23 Chapter 23: Interlude.

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Chapter 23: Interlude.

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- Damien -

"Why does she have to be sealed? Why do we have to suffer for those humans?" He struck the target for the umpteenth time as he fell on his knees, only to bash the ground with his bare fists… again.

I was in one of the dreams. The memories of Lucifer or God… at this point I couldn't even tell. This one however was a very different one.

I could feel the tension from the start.

Lucifer's or rather Helel's mother was sealed away behind their backs. Only Michael and Helel were old enough.

She was affecting the humans according to God and would have become a great danger to the world so he had to seal her.

It came out of nowhere for me who had just gotten used to the fact that they even had a mother to even begin with.

Michael and Helel were both shocked but while Michael didn't voice out anything, trusting his Father's judgement, Helel was another beast altogether.

I saw him trying to vent out his frustrations endlessly.

But something changed finally. I saw a sense of light return to his eyes. "Yes. That's right. I just need to show Father how those Humans aren't worthy of his love and care. Mother has been nothing but loving to us. How can she be a danger to anyone? It must have been the fault of those humans. They lie, they cheat and take pleasure in the pain of others. They are sinful. How can they even compare to us?"

And with that everything faded to white.

….

….

I opened my eyes but my mood was not good. Several thoughts went around in my head as I recalled the dream once more.

Desperate people do desperate things.

I think I just saw a glimpse of the reason why Helel rebelled.

I shook my head and got up.

Gretel was still asleep and hugging my chest.

She had been too exhausted… emotionally and went for the whole time till she fell asleep in my arms yesterday.

We came back after the incident in Romania. The first thing I did was comfort Gretel and then take Valerie to Merlin.

I also took this opportunity to touch the Graal and was assaulted with tons of memories. The Sacred Gear most attuned to souls coming in contact with someone like me with a fragmented soul… the effects were comparable to the True Longinus. It's just that I was stronger too so I didn't faint this time.

That said the effects truly were something.

I gained almost two Satans worth of Demonic Power with my soul almost healed. My total Demonic Power was now almost twelve times stronger than a Peak Satan Class like Serafall. I was now stronger than Rizevim in terms of sheer Demonic Power. I also gained two more Binder marks.

That reminded me.

Sirzechs being ten times as strong as Lucifer was a lie.

He was strong no doubt.

The strongest Devil I had met.

Fifteen times stronger than a Peak Satan Class. Which would make him only five times stronger than Lucifer if the information that I got from Azazel was true.

He was keeping most of his powers sealed but I used my Prince of Lies to sense it.

He was still almost one and a half times stronger than Rizevim and I can see why people would even believe it.

Propaganda was a powerful tool.

After all, the only ones who knew about the true extent of Lucifer's power would either not speak or just not be heard by anyone.

With this, I can at least provide my people some backing to stand in front of the world.

Thankfully, Merlin had also finished negotiating with the Norse and the Fallen Angels and while the Fallen Angels weren't currently ready to support us openly, they were going to declare a peace like that between the three factions.

My shaking awakened Gretel and I saw her opening her ruby red eyes to me again.

"Good morning." I removed the bangs covering her face and kissed her forehead. "Are you better now?"

She nodded.

I felt her gripping me tighter and laid back on the bed as I hugged her tighter while slowly rubbing her back. Neither of us talked.

- Sirzechs -

He reached home with Grayfia and Rias.

The first thing he had done was get Rias checked for any spells or problems. Ajuka had spent over two hours and after rechecking twice, found nothing wrong with her.

Even the Sacred Gear was attached to her perfectly as if she had carried it from birth.

The power to remove and bestow Sacred Gears like this… the more he thought about it, the more headaches he had. Especially when he considered who this power was in the hands of.

Grayfia was barely going through the routine like a zombie at this point. Her head was still filled up with all the information she had heard last night.

She insisted on staying back until he was done with the meeting and he knew that she would do just that but he couldn't find it in himself to force her to do it. So, he used Rias as an excuse to push the meeting with the fellow Satans aside for a while and brought them home, right from Ajuka's place when the check ups were completed.

"You all are back. Was the trip a success?" His mother asked but stopped when she noticed the looks on his and Grayfia's faces. "Did something happen?"

"Mother, do we have a pervert in our basement?" Rias interrupted before he could say anything and he felt the urge to facepalm.

How did he even know of her being alive? It was one of the best kept secrets of the Gremory family.

"A what?"

"Rias, go and get cleaned up first. We can talk when we sit for dinner." He interrupted, not wanting to start this conversation right now.

She looked at him and then nodded, leaving the room quickly.

"What's all this about? And are you alright Grayfia?" She called out but to no reply. "Grayfia?" She called out again.

"Yes." Grayfia was broken out from her reverie, shocked by the voice.

"We need to talk about today. Can you please inform father?" He asked, tired and his mother nodded having understood the oddity of the situation.

He led Grayfia into their room and hugged her as soon as he closed the door.

And she finally broke down.

To be honest, he was a bit lost at what to say at this moment because he knew that no amount of words would help.

But he had to try.

"Your mother covered for you because she wanted you out of that place, Grayfia. Don't blame yourself for what happened. You didn't know. We didn't know."

"But I… I never even questioned it. Euclid said that he had buried her but I never checked."

"You thought that her body was destroyed. No one could have guessed he did such a thing."

"I failed them. I failed my mother. I failed Euclid. I failed my other siblings. I don't even know? Did they even get any names? How could Euclid… how could he?"

He felt his own fists clench down when he remembered this. Three children were experimented on and killed and only one survived.

Why did they fight the war in the first place? Wasn't it to prevent just that from happening? He remembered his own students' death before he stepped into the war.

But he couldn't even imagine the amount of pain she must be in right now. Just like he couldn't imagine how it would feel to know that three of his siblings were killed while another one tortured.

"He did whatever he did on his own. You cannot control everything. We cannot change the past, Grayfia but we can make the future better. You still have a family. You can try connecting to her." He said. He did hope they would connect, not only to remove some of her guilt but also to make bridges between the two sides.

But Grayfia shook her head.

"She won't. No. She absolutely won't. She hates Euclid. She hates me."

"I know you can mend the relationship, Grayfia." He tried to encourage her.

But she shook her head. "You don't understand. She will never…"

A pit formed in his stomach.

Her voice came out as a whisper. "Euclid was raising her to be… me. In everything. When she couldn't, she was tortured, not even allowed to cry. And when she did succeed… it became worse."

He felt the pit in his stomach become worse.

"He… Euclid probably… touched… molested her when she was a child." He felt his breath stuck. "They were planning to brainwash her into an obedient puppet. If it wasn't for Damien… I lost the chance when I tried to stop her attack on him. That look of pain and hurt… She will never forgive me." Her words turned into sobs and tears flowed endlessly.

Sirzechs quickly hugged her tightly and let her rest.

"How could he… how could he become such a monster. It's like the brother I knew was just an illusion."

He couldn't even find words to say anymore.

He knew that the things were bad but he didn't know they were like this.

A part of him understood why Damien reacted the way he did because he was sure that he would have just erased that bastard if he had done anything like that to someone he loved, consequences be damned.

It also explained the fanatical loyalty he had seen in the eyes of Gretel for Damien.

He kept holding her till her breathing evened out and she fell asleep.

He lay her quietly in their bed, used a spell to change her clothes and pulled the blanket over her.

"How is Grayfia now?" His mother asked when he sat down. The only ones in the room, apart from him, were his parents.

"She is… sleeping." He picked up a bottle of scotch for the day. Tea wouldn't cut it.

"Rias told us about what had happened." His father spoke but he could sense that he was uneasy.

"About the deal she made?" He asked and his father nodded, joining him with another glass.

"Your father apparently realised just how utterly stupid the entire plan was from the very beginning." His mother mocked, sitting beside him.

"I…" His father just sighed at this point.

While he didn't agree with his father's plan, he had to agree with this reaction. If by any chance, Rias did what Damien had asked and went public with her comment, there would have been a riot and he was not even exaggerating this.

"Did he… was he really… you know, a Lucifer?" His father asked.

Sirzechs shook his head. "Even worse." He downed his glass in one gulp. "Damien Lucifer Asmodeus."

"Oh Satans!"

"He is a devil created from the blood of Lucifer and Asmodeus. Rizevim's half brother and probably the most talented Devil to ever walk the world." He explained whatever happened in yesterday's meeting briefly to his parents.

By the end of it all, they were stunned to even form words.

"So… Lord Lucifer… he was killed…" His father asked, as if still not being able to comprehend the statement.

"And the Leviathan, yes. He did. He confessed to it himself along with everything else."

"No one would ever believe it even if we said it out loud and instead would accuse us."

"Obviously, they won't." He sighed while gulping the entire glass of the alcohol in one go.

"Where does he stand? The new Lucifer, I mean."

"I… don't know. He doesn't bear any hostility towards us but… he isn't very fond of the idea of joining us either. According to him, the current government is a sinking ship and with the number of things he told me… I'm inclined to believe him."

"What things?"

He looked at his mother directly and asked. "Please tell me honestly, did you both know that the Sleeping Sickness was artificially created?" He observed their expressions closely and the shock he saw on their faces was genuine.

"It's what?!"

"I am going to need to investigate this but around a hundred years or so ago, Ingrid Leviathan was attacked by Devils, not from the Old Satan Faction because they didn't even know of her being alive. Her daughter who was a half devil was sent away but caught the Sleeping sickness. Damien investigated and found out that the disease is artificially created. You can understand the implications of this. If the ones who attacked them and inflicted them with the disease were indeed someone from the current government, how can we ever hope for him to trust us? There were several other things that were revealed and I am going to have to investigate everything or what he said would come true. The Devil race will be doomed."

"What about Rias?" His mother asked to break a period of silence which had descended over the room.

"He gave her the Boosted Gear in return for her to become a rival to his sister. But in his own words, it was the last thing the Lucifer House would ever do for the Devil race. I don't even know what to think of this guy. He's…"

Pouring another glass of scotch, he continued, "I don't know how to explain it. The boy had confidence like every member of the Lucifer house, pride obviously but it was as if he kept it tightly wrapped around himself. And that prideful look was natural for him as if he would be incomplete without it. There was this charisma in every word he said that just compelled one to believe in him. More than once I checked myself to see if he was using any spells on me but he wasn't. But there was just nothing I could do to refute him, almost as if I didn't want to."

He chuckled. "Even when he called himself 'The Devil', I couldn't refute it because it just felt… true." He downed the second glass.

"And I am supposed to be the Lucifer. I don't know how the real Lucifer was, but if he was anything like Damien, I can see why people feared him and still respect him till this day. It wasn't about power. It was his entire presence. It was like I was standing in front of a King and the most natural thing I could do was kneel and pay homage."

His parents looked at him in stunned quietness.

"If I had to choose an enemy, I would gladly fight ten of Rizevims rather than one of Damien, because then I won't have to strain my will to stand." He kept his glass on the table and got up.

"Oh and he also gave Rias another option in which, I quote, 'will have to have a chat with a little midget with a camel fetish sleeping in our basement.'"

He left while his parents had an open mouthed reaction.

"So, Rias is now the Red Dragon Empress." Serafall asked.

"Yes."

"He just handed over a Longinus to your sister." Falbium asked to confirm.

"Yes."

"I don't get it. Do you think he is trying to get our goodwill? Still, giving away a Longinus?"

"Why would he even care? He is a fourteen year old Super Devil. A fucking Super Devil when he hasn't even reached eighteen. And if that wasn't enough, he can somehow negate the Demonic Power of other devils. How did they even make such a monster?"

"And Grayfia's sister?"

"She was beyond any normal Satan class being. Not quite at the level of Rizevim but she was definitely beyond Grayfia by a huge margin. Several times even."

Serafall stifled.

"And she is…"

"Around eighteen."

"On top of this, he has a Satan Class magician who also has a Longinus. Is he collecting those things? If so, how many does he have that he gave away one of those so easily? Not to mention, that would make at least four Satan Class or above beings on their side. That's already more dangerous than the Old Satan faction." Ajuka asked.

"I don't know."

"How is Grayfia doing now?" Serafall asked, letting out a sigh.

"She is with Milicas. I ordered her to stay there so that she doesn't keep thinking about it."

"That's going to be hard. Even I didn't think they would be that crazy."

"Rizevim killed Lucifer and Leviathan, was this really out of character for him?" He countered and she became silent.

"Did you know about the Sleeping Sickness, Ajuka?" He finally asked the question which had been eating away at him.

"... I did have my doubts. I was never allowed to research souls when I tried to cure the disease. That sparked my suspicion more so I checked the list of everyone who contracted the disease and found out that most of them were either in opposition of the Great King faction or someone who could become a power in the Underworld. Around 60% of the victims caused the Great King faction to profit in one way or the other."

"But aunt Misla…"

"Contracted the disease when Sairaorg was found without the ability to use Demonic Power and was almost exiled from the House. She is the younger sister of the Vapula Head, a Duke and the main wife. It would have caused a scandal if he had raised any voice despite the prestige of Baels. The fact that Misla Bael fell into the Sleeping Sickness removed any chances of that happening and gave Lord Bael a legitimate excuse to make his concubine the main wife and his other son the Heir. Lord Vapula wouldn't be able to complain even if he wanted to because without Misla's word, he wouldn't have any foot to stand on."

"What about the houses which were bankrupted and declared extinct?"

"Over twenty. There are still surviving members of the families who have inherited the family Trait can carry on the name of the House."

"What are they doing now?"

"Mostly trying to live. Many have taken to leaving for the Human World while some are working for other houses. What are you planning?"

"Find them all. Provide them with the Rank of high Class Devils again and allow them to form peerages to help them assimilate with the current devil society. Revive the houses. Give me the list. I will do it myself."

"And do you think the ones who put them in such a place will allow you to? Increasing the number of seats again will mean less power for each of the existing members. They will revolt and suppress you with all their might." Serafall retorted.

"It's not like they are not doing that already. But we don't have the options anymore. Rizevim is going to make a move and even if this is not against us, it has the potential to envelop all of us. If these houses join the other side, we will be facing a massive civil war all over again however this war will be far worse than the last one. The Reincarnated Devils will be taking part and we all know how they have been treated. They certainly will not be standing up for us."

"Don't you think you are overreacting a bit, Sirzechs?" Falbium asked.

"Am I? Then where do we stand right now according to you, Sera? Heaven and the Church have suddenly gained a Super Class Angel and sooner or later, Heaven's system will be up and running better than ever. Fallen Angels, while divided and the lowest in population, still have the best relations with other factions. While we, on the other hand, our reputation is down in the dumps. Even our race is divided into several parts which are at each other's throats at all times."

"It's not that bad…"

"The Reincarnated Devils were supposed to be the key to save our society and despite them being the majority of Ultimate Class Devils in terms of numbers, they are still treated badly. What do you think will happen if news revealing the truth of the Sleeping Sickness is revealed? Dozens of houses will revolt. Taking advantage of this chaos, the Reincarnated Devils will revolt as well. How many do you think we can keep in check? Tell me Ajuka, according to you, if the four of us die, how many years can the Devil Race last?"

….

Ajuka looked at him expressionlessly. "If you die, twenty eight years. If I die, twenty three years. If both of us die, fourteen years. If all of us die, five years."

"I don't think you two understand. The ramifications of the unregulated use of Evil Pieces has been atrocious to our reputation." stated Serafall. "If we didn't have you two as a deterrent, it would be great if we could last a year. Everybody with the possible exception of Heaven and the Grigori wants to see us done and dusted and even those two want to see us culled a bit."

"We need to make some major changes. Even if I die, I don't want my son and little sister to suffer in another one of those wars."

The room descended into an uncomfortable silence.

"Did he tell you anyway we can contract him?" Serafall asked.

"He said that he will bring his sister for a yearly spar with Rias and that I should only call him if or when… I am cleaning the house."

….

- Yasaka -

"Control the flames and reign it in more." She commented as she sat on the porch, combing Kunou's tails.

Akira had been growing at a phenomenal rate. He had mastered the illusions of the Kitsune quite well and was working towards learning Fox Fire to a high degree of mastery. He would be a Nine Tailed fox soon at this rate.

She knew that his progress was greatly connected with whatever Damein Lucifer had done to him.

A part of her wished that she had been a bit more stubborn and insisted on bringing back his sister to see if she could have reached a similar height.

"Great. Now take some rest. We will start your lessons on politics in an hour."

"Thank you, Lady Yasaka."

Two of her Tengu guards were standing a little distance away.

"You two get in. Akira, try using your Haki on them. You both will try to resist and spar with each other."

"Yes, Lady Yasaka."

A terrifying aura shot out from Akira and crushed the two Tengu in their places. They almost crumbed to their knees, barely holding their consciousness together.

They had been undergoing this kind of training for almost a month now, ever since she got the agreement to train her people in Haki.

Conqueror's Haki, the Haki of the Kings, was something which left a deep impression on the minds of everyone who noticed the fight against Nue. Be it young ones or the older generations. A Skill which rendered numbers useless was something which required proper respect.

Although she herself hadn't been able to awaken the talent yet, according to Akira, it was very likely that she and Nurarihyon had the talent for the Skill.

A minute later, he released the Haki and the ones who were still conscious took the others away.

Soon Akira left to take a rest and she was left with her own thoughts.

Kyoto had been stabilised because other factions were wary of poking the hidden power but only she knew that there were no new hidden powers.

The reveal of the new Sage in Kuroka also helped with this. She had also let slip that they had another person, her secret disciple, whose identity they didn't know. The appearance of an Eight Tailed Fox Youkai was hard to miss too.

But she knew that this was only temporary. These people were only looking for openings and would jump at her if given any openings to prevent any faction from rising up. Especially the Onmyoji, both the Five Principal Clans and the Seimei Clan who were staring from the side to jump at the opportunity.

The Shinto were wary of the sudden rise of the power of the Youkai. The only good subordinates are those who can be controlled easily. This was practised by Shinto quite religiously. The Five Principal Clans and the Youkai were pit against each other to keep them in control and under a certain level to not be a threat to the Pantheon itself.

But now that there was supposedly someone who could pose a danger to the Shinto behind the Kyoto Youkai, not to mention the rising power of the Youkai, she wondered if things would be the same.

She was probably lucky that the new inheritors of the Sacred Beasts were young and haven't reached their full potential yet, giving her some time to stabilise things.

What she needed to do now was build up her strength to a level where the Youkai can shrug off any of the Shinto's moves without any problems.

And the one she could think about who would allow them to reach such a level, this quickly was him….

- Venalana Gremory -

She watched as her daughter guided her attacks expertly to any moving target at a moment's notice.

It had been a week since the day she returned home with a new servant and the Boosted Gear of all things from the new Lucifer… or rather Lucifer Asmodeus.

The name was strange to her even now.

But even stranger were perhaps his powers.

Rias might have thought that he was joking when he gave her the so-called Devil's Kiss but after observing her training in the past few days, Venelana found that everything he said was true. She had conducted a few tests on Rias by giving her exercises and different types of magic to learn and found that she could learn almost anything with ease. Her comprehension power also increased alongside her strength.

Her magical reserves had increased by about thirty percent. She was growing stronger much faster than before, already reaching the cusps of a High Class Devil at her age even without her new Longinus.

This blessing was probably much more valuable than a Longinus and it made her wonder if Damien could do this for everyone. If it was so, she could understand why he gave up a Longinus so easily to Rias.

Ajuka and Sirzechs both had been extremely busy since he returned from Romania. And Grayfia… she had barely spoken to anyone outside work.

"She is progressing quite fast." She heard a voice behind her and turned to see her mother-in-law, Chysis walking towards her.

Looking back at her daughter, she replied. "Yes. Several times faster even. It's…"

"Scary? Yes, yes it is. Zeo told me everything about the incident. Little Rias has taken after him in personality. Both are stubborn people. He should have eased her into the news about the engagement rather than just throw it at her. Especially when both Rias and Riser have strong personalities."

"He was very excited about the prospects of having another grandchild to actually think properly. He only realised how badly things could have gone if Rias had actually decided to take the advice of the young Lucifer."

"Yes, the new Lucifer. That face… and those words would have isolated the Gremory House with casual ease. It's hard to believe that such a person is only fourteen."

"It is." She replied.

"Rias seems to have a crush on him too."

"She does. From the first time she saw him. I don't blame her. He seems to be quite a heart-throb." She replied.

"His ancestor was the Archangel of Desire for a reason. I dare say if Lilith hadn't been the competition, he would have had a bigger harem than the Asmodeus. I remember having a crush on him too." Her mother-in-law laughed, making her smile.

"It doesn't help that he has the blood of Asmodeus too… along with both their powers."

"Oh? I didn't hear about that bit."

"The Blue Flames of Asmodeus, the highest level of Passion Flames. He used it during the meeting."

"... and he apparently knew about Ancestor too."

"We have no idea how. All the servants were questioned but we didn't find anything."

"Servants couldn't have known, dear. I personally selected the ones who serve. They have been raised by the Gremory House since childhood. There was never a chance of them selling out. What did the Phenex say about the engagement? Did Zeo talk to them?"

"We are planning to just let Rias decide everything in the Rating Game. There is no chance of her losing anyway. We still haven't disclosed anything from our end to avoid offending the Lucifer."

"Good. Do you know when the spar between Rias and his sister was organised?"

"Not yet." She looked at her mother-in-law, trying to guess what was going on in her mind.

"Tell me when it happens. I want to meet him along with Zeo."

"... alright."

"Train Rias in the meanwhile. No matter his reasons, a Longinus is a frightening power. Especially the one containing the soul of the Red Dragon Emperor. I had been one of the people who was involved in the fight against the Heavenly Dragons. That kind of power… you have to see it on your own to know. Don't let it go to waste."

"... are things really that bad?"

"Rizevim Livan Lucifer is one of the very few people I would never want to offend and it's not because of his strength. If he is making moves, then we better take every precaution we can. Whether she likes it or not, she will be dragged into whatever is coming next, as will the rest of the Devil race. And when that happens… I would want my family to be as strong as they can be." Her mother-in-law spoke calmly but it only made her sigh.

Why were things suddenly turning out like this?

- Azazel -

"Here's the information from our spies in Romania." Shemhazai threw the file to him and he took a look. He already knew what was inside.

"It was him, wasn't it? The times match too."

"Hmm. The entire city, forest and even beyond that. He became stronger. Then again, he did have Razevan's power so hiding his real power was easy for him." He thought to himself aloud.

"What are the Vampires saying?" Penemue asked.

"Nothing." Shemhazai replied.

"Excuse me?"

"They said nothing. They are pretending as if nothing happened."

"Well of course they will. Someone came in and knocked out everyone in their territory with a single move, what do you think people would say if they found out about it? They would become a running joke. Not to mention the Carmila faction are looking for any chances to snoop in."

"What was he even doing there?"

"I didn't get a chance to talk to him but from what Merlin said, some of his people were recruiting someone there and things seem to have gone wrong."

"Actually… Sirzechs Lucifer seems to have been around the area too. Do you think?" Barakiel said.

Sirzechs?

"I… don't know. I will have to ask him. Actually, I think I have the perfect reason to visit him too." He smiled looking at the message he had just received.

"Leaving it aside, what are you planning to do with those Wizards of Oz and Utsusemi Agency making a move, Azazel? Not to mention, Sataneel has been quite suspicious too." Penemue pointed out and he could sense the hostility in the last part of her words.

She had been happy enough to meet Celine but that only increased her hostility towards Sataneel. Not to mention, Sataneel was moving suspiciously.

"I have something in mind."

The utsusemi Agency was a cesspool of political crap to handle. On one hand, they were exiled from the Principal Clans so they don't take any responsibility for their actions but on the other hand, they could always claim them as blood relatives and poke their nose just to spite the Fallen Angels or any of the Three Factions.

The Shinto is sitting on the edge due to the rising power of the Youkai and would probably let them do whatever they want just to curb their power.

He needed an insider there.

Maybe it was about time to start the Slash Dog Initiative.

- Zekram Bael -

"Are we just going to let them do what they want, Ancestor?"

He looked at the man… no, he wasn't a man yet. Not if he cried at every second thing others did.

To be honest, this one of his descendants was a disappointment.

If he didn't have the backing of the Bael House, he would have been crushed long ago.

Runeas' descendants were much better in this regard.

And that was also the reason for the current mess.

Sirzechs had suddenly decided to act as a Lucifer.

Bringing the extinct houses back and giving them positions in the council.

Normally that would have been a good thing.

For a Lucifer, this was obviously a good thing but he seemed to have forgotten a simple thing.

The Underworld didn't need a Lucifer anymore.

One Great King was enough for the Devil Race and the others could only be figure heads.

Several houses were removed by him over the centuries so that the council was in his grasp.

Even the Ultimate Class Rating Devils who got the chance to vote in the council were controlled heavily by him through the Rating Games to prevent the loss of power over the major decisions of the Underworld.

He might not have the raw power of the monsters like Rizevim, Sirzechs or Ajuka but there was still a reason why he was controlling the Underworld over so many centuries.

Both the current Satans and the Old Satan Faction have been played by him for so many centuries to keep each other in check.

Venalana's marriage to the Gremory was to make sure that his blood flowed through Runeas' descendants as well to get a hand on her side if she decided to return someday. It had also given results beyond his expectations.

Sirzechs may be a Gremory but he was known for his Power of Destruction, the power of the Bael… his, Zekram Bael's power.

Rizevim not being interested helped.

Not that he didn't have a plan to keep him at bay. After all, Lilith, the only one with enough power and sway to oppose him very conveniently fell into a comatose state, a prototype of the Sleeping Illness.

All he would need to do is reveal that Rizevim was keeping the mother of the Devils as a hostage and he would never be able to get control of the Devil race.

Then again, knowing that mad dog, he would rather burn the world than try to control it, but keeping some failsafes helped.

He had heard of a new Lucifer a few years ago.

Young and impressionable and a genius at that. Rizevim was keeping him under strict watch and hadn't allowed any of his spies to even see the boy or his granddaughter's face.

He didn't push either.

He was quite privy with Rizevim's obsession with the Lucifer bloodline and if not forced, he wouldn't try to push that madman's buttons either.

Everything he knew about this new Lucifer was from hearsay and from what he had heard, the boy was… sane.

A sane Lucifer was… as surprising as it was dangerous.

The biggest reason that he could keep Lucifer House in line was because each one of them were somewhat insane and all he needed to do was know how they ticked and use it to his advantage.

Even he, with more or less the entire underworld under his control, didn't underestimate the power the name carried. One of the reasons why one of his descendants was the current Lucifer.

But now, that same descendant was causing problems.

Sigh.

Maybe, the Old Satan faction needs a hand with some of their new projects and help to knock the foolish ideas out of Sirzechs' head.

- Michael -

He looked at the reports in front of him and felt disgust well up from within.

The decision to conduct investigations on the Church had been a correct one. They had found over half a dozen illegal, unsanctioned facilities and several times that number of sanctioned ones which did experiments which would have led to Father ordering entire cities to be erased completely.

Was this what was going on in the church nowadays?

Children… being tortured… killed in Father's name… for what?

To protect the system, he had forgotten the main objective of the system which was to protect and guide humanity first.

Putting the cart before the horse.

Was this why that brother of his had avoided Heaven?

He looked back at the core of the System in the Seventh Heaven.

This place…

It brought out several good and bad memories for Michael.

This was the start of Heaven. The place where he was born. The place where he was raised. The place where he had learned everything and spent the brightest of his days with his parents and siblings. And the place which was probably the cause of his brother's rebellion.

His oath had kept him from bringing those words to his mouth but at times like these, he wondered back to his mother's words.

Michael is a general and Helel is a King.

As twisted as it might be, those words were proved true.

Helel… no, Lucifer, did make his own empire, one which rivalled and even surpassed Heaven today while he… couldn't maintain the one left by his father.

Sometimes he wondered if it had been the other way round, if he was the one to fall, would Heaven be in a better position?

Was he even worthy of the respect and dedication of his brothers and sisters, of this… this throne his father sat on when he couldn't even maintain the basic principle his father had preached.

Quickly shaking his head, he brought his thoughts back to the current matter.

No.

It was not the time to think about such things.

The Church needed to be controlled.

But for that he needed to solve the core reason for their acts.

Strength.

Since the passing away of Father, both heaven and church have been decaying in terms of strength.

If Heaven was stronger, the church wouldn't be so dead set on chasing after strength.

Replenishing numbers was not an option for Heaven but increasing the quality of each member was within his reach.

If one of their brothers had reached the height previously impossible for Angels to reach, then there might be a chance that others could do the same. A very small chance but a chance nonetheless.

With that in mind, he called for a meeting of all the Seraphs and Great Seraphs.

"I think all of you have already seen the reports from the Church given by the sudden investigation by Heaven."

Murmurs ran through the hall.

Some were enraged while some worried about the fate of the ones involved.

"In part, some of the fault lies on us as well. We were given the task to guide humanity but we failed to do so. Today, the church, the biggest followers of Heaven, are chasing after strength, a part of this has to do with the declining strength of Heaven. I know this doesn't excuse their behaviour and the ones involved will be sanctioned but if we want to prevent such a thing from happening in the future, we have to solve the main root cause. I know that we cannot increase our numbers as before but… we can work harder and increase our individual strength. Taking this thought, I have come up with a plan of action. Raphael, if you will." He passed the outline of the plan to his brother for review.

"Three Great Seraphs, namely, Uriel, Gabriel and me will select a hundred High Class Angels and train them to the next level. Each of the Seraphs will select one hundred low Class Angels and train them to High Class levels in the next five years."

"Brother, the other two factions will take this as a sign of war." Uriel said.

"Actually, they won't be able to do anything. The Devils are under heavy civil tensions currently and my spies in the Fallen Angels have told me that there is some unrest among the fallen as well. We had to step back in the altercation with the Norse recently. If we don't take a solid step, soon other factions will start to step in our territories. Other factions are on the side due to the appearance and show of power of our mysterious sibling. There are rumours that we decided to bring out our trump card to prevent other factions from encroaching. Let's take advantage of their misunderstanding and raise our combat levels to defend ourselves." Raphael answered, earning the agreement of others.

"Then it's decided. In the meanwhile, one of the seraphs should be assigned to the Vatican every month alternately to keep an eye on the reformation process. Take in the Sacred Gear users and the people who were experimented on in the church facilities and see to their training and development personally. They have endured a lot due to our negligence and they deserve care." Michael commanded his fellow siblings.

"Yes brother."

The meeting continued and they discussed the finer points of the plan.

If Michael was a general, then he would strive to be the best general he can be and protect the legacy of his parents… in his own way.

- Damien -

I sat before my subordinates.

It had been six months since we recruited Valerie and our treaty with Azazel and Odin.

These six months had been quiet but for everyone of us, this was the quiet before the storm.

In this time, I had given a chakra fruit to Shirone too as well as collected one for Akira's sister. Kuroka had completed her training and started training Shirone and Akira. She was now a full fledged nine tailed Nekoshou, the first of her kind.

Akira had gained his ninth tail as well.

This happened at the right time too because tensions were rising among the Onmyoji and the Youkai.

The Five Principal Clans and the Onmyoji were recovering from the shock of the Kyoto battle and were slowly testing Yasaka with small nudges. It was basically by them not doing anything when the Utsusemi Agency was attacking Youkai.

The complaints were ignored.

Under my influence, the Himejima Clan didn't involve themselves in this mess. Suzaku was marked by my Binder's mark and had started training with her powers.

She had grown a lot during this time. The hardships she faced made her stronger than she was supposed to be. The Mark just added a cherry on top. To be honest, I hadn't thought that she would be able to reach this level of power so soon but currently, she is rivalling the Oryuu's inheritor, Oryuu Nakiri, the strongest of the five Sacred Beast users of this generation. She was a solid Ultimate Class even without the Vermilion Bird.

My own team had reached a level which would deter almost any faction.

In these last six months, we had drowned ourselves in the last stretch of training before we revealed ourselves.

This included our newest member, Valerie Tepes.

She had been scared for a while but I took her to meet Gasper, who was undergoing therapy under Ophelia, similar to Akane. The two damphirs were happy to reunite with each other and had adjusted in their respective environments better.

She had taken well to Asia, Vienna, Shirone and Akeno.

The girl was a bit of a prankster and once she got comfortable, she started messing around with everyone.

Her training was overseen by Hagoromo Gitsune.

As far as training went, Merlin had gone to visit his former student's clan and snagged himself two students.

Arthur Pendragon and Ley Fay Pendragon were quite talented, although the latter was just a kid around Shirone's age right now.

The current leader of the house was a massive DICKtator but Merlin was pretty experienced in being a dick himself so that problem was taken care of quite easily.

This did bring some friction between the Pendragon family and the church as they wanted to invite the kids to train but were rejected.

From what I found out from my sources, both Heaven and the Devils have started making strong moves to get their shit together.

Michael seems to have grown or rather regrown a backbone again.

The Church now had a Seraph stationed at all times.

The Angels were training too.

Good.

I continued having the dreams of Lucifer's or rather Helel's memories and from what I had seen, Michael was without a doubt a better general than him. He was a warrior through and through and this was exactly how the old Michael, the one called the Right Hand of God, would act.

The guy was finally recovering from the passing of his Father and the rest of the Angels finally had their commander back as well as their confidence. I don't know why but had an urge to smile every time I thought of this.

Several of the people, including the children from the Holy Sword Project were organised into special groups trained under the supervision of the Top Exorcists like Vasco Strada and Griselda Quarta.

As for the Devils, Sirzechs took the warning to heart and had somehow grown a pair too. Eighteen extinct houses were reestablished in these last six months despite the initial opposition of the council.

The old devils had gone suspiciously quiet after their initial opposition.

They were probably scheming something and everyone knew this. The new Satans just didn't care and wanted to get as much of the changes done before they could do anything.

I for one welcomed the changes they were bringing.

Among the eighteen houses which were given seats in the council again… eighteen, yes, all eighteen were my subordinates. These were the people Ophelia had employed or made contracts with earlier on my order. And just like that, I had almost half of the seats in the council under my control. Thanks to Sirzechs.

Last but not the least, the Fallen Angels were having a minor civil strife.

Sataneel had rebelled with his Abyss Class.

It was slightly different from what I remembered but then again, I had changed the world beyond recognition so it wasn't strange either.

The Wizards of Oz were in collaboration with the Utsusemi Agency and Sataneel who had made a new group called the Chaos Brigade.

Yes.

The original creator of the Chaos Brigade was Sataneel.

At least, this one had the correct spelling.

He was contracted by the Old Satan faction, to be precise, Rizevim himself who gave him a chance to study the Malebranche.. Only the top people knew of this.

Euclid was one of them.

As enraging as it might have been to let that bastard go back then, the advantages he brought to us as a spy is beyond question.

I even got a chance to sneak in and bring back Gretel's mother's body as well as… mark Lilith with a Binder's Mark to bring her back to me whenever I wanted.

This brings me to Gretel.

She had… been in a very complicated mood since the encounter in Romania.

The fact that she believed even for a moment that she was tricked and her mother was still alive, forced her to see things from Grayfia's point of view.

She just couldn't blame her suffering on her anymore. To be honest, it was misguided from the start but I let it be because it was one of her driving forces back then. Now though, she was ready to see things from a broader perspective and I welcomed it.

Their last talk didn't go that well, with Gretel being out of it for the most part.

I didn't organise any meetings between them but I am planning to bring her with me when Vienna has a spar with her eternal rival.

It would be better for her to clear that part of her life as well.

Seeing her mother's body again, helped her come to terms with her past to a great deal.

That bastard, Euclid had kept the body preserved, maybe to do further experiments or create clones, I had no idea and I was honestly not interested to pursue that train of thought either.

"So Boss, how are we going to reveal ourselves to the world? Attack someone? Start a war? Challenge a God maybe?" Sean asked, hyped up about the coming days.

He had completed his training under Brynhildr and had attained Balance Breaker of the True Longinus, enabling him to fight on par with Lavinia and Ingvild and hold his own against Merlin and even Gretel.

The training with Brynhildr had really paid off.

He had returned with Rossweisse in tow and I used my last Binder's Mark on her and I wasn't disappointed either.

The girl, even by Merlin's insane standards, was a genius.

The nerfed Archmage Essence enabled her to learn the spirit magic of her family which she hadn't previously inherited and the girl had cried over it.

Her serious attitude made her an instant hit with Gretel. To be honest, they looked like twins with different coloured eyes.

She went back to her grandmother to learn her family magic and I allowed her, even encouraged her to do so.

Coming back to the current scene, I smiled at Sean's enthusiasm. "We are going to do something even better?"

"Oh! Better than fighting a God? What's that?"

My smile grew wider suddenly. "Open a bar."

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