CH. 537: Interlude (Kinda?)

Heaven, Underworld, and the Grigori — all three realms had maintained a semblance of balance for years. Devils wanted war to overthrow this balance in their favor.

That balance was no more with the recent power change. Heaven ruled over two realms.

No one was more troubled by this takeover than Governor Azazel.

Frankly, he saw some potential in the human who kicked Lucifer down and turned him into a saint. But Azazel never pegged him to kill Lucifer later on and other Devil Kings.

Now he faced a tough situation. The fallen angels under him became restless, worrying they were next on the new Demon Emperor's hit list.

Meetings were held every day with no conclusion. They were currently on a peace treaty with the Underworld and Heaven. Would that still hold up after the changes?

Another meeting was held today, with Azazel and all the Cadre sitting around the table. Today, they had a topic of discussion after their spies in the Underworld gleaned new information.

"The Devil Emperor is holding his wedding event soon?" asked the fallen angel with pointed ears, unlike any fallen angel. His vicious red eyes glimmered with killing intent. "And he didn't invite us."

Azazel smiled wryly. "Hold your horses, Cadre Kokabiel. Look here. It says not even the devil aristocrats were given an invitation."

"What a piss poor emperor. Why do we fear him when he fears his own kind?"

Kokabiel expected the Devil Emperor to hold a grand wedding for the most beautiful woman in the world. The Devil Emperor's inability to provide that wedding showed his fear of assassination.

Inviting Kokabiel was a bad idea... Azazel could only shake his head and lament at this point. "You have no idea what you are talking about."

"He had always been a hotheaded supremacist."

All the eyes turned to the man who made the remark. A gruff-looking middle-aged man with thick bear and black hair sat near the end of the table.

Kokabiel's killing intent surged. "Baraqiel, you want a fight?"

Baraqiel's aura matched Kokabiel head-on, conjuring lightning as it did. "Governor Azazel, I suggest we send a messenger to make an appointment with the Emperor. After he is done with his wedding rituals, of course."

Azazel sighed and nodded his head. They had avoided the issue for too long. The fallen angels under them would riot or simply leave for the Human world at this rate. He moved his eyes over the rest of Cadre. "Anyone against Cadre Baraqiel's suggestion?"

Kokabiel got up and left without a word as if he wanted nothing to do with the meeting. The fallen angels couldn't see his twisted grin as he stepped out of the meeting room.

Azazel shook his head. "We'll follow up with Baraqiel's idea then."

***

The world of Draconic Deus wasn't the only one waiting for Asahi's wedding.

In the deep mountains of City-F, a young woman's backpack bounced as she pranced along the path surrounded by trees. She was just as energetic as the time she entered the forest, as if trekking for nearly an hour had no impact on her.

She was, by no means, an ordinary woman. No sane person would travel this deep within a forest in her attire — a sport top, tight black pants, and a hoodie. Her slender but muscular figure was a byproduct of countless hours spent training martial arts.

She was Suiko, the granddaughter of Suicho, the martial artist famed for rivaling Bang, the current holder of Rank 3 within the S-Class. Bang's Water Streaming Rock Smashing Fist was a blend of offense and defense, whereas Suicho's Void Fist excelled in maximizing one's destructive power.

Suiko had learned this very Void Fist martial art to become stronger than the majority of the heroes under the Hero Association.

The trees became scarce as Suiko continued her journey. Her eyes suddenly lit up as she spotted a rundown shack. Her joy turned into shock when she saw a muscular man outside the shack, wearing typical Chinese martial artist pants. His long black ponytail swayed as he swung his ax to chop the tree placed on the chop block.

"Suiryu?"

Suiryu glanced in her direction and waved his hand with a bright smile. "Suiko."

Suiko broke into a sprint and arrived before Seiryu. She poked his chest with a smug face.

He slapped her hand away. "Why are you here?"

He wasn't telling her about the young man who broke his fighting spirit with his killing intent. Or that he was here to warm up before challenging him to a fight.

"I should be asking that." Suiko revealed a toothy grin. "What got my bored brother motivated to train again?"

Ignoring her question, Suiryu tossed the ax aside and turned to the shack. "I lit up the incense for Master."

"Grandpa…" Suiko scratched her short, dark hair as her eyes looked distant. Their grandfather, Suicho, passed away two years ago, leaving a rift that was hard to fill.

Suiryu dragged another tree and placed it on the chopping block. He looked serious. More serious than he did during their grandfather's martial arts lessons.

Suiko tossed her backpack and brought up a clenched fist. "I surpassed you while you were dawdling around. Let me show you with my fist."

"Not interested. I'm training for someone else."

"Who is that?"

Suiryu shrugged. "You won't know even if I tell you."

Suiko sighed and watched him train. After a while, she got bored and took out her smartphone, browsing through the internet.

"This new S-Class Hero is all over the internet… They say he came to our University like four days ago."

"Four days ago…" Suiryu, who showed no reaction until now, stared at Suiko. "Show me his pic."

A confused Suiko tossed her phone at Suiryu. He saw the image as shock rippled in his eyes.

"This guy became an S-Class. It's better this way."

He burst into laughter, further confusing Suiko.

"You know him?"

Suiryu silently tossed her phone back at her and went back to throwing fists at his imaginary opponent. The wind pressure alone destroyed the tree sitting on the chopping block.

Suiko scratched her head. "What is going on in his head?"

The martial artist siblings weren't the brightest minds you could find.

***

Meanwhile, in another corner of the city.

Inside a dark room, light flickered with every stroke of the keyboard.

"Huh, so many defenses around this portion. What's the Hero Association hiding here?"

This was Isamu, more commonly known as the Child Emperor. He was currently decrypting files in the Hero Association's database. The files he stumbled upon when searching for his new Onii-san's information. He simply wanted to meet Asahi, but he could never pinpoint the new S-Class hero's location. He was moving all over the place.

The screens suddenly glitched.

"Stop this foolishness… Child Emperor."

Isamu recognized the voice of the intruder. After all, he had worked under this man as his assistant. "Metal Knight?"

"Yes, it's me. Stop testing the limits of my defense network. Do not force me to report your invasive attempt to the Hero Association."

"Hmm?" Isamu licked his candy. "What is your reason for hiding these files? Are they alluding to some nefarious scheme?"

"I do not know. This is the top secret of the Hero Association. I can't let you access them… even if you're an S-Class hero."

"Fine. I won't try it, then."

Was he going to give up like this? Of course not. Nobody enjoyed being told what to do. Especially a genius like Isamu. He wasn't going to suck it up and keep quiet.

"I gotta improve my tech to steal the files undetected."