A collective gasp rippled through the spectators, devil and human alike, as Rin stood transformed. The Black Swordsman's attire, the two distinct blades on his back, and the sheer, overwhelming mana radiating from him left them speechless. Rin's focus, however, remained solely on Riser Phenex.
Riser, despite the primal fear that clawed at his heart, refused to surrender entirely. With a defiant roar, he gathered the last vestiges of his demonic power, his body flaring once more. "You... you human!" he shrieked, launching himself at Rin with a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.
The blow landed, pushing Rin back a step. Disappointing, Rin thought, his voice appearing right behind Riser, a chilling whisper that made the Phoenix Devil's blood run cold. "You're even more pathetic than I remember."
With a swift, contemptuous kick, Rin sent Riser sprawling. The entire Occult Club building, already a replica within this separate dimension, had been reduced to rubble earlier. Now, Riser sailed through the air, a pathetic silhouette against the magical sky, before crashing back down to the broken ground.
He landed hard, momentarily unconscious, before sputtering awake just before impact. He couldn't fight the overwhelming terror anymore. "PEERAGE! ABANDON THEM! KILL HIM!" Riser shrieked, scrambling to his feet, his eyes wide with unadulterated fear, and began to flee.
But before he could take more than a few steps, Rin, moving with a speed that defied comprehension, seemingly teleported beside him. Another brutal kick, aimed precisely, sent Riser spitting blood as he once again hit the ground. Yet, even battered and broken, the Phoenix Devil's survival instinct kicked in, and he continued to crawl away, whimpering.
"Where is your pride now, Riser?" Rin's voice, cold and sharp, cut through the air. He followed, a relentless shadow, each word a verbal lash, each calculated blow a physical torment. "Where is the arrogant fool who called me a lowly human? Where is the great Riser Phenex who demands women as property?" Rin wanted to kill him, to end his pathetic existence, but he held back. His true target, Riser's mother, was the only reason for his restraint.
Rin continued his brutal bullying, raining down precise, painful strikes, until Riser finally collapsed, falling unconscious for the second time. But Rin wasn't done. He slapped Riser hard, the sound echoing in the ravaged space. "Wake up, dog! Your suffering isn't over yet."
Just then, Riser's peerage arrived, having finally overcome Rias's exhausted and unconscious peerage. Rias and Akeno lay still, their magical reserves depleted. Sona and her peerage rushed to their side, providing immediate aid. Sona's peerage hadn't joined the main fight, following her earlier, official order to maintain impartiality, even after Sona herself broke it to protect Rin. They didn't want to incur a greater penalty for their president.
Riser's peerage surrounded Rin, their faces grim. Rin considered using his system to simply manipulate them into falling for him, ending the battle instantly. No, he thought, a flicker of disgust. That's too easy. Too much like a playboy. I want to have some taste, some challenge, some genuine victory.
Instead, he activated his superhuman speed. A black blur, Rin moved among them. They barely registered his movements before they collapsed, one by one, their bodies slumping to the ground, unconscious. He had simply knocked them out, efficiently and without excessive force.
Riser, slapped awake and witnessing the effortless defeat of his entire peerage, felt the last shred of his sanity crumble. Despair, cold and absolute, gripped his heart. Killed... by a lowly human? I, the great Riser Phenex... I couldn't even defeat a human! His mind reeled, plunging deeper and deeper into a black abyss of hopelessness until, finally, his consciousness mercifully abandoned him for the third time.
Rin watched him fall, then nodded. That should be enough. A faint shimmer ran through his body. His Black Swordsman transformation, which had only lasted for ten minutes, finally dissipated. He was back in his regular clothes.
He rushed towards the unconscious forms of Rias and Akeno. Sona, tears in her eyes but composure returning, approached him, a profound guilt etched on her face.
Rin pulled her into a comforting hug. "Don't worry about it, Sona," he murmured, his voice soft. His words, imbued with subtle power, washed over her, dispelling the heavy burden of guilt. Sona, who had disciplined herself to prioritize duty as a high-ranking devil, found her resolve wavering under his kindness. She couldn't help but fall even deeper in love with him, marveling at his compassion.
After a brief, tender moment, Rin looked around at the destroyed clubroom. "What's going to happen to the building?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Before Sona could answer, the shattered walls and collapsed ceiling shimmered, then, in a matter of seconds, everything clicked back into place, restoring the Occult Research Clubroom to its pristine condition.
"We're in a separate dimension," Sona explained, a slight smile gracing her lips. "This is just a replica of Kuoh Academy. The real one is perfectly safe."
Rin's eyes widened in feigned surprise. "Oh! I... I've never heard of that before," he said, playing along, despite remembering this detail from the anime. His mind, however, was already grappling with a more immediate problem: how was he going to explain his newly revealed powers?