Strong, Calculating, and Ruthless

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.

In the Devil Council's meeting room, the seventeen Councilmen who engaged in the duel with James earlier in the day were standing on the ground floor with indignant expressions. Meanwhile, the other twenty-three members of the Council were seated on the balcony above. The room was bathed in silence, as all those present waited for the last four attendees to arrive at this emergency meeting.

Finally, after a few minutes in this stifling atmosphere, the door leading to the balcony opened. Through it walked in the Four Great Satans, Sirzechs, Ajuka, Serafall, and Falbium. Allowing their eyes to scan the room, they eventually let their sights fall on the most senior member of the Devil Council, Zekram Bael.

"Lord Bael, I would assume that you called us due to the reports from the news not too long ago, correct?" Sirzechs asked.

"That is correct, lord Lucifer." Zekram nodded with an impassive expression on his face. "We need to figure out the truth of the matter, as well as decide on what steps to take in quelling the unrest among the populous."

As Zekram spoke, the Four Great Satans stepped forward to take their seats at the front of the group of devil world's upper echelons.

"And what do you suggest, Lord Bael?" Ajuka asked after taking his seat.

"My suggestion is to first inform the masses that we are doing everything in our power to find the truth of the matter." Zekram said without changing his expression. "Then, I suggest we do just that."

Hearing that, the seventeen men on the lower floor felt the blood draining from their faces. Never did they expect that they would be prosecuted for the things they have done. They were the highest authorities in devil society. With their excellent pedigrees, they should be held above the rest of the rabble.

"Why would you do this, Lord Bael?" the leader of the men on the lower floor asked in a panic. "Our Houses have done so much for the Underworld."

"In the past, that is true." Zekram replied solemnly. "Many of you have come from Houses that performed exceptionally well during the Great War."

"Then, why?" The leader asked.

"Because you are no longer assets to the Underworld." Zekram replied. "Sending young, promising devils to their deaths at the hands of strays from various organizations. Actions like that have gone unpunished for too long."

The members of the Council on the balcony, although surprised, did not react much to Zekram's words. Although they were pure-blood supremacists like the men on the lower floor, they were not so extreme. They believed in using the powerful members from lower Classes to bolster their numbers once they proved worthy. However, the ones who were the most surprised were the Four Great Satans. Well, three of the Four Great Satans, as Falbium was barely paying attention, dozing off, instead.

"They are nothing but half-breeds and Low-Class trash!" The leader shouted indignantly. "How could their lives compare to our authority. Besides, we only did things like that so that the Low-Class trash would never think of challenging us, the ruling class!"

"*Sigh* That's the mistake you made." Zekram said, still not changing his expression. However, with each word he spoke, his presence began to grow, making everyone in the meeting room feel they were facing a giant. "What a devil should be? Strong, calculating, and ruthless. And all though you possess all those traits, you are not even pointing them at your enemies."

The men on the lower floor began to shrink back after feeling Zekram's presence and aura. At this point they were too terrified to argue in their own defense.

Sirzechs was the most surprised among the Satans. He felt that even though Zekram was not as strong as he was, he had no chance of winning against him, though he would not lose either. This feeling was leaving him quite confused. Ajuka and serafall were also surprised, though, for a different reason. They thought that Zekram was the same kind of devil as the men below, but their perceptions were being turned on their heads.

"But you were the one who always spoke ill of those with lower blood purity!" one of the men from the lower floor cried after coming back to his senses. "So why would you condemn us for treating them like the trash they are?"

"*Sigh* it's true that I think little of devils of impure bloodlines." Zekram agreed while nodding his head. "However, you have mistaken something. I look down on them because their potential is low. But when there are some that show excellent results, I respect them as they should be respected. And strength is the true measuring stick of a devil's respect."

The room fell into silence after Zekram's last statement. Then, after a few moments spent digesting his words, Ajuka spoke.

"It seems that those below were not the only ones who misunderstood you, Lord Bael." Ajuka said.

"Yeah, we thought you hated every half-devil and devil of low birth." Serafall said with an awkward smile.

Sirzechs, on the other hand, remained silent. He was still unhappy that Grayfia had disobeyed him and was only halfway invested in the current meeting.

"*Yawn* So, what should we do about the accusations against them?" Falbium asked while gesturing toward the lower floor with his chin.

"As I said, we need to investigate." Zekram said with a tone that could cut iron. "Before that, we will give each of you the chance to confess to your crimes. If you do, your punishments will be reduced accordingly."

Hearing that, the Councilmen on the lower floor began exchanging glances and speaking to each other with their eyes. After a few moments, one of the men stepped forward and spoke.

"I'm willing to confess." The man said with his head lowered.

With one stepping out, the rest found the courage to do so as well. By the end, there were only six members who refused to speak. All of them were the highest ranking of the seventeen being accused. They, of course, believed that their preparations were perfect and there would be no evidence found against them.

As the members of the Council and the Satans on the balcony waited for those below to make their decisions, Zekram spoke to the Satans.

"So, what do you think?" Zekram asked.

"I think this should have been done a long time ago." Serafall said with a smile. "But you all would have never let us investigate like this in the past."

"She's right." Sirzechs said with his eyes narrowed. "So, why now?"

Ajuka and Falbium were also curious about the answer to this question.

"That's quite simple." Zekram replied. "Because they tried to hold down someone who actually showed their power."

"You mean James?" Ajuka asked.

"Correct." Zekram replied with a nod. "When he was promoting from Low-Class to Middle-Class, I paid little attention to that young man. I was even against promoting him to High-Class. Until I heard about the deal that he made with Scathach. But that was not the reason I agreed. I agreed because he had become that woman's disciple."

"Because you knew he would grow in strength?" Sirzechs asked.

"Correct again." Zekram replied. "None of those accepted as Scathach's disciples were lower in strength than ultimate-rank. And ever since the Civil War half a millennium ago, combat forces of that level are one of the things the Underworld has sorely lacked."

Being reminded of James rapidly growing strength, Sirzechs frowned. His frown deepened when he remembered what James said about him not even an hour ago.

'Not worthy of my title?' Sirzechs thought. 'There is no one more worthy of that title than I am. I am the strongest devil in history.'

However, although he was unwilling to admit it, he was starting to doubt the truth of that statement. Many of his initiatives had been sidelined even with his power. He knew that he could force the issue with brute force. Howver, his pride would not allow him to act like those he rebelled against five hundred plus years ago.

The truth of the matter is that Sirzechs just did not know how to balance the use of respect and fear among his subjects. And it irked him because Zekram was clearly more proficient at this than he was.

Eventually, Sirzechs was pulled from his inner thoughts when Zekram declared that the investigation would begin. First, all but the first of the men who was willing to confess was escorted by the Council's guards into a waiting room. Then, when that man was standing alone, a copy of the list of crimes he had committed was delivered to him. As he read through it, his face grew paler by the second. Then, when those on the balcony noticed that he had finished reading, Sirzechs was the one to speak.

"Is everything written in that report true?" Sirzechs asked sternly.

After a few moments of hesitation, the Councilman below exhaled a resigned sigh. Then, he spoke only one word.

"Yes."

The group on the balcony, who had all read the reports that were discussed on the news were all surprised that the entirety of the report was true.

"Is there anything you would like to add?" Ajuka asked.

"No, this is all that I have done." The Councilman said.

The group on the balcony all exchanged glances. Then, as if they had come to a decision, they turned their attention back to the man below.

"Very well." Zekram said. "We will take note of your willingness to cooperate. Then, after the investigations are complete, we will notify you of your sentence. Until then, you are on house arrest. We will also station guards to monitor you in case you have the thought of escaping. Any questions?"

"No, Lord Bael." The man replied with a bow. "I understand."

Then, two guards led the man out of the meeting room. A few moments later, the next to confess entered the meeting room and the process repeated ten times. After a few hours, only the six who claimed they had done nothing wrong were left to be interrogated.

Before calling for the last six, the Satans and the Councilmen discussed how they could take care of this in the most efficient manner. Then, after discussing for nearly an hour, they came up with a plan.

Unlike those who were willing to confess, they were all led into the room together. After they were all in position, Ajuka raised his hand. When he did, using his [Kankara Formula], he created barriers around each man that allowed them to only see forward. That way, they would not be able to communicate with eye contact or by other non-verbal means.

"Give each of them the documents." Zekram said once Ajuka's preparations were complete.

Once Zekram's voice fell, each of the six Council men on the lower floor was given a stack of five reports. One for each of the other men who were being interrogated.

"Read." Zekram ordered.

As Zekram ordered, the six began reading the reports. A lot of what they read; they were aware of. They had been working together for years to insure their positions. So, it was natural they had worked with others, becoming aware of each other's secrets in the process.

Once they were all done reading, they looked up at the balcony again.

"Now, this is how this willwork." Sirzechs said beginning to explain. "The fact of the matter is we will find out if these reports are the truth or not. So, we've decided to give you all a chance to reduce your sentences if what we find matches any of the crimes on those reports."

"We will allow you to verify the crimes of the others." Ajuka said calmly. "The more crimes you can verify from the others, the more your sentence will be reduced if we find out that your crimes are real."

Yes, the plan those on the balcony came up with was to turn the six Councilmen on the lower floor against each other. They had already noticed the panic on each member's face when they were reading the reports they were handed. Everyone, being quite experienced in reading people, could tell what they were thinking as they read.

'If they have this much information on the rest of them, then they definitely have just as much, if not more on me.'

Using those thoughts, they would make use of those devils' natures. They expected the six Councilmen to turn on their supposed allies if it meant saving their own lives. And as they expected, the six Council hurried to verify the crimes of the others.

"Now, you will all be placed on house arrest until the investigations are complete." Zekram announced once they were done.

Then, twelve guards led the six Councilmen out of the meeting room. After that, those on the balcony discussed how they would investigate. The eventually decided that there would be an equal number of investigators from the Council and the Satan's sides. After they ironed out all the details, they all left for their own homes.