"How interesting…"
The red-haired girl narrowed her eyes, clenching her fist slightly — and immediately felt a wave of weakness wash over her body. Not only that, but the magic within her had been suppressed — no, more like forcefully restrained by some kind of power… or perhaps by the very laws of this world itself, reducing her strength to that of an ordinary human.
Even when she instinctively tried to summon her demonic wings, she found it difficult — as if even the strength of her wings wasn't enough to tear through her clothes.
But the most crucial problem was — she should have been in the safest place in the entire Underworld, not in this bizarre location!
Just moments ago, she had been catching up with her older brother — the current Lucifer of the Underworld — inside his grand castle. Yet in the blink of an eye… she was here.
This wasn't just some random teleportation trick.
Her brother was without question the most powerful being in the Underworld. Even the God of the Bible himself, in his prime, wouldn't have been able to teleport her away right from under her brother's nose.
Which meant…
Her sharp gaze instantly fell upon the blonde girl who had appeared alongside her, emerging from the same sphere of light.
Despite the fact that the blonde girl appeared frightened, the red-haired girl could sense an extraordinary amount of magical power from her — a power that, without any external suppression, was now rapidly and recklessly expanding, almost like revenge against whatever had been holding it back.
Even in its current state, that magic easily rivaled that of a lower-class demon.
If she wasn't the only one being suppressed in this place, then this blonde girl must be subject to the same restrictions as well.
"…What terrifying potential. And she smells… pure. Definitely a virgin."
The red-haired girl licked her lips slightly, eyes gleaming with curiosity and amusement.
"Looks like an innocent little thing too… If there's an opportunity later, maybe I should consider making her my servant."
Of course, these thoughts flashed through her mind in the span of a second.
To Ryuji and the others watching, the red-haired girl merely froze for a brief moment before calmly turning her gaze toward them.
"Good day, everyone. I am Rias. I apologize for the sudden intrusion… but might I trouble you to tell me—who exactly was it that brought us to this place?"
As she spoke, her eyes swept over the surrounding area — particularly pausing on the remains of the corpses littered across the ground. Her brows furrowed ever so slightly.
She could feel the presence of the dead… yet something about them felt strange.
Too uniform.
It was as if these dead bodies — from their souls to their physical forms — were all… identical.
"Rias Gremory?"
Ryuji blinked in surprise.
That name sounded… weirdly familiar?
Something about a "Breast Dragon Emperor"… or whatever? He vaguely remembered hearing about it somewhere.
But honestly, he'd never actually watched that anime.
Back when he still watched shows, he was more into Sword Art Online or Attack on Titan. Old-school series like this one? Never really been his thing.
He only knew there was someone like her — a red-haired, well-endowed "benefit queen" type of character, basically the kind of heroine who practically threw herself at her followers.
Apparently, this anime was filled with girls who were easy to sleep with. Beyond that, he didn't really know much.
Oh right, there was also something called Campione. He had seen the name pop up countless times in novels, and he was pretty familiar with the characters — but the truth was, he'd never actually watched it. He didn't even know what this so-called Erica looked like.
"But yeah... she does have one hell of a figure for a fanservice character…"
Ryuji stared at Rias's outfit. It was practically designed to highlight her curves — a perfect display of that incredible body.
Aside from not being overly revealing, this was already pushing the limits of how suggestive an outfit could get.
Not to mention, this girl herself had this kind of... inherently suggestive aura. She practically radiated that energy that made guys want to overthink things. And so, out of respect for her figure and her vibe, Ryuji had a subtle, very manly reaction down below.
Still — he really wasn't interested. He already had enough trouble on his hands with Tsunade and Kiri.
"Oh? You know me?"
Rias had sharp instincts. She caught onto his reaction immediately and gave him a curious look.
"Not exactly. I just happen to know of someone named Rias."
Ryuji shook his head. It wasn't like he knew her personally. He hadn't even seen any doujinshi or fan art of her — didn't even know what she really looked like. So how could he say they knew each other?
"I see…"
Rias didn't press further.
"As for your question — we're not really sure either," Kiri chimed in, casually waving her hand. "We all just got dropped into this place out of nowhere too."
"Is that so?"
Rias frowned slightly at that answer. She subtly tried to activate her magic — only to find herself unable to cast anything. She clearly remembered how to chant... and yet, somehow, she just couldn't. It was like the knowledge was there, but the power wouldn't follow.
A conceptual suppression?
She silently took note of that, then kept her smile as she asked another question.
"Then, do any of you seniors have any advice for me? Also… Miss Blonde over there — I get the feeling we're in a similar situation. May I ask your name?"
The blonde girl flinched like a startled cat. But under Rias's amused and slightly knowing gaze, she eventually gathered herself, puffed out her chest proudly — though still a little shy — and answered:
"My name is Lux. Luxanna Crownguard, from the Crownguard family of Demacia. Could anyone tell me where in Runeterra this is? And... is there a way to go back?"
...Lux?
The Lady of Luminosity? The one who built Mejai's Soulstealer as a support?
Riot's once-beloved daughter, now completely powercrept and abandoned Lux?
Just what kind of messed-up criteria was this world using to drag people in?
Ryuji gave Lux another look — and that tiny flicker of reaction in his eyes did not go unnoticed.
Not by Rias. Not by Tsunade. Not by Kiri.
Back when Tsunade and Kiri first told him their names, they had noticed the exact same thing — a barely perceptible change in Ryuji's gaze. But back then, Ryuji had been a total wreck, so neither of them felt like probing further.
This time, though? It was different.
That subtle reaction — barely noticeable to the average person — was more than enough to trigger alarm bells for people like them.
Tsunade — a professional ninja. She might not have been the best at intel work, but has the necessary foundation to become a Hokage, she knew the basics.
Kiri— a battle-hardened gunslinger. Reading people was second nature for someone like her.
Rias Gremory — a literal demon princess.
The only one here who didn't notice was Lux herself, still nervously watching the others with a mixture of tension and curiosity.
"For now," Kiri shrugged, "the only method we know of to maybe get out of here… is to sleep with this guy."
She casually pointed at Ryuji.
"Though whether it actually works or not? No idea. Aside from that, I got nothing. My advice? Stick with us. This world's seriously messed up. There are walking corpses everywhere, and I guarantee the rules here are way different from anything you're used to. Supposedly, there's a zombie outbreak every seven days — but in reality, the warning signs start showing up around day six. Day seven's just when things get completely out of hand."
"Welcome to Hell, newcomers" Kiri said with a smile.
~~~~~~~~~
T/N: Next Bonus Chapter target: 400 PS.