4. Meeting the Four Satans.

│1st Person POV of Meliodas│

[Underworld Realm, Valefor Territory, Valerfor Lord's Mansion…]

It was finally time.

This was my first time participating in a formal party like today's in both of my lives. On top of that, I will be the center of attention for most of the party.

It will be fun. I hope.

I can hardly resist barging in before the guests are ready to receive me.

Any moment now, I will receive the signal to make my entry.

"Please welcome my son, the Heir of Valefor and Zagan House, Meliodas Valefor-Zagan."

And that was my cue.

Taking a deep breath, I started making my way downstairs toward the party.

The entire hall was bustling with people, very few of them were familiar faces to me.

I mean, Mother had made sure that I remembered the names and faces of all the main house members of the Pillar Clans and the other famous Devils, but today was the first time I was meeting them face-to-face.

As I descended the stairs, all their eyes gathered on me.

Huh… Being the center of attention of so many people sure feels nice.

Was this something I always desired and never to experience in my previous life or a quirk of my new life as a Devil?

Regardless, I dismissed those unnecessary thoughts and smiled at Father and Mother, who were waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

Father then led me toward the tall, bald man with a goatee. His whole body was oozing an aura of laziness.

"Son, this is my superior and friend Satan Falbium Asmodeus, one of the Four Great Satans of the Devil Race, the Satan in charge of Military Affairs." Father introduced.

We have met before, and I usually refer to him as Uncle Falbi. However, since this was a formal occasion, I needed to be reintroduced to everyone I already knew.

I bowed respectfully and said, "I am honored to meet you, Satan Asmodeus."

Falbium smiled at me, his usual laziness fading for a moment, "I thank you for your kind words, Heir Valefor-Zagan. Happy Birthday to you."

He then raised his right hand, and for a moment, a magical circle appeared above it before a fist-sized wooden box materialized, which he handed to me.

I thanked him with another bow and accepted the box. It was adorned with intricate golden patterns shaped like a shield.

Falbium encouraged me to open it and I did.

Inside the box was a beautiful amulet, blue in color and shaped like a shield, with its appearance identical to the pattern on the exterior of the box.

I picked up the amulet and noticed it was attached to a golden chain long enough to circle around my neck and rest on my chest, near my heart.

At this moment, Falbium spoke up, "It is enchanted with a Barrier Spell of my design, which will protect you once activated with a thought. Even a full-powered attack from a Peak-Ultimate Class would be unable to breach the barrier."

Numerous guests couldn't help but let out a shocked gasp once Falbium finished.

There were barely more than half a dozen Leader-Class beings in the Devil Race, not including the ones from the Old Satan Faction.

This gift was akin to declaring that I was under the protection of the Satan of Military Affairs.

I quickly expressed my gratitude for such a gift, "Thank you for the wonderful gift, Satan Asmodeus."

If the occasion had been different, I would have hugged him.

Besides Falbium were two individuals whom Father introduced next, "This is Satan Serafall Leviathan, responsible for Foreign Affairs, and Satan Ajuka Beelzebub, who oversees the Technological Department."

I again bowed respectfully, "It is an honor to be in your presence, Satan Leviathan, Satan Beelzebub."

"Aww~ you are so cute, Melio-tan!" Tossing all decorum aside, she pinched my cheeks softly.

She then twirled around, sparkling lights surrounded her and obscured her figure for a second.

When the lights disappeared, her clothes changed from an elegant gown and fitting bodice to a pink magical girl outfit, "Call me Levia-tan, for I am the Magical Girl, Miracle Levia-tan!"

I decided then and there that she was my favorite Satan as I simultaneously decided to join in her fun.

I clapped my hands and said excitedly, "Wow! That was so cool!"

If it was even possible, Serafall's smile got even wider. She scooped me up in her arms and hugged me tightly, "Kyaa~ You are the best, Melio-tan!"

As I enjoyed the feeling of her heavenly soft breasts on my face, I caught sight of the expressions Mother and Father were making from the corner of my eye.

They seemed like they wanted to extract me from Serafall's arms but didn't, apprehensive of antagonizing the strongest female Devil.

Though if I show any signs of discomfort, I am sure Mother will interject regardless of the consequences.

A few moments later, Serafall put me down and asked, "Melio-tan, the magical girl transformation was cool, right?"

I nodded with an eager expression, prompting Serafall to continue, "Then, do you want to work with me in my magical girl show, Miracle☆Levia-tan?"

"Really?!" When Serafall nodded in confirmation, I looked at Father and asked, "Can I?"

If I agreed without consulting my parents first, some of the old and stuck-up Nobles could see it as the inability of my parents to teach me proper etiquette.

And, while they couldn't raise any kind of issue since it was one of the Four Satans who initiated the conversation, it was better to not give them any chance to find fault with us.

"Only if your Mother agrees." Father answered with a smile.

I turned to Face Mother and gave her the sweetest and most adorable smile I could, asking, "Can I please work on the magical girl show, Mother?"

Serafall also joined in, kneeling to bring her head close to mine as she asked, "Please?"

'Yup, she is definitely my favorite Satan. She's a lot of fun to be around.'

Sigh—!

Mother let out an exasperated sigh before looking at me with an indulgent smile, "You have my permission, son, only if you promise to not cause any trouble for Satan Leviathan."

"I promise." I declared in a solemn voice.

Serafall picked me up once more and spun around with delight, saying, "Yay~ I'm sure you'll love working with me, Melio-tan!"

Once she set me down, she also gave me the gift she brought for me.

"This is your birthday gift. Happy Birthday, Melio-tan."

It was an elegant, icy-blue magical wand, topped with a sea-blue gem shaped like a spear tip.

"The gem at the tip is enchanted with the [Icicle Lance] spell. Just channel your Demonic Power into the wand, and a wave of [Icicle Lance] will shoot out from the tip.

"Though the size of the lances will depend on the quantity of Demonic Power you channel." Serafall explained cheerfully.

This time, the reaction of the other guests wasn't that pronounced.

I'm certain that most of them immediately recognized the gem as Azure Crystal, a magical gem typically found in deep-sea deposits.

Although expensive and rare, Azure Crystals are not strong enough to hold enchantments that could reach the Peak-Ultimate level. Low or Mid-Ultimate were fair game though.

However, Serafall didn't specify the level of the enchantments and she also didn't have much open contact with us before today.

So, those vain people who have nothing better to do than judge other people don't believe that Serafall would have enchanted the Azure Crystal to the limit, I think.

That was why their reactions were rather lackluster.

Anyway, I gave the wand a twirl in the air and channeled extremely minuscule amounts of Demonic Power through it.

A shower of infinitesimal-sized icicle lances erupted from the wand tip, like a blizzard of sparkling shards cascading through the air.

Instantly, the sounds of discussions filled the hall.

I can hear them discussing how insignificant my Demonic Power must be to produce such a poor display.

However, before they could run their mouths any longer, Ajuka, who had yet to return my greeting, commented, his voice silencing the others, "Impressive!"

"Hmm? What's impressive, Ajuka-chan?" Serafall asked with a curious expression.

I'm sure she knew what Ajuka found interesting, but she also understood that he wouldn't elaborate without being prompted by someone he considered worthy.

"Heir Valefor-Zagan has Demonic Power reserves approaching Low-Ultimate Class. It's impressive that he can channel a precise amount of Demonic Power into the wand to produce infinitesimally small icicle lances that are practically harmless, testing the enchantment's effectiveness without causing a mess. Am I right?"

Ajuka explained, directing the question at the end toward me.

I responded with a bright smile, "Yes, Satan Beelzebub."

It seems he either can't sense that I'm suppressing my reserves, or he did feel it and chose not to announce it at this moment.

Well, it doesn't matter either way if he can or not.

I am not showing my full reserves to not spook the sheep too much or they will cause problems for me and my family.

Somewhat high reserves and good control over Demonic Power are not too much of a concern for those sheep that control the majority of the Underworld.

I will be considered as just another good asset like Diehuaser Belial for the Devil race in such a case.

However, if they knew the true extent of the Demonic Power within me, they would undoubtedly be alarmed and categorize me alongside monsters like Ajuka and Sirzechs Lucifer.

In such a scenario, they will take drastic actions to either control or eliminate me.

I don't want to deal with Devil Politics for a few more years, so I will try not to do anything that might provoke others into taking action against me.

Anyway, Ajuka nodded before summoning a book in his right hand.

He handed it to me and said, "I hope you make good use of this. Happy Birthday, Heir Valefor-Zagan."

I thanked him and accepted the book. My attention was immediately drawn to the words on the cover, particularly the author's name.

[Intricacies Of Spell Crafting]

—By Ajuka Beelzebub

A book written by the most knowledgeable Devil in the Underworld.

"I am grateful for the gift, Satan Beelzebub. I can't wait to give it a read."

Then, with the flash of a magic circle, I stored the book in my personal pocket dimension.

I created it after reading how the Game Field of the Rating Games was created inside a section of Dimensional Gap.

The knowledge of how the Requip Magic from Fairy Tail works also helped to link the pocket dimension to my Demonic Power.

Ajuka raised an eyebrow in response to my actions and I noticed a small green magic circle appearing very briefly on the tip of his right index finger.

I flashed him a playful smile just before Father guided me a few meters away, where the last of the Four Great Satans was with his family.

"Son, meet Satan Sirzechs Lucifer, the Satan of Domestic Affairs, and his Wife and Queen, Grayfia Lucifuge."

Bowing, I called out respectfully, "I am honored to be in your presence, Satan Lucifer, Queen Lucifuge."

Sirzechs smiled at me and reciprocated, "It is a pleasure to see you as well, Heir Valefor-Zagan."

"Thank you for your kind words, Heir Valefor-Zagan."

Grayfia also reciprocated my greeting before Sirzechs guided the child between them toward me and said, "Please introduce yourself, Mori."

The red-haired- no, the crimson-haired girl stepped forward and extended her right hand, saying, "I am Morgiana Gremory. Nice to meet you, Heir Valefor-Zagan."

Technically, as she is a Gremory, she should be standing with the rest of the Gremorys.

However, no one will dare to nitpick about such a small detail in front of the Strongest Devil.

"I am glad to make your acquaintance, Miss Gremory. If it's alright with you, you can call me Meliodas."

Now that I am seeing her up close, I noticed that she looks like a miniature version of Morgiana from Magi. I wonder if she will also be a physical combatant in the future.

Well, she may inherit the Power of Destruction from her father, so she will probably become a mage like Rias from Canon. Who knows.

"As you wish, Meliodas. You may call me by my name as well."

After she finished speaking, Sirzechs brought out a wrapped object with a flare of a magic circle and passed it on to Morgiana, encouraging her to give it to me.

She wished me while handing the present to me, "Happy Birthday, Meliodas. I hope you like the gift."

"Thank you, Morgiana. Thank you for the gift, Satan Lucifer."

I carefully unwrapped the package, revealing the item inside.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

A/N: Sorry for the late update. Had a killer headache and I went to have a nap for an hour or two to sleep it off.

However, I didn't expect to wake up on the morning of the next day.

Anyway, I made some changes to the dates in Chapters 1 and 3.

I changed MC's birth year from 1994 to 1986. Similarly, MC's 7th birthday was on 19th March 1993, not 2001.

I had decided on the initial date because I read somewhere that Rias' birthday was 9th August 1998.

However, the 1st volume of DxD came out in 2008. And there was no date given in the Canon, explaining when exactly things were happening.

So, assuming Rias was 18 in 2008, her birthday would be 9th August 1990. That is why I changed MC's birth year.

That's all for today.

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