33 Ch. 33 Influenced Happenings

"So what's up everyone?" I asked as it was rather rare for Ajuka and Sirzechs to come visit when it wasn't drink night, and since Sirzechs was here so was Grayfia.

"We've received an… interesting report and were requested to investigate a certain matter." Sirzechs carefully answered as he looked rather apologetic.

"Zekram's faction is complaining about something?" I replied without much thought.

"Indeed." Ajuka answered this time as he looked at me with a serious gaze. "Did you recruit a goddess to your peerage?"

"A goddess? You mean Eresh?" I asked them with some confusion. "She isn't part of my peerage though."

"Then what is she doing here Lith? We can't have a goddess wondering the Underworld like this." Sirzechs seriously asked.

"Hmm, how to say this, she became my subordinate through an interesting trip I took." I lightly explained as I skipped a lot of details.

"How in the underworld?" Sirzechs asked feeling baffled at the answer.

"So this means you haven't found a way to reincarnate gods?" Ajuka asked me with narrowed eyes.

"I've left that subject of research untouched due to the massive problems it could cause if it even succeeded a little bit." I answered as we both knew very well exactly how massive a problem it would be.

We made sure it could never be done after all.

"Good. So why is she here and is she a threat?" He simply asked.

"I saved her from fading and now she's helping out with her connection to earth, and she swore on her divinity so not a threat." I answered him which made the two nod in understanding. "Anything else?"

"Well there was another report many houses found troubling. One regarding a celebration of you finding your queen." Sirzechs delicately answered as this really wasn't for anyone to interfere with unless it caused issues, and even then that would be Serafall's department due to Scáthach technically being someone linked to Celtic Mytholgy.

So I gave the Devil a glare for people sticking their noses where they don't belong.

"Do forgive us Lord Lith, but this is an important matter for the Underworld if the reports are true." Grayfia said as she intervened.

"Doesn't matter. If they try to mess with my people, I will erase them from existence." I coldly said as some of my aura leaked out, surprising my two friends quite a bit.

"While I appreciate it Lith, I see no need to hide my existence or strain your relationship with your friends." My queen said as she entered the room. "Nor for you to trouble yourself."

"Well then, everyone meet Scáthach, my queen." I merely said as I went along with her wishes.

Not like I really minded them knowing. They are friends after all.

"A pleasure to meet the distinguished new generation of devil kings. You are all much more agreeable than your predecessors." Scáthach rather bluntly said as she curtsied a bit and stood by my side.

"So it's true, the god-slayer herself has joined you." Ajuka said as he started carefully examining her.

"Yes, I got lucky and this wonderful lady decided to do me the honor of joining my peerage. Hope you kept up your training Grayfia or that title of strongest queen might not stay with you long." I said to them rather casually as the two powerful women eyed each other.

"I am but a humble maid of House Gremory Lord Lith." The silver haired maid replied as she basically put herself down.

Found out that this was indeed her fetish and saying this kind of stuff usually got her motor running. Various reports of powerful seals on Sirzechs office door and a rosy Grayfia exiting afterward also indicated she rather enjoyed having her 'master taking advantage of his powerless maid'.

"How interesting you are. I would enjoy an exchange of magic against one such as yourself." Scáthach said after she finished looking at Grayfia.

"Unfortunately my duties keep me rather occupied Lady Scáthach." Grayfia replied with a 'sorry' expression and a bow.

"A shame." Was the simple response.

"Alright, now that that's done, "I said while making a few things appear, "Drinks?"

"Those look new." Ajuka observed as the bottles weren't anything like the wines or drinks available.

He tends to know his liquor since it helps deal with his two biggest headaches: demanding idiots and his own unrelenting brain.

"Something a particularly determined dwarf who runs his own tavern and brewery created after he failed to get me drunk. He used various high level ingredients and tested thousands of recipes over about 20 years to make this stuff. He called it Satan's Fall since it can even make beings like us plastered very quickly if we aren't careful." I introduced with a grin as I poured a few glasses of the clear blue liquid.

That got everyone rather curious as even Scáthach joined us for a drink, saying it had been ages since she had actually been drunk. Her blood as a true Scottish woman practically drew her to the possibility of properly enjoying a drink again.

The typical sight of Grayfia basically wanting Sirzechs to ravage her and her complaining about his lack of more 'masculine' features was as entertaining as ever, but her being drunker than usual made her rather aggressive. Ajuka was drunkenly writing some ridiculous math on the floor at the moment. Serafall somehow got wind of this meeting and showed up halfway through, she became a nuzzler as she kept an iron grip on me.

The problem was Scáthach.

"Come my powerful conquerer. Take your queen and ravage her like she deserves. Make me yours. Show me my place at your feet and in your bed." She heatedly said as she sultrily walked towards me.

Yeah, it seemed like she was either a horny drunk or was the type of person who loses control when drunk.

And she might have some masochistic impulses like Serafall, but hers might come from some societal ideals from her time.

She then knelt in front of me and pressed her breast together with her arms before looking up with suggestive eyes and seductive smile.

"Am I not worthy of your conquest?" She whispered like a temptress.

That almost made lose control due to how gorgeous Scáthach is already, and her basically demanding to be taken was making things very hard.

So I opened a portal underneath her to one of the H.A.H and locked the space for her to cool down.

I was still getting used to bringing another woman into my relationship as I frequently visited Yasaka, sometimes bringing Serafall along, even during this new Ciri situation, but adding another one at the moment while we are still working out our relationships wasn't the best ideas. Plus i need to make sure Serafall and Yasaka are ok with it, so doing things while one is away and the other is plastered will likely get me in trouble.

The whole harem thing wasn't something I was going to just jump into, even if the laws of DxD somehow make me have one. I had enough trouble just having a relationship in my last life, but now I have these kinds of problems, which I'm not sure if it's better.

I'll talk to Serafall and Scáthach about this tomorrow.

Overall, a fun meeting. Might have to teach a few meddling fools a lesson. Scratch that, I am going to teach them a few lessons.

The next day all the Satan-class and above guests had hangovers from underestimating Satan's Fall, with even Grayfia having trouble keeping up her maid persona. Meanwhile Ajuka asked me to hook him up so he could either get drunk himself or maybe to use the alcohol to sneakily take down annoyances, cause if you aren't at least Ultimate-class then you might actually pass out with a sip.

Good thing I sneakily gave Serafall some hangover cures as we found those three funny when they struggled.

Then it was time to have a small talk with Scáthach, who even though had her usually stoic expression, sported a massive blush and avoided our eyes as Serafall and I sat on a couch together.

"Scáthach, you are a beautiful, intelligent and powerful woman, and I am lucky to have you by my side." I truthfully told her as she looked at me with more emotions than I could imagine in those wine red eyes. "But I do not believe it is either the right time for me nor yourself to try and change our growing relationship to one of lovers."

"Although I don't have any problems with you Scáthach, I don't feel like I know you well enough or that we are able to add someone else right now. Plus it wouldn't be fair to Yasa-chan who waited so long just to have you come in so easily and to not even talk to her about it." Serafall rather seriously said.

"Plus I think this might be coming from this all being relatively new to you after being freed from the Land of Shadows." I added, "I am not rejecting your advances outright Scáthach, but I would prefer for us to take things slowly as we get to know each other better and you deepen your bond with not just myself, but those I already have in my heart as well."

Seeing Scáthach showing signs of dejection and awkwardness mixed with understanding and some hope, she nodded.

"Alright, you go do your thing for today while I take care of her. This is officially a day off for her." Serafall declared as she kicked me out of the room.

Thinking that some time away from me and talking things out with another woman should help Scáthach, I went along with it.

I had a bit of work to catch up on since I started drinking with the gang earlier than I would have thought, but I was doing it as a bit of payback for letting those bitches push them around. More Sirzechs than Ajuka or Grayfia, but they were accomplices, hence they get killer hangovers and embarrassing recordings of them made.

Later I went to check on all my peerage members, only to find that Jeanne had been taken away by Serafall as well.

Had a nice little guitar duet with Mana in the Music Square, talked to Musashi about her search for a hobby, gave the math Ajuka wrote on the floor to Da Vinci to see if it was anything useful but it turned out to be a way to make people considered annoying unknowingly mute, and had Ciri's daily training as we played an enhanced game of tag using blink teleportation and with her using Swallow because it's fun to tease her and she improves better when she stops thinking too much.

Good fun.

The following day saw the return of my lovely assistant, who was a bit awkward at times but still very professional and wasn't showing any obvious signs of dejection. I didn't completely reject her and I am 100% sure Serafall would help her through her feelings.

I also began the process of dismantling the two houses who decided to snitch and bitch about things they shouldn't be involving themselves in. I knew perfectly well they were mere frontmen for the masterminds behind this little event, but that doesn't mean ruining them won't send a message to that self-important prick Zekram.

'Stay out of my business.'

I was going to take everything from those two families and the heads of said family will even be helping me without knowing it, facilitating things. I had made them all sleeper agents for a reason.

It wasn't just so I could have intimate knowledge of everything happening, but also for moments like these.

That reminds me, I should prepare for an upsurge in population again and prepare the necessary transport to move over the established producers in those lands.

-Bael Castle, some time later.

'To think he would be so ruthless in his response.' Zekram Bael thought as he sipped on a fine vintage. 'I must find a way to collar him. Being a half-breed lord is one thing, but even beyond his personal power he has grown far too much.'

He then looked at everything he and the lords of his faction had been able to gather about the reclusive powerhouse.

And yes, even Zekram himself could not deny that Lith Azaroth was a powerhouse.

The lowest estimates on his military forces alone might even be able to match the entire Underworld if the Satans were not counted for and no hidden forces possessed something like a Satan-class.

Even if we somehow managed to make the official army attack his lands, he is either friends with or married to the current Satans, while having strong ties to their original houses and a few other like the Phenex and Balam. His diplomatic skills are well displayed in this sense as these houses wouldn't stand for an unprovoked attack.

The economic power he holds is now estimated to possibly rival the House of Phenex, but due to his dislike for ostentatiousness he continuously moves his money instead of wasting or hoarding it. All the while being completely self sufficient as his natural ressources are plenty and his workforce abundant.

'I would praise him for his abilities as a Lord if he didn't also stain Devil pride and values by letting so many of those others into the Underworld.' Zekram thought with distaste over some what he had learnt. 'But some of the most troubling reports came from his peerage.'

Zekram looked at the drawings they had managed to put together of all the known peerage members.

Of course he couldn't know that any information he had was given to him by Lith.

'Two members from the small island of orientals. One without even a sacred gear and only being good with the sword. But the other is a half youkai with a sacred gear, meaning she could become quite powerful.

An ex member of the church who has a sacred gear and can use light magic. Apart from her high magic power, nothing of note.

An artist from Italy, who for some reason was recorded to be a man but is now a women. Her combat abilities are non existent but she has been responsible for the aesthetics of his capital. A waste. Likely a temporary fancy of a young man.

But this last one is troubling if true.

A report on a celebration of a woman named Scáthach joining as his queen. If this is indeed her, then i will have to re-examine the half-breed's power since there is no chance that monster would join one weaker than herself.' Zekram summarized as he read through each report carefully.

'We need some way to limit him or at least know more about his limits.

He currently has less than half a peerage and some of the other fools have spoken about a way to increase their power.' The old Devil thought until a plan came to mind.

'This could work. A competition between Devil peerages using the King pieces we managed to obtain from Ajuka Astaroth's workshop.

We could make sure to monopolize these competitions but at the same time give hope to these 'reincarnated devils' or lower ones, creating a way to maintain our dominance. And when the time is right, a challenge against the one Devil few know anything about, calling him a sham or illegitimate to bait him out.

In the end we either gain more information on him at worst and humiliate and manage to leash him at best.

Even the Sitri girl will not be able to do anything about this thanks to this being a completely internal matter.' Zekram plotted as the seeds of the Rating Games had been planted.

Unknown to him however, was that the man thinking himself puppet master, was dancing in the palms of another as each 'suggestion' or 'unrelated idea' the lords of his faction had thrown around were subconscious psychological plants to help Zekram or other lords think of creating a competition to show their power and authority.

The fact that the king pieces had been stolen was known to both Ajuka and Lith a long time ago, but only Ajuka had no definite answer as to who took them and where they were. Lith on the other hand, wanted to make sure the rating games were born with as little pushback as possible, not stopping the theft so this important facet of Devil society could properly be born.

'This should do for now, but those who will receive the King Pieces must be chosen carefully as to not implicate myself or the faction as a whole, but they must still hold significant enough power to reach the Satan-class after gaining them. On top of this their peerages must reach a certain standard or have the potential to reach a sufficient level of strength.' Zekram thought as he began to think about who he had on his side now and who could be manipulated later.

-Yasaka's POV

"To think the oni tribes would be such a problem Nee-sama." I said as i finished hearing about my subordinate's reports on their answer to the offer of an alliance.

"Indeed. The Oni tribes have found a gathering point and confidence thanks to their twin leaders." Tamamo Nee-sama replied as she went into deep thoughts.

Our progress up until now had been swift and secure.

Many Youkai clans gathered around us as we revealed our survival with the aid of Amaterasu-sama, omitting my dear Shujin-sama was rather irritating, but necessary. Thankfully I was blessed to receive his love and care as he sneaked in to see me.

It has been rather… exciting to have such secretive rendez-vous.

But taking things seriously, having Nee-sama with me has been an enormous boon even if some of the more close minded Youkais have had some issues with her 'curse', they would not dare say anything thanks to Tsukuyomi-sama's blessing.

We have gathered the Tengu clans, the Kitsune clans supported us immediately, that Yuki-onna village was an unexpected boon thanks to Nee-sama and her Ice affinity trained by Serafall nee-sama, Kappa clans have also decided to follow our banner, we managed to subdue the Jorōgumo and talks have been going well with the Tanuki clans.

What has been unfortunate was that many of the weaker Youkai have not felt that we have proven that we can protect them reliably yet. Thus many youkai spirits of objects have chosen to stay in hiding, while the plant spirits cannot move much regardless.

The real problems were those malevolent youkai who still target humans and even other youkai. The majority had been the undead or true beast types who have either little intelligence or cannot restrain their instincts. But a minority actually chose to be 'true youkai' purposefully attacking humans even though they do not have the need to do so.

The Oni on the other had been a rather neutral, not being particularly aggressive, which was surprising for their kind, but had became incredibly territorial as they stopped any youkai or human from entering their mountain. Their two leaders known as Shuten-douji and Ibaraki-douji have shown to hold tremendous power which has likely reached Ultimate-class, and the two have been the reason for the change in the Oni.

Meanwhile a large faction of Youkai in the east have gathered under a Nurarihyon, but they haven't shown any signs of hostility and rather focused on their own issues and independence.

"Yasaka-sama!" A girl's voice called out as a person entered our tent.

The girl in question was a shorter one with an athletic body body, a pretty face which had a serious expression almost bordering on expressionless, long black tied up with a feathered hair tie I had given her on the left side of her head and framing her face, and a pair of sapphire eyes. She wore a rather revealing outfit as she preferred to only have clothing and protection on her limbs, only donning samurai armor to protect her arms, legs and small breasts, leaving her middle bare. Good thing I was able to asked Shujin-sama's armor-smiths to have enchantments to protect what wasn't covered properly.

"Ushi-chan, what's wrong?" I gently asked with care towards the girl in front of me.

Ushi-chan, or her full name Ushiwakamaru, was a youkai half-breed of the Tengu head. But like most half-breeds, she was mistreated for not being pure and the current tensions with humans had not helped at all. When I first saw the poor girl fighting for her life after some ex-elders had basically given her a sword and thrown her into battle, I took her in out of pity and nostalgia, while my own ideals towards half-breeds, which wear shaped by my own mate and a person I consider my own sister, made me see the potential in the girl.

Ushiwakamaru was a genius in the sword, tengu arts and wind magic, allowing her to take on even high-class youkai with only her instincts and talent. Due to her upbringing, which involved those now deceased elders who not only mistreated her but plotted against Nee-sama and tried to drug me into taking a tengu of their choosing as a mate, she was a girl who knew no love and only to listen to orders as if an attack dog. I haven't been able to make her open up more since I haven't had enough time with her, but I care for the girl and so far she has shown a preference to spending time with me, something I consider progress as it is her own desire.

"The Onis have sent a letter." She answered as she knelt and held out said letter.

"Ushi-chan, you don't need to kneel." I lightly scolded as I took the letter and eased her up, "Why don't you join me and Nee-sama for some tea and snacks while I read this?"

"But Yasaka-sama, that wouldn't be appropriate." The girl answered a bit awkwardly.

"Nonsense. Come." I firmly said so she wouldn't try to run away.

'This girl needs warmth and to know what she is truly worth.' I thought as remembered her state before I took her away from the Tengu as my personal servant. 'She looked worse than when i first saw Mana.

Now let's see what this letter says.'

'Kyubi sisters,

We challenge you for the right to lead our people.

Win and you have our allegiance.

Lose and we take your lives.

The Great Doujis.'

"How bold." I commented as I handed the letter to Nee-sama.

"More like reckless, but it makes things easier" Tamamo-nee responded with a wicked smile.

"Indeed. It seems Shujin-sama was right when he said muscle heads can make things simple." Yasaka said as she thought back to her time under his tutelage.

"What are your orders Yasaka-sama?" Ushiwakamaru asked as she stood up.

"We organize a duel with the Oni leaders in a neutral location and subdue them. Such powerful Youkai can be very useful after unifying everyone. They must have some degree of charisma alongside their strength to gather so many Oni clans under themselves, while being smart enough to not rampage around like their ancestors." I answered as I prepared some tea.

"Let's hope we don't have to kill them then. Powerful generals are difficult to get after all." Tamamo-nee added as she sat down as well.

"True." I said as I sent out some quick orders. "But now is tea time. Shujin-sama should be coming soon with Serafall nee-sama."

"Then I shall take my leave Yasaka-sama and ensure none interrupt your time with your guests." Ushi-Chan seriously said as she took her leave.

"Poor girl needs to learn to relax." Nee-sama commented.

"*Sigh* I know, but it'll take time we simply don't have at the moment. But hopefully being around people who care for her will help." I responded with some sadness until I heard a smooth masculine voice behind me and felt the familiar warmth of well muscled arms.

"Now what made my little sun sad?" My mate asked as I instinctively nuzzled his neck backwards.

"I'll tell you about it later, for now come with me." I replied as I took his hand and went towards my sleeping area.

"Be careful not to get pregnant yet Yasa." Tamamo-nee teased as we left.

"Yeah! I get the first baby!" Serafall-nee followed up as I felt myself blush at the thought of having little kits with Lith-sama.

"*Chuckle* Doesn't mean we can't have fun though." Lith-sama whispered to me as I felt shivers run through my body from the excitement.

'The Oni can wait. This is more important.' I inwardly declared as this began a wonderful night of passionate and powerful lovemaking, which Serafall-nee joined in at some point and Lith-sama extended using his powers.

The next day I was feeling completely satisfied as I still felt his warmth inside, and was able to deal with all the bickering my decision to face the Oni leaders created.

But as I learnt under Lith-sama, a leader needs to show strength and authority to make sure their followers trusted them at times like this, while winning helps us establish our prestige. And Nee-sama and myself were likely the strongest youkais alive at the moment, aside from Mana, thus our confidence was high.

We met the two Oni leaders near Mount Ooe at night, where both sides had their forces gathered to witness the fight and minimize the collateral damage as they all maintained the require barriers.

The appearance of the onis was surprising.

My opponent would be the one I felt fire from as I could feel my own roaring to challenge them, Ibaraki-douji.

She had the stature considered ideal for the humans of these lands, rather short and with a modest body. She had long straight blond hair and blood red eyes, two horns with black bases turning to red on her forehead and pointed ears.

Ibaraki's outfit seems to be a loosely worn, short-skirted yukata with a white, low-cut undershirt. Her yukata, of the same color as her hair, possesses long extensions on her sleeves, decorated with a multi-colored floral pattern. Outside the yukata, she wears a string of large black beads, resembling those of her earrings, while on the inside, she wears a wine-colored sash, tied into a bow on her back, with a yellow hexagonal pattern on each end. With her yukata worn loosely, her shoulders are exposed as a result.

She also seems to maintain Oni-like hands and feet, with tribal tattoos of the same red color as said limbs.

The young looking Oni wielded a great blade made of bones which exuded cursed and demonic energies as it rested on her shoulders.

Nee-Sama's opponent would be Shuten-douji, as we felt a certain poisonous aura from her that she would be well equipped to handle.

Shuten-douji was different as her skin is pale tinged with light purple, almost resembling silver. Her hair is purple and short, reaching only her neck and her bangs cut past her forehead. Her eyes are lustrous purple, with red makeup painted right above them. Unlike Ibaraki-douji's horns, Shuten-douji's do not protrude out of her forehead, but rather appear to flow out of her body naturally, going from the same pale tone of her skin and gradually becoming wine-red. Her fangs are sharp and long compared to those of humans.

She also wore a revealing outfit, with an extremely long kimono without sash, leaving it open and exposing the body underneath. The kimono is bluish-purple, with red curved lines drawn throughout it. Underneath the open kimono, Shuten-douji is mostly naked. Her ankles have red ribbons tied around them. She wears a piece of seemingly metallic material that covers her womanly areas, linked together by thin lines, and going all the way up to her neck, connecting into a choker. Of the same material, her hands and feet wear small pieces, tied around her fingers and wrists, and toes and heels respectively.

"Let's get started then. I hope you Kyubi are worthy of your fame." An almost bored Ibaraki-douji said to me.

"As you wish." I replied as I let loose a golden aura which lit up the surroundings as if the sun had risen.

Meanwhile Ibaraki-douji unleashed bright flames imbued with a form of malevolent energy which made oni-like faces appear in the flames.

'She is rather strong, let us see her close range combat first.' I thought as I burst forward.

"Oh? I'm surprised you can move so fast with that fat in the way." The Oni rudely commented with a mocking smile as she wildly swung her cursed blade with one hand.

Scoffing at the attack, I smoothly redirected her flow as her unrestrained momentum caused her to suddenly change direction mid air, and I struck her with a powerful palm right into the earth, causing it to rumble in protest as a crater was formed.

"Hmph, like a little girl like you would understand." I replied as I knew for a fact that my beloved mate enjoyed my figure.

"Damn. You pack a punch for a fox." Was the response as a slightly stumbling figure got up. "This could actually be exciting for once."

I didn't respond and simply took a ready stance as the Oni burst forward with pure strength, no technique or tactic, just a wild swing again but much more powerful as she took this seriously now.

Too bad for her, I was taught by stronger and better.

Not taking any chances in touching such a cursed weapon, I instead struck out with a kick towards her legs, which forced her to dodge, but she impressively spun mid air and used my own leg as a platform to jump upwards instinctively before I could follow through with a spear hand.

"Taaaaaakkke thiiisssss!!!" The blonde Oni shouted as she used both her hands to bring down her blade.

I simply used the best defense possible, not being where she struck.

The impact made a large area collapse as the blade didn't so much cut the ground as crush it. And in the dust I appeared behind the Oni and attacked with an supported elbow strike to her head.

But it seemed that her instincts saved her again as she raised her arm to defend herself. But-

*crack!*

My strike was empowered by some of my touki and such a sloppy defense would not withstand it as she was sent flying.

"Gaah! That hurt you fox cow!" The angry Oni girl shouted as flames burst out of her and shot towards me.

"So it is time for long range combat then? Very well." I calmly replied as my golden flames appeared around me in a vortex as they shielded from her attack.

'It would seem she infused some of the darker aspects of youjutsu into her flames and the famed red Oni aura into them to enhance their destructiveness further.' I analyzed as her attack was nulled.

Lith-sama had made it clear that knowing your opponent and yourself was one of the keys to winning any true battle. Thus researching every youkai had been a large part of my preparations before returning to my homeland. So I knew perfectly well the abilities of such important clans like the Oni, Tengu, Nekomata and Tanuki, reducing their danger levels as long as I kept in mind the possibilities of the stronger members holding either unique, evolved or mutated powers as well.

"You will need to do more than that." I told her girl as I lifted my hand and sent out an ord of sun-fire.

Ibaraki-douji's eyes widened as she dodged the attack, watching the spot she had been in a moment prior explode and the ground melt as the orb unleashed the flames within.

"Grrr! Great Oni's rage!" The girl shouted as she wreathed her cursed blade in her flames, creating a massive blade reaching the sky and then brought it down towards me.

'Amaterasu's protection.' I inwardly called as my sun-fire spun around myself rapidly in a concentrated dome.

'I need to use this chance to stimulate my energy properly. Desire and affinity. Those are the hints my dear mate gave me for how to evolve my energy to the next stage.' I thought as the giant blade impact my defense, causing a massive fiery explosion as light burst out and the heat burnt everything around us.

"Graaaah! Break Damn shell!" Ibaraki-douji yelled as she put even more power into her blade.

I decided to stay on the offensive as I stimulated more and more of my energy to quicken the rotation and increase the thickness of the shield.

I then had a sudden idea and concentrated everything more, reducing the size of the shield, which caused Ibaraki-douji to lose her balance suddenly, and then making my shield expand massively in a centralized pulse attack, send her flying and cancelling her blade completely.

"What a useful trick for muscle heads." I noted as saw the effectives as long as the timing was appropriate.

"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO BURN YOU!" A rather angry Ibaraki-douji declared as her limbs were now covered in fire, while wings of flames appeared behind her and her horns had a flaming crown between them.

'Oh? An Oni Queen? How surprising.' I thought as the behavior of the Onis and the power of these two girls now made sense. 'Too bad she is both inexperienced in high level combat and untrained.'

In response I utilized my own full body combat technique, Amaterasu's envoy, building on Mana's Embodiment of Lightning as I use my massive Touki and Sun-fire to dramatically boost my physical attributes and close combat impact range.

This made my body emit a warm light as my ears, hair and tails turned into pure solar flames and my arms and legs took on more fox characteristics.

The impact of her fist being grabbed by me as a show of strength, ruined the ground again, and then I pulled her in and struck her chin with my knee but didn't let go of her hand as I used the momentum to slam her into the earth, following up with a devastating axe kick when she bounced, causing her to be slammed down again as my heel struck her desperate block as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

*Snap*

"Aaaaaah!" But she let out a howl of pain as her already cracked arm broke, then even more so as I followed up with a palm strike which sent her away and a few of her ribs to break as well.

I calmly watched her skip against the ground as she flew away, only stopping after she went through a few trees which had been far away enough to not be burnt down yet.

I waited patiently as the Oni queen stumbled her wait out of the trees, with a bent forearm, harsh breathing, bleeding from her head, arms and a few gashes, slightly limping and with a mix of anger, awe and fear in her eyes.

'What a tough one. That strong of an attack would have put most non-physical low rank Satan-class opponents out of commission, but she still has her fighting spirit.' I thought as I looked at the battered girl.

"I acknowledge you as stronger, but my pride won't let me surrender until you take this one last attack from me. Beat this with me surviving and I'm yours." Ibaraki-douji declared as her blade reappeared in her hands and a massive amount of energy and fire began gathering into it.

The entire blade seemed to be near melting point as veins of heat pulsed powerfully and all the flames concentrated within it.

As a response, I decided to use the signature skill of the Nine-tailed foxes.

I channeled my Touki, fire and light magic through my tails and into the concentrated ball of foxfire above my mouth.

The glowing ball grew and grew until I felt Ibaraki finishing her preparations, I then shrunk the ball enough to enter my mouth, feeling my entire energy pulsing in my body as I even integrated the space magic my mate had gifted me through our bond, everything working in unison.

And then it was time.

"ENMA'S BLADE!!!" The Oni queen roared out as a crimson slash the size of a mountain erupted from her swing, containing the heat and power of the oni's damned fire.

'Fox's roar against the Heavans.' I inwardly declared as everything clicked into the place and I unleashed my most powerful strike ever by opening my mouth and letting everything I had built up over the last century free for the first time.

And when the godly golden beam I released struck the demonic red slash, it wasn't even a contest anymore as I felt my energy evolve to the next step and completely overwhelm the girl's attack.

It was only thanks to my thoroughly mastered energy manipulation and space magic that I managed to redirect my attack upward before it hit her that Ibaraki-douji was still alive.

But in exchange the barriers held up by hundreds of youkai was shattered and my attack pierced into the heavens before exploding into a mighty light which washed over all present with it warmth, making it seem as if the sun had risen in the middle of the night.

"So this is what Shujin-sama meant when he said it just clicked. What a mysterious feeling." I said to myself as I looked at my own body and then around the place.

'Ibaraki-douji seemed to have lost consciousness but is otherwise alive.

It would also seem nee-sama has defeated her opponent as well and judging by the black flames still burning on her half of the battlefield she had her fun. And her opponent is also alive, and a poison user going by the damage over there.

None of the observers should have been harmed and the Oni don't seem to be gathering for an offensive, so they should be honoring their word so far.

I would call this a successful day' I thought as a satisfied smile was present on my face. 'Now I only need to have my mate ravage me to truly makes this a wonderful one.'

Turns out, it was a wonderful one.

-Enkidu's Tour of the Underworld

The capital and villages were both thriving in their own ways.

Both had a completely different direction of growth than during Gil's time or when we saw humans in general, but I am not sure if this is due to them all being devils or from supernatural races, or because of the governance.

I will visit other places in the Underworld after I finish observing Lith Azaroth's rule.

But for now I found myself in the center of his military: The Military City, Citadel.

This city was built with one thing in mind, defense.

The walls were the biggest I had ever seen, with heights even the heavenly bull wouldn't be able to go over and thickness which even its great horns wouldn't manage to pierce through should it even succeed in breaking through the absurd level of magic the wall held.

Then defensive magic dome which covered the sky above the wall and city was equally impressive. Completely shutting the space of the city to prevent any kind of infiltration as one needed to either have a pre-approved permit like the token I was given or be approved at the gate after an inspection and background check. The barrier also served to make it seem like the Great Wall was not there from the inside to not depress inhabitants, but also covers under the city as well.

All soldiers and residents of the city are registered and receive Citadel identification cards to ease comings and goings.

For a military city it was rather lively as it seemed that everything was present to not only ensure maximum effectiveness in soldiers physically like training grounds, martial schools and hospitals, this city also catered to their intellectual development with libraries and schools for officer training.

There was the surprising presence of institutions dedicated towards gambling and prostitution as well. Something which I inquired about and it seemed like Lith Azaroth believed soldiers needed time away from the mentality of war and combat to remain effective, hence decided to set in place proper channels for soldiers to relax instead of letting others do so I less ideal manners. This also explained the presence of things like taverns.

Another surprise was the abundant presence of women and children, as well as the needed ressources to allow them to live fulfilling lives as child care institutions and schools were in place for the young ones while most mothers tended to either run their own shops or socialized. Although most schools had military intensive courses.

There were also normal shops dedicated to clothing, furniture, everyday items, groceries and the likes. But one could also see an abundance of arms and armor related stores.

I learnt that this city wasn't only the center for the military in a physical sense, meaning due to housing the largest number of soldiers in these lands, but also because of its administrative role and its duty as the center for a massive barrier covering the entirety of his lands, linking to every fortress.

Visiting the center of the Citadel was something I was interestingly allowed to do with this token. I spent time to understand just how much work comes from maintaining military forces compared to simply letting regional lords hold armies while filling the gaps with levies. It was akin to the harmony of nature as I watched the men and women work together smoothly.

I even met the man in charge of all military matters, one Horuth and his second-in-command Thillis.

Both were powerful men, strong but flexible as they had astounding presences.

They were also surprisingly humble even with the power entrusted into them and had praise for their lord for his insights in both raising forces and maintaining them.

I learnt that this entire type of military structure was developed by Lith Azaroth and with the help of experienced soldiers like Horuth, explaining the drastic difference the elderly man told me about compared to both his time in the Great War and under another house.

It was interesting to meet someone older than myself, even if I had not been free in a long time.

Before my time in this City was done, I had the opportunity to witness a 'War Game'.

This was essentially organized battles of various kinds between the current legions of Azaroth.

Today we would be observing the 5th Legion facing off against the 3rd Legion in a Fortress Defense/Capture.

Each Legion would get a turn at both defending and attacking a fortress, with the winner being decided by a compilation of multiple factors. The most prominent points being the number of casualties on both sides, the amount of time elapsed and the ressources used.

Of course deaths were ensured to not happen, but injuries will still occur. This is to not render these exercises meaningless and also to train the medical corps.

Overall it was an interesting event to witness as each side attempted various tactics and deployed formations I had never seen before, while witnessing a supernatural battle on this scale was not one I had ever witnessed either.

A fitting end to my stay in Citadel.

My next stops would be the Great Lake city of Leviat and the Mountain City of High Skaro.

______________________________________

EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

So, the rest of the Underworld isn't totally blind to Lith's actions and his territory being better than everyone else's.

But, if anyone properly remembered, Lith Brainwashed most Lords by the end of the Civil war to both manipulate information and so they could act as sleeper agents should it ever be necessary. This compounded by his own counter-intelligence and security measures, allows him to pretty much control what others know about him and his close ones.

Hell, they don't even know for sure if it is actually Scáthach and the only reason they know about her is because there was a celebration. The rest of the Peerage members have been masked by Lith to make them be underestimated and so no one would complain too much.

As for Scáthach being into Lith, it's a mix of both her own values as a warrior queen of Scotland and being 'saved' by him in a sense. As a result, she sees him as probably the second man to ever really fit her criteria as either simply a sexual partner or actual husband.

The reason she was rejected is because Lith values lover/wife/mate level relationships a lot and will not carelessly jump into them. I think I established that well before. He also will not sacrifice the happiness of those he is already with for momentary temptation. So it will take time for him to accept Scáthach or anyone if they haven't been with him long and haven't developed a strong relationship with not just himself but also his current partners.

Next, I wanted to have Yasaka being badass as she curb stomped someone and moved to the next level. It just also happened to involve introducing a few more Fate characters for fun.

Ushiwakamaru was actually said to have been raised/taught by Tengu, so I made her half Tengu descended from the Minamoto clan. She will be Yasaka's most trusted guard and friend basically.

Ibaraki and Shuten are basically descendants of the originals. I thought they would fit well as leaders of the Oni clans the original Yasaka wouldn't have been able to beat them without killing them or that she had to kill one in single combat resulting in the other going a bit Berserk and resulting in the majority of Oni youkai being wiped out and weakening her own faction for a while, thus why they wouldn't really be there in canon even though Oni are pretty major demons in Japan. They are also relatively young, reaching earlier stages of Ultimate-class thanks to inborn strength and heritage alone, much like Satan descendants as I'm making them Oni royalty basically.

I've also thought that having Tamamo being a powerful ice magic user would be helpful in finding more Yuki-onna and gathering them to their side.

So overall I think I am already showing a massive increase in both Yasaka's personal strength and the future strength of the Youkai faction she will control.

And finally we had Enkidu's bit as he enjoys the military center of House Azaroth.

I made it so he can actually appreciate this due to having seen Gilgamesh deal with these kinds of duties and issues himself, so seeing this advanced military structure would be impressive.

He visited this place because no ruler can truly rule without an army to support both himself and his territory, no matter how idealistic, one needs strength to protect and enforce ones vision. So it was an important place to see.