— — — — — —
"I…"
Vali found himself speechless.
Ryo felt different from every enemy he'd fought before, completely different. But that didn't mean he would back off. He'd already issued a challenge, after all.
"Vali!" Seeing where his thoughts were headed, Tobio immediately shouted his name, trying to stop him.
Meanwhile, Lavinia stepped out from the chamber and planted herself directly in front of Ryo. Nervously spreading her arms, she looked like a little hen protecting her chicks as she blocked the space between him and Vali.
"I won't let you hurt Va-kun."
"Oh?" Ryo raised a brow, a smile instantly appearing on his face.
The moment Vali saw that smile, a chill ran down his spine. Forgetting everything else, he hurriedly stepped forward. "That's right, I'm the one who challenged you... A man takes responsibility for his own actions. Whatever you want to do, bring it on. I'll accept it."
"And what if…" Ryo said with clear amusement in his voice, "I wanted to become your brother-in-law?"
"Of course I'd— wait, what did you just say?"
Vali froze, staring at Ryo with a bizarre expression.
Brother-in-law? What the hell was this guy talking about?
"What an interesting kid." Ryo chuckled. Completely unconcerned by the fact that he was only four or five years older than Vali, he casually ruffled the boy's hair.
"You didn't even do anything wrong. Why would I punish you?"
Strictly speaking, there were parts of Vali's personality that weren't especially likable. But with Lavinia involved, Ryo suddenly found the kid pleasing no matter how he looked at him.
After all, brothers-in-law deserved a bit of special treatment.
"If you want to challenge me, grow a few more years first. Come back after you can defeat Ophis."
The moment Ryo finished speaking, the air beside them made a soft pop.
Then, Ophis and Akeno abruptly appeared in the classroom.
"How is that possible? They escaped Lord Azazel's Sacred Gear barrier?" one of Kokabiel's subordinates blurted out in shock.
"Barrier?" Ophis tilted her head in confusion. "Was that the bubble I just poked open with my finger?"
Silence.
Everyone present who understood what the Sacred Gear barrier was capable of fell utterly silent.
Azazel's barrier was built around multiple artificial Sacred Gears, creating an overwhelmingly powerful seal by burning through them without regard for wear and tear. In theory, it was sturdy enough that even Azazel himself could go all out inside it without breaking it.
Kokabiel had dared to act precisely because he trusted that stolen barrier to hold Ophis back long enough for him to deal with Ryo.
Reality, however, proved otherwise.
The barrier that supposedly even Azazel couldn't destroy had failed against a single finger from Ophis.
The gap in power was so absurd that everyone felt crushed by it, especially Vali.
Because he himself had no way to break through that barrier. At best, he could only stay trapped inside until the Sacred Gears overloaded and collapsed on their own.
And if Ophis was already at this level… then just how terrifying was Ryo, the man who had defeated her?
Ryo smiled at Ophis, "Did you have fun?"
"It was interesting. If the barrier was tens of thousands of times stronger, it might've been able to trap that red dragon."
At that, Ophis turned toward Shemhazai. "How long would it take to strengthen it to that level?"
"Maybe ten thousand years…" Shemhazai answered with a twitching mouth, giving a vague estimate.
"That's not very long, but there's no need anymore. Ryo already promised to deal with Great Red." Ophis's sense of time was clearly abnormal, but the information hidden in her casual statement was explosive.
Ryo intended to fight Great Red? That wasn't some trivial piece of news.
But the moment Shemhazai remembered that Ryo was technically their Governor-General, he immediately relaxed.
"What's this about a brother-in-law? Va-kun, do you have a sister?"
Unlike everyone else, Lavinia seemed far more interested in Vali's family situation.
'Idiot,' Vali and Tobio both thought simultaneously. They knew Lavinia could be airheaded sometimes, but they hadn't expected her to be this dense even now.
Did her Longinus freeze the user's brain too?
"No one's answering my question?" Lavinia asked in confusion. "Why is asking something so hard?"
At that moment, Ryo maliciously turned toward Ophis. "Ophis, Albion wanted to challenge you."
"I don't! I never said that! Stop making things up!"
A frantic triple denial immediately burst out from the light wings behind Vali.
Albion, the White Dragon Emperor, could no longer stay quiet.
Unlike the idiots standing around here, he knew exactly how terrifying Ophis was.
She was the kind of existence that could pin him down and beat him senseless with a single finger.
Vali might be reckless, but Albion definitely wasn't. Who the hell would willingly go looking for that kind of beating?
"Hah, looks like your reputation actually works, Ophis." As Ryo spoke, he suddenly thought of himself and sounded a bit dissatisfied. "So why doesn't mine?"
"Kill more people," Ophis suggested innocently. "Then it'll work."
The moment those words came out, everyone's expressions changed.
"Good idea. As expected of Ophis. I understand now." Ryo immediately smiled. "In that case, while all the fallen angels are probably watching through the surveillance system, let's have everyone sign an employee agreement."
A gentle smile spread across his face as he continued, "Anyone who refuses gets killed. That should make my name useful too, right?"
Cold sweat instantly appeared on Shemhazai's forehead.
Even Armaros, dressed like a stereotypical villain, started trembling.
None of them could tell whether Ryo was joking. But if there was even a chance he meant it, then things had just become unimaginably serious.
At that moment, Ryo tilted his head slightly and asked in a calm voice. "Shemhazai, how long would it take to get everyone signed onto these employee agreements?"
"Three days. No, one day. Actually… please give me half a day."
Shemhazai lowered his head as he made the promise.
He had a feeling Ryo was genuinely angry.
"Good. Then that's settled."
Ryo smiled, then turned toward Lavinia with a bright, sunny expression. "Come to think of it, I've only toured one classroom so far. Miss, would you mind continuing the tour of the Academy?"
'Don't agree to it! That's a trap!' Tobio screamed internally.
But Lavinia acted as though Ryo's earlier threats had never happened at all and answered casually, "Sure!"
The corners of Ryo's lips lifted slightly, "Then I'll be in your care."
.
.
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