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His family felt very devilish with an air of nobility, so that's nice. For the peerage, I guess you already said the best options. If the MC had something to mess with devil bloodlines, he could make Katerea useful.
 
Really like the background world building so far, dxd hell was always so disappointingly mundane.
Right? It's such a shame. High School DxD has this wild setup where literally every myth, legend, god, and grandma's haunted teapot exists, but somehow Hell ended up looking like someone's mildly spooky backyard. I get it though—the author had a very specific kind of story to tell (read: plot, with extra "plot") and honestly, he nailed it.


But me? I'm here to stretch that world like pizza dough. More depth, more weird lore, more hellish nonsense. I've got plans. Hopefully, I don't completely mess it up and turn it into a flaming clown parade. But hey, fingers crossed and notes prepared!
 
He began listing names:




Valerie Tepes.
A dhampir, held captive by her own family in the shadows of Eastern Europe. Wielder of the Sephiroth Graal, a Sacred Gear of unimaginable potential. Healing, resurrection, possibly capable of granting immunity to holy weaknesses. If he could turn her, not only would he gain a trump card, but possibly the means to make devils' racial weakness obsolete.


A beauty, too. But that was secondary.


Problem? She was a magnet for trouble. Evil dragons, the Fallen, and worst of all: the son of Lucifer would all want her.


"But I have five years," he muttered. "Plenty of time to prepare."




Gasper Vladi.
Childhood friend of Valerie. Wielder of Forbidden Balor View, an anti-time Sacred Gear that could stop time. A little unstable. A little naive. But potential.


If he timed it right, he could get them both.




The Nekomata Sisters.
Held by House Naberius. Abused and caged and used as experiment subjects. Kuroka, especially, would be dangerous, a Youkai of immense potential and deadly instinct.


It would require careful planning to recruit them without becoming a target. But worth it.




Rossweisse.
Valkyrie. Scholar. Talented. Criminally undervalued by her own pantheon.


With the right approach, he could offer her recognition and respect she never received from Odin.




Ingvild Leviathan.
Lost descendant of a Maou. Slumbering power. A High-tier Longinus, Sacred Gear with the ability to control dragons.


She was a slow-burn asset, but a potentially game-breaking one.




Meredith Ordinton.
One of the wielders of a Longinus. If he could find her and recruit her, she could be a useful ally.




These were pieces worth playing.
Kinda basic list, besides Meredith those seem to be standard picks, part of me was hoping to see "Leonardo" or "George" on here, get them before the Cao Cao gets to them. Or at least some of the SlashDog characters. Just something that is a bit more unusual pick.
 
So the Peerage Members (and the Possible Harem)

Queen: Yubelluna
2 Knights: Artoria Pendragon (Genderbend DxD!Arthur with Fate!Lancer Artoria Looks but less curvy) (Can you please add her too?)
Bishop: Meredith Ordinton
Bishop: Kuroka
Rook: Koneko
Rook: Rossweisse
2 Pawns: Valerie Tepes
3 Pawns: Ingvild Leviathan
2 Pawns: Le Fay Pendragon (Can you please add her too?)
1 Pawn: Gasper Vladi
 
Kinda basic list, besides Meredith those seem to be standard picks, part of me was hoping to see "Leonardo" or "George" on here, get them before the Cao Cao gets to them. Or at least some of the SlashDog characters. Just something that is a bit more unusual pick.
You are absolutely right. The choices are basic, but hey—they're strong and reliable. Like bread. Boring, but keeps you alive.

That said, Riser is planning things, and not something concret so they are still subject to change. Leonardo and George are great suggestions though, and honestly, the idea of Riser trying to recruit a human supremacist gives me life. The chaos potential is off the charts.


As for Slash Dog, oh yes. I've got plans. Big ones. That arc will be the first real canon-adjacent story after the current madness wraps up.


And by the way… another Riser fic? You know what that means
 
You are absolutely right. The choices are basic, but hey—they're strong and reliable. Like bread. Boring, but keeps you alive.
But why do you want bread when you could have cake? Or Goulash? Or Curry?

So yeah as a reader I would love seeing something beside "good ol' breed", so I would take a Shigune Nanadaru over another Kuroka/Koneko every day.
That said, Riser is planning things, and not something concret so they are still subject to change. Leonardo and George are great suggestions though, and honestly, the idea of Riser trying to recruit a human supremacist gives me life. The chaos potential is off the charts.
I mean Leonardo isn't really a supremacist, guy is still considered a child in canon, so 5 years earlier he is like 6 years old or so. And George is probably still hanging out in the magician association where probably half of his co-workers have pacts with some other supernatural beings. My personal head-canon is that he only really got into human supremacy because of Cao Cao.

And by the way… another Riser fic? You know what that means
I don't know what you are talking about...
The void trembled.

The girl-that-was-a-snake-that-was-a-Dragon stood still. Barefoot, emotionless, surrounded by an ocean of nothingness that stretched beyond space, beyond time. Her eyes stared ahead, unblinking.

Reality twitched.

A grin appeared first, impossible wide and sharp. Then glowing eyes, hovering midair. A figure twisted into place like a glitch in reality, curling out of nothing.

A purple tophat and orange fur coiling in an invisible breeze.

"Meow-dy."

The-grinning-cat-that-wasn't-supposed-to-be hovered upside down, grinning like the universe was a joke she refused to explain.

"How often do I have to tell you? You don't belong here, cat."

"I don't really belong anywhere. That's the trick, darling."

A pause. Then movement.

The cat launched forward, twisting through air, her tail snaking behind her, leaving a trail of afterimages in her wake.

The snake-dragon-girl raised a hand.

Blackness.

A sphere of void, pure nothingness, rushed out like a tidal wave. As it hit the cat, the feline just simply disappeared.

She reappeared mid-spin above, holding an open umbrella, slowly glided down.

"Ohhh no, no, no, deleting people on the first move? How impolite."

[add stuff here]

The-infinite-snake blinked. The projectiles froze, midair, then disintegrated.

She stepped forward. A single, casual step.

The space cracked, but the outsider didn't care, her grin got even wider.

"Tag."

Suddenly, the Dragon-without-a-beginning-or-end was surrounded by a dozen Cheshires Cats, each one with a hand extended.

She turned to vapor. A pulse of infinity wiped the copies out — all but one.

The real Cheshire Cat balanced on a floating teacup, sipping something steaming.

"You know, 'Phi-chan, you may be very powerful, but you are also very predictable."

Ophis raised her hand again.

"You are irritating."

Carol smirked, unbothered.

"Good. I'd hate to be boring."

She vanished in a puff of purple butterflies. Behind Ophis now, arms draped around her neck like a scarf.

"Want to hear a riddle?"

Crack. Ophis pulsed, once again reality screamed. The Cat was gone again.

But not defeated.

Her laughter echoed from everywhere—and nowhere.

"Careful, Dragon~"

Ophis looked up.

The sky smiled back.

Need to finish off the Dio chapter for first, tho, since I trying to do once of those per week at the moment.
 
Author's Note: Here's the new chapter, hot off the metaphorical press!
This one nearly fried my brain. Trying to write a battle of concepts is like trying to juggle metaphors while blindfolded on a unicycle. It was inspired by the oldest game from the Sandman comics, so if it feels like pure madness… that's because it is. Hopefully it's the fun kind of madness and not just me being a narrative gremlin.
I'm Lotm, high sequence battle are usually conceptual, Grounded Angels/ Angels, deities are insane, it can be a great source for inspiration
 
I like the HxH stuff, it synergizes well with devil powers.... but this?
Which culminated in his first inventions: potions of power. Each potion, once ingested, rewrote a part of his very essence. His soul adapted, contorted, evolved.


The first was Hunter.


The moment I drank the Hunter potion, it was like someone cracked open a vault in my head. Suddenly, I just knew how to survive, how to move, how to hunt, how to live in the wild like I'd been doing it since birth.
Plants I'd never seen before, I could name them.
Now this is some bullshit
(On top of the leyen stuff that's just free powerups... that should have a massive impact on the underworld and devil nobles power level)

LotM is cool but man, a half-assed hedonist noble and a month of prep pulling a casual Ajuka soul modification without even trying? and its not even something that exists in the world but a new invention???
Somehow getting knowledge of things he knows nothing about? where is the knowledge coming from? is the underworld secretly the corpse of an ancient god???
Did I miss the OP system cheat somewhere?
 
Overall a good read, I enjoyed the Phenex family introduction showing the differing personalities was done well and I enjoyed the interactions he had. Especially his father showing how devils work and how power dictates thier lives.

If I'm understanding it correctly Riser absorbed the sacrificed souls which induced a sort of Madness upon him, then after beating Kelzoir absorbed his shattered soul to prevent himself from growing more insane and to complete the ritual but in doing so prevented his mind from properly healing so he's locked in a half-mad state that will neither worsen or heal.

I'll wait to see what happens next to fully form an opinion as reading about an "insane" protag usually ends up being either over the top or with a wishiwashi personality.

The main issue so far for me was the potions and speed of the events occurring. The potions came out of nowhere and gave him some arbitrary knowledge, if it's was a power increase maybe but knowledge from a potion he made this early in the story is throwing me off, on things he could've learned on his own with the exception of Reaper which is something he could've trained to do.


As for the speed of events, he's been in the world for a month and knows he has about 5 years till canon, so why after a month of basic training and study is he rushing to prove himself. If it shown that the old Riser was influencing his decisions maybe the speed of his actions would make sense but he seems to be making his own decisions so I'm pretty iffy on his motivations beside being strong. He doesn't seem to have any immediate goals and just says he wants to dominate the Supernatural world but he's just relaxed with his queen and did a little training before jumping to go fight in High-Level beasts while being Mid-Level. He isn't on a quick timetable so him rushing to fight enemies immediately rather than spend his time paying for training or buying info on potential peerage members seems like a waste.
 
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Good stuff, thanks for sharing.
And since I have a certain fondness for the cats, the chance to have them in the peerage is good news for me.
Do it :)
Yoink the kitties
 
Overall a good read, I enjoyed the Phenex family introduction showing the differing personalities was done well and I enjoyed the interactions he had. Especially his father showing how devils work and how power dictates thier lives.
First of all, thank you so much for your in-depth review. Seriously. I really appreciate that you took the time to read and even more time to share your thoughts. And I'm glad my clumsy attempt at characterisation worked out somehow. Small win for chaos writing.
If I'm understanding it correctly Riser absorbed the sacrificed souls which induced a sort of Madness upon him, then after beating Kelzoir absorbed his shattered soul to prevent himself from growing more insane and to complete the ritual but in doing so prevented his mind from properly healing so he's locked in a half-mad state that will neither worsen or heal.

I'll wait to see what happens next to fully form an opinion as reading about an "insane" protag usually ends up being either over the top or with a wishiwashi personality.
To address your points: yes, you understood it pretty much correctly. Riser absorbed the sacrificed souls, which did push him toward a state of madness. He's not entirely mad though. He used Kelzior's shattered soul as a sort of stabilizer. Think duct tape on a cracked engine. It's not a fix, just enough to keep the car from exploding mid-drive. The result isn't full-blown insanity but more of a shift in priorities and emotional detachment. Less empathy, more alien mindset. He can fake concern, sure, but inside he's slowly drifting away from being "human" in the moral sense. Think cold, not cackling.
The main issue so far for me was the potions and speed of the events occurring. The potions came out of nowhere and gave him some arbitrary knowledge, if it's was a power increase maybe but knowledge from a potion he made this early in the story is throwing me off, on things he could've learned on his own with the exception of Reaper which is something he could've trained to do.
As for the potions... yeah, I noticed that problem too after a while. You're right. They came out of nowhere and felt too powerful too early. In hindsight, it would have made more sense if he had a cheat ability like alchemy or divine crafting baked into his rebirth. But I really dislike the cheat-power trope. It always feels a bit artificial or cheap to me. So I didn't go that route, and now I'm juggling the consequences with plot glue.

That said, here was my reasoning at the time: Riser and the SI are fused, so he has access to all of old Riser's magical knowledge. That includes years of education in noble devil society, magic theory, and potion basics. He didn't learn it in one month—it was inherited. The potions themselves aren't meant to be world-breaking. They enhance what's already there. For example, "Hunter" builds on his inherited hunting skills, since hunting is basically noble devil paintball. "Provoker" is just magically enhanced trash talk. "Weakness Investigation" and "Culling" are a bit flashier, I admit, but still not OP to the point of breaking the setting.

Why don't other devils do the same thing? Well, potion-making is extremely hard, dangerous, and expensive. Most devils don't think the risk or cost is worth the minor boosts. Especially when they could just blast stuff with raw power instead. So while it seems weirdly strong for Riser to do this, he's an outlier in terms of both motivation and willingness to take risks.
As for the speed of events, he's been in the world for a month and knows he has about 5 years till canon, so why after a month of basic training and study is he rushing to prove himself. If it shown that the old Riser was influencing his decisions maybe the speed of his actions would make sense but he seems to be making his own decisions so I'm pretty iffy on his motivations beside being strong. He doesn't seem to have any immediate goals and just says he wants to dominate the Supernatural world but he's just relaxed with his queen and did a little training before jumping to go fight in High-Level beasts while being Mid-Level. He isn't on a quick timetable so him rushing to fight enemies immediately rather than spend his time paying for training or buying info on potential peerage members seems like a waste.
As for the pacing—guilty as charged. There were two reasons. First, I wanted to push through this original arc quickly. The beginning can drag if I dwell too long, and I didn't want the story to lose momentum. Second, from an in-world perspective, Riser's father wanted him to toughen up and sent him to learn under his uncle's watchful eye. But Riser, being Riser, immediately ran into danger like a caffeinated lemming. He's reckless. He doesn't fear death. He said as much in the last chapter. That recklessness comes partly from his madness, partly from his new mindset.

And about his motivations—you're right again that "I want to be strong" is a bit shallow if left alone. But Riser's not chasing power just to win or be the best. He's chasing the struggle. The fight itself gives him purpose. It's less about moral good and more about existential meaning. He's building his own value system from scratch. Whether that's admirable or just deeply unhealthy is another story entirely.

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. It was genuinely helpful, and I'll definitely keep your points in mind moving forward. If Riser ends up punching the metaphysical concept of "logic" in the face, just know you tried to warn me.
 
I expected her to make a scene, a bigger scene, i honestly don't think Rias is a smart person, usually people that don't like Rias just bash her with little argument, but i honestly think that canonical Rias intelligence is bellow average and dead set on the things she decides, never changing her opinions or instances, inflexible to an idiotic degree, not out of malice, she is just dumb.

Your Rias at the her worst behavior is superior to canonical Rias at her worst behavior, i like your Rias better that the canonical Rias, she is still a moron for aiming any of her anger at Riser, Riser is a fellow "victim" and as the spare of the spare, dude does not have the power or ability to rebel like she does.

Your Rias was super reasonable, she was more interesting to read that the dumb bimbos that are usually part of most fanfics here or the shallow Rias that we see in most Rias bashing fics, also, this Rias is 13, right? This amount of cunning and maturity was not what i expected from 13 years old Rias.
 
Nice chapter! I Hope he will be abel to reeincarnate Tobio and maybe get Lavinia as his contracted magician...
 
Well, not sure if grabbing mama cat is a good way to entice the kittens in to your service, she did leave raising shirone almost entirely to Kuroka as I understand.

To far into the madness place of mad science as girl genius sparks would term it.

But it is worthy of consideration I suppose.
 
Well, not sure if grabbing mama cat is a good way to entice the kittens in to your service, she did leave raising shirone almost entirely to Kuroka as I understand.

To far into the madness place of mad science as girl genius sparks would term it.

But it is worthy of consideration I suppose.
Uh what? Sae isn't Kuroka and Shirone/Koneko's mom. She's Tobio's childhood friend. Their mother's name was Fujimai.
 
Gotta love how in their own asses the Hero Faction are about humanity when they just slaughtered their way through a bunch of humans doing monstrous experiments. But no, this human is worth not killing and turning on the devil you're with.
 
ah, got confused again then.
my bad
 

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