DXD SI : Chapter 87 : I will wage the Great War, the Greatest War, I tell you.... (Patreon)

Alternate Title - Spread the Legend of Magdaran Bael far and wide! A REAL devil has arrived

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.

Underworld

–Rizevim Livan Lucifer–

He sat on his throne, the real one. The same one that dear ol’ pops used to command his little underlings during the Great War.

No, that was no Great War. No, if it truly was a Great War, then it would not have stopped so abruptly, for such a petty reason, without any conclusion whatsoever. It was so boring! So, what if all sides suffered huge losses, and Gramps and Dad were dead? Just because they were dead does not mean the fun has to end. No, they were the pioneers, but it fell on the ones that came after them to continue their legacy.

It fell on him to continue that legacy. It should have been him! He had everything necessary to continue the war and force the other players into the game. It would have been so fun! That time, the stakes would have been even higher. With Gramps and Dad gone, the other slides would be leaderless, and this war would have quickly whipped them into shape.  

He was graceful enough to give them the time necessary to become worthy players. Once that happened, only then would he enter the game personally to play this wonderful game. It would have been a Grand War, not for ideologies but for SURVIVAL! It would have been glorious.

Glorious, I tell you!

If only…

His mood soured as he flicked his hand, exploding another one of his guards, the act barely helped him tamp down the urge to burn it all down, and then burn up in return. Because that’s what was going to happen the moment he set foot out of the path that had been laid down for him.

After Dad left the bucket, he played around with the remnants of the Great War and all the fun little toys that all sides had discarded or had missed in the aftermath. It has been so fun, so enjoyable, especially breaking Celine, daughter of Uriel, so talented with her father’s fire. It took him decades, but he finally broke her, and it was so fun seeing her use her own fire to burn herself up, leaving behind nothing but the memory of her hateful glare, seared into his memory. He let her do that, ofcourse, mainly because he was done playing around with her, and wanted to move onto the next best thing.

It was so fun! At the time, he had been so overjoyed to finally have something that he could throw in Uriel’s face when they inevitably clashed and have the honor of watching an Archangel Fall by his actions before he killed Uriel. Alas, the path….

By the time, he got out of the fun mindset and ran out of all the toys his men had gathered for him, he was of the opinion that it was more than enough time for all the other sides to have finished their preparation for the continuation of the Great War and for him to finally come out of seclusion and put to rest these silly ideas of Civil War between devils and all that, only to be hit with a magic so potent, so overpowering, so absolute, that all he, Rizevim Livan Lucifer, could do in the face of it was accept it, lest he be burned away immediately.

It was a joke! A joke played on him by not just dear ol’ Pops, but also Gramps and… Yes, even Celine. After all, the flames that were going to burn him the moment he stepped out of the path were Holy Flames. 

He smiled an ugly smile, the throne’s armrest crumbling into powder under his grip, as he raged at his situation. A super Devil, chained to a few steps by someone who was not even that much stronger than him.

Ah, yes, he knew that his current condition was because of the green haired brat. No, not just him. He was merely the carrier, the final step in a series of steps. It took him centuries to finally accept that a brat not even a century old had managed to get the best of him and trap him.

No worries, though.

He shrugged, his smile returning as he relaxed and leaned on his throne. That one little piece of magic might have bought the brats time, but they forgot that he too got all that time. To learn, to plan, to plot an intricate plot to get revenge for all the wrongs he had to suffer through.

But did he do that?

Fuck that!

He was not going to scheme around to get to his enemies. That was the way of insects. Not Rizevim Lucifer.

He was not going to sully the good name of his father. He was going to wait out the spell, yes, but he did not need other insects to do his job for him. He alone would be enough.

Sure, the brats had grown stronger now, more so than him, but he was not one to back down. After all, he knew of some rather interesting toys that Pops never managed to use before kicking the bucket together with Gramps. It was rather unfair to him, as Pops left him behind to continue the Great War all by himself.

A tall order, don’t you think, Dad?

He could feel it. The time was near. The magic had an expiration date, and he could hear the countdown. Oh, it was going to be glorious. He could just tell that from the scent alone. The scent of thousands screaming, dying, laughing, crying, killing, falling, and more. He could practically taste it.

It was the best drug he could ever hope to find. An intoxication unmatched by anything else the world has to offer. War was the best drug he could think of, and he was an addict who hadn’t had his fix for over five hundred years.

Even if he was chained to this room, to a set of events, he still had his mind, and his mind couldn’t wait to see a bunch of Devils, humans, Angels, and Fallen all—

“My Lord!” He was brought out of his thoughts by an ugly scream, his finger twitching as he barely restrained himself from making the Devil explode from the inside, as this time, this was a useful one.

Still, it wouldn’t do for Euclid to think that he was beyond repercussions just because he was a bit smarter than the rest of the monkeys flying about, and was particularly useful as a pawn against the Fake using his Father’s title right now. 

“Euclid,” He smiled, increasing the pressure on Euclid, as the Young Lucifuge was forced to grovel in front of the Lucifer, as things rightly should be, “You better hope this is worth it. I worry about your scientific pursuits, if you only have one hand to use. Hmm.”

“Y-Yes, M-My Lord.” Euclid forced out those words, and only then did he let up on the pressure and watched as Euclid scrambled up, his smile widening as he saw the blood in his eyes, as the pressure had done its job and given Euclid a good reminder of the pecking order in this place.

“Speak.”

“Ahem,” Euclid cleared his throat and spat out blood and some teeth before continuing, “My Lord, Zekram Bael is dead.”

He paused from inspecting the crumbled fine powder made from Angel Bones, as Pops chose a rather magnificent material to make this fine throne, looking at Euclid with slight interest on his face.

“Hmm. Are you sure, Euclid? We have had reports about his death before. You do know what happened to the previous ones, right?” The pressure on Euclid increased slightly, enough to make him tremble but not enough to make him grovel like last time. It was all an act of balance. Do enough to remind Euclid of his place, but not enough that the Lucifuge starts doubting his value.

“Yes, My Lord. I am aware. But this time, I am certain. I have had some of our men already in House Bael to confirm things, and as suspected, the Fake Satans have already moved in and cleared out most of the estate.”

His eyes narrowed at that, sitting a bit straighter as he extended his hands towards Euclid, who bowed and handed him the file, before stepping back. If the Brats already moved in and darted to touch Zekram’s stuff, and there was no response, it meant that Zekram was already dead. Good riddance, in his opinion. He was going to be one of the first to die once he was free, as Zekram Bael was the architect of the Four Brats that paraded themselves around as the successors to the Satans.

He flipped through the reports gathered by Euclid’s men about the state of House Bael’s main castles, before asking, “What of the heir? Where is he? Any clues?”

“N-No, my Lord. Though reports have emerged of a rather large energy signature, similar to that of the Power of Destruction appearing in Romania, that wiped out the higher ups of both the Carmilla as well as the Tepes faction in a single day.”

He looked up at Euclid at that, a smile already forming on his face. Now, that was good news. He could already smell the signs of war. Sure, the little bloodsuckers, even at full power, were not worth the hassle, but Dracula?

Now, that was an entirely different story. To avoid the curse of Dracula from spreading beyond the borders of Romania, all factions would go to war to fight Dracula, and that would only increase Dracula’s influence everywhere. Oh, he couldn’t wait! Dracula’s reemergence might just put the world’s magic off balance enough for him to get out! An opportunity like that couldn't be missed. 

That raised a question in his mind.

He looked at Euclid with a frown on his face. Euclid only had time to widen his eyes as the Lucifuge was pulled into his hand, dangling by the throat. “Do tell me, Dear Euclid, why was I not told about Dracula’s potential return the moment the news reached you?”

Euclid coughed a bit, desperately keeping his mouth closed in case some of his filthy saliva ever sprayed out on his Lord, before replying, “W-we were not sure, my Lord. Even after days of that incident, there has been no change in Romania. We–”

He dropped Euclid at the confirmation, lightly kicking the Lucifuge away from his throne, as Euclid rolled to the bottom of the stairs that led to the throne, before finally getting up. “We were not sure of the impact, and just today we received reports of most of the world’s divination pointing to Dracula’s absence. Hence, it was termed as low importance, Cough My Lord.”

“Hmm. Good Word, Euclid.”

"You honor me, My Lord."

“So,” he began, resuming his flipping through the reports, “you think Magdaran Bael, the lost heir, did this?”

“The chances are high, My Lord.”

“Then, why haven’t you tracked him down yet?”

“I have my best men on the task, my Lord. With Zekram Bael dead, there are only a few Devils alive who can use the Power of Destruction at a large scale. The moment he appears with his power, we will know and—”

Euclid paused here, a magic circle appearing next to his ear. He restrained himself from blowing Euclid’s ear, and part of his face, off because Euclid would not have disrespected him in such a manner if it was not important.

Euclid’s face went through cycles of elation and wariness before eventually settling into a tense expression, as Euclid addressed him.

“My Lord, we have reports about a-” Euclid swallowed here, clearly uncertain as to how to proceed, as he summoned the magical circle in his ears this time to confirm whatever he was told, before continuing, “Curtain of the Power of Destruction enveloping the entirety of Asgard.”

……

….

…

“Euclid,” He began slowly, getting up from the Throne and walking down towards Euclid, who trembled but did not move from his position, knowing the consequences of doing so, “Do you mean to tell me that once more, a brat has managed to grow up to reach that level without my knowledge? That the Bael Bloodline lost their Pillar and gained someone that strong?”

Euclid swallowed, his body trembling with fear. “Y-Yes, My Lord. It does seem to be the case.”

He looked down at Euclid, pondering what to do with the information he had just received, before he leaned back and burst out laughing hysterically.

“Hahahahahahaa! You should see the look on your face, Euclid. Why would I be mad? I would be mad if someone with that strength became pathetic like the Fake with Pop’s title right now. From the looks of it, this Magdaran looks like a True Devil. Ending Vampire Lines and now attacking Asgard, and succeeding at it too.”

Just imagining it made him laugh out loud and want to meet the Devil that was worthy of the name, before he looked at Euclid with giddiness on his face.

“Spreading Chaos wherever he goes. Spitting in the faces of the Fakes? Risking the awakening of Dracula? Accelerating Ragnarok itself? What better way to announce to the world who he was! Come, Euclid. We will help our fellow Devil spread his legend far and wide.”

He slipped one hand around Euclid’s trembling body before dragging him out of the throne room, towards their command centre. 

“Attacking Asgard? The boy’s ballsy, I must say. Odin is no small fly, even for the likes of me. But how Devilish! I wonder how the Fakes are reacting right now. Pathetically, no doubt!”

“C-Certainly, My Lord…” 

A/N - First Rizevim POV. I tried my best for the insane/mad Devil’s POV. Do tell me how it has come out.

Many things are mentioned here.

Ajuka’s spell that locked Rizevim in a series of steps for over 500 years, the end of which is close. Rizevim fell to the spell because of his cruelty and his wish to play around. 

To him, Magdaran seems like the ideal devil. Kinda funny how that happens…