I, Necromancer Chapter 24 (Patreon)

The swift, brutal loss at the hands – or claws – of Bahamut was… Eye-opening.

I prided myself in my sharp mind, being able to come up with a plan that, even with immense loses to my Undead army, would still allow me and mine to come out on top.

Then Bahamut came, giving me no time to even come up with a plan of action. I didn't even have time to properly think.

If that's the level of the beings that linger around the Core Area of No Man's Land, then I am still far, far too weak to try and test the waters there.

Hell, I believe we didn't even reach the edges of the Core Area, but ended up drawing Bahamut's attention due to the large scale warfare that was going down between the two Undead's armies.

I've lost everything, but also gained a whole lot. This trip wasn't a whole waste, and it allowed me to learn that Grafting is the way to go to perfect my army.

And now that I've come up with the Nursery idea, I've swiftly changed the underground Dimension of New Haven into it. It saw the production of the Jiangshi army skyrocket, and even a gigantic increase in their quality.

But there is still more of my arsenal that needs upgrading. I have Spells of immense power now and that barely cost any Mana due to my already immense reserves, I just need to get better and faster at casting them, without using their silly little names. Despite the fact that I quite like them.

I am quite attached to that piece of my childhood, after all.

Once I devour the cracked Soul of the Necromancer, I'll have even more Spells. If the Soul doesn't give me much – as I fear it will – then I'll shove one of the spare Souls that inhabited Rhapthorne into its corpse.

I may have lost the giant meatball Sorcerer from Dragon Quest, but now I have a far more powerful Necrolich under my thumb for future Undead Minion position.

I just need to fix and upgrade its body the same way I did for Mugen – maybe without shoving the mix of Races into it – and make sure it isn't a glass cannon.

Speaking of Mugen, my current Magnus Opus… I glance at the towering veiled Undead, standing close to me like a faithful guard, the aura – even suppressed – pouring out of him being genuinely terrifying.

"It seems the Super Devil genes prevailed over all the others." I muse aloud, drawing the Undead's attention towards me while I kneaded the dough on the kitchen counter. Cooking helped me relax, and I did miss doing it since I was in No Man's Land. "I can only feel Devil Energy from you, so the Archangel genes seem to have vanished."

Mugen nods his veiled head, raising a gloved hand to inspect it, strands of dense Devil Energy cloaking it with so much power that it caused the air to hum and tremble, "I believe that is because the Super Devil genes were stabilized and enhanced by the blood of the Infinite Dragon God, my Lord."

Oh, and he is quite talkative too. Not that I mind. Hell, Lu Bu is able to talk too, he just prefers roaring or being quiet.

Even a game of Uno didn't make him crack, somehow.

"A stabilizing agent, huh?" I muse to myself, eyes narrowing. A piece of the puzzle I was missing suddenly falling into my dough-smeared hands.

Super Devils are a mutations, but I could never exactly pin-point where it came from due to Sirzechs and Ajuka being so vastly different. Phrolova is like Sirzechs, but part of her mutation came to being connected to Hecate.

This mutation causes a Super Devil to be born with gargantuan levels of Devil Energy, far denser and greater than even Devils that have lived for thousands of years.

Euclid tried to create them with the Sephiroth Graal, and Phrolova was barely a success. Her stabilizing agent was Hecate.

Sirzechs? His Power of Destruction. It mutated and grew to the point where it put the Bael Bloodline to shame.

Ajuka? His Devil Energy. It was pushed even further beyond Sirzechs' own.

The same could be said about Rizevim. His Bloodline power was a simple one that turned off Sacred Gears, a denial against the gifts of the Gods, something he likely came up himself or was given out of pity when he didn't inherit Lucifer's twisted creation.

In the end, the solution to being able to turn others into Super Devils is a 'Stabilizing Agent'. Basically everyone in our Peerage has a Clan Trait worth empowering and becoming the stabilizing agent of the Super Devil transformation.

Something to think about, and offer to the others. Perhaps when their personal growth reaches a slope, or when things escalate far too much.

Not to mention all the stuff Mugen reported to me once I was fully available and free from the clutches of three very passionate women.

The bodies of Great Red and Ophis drifting across the Dimensional Gap, while the damn Machines are preparing themselves against a Gate that opened right inside the Gap itself.

"The bodies of Great Red and Ophis… Would we be able to acquire them?" I ask Mugen, knowing that the magical knowledge I implanted into him is far, far greater than the one I currently wield. I still have to properly digest the devoured Souls, after all.

Mugen hums, gloved hand rising to cup the chin below the veil, "Their size if immense, my Lord. I would need to expand the size of the Dimension your army currently resides at least tenfold. And we'd require a potent Teleportation Array, so to make it swift."

A Teleportation Array, huh? My mind goes back to that white-haired beauty I joked while handling the Eternal Forest- Yi Xuan, I believe. Haven't thought of her in a while, and she was even a candidate for a possible Bishop Piece.

"Get started with the expansion of the Dimension." I order Mugen while cleaning my hands, "But take your time- And teach the other Undead Mages, so they can keep the work up while you assist me with other things."

Mugen bows his head, "As you command, my Lord."

"Anything else?"

The towering Undead pauses for a moment before speaking up, "Lord Lu Bu requires some… Enhancements, to keep up with us." I nod, having already thought of that, and thought on how to further empower him, "I mean Soul-wise, my Lord."

I pause at that, then fully face my servant, "Elaborate."

"Touki is the power of Life. The mere reason Lord Lu Bu can still wield it as an Undead is due to how… Unique he is. Even after he died so long ago, his organs did not decay one bit."

He is right. Here, they had to decapitate Lu Bu to kill him, for there are legends of him slaughtering an entire army without his heart. His body is basically drenched in Touki, pure and raw power of Life.

He did not decay, and defied all reason and was still able to use Touki even in death. Just… A far, far weaker level of Touki than when he was alive.

And he is still a powerhouse beyond reason…

The Soul within him is still the same Soul I made when I got his body, albeit it was a rushed job since the Graal eroded my mind back then. I improved it since then, but not as much as I should.

And the Soul is the missing part that will bring his Touki back to full power, for it is what gives Life. The greater the Soul, the greater the power he can unleash, until he can grow even stronger.

...Which will be very, very easy, considering the sheer amount of Souls I have gathered during the trip. I have literal millions upon millions of them, and I have used a great deal of them for the Nursery that creates the Jianqshi, so to make sure the quality is as good as possible.

"I just do not know how many Souls to feed the big guy." I muse aloud, knowing that he'll take a while to digest the amount, so his growth won't be explosive, but gradual. Not counting the other changes I want to put on him.

"I dare say that the more, the better, my Lord. It is Lord Lu Bu, after all." You know what, Mugen? You ain't wrong, not one bit.

One of the golden cups appears in the air before me, then I mentally float it towards Mugen, who receives it with a bow of his head and his free hand, "Go and give him the Souls contained in that cup. And if he is bored, set him lose on the surroundings with a million of the Jianqshi troops."

The new Nursery will consume all the gathered biomass incredibly fast, so gathering more is essential to keep it activate, and make it grow. Plus, they'll save any unique creature that I can study and see if I can graft into something greater, so to then download the knowledge into the nursery.

The bug army is powerful, but requires further improvements before I create another Nursery for it. Though, just turning it into a plague that spreads and devastates across No Man's Land to clear space wouldn't be bad.

Mugen vanishes to comply with my orders, leaving me alone in the kitchen once more, my thoughts spiraling back towards those damn Machines from ExE.

They attacked New Haven, targeting talented individuals they thought would become troublesome in the future. Had it not been for Mugen's timely awakening, things would have ended badly.

Riser nearly died, Rias could have died too, many other civilians too. I need to create more powerful Undead to protect New Haven, have them stationed on buildings as Sentinels just in case.

Now they are busy with the Gate in the Dimensional Gap, but they might still try to bother us. They have Rizevim, after all.

I shake away those thoughts. The majority of my plans can be done in a single day, and I can bring Ddraig, Albion and Vali back later too.

This time, I'll improve their bodies. I'll give Ddraig part of the Phenex Bloodline, their immense healing will work wonderfully with him.

Luckily, I still have quite a bit of Ophis' blood saved up from when I saved Phrolova, so I'll give quite a bit to both Heavenly Dragons.

It'll make it so that Albion can better utilize the energy he steals through Divine, while working as a battery for Ddraig's healing, so that he can go as wild as he wants with the Boosts.

Albion may even siphon energy from Ddraig to add to his own strength, thus the two working together would be far, far stronger.

I'll give Vali's new body a drop of Ophis' blood too, and empower his Soul to speed up his growth the same way I've done for Lu Bu. He is incredibly talented and has been growing by leaps and bounds, so with this I'll basically give wings to his growth speed.

Then, I'll improve them even further once I get my hands on the corpses of Great Red and Ophis. Plus, I just want to get those corpses out of the hands of the Machines.

"Oh my…" A lovely, shivering-inducing voice brought me out of my thoughts, making me turn towards the entrance of the large kitchen, "I guess I have you to blame as to why the Princess is still asleep, Scaith." Cantarella drawls out, flirtatious smile on her lips as she struts into the kitchen with all of her alluring beauty.

My brain reboots at the sight of her, a lovely titter flowing out of her lips as her fingers lift my jaw so to close my open, gaping mouth, "Well, that is one way to make a lady feel appreciated!"

I gulp heavily, then narrow my eyes at the incredible Sitri beauty, "You caught me off guard, and you are dangerously alluring, you vixen." A lovely titter flows out of her lips, the back of her fingers raised against those lovely lips of hers, eyelashes fluttering my way in a way that just stokes the flames that should have been quelled in that lovely and long foursome.

But alas, this body is full of energy.

"I shan't apologize!" Cantarella drawls out, turning to walk towards the counter with a lovely sway of her wide hips, "Still, 'tis nice to have you back, Scaith. Everyone has missed you dearly."

I let out a soft huff, a smile spreading across my lips as I cover the dough to let it rest, "And I missed everyone too." And being welcomed back that way was also quite lovely. Made me feel very desired and appreciated. "Oh, I have a gift for you."

Cantarella blinks cutely, bouncing to sit on top of the kitchen counter and cross her long legs, the motion causing those huge breasts of hers to bounce and jiggle in very alluring, nigh-hypnotic ways. "A gift for me? Have I done anything that warranted such a thing?"

I shrug and clean my hands as I approach the beauty, "You are part of the family now, so that's enough for me." Her eyes soften and bloom with warmth at my words.

Tossing the towel aside, I reach into my Spatial Inventory to pull out a deep purple umbrella styled after a jellyfish. A potent and pungent scent fills the air the moment the umbrella lands in my hands, and I offer it to Cantarella with a grin, "I call it Pulchra Venena, made out of all the poisons I've gathered so far, and even the poison of Albion himself. Plus the Sitri Clan Trait."

Cantarella's pretty lips part, gaping softly as she receives her new weapon with quivering hands, "Dear me…" She whispers, purple water swirling around the umbrella as it resonates with her power.

"One moment." I bring out another golden cup with a mental thought, then let the milky-white mist wash over Cantarella and Pulchra Venena. "There, now your Souls are connected. This weapon will grow with you."

Another blink, then a soft gulp before a pair of pretty eyes narrow at me, "Now I understand why everyone here adores you so much." Cantarella harrumphs softly, freeing one hand to poke my chest with a lone finger and sharp nail, "I am not an easy woman, not matter how stupidly charming you are."

I just give her an innocent shrug, "To be fair, it just happens. Tio basically jumped me because I gifted her an army of Dragons." And Zani? Because she is a lazy and horny Devil, plus we get along extremely well.

And I think it was also to test my character.

Cantarella sighs and shakes her head, "I am simply… Not used to receiving things without ulterior motives."

"Just getting to enjoy the lovely view is my ulterior motive." I shamelessly drawl out, earning me a soft and lovely peal of laughter from Cantarella.

"You are so impossible…" Shaking her head, she jumps off the counter before leaning up on her heels, planting a warm and stinging kiss against my right cheek. With a wink, she steps back and licks her purple lips, "I'll go and play around with this new toy now, Scaith."

The way she said that sends a shudder down my spine. Suggestive, stupidly sexy vixen.

With a huff, I use the Sephiroth Graal to find my next target. Now, to bully the adorable Changli.

It took me a long flight to reach her, and I have to fly over the plot of land that used to be part of the Eternal Forest. A great deal of it was covered in enormous bubbles that turn the area within murky, unable to make me see what was within.

There are a lot of them, more than I remember. Hundreds, maybe in the thousands. Did Changli expand her reach with Rias' help? I was unaware that she needed all these grounds to cultivate her ingredients.

Either way, I descend within one of the bubbles, my eyes widening the moment I do so. The air within is incredibly rich, the Qi Cores within my body thrumming with energy and sucking in the surrounding Qi voraciously.

I whistle, eyes flicking around the incredibly pure and lively land. I can feel an incredibly powerful Formation at work, gathering and condensing the surrounding Qi, making it so pure that just breathing improved the state of my own Cores.

The area within the bubble was even more massive than the outside would let on, likely due to some spatial effect from the Formation. It was an immense valley, with even artificial mountains present in the distance.

A shadow flies over me, a gigantic three-headed Dragon flying overhead, an insanely powerful and pure aura radiating out of it. And there are more of it, all around the valley.

Of all different colors, but each of them radiating powerful Qi, their presence causing the air around them to shake.

They are all alive too. Living beasts wielding Qi.

What the hell has she been up to? This is a veritable army of beasts around Ultimate Class.

I find Changli in the middle of the valley, surrounded by thriving greenery, a lake, and a garden of medicinal herbs releasing powerful and pure Qi. Dozens of these Dragons lay around her like guards, sleeping soundly while cultivating.

My eyes land on a specific Dragon. A three-headed gigantic beast similar to a mountain-range, scales as red as blood, pure heat washing off its form like a volcano ready to erupt.

The now Flood Dragon raises its heads, letting out a growl that makes all the other beasts quiet down and lower their heads when they had gotten on guard due to my approach. "Jeez, you've grown a lot, huh?" I muse, staring up at the gigantic beast, whose power has reached levels I could have never imagined.

Changli lay on the grass, sat lotus style before her rumbling furnace. So focused was she on the refinement that she didn't even notice my presence.

So I simply sat down beside her with a mischievous grin. Her hair look much longer than before, tied up in a high and messy bun. Even her presence felt much, much stronger, telling me she has been working herself to the bone.

I didn't get to check out our army personally, but their Souls were shining much brighter than when I left, so I am fairly sure they have all experienced incredible growth.

The sound of the furnace rumbling, followed by a loud internal explosion, tell me that Changli finished the refinement process. A slow sigh leaves her lips before a beautiful smile spreads across her face.

Her eyes open, and the furnace opens, nine glowing Pills floating in the air, releasing a fragrance that make the surrounding beasts stir. A sort of coppery scent, like blood, but also not.

"As hard-working as ever, eh?" I speak up, grin still present on my face.

Changli nods, too focused on studying the glowing blood-red Pills in front of her, "This new batch of Beast Core Purifying Pellets is ten times stronger than the previous one, but I know I can improve the recipe even furth-" She freezes and goes still, as if just registering who spoke to her.

Wide eyes filled with shock flick towards me, then widen even more. A goofy, warm and beautiful grin instantly blooms on the Phenex beauty's face, "Scaith!" She squeals happily, throwing herself in my arms and all but tackling me to the ground, "You're back!"

I laugh heartily, hugging her right back as she rubs her face against my neck, "Jeez, I've missed you two!" I sit up, holding her hips as she lands on my lap, tired face outright glowing with that smile of hers, "What's all this you've made? It's amazing!"

Her smile turns into an eager grin, warm hands taking and shaking mine in hers, "I've managed to copy the Flood Dragon's Cultivation Path, so I started teaching it to those Dragons and Phoenixes that you made for me and Tio!"

One hand is freed, then waved around, "I then called for some help to build these Time Dilation Fields and the Formations to boost their Cultivation and growth. One month in here is half a day outside, and they grow and mature incredibly fast!"

I whistle, my gaze turning back to the towering Flood Dragon I gifted her, "That's a big deal, isn't it? Having discovered the way it Cultivates."

Changli hums softly and nods, "Yes, but it is fantastic." Her hand leaves mine, and they cup before her belly. I feel her Qi gather and condense into an ethereal, see-through sphere.

It was red like blood, but had glowing golden runes on it. Three of them in total, with one of them not as bright as the other two. "And Devils can make use of it!" My eyes widen at that, mouth gaping in shock at the revelation.

"What does it exactly do?"

Changli settles herself down on my lap, far more forward than I remember her being, so I hold her close and listen as she shares all she discovers.

"I haven't fully learned all it can do, but the gist of it is that it focuses on refining blood. Using it, a Core is formed, then blood is gathered inside it. The pure blood is kept and refined by Qi, the bad blood is removed."

"Once the blood reaches a certain level of purity, it is used to engrave a Rune. The Rune massively boosts healing and body strength, but also the amount of Qi that can be contained within the Blood."

"Said Rune then must be upgraded nine times with the same process, each one improving the body. After the ninth time, another Rune can be carved, so on and so forth."

I hum, cupping my chin, "Do these Runes give anything else, or…?"

She nods, gaze serious, "I've observed it, but quite a lot of beasts awakened special abilities with each Rune. I've bred them specifically so that only the strongest bloodline exists, one that awakens an ability with each Rune."

That must've been an incredible amount of work, and also resources used to groom these beasts to such a level. Especially the Flood Dragon.

And she created this army of Cultivator Beasts. I haven't seen the phoenixes, but they must be as great as the Dragons.

"So, you're going to share this Cultivation method with the Peerage?" I question curiously, and Changli shakes her head, much to my surprise.

"Not for now, at least. I want to improve the Beast Core Pellet a few more times before I make it available for our army and the Peerage." She turns her head, gazing at her Flood Dragon with proud eyes, "But I know it'll be worth it. Floody here battled Fleurdelys to a standstill a month ago, in fact!"

Holy shit… That's quite the feat, considering how strong Fleurdelys is. She also trains a lot with Zani and Tio, so she certainly isn't slacking. That must've been an insane battle, am sad that I missed it.

"Well, I'll await your success then." I squeeze her hip with an encouraging smile, making her cheeks flush brightly, "Oh, I did come to you for a few reason." I free one hand as she perks up, eyes wide with eagerness.

Reaching into my Spatial Inventory, I pull out a small flaming feather, a gentle light and warmth seeping out of the head-sized thing. "This is Ignea Pluma, I made it with the Phenex Clan Trait. By wielding it, you can share your Clan Trait's healing powers to anyone within range." I eye her army of beasts, then give her a wink as she receives the small feather with a quiet and happy squeal.

"Oh my Lucifer, Scaith… You are so impossible…" I've been getting that a lot recently.

Just like I did with Cantarella, I fuse Changli's Soul with Ignea Pluma's, "Here, now it'll grow with you. And considering that you are a Cultivator, its growth will be spectacular."

Changli wraps her arms around my shoulders and plants a warm, flaming kiss against my cheek. When she pulls back, her eyes are glowing with a burning determination that is quite hot, "Just you wait, you handsome idiot…" She huffs cutely, turning her nose up at me. "So, what else did you need me for?"

I feel like she loves it when I come to her for stuff, she likes feeling useful and being wanted.

Taking one of her hands in mine, I place her palm against my chest. Once done, I start circulating my Corpse Qi, making her eyes widen, "You created three Cores?"

I nod, "You told me how we had three Dantians, so I turned all three into Cores, though their effectiveness has pretty much been lost recently. I want to improve them, so I came to the most beautiful Devil that could help me with the issue."

Changli sweetly flutters her eyelashes at me, a cute giggle leaving her lips at my flattering words, "Your Qi is still in the Gaseous State. By improving your Core, it'll turn into a Liquid, and that is a thousand times greater than its previous state."

Guess I have my solution now. Corpse Qi empowered my Necrotic Miasma to incredible levels, but now it started to lag behind, but I know it wasn't its fault, but mine for not improving my Cores.

Ophis' blood embodies all energies, so my Qi is nigh-endless. Since I need to use it to refine my Cores, it'll be quite easy to do since I won't run out of it.

Hell, I'm sure it'll be even faster in such a place due to how pure the Qi in here is. It won't even be a waste of time since it flows faster in here.

"I can refine some Pills for you to speed up the process,-"

"Or we can speed it up in a more fun, pleasurable way." A new voice speaks up, making me pause and blink while Changli flushes profusely.

Slowly, I turn my head to stare at a beauty I recently thought about, and haven't seen in a long while. Yi Xuan.

A loose golden and white kimono was wrapped around her curvaceous figure, loose around the shoulders to expose plenty of her cleavage. Her long legs were out, resting off the side of a giant Dragon, where she slowly crossed them.

"Hello there, Jade Beauty." The Formation Misters waves her fingers at me, a flirtatious purr flowing past her lips.

I point at her and turn to Changli, "Why is this rude Young Master hungry for swan meat here?" Yi Xuan wheezes, head recoiling back and nearly falling off her steed.

Changli just sighs and palms her face, "Scaith, Yi Xuan is Fleurdelys' new and last Bishop."

I blink. I look back at Yi Xuan, who waves at me with a wide grin.

"I might just run back to No Man's Land."

My hips are in danger here.

~XXX~

Sirzechs didn't know if he missed paperwork or not.

After centuries of dealing with mountains of it day in and day out, paperwork had become part of his daily life.

But now, after making the Nobility bow to him, and turning his side of Devilkind into a military focused force, paperwork was… Rare. Incredibly so.

He and Falbium shared the work – meaning he handled 99% of Falbium's share – now that their jobs were essentially the same.

And… It strangely worked. Yes, he had to stain his hands, had to become the Tyrant he promised himself to never become, and had to abuse the strength he never wanted to abuse, but… Things were better now, somehow.

The Nobles and armies had taken to their more war-focused front, instead of lazing away with their riches and being annoyances to their people, other Races, and their government.

Sirzechs own parents took to the battlefield quite often now. His father had even started a fan-club for Venelana, utterly smitten with her like a teenage boy at seeing the woman sweep through armies of beasts with a relaxed smile on her face.

Sirzechs didn't need to know that their sex life had gotten quite lively once more, but his father tended to be quite vocal about everything. Even the way Venelana tended to dominate him when she gets in certain moods.

A shudder goes down the Satan's spine. Sometimes he wished he could use the Power of Destruction to erase his memories.

His head perks up when a familiar presence appears within his office, a light smile making its way on his face.

"I've received word from Scaith." Ajuka announces as his presence settles in, voice a low and slow drawl, "He has important news to share. He plans to gather those important before sharing them."

Sirzechs nods at the news, gazing out at the windows and into the distance, senses focused on the familiar flares of Devil Energy that belonged to his sister.

Rias and her Peerage were on the front-lines, battling against the Legion Gate, the immense city swarming with metal soldiers. It was a good source of materials and metals, but also a great opponent.

"It's funny." Sirzechs suddenly muses, catching Ajuka's attention.

"What is?"

A beat of silence, then "We were at each other's throats not too long ago, and now… It feels strange to not bear them any hatred or suspicion." He should be angry. Suspicious. Hateful, even.

For a moment, they had turned his sister against him. Against his family. But… Then he thought about. Thought about those interactions, the things he did, the things he caused for her.

Sirzechs didn't know who that man was, or how he had even become that. Perhaps, after so long with dealing with monsters he didn't want to become, he had started to turn one without realizing.

Controlling. Patronizing… Lazy.

"Does it not remind you of anything?" Ajuka asks in turn, and Sirzechs turns away from the window he was looking out of to stare at his best friend.

"Should it?"

Ajuka nods, moving to the nearest couch, "The end of the Civil War." He falls into the seat with a soft sigh, "We were at each others throat one day, the next one everyone was smiling and shaking our hands. Hands we used to tear their families apart. Their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, uncles… They smiled, and shook our bloodied hands, and spewed flowery words."

Another slow sigh through the nostrils, "What a sickening display."

Sirzechs hums, memories of those days flashing by his eyes. "I wonder what changed, since then." Nearly six centuries, such a long time for many Race, but not for theirs. But it should be. "After the Civil War, everything felt so… Nice. So lively. Like we were truly making a change. Like we were fixing a gaping wound we helped tear further apart to stem the bleeding."

Ajuka remains silent as he leans forward, forearms on his knees, hands joining between them, "I think that Scaith was right, in us messing up in taking the names of the previous Satans." The Beelzebub points out, "It was the right thing to do, at the time. Use old, respected names to raise our own prestige… But we should have gone with our own thing. We should have been ourselves, without parading around with the names of corpses."

An amused huff, then a shake of the head, "It can't have been only that, Ajuka."

A pause, then the green haired Satan speaks once more, "Before he left for No Man's Land, I had a conversation with Scaith." Sirzechs turns, moving to sit with his friend, "He told me that we are more similar to Humans than we think."

The Satan Lucifer blinks at that, "How so?"

One hand is raised, then three fingers, "Three-hundred years is all the time one needs to forget something. Be it a Race as a whole, or a long-lived species."

"Right after the Civil War, everyone was aware of our power. It was fresh in their minds. The scars, the bodies, the destruction, the fear."

"Then time passed, memories became stories, stories turned into books, into movies, blown out of proportions, changed constantly until few could remember the original. It affected them, and us. It made a mockery of that fear."

Sirzechs breathes out, "Because we never showed our might again, people got daring. They thought we got sloppy. Careless."

"And we did." Ajuka nods, then sighs and leans back, "It fits too. I went back to check the timeline and the changes to our Race, and it fits."

Sirzechs runs a hand through his hair, "We really should have had him on our side sooner." Scaith was unique, for he could adapt to any situation.

Had he been recruited by them, he would have stood with them against Fleurdelys, and perhaps would have been the voice of reason.

But in the end, the current course of action wasn't so bad either. Sirzechs was starting to mind it less and less.

He had visited New Haven a few times with his family, and seeing all those Devils just living such happy lives, it made Sirzechs realize that the events that led them here weren't so bad.

While he did regret the way he carried himself, and allowed prejudice and baseless worries to stain his his encounter with Fleurdelys, he was kind of glad that it all happened in the end.

Rias was so much stronger, so much more sure of herself. Her wings had properly spread, and she was downright glowing. He couldn't be prouder of his wonderful little sister.

"I feel like we would have limited him, had we recruited him." Ajuka offers his opinion, "He needs the freedom to grow and experiment as he wishes… And I doubt I could have given him that."

Sirzechs chuckles at that, knowing his best friend would have dragged Scaith away for every new creation he'd come up with, just so he could satisfy his curiosity.

His phone suddenly rings just as he opens his mouth to speak. Bringing it out of his pocket and looking at the screen, he notices it was his sister- Only for the call to end before he could answer it.

His eyes narrow at that.

That's when the horizon turned purple, and a wave of power slammed against the building with enough force to strip the paint off the walls and turn the reinforced glass into shards.

Ajuka stands, eyes wide and alarmed. "Something just breached into the Underworld from the Dimensional Gap."

The wall ceased to exist as Sirzechs turns, his Power of Destruction pouring out of him in tidal waves as he shot across skies with enough speed to leave the Sonic Booms far behind by the time they rang out.

When he reached the battlefield, he found an immense crater at the edges of the metal kingdom. Purple particles floated in the air, leaving tears in Reality itself while eroding air and ground at the same time.

Anything that came in contact with that strange purple energy was slowly ground away.

Sirzechs lands at the edges of the expanding crater, eyes narrowed. Glancing back, he lets out a relieved sigh when he takes note that no losses fell on his side.

Diehauser stood at the front holding his right arm, which looked both burned and eroded, enough that Sirzechs could see down to the bone.

He could also feel Rias and her Peerage, deeper into the army. Whatever that wave of power was, it must've been what disrupted her call, perhaps by destroying her phone.

Relieved that everyone was alright, Sirzechs turns towards the crater, and the being that created it.

It hovered right above its center, hunched over and motionless. It looked humanoid, over eight feet in height, but with no clear features.

It seemed like a doll carved out of the night sky itself, glowing with an eerie light purple light. Its 'skin' was a pitch black, but rivers of stars glittered along it, with two swirling galaxies working as eyes upon its featureless face.

Just staring at it sent shudders down Sirzechs spine. It brought his mind back to the Civil War, to the Fly Chimera he had to go all out in order to kill.

Yet, while this strange being felt dangerous, it released no magical aura whatsoever. Instead, it seemed to be devouring and absorbing the surroundings, like some sort of virus.

The hunched over creature moved, long arms twitching, large head slowly turning towards Sirzechs- Then it vanished.

Sirzechs stomach dropped. His arms rose by instinct, lifting to block a casual, almost lazy swipe of those long and large arms- The world turned into a blur.

Pain.

That casual blow turned Sirzechs into a missile, his body splitting the metal kingdom in half, leaving a massive trench carved through the earth with his back for miles upon miles.

When he came to a stop, Sirzechs slumped on his ass, eyes wide. His arms throbbed with pain, blood dripped down his face and on his pants. His head was ringing, and his heart was hammering.

When was the last time he felt true, genuine pain?

His mind suddenly conjures a conversation he had recently; "I miss it." Ajuka had told him, in confidence, voice but a low whisper, "I miss the exhilaration of a good fight. Of having my life on the line."

"What about you?"

Sirzechs had answered with a laugh and negative answer, a carefree smile on his face. He was a teacher, a lover of music. He wasn't a fighter.

But, deep down, he is still a Devil.

A weapon made and born for war.

The Voidling stirred, head turning just in time to see a fist hammer into its skull with enough force to clear the clouds out of the skies.

The shock-wave stripped the earth right off the bedrock, and Sirzechs flared his nostrils, boot digging into the air, spine bending, and his punching arm slowly extending in full.

The Voidling slammed into the bedrock and carved a bottomless abyss in its wake, disappearing into the deep darkness below within the blink of an eye.

Slowly, and with heavy pants, Sirzechs straightened his spine, "Ajuka…" He called out, knowing his best friend was listening, "Clear the area."

A purple light banishes the darkness, the humanoid Voidling rising out of the abyss with naught a crack on its body, posture still hunched over, but now giving Sirzechs its full focus.

The Satan Lucifer licks his lips and stretches a hand out, wagging a finger at the Voidling, "I'm going to cut loose. Just a bit."

The Incarnation of Destruction gave the Voidling a crooked smile.

He was strangely looking forward to this.

A.N. Sirzechs boutta pull a Dabura level performance from JJK Modulo.

I found myself wanting to write other characters having some time to shine and grow too, so hopefully you'll like what I have planned for the next few chapters!

And yes, the Voidling is part of the monsters that come from the Gate within the Dimensional Gap.

The one Sirzechs is fighting? The weakest among them.

Yeah, shit's boutta go crazy.

Toodles!