Samael, The Dragon Eater

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Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

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"You really did a number on them," Takauji smiled proudly upon returning to the West Youkai Faction Headquarters, observing the sight of Sayafushi and Benihime standing over a mountain of corpses. "Good work." 

"Yay! Master praised me!" Sayafushi cheered, and Benihime smiled softly while clinging to his arm. 

"We sensed you getting rid of the intruders over at the bridge a while ago, where were you?" Yasaka asked both him and Masashige, confused as to why they had taken over three hours to return. 

"We got hungry." 

"For three whole hours?" 

"We got really hungry," Masashige clarified. Followed by an affirmative nod from Takauji. 

"Whatever," Yasaka sighed. "You wouldn't happen to be able to do anything about that would you?" She pointed to the landfill of dead Hero Faction members, some of her Youkai drenched in sweat as they painstakingly carried them away one by one. 

"I don't know, can I?" He said with a mischievous smile. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I think you know what that means," he held his arms out, expectantly waiting for Yasaka to make a move. "No payment, no work." He insisted. 

"You're hopeless," she rolled her eyes, pulling him into a tight embrace and plastering a satisfied expression on the Dragon's face. "You know everyone's watching right?" All the Youkai had varying looks of confusion and interest as they observed the scene. 

"Oh? Did you want to keep our relationship secret? How scandalous of you." He chuckled, gently stroking her back. 

"Don't be silly, I just don't want people to think I seduced you into an alliance or anything." 

"You did though, I remember it clearly, you pushed me onto the ground with a carnal look in your eyes, using your womanly charm to put me under your spell–" 

"That's not at all what happened," she said with a mildly embarrassed look on her face, turning to the surrounding Youkai and noticing the skeptical looks on their face. "It isn't!" 

They all turned away, whistling to themselves as they continued on with their business as if they hadn't heard a thing. The Kyuubi could only relent and sigh in response, that rumor would most likely spread like wildfire throughout the day. 

"Could you at least deal with the corpses now?" She groaned.

"Sure," he pointed the tip of his finger towards the pile of cadavers, a small wisp of [Rotted Flame] shooting out and engulfing the bodies in seconds. "There, all done." 

"Thanks, now could you let me go now?" Yasaka noticed Takauji's hold wasn't loosening in the slightest. 

"That depends." 

"Just how demanding do you plan on being?" She pressed her lips against his, hoping it would be enough to satiate him, for now. "Better?" 

"Mhm," he finally released her. 

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A day had gone by since the Hero Faction had lost all its core members, and consequently been disbanded. 

Takauji was currently in his study room, waiting impatiently for someone to arrive as his foot tapped rhythmically against the floorboard.

"Sorry about the await," and after much waiting, a teleportation circle finally appeared. "So, what did you need to meet me in person for?" It was none other than Azazel. 

"I need you to tell me about this," he reached into [Vacio], pulling out the enchained jar he had retrieved from Cao Cao and putting it on the desk. "I tried asking Masa, but he didn't know what it was either." 

Takauji's eyelids lifted, able to see the tension on Azazel's face as he stared at the jar with evident caution. 

"That's not surprising, that thing is an old comrade of mine." 

"What?" 

"Its name is Samael, it used to be an Angel a long time ago, back before I fell. You know the story of Adam and Eve right?" 

"Of course." 

"Samael turned himself into the snake, making Eve eat the forbidden fruit through temptation and causing God to condemn him for his transgression, resulting in him being cursed and turned into a Dragon for the rest of his life. However, he didn't end up becoming a normal Dragon, instead he became a pitiful existence that lived only to destroy what he had become, granting him poison strong enough to harm even the likes of Ophis and Great Red." 

I see, Masa told me that they were planning to summon Great Red by taking control of Yasaka's power, this must be how they planned to take her down. 

"That explains why it hates me so much," even as they spoke its fervor didn't waver in the slightest. 

"It's a good thing it's sealed, you probably wouldn't survive very long if it wasn't." If it could harm the Dragon Gods themselves, then he would be lucky to last a few seconds around it. "But I don't understand, Samael was supposed to have been locked in Cocytus which is overseen by Hades himself, how did a group as weak as the Hero Faction get their hands on it?" He scratched his chin. 

"Maybe Hades gave it to them? Ophis could've made some sort of deal with him or something." Takauji suggested. 

"If Hades is collaborating with the Khaos Brigade then that's seriously bad news, I'll have to bring that up with Sirzechs and Michael immediately." He looked at the sealed Samael once more, pity filling his eyes. "I doubt you want that thing around you for very long, any ideas on what to do with it?" 

He couldn't even bring himself to refer to Samael as "him" anymore, not in his current state. 

"I mean, it is sealed at the moment." Takauji stated, causing Azazel to pick up on what he was suggesting. "Why not take advantage of that?" 

"You want to turn it into an Artificial Sacred Gear? I mean it's possible, but it'll end up becoming an extremely dangerous weapon for its wielder, are you sure you want something like that?" Even though Samael was a Dragon, his mentality wasn't even remotely as stable as Ddraig, Albion, and Fafnir, he probably wasn't even capable of rational thought to any degree at this point. "I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who would be able to handle such an item." 

"Maybe not now, but maybe sometime in the future. I should be able to mildly tap into its power, granted I'll have to make sure I don't receive any feedback lest I end up consuming its poison." That was something Takauji's supercomputer brain was more than capable of handling. 

"And who knows? Maybe having an extra seal on him will help Samael regain just a little bit of his sanity." 

"You shouldn't say something like that so lightly, Pandora." The matter was a lot more personal for Azazel than it was Takauji, so the latter could understand where his insistence came from. "Samael was cursed by the Biblical God personally, making his power waver even a little is a monumental task." He took a breath. "Then again, you are part of Great Red, an existence even he feared. So maybe it isn't outlandish to believe you could do something to help him." 

"Were you and Samael close?" Takauji wondered. 

"In a way, but it's not a conversation I'd like to have right now." 

"Fair enough," he picked up Samael's container and gave it to Azazel. "I'll leave him in your capable hands then." 

"I'll try to get it done in a timely fashion, but I'm rather occupied at the moment so it's possible it'll take a while." 

"That's fine, I'm in no rush." 

"Great, on another note, how's Masashige been so far? It's been a while since he's left the confines of Grigori." 

"He's something alright, I'm surprised you hadn't introduced him to me sooner, he's as strong as they come, and he'll be a great help when it comes to handling Raynare's training." 

"That's good to hear, honestly I don't know exactly how powerful he's going to end up becoming, but I doubt he's anywhere near finished growing." Even though he was already the strongest Fallen Angel, Masashige still had plenty of room to improve alongside [Benihime]. "I'm a little worried he might change his mind about being the next Governor if I'm being honest." 

If he's anything like me, there's no way he'd be satisfied with just that much. 

"He's still young like me at the end of the day, I doubt he's in the mood to settle down so early on in life. I'm sure you can hold out for a few more centuries if the situation calls for it." He said with a smile that lacked empathy. 

"I hope not," Azazel grimaced and slumped his shoulders. "Oh right, I almost forgot to mention, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri's peerages will be coming here soon, like really soon." 

Sounds fun. 

"What for?" He asked. 

"Their school trip has been organized to be held at Kyoto, so it's not like they're here on official business. However, someone else is." 

"Who?" 

"Serafall will also be present." 

Takauji's eyes narrowed, Azazel having expected the reaction. 

"Like I said, the alliance is set on bringing the West Youkai Faction into the fold, which is why they're going to send her to meet with Yasaka as a representative to discuss terms. Which was scheduled for a few months from now, but you and Masashige getting rid of one of the major threats within the Khaos Brigade helped accelerate the process." 

If I had known that I would've let them live. 

"And one more thing, they want you to be the one to escort Serafall to the Headquarters as the designated Guardian of the West." 

"I don't mind," Takauji answered plainly, much to the Governor's surprise. 

"You don't?" 

"No, as long as they don't mind it being a one way trip for her." He let out a grim smile, Azazel breaking into a nervous sweat as he felt some of the Dragon's aura seep out. 

"Please! Just do this one favor for me," he clasped his hands together. Hoping he could find a way to make Takauji amiable with the whole thing. 

"Why should I? I agreed to be a guardian for the Youkai, not the Devils. She's a Satan, she should be able to handle herself." 

"It isn't a matter of protection Pandora, it's one of optics. They don't want to ask Yasaka to leave her abode to avoid coming off as arrogant, but they also need to have a representative meet with them when Serafall arrives in Kyoto, and your standing is the same as Yasaka's."

He grumbled, clearly not content with the idea. 

"Just have her walk here then." 

"Come on, don't be like that… consider it compensation for handling Samael for you." Takauji's frown deepened. 

"Ugh, fine." He relented, earning a satisfied grin from Azazel. "But don't expect me to welcome her with open arms or anything." 

"That's fine, as the receiving party you aren't expected to. Literally all you have to do is walk her to the Headquarters, you can even give her the silent treatment if you want." 

"Good, and what about the Gremory's and Sitri's? Will they be coming here as well?" 

"That depends, what's the percentage chance of you eating them if they do come?" 

"20% for the Gremory's, 90% for the Sitri's." 

Pettiness incarnate, though the fact that he hadn't given 100% for the Sitri's certainly was an improvement. 

"Those are some rather varying odds…" He sighed. "The Satans also want the younger generation to get more familiar with this kind of stuff, so it's highly likely that they'll have the Heiresses come meet with the Youkai as well during their trip." 

"I'll do what I can to tolerate it, but if I see either them, or Serafall around Yasaka while I'm not there I guarantee you that they'll become a part of my cookbook." 

Totally not overprotective. 

Totally. 

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Thanks for the comments about the next fic ideas in the last chapter, I'll definitely take them into account. 

But verse aside, what kind of tone should the next fic be? Should it be more serious? Or more comedic? 

10+ Advance Chapters: patreon.com/Accel14

Discord Link: KQAtTw9u7x

Word Count: 2034