104 Chapter 104: Erik Goes Wild
Lilith City, Underworld
March 3rd, 1200
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Lilith City was the capital of the Underworld. And as most capitals, it contained the core of the governing body. It was here that all decisions were made since the times of the old Satans, and it was here that decisions were made now, with the new Satans in 'power'. Due to being the capital and core of the governing body, the city had a lot of events happening all the time. The most recent one was the marriage of Sirzechs Lucifer with Grayfia Lucifuge. The marriage of their new Satan Lucifer had put the city in a festive mood for months. But now the city was in a festive mood for another reason.
It had been eighteen years since Serafall Leviathan's announcement about her accepting challengers to court her and sixteen years since the last challenge was issued with none managing to defeat Satan Leviathan until now with the last challenger still being traumatized every time that he sees an ice cube. It had been so much time since the last challenge that some people had even forgotten about it in all. That is, until now. One month ago, the news stations all over the Underworld received a formal letter that issued a challenge to Satan Leviathan for the right to court her. The news stations went crazy with it, just like the population of the Underworld. After sixteen years a new challenger appeared to try to win the rights to court Satan Leviathan. The problem was that nobody knew who the challenger was. They only had his name that was signed on the letter: Erik Ravenclaw.
The Devils went crazy asking everywhere in Underworld 'Who was Erik Ravenclaw?'. But none could answer, because very few knew of the Ravenclaw name, and the one who knew, choose to not say anything about it after concluding that it was not the same Ravenclaw from the Human World. Ultimately, a week before the challenge date, the news stations got wind of a possible identity for Erik Ravenclaw and made sure that the entire population of the Underworld knew about it too.
And they went into an uproar. The idea of a human, even if magical, challenging a Satan was incomprehensible for them. In their minds, there was no way that a human could challenge Satan and win. For them, this Erik Ravenclaw was just courting death. When the news stations asked Serafall Leviathan about the possibility of her opponent being Human, she just shrugged at it.
"So what if he is human? I was very clear in my announcement. I would accept ANY challenger, whatever was his race. One of my only criteria for the challengers was that the challenger must not be affiliated with any other faction. If this Erik Ravenclaw meets these criteria, I have no problem with being challenged by him."
Serafall replied.
"But what if he wins?"
The reporters asked the Satan Leviathan.
"If he wins, I will accept his courtship like I would have done to anyone that managed to defeat me in single combat. If he loses, he loses."
Serafall replied again, putting a final dot on that conversation. No need to say that the population of the Underworld went into another uproar. The main cause this time was their Satan Leviathan being true to her word, something that the past Satans would have never done. But, like usual, in the middle of the group of cheering people, there was a little group that was aiming to discredit the new Satan, calling her a traitor for thinking in accepting the courtship of a human, someone that they viewed as a race that was beneath them. The discontent group was quickly shut up by others when they were asked why they have not challenged Serafall Leviathan on their own. After all, it had been eighteen years since the first announcement.
And today was the day chosen for the battle.
In an adjacent room, Serafall Leviathan was waiting for the accorded time with a pot of cookie in her hands. She munched at it happily while waiting for the battle. Together with her in the room were her four other Devil friends: The three Satans, Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, Falbium Asmodeus, and Grayfia Lucifuge. Since their announcement as the new Satans, they had noticed that Serafall had been in an unusually good mood, but they couldn't find the reason why. That is until a month ago when Erik Ravenclaw's letter of challenge was received. Suddenly, it all made sense for them. From Serafall's out-of-the-way good mood to her unexpected announcement about accepting challengers to court her. It was all a plot. A very well-planned plot.
"Since when, Serafall?"
Ajuka Beelzebub asked his friend. Serafall looked at him with confusion written all over her face.
"'Since when' what, Ajuka?"
Serafall asked back. Ajuka Beelzebub let out a tired sigh at that.
*sigh*
"Since when are you and Erik Ravenclaw meeting?"
Ajuka Beelzebub asked again, this time in a more complete manner. Serafall smiled internally but continued to feign ignorance.
"I have no idea of what are you talking about, Ajuka."
Serafall replied to her Satan friend, who let out another sigh that was kind of mixed with a groan. He had no chance of receiving a direct answer from Serafall, and he knew it. Serafall Leviathan, despite her bubbly fool-like personality, was a shrewd woman when she wanted to be one. And that was the key phrase: 'When she wanted to be'.
"So this is the same 'Erik' that subdued Serafall all those years ago?"
Sirzechs Lucifer asked the other Satans since serafall would not tell them anything. Ajuka Beelzebub noded his head.
"Probably."
He replied to Sirzechs Lucifer.
"What do you mean probably?"
Sirzechs Lucifer asked back. It was very rare for his friend Ajuka to not know something. The man was, after all, a control freak. Proof of that was his 'ultimate move', the Kankara Formula that allowed him to control everything around him.
"I sent people to gather information about him, but they all came back with empty hands. The Ravenclaws have not been seen in the wizarding world since the siege at Hogwarts' castle, a hundred and forty years ago. The castle itself was impossible for any of my agents to enter. The place has so much protection around it that I, myself, would find it difficult to breach its defenses. And I doubt that anyone could enter the place if not invited. One of my agents tried to take control over some staff members to gain access to the castle, but even so, it was a futile try. The ward worked independently of the people controlling the castle and barred anyone that is deemed dangerous to the people inside."
Ajuka Beelzebub said in a defeated tone. Serafall was laughing internally. During one summer she, together with Hestia, was invited by Erik and Selena to visit the Hogwarts' castle. They were going there to update the wards and decided to invite their friends to visit the place. Hestia loved the atmosphere inside it so much, that she ended up blessing the wardstone, making the castle's already impenetrable wards even more impenetrable.
"What is inside the castle that requires so much protection?"
Falbium Asmodeus asked.
"Nothing too important. Just the entire next generation of wizards and the biggest pool of magical wizard knowledge in all world."
Ajuka Beelzebub replied sarcastically. He then let out a sigh and explained better.
*sigh*
"Sorry for that, but not knowing something irritates me. The castle of Hogwarts is the first magical school to be created in the world that accepts anyone coming from any origin as long as he possesses wizarding magic in him. For more than two hundred years Hogwarts has been teaching and training strong wizards and witches. But none of them were as strong as Erik Ravenclaw. And as I have said before, no one saw or heard of him or his wife in the last hundred and forty years."
Ajuka Beelzebub said to Falbium Asmodeus, apologizing too for his lack of sense. Falbium nodded his head at the knowledge. He too would do anything in his power to protect the next generation of devils from any outside danger.
"It doesn't matter now, because it's time for the challenge."
Serafall suddenly said, and all the other Devils in the room turned to look at her. Gone was the bubbly Devil persona and the pot of cookies. In front of them was the Devil that froze entire armies during the Civil War. In front of them was Satan Leviathan.
"Oh… it seems that Serafall intends to go all out."
Ajuka Beelzebub commented as Serafall had passed by them and was not walking through the corridor to the arena.
"But wasn't you telling us that they were already dating, probably?"
Falbium Asmodeus asked Ajuka Beelzebub in confusion.
"They could be already dating, but that doesn't change anything for Serafall, right now. The other Devils would be able to tell if she gives up the fight or she pretends to do it. That's why she has to go all out against him."
Grayfia Lucifuge replied. The question had not been addressed to her, but n matters of a feminine hearth, she was the only one that could answer that for them.
–
Inside the Arena, in the middle of the wild cheers coming from Devils that had come to watch the event in flesh, Serafall Leviathan entered it and was now walking to her designated position. One could see in her face how serious she was taking this challenge and could feel it too in their skin. The magic being emanated by Serafall was constantly lowering the temperature of her surroundings. From a cabin in the privileged part of the stadium that housed the Arena, a Devil was watching everything with attention. The microphone in front of him showed what would be his role in this fight. He was the Devil that would be commenting on the fight.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to this event. On one side, holding her ground as the challenged in this event, is our dear Satan, Serafall Leviathan!"
The Devil started doing his job and the crowd went wild again.
"And the Satans have mercy of the poor sod that challenged her because she is going all out tonight if the cold that I'm feeling right here where I am is any signal."
He added, sending the crowd of Devils in another huge uproar.
"And on the other side, we have the challenger. A man that we know nothing about. The mysterious, Erik Ravenclaw!"
The commentator announced and everyone looked at the opposing entrance from the one that Serafall used. But, to their disappointment, or not, nobody exited from it. Instead, in the middle of the Arena, right into the position that was designated to be the one for the challenger, opposed to the position that Serafall Leviathan was standing, a blue magic circle appeared. Inside it, a raven in mid-flight with its talons ready to grab something was shown. The light of the magic circle intensified and, from the middle of it, a man appeared between fading motes of blue light, and he was smiling at the serious-looking Satan in front of him. The man was Erik Ravenclaw.
That move had some people watching the event frowning. With the protections around the Arena and the stadium, any unauthorized transportation magic would be impossible but this… man managed to do it anyway.
"Here we have, ladies and gentleman. Our challenger, Erik Ravenclaw."
The commentator said, announcing Erik's arrival. Different from Serafall's welcoming uproar, Erik was received by a shower of 'boos' and other more colorful names. But he was not moved by all that because he was already expecting it. Erik just stood in place, looking at the serious-looking Serafall with a small smile on his face.
Serafall was the first one to talk between the two. She looked at all the people 'booing' and jeering Erik and shook her head in disappointment. She then looked back at Erik.
"Why don't you make them shut up by showing off your power, Erik?"
Serafall said. Since a long time ago, she knew that Erik was the possessor of one of the Longinus Sacred Gears and that he used it to hide his energy completely. But today the objective was for him to show off.
"Sure, why not?"
Erik replied and slowly took one of his hands to the other one. From it, he slowly removed a snake-like ring, that in reality was a snake-like monster created by him, and put it inside the side pocket of his pants. The moment that he removed the ring, the most sensitive people in the stadium frowned. If before they could not have a feel for Erik's energy levels, now they could feel that it was there. It was under a tight leash, but it was there. Ajuka Beelzebub's eyes went wide with that and he become very interested in the ring that Erik had removed. Before it, he, even having his Kankara Formula by his side, could not perceive Erik's existence. If not for his eyes seeing the man, he would not say that he was even there. But now, the only thing that he could sense was a mass of compressed energies. And when he says energies, he means it. He could feel Erik's vital energy and mana. Both were compressed inside him to the ultimate level. He doubted that he or any of his Satan friends would have that level of control over their energies. Inside his head, Ajuka concluded: Erik Ravenclaw was a monster hiding between the sheep.
After storing the snake-like ring inside his side pocket, Erik let his power go loose. Instantly it was like gravity inside the Stadium and around it had multiplied by ten. The ground around Erik was compressed down and cracked in a circular shape due to the pressure being emanated by his body. The crowd that before was 'booing' and jeering at him went completely silent with the weakest Devils between them fainting on the spot while frothing through their mouths. Most of the sensitive ones went to their knees, with some of them even vomiting on the ground. Inside the 'VID' cabins, the higher-ups from the underworld, also known as the Council of Elders were cold sweating, with only the three remaining Satans, Grayfia Lucifuge, and some others maintaining their composures, but internally, all of them were asking themselves the same question.
'Where the effe did this monster come from?'
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a/n: I would like to use this space to say thank you to all of the people that continues to support my work. Simple comments like 'Thanks for the chapter', 'keep the good work', etc, are what incentives me to continue writing despite the mean ones. Thank you, guys and gals.
