The city never truly slept. From his perch atop a skyscraper in Manhattan, Riser Phenex took it all in the rumbling taxis, glowing billboards, drunken laughter, and distant sirens. The Underworld had its elegance, its power games and old magic. But Earth? Earth was chaos and pulse and breath. Raw. Unforgiving. Alive.
"This is where it starts," he murmured to himself, his golden eyes narrowed on the horizon.
Three days in the human world, and already he felt it the pull of something greater. Not just power or conquest, but purpose. His father had secured the portal through political channels, aided by Sirzechs Lucifer and cloaked by Amaterasu's neutral magic. But Riser wasn't here to negotiate. He was here to find something maybe someone.
And tonight, he was hunting.
The warehouse in Hell's Kitchen was falling apart just another forgotten husk in the belly of New York. But magic clung to it like mold. Not refined, courtly magic. No. This was foul. Wild. Broken.
Stray devils.
Riser could smell them before he even stepped inside. Corruption thick in the air. And something else beneath it lightning. Divine, furious, erratic lightning.
His boots crunched glass as he stepped into the open space. Shadows slithered along the walls, four snarling beasts circling a lone girl.
"Back off!" she shouted, fists crackling with electricity.
She stood defiant, arms lifted in a shaky guard. Four against one. A losing battle. Her body trembled from exhaustion, but her glare was pure fury.
Riser's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"Quite the mess you've gotten yourself into."
The creatures turned to hiss at him, jaws unhinging, limbs too long and too twisted to be anything but wrong.
The girl flinched, startled. "Who?"
A burst of pale blue flame answered.
Riser moved like a storm given form, his coat whipping behind him as fire surged around him in elegant arcs. One stray leapt toward him only to be instantly vaporized by being close to his presence of solar fire.
The girl staggered back, shielding her face. "What the hell?!"
Another beast charged. Riser dodged casually, spun, and with a flick of his hand, ignited a condensed sphere of inferno that detonated on impact. Not even Ash rained from the ceiling.
Two left.
"Behind you!" the girl shouted.
He turned already know where each stray was located, catching the third stray mid air, grabbing it by the throat. It snarled, claws trying to rake against his shoulder only for Riser's body to erupt in flame, reducing it to nothing like it never existed.
The last creature hesitated. It turned and bolted for the exit.
"Filthy Coward," Riser said flatly.
With a wave of his hand, a column of fire erupted beneath it like a geyser, consuming the beast in mid run.
Silence.
The only sounds were the hum of failing lights and the girl's heavy breathing.
She blinked at him, disoriented, her lightning still flickering on reflex.
"You what are you a devil?" she asked warily.
"Correct." He adjusted his coat. "Riser Phenex. Son of Lord Phenex of the House of Phenex. And you?"
Her eyes narrowed, defensive again. "Why does it matter?"
"Because I saved you, and I'd rather not waste words if you're just going to flee."
"I don't run." She straightened, pain etched across her face. "Thalia. A demigod Daughter of Zeus."
Riser raised a brow, clearly impressed. "Greek demigod. Lightning type. Explains the sparks."
She scoffed. "Yeah, well, it doesn't explain you. What are you doing here?"
"Recruiting, sight seeing," he said simply. "The Underworld is changing. The factions are too static. Too focused on lineage and tradition. I want something different."
"Different?"
"A peerage of my own making. Not bound by obedience, but by choice. Strength. People with ambition."
Her jaw clenched. "So you came to Earth to draft people like me into your noble games?"
"No," Riser said, voice calm. "I came to find those who don't belong. Because they're the ones worth building with."
Thalia's fists loosened just slightly. "You have a pretty way of talking, you know that?"
"I'm fluent in politics," he said with a slight smirk. "But tonight, I'm just being honest."
She paced, her breath beginning to slow. "So what, you want me to just follow you? Be your soldier?"
"Not a soldier. A Bishop." He produced the glowing piece from his coat a crimson orb pulsing with mutated magic. "You'd retain your power. Your will. I'd enhance it. Train it. Support it."
Thalia eyed the piece with suspicion. "And if I refuse?"
"Then you walk away, and I'll respect it."
Her gaze locked with his, searching for the lie. But she found none. Just that same unshakable confidence.
"Why me?" she asked, softer now.
"Because you're fighting alone," Riser said, his tone gentler. "And I can tell you're tired of it. You're powerful, yes but raw. You need a forge."
She stared at the two Bishop piece again. "You're serious about this, about building something new?"
"Completely."
Thalia crossed her arms. "I don't trust devils."
Riser chuckled. "That's healthy. Don't trust anyone blindly. But trust your instincts. You know I'm not lying."
She hesitated.
Then "One condition."
Riser tilted his head. "Name it."
"I'm not taking ridiculous orders. At least Not like a lapdog. If I join, I fight how I fight. I speak my mind. You treat me like an equal."
"You wouldn't last a day in my world if you didn't," Riser said with a grin. "Deal."
She looked at her hand, then at his.
Then she reached out.
Their fingers clasped.
The two Bishop piece flared with power. The orbs sank into her chest like molten light, and for a brief instant, the room exploded in radiance.
Lightning met flame.
Power roared through her veins. She screamed, not from pain but from awakening. Sparks danced along her skin. The smell of ozone and phoenix fire mingled in the air.
When the glow faded, she stood a bit taller, steadier, stronger.
She looked at her hands in awe. "I feel like I could take on a god."
"You might need to," Riser said, amused. "Eventually."
Thalia gave him a crooked smirk. "Guess I'm stuck with you now."
"You'll get used to me."
She poked his chest. "Don't start thinking this means I like you."
"I'd never presume," he replied smoothly.
But as they stepped out of the warehouse together, flames still faintly trailing behind him and sparks dancing across her knuckles, Thalia glanced sideways.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
Riser didn't respond at first.
Then "You're welcome, Thalia. Welcome to the storm."