Riser Phenex isn't a villain

Chapter 225: Venom

"Oh, you are on time."

Riser only nodded when he saw Vali had already arrived at their appointment place. He had just stolen his second Sacred Gear, and as expected, it suited him well. Moreover, he could use them well without any problems.

Was it due to the "Kote Kote no Mi"?

There is a huge chance it happened due to that.

However, because of that, Riser was so late. He was late for at least six hours, yet Vali was still in the place without moving and came without saying a single complaint, completing his order perfectly, which made him satisfied, thinking that he got his hands on a perfect tool.

Whenever Riser needed to erase someone, he did not need to move by himself as he could order Vali to erase those people.

Still, Riser knew that Vali wasn't a character that would obediently follow his every order, and he knew that this guy was stupid, so he had to take precautions.

The information about the Khaos Brigade, which Riser previously asked for from Vali, was nothing but a bluff, a test for Vali. After all, by taking a peek at the memory of the leaders of the Old Satan Faction, did he lack information about this terrorist organization?

What Riser wished to do was to erase all of his existence from the crime of killing Sirzech.

No one should know that he was the one who initiated the killing of Sirzech.

Everyone in this world only needed to know that it was Vali who did it.

That way, all those who wished to avenge Sirzech would come to kill Vali instead of Riser.

So when was he going to kill Vali?

It was when Vali helped him to kill a certain someone Riser would kill Vali, as he put all the blame on Vali before he became someone whom everyone looked up to.

Riser knew that his method was complicated and tedious, especially when he could kill anyone with ease, but killing someone had been troublesome, especially in the aftermath.

If his target was just a reclusive hermit, then it was easy.

However, his target was someone who had a lot of connections, family, friends, and many other things.

If Riser killed all of them, it would be a massacre, and he would receive a "tyrant" as a title.

Being feared might be good, but being a tyrant had never been his way of life as it was troublesome.

Being a normal, powerful person was the best way.

Still hearing his words, Vali said nothing and just lowered his head.

Was it due to nervousness?

Was it due to fear?

—Or was Vali afraid that Riser would notice something?

However, Riser didn't care about all of that, as Vali was nothing but an ant that he could crush anytime.

Still, for Vali, who saw Riser for the first time after a while, he could feel that his heart was almost crushed and almost gave up as his will was about to be dominated.

Riser didn't realize that at that moment, his "Villain" ability gave him an aura that could easily dominate anyone's mind.

"Where is the data?"

Vali took out a document that he kept on his jacket and gave it to Riser. He might not have said anything, but his actions were submissive as if he had clearly given up.

"There is also a photo, right?"

"Yes."

"Let me check it first."

Riser opened the documents and saw all the information about the leaders of the Khaos Brigade from the Old Satan Faction, the Magician Faction, and the Hero Faction.

The Old Satan Faction, the Magician Faction, was led by Euclid, but Euclid didn't attract Riser's interest. Instead, he was interested in Walburga, a female magician who was also the host of Incinerate Anthem.

Incinerate Anthem is a Longinus, and It is one of the Three Holy Relics, the Holy Cross on which Christ was crucified. Its special ability is to create purple holy flames in the form of a cross that can incinerate devils with ease.

"Flame ability?"

However, unlike a regular flame, it had a holy attribute.

Riser felt interested in this Longinus, but he didn't show much of a change in his expression and looked into the Old Satan Faction like it was his first time to know them before he looked into the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade.

Reading the information about the Hero Faction within the Khaos Brigade, Riser had to admit that this group was amazing as it was led by a group of humans who were also the hosts of Sacred Gears.

What was even more impressive was that the leader of this group was the holder of the strongest Longinus—The True Longinus. Moreover, there were also other Longinus users in this group, such as Annihilation Maker and Dimension Lost. There were also other Sacred Gear users, but Riser ignored all of them as they wouldn't pose a threat to him.

'The True Longinus, Annihilation Maker, and Dimension Lost.'

Riser wished to get all of them somehow.

If it was before, it might not be possible, but with "Kote Kote no Mi," everything was possible.

Yet, he wasn't greedy since he thought to learn his current Sacred Gears first as he had just freshly received them. Moreover, he had a feeling that the Hero Faction would appear in front of him, and he thought that he could use them to kill the cockroach that had been annoying him.

However, when Riser turned his back, Vali, who had been silent, was in a storm of thoughts.

As he stared into Riser's broad back, Vali thought about Sirzech, whom he had killed before. It was the same as before. That day, Sirzech showed his back to him, completely oblivious to everything.

This time, it was the same.

'Vali, no matter what your decision is, I will support you.' Albion said at the time, it was within Vali's mind.

Vali was in silence, but he clenched his hands tightly, trying to fight Riser's aura that tried to reduce him into a mere tool. He knew that Albion had given him his full support, and because of that, the will within his heart hadn't been broken by Riser.

Reduce.

Even though Albion had said it lightly before, Vali knew that it was Albion's most hated ability.

At that time, Albion was lonely due to this poison. No one could approach him. No one could talk to him. Everything, and anything that came to him, would be reduced into nothingness due to this poison. It was something that he wished to forget, but the pain in Vali's heart woke his memory that was long sealed within the Sacred Gear.

Reduce might be an abominable power, yet it was a hope to save Vali and his family.

Yet, as expected, the price of this power was horrible.

If Vali dared to use it, then his age was as good as gone. He couldn't live a long life like a devil. Instead, he would die like any other human. Worse, he might only have a few years of life due to using this ability forcefully, as his body couldn't support this hideous power.

Yet... yet... it was also a chance.

It was a chance to escape from the shackles of this demon.

At that moment, the fire that was almost dimmed and could die anytime suddenly went amazing.

'There's no way I would let him hurt my family!'

The flame of rage burst fiercely within his heart.

Vali knew that his method was dirty as he attacked Riser from the back, yet he knew except for this method, he knew it was impossible to have a frontal battle against Riser.

The only way for him to erase this demon was by a sneak attack!

'VALI!'

Along with the roar of Albion, Vali used his everything!

Whether it was his demonic power, stamina, or even his life force, Vali used everything!

Vali even used the power of Lucifer that resided within his body, spreading 12 devil wings from his back and using this most abominable power into Riser.

"Venom!"

At that time, a dreadful aura emitted from Vali as it was charged into Riser.

As expected, Riser was hit by "Venom," the most abominable ability that Albion hated the most.

Yet—

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!*

Half of Vali's body was reduced directly to ashes by Riser's kick, which was clad in intense flame.

"HALF DIMENSION!"

Vali screamed with all of his might, stopping the flame that was about to swallow his body while absorbing the flame as he endured the pain of a disabled body.

Yet, even with such pain, Vali and Albion were happy.

'We've won!' 2x

However, they didn't realize what kind of a demon that they had awoken.