51 Ch. 51 Meeting other Leaders

"So this is the fabled capital city of Azura. The Underworld's city of hope. Not bad at all." A certain scruffy man with black hair and golden bangs as he looked at said city from his arrival point.

"Thanks. Many people worked hard to make it what it is and I thought you would prefer to get a proper look at it over simply teleporting directly to the castle and having our meeting." I replied with a proud smile.

"Haha! That's true. Can't wait to see all those goodies I've heard so much about." The man heartily responded as he acted quite carefree.

"You'll love it Azazel! We have super delicious snack shops!" Serafall chimes in energetically.

And yes, the man before us was the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, Azazel.

He had learnt of Abezel's survival and tried to contact him regarding meeting either each other or myself.

Of course this was his way of getting information the Fallen have failed at obtaining, even if a little bit. I knew this man was far too clever to not be able to fish useful information out of a person without them noticing. But I decided to open up a proper dialogue until this meeting was arranged.

So the man showed up with one gruff and buff Baraquiel as his guard due to it being a bit too much for their boss to just go out alone.

I have to say though, the V-neck maroon long-coat with a wide, open high-collar that opens up at the hem, two black belts around the waist and four black bands on each arm, two of the bands at the wrist and the other two near the elbow, and even more black bands near his ankles on top of his Grey pants, kind of tells me where Vali got his Chuuni side from.

Baraquiel just came in his standard armor and covered it with a green cloak.

"I look forward to it! I heard the food is just heavenly, or sinful depending on the impact." Was the jovial response.

"That it is. Haven't found anywhere else with food that can compare." I said to him as we all began walking to the city.

"Hehe! Even when I visited other Pantheons it still doesn't beat Leora's food!" Bragged my wife with a puffed out chest.

"Ho oh? Now that has me even more curious!" The fallen Governor-General declared as he went along with the carefree atmosphere.

"Sorry if this stresses you out Sir Baraquiel." I said to the man who already looked ready to sigh at his superior and friend's behavior.

"It's fine Lord Azeroth. We have all long gotten used to Azazel's behavior. But I do hope your words prior to this meeting were truthful." He stoically replied with some slight hope in his voice.

"They are. My lands were built to be a sanctuary for those who wanted stability and hope in the Underworld. It has grown much more than that and now I want to form a platform where true peace could be achieved within our faction and maybe with the other pantheons as well." I admitted as the Cold War-esque situation was too volatile to do nothing about it.

And if it allows for me to openly have relationships with women I care for, then that's just a side benefit.

"An admirable goal." The gruff Fallen replied as we went ahead to get into the city.

Azazel would obviously try to fish for information along the way and maybe even through Sera, but she was the Underworld's best diplomat for a good reason and I trusted her to not say anything too secret.

Some secrets needed to be revealed to established proper trust however, but those have already been chosen. Hence why this walk through Azura was happening and why a few more things would be seen by our guests.

So we had a nice stroll through the Main Street, some lesser known snack shops, passed through Explosion lane where most inventors and alchemists are placed due to everything being heavily reinforced there, Azazel was drooling a bit when looking around like crazy, baffled the two with a Shokugeki viewing and made the Sacred gear nut want to spend a lot of time questioning Muramasa about his weapons when we went by his shop.

You know, minor tactics to target an important person's likes against them to make negotiations with them more advantageous to yourself due to them now wanting things from you.

By the time we made it to the room for our talks, where they both got a good scare from Medusa serving everyone as a maid despite being a goddess, the fallen were a bit dazed, and even if Azazel could hide it and Baraquiel's eyes were basically closed, it was still noticeable.

"*Sigh* Damn, looks like I lost this round huh?" Azazel said as a smug smile was brought to my lips.

"Yup." I answered while popping the p.

"Hehe! Plan successful!" Serafall happily cheered as we high-five'd.

"Huh?" The confused Baraquiel sounded out as he looked between us and his boss.

"These two made ME want to deal with them." Azazel clarified as the Lighting of God took a moment before it clicked.

"The tour was to tempt us. To make us want more." He said in realization.

"And it worked like a charm." I said to them with a grin as Azazel wryly smiled. "So want in?"

"Who else is in already? Or are we the first ones?" He asked in return as things got a bit more serious.

"Currently I have the Shinto and Youkai in agreement, with Olympus as well. Negotiating with Asgard and Heaven right now, and I'm not sure about about the Hindu, African, and Buddhas." I honestly answered.

Amaterasu an her brothers were very open thanks to our cooperations having gone splendidly on the past and our friendships. Sera and I often stop by when visiting Yasa to have tea and talk. They even support Tōtsuki as they sent their own servants to go learn from their and came back vastly improved.

Of course Yasaka was on board. Her trusted advisors already knew about our relationship, that the gods supported us and how we came to be together, so they weren't opposed to things either. Hell, they might get a lot of benefits since the relationship between Yasa and I was great.

Meanwhile the good relationship we have with Hera, Apollon and Hephaestus was a boon, with Poseidon being a supporter thanks to Perseus and our business ties, and Aphrodite was also weirdly supportive. It helped that Hera had Zeus by the nuts for this one as she broke out the Voodoo dildo to make sure he wouldn't fuck around. Artemis was open to it as well thanks to a good number of hunts she shared with Heltana over the years, and as long as she behaves in my lands I have no issues with her. Then Dionysus was all in just so he can come and get plastered down here. That made over half the Olympians in support, making things easy.

As for Asgard, well discussions were just starting due to Brynhildr cussing out Odin too much, while secretly spreading information regarding the many benefits Azaroth offered. Odin had to deal with a full on strike as negotiations had to be done to not lose a good number of Valkyries, which delayed matters.

I was on the fence regarding the Hindu pantheon, but sent an offer. The Buddhas were welcomed, saying they would send Sun Wukong to check things out. While the African coalition was having some internal debates over the invitation.

The Chinese were not coming anywhere near my people unless some serious promises and restrictions are placed on them. I do not tolerate young masters, horny idiots and egocentric blowhards from my own race, much less from some twits who 'have eyes but doesn't recognize Mount Tai' from another Pantheon.

This was explained to our fallen Angel duo, while staying away from more personal details of course.

And when I talked about having alcohol which made a god of wine plastered, Azazel had to have some so we broke some out as Sera had a bit of a mischievous smile over the fact that the fallen likely didn't have any hangover cures.

Baraquiel refused the offer for some drinks, being rather straight laced while on duty at least. Azazel tried to tease him into drinking, but the man remained firm.

"You know… I heard you guys had stuff that'd make Beelzebub jealous. I want to see that." Azazel drunkenly said as the drinks hit him hard.

"That we do! We even give him regular upgrades and new stuff when his own falls behind." I bragged as Ajuka might have a better IQ than myself or Da Vinci, but he couldn't match our inventiveness. "He and my Bishop have a bit of a competitive streak."

"Yeah, but i love that Da Vinci-chan kicks his butt and wipes that cocky 'I'm smarter than you' grin off his face!" Serafall chimed in.

"Your Bishop likes technology?" Azazel asked with a weird face.

"She's a polymath. Loves to create things and play with magic, then combine the things she creates with magic." I explained as I let the information out without much care. "Great artists too."

"Well since I can't really meet Beelzebub, I'm mighty curious if I could meet his rival." The Governor-General said with great curiosity.

"Then let's go! Da Vinci-chan should be in her workshop this week!" Sera excitedly said as she stood up and dragged me by the arm.

"Wait now?" The slightly surprised man said before shaking his head and becoming a bit excited, "Alright then!"

We quickly made our way through and reached Da Vinci's workshop.

Inside was still a wonderful mix of wood, books, magic and tech as the workshop faced many upgrades over the decades, but Da Vinci still loves real books, drawing by hand and the atmosphere wood brings.

"Vinci-chan~ We bring guests!" Sera called out as she found the polymath and glomped her affectionately.

"Oh Sera-chan! How are you today? And is this that Azazel we stole data from Lith?" Da Vinci asked enthusiastically.

"Yup." I answered casually.

"That was you?" A surprised Azazel asked as he stared at me.

"Was doing some research on souls, possibly useful sacred gears and how they work. I'll pass you the data we collected on the ones we have right now as payback." I answered him because I knew what he would like to make things even.

"Deal. But how did you even get into my workshop?" He said out of curiosity.

"If you forget that question I'll show you some rather unique data I'm sure you would love." I replied with a devilish smile.

"Really? Then show me your temptation oh Devil." He dramatically responded.

"Da Vinci, bring up Jeanne's energy data." I simply said to my Bishop as a holographic display showed up and she inputted a few commands before a glowing ball floated out of her main crystal server to hover before us.

Then a screen showing an outline of Jeanne and a multitude of data appeared as Azazel took a keen interest until his eyes widened.

"Th-this… is this what I think it is?" The fallen asked aloud as his soul shook.

"I completely understand your reaction. Even now I still haven't found a way to replicate it as Jeanne managed it with Lith, but it's fascinating no? The combination of Holy and Demonic power into one person, and even mutating a Longinus thanks to it." Da Vinci answered him as the man became extremely focused and stopped faking the drunkenness he had gotten rid of the moment we reached the workshop, which was rather impressive and meant he also faked drinking too much.

"It mutated a Longinus!? Which one?" The fallen asked with extreme interest.

"Oh, Incinerate Anthem. You see…" Da Vinci began as the two went into their own world as I spotted a triumphant smile.

"Say Lith, why is Azazel so interested in Jeanne's energy?" Sera asked me curiously due to the rather intense feeling Azazel had at the moment.

"Want to explain it Baraquiel?" I said as I passed the ball over to our other fallen.

"Before he fell, and brought pretty much the entirety of the 5th Heaven with him, Azazel was still a devoted researcher. During his time, he devoted much of himself to trying to prove the feasibility of Artificial Sacred Gears, which he still continues to work on till this day and has made great progress towards.

It was when he brought forward his idea for not only an artificial Sacred Gear, but also the possible mixing of Holy and Demonic energies into such a construct. Unfortunately this proposal became somewhat of a sensitive point to Azazel due to this idea being relentlessly mocked after Michael published his idea.

Ever since then i know he's secretly been working on his proposed Blazer Shinning in secret to prove everyone wrong." Baraquiel expertly narrated as the two researches grew more and more excited as they spoke to each other.

"That's a weird name." Commented Serafall.

"Matches how he and most Fallen dress." I casually replied with a shrug. "No offense Baraquiel."

"None taken. I have, repeatedly, attempted to implement some form of uniform in our forces instead of having them parade around with impractical outfits or looking akin to human whores." The fallen replied with some bitterness.

"Must be tough." I said to him with sympathy. "Would you like to see our military system in action some time later to give you ideas?"

"You'd let a hostile force see your military?" He questioned in return.

"Well you won't exactly be a hostile force to me much longer. I knew before you guys even showed up that you would agree on these lands being a neutral ground." I knowingly replied with a calm smile.

"*Sigh* You truly are as Azazel said Lord Azaroth. But it would be appreciated to see your feared military might in action." The burly man ultimately said as he hinted at his boss's weariness of me just as I am of him.

A common problem amongst background manipulator types with some degree of intelligence.

"Azazel, we should probably settle on the agreements regarding the Neutral Zone. You can have the data as a 'welcome aboard' gift." I said as I interrupted the two inventors and snapping them out of their little world.

"Huh? Right, right. Almost forgot about that. My bad." The fallen said with a slightly embarrassed smile for getting sidetracked so bad and getting caught up in my bait.

"I'll make a physical copy since i doubt Grigori uses our type of systems." Da Vinci said as she typed away.

"Thank you." Azazel replied before I saw his eyes widen a bit as he looked at her and his entire demeanor shifted to confidence. "*Ahem* even though we've heard each other's names I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves.

I'm Azazel, Governor-General of Grigori. A genuine pleasure to meet such an brilliant beauty."

I couldn't even say anything as I looked at the man laying down his charms as he gently kissed Da Vinci's left hand with a 'dashing' smile.

"Pleasure to meet the famed Governor. I am the beautiful genius Da Vinci-chan, Bishop and Head Researcher of Lith Azaroth." The polymath confidently introduced herself.

"Beautiful indeed. Tell me, would you be interested in sharing data further? Maybe over a nice dinner?" The old crow smoothly asked.

He looked rather hopeful as Sera and I watched in cat-like amusement and Baraquiel couldn't believe his boss was trying to pick up a woman now.

"Sorry, too busy. And I doubt you'd find better food than Liora's anyway." Da Vinci almost mercilessly said as she shot him down, causing Azazel to visibly tremble before regaining his cool.

"Then how about after Azaroth becomes a Neutral Ground? I could bring all the new data I've built up and compare notes during a visit." The man offered as Sera and I just watched with popcorn, much to the further bafflement of Baraquiel.

The Lightning of God seemed to give up once he noticed we were far from being upset and resignedly took some offered popcorn.

"Hmmmm." Da Vinci thought for a few moments which caused Azazel to hold his breath. "Sure. I'll probably have some free time by then. If you're Lith's guest then you'll probably be able to stay in the castle and we can trade data."

"Perfect!" Azazel exclaimed as he turned toward us with determination, not seeing the instantly hidden popcorn. "What are you all waiting for, let's sign some things and get this done."

After saying that he hurried out of the room as we followed we amused smiles and the Cadre facepalmed over this.

With how enthusiastic the man now was, it didn't take much time to go over things regarding the Neutral Ground.

It was essentially going to be one huge trading hub and mixing pot for the many willing races and pantheons.

Every party which signed the agreement presented and negotiated, will then designate an area where a permanent portal will be built. This portal will serve as a terminal to receive clearance passes which one must apply for beforehand and be cleared to possess in order to pass through the portal and stay in Azaroth lands. These clearance passes will be linked to the receiver in order to monitor them and make sure they are neither in danger nor breaking the agreed upon rules.

Said rules will basically be the current laws of House Azaroth. But the big ones boil down to no criminal activities, no fighting outside designated spar, combat or tournament zones, no racial/faction/inter-pantheon issues unless properly scheduled in the right facilities.

Any breaking of rules can result in punishment under Azaroth laws, suspension of clearance for an amount of time determined by severity of transgression, outright banishment, severe fines for pantheon or faction of origins, and even an entire Pantheon or faction losing the right to enter the Neutral Grounds until further notice.

Of course there are dozens of other little things to worry about. Rules, restrictions, having to reassure people, and guarantees of safety. But we managed to get through everything relatively quickly.

After our talks were done, the two Fallen needed to head back in order to work on things from their ends and get the ball rolling. So I opened a portal for them near Grigori Headquarters as a flex both noticed, but said nothing about.

Productive day.

-Azazel and Baraquiel side of things after leaving.

"The kid really knows how to play the game." Azazel commented with a slightly weary sigh.

"This is a dangerous ability. I've heard he can transport entire armies like this." Baraquiel grimly followed up.

"But he won't. This is just a warning, not against Grigori per say, but for me." The Governor said to his friend.

"For you?" The cadre questioned.

"Yes. To keep our people in line mostly. I think he knows about our little internal scuffles." Azazel answered, revealing a slightly scary fact.

"What do we do?" The stoic man immediately asked as a man of action.

"Nothing for now. This just means we can at least confirm he has spies in Grigori or can get information from others who have spies amongst us. Nothing new." The Governor answered with a shrug. "More importantly, I've gotta get that data ready for my second meeting with Da Vinci-chan."

"W-wait! Azazel! You can't seriously want to court such an important person in another faction!" Baraquiel almost desperately said as he followed his boss.

"Well, yeah. Did you see her? Man, father made her perfectly when she came out. And with a brain that even I had trouble keeping up with." Azazel replied with clear admiration. "Might even be keeping it to one woman if I really start dating this century."

That made Baraquiel's eyes fully open.

This was because that was the closest he had ever heard Azazel talk about fidelity. Ever. Even his obsession with Gabriel was more due to a desire for a forbidden fruit and a naive obsession towards breasts. Azazel never said he wanted to truly be with her. But now meeting a reincarnated Devil made him say that and he could only watch his old friend walk away in stunned silence.

-Back to Lith

With the great success of Azazel's visit, which brought a lot of laughter for myself and gossip for Sera who went around everyone to share the Governor's brave attempt.

This wasn't the first time someone had tried to court Da Vinci over the years. She is very beautiful, in her own words she is a flawless beauty, and the many researchers and artists she works with or talks to have certainly developed more than admiration for her brains and talents.

But as intelligent as she is, she is either excellently faking or is completely oblivious to amorous feelings others can have for her.

Whenever any brave soul attempted to woo her, they were met with words like 'why would I eat with you', 'Get back to work', In some occasions when they managed to do some nude modeling she even shattered souls by saying 'Really hard to draw something so small.'

So this latest challenger was making the household very interested. With bets going around regarding the Governor's success.

There used to be some bets about having me try my hand, but Da Vinci is just a great friend and thinking buddy, so that stopped.

I personally believe she is asexual and art is one of the only way she truly gets close to such feelings, thus her passion for it even though she is a researcher at heart.

Anyway, the next few days were good.

I had some more talk with Odin about his inclusion, but he really wasn't making much progress with his Valkyrie problem. I just hoped he fixed things before communism starts being a thing.

My 'no Loki allowed' rule wasn't exactly helping either, but I wasn't having a god obsessed with Ragnarok and mischief down here. There were already too many potential diplomatic clusterfucks before even involving him.

In fact, many gods with violent or troublesome personalities were also included unless they can prove to be responsible, have an approved possible voucher vouch for them and accept the possible penalties, or accept severe restrictions placed on them.

These kinds of things were basically triggers for prideful beings like gods. But not my problem. I was just inviting the most reasonable people with the greatest chances for success at the moment and operations would begin with those already on board. If it succeeds like I plan it to, more will be willing to join and the longer we continue to fulfill our ends of the agreements the more prestige and recognition we get.

Plus, it wasn't like they had to come here, it was just that it would essentially become the largest neutral zone in the supernatural world.

I am sure many of those old devils would have some issues with this, but too bad for them.

But to really achieve my true goal, I had to include Heaven as well. Which meant meeting Michael. Something I was going to do now that two weeks had passed since Azazel's visit.

It took quite some time to arrange things through Gabriel, mostly because we both knew her brothers would be incredibly suspicious of a Devil contacting not just an angel, but also the most protected Seraph, now archangel, in Heaven.

The way we set things up was to reveal to Micheal the existence of Jeanne's Sanctuary, with her approval of course, and that Gabriel had been helping save people blessed by their Father from abuse within the church, attacks from people or beasts, and even when on the brink of death.

Apparently this shocked Micheal to learn that the 'Witch of Vengeance', someone many high ranking priests/exorcists and investigations warned him about, was in fact saving and protecting blessed and wronged individuals, creating one of the largest gatherings of Holy power outside Heaven. It was only her methods against those who harmed the innocent which left much to be desired, but hearing of her origin made Michael at least understand her reasons even if he could not condone her actions.

Jeanne and I would meet Michael and Gabriel in an abandoned town then head to Sanctuary from there.

Obviously Gabriel, Jeanne and I knew where Sanctuary was, and Michael was someone who would not betray the trust his sister put in him nor endanger blessed individuals needlessly, but we would use our meeting ground to portal to our true location instead of meeting near it. This was so possible leaks and spying eyes wouldn't have a chance at finding Sanctuary and screw with it.

Not many people truly knew where Sanctuary was outside of its residents, Gabriel, Jeanne, myself and the rest of my peerage, with fewer who knew and didn't have seals or magical bindings to protect their memories and knowledge of the place.

I aimed to keep it that way.

Not only was it Jeanne's work, it served as an interesting experiment, offered a nice place for potential recruits, gave us access to Holy stuff and power, and was an incredibly peaceful place to relax in. I wasn't going to let people mess with all that.

So at 9am, we all met in the little deserted town.

It was my first time meeting the Archangel face to face, we had communicated to set up this meeting properly of course, but in person meetings were much more impactful.

The feeling of calm acceptance waving off of him was quite subtle and powerful, while his light was just under the surface. The serene smile on his face did make him look a bit too feminine for my books, but it did make him look less threatening.

"Hello Lord Micheal, it's a pleasure to meet you in person after hearing so much about you from Gabriel." I calmly welcomed as I held my hand out.

"A pleasure for me as well Lord Azaroth." He peacefully replied as he shook my hand without any hesitation. "My sister has also told me much about you. And I must thank you for what you have done for us."

'Michael is being careful. Understandable since we can't exactly reveal that the new breeding method came from me.' I thought at his words and knowing smile.

Yes Gabriel did reveal that little bit. She got a bit overzealous in making this meeting and possible agreement between Azaroth and Heaven happen. To the point that she blurted out that little secret to her three brothers.

Of course she became rather nervous and sad over 'breaking my trust', but it was literally impossible to be mad at her when she looked about to cry the next time I visited. She is just too innocent and adorable. Plus it wasn't exactly a big deal for me and the only consequence so far had been a much stricter eye was to be kept on my method 'just in case'. Gabriel got a bit huffy at that last bit because it made it look like they didn't believe in her abilities to discern harmful intentions and tricks, but she got better after hugs and head pats.

"Anything for a close friend." I replied with a warm smile over to Gabriel, causing her to blush a bit and squirm as she avoided my eyes but took little peeks. "Shall we?"

With my words a portal to our real meeting space opens, revealing a clean city carefully made out crafted marble buildings, beautifully paved streets, a mix of nature as the streets were lined with healthy trees and the buildings adorned with blooming flowers.

The people were wearing conservative robes, shirts and pants, dresses and togas of Azaroth standards. They were surprisingly all rather handsome, beautiful or good looking in some shape or form, all due to both their environnements, genes and the fact that magical energies tend to passively improve the wielder's body. Holy power tends to make one more of a gentle beauty for women and courageous or charismatic for men, while Devil power focuses more on seductiveness and temptation.

What would surprise visitors, who bothered to use their senses, was that the vast majority either had large magical reserves or possessed enough Holy power to be considered saints, while the atmosphere was only a few levels lower than isolated god realms in terms of ambient energies.

And what was each of these people doing? Simply living their lives as this peaceful place allowed for all to make at least a modest living owning shops, farming, offering their skills or knowledge, working in the cathedral and many other possibilities. As for the more, combattive ones, usually some people descended from heroes, innate holy sword users or exorcists, they were trained to Azaroth military standards and properly equipped to guard the town and help Jeanne rescue others.

Obviously this place was heavily protected by myself and my peerage, making a concealment barrier which even hid things from the top powers and was capable of taking some serious hit while also making sure no one could sneak in. Even I would not be able to find this place if I didn't know its location and wasn't involved in the warding.

For some obvious reasons, Sanctuary was literally one of Gabriel's favorite places on Earth as she could wonder around humans without any worry and spend time with people outside of Heaven. She was quite loved for the times I managed to sneak her out of Heaven.

Meanwhile Jeanne was this place's hero and its unofficial leader. She rejected whenever the people here tried to make her said leader, but at one point they just agreed to be subtle about it and also follow her ideologies and desires for Sanctuary.

It was amusing that a Devil became the guardian and leading figure for the place likely to be the truest center of pure worship in the world.

"What a wonderful town." Michael honestly said with a soft expression as he took everything.

"It's one of my favorite places brother! I'll show you around!" A now excited Gabriel exclaimed as she grasped her brother's arm.

"But I must hold the scheduled talks with Lord Azaroth Gabriel." Michael replied with some hesitation.

"It's no bother Lord Michael. Take your time and enjoy what Sanctuary has to offer. Jeanne and I can take this time to enjoy a little date." I told the archangel as I made my lovely pawn blush a bit at the suddenness.

"Then I thank your lenience on the matter Lord Azaroth." Michael said with a small nod before letting himself be dragged my Gabriel.

"Shall we go enjoy ourselves then my beautiful flame?" I softly asked the blushing woman who can strike fear into the hearts of exorcists and devils alike.

"Umu." She quietly said with a little nod as I took her hand and led my shy pawn to a little café we both enjoy.

Along our way many people noticed us and had knowing and slightly teasing smiles at the sight of us and their usually brash, bold, confident and powerful savior acting like a maiden.

It was a very pleasant little break for the both of us as we had some small talk regarding places visited, new people met, little bits of gossip making the rounds and the likes. We did also enjoy our food and coffee, with Sanctuary standards having also extended to its food and beverages. It was a light affair due to it only having been a couple of hours since breakfast.

Afterwards we walked hand-in-hand through the lovely botanical garden and took our sweet time, ending with a nice little make-out session in a private corner.

Only when i felt Gabriel was about done with her tour did we head towards her destination at the town square. Walking with Jeanne's head resting on my shoulder as the still mildly blushing girl silently enjoyed being like this.

We met up with the Brother-sister duo, the both of them being rather happy.

"I take it Gabriel has given you a wonderful tour of this place." I said to them with a grin.

"Yes. This is truly a place fitting for the name Sanctuary. And although I cannot stop myself from worrying that Gabriel would sneak out of Heaven so often and without letting anyone know, I am proud of her for doing so much good and following Father's ideals." The leader of Heaven replied as Gabriel did look a bit sheepish.

"Everyone needs to spread their wings to know if they can really fly. Even if we wished for them to not leave the nest." I said to him as a doting father and known worrier in my household.

"*Sigh* True. But regardless, shall we begin our talks?" Michael asked after a moment of nostalgia.

"Let's. We can go to our home here." I replied as we walked towards a modestly sized home on a hill overlooking Sanctuary.

The following talks were relatively similar to the ones held with Azazel. Security measures, rules, some concessions, guarantees of safety and the likes.

I was going to have to include clear warning for Angels to be careful to not eat too much Azaroth food or they might fall due to gluttony. Also offer maps so they don't accidentally wonder into some place like the Redlight District and get 'eaten' up by the more sexual species.

We did have talks regarding the possibility of having the people here help in Heaven's repopulation efforts due to their true piety, honest characters and lack of many of the more 'sinful' behavior for humans. The fact that most are essentially saints was a great boon. And my answer was simple enough: as long as no division is created from it, the people agree and form true relationships with their partners, then yes.

This brought smiles and relief to both Archangels, especially due to the diminishing number of 'pure' individuals within the church itself. Sanctuary was a great boon for Heaven in this sense.

Of course visiting Angels would have to follow the security measures and sign some contracts, but beyond that I had few problems letting Angels 'vacation' here and neither did Jeanne.

My lover had very few gripes with Heaven itself, especially with her friendship with Gabriel and Michael's honest apology regarding the original Jeanne D'Arc and the suffering she brought along with her spirit. She just wasn't open to having anyone still with the church here. Even now we still perform in-depth checks into a rescued individual's mind and spirit to see if they were plants to kill 'The Witch of Vengeance'.

In the end things concluded very amicably and with a lot less subtle posturing than with Azazel. Michael is an honest person, and even if he does have to make harsh decisions to maintain Heaven and God's systems, he truly cares for people and desires peace, thus subtle threats were unnecessary as long as the Great Seraphs agree with the offers and convince the rest of the angels.

It's not like angels would be coming to the Underworld much anyway, mostly due to the high risks of falling and the ambient mana down there not being healthy for them. Those visiting my lands would mostly be carefully chosen Church officials and Exorcists, with maybe some higher ranking angels like Gabriel and other Seraphs if serious things occur.

"I'll see you later Lith~! I can't wait to visit everyone!" Gabriel happily said as we all said our goodbyes.

"You are always welcome in my home Gabriel." I warmly told her as we shared a hug and she merrily snuggled in for a few extra moments before we separated.

Gabriel blushed under Michael's inquisitive and slightly thoughtful eyes, before the two teleported back to Heaven in a cross made of light.

"It's always good to spend time with Gaby." Commented Jeanne with a relaxed smile.

"That it is. I hope we can stand more time with her openly now. She is very relaxing for the soul." I said in agreement before the two of us proceeded to enjoy the rest of our day together.

And night.

-Heaven, 6th Heaven after returning from their meeting.

"So how did things go?" A curious Uriel asked the two Archangels.

"Very well. Lord Azaroth was much more approachable than his infamy amongst devils and his shadowed figure suggested." Michael answered his brother calmly.

"Do you believe him to be the type to sabotage the way he gave us?" Raphael seriously asked as this was his biggest worry, especially with how sure of it Gabriel was and her desires to test it properly.

"In truth, Lord Azaroth is a dangerous man, but I do not believe he wishes for Heaven to fall nor even to harm us. This place we visited, Sanctuary, is proof of that." Their leader answered honestly.

"Of course Lith doesn't want to harm us!" A slightly defensive Gabriel said. "Lith just doesn't really like how the church treats its people and stops progress for humans."

"You seemed rather close to him and this Jeanne, Gabriel, but please be careful. They are still a devil." Uriel warned his sister because he truly did not wish for her to be harmed.

"I have known them for a long time brother, and they are my friends. In fact, they are the reason why I can do more than simply pray for the good of others and help them now. So please don't speak ill of them brother" Gabriel replied firmly.

Such words from Gabriel stunned the other seraphs as she was usually incredibly gentle.

Only Michael seemed a bit sad, but also proud that his sister was somewhat 'growing', so to speak.

She had become the only other archangel in Heaven and this meant that should he fall, Gabriel would certainly need to become his replacement. Especially with her growing knowledge of their Father's systems. So seeing her show such a side indicated that if the worst came to pass, she would not be helpless.

But it did make him a bit sad over his sister losing some of her innocence in a way as well.

"He meant no offense sister, so please don't be upset at him." Raphael gently said as he regained his wits.

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry sister. I didn't mean to insult your friends." Uriel quickly followed.

"I am not mad brothers. I just don't like people thinking badly of them. They've been nothing but kind and helpful to me and Heaven, not deserving such suspicions." The female Archangel responded as she let the issue go.

"That is why, from now on and until our trust is betrayed, we will be accepting Lord Azaroth's terms and the formation of a Neutral Ground." Michael announced as the two other male seraphs nodded in understanding and Gabriel smiled happily.

'Just a few more steps and I can finally do it.' The innocent girl thought unbeknownst to her brothers as she continuously gathered her courage in secret and brought her sneaky plan to fruition.

_______________________________________

EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

This chapter was obviously Lith meeting and getting a better feel for the leaders of the other factions. I felt it to be a bit necessary for the building up of his lands as a neutral ground.

I also involved a few other groups and decided to have a bit of fun with Odin having issues with his Valkyries because of Brynhildr getting payback. And yes, fuck the Chinese pantheon and court culture, Lith has enough entitled pricks to keep in line without them being god too.

Now for Azazel, this thought of him being attracted to Da Vinci just came into my head and I couldn't just not do this. I thought it would both fit and be funny for a relationship to actually happen, after Azazel puts a lot of effort of course, or to have him chase after her for centuries and be unsuccessful.

I can honestly Da Vinci likely being one of the only women in DxD Azazel could actually love. Matching intelligence, her looks are still top notch, her personality and desires align rather well, and Azazel is both old enough and had been sexually active enough for the reveal of Da Vinci's former gender to not be a big issue.

Now beside that, the way I portray Azazel is as the incredibly sly and observant person he should really be. Every thing he sees and hears during his visit tells him more about who Lith is as a person a lord. So the fact that Lith had him tour around an let him generally do as he pleases as long as he goes with Serafall's antics, who also knows about Azazel fishing for information, was a sort of soft power play between the two to make Azazel realize the cultural, technological, magical, and military superiority Azaroth lands have over Earth, other Devils, Fallen and other pantheons.

This is a tactic to gain more leverage and ease negotiations due to both parties now wanting something from the other instead of just Lith asking Azazel to play ball while he sets up such a vast neutral ground.

The additional data 'gifted' to him is an additional kick in the ass to make Azazel personally want to create a cooperative relationship and for Lith to get even more data on DxD's cheat codes.

All actions between these two were subtle attempts at getting one up on each other essentially, except for the Da Vinci flirting.

Baraquiel's interactions was mostly to set up some basis of a relationship for the future as well, and for him to personally be involved in the Neutral Grounds. It also fun to have a straight man.

As for Heaven's involvement, from what I know devils will not have a great time in Heaven and angels won't have a great time in the Underworld unless strong enough to resist the large concentration of ambient energy which is hostile to them. So it thought throwing in Jeanne's sanctuary to really tempt them into agreeing and bringing the much more annoying Church on board would be best. It would serve as a main interaction hub between Azaroth and Heaven, while also giving added the added bonus of many potential fathers and mothers to help Angels recoup their numbers, thus making them more invested into maintaining a proper cooperation.

And I decided to have Gabriel be a bit more 'proactive' in subtly worming the idea of her being with Lith isn't bad and to show that she is experiencing some growth as a person.

Hope you enjoyed.