"Really..." murmured Rias, his gaze deepening and his tone acquiring a weight laden with something else. "Even the fact that you're not Hyoudou Issei, right?"
Antares paused for a moment. His eyes glinted slightly in the darkness, like sharp blades, as he analyzed Rias with the precision of a predator who recognizes a threat in front of him.
She had unmasked him, faster than he had expected.
But instead of surprise or panic, a subtle smile curved her lips, something between amusement and defiance.
"Have you always been this perceptive?"
The Demonic Gaze of the Monarch of Destruction met the Demonic Gaze of the Princess of Ruin, and something intense rolled between the two... something Antares hadn't felt for millennia... a silent clash of souls, an implicit challenge.
Rias didn't look away. She stood her ground with unwavering confidence.
"I've done my research..." she began, her voice firm, without hesitation. "After all, several things didn't add up."
"But what gave it away..." she paused, a slight smile appearing on her lips. "It was the lack of perversion."
Antares tilted his head, surprised but amused at the same time.
"Oh..." An even wider smile took over his face, as if he had just discovered something fascinating. "Interesting."
Rias watched him in silence for a moment, her expression becoming more serious, but without losing her curiosity.
"Who are you? And what did you do with the owner of the body?" She asked, her voice laden with a tension that wouldn't go away, as if a part of her knew that the answer wouldn't be simple.
Antares, however, turned slowly towards her, his deep-set eyes fixed on hers with an almost palpable intensity. He didn't need words to set up the silent confrontation between them.
"And would you believe me if I told you who I am?" Antares asked, his voice low and defiant, as if provoking the truth to come out. He knew the answer would be no, he knew Rias wouldn't believe him, no matter what he said.
Rias was silent for a moment, absorbing his words, before her expression changed dramatically. The energy around him began to alter, and a chaotic, demonic aura enveloped his body, immense and threatening, as if the very weight of his power had taken over the space.
"You seem to have forgotten who I am." Her voice was charged with an authority that only a Queen could possess. She didn't need to shout for her presence to be felt throughout the area; the pressure of her aura dominated, making the air around them heavy.
Antares felt a strange sensation run down his spine: 'This aura... it's like... mine...' She thought, before instinctively trying to move away. But before he could make any move, Rias' hand closed on his arm, preventing him from escaping.
"I reincarnated you and treated you like family, so don't give me that!" Rias shouted, his eyes now glowing with a mixture of pain and anger. Tears began to fall from her face, her strength dropping with the weight of the emotions she was trying to control. She was breaking, but at the same time, her will was like iron.
"I gave you my love, my care and my concern! All that, and you... you still hide who you are from me?! As if I'm incapable of understanding!" She screamed at him, her voice laden with a deep anguish, as if she were holding a pain that was tearing her apart inside.
The wind around them began to pick up, lifting leaves and creating a whirlwind of chaos as Rias' emotion took shape in the environment. The cutting wind howled as if the world itself was reacting to the anger she could no longer contain.
"Do you think what I did for you was in vain?! Everything I did... you made me believe that you were part of my family!" Rias shouted, her body shaking with the intensity of the words, and the pain in her voice was almost palpable. "Every day I worry. Every day... I'm afraid of losing you. You have one of the most powerful Secret Gears in our world, and yet you refuse to tell me what's happening to you! Do you really think I would stay here, by your side, without knowing... without understanding what I'm protecting?"
She shook her head, tears flowing freely, unable to contain the storm brewing inside her. Anger, pain and fear were all interwoven in her words, a desperate cry from someone who felt powerless in the face of the person she trusted the most, but who was still being kept on the sidelines.
Rias was lost in her emotions, her aura becoming a chaotic storm, reflecting all the pain and fear she felt. But the moment she saw Antares' gaze, something changed. The weight of the situation became even more real, as if a fine line had been broken.
And then the System spoke.
The voice was cold, cutting, as if it were the definitive order of a fate he already knew, but which was now being imposed even more cruelly.
[Eliminate Rias Gremory]
The message was simple, direct and without room for doubt. It was an order.
Antares paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on Rias, who was now so immersed in her emotions that her aura was spiraling out of control. She was on the verge of losing control completely, but Antares knew that she was still Rias. She was the woman who had somehow earned his respect, his affection, and his desire to protect her.
The System's order was clear, but... something inside Antares refused to blindly follow that directive.
He stepped forward, his mind teeming with the implacable order and the reality of his own nature. He was the Monarch of Destruction.
He looked at Rias, feeling the pain, vulnerability and fragility in her gaze. No, he couldn't do that. Not like this. Not with her.
Without further hesitation, he ran to her, moving with astonishing speed, as if he were defying time itself. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her tightly against his chest, feeling her unstable aura touch his skin.
"I can't kill this woman," Antares murmured, his voice low and grave, almost like a secret shared only between the two of them. "Much less follow the System's will blindly."
He held her tighter, trying to contain the turbulence around them, the wind howling as if to challenge his act of compassion. But Antares didn't care. He was there, with her, and that was all that mattered.
"I'm not Hyoodou Issei," he said, the sincerity in his words filling the space between them. "But I'm also Hyoodou Issei" he said confusedly.
"Just... some things happened when you re-incarnated me... believe that for now. Okay?" Antares spoke.
Antares felt Rias settle into his embrace, as if the words he had just said had sown a seed of confusion and understanding in his heart. He wasn't Hyoudou Issei, but at the same time, he was. He had his body, his memory, his life, but something was different. He was someone else, a new entity with a power beyond anything she could imagine. But he also had Issei's essence, and that was what made everything even more complex.
He knew that his words were far from clear. But he also knew that he couldn't reveal everything now. Not yet. Not without a proper explanation, not without more time for her to understand him, or rather, for her to understand who he really was.
Rias remained silent, absorbing his words, her body still relaxed against his. The wind around them was still strong, but inside that embrace, everything seemed calm. Even though she was confused, there was something in her mind that was beginning to align, as if the pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place.
"I know... all this is hard to understand," he continued, his voice soft and sincere, "but trust me. For now, just... believe it. Believe that, somehow, I'm both Issei and... I'm something else."
Rias raised his head, his eyes still watering, but now there was something else there. It wasn't just pain or anger. There was a sliver of acceptance, a silent acceptance that perhaps she could understand later, when the time was right. She sighed deeply, the tension still present, but now easier to bear.
"I'll... trust you," she said, her voice low, almost a sigh. But it was the genuine trust of someone who had given herself over to what she felt, even if she didn't fully understand what was going on.
Antares smiled, a sincere smile, but laden with a slight sarcasm. He had finally heard what he needed, what he wanted to hear from Rias. She was by his side, without hesitation, silently protecting him, even though she didn't fully understand everything. But before he could really relax for the moment, something abruptly changed.
"Get out of there..." he said, his voice deep and authoritative.
A familiar presence appeared on the scene, interrupting what could have been a more peaceful moment.
"Oh... I was already getting moved by the little boyfriends here..." The woman suddenly appeared, with a defiant stance and confidence on her face. She was about 1.75m tall, had blue hair with bangs, and was dressed in a burgundy blazer and a short, provocative skirt. Her gaze was sharp, and she wielded a spear of light with almost deadly precision.
"Is that what you were talking about protecting me?" Antares asked, his gaze fixed on the intruder, showing no surprise.
Rias, however, didn't seem shaken. She crossed her arms, the tone of her voice more serious, almost exasperated. "Believe me, I wish it were a joke, but every night I follow you home, watching from afar."
"Are you a stalker?" Antares asked, raising an eyebrow, the slight irony in his voice.
"I'm a woman concerned about her servant," Rias replied with a humorless laugh.
"You don't call me a servant." Antares retorted, his tone becoming colder, firmer.
"I'll call you what I want." Rias wasn't intimidated, her defiant gaze fixed on his.
Antares rolled his eyes, clearly tired of all the teasing. "Do you really want to start this game?"
"HEY! Will you stop ignoring me?" The blue-haired woman, visibly irritated, shouted, trying to get both their attention.
"Leave before I kill you," Rias ordered, her voice now carrying the weight of her authority. She wasn't joking.
The blue-haired woman huffed and, with a cry of frustration, flew off, disappearing into the darkness. The wind that had begun to pick up around Rias and Antares calmed down instantly.
"What a coward..." Antares commented, his voice low but filled with a slight satisfaction at seeing the intruder escape so easily.
Rias sighed, finally seeming to relax, but worry still lingered in his eyes. "I... really don't understand where she came from."
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