[30] : King's monument

Draconic Deus.

Underworld.

Territory of the Phenex House.

[***]

Three days later...

Three days had passed since that oppai-loving idiot interrupted the wedding and saved the siscon's sister.

After defeating Riser, all he did was take the bride as if it were nothing, and no one could stop him, especially with the siscon Lucifer present.

The Phenex family had no choice but to accept the cancellation of the marriage, given that Riser had agreed to Sirzechs' terms before the fight against Issei.

Although "accepting" is saying too much: they basically played with his pride, making it clear that if he didn't accept the fight, he would be branded a coward.

What pure-blooded devil would allow such humiliation?

In the end, everything turned out "fine."

There was no war between the Gremory and Phenex; both clans still got along wonderfully.

Lord Phenex even commented that this could be a lesson for Riser or something like that.

He wasn't upset; after all, his house remained powerful.

Although this marriage didn't go through, it wasn't a big blow either.

Their reputation didn't suffer much, as the second son of the house, an expert in media, could manipulate the narrative in their favor.

What was Lord Phenex's true opinion?

Only he knows.

On the other hand, Lady Phenex seemed calmer.

Perhaps, deep down, she hoped this fiasco would help her son mature and stop being an idiot obsessed with Rias Gremory's breasts.

Sirzechs, for his part, helped salvage the situation, ensuring that the Phenex's reputation didn't go down the drain just because an oppai-loving idiot defeated a high-class devil.

And the most affected in all of this?

Obviously, Riser.

He was completely depressed.

A rookie with the [Boosted Gear], a reincarnated devil who hadn't even been a devil for two months, had defeated him in front of everyone.

To top it off, that same idiot didn't know how to use a teleportation circle and went around proclaiming his love for oppai at the top of his lungs!

Ravel, for her part, was worried about her brother.

She knew that, despite being an idiot, he was truly in love with Rias Gremory.

As the fourth child of her noble house, she also feared for her family's reputation.

Although she didn't hate Lucifer for protecting his own, she didn't hold much affection for him now either.

Holding a bit of a grudge was normal, wasn't it?

As for Aiden, he simply returned home with Kotori and Nia once the wedding was over.

He didn't close the deal on the NerveGear with the Phenex; it wasn't the right time.

Negotiating after such a humiliation to their third son would have been insensitive.

As for Aiden's time clone, who had infiltrated the capital Lilith, everything went perfectly.

With his magic [Analyze], he managed to examine the [King Monument] without any issues.

Now, Aiden was already making plans to develop his own [Spirit Piece] system.

And so, that journey to the Underworld came to an end.

Three days later, Aiden was summoned again to the Underworld to speak with Lord Phenex.

After several hours of discussion about the NerveGear negotiations, they finally finished.

Now, Aiden was walking down a hallway alongside Ravel, who had a worried expression on her face.

...

"So, Ravel, you're telling me that Riser is still locked in his room and not even his peerage has been able to enter?" Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow.

Apparently, the boy was so depressed that he had spent three days locked in his room without coming out.

Aiden understood; if an oppai-obsessed idiot had beaten him in front of everyone, maybe he too would have lost the will to exist.

"Yes, Onii-sama hasn't come out, and Mother doesn't want to pressure him too much. She said to give him time, that maybe when he does come out, he'll no longer be an idiot obsessed with Gremory-san's breasts," Ravel responded with a sigh.

"Hmm…" Aiden remained thoughtful for a moment.

"I've tried to cheer him up several times, but he doesn't respond. I also don't want to force my way in… Don't you have any ideas to motivate him, Aiden-sama?"

Aiden looked at her in silence for a few seconds, as if evaluating her.

"Well, I have ideas. But the most effective one would simply be to tell him the truth: what would have happened if he'd married that woman," he replied after a while.

"The truth…?" Ravel frowned, clearly intrigued.

"Well, yes. They would've simply married and had a marriage… even if Rias Gremory didn't like my Onii-sama, maybe over time, they would've tolerated each other. They wouldn't have had any other choice, right?" Ravel said, as if trying to convince herself.

Aiden stared at her, thinking that pure-blooded devils really had a peculiar way of seeing things.

"Of course not. Their married life would've been miserable, actually. That pampered princess has a lot of… luck," he said with irony.

Ravel stopped dead in her tracks in the middle of the hallway, blinking.

"Miserable?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes. In fact, I think it's better things turned out this way. At least now Riser-kun is free and can do whatever he wants," Aiden replied, shrugging.

"How can you say it's fine that things turned out this way?" Ravel asked, raising her voice slightly, clearly upset.

"Onii-sama has lost so much! Now he's locked up in his room, depressed after that oppai dragon beat him. He also lost his reputation as a 'genius' among pure-blooded devils! His prestige is gone, and Aiden-sama tells me it's fine like this," she spat furiously.

Aiden remained unfazed by her outburst.

It was normal for the younger sister to defend her brother so fervently.

Calmly, he continued:

"But think about it carefully, Ravel, in the long run. It's better that it turned out this way. If they had married, it would've been much, much worse."

"Worse? How could it be worse?" Ravel looked at him with incredulous eyes.

"Well… imagine this: Riser has a wife who hates him with all her being, someone with a higher social rank simply because she's Lucifer's sister. A woman who can do whatever she wants, and he can't do anything to stop her," Aiden replied as he scratched his head.

Then he stepped closer, grabbed her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes.

"Riser will be stronger now… and she won't be able to harm him, but… analyze the situation carefully."

"Yes, Riser managed to defeat her in the Rating Game, but Rias Gremory has the Power of Destruction."

"That power can kill even an immortal Phenex."

"She's slightly weaker than Riser, but she's already proven to be very talented. Over time, she'll surpass him; it's inevitable."

"A spoiled princess who would hate him, more powerful than him. But that's not the worst part," he added, with a 'dangerous' gleam in his eyes.

"The worst part?" Ravel asked, increasingly confused.

"The worst part is that he has Sirzechs Lucifer as his brother. The strongest devil to have ever existed."

"Sooner or later, he would have erased Riser from existence just to set his dear little sister free."

"Do you understand now why I'm saying it's better that this happened?"

"Your Onii-sama's life would have been miserable if he had married her!"

Aiden finished his speech, leaving Ravel completely stunned, speechless.

"…"

In truth, Aiden was just spouting nonsense, but, strangely enough, it wasn't entirely absurd.

Who knows, it might have happened in the future.

"Onii-sama would have led such a miserable life?" Ravel asked, staring at him, still trying to process Aiden's musings.

"Yes. Lucifer is a siscon, so that could have easily happened. Didn't you see how shameless he was? He didn't even care about ruining his reputation as Maou just to help his little sister," Aiden said, shrugging as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes… he was a siscon, as they call it in Japan," Ravel nodded, moving her little head in an almost innocent manner.

"Exactly! Only a true siscon would do something like that. So go and tell Riser how miserable his life would have been! Maybe he'll cheer up once he realizes the disaster he avoided!" Aiden exclaimed with a confidence that almost seemed genuine.

"Yes! Aiden-sama is amazing, thinking so much about these things," Ravel praised him, her eyes shining with admiration.

Aiden, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his nose while averting his gaze slightly.

He wasn't about to admit that he was improvising everything.

"It's nothing, as long as I can help Ravel-chan," he replied with a relaxed smile.

"Aiden-sama…" Ravel looked at him with a dreamy expression, as if she were gazing at her personal hero.

[*]

Draconic Deus.

Earth – Japan.

Tokyo – Avalon Residence.

[*]

After that stupid and strange conversation, Aiden was at his house.

Yes, his house.

He had already left behind the motel where he had spent several days and had finally bought a large house.

Why so big?

Well, a family of 12 people lived there… also counting Yoshinon, who technically shared a body with Yoshino.

The house was spacious, with many rooms and enough furniture to live comfortably.

Aiden decided to go down to the basement, a place he had easily created with magic.

There, in the center, was a door.

Without hesitation, he opened it and crossed to the other side.

He was immediately greeted by a fascinating sight: a dimensional space where the sides shone with strange, shifting colors.

The Dimensional Gap.

That door connected to this dimension, specifically to a territory he had created before.

The place already had a solid platform that served as a base terrain for the construction of his future fortress.

But he wasn't there for that today.

Without wasting time, Aiden took flight.

Moments later, he landed in front of an imposing structure composed of extraordinary materials.

There was gold, iron, mithril, orichalcum, adamantite, phrase crystal, and several other materials, all fused together thanks to his [Condense] magic, which allowed him to combine and strengthen multiple elements into one.

The structure was shaped like a tree, something akin to the mythical Tree of Life, Yggdrasil.

However, instead of being colossal, its size was that of a small multi-story building.

Still, its appearance was unique, with a crystalline design in a vibrant shade of blue.

This majestic tree was no ordinary thing: it was the [King's Monument], a creation Aiden managed to build after stealing data from Ajuka Beelzebub.

"I think it turned out pretty well," Aiden said as he touched the crystal shaped like the Tree of Life.

"Now I just need to install all the [King's Monument] technology here, make a few adjustments here and there, then create the [Spirit Pieces], register myself as [King], and that's it. Of course, it's easier said than done."

With a sigh, Aiden stretched a little before getting to work.

He started by adjusting the technology of the [Evil Pieces], removing any traces related to devils or slavery.

Instead, he introduced detailed data from his own research, such as his blood, soul, flesh, bones, magical power, and spiritual power (Reiryoku).

He also added all the information about the various pieces and their unique characteristics.

With the help of hundreds of time clones from [Zafkiel], there were plenty of hands to assist.

Additionally, while constructing the entire system, his development skills, [Blacksmith] and [Mystery], were crucial for working miracles.

The process was far from simple. 

With constant errors and trials, days flew by quickly, totaling more than 10 days of tireless work.

Fortunately, the girls wouldn't let him burn out entirely: they visited him daily, dragged him out of the dimensional gap by force, and made him sleep and rest.

He didn't neglect his personal life either.

Ravel occasionally came to visit, and he continued making progress on the NerveGear development alongside the Phenex Clan.

During this time, they achieved significant progress on the project, though they still needed to hire a team of experts and develop tools to create virtual spaces.

Once complete, they could successfully bring it to market.

Finally, after another 10 days of meticulous adjustments, Aiden managed to finish the configuration of the [King's Monument].

Now it shone with an intense blue hue and emitted a powerful amount of spiritual energy (Reiryoku) passively, as if the tree had a life of its own.

It had been a slow process, but in the end, he had succeeded.

"Now I just need to create the [Spirit Pieces]," Aiden said, observing his work with satisfaction.

Beside him, Mukuro watched in silence, but a smile appeared on her face.

"Nushi-sama has worked so hard, but you should rest more. You've been here over 10 hours a day for more than a month," Mukuro gently scolded him in a sweet and caring tone.

"Though Muku must admit, I'm still amazed at how incredible the development skills are. It's like a power that defies all logic. [Mystery] allowed Nushi-sama to perform true miracles, and thanks to that, this [King's Monument] was built so quickly and works perfectly," Mukuro added with admiration.

"I've always thought of development skills as a video game buff, something like passive talents. Anyway, now I just have to craft the pieces and place them inside this [King's Monument] for a few days. They'll absorb the data I left inside, transform into [Spirit Pieces], and you'll be able to obtain physical bodies."

Filled with joy, Aiden hugged Mukuro and spun her around, laughing.

As he held her close, he noticed the softness of her body, though the absence of a heartbeat was evident.

But that would soon change.

The [Spirit Pieces] would create physical bodies similar to Aiden's.

These pieces would act as metaphysical cores that would then generate complete bodies.

Moreover, the girls would grow stronger thanks to the benefits of the [Queen] piece.

If Aiden ever managed to find the world from which the [Falna] originated, they too could receive the blessing of God, becoming even more powerful.

Of course, that would depend on each of them.

"Nushi-sama…"

Mukuro returned the hug, squeezing him tightly.

"Muku is so excited, Nushi-sama… If I can get a physical body, Nushi-sama won't feel sad for us anymore. We could also build a big family… Muku is happy, so happy… happy…"

They stayed like that, embracing in complete silence, with the landscape of the dimensional gap as the only witness to their moment.

[***]

End of chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

A calm chapter, but one that's necessary to keep the story moving smoothly.

By the way, I'm rereading the DxD light novel. 

After reading so many fanfics, the original story has gotten so distorted in my head that I can barely remember it.

Oh, and here's a picture of Mukuro I found somewhere:

[Image]

Thanks for reading~!

*