Chapter 212: Challenge and Contract
Riser suddenly stepped forward, reaching out to pinch Rias' smooth, delicate, and petite chin.
"Slap!"
Rias grabbed his wrist and said coldly, "Riser, don't go too far."
Haruto retracted the foot he had stepped forward. The moment Riser raised his hand, he had intended to intervene.
But now it seemed that after her breakthrough, Rias completely overpowered Riser in strength.
Riser tried to break free, using more and more force until veins bulged on his forehead. Only then did Rias suddenly release her grip.
Without Rias' restraint, Riser immediately lost his balance, stumbling backward several steps before barely regaining his footing.
His expression shifted uncertainly as he assessed Rias and Haruto.
Riser had previously dismissed the reports from his subordinates, but after personally experiencing Rias' strength, he had no choice but to believe them.
Originally, he had planned to use force, even if it meant burning all of Rias' servants to death to bring her back to the Underworld. Now he had to resort to the second plan.
"Rias, I bear the honor of the Phenex family."
He straightened up and said solemnly, "I can't let the family lose face. Since you're so insistent, let's have a Rating Game. The loser must unconditionally obey the winner."
Although Rias' strength had improved, the Rating Game isn't solely dependent on the King's personal power.
Riser was confident that his servants were stronger than Rias', and with the Phenex family's bloodline traits, there was no way he could lose.
Having just completed special training with their overall strength greatly enhanced, Rias naturally had no reason to refuse.
Even though they were vastly outnumbered in terms of servants, with nearly all members at S-class, their lineup was exceptionally powerful throughout the entire Underworld.
Haruto narrowed his eyes slightly. The current development was completely different from his memories, yet the outcome was similar - they were still going to have a Rating Game.
Originally, it should have been Rias' side using the Rating Game to try to defeat Riser and annul the engagement, but now their positions were completely reversed...
Seeing Rias agree, Riser revealed a faint smile and said calmly, "By the way, the Red Dragon Emperor's successor is not allowed to participate in the Rating Game."
He wasn't stupid. If Haruto participated and used Juggernaut Drive again, he would stand no chance at all.
Long before formulating this plan, Riser had already thought of countermeasures.
Rias' expression stiffened, but she didn't refute.
"It seems you understand the reason." Riser smiled triumphantly. "The match will be held tomorrow..."
"No."
Rias stated unequivocally, "The Rating Game will be in half a month."
"Impossible. One week at the latest."
Riser compromised. Although he wanted to resolve this quickly to avoid complications, the Rating Game couldn't be arranged immediately.
Originally, he had planned to have his family use their resources to prepare at full capacity. Since Rias wanted to delay, they would follow the standard procedure.
Rias also understood the reasoning - one week was the maximum time they could secure.
She crossed her arms and said, "Fine."
A fiery magic circle appeared beneath Riser's feet as he glanced smugly at Haruto. "I'll handle the report and preparations when I return to the Underworld. One more week... and Rias will be mine."
After Riser left, Haruto frowned and asked, "President, why can't I participate in the Rating Game?"
Although Rias and the others had all improved their strength significantly, Riser and his Servants were also quite powerful. With their extensive experience and bug-like bloodline abilities, Haruto couldn't help but feel uneasy about not being able to join the battle personally.
"Haruto, although you already have Devil Bloodline, you weren't reincarnated using Evil Pieces, so we don't actually have a contract," Rias sighed. "The so-called document contract we used before was enough to fool the human world officials, but it won't work for participating in Rating Games."
The most distinctive feature of Rating Games was that each Servant possessed a unique characteristic. When the King designated the enemy formation, their abilities would be greatly enhanced. Since Haruto didn't meet this condition, he naturally wasn't qualified to participate.
"Is there no way to solve this?" Haruto asked curiously.
He remembered when the reincarnation had failed and the Evil Pieces became tainted with his aura, both Rias and Sona had disappeared for quite some time. They had specifically gone to the Underworld to investigate the cause and find a solution. Though they never mentioned it after returning, it seemed they had found a way.
"There is indeed a method..." Rias nodded hesitantly. "But I wasn't sure if you could accept it, so I never brought it up."
"How would you know if I can accept it without telling me?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Rias explained, "The reincarnation through Evil Pieces is essentially a type of contract. As long as you're willing to form a similar contract with me, you'll be recognized as my Servant and can participate in Rating Games."
"However, the Evil Pieces contract is the weakest kind, with almost no binding force. That's probably why you remain completely unaffected."
Haruto nodded in agreement - there really was no binding effect. Servants could devour their masters, not to mention being dismissible, transferable, even rentable... Temporarily borrowing powerful Servants for Rating Games was permitted. These were all facts Haruto had learned as he grew stronger and understood this world better.
The failed Evil Pieces reincarnation was likely because his soul consciousness was too powerful for such a weak contract to leave any mark. Each time, the pieces would simply enter his body, go through the motions, then emerge carrying his aura.
At this point, Haruto roughly understood what Rias meant by her method. If a weak contract didn't work, then they should use a stronger one. However, the more powerful the contract, the stronger its binding force on the servant. The most powerful contracts could even control life and death with a single thought.
Even with Rias as the counterpart, Haruto couldn't possibly form such a contract.
"I found three methods for master-servant contracts in the Underworld..."
"President, I'm willing to form a contract with you," Haruto interrupted Rias. "I only have one condition - the contract must not restrict my actions, just control my life and death is enough."
Master-servant contracts came in many varieties, each with different restrictions and conditions.
Some cannot harm their master, some die when their master dies, some cannot exceed their master in strength, some cannot betray their master...
Haruto was unwilling to entrust his life and death to anyone's control, but if it was Rias, other aspects didn't matter much.
Even without a contract, he would protect Rias with his life, never betray her, and never harm her.
"Really now..." Rias pouted, "This makes me seem so petty."
After saying that, she and Haruto exchanged glances and laughed simultaneously.
"Let's not delay any further. We should form the contract now."
With the Rating Game against Riser happening in just one week, Haruto didn't want to waste any more time. Once the contract was formed, they could give him a surprise.
"Alright, let's try this one first..."
The first contract Rias brought out was called the Equal Contract, with binding power slightly stronger than Evil Pieces, but not by much.
After forming this contract, the Servant could share magical power from their master.
Normal contracts had both advantages and disadvantages - the prototype of contracts being transaction agreements made this perfectly reasonable.
Those contracts that only imposed restrictions without providing benefits were equivalent to shady, exploitative agreements.
Unless coerced or deceived, no one would willingly form such contracts.
With Haruto's active cooperation, the contract engraving proceeded smoothly. However, when Rias input magical power to activate it, the contract ended up completely destroyed.
"It seems this one won't work either."
Saying this, Rias took out the second contract.
Half a quarter-hour later, the magic circle engraved on Haruto's chest shattered once again.
This time, Rias didn't bring out a third contract, instead saying: "Maybe we should just forget about it. I think we can defeat Riser even without this..."
"President, does the third contract have significant restrictions?"
Haruto felt he had offered quite lenient conditions, so Rias giving up halfway left him somewhat puzzled.
"There aren't really restrictions, but if I die, your soul would also be damaged, and in severe cases, you might die too."
Rias shook her head and said: "It's just that this contract cannot be dissolved once formed."
The previous two contracts could both be dissolved. After the Rating Game ended, they could terminate the contract just like borrowing Servants, but this one couldn't.
"Rias, let's continue."
Haruto no longer called her President, saying: "I never considered dissolving the contract afterward anyway."
Looking at Haruto's extremely serious expression, Rias gently stepped forward and lightly kissed his lips.
"Then I'll begin."
"Mm."