— — — — — —
"Opinions?" Kokabiel grinned viciously. "I've got opinions about everyone."
"That idiot Azazel who spends all day researching Sacred Gears. Shemhazai, who married one of our enemies. And Baraqiel, that spineless coward who endured having his wife murdered without doing anything."
"I've got issues with every last one of you."
The mont he finished speaking, both Shemhazai and Armaros's expressions darkened.
Shemhazai was furious because Kokabiel had insulted the wife who had betrayed her own race to stay with him.
As for Armaros… he was angry because he hadn't been insulted.
Still, with Ryo remaining silent, neither of them spoke up.
"And then?" Ryo asked with amusent.
"And then there's you." Kokabiel's grin widened into sothing feral. "You appear out of nowhere, snatch away the position of Governor of the Fallen Angels, then force the three factions into peace talks. Hah. Quite the impressive authority you've got there."
"Did the Fallen Angels ever need your peace treaty? We were only one final push away from completely crushing the Angels and Devils and becoming the true rulers. And what did you do? You wagged your tail begging for peace. That's supposed to count as an achievent?"
"Azazel must've lost his mind to hand the Governor position over to an amateur like you."
He paused, then suddenly looked enlightened. "Oh, wait. Maybe he knew his own incompetence had dragged the Fallen Angels into a losing battle, so he stepped back and pushed a puppet like you into power instead."
"That's a very creative theory." Ryo nodded thoughtfully before extending a hand. "Please, continue. I'd love to hear more of your grand vision. Maybe explain in detail how you plan to beco the leader of all three factions."
"If your proposal sounds workable, I might even consider investing in your project."
"You bastard…" No matter how slow Kokabiel was, even he could hear the mockery dripping from Ryo's voice. Raging, he unleashed an overwhelming burst of demonic power. Dark magic surged through the room like storm clouds swallowing the sky.
"A nobody who climbed into power through connections really thinks he's the supre leader of the Three Great Factions just because he arranged a little peace treaty? Don't get carried away, you piece of shit!"
"Through connections?" Ryo laughed softly, "How could I possibly be the sort of person who rises through connections?"
As he spoke, he raised his fist and casually waved it. "Let tell you a secret. The reason I control the Three Factions…"
"…is this."
At that mont, Armaros glanced down at his watch. The small display flashed: [Connection Successful]
He nodded, then stepped beside Ryo. "Governor, the room's surveillance system has been connected to the Fallen Angel network. Every Fallen Angel mber can now watch the live broadcast from this classroom."
"Efficient work."
Ryo praised him lightly before turning back toward Kokabiel. "So you're the only one stepping forward?"
"What?"
Kokabiel's expression stiffened.
He had heard Armaros's report too. Knowing every Fallen Angel was now watching live made him feel suddenly uneasy.
"I an…"
Ryo smiled and turned toward Vali, "Aren't you joining in too?"
Vali fell silent.
The situation had suddenly beco extrely strange.
Ryo clearly ca prepared.
"I'll make a promise right here."
Ryo slowly swept his gaze across Vali and Kokabiel, smiling pleasantly. "Anyone who defeats today will imdiately beco the new Governor of the Fallen Angels. This applies to every Fallen Angel watching as well."
"One-on-one or all together, I don't care."
"Co entertain , you worthless trash."
The instant those words fell, everyone's expressions changed.
Vali looked uneasy.
Kokabiel, however, looked ecstatic.
"Attack together!"
With a furious roar, he charged forward alongside his two vice-commanders without the slightest hesitation.
Then, in the very next instant—
BOOM!
Kokabiel flew backward even faster than he had charged.
His body slamd into the wall hard enough to carve out a human-shaped crater.
And if one looked closely… the crotch of his pants had visibly caved inward.
Several chunks of broken stone clattered to the floor as the stunned crowd slowly turned their heads toward Ryo.
For so reason, nearly every man present instinctively pressed his legs together.
Ryo calmly brushed dust from his pant leg before lowering his foot.
"That's it?"
Kokabiel's two subordinates exchanged glances through gritted teeth and prepared to rush him again.
But before they could move—
Bang!
Shemhazai and Armaros slamd them into the ground and pinned them there.
anwhile, Ryo slowly walked toward Kokabiel.
Looking down at the Fallen Angel executive whose face had twisted in agony, he grabbed him by the forehead and casually ripped him out of the wall.
"To be honest, I'm curious where your confidence ca from."
"The so-called Satan-class title? Surviving the Great War? Or the na of a Fallen Angel executive?"
Kokabiel could only make strangled noises as his body convulsed violently in Ryo's grip.
"With strength like this, you still dared oppose ?"
Ryo released him.
Kokabiel crashed heavily onto the floor.
Then Ryo slowly raised his foot and planted it onto Kokabiel's face.
Little by little, he increased the pressure, grinding it down against the ground.
Kokabiel's face quickly flattened under the force. Blood poured from his nose and mouth, and several teeth cracked loose.
Nobody spoke.
Everyone simply watched in silence as Ryo brutalized him.
At that mont, Kokabiel finally recovered enough breath to retaliate.
Holy light exploded from his body.
The radiance rapidly solidified in midair, transforming into countless spears of light that surrounded him like the spines of a hedgehog.
"Hah… hahaha… idiot, did you really think—"
Before he could finish laughing, a sharp series of cracking sounds rang out.
The countless spears of light shattered.
"Boring."
Fragnts of broken light slid down from Ryo's face, revealing completely uninjured skin beneath.
Not even a scratch.
He sighed and looked at Kokabiel with genuine confusion, as though questioning his intelligence. "Normally, after hearing that I defeated Ophis, people would understand the difference in strength. I really don't understand your actions."
"M-monster…"
Kokabiel's lips trembled.
That attack had been his full-power counterattack. It carried enough force to wipe a modern city off the map.
And yet… It hadn't even damaged a single hair.
"Don't casually throw around the word 'monster.' It only shows your ignorance."
Ryo shook his head pityingly and lifted his foot, revealing Kokabiel's horribly deford face underneath.
"Y-you're not killing ?" Kokabiel asked in disbelief.
"Stupid child."
Ryo crouched down, gently patted his head, and smiled kindly. "Even toilet paper has its uses. At your age, surely you're at least more useful than toilet paper, right?"
Kokabiel's pupils shrank violently.
By then, Ryo had already stood back up and turned toward Shemhazai.
"Throw him into the Fallen Angel production workshops. Run him at maximum output."
"How long will he last?"
"…Less than three months," Shemhazai answered after a brief silence.
"Too short." Ryo frowned. "Stretch it to four months. When he's close to breaking, notify ."
"I'll contact the slave market and see what kind of bids we can get."
The mont those words were spoken, everyone's faces turned pale.
Ryo, anwhile, didn't care in the slightest.
The slave markets of Little Garden were flourishing businesses.
Groups like Perseus had practically built entire organizations around the trade. In the original story, they had maintained a five-digit position for years before Laius bankrupted them.
Ryo personally found the practice distasteful. Still, selling off a few enemies in exchange for useful enhancents? That was acceptable.
'If the Little Garden Center strengthens Kokabiel enough, he should at least reach the five-digit level. Then I can restore him to full condition after he's been completely used up. A living five-digit Fallen Angel should easily fetch a good price at auction.'
While calculating profits in his head, Ryo turned to Vali, "If I rember correctly… You wanted to challenge too, right?"
The mont their eyes t, a chill ran straight down Vali's spine.
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