Chapter 4: Ruval & Esdeath

(First Person - Avalon) 

Five months have gone by since I visited the Valen Clan, there's been no update on the marriage situation by the looks of things so I'll keep waiting on that to see how it develops. 

Zeoticus hasn't told me anything, but judging by the fact that there's been no confirmation I think it's possible Mio actually worked up the courage to speak her mind to Lord Valen. Good for her. 

Well, knowing how insistent Zeoticus can be, he's probably going to continue talking with the other families even if the Valen arrangement doesn't go the way he wants it to. 

Such is life. 

I've kept up my training with Souji, he hasn't started teaching me swordsmanship yet but he has allowed me to spar with some of the Youkai he keeps sealed within his body. Each of them have different specialities such as speed, power, and defense, so fighting them has helped me get experience in dealing with varying classes of opponents. 

Then again, Souji heavily restricts their true power since I'd probably get blasted into oblivion if he didn't, so I still have a lot of work to do. 

It's all a process, I'll get there eventually. 

"Oh, Avalon, I almost forgot to mention." My father called out to me. "Ruval's coming to visit today, he should arrive sometime later in the evening." 

That's certainly good news, me and Ruval have become good friends as of late. He's also aiming for the number one spot like me, so we'll definitely end up competing against one another in the future. 

Not to mention that he's also the Heir of his family, although I don't think he's aiming to become a Satan so he'll probably stay that way. 

"Good for you, you'll get to spend some time with your boyfriend." Adaloth said with her hand covering her mouth. 

"Very funny," I replied sarcastically. 

"Someone you haven't met before will also be coming over, they're from the Auten Clan. One of the branch families of the Sitri Clan." 

I looked to Adaloth, waiting for her to do her thing. 

"The Auten's are responsible for most of the logistics and some of the militaristic aspects within the Sitri territory. For example, they own most of the blood banks that supply both the local hospitals run by the Sitri, and those in other territories as well." 

Nerd. 

"I see, what are they coming to visit for?" I asked Zeoticus. 

"Some of their transport lines run near our territory, very close to the border of the Fallen Angel's territory. Apparently they've experienced some sort of border conflict there and I need to make sure it's handled before anything escalates. Therefore the Clan Head is coming to meet with me, and he'll be bringing his daughter along as well." 

We share the Underworld with another species known as Fallen Angels, and even though we're in a ceasefire at the moment, it's not a very strongly enforced one. I doubt it would take much for tensions to boil over again, not that I'm against getting to fight some crows. 

Whenever I go for extended periods without sparring someone, I start to get restless. 

"Oh? It's a girl?" Adaloth said with a strange tone of voice. 

"Mhm. Avalon's become good friends with Ruval, so maybe this will be a nice opportunity for you to make a friend of your own." 

Don't bother, no one would want to be friends with a demon who feasts of the souls of the damned. 

"Maybe it will," as per usual I'm somehow the only person who noticed her expression darkening. 

--- 

(Third Person) 

Two carriages had arrived in front of the Gremory Household. 

One of them was a combination of bright-red and gold, with the design of a Phoenix elegantly etched into its exterior. 

The other was ice-blue in color, with a Demonic Beast that resembled an enormous wolf pulling it forward, somehow completely obedient to the aged butler holding onto its reins. 

The red one was the first to open, a child stepping out with blonde slicked-black hair and blue eyes, wearing attire you would expect from a proper noble. 

This was Ruval Phenex, the Phenex Clan's Heir and Avalon's close friend. 

He turned to face the other carriage, staring at it as he waited for its passengers to step outside so he could get a good look at them. 

"Let the Autens go first Ruval, they're here on urgent business unlike us." A woman with long blonde hair stepped out afterwards, being Ruval's mother. 

The other carriage's door opened, a girl exiting with light-blue hair and eyes. She had a strange black marking on her chest and a miniature rapier attached to the side of her waist, designed to fit her build. 

"Remind me why I have to be here again?" She asked in a snappy tune, looking at the Mansion in front of her with a boredom plastered all over her face. 

"You're the one who wanted to get out and about so badly Esdeath, don't complain now that you're getting the chance." 

A large figure followed her out, he was a tall, built middle-aged man with similarly colored hair tied into a ponytail. Wearing a black headband on his head with the Auten Clan's insignia on it. 

"The whole point of that was for me to get out of the house, not go from one set of walls to another." 

"The Gremory's have an enormous courtyard, you can run around all you want there. Now stop whining and behave yourself, you'll be expected to treat them with proper respect as they will do for you." 

He was Klauth Auten, the current head of the Auten Clan, and beside him was his daughter Esdeath. 

"Fine," Esdeath grumbled, looking towards the Phenex's. "Who are they?" 

"That's the Phenex Clan, they were kind enough to let us go first so thank them when you have the chance." Klauth walked towards the front door with his daughter behind him, knocking on it as a maid promptly came to open it for him. 

"Lord Auten I presume?" She asked. 

"That's me." 

"Lord Zeoticus has already prepared a room for you and him to discuss," she motioned for Klauth to follow her upstairs. "We have already set refreshments for your daughter if she's interested in the living room." 

"You heard her," Klauth looked at his daughter.

Esdeath did as he asked, walking towards the living room as she heard the sound of something coming from the television. 

"What?" She said aloud, observing the strange sight of Serafall Leviathan wearing a Magical Girl's outfit on the screen, with criminal amounts of special effects playing every other second. 

"I still don't see what you like about this show," Esdeath heard a voice say from the couch, belonging to Adaloth. "You even spent your allowance on those ridiculous figures." 

"There's nothing ridiculous about appreciating art," someone sitting next to her firmly replied. "Magical Girl Levi-tan is art, I will stand by that statement till I die." 

Of course, the only person it could be was Avalon. 

"I don't get it either," Esdeath heard the blonde boy she had seen outside earlier say, having just stepped into the room shortly after. "Avalon's obsession with Levi-tan is one of the Underworld's greatest mysteries." He sighed. "Nice to meet you by the way, I'm Ruval." He extended his arm. 

"Esdeath," she replied curtly, not seeming intent on shaking his hand. 

Sensing the familiar presence enter his vicinity, Avalon immediately somersaulted off the couch. Startling Esdeath a little as he appeared in front of Ruval in a matter of moments. 

"About time you arrived," Avalon smiled at Ruval, his eyes widening a little as he turned to look at Esdeath. 

All Devils including himself had a current of Demonic Power flowing through them, whether it was passive or active didn't affect his ability to see it. 

But for some reason, Esdeath had two! 

It was like there was another source of power within her, as if she were two beings in one. 

How strange. 

"Is there something on my face?" She noticed his insistent staring. 

"No, I just blanked for a bit." He was quick to shrug it off. "You're from the Auten Clan right?" 

"I am, my name's-" 

"Esdeath, I heard." He smirked, his five senses being far superior to that of most Pure-Blooded Devils. "I'm Avalon, nice to meet you." He then looked at Ruval. "I trust you prepared yourself before coming to visit?" 

"That I did," Ruval returned the grin. 

"He literally just arrived, don't tell me you two are already going to fight?" Adaloth said. 

"Why not? Fighting is fun. You're welcome to come watch if you want Esdeath, and if you need anything in the meantime just ask one of the attendants." 

--- 

(Third Person) 

"You called?" Sirzechs asked, having been asked by Ajuka to come visit his personal laboratory where he conducted most of his research and experiments. 

"I did, it's regarding Avalon." Recently they had brought him in for a brain scan to get a better understanding of his mutation, naturally the data of the tests was only available to Ajuka himself and whomever he decided to show it to. 

Ajuka led him into his workspace, pulling out a few graphs and placing them on a table. 

"What's this?" Sirzechs picked one of them up. 

"It's about Avalon's ability to read the 'flow' of Demonic Power as he described it, no, I suppose you could say it's about his mutation in general." 

"You figured something out?" 

"That I did, your brother's mutation apparently hasn't been completed." 

"Is this related to his lacking output?" 

Ajuka shook his head. "No, there have been no changes there. It's about his brain, its ability to control his Demonic Power may not be physically capable of growing any further. However, the same cannot be said for the rest of the benefits it's given him. Such as his heightened five senses, and ability to read people's Demonic Power. Apparently, his body was born without a natural limiter." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Take humans for example, their brain makes sure to restrain their physical strength to one-third to ensure their safety. His brain is supposed to be doing the same for his senses so it doesn't overload and strain his cognitive function, but it's not doing that. It's still growing, and at a trajectory that isn't safe for him." 

Even though he couldn't understand theory like Ajuka, he knew danger when he heard it. "How bad?" 

"By the time he's ten, he'll be forced to hear the sound of people talking from thousands of feet away, and he'll be able to smell everything within a radius of that distance. It'll drive him mad." 

Sirzechs swallowed a nervous gulp of saliva. "I hope you've come up with a solution." 

"I wouldn't have called you here if I hadn't," he pulled out a white blindfold, personally created by him. "The first of his senses that'll become a problem is his sight, similar to what Mathers has done for Adaloth, I've created a seal that'll help him get through it when the time comes. However, that alone won't be enough." 

"It won't?"

"No, he'll also need to be taught how to substitute for his senses with Demonic Power. Otherwise day to day life will become a nightmare for him, the earlier he's tutored the better." 

"I'll tell Souji to get on it immediately," he nodded affirmatively. "How long will he have to wear a blindfold?" 

"Probably forever," Ajuka said plainly, much to his friend's dismay. "If he learns how to substitute his senses with Demonic Power well enough it won't actually be much of a problem, but if he goes without a seal on him for an extended amount of time it'll cause him serious pain when he's older. My power alone should be enough to ensure that the seals are always adequate for him." 

"Should be?" He repeated with a raised brow. 

"There is still a possibility that his brain will surpass my ability to seal it one day if his senses reach a certain point, that is how problematic his lack of a limiter is, it forces me to continue artificially making them as I go." Ajuka scratched his chin. "Once he's finished learning what he needs from Souji, I think I'll start teaching him how to create his own seals. His mutation might enable him to make him better at creating seals than I am at some point, allowing him to manage everything by himself eventually." 

"I appreciate the help." 

"There's no need to thank me, it's the least I can do for the Little Beelzebub," Ajuka smiled a little. "His mutation will turn him into an excellent fighter, but will complicate his livelihood. I will do everything in my power to mitigate the latter as much as I can." 

"He'll be in good hands," he carefully stored the blindfold Ajuka had given him. "Will he need to put the blindfold on now?" 

"Not necessarily, but honestly speaking I think the earlier he gets accustomed to it the less he'll miss not having to wear it."

"Fair enough, what about Adaloth? What did her results show?" Like with Avalon, the tests that had been conducted on Adaloth were only privy to Ajuka. 

"The chance of her having a form like yours is 50/50, she wasn't born in that state like you were, but the tests I did when you brought her over showed me that there was indeed some part of her Demonic Power that is still dormant. That dormant part is either her true form, or just a result of her lacking control." 

"You can't figure it out on your own?" 

"If I could do that, then I would already know what we Super-Devils are actually supposed to be by now." He shot an admonishing glare at his friend. "Speaking of her, how has her progress been with Mathers as of late?" 

"According to him, they've had some headway, but they're nowhere near close to labeling her power as controlled." 

"I think I have a good idea of what direction they've taken," Ajuka nodded to himself. "If anything else comes up with Avalon or Adaloth let me know alright? They'll have a big part in the Underworld's future, especially Avalon since he's decided to pursue your path." 

"That they will," Sirzechs plastered on a proud smile. "I'll go give this to Souji now and tell him what to do, once again, thank you for helping them." 

"Don't mention it." 

The Lucifer took his leave, leaving Ajuka alone with his thoughts. 

"Maybe his mutation will be the one to solve the mystery of the term 'Super-Devil', and finally put an end to the one question I'm unable to answer." 

--- 

(Third Person) 

Esdeath stood next to Adaloth with her arms folded, observing the sight of Ruval and Avalon stood opposite one another on a lush, open grassy field with the artificial sun beaming down on their skin. 

Despite being a Pure-Blooded Devil, she had very little interest in politicking, or even the role of Heiress, which her father hadn't named her just yet much to her delight. Although whether that would continue to be the case remained to be seen. 

She was Klauth Auten's only child, so unless he managed to produce another in the near future she'd be forced into the role whether she wanted it or not. 

Fighting on the other hand, was most definitely an interest of hers. As displayed by the fact that she was a five year old carrying around a rapier on her waist. 

"Who's stronger?" Esdeath asked Adaloth. 

"That would depend on your definition of stronger, if we're talking sheer combat ability then it would be my brother, but if it's about survivability then Ruval is the clear winner." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

Adaloth hummed, confused by the question. "Do you not know what Ruval's Clan Trait is?" If it weren't for the existence of her older brother, then the Phenex Clan's ability might have become just as, if not more famed as the Power of Destruction. 

"No, I don't really bother with stuff like that." In other words, she didn't care to research. 

"It's immortality." 

Esdeath blinked repeatedly, wondering if she had misheard Adaloth. "Eh?" 

"The Phenex Clan can use their Demonic Power to regenerate from any and all injuries, there are some limits and workarounds, but the prerequisites to make those work aren't something one can easily achieve. Not to mention that Ruval happens to be a very capable wielder." Adaloth returned her attention to the Heirs standing on the field. "All their fights until now have ended in a draw, Ruval can never land a solid enough hit to knock my brother out, and my brother can't disable his immortality no matter what he does." 

"How many times have they fought each other?" She felt the need to ask. 

"More than I care to count," she pulled forward a chair for her to sit on and took out her phone, absentmindedly scrolling through it as if she already knew how the fight would proceed. "You might as well make yourself comfortable, sometimes they continue on for hours." 

Esdeath shrugged, her intrigue somewhat piqued by Ruval and Avalon. 

Ruval took a deep breath, assuming a prepared stance with his left foot planted in front of his right, his hips slightly turned, and his arms spread out with his fists balled. 

"How about we do things a little differently this time?" Ruval smirked, coating his hands in Hell Fire, another trait he had inherited from his bloodline. 

"You're going to fight me in close quarters? Are you sure about that?" Avalon was taken aback a little. 

"Scared I'll beat you?" Ruval retorted. 

"As if," Avalon used reinforcement on his entire body, black and red currents starting to swirl around his hands. A result of him covering his fists with his Power of Destruction, avoiding damaging himself thanks to his superb control. 

Being the faster of the two, Avalon was the one to make the first move. Closing in on Ruval's position like a speeding bullet and shooting a jab towards his chin. 

Normally Ruval wouldn't be able to block in time since Avalon's reinforcement made his punches drastically faster than his, but the Phenex had found a solution. One that involved his clan's third ability, the power to manipulate wind. 

A pushing force generated by a forceful gust of wind helped him bring his arms together in a crossguard right before Avalon's fist could meet his jaw. 

"You're not the only one with a new technique," Avalon grinned. 

Despite Ruval blocking his punch, he didn't take his hand off his arms. Instead choosing to generate a small sphere of crimson energy from his hands, forcing it to spin at an alarming rate as Ruval felt it gather a lethal amount of momentum. 

BOOM! 

The sphere imploded, a shockwave being sent out of it strong enough to ruin both Esdeath and Adaloth's hair from afar. 

Ruval staggered backwards, his arms having been blown to smithereens by the impact as he stared at Avalon with widened eyes. 

"Haha! That was a good one!" But he didn't have any reason to be phased for long, his limbs being immediately regenerated by his Clan Trait. "But I'm confused, your output is supposed to be on the low side, so how are you able to generate that much force?" 

"My base Demonic Power might not have much output, but if I force a construct to consume a lot of it in a short amount of time, I can make it explode on itself and create a charged-up grenade. And as you saw, I also combined it with rotational force to give it a little extra kick." The technique had taken a bit of inspiration from Lars's Magic Spheres. 

"Interesting, with your lacking Demonic Power reserves I imagine that technique is pretty taxing?" 

"That it is," he admitted with an unbothered expression. "I think the trade-off is worth it though, only someone with a cheat power like yours could absorb the damage like it was nothing." 

"I don't want to hear that from the Little Beelzebub." 

Avalon's shoulders slumped. "I'm never going to be free of that title am I?" 

"Nope, especially not as long as I'm around." He stated with firm conviction. "So, have you given that technique a name?" 

"A name?" 

"Yeah, when you start competing in the Rating Games people will expect you to shout it out at the top of your lungs. It's important that all your ultimate moves have a name." 

"I wouldn't really call this an ultimate move, especially since it's still in its early days, but I guess you have a point." He started to think. "I'll call it my Anti-Chicken Sphere of Destruction." 

"We agreed not to use that word anymore!" Ruval protested. 

"What do you want from me? I'm no good with names," Avalon groaned. "I'll just ask my brother for help later, he's much better at naming things." 

"That looked fun," both of them heard Esdeath say as she approached them. "I want in," she sported a wide grin, unsheathing and brandishing her rapier. 

Ruval and Avalon looked at each other with confusion. "Uh, are you talking to him or me?" Avalon asked. 

"Either is fine with me, or both of you can even come at me together if you want." 

Again, Ruvan and Avalon looked at one another, unable to believe the audacity of the girl in front of them. 

"Well, if you say so." Ruval smiled, Hell Fire erupting in between his hands as they started to take the shape of an arrow. 

"You're the one who said it, not us." Avalon added, also creating an arrow out of his Power of Destruction like the one he had intended to use on Lars some time ago. 

Esdeath's jaw dropped, her brain starting to understand the grave error she had just made as she felt a nervous sweat run down her back. 

The display of power Ruval and Avalon had just shown was nowhere near what they were truly capable of when they went all out. 

"That's enough," Adaloth interrupted. "It's bad manners to gang up on a guest like that." 

"She's the one who wanted to fight," Avalon shrugged. 

"Then she can fight me," Adaloth shot a wry grin Esdeath's way. "I take it you're not opposed to that?" 

"I just want to fight, I don't really care who it's against." She said, pretending as if being held at arrow-point hadn't scared her shitless. 

"Excellent," Adaloth gestured for Ruval and Avalon to give them some space. 

"I've never seen your sister fight before, is she strong?" Ruval asked as they walked towards the spectator side. 

"She is," Avalon admitted reluctantly. 

"Stronger than you?" 

"Technically." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Just see for yourself," he sat down on Adaloth's chair, stealing her drink while she was occupied with battling Esdeath. 

BOOM! 

All of a sudden, an ear-rupturing explosion erupted from Adaloth's position, a surge of Demonic Power bursting out of her as she created a crater in the ground she was standing on. 

"Ah, it seems I miscalculated a little. Sorry, I'm still getting the hang of things." She said calmly, Esdeath flabbergasted as to how she could demonstrate such immense destructive power in what felt like a split second. 

"Woah! What was that?" Ruval asked. 

"She misfired, though it's not as bad as it used to be. She tried to use her Demonic Power once before Mathers started training her, and it nearly killed our father." Avalon remembered how he had smartly chosen to hide behind Grayfia at the time, totally not using her as a meat-shield. 

"Misfire? How could she produce that level of force from just a misfire?" 

"Her constitution is the polar opposite of mine, I inherited all the control with lackluster power, and she inherited all the power with lackluster control. She's basically a walking bomb with an endless amount of gunpowder." 

"That's scary, have you ever sparred with her before?" 

"No, she's forbidden from sparring. The chance of her accidently killing her opponent is too high." 

Ruval blinks repeatedly. "Wait, then isn't it bad if she's sparring Esdeath?" 

"Yeah." 

"Shouldn't we stop her?" 

"Probably," he scratched his chin. "But she seems confident in her ability to fight Esdeath without killing her, I think." 

"You think?" 

"Stop asking so many questions and just watch the damn fight." Avalon groaned, leaning back into his chair and helping himself to a serving of snacks.

Adaloth proceeded to extend her arm, shaping her hand into a finger-gun as Esdeath's posture stiffened. 

The Auten Clan was known to be quite proficient at hunting Demonic Beasts outside of their territory, normally defending carriages transporting food from them. 

Esdeath was no exception, Klauth having taught her survival skills, combat techniques, and methods to deal with Demonic Beasts in order to hone her edge, and prepare for the day she took over the clan if it ever came to pass. 

And as a result of that training, Esdeath had developed exceptional survival instincts. 

Instincts which were telling her to block the oncoming attack at all costs. 

Esdeath constructed an enormous wall of ice in front of her, big enough to cover nearly the entire width of the Gremory Clan's outdoor training area. 

"Bang!" Adaloth smiled, a shockwave leaving her finger and causing the entire frost-laden structure to collapse into small chilled shards on the ground, a few of them even being embedded into Esdeath's skin as the girl clenched her teeth in pain.

Fortunately for her, none of them were lodged into any of her vital areas. Though the fact didn't do much to help her cope with the excruciating sensation of having frozen shards digging into your limbs. 

"That was harsh," Ruval sucked his teeth. "Your sister went overboard." 

"Actually, I think that's the weakest output she's capable of producing at the moment. She was aiming for a concentrated attack in order to just get rid of the ice, but she failed." What disturbed Avalon wasn't the attack itself, but rather the lack of remorse on his sister's face as she looked at the damage she inflicted onto Esdeath. "But she is well aware of her lack of control, so she should have known better than to spar someone of Esdeath's strength."

"Sorry, the force I used appears to have been a bit excessive." Her tone of voice remained unchanged as ever. 

"You say that like I'm already out of commission," Esdeath forced out a laugh. "I can still continue." 

The shards of ice lodged into her skin started to vanish into nothingness, Esdeath showing a certain level of regenerative ability much to everyone's surprise, though it wasn't even remotely on the same level as Ruval's. 

Avalon surmised that it had something to do with the two sources of Demonic Power within her. 

"She's got spirit, I'll give her that." Ruval commented out of respect. 

"Indeed. However, spirit will only serve to her disadvantage in this situation. She'll genuinely be in mortal danger if this continues," Avalon motioned towards Ruval. "You should go stop my sister." 

"Why me?" 

"You're the immortal one, if I get hit in the crossfire once it's game over for me." 

"Even though I'm immortal, you know I still feel the pain from all the attacks right? Getting hit with that looks like it'll give me nightmares for the rest of my life." Ruval shivered. 

"There'll be no need for that," a voice spoke from behind them. Avalon having already detected his father's approaching presence some time ago. "Avalon, do you want to explain to me why your sister is fighting someone despite my explicit orders to refrain from such a thing?" 

Avalon shrugged. "No idea. Maybe she's begun her rebellious phase, you should discipline her or something." 

"I'm not in the mood for games right now," though Adaloth's actions seemed to annoy him, whatever he had discussed with Klauth seemed to bug him even more. Zeoticus proceeded to cup his hands around his mouth. "Alright that's enough! Wrap it up!" 

Klauth stood beside him, shooting an admonishing look towards his daughter. 

"Sorry about that Klauth, I wasn't expecting Adaloth to disobey me like this."

"It's fine, at least she isn't as much of a problem child as Esdeath." 

Once Adaloth and Esdeath were close enough, they were both met with a swift chop to the head from their fathers. Avalon doing his best to constrain his laughter upon seeing his sister get scolded. 

"Me and Klauth are going to have visit the border for a while, so his daughter will be staying at our house for the time-being. However, my absence is no excuse for you all to misbehave. Understood?" 

"Yup," Avalon threw a salute at him. 

"Yes," he also noticed the clear displeasure on Adaloth's face, which he believed wasn't just a result of Zeoticus's lecturing. But he made no attempt to comment on it in the presence of others. 

"Good, and Ruval, I talked with your mother and she said you're welcome to stay as well." 

"I appreciate the hospitality," Ruval's more noble-like demeanor came out. 

--- 

One advanced chapter on patreon still, but I think by the time the next chapter comes out I'll increase it to two. These chapters are getting long as hell. 

Feel free to go support me there to help me infuse caffeine into my blood.

patreon.com/Accel14 

I also have a discord, not much activity there so I could use some fresh faces. 

https://discord.gg/wNzT9AEsaz