"Zekram-sama, what are we doing here?"
Riser thought Zekram would have a conversation with him, and then everything was over. Frankly, with the peace that he had just gained, he wanted to enjoy it more instead of involving himself in the troublesome matter.
Whether it was the Khaos Brigade, Vali, or other matters, Riser didn't care at all since all he wished was to have a peaceful life.
This was also the reason why sometimes he had the urge to modify Zekram's memory so Zekram would be a loyal servant to him.
Yet, why didn't he do so?
It was because the ability of Memo Memo no Mi wasn't perfect.
The ability to manipulate memory was amazing, but there were a few weaknesses to it, and it was impossible for it to be perfect unless he erased all of those weaknesses. However, he didn't have that confidence. After all, he had just gained this ability, and even if his proficiency in this ability was quite good, he didn't think that he had fully mastered this ability, so he decided to endure this urge.
Yet, his urge aside, when Riser thought they would have a serious conversation, Zekram brought him to the apple orchard before Zekram started to trim the apple flowers on the branch of the tree like it was natural.
While Riser was helpless, he just watched him quietly, wondering why, when people had reached old age, they loved to farm. Still, it wasn't like he couldn't understand Zekram, as he often stayed on his farm.
Unlike Riser, who was leaning lazily on one of the apple trees and eating an apple, Zekram plucked the removed young apple fruits by hand among the cluster, leaving only the biggest single young fruit on the previous cluster.
"Do you know why I did this?" Zekram asked.
"It's a common technique, so you can make a good apple," Riser answered lazily.
After all, if there were too many young fruits, the shape of the apples would be imperfect, and in order for young fruit to get all the nutrients, Zekram plucked out the rest. It was cruel, and it might seem like an abortion on the world of plants, but since there was no life matter on the plants, no one said anything.
"...it surprises me you know about it." Zekram was speechless as he had lost his momentum, but then he remembered that Riser seemed to have a hobby in agriculture. However, his reason for calling Riser wasn't for agriculture. "Riser-kun, how strong is Vali Lucifer?"
"Vali?" Riser thought for a moment and said, "For now, he should be at least better than Onee-chan and Falbium-sama. However, he still has a long way to go to reach the level of Sirzech-sama or Ajuka-sama. Still, Zekram-sama, instead of asking me, isn't it better to ask Onee-chan, Grayfia, or the others as they are more familiar."
Like what Riser had said, to be honest, Zekram knew how Sirzech was killed by Vali from Serafall. He also knew that everything started from Sirzech's dubious plan, which was talked about by Serafall before.
To be honest, Sirzech didn't tell anyone about his plan to use Vali to promote the Oppai Dragon, so no one was clear what Sirzech planned to do, but there was no doubt that his plan ended with a failure, especially when Sirzech was killed by Vali.
Nevertheless, the peace that Sirzech had sought had been accomplished, but frankly, the shape of this peace might be different from what they wished for.
In the original story, the relationship between the three factions was amiable to each other, but now, it is quite different as one of the factions is still unable to get rid of their suspicion due to their connection to Vali.
Still, even now, Zekram was unable to get rid of the uneasiness when he thought that Sirzech was killed. Even if he knew that Sirzech was killed due to a sneak attack, there was no doubt Vali could kill Sirzech.
Sirzech was one of the strongest devils and was also the reason why the stability of the devil's society could be maintained.
While there was still Ajuka, Sirzech wanted to have a stable development for everyone, so he decided to bet on the young man in front of him.
"Do you have the confidence to defeat him again?" Zekram asked.
"Are you seriously asking me that, Zekram-sama?" Riser was speechless. "I am a Phenex. Can I die?"
"..."
Zekram felt it was stupid to ask this question, but he knew the difference between Sirzech and Riser was their innate ability.
There was no doubt Sirzech was powerful, especially when he inherited the power of destruction from his mother, who came from the Bael House, but even so, it didn't mean he couldn't be killed.
However, Riser was fundamentally different since it was impossible for him to be killed due to his origin in the Phenex House.
While Zekram felt relieved, he thought for a moment and threw something at Riser.
"Accept this."
"Hmm?"
Riser caught the thing thrown by Zekram subconsciously and opened his palm. It was a king piece on chess, and there was no doubt it was something that was born from the Evil Piece. However, there was no King Piece on the Evil Pieces, so the existence of the King Piece surprised him, and he quickly used his "Researcher" to analyze this thing.
"What is this, Zekram-sama?"
"As you can tell, this is a King Piece from the Evil Piece."
Zekram started to tell the origin of the Evil Piece.
King Pieces are rare Evil Pieces created in the early days of the Rating Games' existence. Originally created by Ajuka Beelzebub, they were judged too dangerous due to the potential for rogue devils to abuse them, with their production stopped early on.
However, a total of 12 King Pieces were created, and one of them was held by the Great King Faction.
"The characteristic of the King Piece is power enhancement, as it can strengthen the user by several folds. The strengthening effect is possible on a magnitude of 10 or 100, as it can elevate a high-class devil into power that is comparable to ultimate-class and even strengthens some users to Satan's class powers."
"Hmm..." Riser nodded, then asked, "So many players on the Top 10 Rating Game players are using this?"
"That's right." Zekram didn't hide anything as he had trusted Riser.
"Even Diehauser?" Riser asked.
"No, that one is different. However, the 2nd to 5th position uses the King Piece."
"I see." Riser was surprised since a King Piece existed, but at the same time, he didn't feel surprised at all as it was common for cheating to happen in the sport. Nevertheless, he didn't have much interest in the Rating Game to begin with. If Sirzech hadn't stopped his promotion to the Ultimate-Class Devil previously, would he care about the Rating Game to begin with?
Moreover, if his Peerage members and Ravel didn't have an interest in the Rating Game, Riser wouldn't think to participate since he didn't like to be seen as an animal in the zoo.
Well, instead of an animal, he should be called an idol, as he was worshipped by many people.
"What do you think?"
"What do I think? I think that this King Piece is meaningless to me." Even if this King Piece could strengthen the high-class devil into an ultimate-class devil or even the Satan-class devil, it was meaningless to him, who was already as strong as the original Lucifer.
Hearing his words, Zekram was speechless, but he also understood for the strong, this King Piece was meaningless for Riser since Riser was already strong.
Riser threw back the King Piece to Zekram after he analyzed it while thinking that it was possible for him to create it for his Peerage members.
"So what do you think?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't think that the Rating Game is unfair due to the existence of the King Piece?" Zekram asked curiously.
"Not really. In the end, the King Piece is just a tool. I know that my wife wishes to make a Rating Game school for the low-class devil, but the reality is like this. The world is an unfair place, after all.
"But what's your purpose in showing me this? Since the King Piece's existence is being kept as a secret, you must not wish for the others to know its existence, right?"
Did this guy plan to tie him to his ship?
Zekram smiled and said, "Then, I will be straight. Do you wish to become a Lucifer, Riser-kun?"
"I refuse!"
Riser answered without hesitation.
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Happy 200 chapters~!