Ch. 26 On the trail of the Chains pt.1

"So you went to heaven, copied a bunch of stuff, looked in His system, had a picnic with Gabriel herself and then came back after you and Jeanne became friends with her?" Serafall asked incredulously at her husband, me.

"Yup. Nice girl. A bit lonely though. I think the two of you would get along great." I replied with a smile.

"At least it looks like no one else saw you two or I would have heard about it." My wife said with a sigh of relief. "But what were you thinking? Do you know how sad I would be if something happened to you?"

Seeing her sad and upset, I felt guilty for having worried her, even if it was after the fact. Plus when one is a husband you kinda just bit the bullet and comfort your wife.

"I'm sorry Sera. I am just confident in my strength and ability to go in and out of Heaven as I please. I'll talk to you the next time I got out." I gently told her.

"Good. I don't like it when you disappear like that." She said as she buried herself into my chest.

"Sorry love." I simply responded with a kiss to the top of her head as I wrapped my arms around her.

I spent the rest of that night taking care of her as she fell asleep in my arms. I hadn't really thought about how Sera would have felt when I just left without anyone knowing where I was, forgetting that women are much more emotional and even if she knew I was likely to be the strongest Devil, she would still worry. I guess this might have been one of my bad habits from my past life.

The next day she was still worried I would just disappear on her again, but was otherwise feeling a lot better.

I was also letting Jeanne work through her own emotions and feelings as she focused on painting.

Mana was going to be helping out Yasaka and Tamamo for the next little while. The scouting and planning for their return to Japan was going very well as they identified key Youkai to either beat down or ally with. They've also been communicating with Amaterasu for advice and more hard to get information.

Musashi was deep in her retraining as she was currently making liberal use of the supernatural level waterfall area. Making great progress lately.

And Da Vinci was ecstatic about everything I had brought back from Heaven, particularly so when she learnt what the apple was. She locked herself in her workshop for a month as she went through everything and experimenting on the apple itself.

During this time I took it upon myself to study more about the old Mesopotamian gods and their Realm of the Dead from the records held in 'my' library. I didn't desire to go in completely blind and it allowed me to calculate several possible locations to the defunct realm.

If there are no believers to maintain the gods then there is no god to maintain the realm, and without that it would become an empty field of forgotten souls. Quite dangerous if the souls weren't taken in by other afterlives or reincarnation systems. Might explain the birth of beings like Youkais.

The result of my research was mildly interesting.

Like the connection the Underworld has to Heaven through Purgatory, all Realms of Death are connected to the main one under Hades' oversight. With each realm connecting to its respective Pantheon one way or another, inadvertently creating back doors into them should someone hold the skills necessary to use them. Someone like me, but that'll be for later.

As for defunct, extinct or faded pantheons, their home dimensions fall apart and become part of the dimensional gap as no one maintains the required barriers to support its existence once the pantheon falls. This then leads to the connection failing between it and its realm of the dead, but interestingly the realm can survive off the residual energy coming from the main Realm of the Dead.

So although it is a slim possibility, I might actually encounter Ereshkigal who stopped herself from fading alongside her realm. But i doubt she will have much power left.

As for other forgotten realms, there exist a few possibilities.

The first is simply the collapsing of the realm as the god, souls and realm become the Dimensional Gap and eventually fade away.

Second was the prior possibility of it becoming self-sustaining.

And the third was a basically a semi-collapse as the realm itself falls apart but its inhabitants are forced into a place for realm-less spirits and gods as they avoid destruction but are not permitted anywhere else, thus forced to live in the Land of Shadows. This place is also known under the name of the Land of the Forgotten as this is where long forgotten god and human spirits reside.

The Land of Shadows is essentially a prison and final chance for any being trying to sustain itself after death for whatever reason. The records state that the warden in charge of it is a truly fearsome being as it can kill gods and has never let any spirit escape from the Land of Shadows. Some legends link this being with the Celtic Pantheon before most of it broke apart, leaving only a few Celtic gods, which Lugh is the most notable for his official position in the Top Ten ranking.

All together, an interesting bit of studying about the ultimate fate of religions.

Made me think about what would happen to the Underworld and Heaven should we eventually be forgotten. It would be quite dramatic to have the collapse of possibly the largest dimensions outside of Earth.

Some time later, I finished planning my journey, which I had told Serafall about.

She was slightly worried after hearing I was going to look for a Realm of the Dead, but knew very well that there was nothing which could actually trap me, for long anyway. My [Space] had simply become far too powerful after achieving my [True Form].

It did somehow assuage her worries that I was bringing Mana with me this time.

I thought experiencing these kinds of places would be useful if she had to go into them in the future for a job or mission.

"Just be careful alright? I've heard that many forgotten monsters had been spotted when people go looking for these types of places." A worried Serafall said to me as she fussed over me.

"I promise to not pick any fights for no reason love." I told her with a kiss on the head. "I should be back in less than a week and that's if I don't just come back every night anyway."

"You better." She replied before turning to Mana, "Make sure he doesn't do anything too impulsive please Mana-chan. You know how he gets when he wants something."

"*Chuckle* I will do my best, my lady." A amused Mana replied with a slight smile.

"*Pout* Mou Mana-chan, I told you so many times to just call me Sera-chan, or even just Sera!" Complained the future magical girl.

"Ah right, I forgot my lady Sera-chan. I'll do my best next time." Mana replied as she purposefully played with Serafall who began to nag her a bit.

"HEEEEYYY! WAIT FOR ME MY LORD!" A voice suddenly interrupted as the three of us turned to find an approaching figure comically kicking up a dust cloud somehow.

'Fia is going to be quite angry at that. We are still in the castle.' I thought as I just classified it as anime logic and moved on since I knew this place was spotless and had no idea where the dust was coming from.

"How interesting." Mana remarked with her cool smile.

"I thought she was going to be training for at least a few more months. What is she doing here?" I asked aloud as Musashi rapidly approached with what seemed to be a large backpack.

"Maybe she wants to come along." Serafall unsurely suggested.

"Yeah, but all she had to do was ask. And it's not like she needs the backpack thanks to the storage rings I made for everyone." I replied with mild confusion.

"That's because Musashi never wore the ring and probably forgot about its functions." Informed Mana as she had a small cat-like smile. "She said it annoyed her while training."

"Of course she thought that." I responded with a wry smile.

"Maybe it!" The sword fanatic announced as she reached us.

"You did, but why are you here? You showed no interest in coming when I announced my trip." I asked curiously.

"Well… I kinda didn't listen during the meeting since I had a new technique on my mind. But then when I asked for a spar with Mana-chan she said no because you two were going to a realm of the dead. Then I remembered you mentioning something like that and thought that this was a perfect chance to put my recent training to the test!" She explained as she avoided directly into my eyes.

"And I assume what Mana told me about you not wanting to wear the ring I gave you and then forgetting about it was true?" I followed up as I stared at the comically big backpack.

"Ohhh. That thing? I didn't know it was important. I thought it was just something you gave to your women or something my lord." She casually answered. "Speaking of, I know you're a Devil and all my lord, but are you really with all those girls staying in the castle? And why did I get one if you never courted me? Do peerage members automatically become part of a devil's harem?"

"Is that what you thought it was? You didn't listen to the explanation I gave you about them?" I incredulously asked as Musashi looked at me with mild confusion.

*sigh*

*Chuckle*

While I facepalmed at the sword idiot, the two girls behind me giggled at my dilemma.

"It's a storage and communication ring Musashi. You can put anything in there and it will be maintained in the exact condition you inserted it for about 50 years before time starts to take effect on it properly. It also serves as a secure way to communicate with each other and as a marker for me to know your spatial coordinates no matter what." I explained to her.

"Oooh. That sounds great my lord!" She enthusiastically replied like it has almost nothing to do with her. "So does this means I am not part of your harem?"

"*Cough cough* I don't have a harem Musashi." I answered as I looked at her weirdly.

"Truly!? A lord such as yourself has no harem! How strange. I was certain about this when I learnt it was common practice amongst devils as well. And I am quite confident about my beauty, while your exotic looks are appealing as well, so I was wondering why you hadn't ravaged me." She replied in shock as I mildly blanked over her assumptions and her emphasizing of her large breasts as she pumped them up with her hands.

Oddly enough my wife wasn't saying anything and Mana had a neutral expression on her face as her amused look faded.

"Yes you are a beauty Musashi, but I didn't ask you to join my peerage to do such things. I value your talent, skills and character, that is why you are my Knight. And I am more than happy with my wife." I told her as Sera did blush at my words.

"Then I am sorry for misunderstanding my lord." She finally said with a bow.

"It's fine Musashi. So where is your ring anyway? It should be bound to come to you." I asked after finishing that misunderstanding.

"Is that why I have to throw it out of my window every morning before I begin my training?" She questioned rather innocently, which made it hard to get annoyed at her.

"Yes, that's why. If you don't like a ring I'll make it something else later. Maybe an earring or tattoo." I told her as I just went with it.

"That would be far more convenient my Lord." She exclaimed in approval.

"For now, Mana can store your things in her ring." I said as Mana wordlessly did just that. "I don't mind you coming along and it would be bad if everything was with one person."

"Thank you for accepting my selfishness my lord!" She energetically responded with a beaming smile, which did melt most of the exasperation I was feeling away.

"Do take care of each other." Serafall said as she came out of her thoughts.

"Do not worry my lady! I shall protect my lord with my life!" Musashi loudly declared as her eyes lit up with passion.

We haven't managed to break her out of those Samurai ideals her father had ingrained into her yet, and Mana had decided that it was amusing to tease Serafall by mimicking her sometimes due to Sera's desire to be close friends with the girls and titles getting in the way.

"*Pout* It's just Sera or Sera-chan to you Musa-chan!" Serafall complained as she looked aggrieved.

"But I am a retainer of my Lord's. It would be inappropriate to be close to his wife like that." Musashi seriously countered.

One of the only times she was actually serious was when she trained, fought or followed the way of the samurai her father taught her.

"That would be the case of you were a man. But I doubt you would have sexual desires for my wife anyway since you did say you found me appealing at least. Hence it is perfectly fine for you to become close to my wife. In fact, I encourage it since it would make she and I happy." I told the swordswoman directly.

"Ohh. So that is why father said it was important for a retainer to know his bounds." The enlightened Musashi responded before looking back to Serafall. "Then I would be honored to be your friend my lady!"

"You can call me Sera-chan, Musa-chan." A content Serafall said in response as she earnestly took the sword user's hands.

"Yes Sera-chan!" Was the answer as the two hammered out details while Mana and I patiently waited.

"So, no harem huh?" Mana teased without looking at me.

"Please. I'm married and who would honestly want to spend the rest of their lives with a Devil and deal with all the crap that comes with it. Plus like I said, I am happy with Sera and trying to make a harem would make her sad." I replied to the girl who had been family to me for the last century.

"You would be surprised." She quietly murmured, "But what about Yasaka? She has been pretty open about her desires."

"That… is more complicated." I answered with a difficult face. "She has her duties and great expectations have been placed on her, which would not go well if she had a Devil lover, even if Serafall somehow approved. I care for her too much to let her ruin her dreams for a moments passion which will be forgotten in time."

"If you say so Nii-sama." Mana neutrally responded as the two others approached.

"Ready to go my Lord!" Musashi announced cheerfully.

"Then let's be off. We don't know how long it will take to find the correct entrance and I only have educated guesses right now." I replied with one last passionate kiss to my lovely wife.

"*mwah* Please come back soon." She softly told me as she went for a hug.

"I promise. Just trust your awesome husband ok?" I replied as we stared into each other's eyes.

*Umu*

With one last 'see you later', my two peerage members and I set off as I opened a portal to the main realm of the dead where Hades rules.

I had thoughts about crashing his place, beating him up and taking everything from him, but that could start a major war against a lot of pantheons with vested interests in keeping the status quo. Especially with all the things Hades is responsible for keeping locked up.

But as expected, it is a wasteland that no living creature can live in. Where only that sack of bones and his Grim Reapers can live.

"Dreary." Commented Mana as she carefully observed her surroundings.

"So where are we going my lord?" Musashi asked as she kept her upbeat attitude even in front of this place.

"Our goal is Mesopotamian pantheon's realm of the dead, Kur. It holds the predecessor to sacred gears and I wish to recruit it." I answered her as I spread senses to detect the minute fluctuations dimensional links emit.

"Sounds impressive. Was it created by this God you've taught me about as well?" A curious Musashi questioned as she had apparently forgotten the 'no saying God-related things directly rule' already.

"No. It was a weapon created by the long gone chief deities of the Mesopotamian pantheon in the hopes of controlling the King of Kings Gilgamesh due to his prophesied importance to their existence." I answered her as I picked up my first hit. "But this obviously didn't work out for them, while it inspired the big guy to eventually create Sacred Gears."

"What can we expect from it and our hunt?" Mana seriously asked.

"The target has two official names: The Chains of Heaven and Enkidu.

It acts as an independent avatar type with significant power. It has incredible earth magic, with its chains being capable of sealing anything supposedly, while their bladed tips can pierce through anything to reach their target. It can apparently change its appearance at will, but chooses to remain in a primary design most of the time, while having the ability to talk to nature and beasts, but that won't be very useful in the land of death." I explained to the more disciplined girl as Musashi barely pays any attention. "As for our hunt, the most dangerous enemies we should face are fallen gods with limited powers and the spirits of old beasts from forgotten times."

"What if Kur is gone? You informed me that these types of realm either sustain themselves off this one or get destroyed once their associated Pantheons fall." Mana asked as she kept an eye on Musashi even if she didn't technically have to due to me being able to sense pretty much everything in the Strata.

"Then I will either have to look for clues using my [Time] and check the Land of Shadows." I simply answered as we arrived before the first connection I had felt.

"My lord. Are we going to fight soon?" Musashi suddenly questioned as she had been ignoring our talking in favor of admiring the bleak scenery.

"Maybe once we find our intended location. It really depends on the residents." I answered my Knight.

"I hope they are strong. I wish to test my new techniques against them." Musashi replied as her battle intent leaked a bit.

"Seeing your progress would be interesting. I look forward to it." I sincerely responded her.

"Then let's go find this Enkidu!" She excitedly said as we started our journey.

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EXTRA AUTHOR NOTES:

Hello there everyone, a bit short but that's cause it needs to be divided. 3000 words and a bit or so.

So just to be clear, most of what I said is completely made up as I tried to find reasons for why so few gods and pantheons are actually present in DxD and what the heck happened to all the other death gods while Hades just gets to be in the top ten and do whatever the fuck he wants.

Next, about all the fate stuff. I've said before that they would be added into this world, but I am doing my best to make them fit the established power systems and have their histories make sense with the rest of the stuff.

Also, this is a Harem story. It should be in the tags even. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Lith will get girls. And yes his peerage will be all female because I felt like having a bunch of badass and interesting women join up and become capable of bitch slapping gods. Though some will have a much more casually relationship with Lith than others.

Next up, gonna have three Fate characters Join in and as a result I've changed my Peerage plans a bit.

I said I wouldn't use her, but she became someone who would fit into things too well due to her abilities and experience.

Pretty sure you can guess who.

Also, please don't say I will nerf them soon because although what they show off in the shows, movies, games and mangas is pretty awesome, it is still by the general standard of human beings. So while they can be extremely skilled and deadly in one-on-one combat or against multiple foes, they will lack the pure fire power to fight against those who aren't weak against them. And I already explained why Ereshkigal will be very weak even in her own realm.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy.

If you have questions or feel I might have overlooked something I will try to answer or explain.