Chapter 9: Calm your breath

Devil Overlord Chapter 9: Calm your breath, a High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D + Overlord/オーバーロード Crossover fanfic | FanFiction

"Right. So. Uhm…" Momonga tried to gather his thoughts as he sat beside Rias's group in a small relaxation room that had plenty of soft chairs and couches arranged around a coffee table, the whole arrangement of the room made to give it a comfy feeling. Only, the mood of the occupants turned it quite… not comfortable. Rather, it was one part awkwardness to two parts wariness to three part exhaustion.

Tannin's announcement of the Great Red's scent had effectively dismissed the whole meeting as Beelzebub and Lucifer had grabbed the lizardman and peeled him off 'Issei' before either side could resort to drastic measures.

The lizardman had been foaming from the mouth with uncontrolled rage, and Momonga had been completely unresponsive while he contemplated the pros and cons of 'undead attack 2: electric lizard boogaloo'.

Luckily no-one had figured out what 'Issei' had been planning and apparently were just worried he'd get flattened by the enraged lizardman. Lucifer and Beelzebub had then dragged the lizardmen off to who-knows-where in order to scheme, leaving the diners to sort out themselves.

In the meantime Grayfia had escorted Lady Phenix and the group accompanying her out of the dining room and into a cushy living room to recuperate from the meal and from the conversation that had followed it.

Rias had taken the chance to grab her group as well, and Momonga, and practically push them into another relaxation room.

"Right. Well, that was a thing that happened." Rias seemed to be struggling for words as she looked at her team and occasionally glanced at 'Issei'. "Um, how are you feeling, Issei-kun?"

"I'm feeling perfectly alright, Rias-sama." Momonga answered easily.

"I mean, are your, uh, organs, well, behaving themselves?" Rias asked with a twinge of worry in her voice, causing Momonga to pause for a moment as he tried to figure out what she was trying to say. "Your heart's keeping up, and so on?"

"Ah, yes, well, somewhat. Definitely." Momonga coughed on his hand as he quickly checked his status, nodding in his head as he learned that his [Stitch]ed organs were still moving or operating as they should, at least as far as the necromantically stapled organs could. He had a feeling a liver shouldn't quiver and pulse but he discarded the problem with the ease of an office worker throwing a 'needs to be ready yesterday' project into a filing cabinet, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about it for weeks.

Rias blushed slightly as she scanned over 'Issei's face and turned away. "A-anyway, how are you, Akeno? Asia? Yuuto? Koneko?"

"I'm… alright. The lord… ow… is my shield, I shall not waver…" The nun rocked her body back and forth, causing the cat-girl beside her to wrap her arms around the clearly traumatized blonde nun.

Yuuto merely looked annoyed while fiddling with the handle of his new katana, occasionally tracing his finger around the guard of the weapon. It seemed to be something of a nervous tick, but the boy looked otherwise fine.

"Ufufu, is that really what you should be asking of us, Rias-chan?" The raven-haired girl asked while covering her mouth with her shrine maiden outfit's sleeve. "I believe we should be asking how are you, Rias-chan, or should I say, soon-to-be Rias Hyoudou-chan?"

Rias blushed up to her ears and began fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "I- I mean, as long as it's Issei…"

Momogna felt a twinge of annoyance at the words. 'For some reason I'm feeling like I'm the worst scum of the world, marrying a girl whose heart belongs to someone else… and she believes me to be him. I think there was a definition for it, Peroroncino mentioned a genre of porn like that in the passing. Nero-raro or something.'

He was, to be perfectly honest, fine with the sequence of events as Momonga was familiar with the concept of forced marriages between royal families. And Suzuki Satorou had heard of them as well, particularly with high-profile 'alternate employment' families in Neo-Japan who had used it even during the modern era to negotiate truces and ceasefires between corporations and families.

The main reason he was so fine with being 'forced' to marry Rias, however, was that it would effectively give Momonga a permanent hostage to keep between himself and Lucifer, so he was perfectly fine with the arrangement. On the other side, the Suzuki Satorou part of him felt a not insignificant amount of shame for using the girl as his shield. 'Then again, the whole thing was negotiated by the scary lady at the other end of the table, so perhaps I shouldn't feel so much shame for it… although, I imagine I could just escape before the wedding ceremony and hope I can lay low for a while afterwards, should I come to object to the whole arrangement.'

"But are you Issei-kun, really?" Akeno's words caused Momonga to break out of his contemplations. The girl was looking at him with eyes that were surprisingly cold and calculating while she kept her sleeve above her mouth, concealing her face below her nose. "After all, Beelzebub-sama believes that you're more or less one part Riser, one part Issei. Memories of neither, as far as we've seen."

"I don't really recall much from either name." Momonga answered honestly. "Hm, could you tell more about Issei, Rias-sama? What he was like, how he carried himself, what he liked to do, how he behaved? Did he have any hobbies? I can't really recall anything past the, uh, Rating Game, I believe it was called? I've heard, um, rumors about Issei but I feel that you have a fairly decent grasp on who he, er, I am, or was."

Rias seemed to deflate upon hearing his speech. Akeno just sighed.

"Well, I guess you're really not Issei, are you?" Akeno rubbed her cheek with the edge of her sleeve. "We'll have to ask Riser's peerage about how he acted when he was with them, because you're not acting like Riser either, thank Maou."

"Hm, that bad?" Momonga lifted his eyebrow. A hateful look on Akeno's face answered him, luckily the look wasn't directed at him but seemingly towards the distance. "Right. And Issei?"

"Issei is, was, um, an interesting person. Fiercely loyal to his, um, goals and equally loyal to his friends. Determined to a fault, he'd let nothing get between him and what he sought to gain or to protect." Rias mouthed quietly. "I… I hope you remember who you were at some point. It… it hurts to see you like this, Issei."

"Ah. I'm sorry." Momonga apologized and RIas lowered her head. 'Huh, from what she told me he actually sounded like a decent person. Fiercely loyal to his friends, umu…'

For a moment Momonga lost himself to his memories, recalling both Nines Own Goal, and Ainz Ooal Gown which had formed out of the previous guilds members for the purpose of conquering the Great Tomb of Nazarik, which at the time had been just a NPC dungeon, but upon being conquered by the guild, was turned into its home-base. He recalled as the guild grew in numbers, and the adventures they had… as well as the feeling of loss when one by one the members either stopped logging on or gave their inventories to Ainz before quitting the game entirely. 'Heh, friends… I think I would have gotten along with Issei…'

"Ah, I forgot to ask, what were his goals?" Momonga shook himself out of his memories.

"To become a… um… a harem king." Rias blushed up to her eyebrows. "And fondle all the breasts in the world."

'...I don't know what I expected.' A mental image of Momonga standing before Nazarik with a hand on Issei's shoulder, him proudly looking at the fruit of Ainz Ooal Gown's labour and Issei looking at the guild base with wonder, cracked, and then the mental image shattered and fell into pieces of glass.

The opening the door broke Momonga from his despair and he saw Lady Phenix walk into the room with the gray-haired maid, Grayfia, in tow. It seemed that the two had argued based on the pulsing vein in Grayfia's forehead and the red temple of the Phenix woman.

Behind the two trailed the violet-haired woman who had sat in the Phenix family's end of the table.

'Hm?' Momonga noticed the look the violet-haired woman sent him, a mixture of apprehension, hope, despair and other conflicting feelings warring in her face. He ignored the look and turned towards the determined-looking Phenix matriarch, rising up from his seat and bowing slightly towards her. "Lady Phenix, how delightful for you to join us. Please, have a seat."

"Oh, such a display of authority for someone who is a mere Pawn, ignoring the fact his King should be the one to welcome me into the room" Lady Phenix's tone was part mocking, part curious. "Perhaps there is hope for you yet."

"Ah…" Rias's posture turned stiff. "Um, Issei, in the future please allow me to…"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. I am not offended at all. After all, you'll be a King no longer, so lessons of etiquette will be lost on you." Lady Phenix seemed to pull a hand-fan out of nowhere and covered her mouth with it, allowing her diamond-hard eyes to bore into the red-headed girl. Lady Phenix seemingly ignored how Akeno lowered her sleeve from its now customary place in front of her mouth and turned towards the Phenix woman with hostility radiating from her eyes. "You've become Rias Phenix, and perhaps if your new husband decides so, he'll take your collection under his wings. Or perhaps I'll just dispose of them, as is customary for strays."

Momonga felt that he was missing something crucial as the Phenix matriarch's emphasis on the words seemed completely random, yet Rias flinched violently from hearing them. "A- ah, I'll.. I'll ask my brother to… to…"

"I'll make sure to deliver your wish to move your current Peerage under the care of Gremory house until a new King is found for them, Rias-sama." Grayfia interjected into the conversation, making the group realize she was still present in the room. The woman's ability to escape notice when she didn't want to be noticed was quite spectacular.

"Y-yes… Thank you, Grayfia-nee. I'm sorry, guys…" Rias half-sobbed as the situation seemed to hit her. Her voice turned muffled as Akeno hugged the girl.

"Unfortunately, the marriage contract was changed to take effect the day after the Rating Game during the meet between you and Riser, and it's currently the second day from the Game where my son won… well, at least according to Beelzebub-sama's and Lucifer-sama's theories." Lady Phenix practically spat out the words. "And so, 'Riser' Phenex and Rias Phenix are already married as per the contract. Since my son's soul was presumably absorbed by the insect going by the name of 'Issei Hyoudou', then he is no longer 'Hyoudou' and has become 'Issei Phenix', the husband of Rias Phenix."

Grayfia stood valiantly against Lady Phenix's voice which was dripping enough malice and poison to cause even Momonga to flinch. Of course the Undead absorbed negative energy which would only strengthen him and poison was completely useless against him, but unfortunately that didn't apply to verbal abuse.

Rias fared much worse, as she gained a haunted and desperate look upon hearing the words.

"The matter of formal marriage ceremony is of little import, specifically so as I believe the Underworld is currently preparing for a war against this 'Supreme Being'." Lady Phenix continued. "And seeing that Rias is now part of Phenix family, she cannot merely give away Pieces to other families without receiving due compensation that I, as the current standing head of Phenix family, agree to be adequate."

Rias let out a choking sound while Grayfia's eyes narrowed to thin slits.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I'm afraid I'm somewhat confused by the terminology. I've never heard of this… piece and trade system?" Momonga cleared his throat. "Indeed, if I am now married to Rias-san, then I believe that I am entitled to be included as this conversation seems to be distressing… hm... my wife."

Rias's face seemed to alternate being pale and flushed from Momonga's words, while Lady Phenix looked at him with calculating eyes. Momonga did his best to meet her eyes with dignity while Suzuka Satorou was feeling like a pinned insect.

"Hm… Indeed. If your amnesia is as extensive as I've been told, then you'd have no knowledge of the Piece system…" Lady Phenix spat out finally. "Very well, listen in closely."

Momonga listened through the woman's quick overview of the Peerage system, its cons and pros, and the 'devil reincarnation' system. 'So… the people here aren't actually humans but a heteromorphic race of 'devils'... haah… now I feel foolish for being so paranoid about undead-hunting human guilds… Then again, since 'Momonga' is apparently now Underworlds' wanted criminal number one, perhaps care was warranted…'

"So, to recap I'm currently part of a 'bound team' which is formed around a master-slave contract that can be made with multiple slaves around one master, with chess pieces as analogy for the slave's respective strength and abilities in relation to other slaves and to the master. And I'm a 'Pawn', and Rias is my 'King'." Momonga pressed his fingers together and leaned back on his chair. "This has been most enlightening, thank you… hm, 'mother'?"

"Please don't call me that." Lady Phenix's expression cracked and recomposed itself. "My son, Riser, is gone even if he's not 'dead'. While you may be holding to pieces of his soul, you are not the son I cradled to sleep, whom I fed of my own body, whom I watched grow and mature to a young man. You are a complete stranger without my son's memories or personality, flesh from a different mother, and you are only part of the Phenix family because of the abilities and soul you've stolen. Or rather, soul Issei Hyoudou stole."

"Ah, I see. I now understand our respective positions. My apologies for presuming, Lady Phenix." Momonga bowed his head, keenly aware that he needed to fly under the radar while 'Lucifer' and 'Beelzebub' were searching for 'the Supreme Being'. Thus he decided to accept the role of a minor son of a 'noble family' as it'd allow him to sneak off the scene of the crime, so to speak, without raising suspicion, and to pull that off, he needed to show subservience to his 'boss' or rather 'mother'. "So, if a slave was released from a master, they'd be put down unless another master was found for them?"

"Yes, albet we call 'masterless' devils as 'Stray Devils' and the ones part of Peerage as 'Pieces'." Lady Phenix clarified.

"So, if Rias Phenix stopped being King, like I remember you telling her, would that make me a 'Stray'?" Momonga asked warily. 'Hm… this system seems more like glorified slavery and execution… Specifically since it includes that 'fall out and you'll become a fugitive'-clause.'

"No, since you are the holder of a piece of Riser's soul, and as such a King of your own Peerage. Riser had performed the rite required to be recognized as a King, so I imagine the right has transferred over to you. If it hasn't, then I'll just have you perform the rite… again." The matriarch of the Phenix family grind the words out of her as if 'recognizing' Momonga caused her physical pain. "Most of my Riser's Peerage was wiped out during the undead attack and the pieces within them were lost, but Beelzebub-san contacted me after Tannin-san had calmed down and we negotiated a deal where he'll give you a full set of Evil Pieces to use as you saw fit. Speaking of which, Beelzebub-san and Sirzechs-san would like a word with you about this… Great Red-smell after our talk, so I'll be brief."

She paused to consider something and continued. "...That is of course assuming that you'll be able to use the Evil Pieces in the first place due to the incident. If you can't, then I'll take them back to Beelzebub and pester him until he makes Pieces that you can use. I suggest you take the remains of Riser's peerage into yours. I've already transferred my daughter to my own Peerage."

"So, once Rias-san stops being a King and the Peerage she held is released, could I take them as part of my Peerage to prevent them from being hunted as Strays?" Momonga waved his hand to proceed the conversation. 'Rias seems to be quite fond of her friends. She'll likely take drastic actions if they're threatened, if what I've seen of her holds true. I can't blame her, I'd be the same if someone tried to recruit one of Ainz Ooal Gown's members by force. The trade would also help solidify Rias's loyalty towards me. Win-win, I guess.'

"I'll allow it. Since after Rias Phenix ceases to be a King…"

"Ah, please allow me to interrupt you for a question that had just occurred to me." Momonga noticed an odd loophole. "What exactly forces Rias to cease being a mas- er, King? Is the family head's acknowledgement and permission mandatory for a member of the family to remain as a King of their Peerage?" 'If so, I'll have to make preparations to get rid of Lady Phenix before she learns more about me and disapproves of what she finds out…'

"The marriage contract stipulated between Gremory and Phenix stated that should both heirs be Kings of their own peerages, the wife shall become a member of the husband's Peerage." Lady Phenix waved her hand dismissively. "The contract was made as a political move to normalize Gremory house's influence amongst the Pillars and reduce the amount of accusations towards the family for hoarding power by having a number of powerful Peerages at their command. In addition, having a full-strength peerage join the Phenix family would be seen as an attempt to take over the family's future lineage as the Phenix heir and the foreign wife would have held similar power and thus would cause a conflict of authority."

"Ah, I see. A sensible decision." Momonga nodded, ignoring the look of despair Rias sent him. "Well, no time like the present, how does this work, exactly."

"Ah, don't we get a say in this?" Asia asked warily and let a 'eep' as Lady Phenix sent the nun an icy glare.

"Very well, you can either do as you're told or you can die as a Stray- those are your options." Lady Phenix decided to humor the girl before ignoring her. "Unfortunately it'll take some time for Beelzebub-san to produce a full set of Evil Pieces, so until then Rias Phenix's old Peerage will stay as wards of Phenix house under the promise that once the Evil Pieces arrive, the ones who are chosen to be part of the Peerage will join it, and the rest shall die."

"E- everything will be just alright. It's alright…" Rias gathered her Peerage, sans Momonga, into a hug. "Stay strong…"

"Touching. I trust you know your place, Rias?" Lady Phenix rolled her eyes at the display and glanced at Grayfia who was the picture of a perfect maid, but the gray-haired woman couldn't quite stop a freezing cold aura from spreading around her. Quite literally as Momonga could have sworn he saw frost forming on the floor around her boots.

"Y-yes…" Rias's head lowered and the girl visibly composed herself. "I'll be…, Issei's wife… and…"

"...And Phenix family's hostage." Momonga filled in, causing Lady Phenix to glance at him with an odd look on her face while Rias flinched violently. "Rias would be Phenix family's hostage to keep Lucifer-sama from retaliating against the Phenix family, should parts of the factions blame the Phenix family for the undead attack due to the disappearance of the family head and for um, Riser-san's betrayal, correct? This would also be why you were so adamant to adopt me into the Phenix family, as I'm guessing you don't quite believe Beelzebub's theories, and by adopting me as 'Riser' you could draw Rias-san in through the marriage contract?"

'Good, I got that load of rubbish out with a straight face…' Momonga sighed. Suzuki Satorou was starting to strain under the complicated speeches and political intrigue, but thankfully Momonga's endurance held. 'I still need to perform a bunch of experiments and figure out what's wrong with my inventory… all this back and forth talking is wasting my time… but if I leave it'd raise all kinds of questions, and if I pretend that my 'illness' from the [Stitch]ed organs acts up I'll get practically chained up into infirmary and there's chance Beelzebub shows up… I'll just have to keep an eye out for a chance to experiment while going with the flow of things.'

"Quite so. You're more observant than I gave you credit for." Lady Phenix seemed to thaw slightly from Momonga's observations. "Well then. Since you know your places, I'll be expecting a positive result soon."

"A positive result?" Momonga felt apprehensive as he asked, and his guess was correct.

"For pregnancy, of course. A marriage must be consummated, and a child does wonders to tie one to a family" Lady Phenix practically glowed with malice, causing a sound of cracking ice to come from Grayfia's direction.

Rias let out a sound that was somewhere between shriek, sob, and a groan.

"Oh, and speaking of which, what name will you choose for yourself?" Lady Phenix ignored the air that had settled in on the room. "I will not allow you to wear my son's name, even if I'll allow you to take his place… for now. Moreover, since I'll presume whatever Issei did to my son is very much permanent, I believe that the 'amnesia' you have won't subside with time and you're, for all intents and purposes, a completely new tabula rasa of a person."

"Uh, Issei will be just fine. I don't think I need to change my name" Momonga attempted to move on to defuse the situation. 'It's not like I can use my character name, and using Suzuki feels… too intimate. It'd be like if I was naked, my realmost self bared to the wide world…'

"I refuse to call you by the name of my son's defiler." Lady Phenix growled, thought about it for a while, and opened her hand-fan in front of her mouth. Something about her pose gave Momonga a really bad feeling. "But, on the other hand, if you want to wear Issei's name… then go ahead. Ahaha~"

Momonga felt really paranoid as he heard the woman's almost sing-song voice, before she stood up and walked towards the door. Grayfia clacked her boots together to clear them of frost and followed suit, opening the door for the matriarch of the Phenix family.

"Oh, you. You'll stay here and accompany your new King." Lady Phenix paused for a moment before leaving the room with Grayfia in tow, confusing Momonga as to whom she had been talking to.

"Ah… yes, of course." The attention of everyone in the room was drawn to the violet-haired woman who had been completely quiet ever since accompanying the Phenix family's matriarch and Lucifer's wife to the room, her muted behaviour turning her almost invisible for the occupants of the room until she had revealed herself by talking.

The fair-skinned and violet-haired woman looked desolate and abandoned, Riser's betrayal having hit her specifically hard.

Momonga flinched as he saw the look in the violet-haired girl's eyes. "Ah, you'd be one of Riser, erm, his, old Peerage?"

"I was… Riser's Queen, Yubelluna... " the woman glanced at Akeno, causing Rias to breathe sharply and grab onto the raven-haired shrine-maiden. "I guess... I'll be your Queen now, as per Lady Phenix's request."

"Issei, you- you can't take her, you can only have one Queen piece, and Akeno- Akeno is a Queen too!" Rias's panicked voice echoed in the room. She was hugging the raven-haired girl tightly and was causing the latter's breasts to bulge considerably. "Please!"

'And now I'll have to choose between two well-endowed girls, one of whom would become my slave, with the other deemed a stray and killed…' Momonga had long since stopped being surprised by the events surrounding him. 'Gore-eroge it is. Oh well. At least I'm married now, I guess, so take that Touch Me! I've become a winner in life as well!'

A vision of Peroroncino prancing around Nazarik and singing about how he romanced and married a 'loli' in an eroge caused whatever vindication and fulfillment Momonga might have felt to shatter utterly. 'Ah, yes… an eroge marriage...'

Momonga shook his mental fist at the heavens.

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This was a slightly more serious chapter.