A few hours had passed since Rias's meeting with the Gremory group from this timeline. And it's fair to say she wasn't all that surprised. She'd thought several times about what might have happened if she hadn't received the invitation to the chat group. Rias felt a little bitter realizing that without this group, she wouldn't have become aware of her flaws and lack of training.
She didn't just see the group as something that helped her meet good friends; she saw it as a lifeline. Without it, her life wouldn't have changed so much for the better.
It was a good thing she didn't end up becoming something similar to the Rias of this timeline.
What surprised her most, though, was all the people at the Hyoudou residence. Not only did Ophis seem to be there, but Ravel, Rossweisse, Le Fay, and even Kuroka also appeared to live in the large mansion.
Rias (A), while reading, heard a strange song coming from the enormous television. When I looked up to see what it was, her eyes widened and she almost spit out a little from sheer surprise.
"What is that?" she asked.
"Hmm? Don't they have Oppai Dragon in their timeline?" Ravel, who was sitting to the side, asked curiously. Everyone in the house already knew about her and where she'd come from.
"No... Actually, I don't think our Ise could do that," Rias (A) replied with a strange look.
"Huh? Why not? I mean, maybe it's a little embarrassing to dance in front of so many people, but it makes the kids happy."
"While I'm sure he could make the kids happy, our Ise is more... well, quiet. Since he started his relationship with Asia-chan, he's even become more serious."
Crack!
Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the ground echoed, and Rias and Ravel turned their heads to see Asia blushing and looking in their direction.
"Ise... Ise-san and I... us?... Huh?"
"Looks like you broke her...," Ravel snorted, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Ara ara..." Akeno murmured, glancing at Asia, her eyes gleaming with an odd light.
"Looks like Asia got ahead of other girls in your world," Rias commented with a small smile.
Rias (A) shrugged and said, "Ise and Asia already had a great relationship when they first met. It was just a matter of time and a little talking."
Ravel blinked and looked at Rias (A), wanting to ask something. She'd been thinking about it ever since they met, so she decided this moment was as good as any.
"Rias-san, what happened to my brother in your timeline? Was it the same as here?"
At those questions, almost everyone became interested in Rias's answer. Although Xenovia and Rossweisse weren't part of the group at that moment, they had heard a little about it.
"Could you be more specific with your question?"
"Well... Here, Rias-senpai thought he was a complete pervert and hated him with a passion. Even though she surrendered in the Rating Game, she still ended up being helped by her Lucifer-sama, though no one mentions that."
"In my defense, Riser did behave like a pervert. From the way he dressed to his actions," Rias sighed slightly before continuing, "Although we've already resolved our differences."
Rias (A) blinked and looked at her counterpart.
"Did you lose?"
"Uh..." Rias felt a sharp pain in her chest at that question.
"No, rather, how did you even lose? You have the power of destruction, a power that can even damage the souls of different beings. No matter how many times Riser can regenerate, if you attack him enough, he won't be able to continue."
"She got too confident and couldn't withstand us taking any more damage," Akeno replied, causing Rias to give her an annoyed look.
"Ah... I think Buchou didn't know how to react when she was cornered," Kiba said gently. "It was our first game, so even if we had a chance of winning, we were still green."
"That's enough!" Rias pouted as she looked at Kiba and Akeno. "What about you, anyway? Did you win?"
Rias (A) made a small face at the memory of that fight.
"Yes, I won. But since I was a little upset at the time and had certain plans, I ended up using Riser and completely crushed him. If it weren't for Grayfia, I would have accidentally killed him with my final attack."
"Why do I feel like my brother only ends up traumatized after that incident?...in every timeline," Ravel groaned slightly, rubbing her forehead with one hand.
" "Your brother makes it easy to misunderstand him."
"I realized this after thinking things through. While the engagement between us was meant to improve relations between the two Pillars and also try to ensure more pureblood devils were born, your brother was far too arrogant and... perverted, to say the least."
"I had thought many bad things about Riser because of his behavior, but then I thought: That guy would only get a beating from Lady Phenex if he did anything wrong."
"Even so, I still had some things I needed to do. So I used him for that. But when I saw his annoyed face and heard his arrogant words in battle... well, I couldn't help but want to completely crush him."
Rias knew Riser wasn't a good person, but he wasn't the type to do terrible things like rape women. If he did, he wouldn't have so many women in his peerage. They even knew he had a certain degree of perversion, but they weren't unhappy with him.
" There was also Lady Phenex, a woman who, while seemingly kind, could actually have more temper than Riser himself. She was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted, and she would never allow her son to do anything terrible. Not only because it would be shameful, but also because it would tarnish the family name.
"Ugh..." Ravel grunted, knowing how irritating his brother could be.
...
Rias looked intently at the small girl who was, in reality, one of the most powerful beings in existence. She had seen her hours ago, but decided not to speak to her until nightfall, when everyone was asleep or busy with other things, like the Gremory group's work.
"Hello..." Rias greeted, trying not to appear too strange or hostile. After all, even if she looked like a girl, she was actually genderless, and an extremely powerful being.
"Could you answer some of my questions?"
The being in the form of a small girl, Ophis Ouroboros, looked emotionlessly at Rias before nodding and returning her gaze to the television, which was playing softly. At first glance, one might simply say she was a child staring intently at the television, but upon closer inspection, one would realize that those dark eyes held no emotion.
Rias grimaced slightly and decided to take out something Harry had made in his free time. And when he had free time to himself, he meant doing some ridiculous things with magic, like the lollipop he created with alchemy and various ingredients. The lollipop was large and multicolored.
Ophis twitched her small nose, sniffing the sweet aroma of the lollipop, then turned her head, her eyes slightly intrigued.
"Here, you can eat it. My boyfriend made it with alchemy..."
Ophis took it, saying, "Boyfriend... another timeline..."
"Hmm..." Rias nodded, thinking it might not be surprising that Ophis knew, even though she wasn't in the room when she was introduced.
"You can understand..."
"Time... flow... you feel different from everything and everyone in this world. Change... it doesn't affect you. Almost like me."
Rias raised an eyebrow, a little intrigued. But she knew that Ophis was born from the 'nothingness' of infinity. It might sound contradictory, but that's how everyone knew her. She wasn't bound by the flow of time, so she was literally eternal. And the only way to kill her would be in a battle against someone stronger. Although Rias wondered if she could truly die. Perhaps her body could perish, but her soul would continue in this world.
Looking at Ophis a little longer, she noticed that the lollipop was disappearing rapidly with each bite. In fact, she could see a certain level of satisfaction on Ophis's face.
Rias cursed a little inwardly. "Damn it, Harry. If this thing can actually bring Ophis any excitement, I don't want to know what you can do if you're serious. I'll have to forbid her from doing anything that attracts beings that are too strange and powerful."
"I heard you were kidnapped and had your power taken away. Can't you get that power back whenever you want? I mean, you're an existence born from nothing, and therefore, an infinite existence."
Ophis stared at her for a long moment, unblinking. Only the sound of the television could be heard, muffled slightly by the lollipop being chewed and torn to pieces.
"I don't know..."
"You don't know?" Rias asked, a little stunned.
"I... was born from nothing. I can know... many things... but there are some I have to see to know. My existence... bound to nothingness and infinity... but there is no infinity anymore..."
Rias frowned. No infinity? She didn't know exactly what that meant. Did it refer to the universe itself? Perhaps a part of herself? But the latter made little sense; she certainly didn't believe someone could steal 'infinity' from her. If there was no infinity anymore, it had to be something related to her own birth and, therefore, her very existence.
The universe could be considered infinite because of its constant expansion, but if this was the case, then it meant the universe itself had stopped expanding. Could it be that something in the universe had stopped functioning, so to speak?
Rias shook her head and decided to ask her next question.
"Ophis, can you tell me what Rizevim is plotting?"
"Awakening... Trihexa. Killing Great Red..."
"Trihexa, the beast of the apocalypse," Rias murmured with a dark expression. She knew this timeline wasn't very different from her own, and if she hadn't received the group's invitation, then perhaps the changes would have been minimal, if not minuscule.
This wasn't good, not for her, not for anyone in her world.
"Why aren't you doing anything? Even you, who are the second strongest being, could still be seriously injured or even killed by that beast. And now more than ever."
"Curiosity..."
"Curiosity? Curious about what?"
"Ddraig, the red dragon... Albion, the white dragon... they behave differently. Power is something they both crave, still. But their primal behaviors have been... gradually altered... by their wielders..."
"I want to see... what they become."
Rias simply nodded. The answer she'd just received was the most complete she'd gotten, and it also triggered her phone's notification sound. It was the typical sound of a completed mission.
Ophis jumped at the sound and stared directly into Rias's pocket. Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal, devoid of emotion. But she looked at Rias as she extended her hand.
"Another..."
Sighing slightly, Rias handed her another lollipop.
"Exchange..." Ophis nodded and extended her hand, which began to emit a black-violet aura.
"What's that?"
"Help... you'll need it..."
Rias stared intently at the hand, her gaze unwavering for what seemed like minutes before she nodded. Ophis moved her hand closer, and all the pent-up power surged into Rias's body. She felt nothing bad, but neither did she feel her powers increase. It was as if it vanished within her, but something told her that what Ophis had given her was waiting, ready to help her at any moment.
"Thank you..."
Ophis simply nodded before Rias stood up from the sofa and began walking toward the rooftop, from where she would return to her own timeline.
But unbeknownst to her, Ophis watched her back as she murmured,
"Infinity... will return..."
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