Stance

"I don't like this..." muttered Vahn, staring up at the hazy, nearly blood-red sky encompassing Kuoh Academy and the three distinct groups of winged soldiers occupying it. He could feel the animosity between them like a thin sheet veiling them. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was perceptible and gave the impression it could smother them at any moment...

"They're just posturing. Don't let them bother you," said Rias, feeling even more anxious than Vahn but putting on a brave front as she led the group to the meeting room where the leaders of the Three Factions were waiting in the New School Building...

...

..

.

tok tok

"May we enter...?" asked Rias, knocking on one of the two heavy wooden doors marking the meeting room's entrance. Shortly after, Grayfia opened the door, adopting a faint smile but not speaking as she moved aside.

"Allow me to introduce my younger sister, her Peerage, and our honored guest," expressed Sirzechs, sporting a smile of his own as he stood next to Serafall around one of the most extravagant and well-made tables that many present had ever seen, primarily comprised of red-hued wood with a top segmented into three sections of obsidian black stone with a gold pattern. Around the table were four individuals, three standing and one seated in an equally extravagant chair carved from dark wood with green cushions and gold needlework, one of five present.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintances. And it's an honor to meet you in person, Vahn Mason," said one of the four people around the table and one of the three standing, an extraordinarily beautiful man with long and pale blonde hair, eyes as blue as the sky, ornate golden armor atop a crimson robe, and, most notably, twelve golden-hued wings and a faintly humming, luminous yellow halo.

"So you're the one they say can do just about anything. Nice ta meetcha," said the last person seated at the table, a man who paradoxically seemed to be in his mid-twenties and late forties simultaneously, sporting stylish, windswept hair that was primarily black with golden bangs, a goatee, and twelve black wings, reminiscent of black velvet.

"What the—what are you doing here...!?" exclaimed Issei, shattering the tension within the room as he pointed at the twelve-winged Fallen with a shocked expression, ostensibly recognizing him.

"Yo. Long time no see, Devil-kun," responded the man, none other than the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels' primary organization, Azazel, aka the Watcher.

"At least pretend to have some dignity..." sighed one of the four people standing around the table, a silver-haired, gold-eyed man who appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties, leaning back against the room's rightmost wall with his arms crossed, sporting mostly black clothing with a white undershirt.

"And just who are—!?" started Issei, promptly covering his mouth with his hands when Rias stared at him with a half-lidded, disapproving look and reminded, "Issei-kun...we are currently standing before the leaders of the Three Factions, including two of the Great Satans. Behave yourself..." in a tone of finality.

"Hooo...it looks like the future Queen of Heaven is a feisty one~" hummed Azazel, causing the pale-haired man, Archangel Michael, to stare at him with a smile that, despite not changing in the slightest, no longer seemed to reach his eyes. Behind him, Irina, garbed in her white, mint-green, and gold-trimmed Church cloak, frowned deeply.

"Let's all calm down," said Sirzechs, wearing a relaxed smile as he nodded at Rias and added, "Rias, you and your Peerage can join Sona and Tsubaki behind Serafall and myself. As for this last seat, it was prepared especially for you, Vahn. Please, would you join us?"

With his Will of the Emperor having activated the moment he stepped into the room, Vahn, sporting a calm expression, offered an affirming nod and answered, "I will..." before exchanging a second nod with Rias, prompting her to softly affirm, "We believe in you..." before directing everyone to join Sona and Tsubaki behind her brother and Serafall.

Joining the four exceptionally powerful individuals at the table, his seat positioned between Sirzechs and Azazel and across from Michael, Vahn offered what he hoped to be a friendly smile as he said, "It's an honor to be here. I personally feel that it's a bit too early for me to sit among you, but I'll do my utmost to ensure we can reach a compromise that everyone agrees with."

"What a courageous young man," hummed Michael, though it was more accurate to say he had simply spoken. His voice just happened to have a song-like quality to it.

"Can we skip the pleasantries before our people outside get restless and begin tearing each other apart...?" asked Azazel, retracting his wings and relaxing with his cheek resting on the knuckles of his right hand, his wine-red eyes focused on Vahn as he asked, "Is it true that you can create just about anything you can think of?"

Taking a seat, inadvertantly causing Sirzechs, Serafall, and Micheal to sit down, Vahn responded with a slow nod, affirming, "It's true, but there are limits—well, more like prerequisites. My creation ability utilizes a currency called Origin Points, which are primarily earned from defeating enemies in my Corridor of Intertwined Fates. With enough Origin Points—abbreviated to OP—I could theoretically create anything."

"Could you give us an example?" asked Azazel, appending, "Specifically, can you create, right this instant, a dagger infused with Holy and Demonic Energy? Something like this...?"

Staring down at the piece of paper that Azazel had slid toward him across the table's surface, depicting the design specifications for a ceremonial kris with a wavy blade that was black on one side and white on the other, Vahn tilted his head slightly and questioned, "Does it have a name...?"

"Is that a requirement...?" asked Azazel, pointing out, "Because there is a pretty big difference between being able to create a replica of an existing object and something that has never existed."

"Everything exists at some point..." retorted Vahn, causing Azazel's eyes to narrow meaningfully. At the same time, Sis scanned the piece of paper through him, confirming the dagger depicted wasn't an object recorded in the Greater Key of Solomon's records. It was likely something Azazel had prepared especially for the summit, but that was only a minor impediment as he placed his right hand atop the paper and closed his eyes, allowing it to be scanned without being put in his Inventory.

With his eyes still closed, Vahn shook his head and revealed, "I don't have enough OP to create this version of the dagger. I can produce a variety of weaker variants, though."

Sweeping his right hand a few centimeters above the table's surface, Vahn produced D, C, B, and A-Rank versions of the dagger, known as the Kris of Duality. The version detailed in the blueprint was near the pinnacle of S-Rank, costing over 80,000,000 OP, but even if he could have made it, he would have declined since even the A-Rank variant conferred a 200% damage increase against Angels and Devils, specifically when wielded by a Fallen.

"Now, isn't that something..." remarked Azazel, extending his left hand and drawing the A-Rank kris toward himself using what appeared to be telekinesis. However, as Vahn hadn't given it to him, it was just a fancy-looking dagger, its power inaccessible and its internal structure obscured from his probing.

Preempting Azazel's question, Vahn explained, "Items I create can only be utilized by those they are given to prevent theft or having them used against the original owner. In video game terms, you can't equip it unless it's yours to equip."

"And I'm guessing you determine ownership?" asked Azazel, tentatively slicing the kris along his left index finger to find that, despite appearing exceedingly sharp, it didn't leave so much as a shallow cut.

"Initially," confirmed Vahn, clarifying. "Once ownership of the item has been conferred, the right to transfer ownership is conferred along with it. So, if I gave you that dagger, only you could use it until you transferred its ownership to another person. I could overwrite or annul that property, but I believe it's best that powerful armaments, particularly weapons, are only usable by those they are intended..."

"Fair enough..." conceded Azazel, flicking the dagger back to its original position as if it had never left.

"Now that that's out of the way, there is still the matter of Kokabiel and the young man standing behind you..." interposed Sirzechs, sporting a relaxed smile as Azazel spread his hands, shook his head, and responded, "What do you want me to say? Kokabiel acted alone and was defeated by your beautiful Queen there. As punishment, he's been locked away in the depths of Cocytus, where he'll spend the next ten thousand years frozen but fully conscious in a pillar of ice. If he's unable to reflect after that, do with him as you will."

"As for the matter of my heritage...I cut ties with my family after my father attempted to have me killed, fearful that my power would surpass his and that he would no longer be able to control me..." revealed the silver-haired youth standing behind Azazel, now known as Vali Lucifer, better known as the White Dragon Emperor.

"I'm sorry you had to endure such an ordeal," expressed Michael, giving the impression he was being sincere despite his expression, once again, remaining unchanged, almost like he was a statue.

"It is what it is..." responded Vali, closing his eyes and falling silent as if to say he was finished with the conversation.

"More to the point, let's talk peace," said Azazel, leaning forward with his elbows on the table and his chin resting on the tips of his thumbs as he smiled and stated, "That's the real reason we've gathered, right? To bring an end to the three-way deadlock, help solve each others' problems, and present a unified front against those who will inevitably try to replace our dearly departed Creator and reshape the world in their image."

"Indeed," affirmed Sirzechs, offering a curt nod as he reasoned, "The fact we've been able to protect the secret this long is a miracle in and of itself. But as faith in God dwindles and the influence of factions like Valhalla and Mt. Olympus grows alongside their infiltration of the cultural zeitgeist, it's only a matter of time before the extremists from each faction begin acting out. In the worst-case scenario, the Era of Gods and Heroes could return, heralded by the destruction of our respective factions..."

"Lucifer is correct..." muttered Michael, exuding an aura of sadness as he looked to Azazel and expressed, "And though there might be ideological differences between us, Angels and Fallen alike have always served and watched over humanity as its shepherds and stewards. We cannot sit idle or fight amongst ourselves as they are forced into a conflict they have no stake in outside their survival..."

Sitting back and crossing his arms, Azazel's expression hardened as he argued, "Listen, I'm all for peace, but that's the only thing I'm willing to agree to. Grigori won't join Heaven and Hell if our shared goal is to battle the other factions for supremacy. If we're to band together, it will be to present a united front in the pursuit of peace. That means cooperating with the other factions, exchanging information, and settling differences through friendly competition. Any other course will inevitably result in a series of escalating conflicts that either give rise to a new God or end in the deaths of everyone..."

With Azazel directing his final few words at him, Vahn felt compelled to nod and state, "Though I don't have a lot of experience to base it on, I believe conflict is inevitable...that's why I agree with Azazel. If we can't avoid conflict entirely, dictating how it is fought is the next best thing. To that end, I think we should both popularize the Rating Games devised by the Devils, qualifying all races and factions to participate. And to ensure participants can go all-out without the fear of death or debilitating injury, I propose hosting the games in a virtual setting..."

"Oh? Now that's interesting..." remarked Azazel, sitting a bit straighter as his valuation of Vahn increased. One of the compromises he intended to propose was to have Ajuka, the creator of the Evil Pieces, share how they were made so that Angels and Fallen could similarly recruit and promote other races. He also believed the Rating Game format was the solution to larger conflicts, so as Vahn explained his plan and produced a VR headset for them to inspect, his eyes glistened with intrigue...

...

..

.