attacked him, then it would give him a reason to attack them.

Moreover, those people he had left weren't important to him, and even if they died or were wounded, he wouldn't feel lost.

Lastly, if there was really a fight, it wouldn't give him a loss, as the one that was destroyed was Tannin's territory.

Even if there was a huge fight and massive destruction, it would do nothing to him.

Nevertheless, he hoped that Tannin could hold himself.

Be patient so everything can end without bloodshed.

[You are too gentle.]

"..."

Was he?

He had taken over Tannin's territory, making the dragon unable to access the Dragon Apple freely, and stopped the cultivation of the Dragon Apple forcefully. Moreover, he also tarnished Tannin's name along with the other dragons. Lastly, it didn't mean he let them go as he took his time, waiting for the time to ripen before he slaughtered all of them.

With all of those deeds piled up, the system told him that he was gentle.

Riser wondered whether there was something wrong with the system.

Still, as he returned to his villa in his resort city and when his peerage members prepared for his trip to the human world, he went to visit Misla.

He knew that it might be weird for him to say this, especially when he felt Ravel was the most special woman for him, but it felt so calming when he was with Misla.

It was said that the Vapula Clan, the clan that Misla came from, had the ability to tame a lion.

Still, Riser wasn't knowledgeable about this ability as he had never seen Misla or Sairaorg use this ability, but he was sure that Misla had a unique power that could calm him down.

Whenever he was with her, no matter how rough he was with her, she could accept everything, and she also seemed to enjoy their time together, letting him do whatever he wanted with her.

It reminded him of a "Strength" from the tarot card.

The "Strength" card was pictured of a woman who tamed a fierce lion.

Riser might not be a fierce lion, but he was still a fierce beast.

As Misla let out a lewd scream, her womb accepted his everything before she fell in a daze, resting before they lay on the bed together, staring at each other, kissing as if they sought each other's existence.

Due to her "Sleeping Disease," she hardly moved anywhere and stayed at his resort city.

Still, he wondered whether she wanted to leave.

"You want to cure my sleeping disease?" Misla asked curiously as she lay on his chest.

"You don't want to?"

After he had eaten the "Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix," he felt a massive improvement in his "Phenex Tears." He felt that it should be possible for him to create a special "Phenex Tears" that could be used to heal everything, whether it was chronic diseases or disability.

However, this "Phenex Tears" would be different from the one he usually made as he could only produce it once daily.

"Hmm..." Misla smiled gently and said softly, "I don't think that this life is bad, especially when I have you." She didn't ask much as she felt comfortable as long as he remembered her and came to visit her occasionally. As for sleeping disease? She didn't care much since she felt that it was better to let her illness stay within her body since she didn't want to return to her husband.

If she had her Sleeping Disease, it gave her an excuse to stay with Riser after all, but if she didn't, she wouldn't have that excuse.

"...."

While Riser was speechless, he knew that Misla was correct.

As long as she had her illness, it gave her a reason to be together, yet he felt like he trapped her like a bird in a cage.

"Fufufu..." Misla giggled and kissed his cheek. "You don't need to feel guilty. The reason why I can wake up is because of you. The reason why I am happy now is also because of you. You are my reason, and this is enough for me."

Yes, this was enough for her.

She didn't ask much from him, especially when she knew about her status as the wife of others.

Moreover, if their relationship was known, it would be terrible. After all, even if she was abandoned by her husband, she was still the wife of the leader of the Great King Faction, Lord Bael.

Even though Lord Bael was just a puppet to his father, how could his reputation be tarnished?

Suddenly, Riser felt like he was a Lancelot in King Arthur's lore.

Still, in his case, he would be like Diarmuid since he had a feeling that as long as he wished to be with Misla, Lord Bael would give her to him as he had abandoned her.

While he felt quite angry, he also knew that this was the reality, especially when the high-class devil society was a place where blood purity was everything.

However, his plan to cure her "Sleeping Disease" didn't change, and he thought that he should create the special "Phenex Tears" after he returned from the human world as it wasn't perfect yet.

"By the way, are you going to the human world after this?"

"Yes."

"Won't you face something dangerous again?" Misla asked in concern. The last time he went to the human world, he knew how horrible his state was, so she was worried.

After this, what would he meet or fight?

Was he going to fight pagan gods?

"It's okay. Moreover, I am just going to visit Sona's school since her school has a class visit event."

Yes, he came to the human world to participate in Sona's class visit to the Kuoh Academy.

However, naturally, this wasn't all of his purpose since there was something that he needed to do.

While he was lazy and good-for-nothing, he wasn't the type that liked to procrastinate, especially when his trouble was going to come sooner or later.

Moreover, he didn't want to be passive and loved to be active. After all, he didn't want his enemy to have an advantage over him, and because of that, he was going to take the initiative to take down his opponent and complete his quest.

Because of that, he needed to go to the human world, but on this trip, he wasn't alone as he was accompanied by his sister-in-law.

Yet, unlike before, their relationship was quite stiff, especially when Serafall kept glancing at him while fidgeting like a girl who was nervous when she met her crush, who had just rejected her confession yesterday.