Peace Talks

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

Several hours have passed since the school day at Kuoh academy ended. With the time approaching midnight, a barrier was quietly erected around the school. Meanwhile, in the meeting room for the board of directors, there were several people seated.

"It's almost time." Sirzechs said as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "I hope they don't keep us waiting too long."

"I'm sure they'll be here soon, Sirzechs-Chan." Serafall said in her usual bubbly tone.

Seated at the meeting table wear Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan of the Four Great Satans. As tonight's meeting was important, Sirzechs was dressed in a black business suit with a crimson red tie and a white dress shirt. Meanwhile, Serafall was surprisingly not dressed in one of her magical girl uniforms. Instead, she was dressed in a navy-blue business suit with a skirt of the same color and a sky-blue blouse.

Standing behind Sirzechs was Grayfia, and seated behind the two Satans were Rias, Sona, and their peerages all dressed in their school uniforms. They were all invited to sit in on this meeting. Because of their direct involvement with the Kokabiel incident. The only two who were out of place were Mio and Maria, who were in no way involved in that matter. As members of Rias' peerage, however, an exception was made for them.

"Ria-Tan, where is James?" Sirzechs asked curiously.

"He and his peerage are checking the barrier's surroundings for any issues." Rias replied solemnly.

Sirzechs nodded in approval of James' diligence. Then, he turned his head toward the opposite side of the table. A moment later, in a flash of light, three figures appeared behind the chairs placed at the table. Rias, Sona, and their peerages were familiar with one of the new arrivals as she was also involved in the Kokabiel incident.

"Irina..." Xenovia muttered as she lowered her head.

In response, Shidou Irina smiled at her former partner but remained silent. Then one of the other two new arrivals, Michael of the Four Great Seraph looked around the room before speaking.

"It looks like we weren't the last to arrive." Michael said with a kind smile on his face.

The third of the new arrivals, Gabriel, also looked around the room. When her eyes landed on Serafall, she smiled brightly.

"Serafall, hi, long time no see." Gabriel said with a smile and a wave.

"Ugh... of course it would be Gabriel." Serafall said with a clearly, discontent expression.

While Serafall did her best to ignore Gabriel, Gabriel did her best to engage Serafall in conversation. Ignoring the antics of the two women, Sirzechs replied to Michael's statement.

"It's natural you weren't the last to arrive, Michael." Sirzechs said with a smile. "We are expecting Azazel to attend this meeting as well."

Just as Sirzechs' voice fell, the door to the meeting room was pushed open from the outside. Through the open door, Azazel accompanied by Vali entered the room.

"Now, Sirzechs, that's not very nice." Azazel said with the shit eating grin he usually wears. "You're making it sound like I'm always late."

"For all the years I've known you, Azazel." Sirzechs said with a smile. "I have never known you to ever be late. But you will definitely make sure you're the last to arrive."

In response to Sirzechs comment, Azazel laughed hardily as he made his way to the end of the table opposite the door. Then, after taking a seat, and waiting for Heaven's representatives to do the same, he looked around the room and commented.

"It looks like someone is missing." Azazel said, noticing that James and his peerage were not present.

"If you're talking about James, he's doing one final check on the barrier's security." Sirzechs answered.

A few moments later, the door to the meeting room was opened again. This time, James and Cu Chulainn entered. Scanning the room, James was able to identify everyone in the room. Not that he had ever met all of them, rather he recognized them from the education he went through in his youth. Learning the leaders of all the major factions was considered especially important.

After identifying all the guests, James bowed politely and addressed them.

"Lord Michael, Lady Gabriel, it's a pleasure to meet you. It's nice to see you again as well, Irina." James said with proper noble etiquette. Then, he turned his attention toward Azazel and continued his greetings. "Azazel, Governor-general of the Grigori, it's nice to meet you, as well. And Vali, I knew I'd see you here tonight."

While James introduced himself, Michael and Azazel observed him closely. They were both surprised at how close he was to stepping into the minor god-rank. They were even more awed when they combined that information with the fact that he was the host of the Red Dragon Emperor of this generation.

Gabriel on the other hand was looking at James with curiosity. As previously mentioned, she knew James' mother, Leona. She was curious to know what kind of person the son of the kind woman she met years ago turned out to be. Not to mention, she really wanted to see his bloodline ability, [Senbonzakura] because she thought it was so pretty.

"James, where is the rest of your peerage?" Sirzechs asked in curiosity.

"I've assigned them defensive positions around the building." James replied seriously. I" know you wanted their input on the Kokabiel incident. So, I brought Lancer with me. He led the team that fended off Kokabiel's forces outside of the town."

Cu Chulainn nodded after being mentioned. But otherwise remained silent. Sirzechs, Michael, and Azazel also nodded, approving of the young half-devil's decision.

"Well, now that everyone is here, shall we get down to business." Azazel said with a smile. Then, he said something neither Sirzechs nor Michael expected. "I'm sorry that one of my subordinates caused so much trouble."

Both Sirzechs and Michael could only stare blankly in response. At the same time, Gabriel looked at Azazel with a happy smile, thinking that maybe there was a chance that they could be real siblings again like they were in times long gone. Meanwhile, Serafall was just smiling like she usually does, which makes it hard to tell exactly what it is she was thinking. Eventually, Sirzechs broke the silence.

"Well, since you brought him up." Sirzechs said, readjusting himself after hearing Azazel's apology. "Were you able to get anything out of Kokabiel during your interrogation?"

"Yes." Azazel replied. "But not nearly as much as I would have liked."

"Any information we can get would be helpful." Michael added with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Azazel said while scratching his head. "Apparently, Kokabiel had joined an organization of a bunch of like-minded war mongers. I was unable to get the organization's name or its leader's name out of him. But he did mention that their members came from many different factions."

After that, for the next few minutes, the leaders of the three factions discussed what they knew and what kind of countermeasures they could take against this new threat.

"Before we delve any deeper into this, I think we should hear the reports of those involved directly with Kokabiel in this last incident. Michael said with his ever-present smile. "Oh, and before we get to that, I'd just like to make sure that everyone here is aware of the fact that Father is dead."

Solemnly, everyone in attendance nodded. Then, Sirzechs gestured for Rias, followed by Sona to give their reports. After their reports were over with, Cu Chulainn was asked to give his report on the battle outside the town. And finally, James was asked to give his report.

"So, from what we know about this organization, mixed with the reports on what Kokabiel and his legion of fallen angels said during the encounters hasn't changed." Sirzechs asked.

To confirm Sirzechs' statement, everyone present nodded. Then, the room fell silent for a few moments. The silence was then broken by Michael.

"So, do any of you have a suggestion for how to combat this hidden threat?" Michael asked as he moved his gaze across the faction leaders.

Once again, the room fell silent. A moment later, however, Azazel answered in a carefree tone.

"I don't know why we're dicking around the issue like this." Azazel said, seemingly without a care in the world. "We came here to sign a peace treaty, right? So, let's do that. Then, we can sort through our factions and root out as many traitors as possible."

Yet again, Sirzechs and Michael were surprised. They did not expect Azazel to be the first to bring up the peace treaty. But after thinking about it for a moment, it made more sense than they originally thought. Back during the Great War, Azazel was the first to pull his forces out of the war zone, after all.

"I agree." Serafall said happily as she raised her right hand high into the air, causing her breasts to bounce.

"I agree, too." Gabriel said, imitating Serafall's action of raising her hand in the air, which caused her breasts to bounce as well.

While this was happening, Azazel and Issei had their eyes glued to the bouncing breasts of the two beautiful women. Seeing their reactions, those accompanying them only rolled their eyes. Asia on the other hand, pinched Issei's waist as hard as she could, causing Issei to draw in a breath of air.

"Well, as it stands, a peace treaty is a great idea." Michael admitted with a smile.

"I agree as well." Sirzechs also agreed with a nod.

"I'll do you one better." Azazel said with his ever-present shit eating grin. "Why not go past just signing a peace treaty? Instead, why don't we form an alliance?"

Hearing the word alliance, Gabriel's eyes lit up. As the most innocent person in the room, though Asia might be a close second, she was all for working together. Serafall was also in agreement. Although she did not like Gabriel much, she could understand that this would be a good thing for the entire devil species. Sirzechs and Michael were once again the ones who took the longest to consider.

"If we are going to form an alliance between our three factions, there will need to be much more discussion." Michael said with a smile. "But as long as we can agree on the terms, I'm in agreement."

"My thoughts are the same as Michael's." Sirzechs said with a nod.

"And what do the two Celestial Dragons think about this?" Azazel asked.

"It's fine with me." James replied with a shrug. "As long as I have time to train, draw my manga, and spend time with my girls, I'm fine with it. I'd like the chance to fight with Vali as well."

"As long as I can fight strong opponents, I don't care what you do." Vali replied with a shrug as well.

"*Sigh* You really need a hobby, or a girlfriend, or two." Azazel said while shaking his head. "This is why battle junkies are such a pain."

"Either way, preliminary discussions are looking good for this future alliance. Sirzechs said with a smile. "it's too bad we don't have a name for this organization, though."

As Sirzechs words ended, outside the window many teleportation magic circles lit up on the school grounds. Then, a magic circle lit up next to James' ear. From it came the voice of Mizore.

"{James, a lot of human teleportation magic circles are showing up in the surroundings of the school building.}" Mizore said. "{What do you want us to do?}"

"Humans, huh?" James said with curiosity in his tone. Then, his expression turned cold, and he gave his order. "Put them down. Leave a few alive for interrogation if you can. We don't need more than that, though."

The leaders of the three factions nodded in approval of his decisive order.

"{Understood.}" Mizore replied as she cut the connection.

"I think I'll go join the battle outside." Vali said as he summoned his [Sacred Gear], [Divine Dividing].

When the [Divine Dividing] appeared, it took the form of a pair of light blue energy wings attached to a white frame protruding from Vali's back. Then, Vali broke through the window that overlooked the courtyard and began engaging the enemy.

"Well, damn." Azazel said as he looked out of the now shattered window toward the ongoing battle. "How did those nameless bastards know about this meeting or how to get into the barrier, for that matter?"

As Azazel finished speaking, a magic teleportation circle appeared in the corner of the meeting room.

"I recognize that magic circle." Serafall as she studied the magic circle.

"It bears the mark of the Original Leviathan." Sirzechs said in a solemn tone. "That means it could only be..."

Before Sirzechs could finish, the teleportation circle flashed. Then, in its place stood a tall, bespectacled woman with a voluptuous figure, tan skin, violet eyes, and long brown hair tied into a bun. She was wearing an extremely low-cut dress with a high slit that exposed a great portion of her breasts, while on her head she wore some kind of headset.

"Katerea-Chan, what are you doing here." Serafall asked in a confused tone.

The woman who just teleported into the room was Katerea leviathan, descendant of the original Satan Leviathan.

Ignoring Serafall's question, Katerea greeted the leaders of the other two factions.

"Good evening, Michael, Gabriel and Azazel." Katerea said in a mock polite tone. "We, the members of the Khaos Brigade's Original Satan Faction, have come to kill you along with those Fake Satans."