Sirzechs had never felt this nervous, and he had lived for a couple centuries.
There was the meetings with his family, where he could see the silent expectations gleaming in their eyes. Sometimes he'd meet them, sometimes he didn't. But he had grown used it, and when things didn't go the way he expected them to go, he could only shrug and wish for better luck next time. Then there was the times on the battlefield. People died in the countless fights he'd witnessed. He saw brothers take blows for each other. He saw mothers and daughters crying whenever he came back home, for all the husbands and fathers that were lost. But even after all that, he could only steel himself and make sure he'd not lose next time.
This time around however, the entirety of devilkind was expecting something from him.
The conference room was large enough to fit thousands. The majority of the crowd was seated in the stand close to the wall. Shouting and howling devils they were, shouting obscenities at each other without an end to it. The stages were separated in two parts. His people, the rebels, were on one side. The people who wished for a change. To not continue the bloody legacy of the now dead Satans. To find new ways for their race to cherish. On the other side were the members of the Old Satan faction. Undying loyalists. Some had only followed the words of the Satans, others had served directly under them. They would all die for them. In the centre of the room, there were eight chairs total. Four for the rebels, four for the loyalists. And Sirzechs was sitting there, all eyes on him.
With him were his fellow generals, the ones that had led the fight to usher in a new — and most likely hopeful — age for their race. Falbium Glayas-Lebolas was sitting there half asleep, lazy as always. Serafall Sitri was fidgeting in her seat. Ajuka Astaroth stared back at the opposite side, unfazed.
Across from him sat the leaders of the Old Satan faction. All the offspring of the Satans in some wicked or the other. Shalba Beelzebub, the maniac hungry for power. Katerea Leviathan, whose eyes shimmered with jealousy each time she took a loom at Serafall. Creuserey Asmodeus, who had not said much but was returning Ajuka's stare with the same intensity. Then there was Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the man who intrigued Sirzechs the most, who somehow managed to look even more bored than Falbium.
Shalba coughed, and the room fell silent. He patted the documents in front of him, glancing over them. ''So, have we come to a conclusion.''
Sirzechs nodded stiffly. ''The power will be split between our group and yours. A council will be formed to represent the remaining Pillars and they will be granted more power in the deciding matters regarding our government. The leaders of both respective factions will be granted leadership positions along with veto,'' Sirzechs swallowed before continuing, ''the descendants of the Satans will gain the honorary title of Satan, though this will not grant them additional power,'' Sirzechs finished.
Katerea giggled, an unbecoming sound. ''Funny how you emphasized that part, are you so set on keeping us from power even though we won the war for us?''
Falbium yawned. ''None of you did anything useful. Lucifer did. He's dead. We're just taking precautionary methods so you for example won't turn out like your mommy.''
Katerea was about to bite back but Shalba stopped her by raising his hand. ''Enough with this useless back and forth. We both want to best for our race, and this is seemingly the only way this can be achieved,'' Shalba said before turning towards Sirzechs and smiling, ''I hope we'll be able to make the Underworld prosper together.''
Sirzechs clenched his teeth. Shalba was a real snake, trying to hide his true intentions of becoming the new overlord of the Underworld with sugar coated words. But Sirzechs understood, even Shalba would have to take this measure. When Lucifer came back and told everyone he had killed God before collapsing, everyone had been in an uproar. The civil war that followed soon after had tired out everybody. Sirzechs knew that this was only a setback for Shalba, but how long it would take for the descendant of Beelzebub to resume his plans was beyond him.
''Well,'' Rizevim spoke up, much to Sirzechs' surprise, ''let's settle this then, shall we? I want to be back home before dinner.''
Shalba sighed. ''To believe you'd act like this… Your father would be ashamed of you.''
''Yeah, I'll make sure to apologize to his grave.''
One thing Sirzechs — and many others — questioned was the longevity of this truce. If the changes were minimal, members of the rebel faction would rise up. The Old Satan faction was blatantly dysfunctional and one single disagreement would have them flying at each other's throats. Would this last? Or would this only be stalling the inevitable, the stalling of a fight that would be bring doom to all devils?
Sirzechs could not finish his thoughts. A pile of documents was shoved in front of him. It already had seven signatures on it. He looked up from the papers. His brothers in arms were staring at him with expectations. His enemies were starting at him with expectations. Everyone wanted something from him, everyone wanted something different. He just didn't know what to give them.
In the end, all he could was shrug and sign the document.
Magic circles twisted around the pile of papers, and they burned in hellish fires. It was done. It had been recorded. There was no going back for anyone now. As the papers burned to ashes, Shalba stood up and waved his hand around. A wine glass was conjured into the hands of every single devil.
''Now,'' Shalba started, ''let us bring out a toast. For a marvelous future for the devils.''
Everyone raised their glass, shaking with hesitation, even Shalba himself. And as Sirzechs took a sip of the wine, he knew.
He had not met his expectations.
It was dark as always.
He tried to remember. Why he was here. What had happened. The faint clattering of the rain against the window bars only washes his mind over, and it kept the memories locked up, just like he was.
The room was simple, or that was what he figured at least. A good portion of the room was covered in darkness, and he could only see the things that were practically in front of his face. If someone came in, he could only judge who it was by the way the door was pushed — and sometimes smashed — open. There was the burly and big guy that always came in to talk ''mad smack'' as Naruto had put it, who almost broke the door down each time he entered the cell. There was the girl who always brought him food with that tight smile that always ticked him off, who opened the door with the just the slightest push.
The door opened.
Naruto couldn't differentiate the sound from anyone else opening the door. It just creaked and closed. Footsteps echoed through the cell, slow but steady, slightly speeding up the closer the sound came to him. Like horsemen approaching the frontlines on a bloody battlefield, until they stopped in front of their enemy.
Naruto groaned, the chains that held his hands shaking along with the heaving of his chest. ''Not this guy again…''
A single corner of Cao Cao's lips curved upwards as he tapped his spear on the ground. ''And here I thought you'd be delighted to see me,'' Cao Cao said before kneeling down to Naruto's level. ''I came to see whether you've brightened up or not.''
Naruto snorted. ''If by brightening up you mean going along with your silly plans, I'm gonna have to disappoint you chief.''
Cao Cao sighed, running a hand through his hair. ''How much convincing are you going to need? We are in danger. Is it not a hero's job to keep others safe from the things that could harm them? To ensure that our efforts throughout history are not just all destroyed?
''Sounds all good, but…'' Naruto looked from one side of the room to the other, ''not sure if killing all these other ''supernatural races'' off and shit is really going to make you a hero. What was that all about again? Angels and devils?''
Cao Cao smiled. ''You're still ignorant. You don't know what they've done to us. How much we suffered in the shadows while they all conducted their petty affairs on the main stage. Many people don't know, and that's fine. We'll make them know. And you can help us with that.''
''Why do you need even need me for this?'' Naruto asked, slowly starting to lose his temper. ''There's probably tons of people out there with even cooler powers than me. You can grab them, convince them with your shitty speeches and leave me alone. Sounds like a plan right?''
''Here I thought you couldn't get even more foolish,'' Cao Cao half smiled half laughed, ''If there was ''tons of people with cooler powers than yours'' out there, I would've already gone to them. We found you unconscious in the wilds, maybe repaying your debt to us by helping humanity out would be a good first step in the right direction.''
''So the first thing you do when you find someone knocked out in the open is lock them up? Very nice.''
Cao Cao chose to ignore that comment. ''So, there is really nothing that can convince you?''
Naruto nodded.
''Nope.''
Cao Cao rose up from his position, his smile and somewhat friendly look fading from his face. ''Very well. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I see that we have to use other methods to get you to see the light.''
''Other methods?''
Naruto never got an answer, as Cao Cao had already stepped back into the darkness. Quite funny, Naruto thought, for someone who was preaching about seeing the light. This the time the door closed with a harsher sound, almost making the cell shake. The chains that held Naruto rustled again and some pieces of the wall crumbled on Naruto's head. He knew that the next time someone was going to come into his cell, it wasn't to give him some food.
''Fuck, I really need to leave this place.''
Naruto forced himself up. The chains still bound his hands, but the crumbling of the wall had made them a lot weaker. Breaking out wasn't the problem. It was where he would go once he was out of here. Where would he go? He had no idea where he was, who could help him or if there was anyone who would help him in the first place. But by his own golden rule, the actions would come first, and the plan later.
He could feel it. His chakra pumping through his arms, strengthening his body by the second. The chains started creaking, almost like they were howling in pain, and slowly came loose from the wall. He was still strong. He could still feel his powers. Everything was the same, but it felt different. Why, he did not know.
The chains broke soon enough, and fell down onto the ground, clattering one final time. Naruto brushed himself off. His jacket was completely ruined, his pants torn, and his fishnet shirt looked more like a gigantic hole than a net. And those clothes were his favorite as well. Not that he had any others.
Naruto started rushing towards the dark end of the room. Touching and feeling around, he pushed something open, and a familiar creak greeted his ears. That had to be the door. To his extreme discontent though, the hallway he entered wasn't much brighter. There were torches yes, but they were placed so far from each other that their light did not even overlap. The darkness would allow him to move easier, but there was no telling who could be wandering inside of this prison.
He kept going on forward, hesitantly feeling out in front of him and towards his sides. The light never changed. He was not sure whether he was taking a left turn, right turn or going forwards. He could be going backwards for all he knew. But yet it pushed him. His desire, his lust, the want. The smell of freedom tempted him to push forward.
Until he reached a dead end.
Naruto felt around for an opening. This wall was still hard, but for some reason it felt a bit fleshier than usual. His suspicions were confirmed when his wrist was grabbed. Very tightly.
''Are you gambling with your life today, hotshot?''
Naruto was flung back, but he was able to flip himself over in mid-air and landed gracefully on the ground. More torches lit up out of nowhere, revealing the full contents of this hallway. Naruto appreciated all the light, it had been ages since he had seen this much of it, though what he saw in front of him made his mood crash down.
''Look Hercules,'' Naruto sighed, ''I'm really looking forward to leaving this shithole, so let's not make it more complicated than it already is. It makes my head go ow ow.''
Heracles growled. ''Don't confuse me with my knock off Roman counterpart, punk.''
One thing Naruto had noticed was that these guys got really riled up whenever he got their names wrong. He had first called Cao Cao ''Chow Chow'', and for some reason the man had left him be that day in order to took a bath. Heracles however let out the aggression caused by his shattered ego in different ways thought, the most common one being knocking the utter shit out of anything within a ten feet radius.
And Naruto was his next target.
Heracles was tall and bulky, towering over Naruto on every occasion. But Naruto had the speed. Up. Down. Left. Right. He dodged and weaved, and Heracles' oversized hands missed every single time.
Naruto grinned. ''See Heracles? You might be big, you might be strong, you might be a Kage for all I care. But you're not strong enough. It's not your fault thought. It's just that I'm Naruto FUCKING Uzumaki. The shit I've been through would have you sitting on your bed, crying from mommy.'' Naruto laughed, his confidence reaching peak levels. ''Hell, I don't think you even hit that hard.''
Cracks of light suddenly started appearing behind Naruto. Those were definitely not coming from the torches. About three seconds of shaking and crumbling later, the wall behind Naruto collapsed. Heracles could only smirk as he rubbed his fist.
Naruto looked back at the lush forest behind him, and back at Heracles.
''I stand corrected.''
Naruto nodded at Heracles, waved his hand and jumped out of the building. The fresh air. The afternoon sun. The birds chirping. It all washed over him in a wave of euphoria. As he was flying to the air, he also noticed that the apparent fortress he was locked up in mere moments ago was located on a mountainside.
''Oh shit.''
'Rias Gremory was a happy lass.
She wandered over the empty Kuoh school grounds, humming a tune to herself. What was their not to like about her life? She was loved, rich, famous to a certain degree. The boys loomed over her, the girls fawned in awe or jealousy (sometimes both), everyone respected her. She was granted this since day one, but every single time she walked through the halls of Kuoh High, met with all the stares and greetings, she could not help but to be thankful for this life she was granted.
Then again, humans were simple beings.
The majority of them was average. Nothing outstanding. Even the ones that had reached top among their own were nothing to fawn over. Few of them were aware of the supernatural, but even they would not comprehend it like other beings could. Their convictions were loose, their morals vague. And that was what interested Rias the most.
They were so easy to manipulate.
If devils were sin, humans were the second closest thing to sin. A good portion of them was willing to sell their soul just to indulge in their twisted carnal desires, and Rias was both disgusted and intrigued by this attitude. If she wanted to, all the boys in school would be her slaves at the slightest exposure of her skin. The girls would follow her to the grave if it meant that their popularity would ascend to new heights. But she was above such things. As a so called ''great lady'' of the school, she had to give the right example, much like her brother.
Oh, her beloved brother.
Ever since she was a little girl, he had pampered her. Her beautiful her ring, her outstanding necklace, her shining clothes, all was thanks to him. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that Sirzechs used all the resources that came from being a leader in the Underworld to buy gifts for her. Or maybe she actually didn't know, and that was exactly what was going on.
She sighed. She had to write him a letter once she was done with the student council business. Not that she minded dealing with it. The student council was led by a fellow devil and friend anyway, it was the only way she had some direct contact with her home.
Rias entered the building, still humming her happy tune. She walked up the stairs and went up to the student council room. That was when she noticed something was not right.
It reeked.
A burning smell like she had never smelled before. It flared up her nostrils, made her eyes water and burned her lungs. And it was coming right from the student council room.
She cautiously made her way over, the burning smell getting more intense with each step she took. Something was telling her to leave, like a voice in the back of her head. She wouldn't be safe. This wasn't a good idea. But when had she actually listened to others?
Her hands gripped the doorknob. She could already hear sounds coming from within the room. A strange, droning knocking sounds. Rias breathed in, her lungs tightening.
She entered the room.
The furniture was knocked over and broken. The table were they'd usually gather was split in half. The curtains ripped, the window shattered. Books torn to pieces. Rias looked further ahead, and wished she hadn't when she saw what has happening.
A wicked monstrosity were all the words she could gather to describe the thing. A large hulking creature covered in black plate armor. It was cruelly attached to its body through nails that were literally pinned into its skin. Its pale skin glimmered in the light, veins bulging around every muscle. Rias looked down, and found the source of the burning smell. The creature's legs were charred and blacked, all that was left was some faint black skin clamping around the bones, embers still dancing around on it. The creature a carried a huge sword, which was impaled into the student council vice president, Tsubaki Shinra.
Rias wanted to look away, but she couldn't.
The hole in Tsubaki's stomach was gigantic, almost covering her entire torso. Blood flowed out of her mouth like a tainted river. Her glasses were cracked, and pieces of the glass were stuck in her face. Tears streamed down her face as she gasped out a final word.
''Run.''
It was a quiet sound, but enough for the creature to hear. It turned around, dragging Tsubaki along with it.
''Ah, there you are.''
Its voice was deep and distorted, and Rias could swear she heard an almost weeping undertone under the hellish sound.
''You have something I need, Gremory,'' the creature started, as it started to creep over, ''why won't you give it to me? Why do you fear me? Hand it over.''
The monster's words were lost on her mind. She tried to take steps backwards, but ended up falling on the ground. The creature unleashed a monstrous howl, and Rias was not sure whether it was in anger or in pain. It flung its sword around in the air and knocked Tsubaki's unmoving body out of the window. It smashed the weapon around before rushing towards Rias.
She should've listened to Tsubaki.
''I fucking hate cars.''
Useless scraps of metal on wheels, Naruto thought. He was faster with his feet pumped full with chakra anyway. The fact that he was almost hit by approximately fifteen of them on his way did not help. The fact that he once again had no idea where he was did really not help.
Most of the building here were tall, scraping the sky. Countless of those cars raced around roads, occasionally stopping in front of lights. Countless of people walked around, and Naruto was not even sure if they knew were they were going. He didn't really care.
He looked down at his feet. Funny enough, he was in a worse state than he was back in Cao Cao's prison. Had he be running for days? Weeks? He didn't count. Night was day and day was night. All he knew that he was tired, hungry and in need of some new clothes.
He wandered around, until his attention landed on a sign.
''Ho..tel.''
Without hesitation, he walked in.
The main hall was richly decorated. Statues of idealized women and men were placed in every single corner. A lush red carpet covered the floor. Flowers and vines were set up as ceiling decoration, and for some reason Naruto felt like he was in paradise.
''Hello!'' A woman greeted him from behind her desk. ''Welcome to the hotel section of Babel Towers, how can I help you?''
''I need a room.''
To his surprise, Naruto wasn't the only one who said that.
He looked behind him. There was a girl who looked as bad, if not worse than him. She wore Her skirt was torn, her blazer dirty. She was bruised and battered, and Naruto was surprised she was actually still standing. Her long, red hair was tangled, and Naruto could swear some parts were darker than the others for some reason.
''Excuse me,'' the girl huffed and crossed her arms, ''I was clearly first.''
''Uh, no,'' Naruto replied. The receptionist simply laughed.
''It's okay, I can multitask. Just give me a moment to check the rooms that are available.''
As the cute receptionist typed away at her computer, Naruto kept glancing at the girl, who glared back each time their eyes met. What was her problem.''
''I'm sorry,'' the receptionist suddenly spoke up, getting the attention of both Naruto and the girl, ''we only have a single two person room left.''
Naruto and the girl looked at each other, and once again answered in choir.
''I'm not sharing a room!''
The girl huffed again and looked at Naruto in a judgemental fashion ''What's with you?! Any person with half a brain would be honored to share a room with me! Do you even know who I am?!''
Naruto snorted and returned the girl's look. ''I have no idea! What's with you acting so entitled?!''
The receptionist kept laughing. ''Well, you two should make up your minds. From what I see here, we'll be booked full for the coming four months.''
''Four months?!'' Naruto shouted. ''How do you even get that many people here?! It's almost like you want me to sleep on the streets!''
''Okay, how about this…'' the receptionist started, ''I'll let you two stay for free, if you share the room. How's that sound?''
Naruto and the girl looked at each other again, and answered.
''We;ll take this, it's our only option.''
''Wonderful!'' the receptionist exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. ''Here's the keys to the room. I'm just going to need your names.''
''Naruto Uzumaki.''
''Rias Gremory.''
''That's noted down,'' the receptionist nodded, ''enjoy your stay!''
''Yeah, thanks…'' Naruto started and looked at the receptionist's name tag, ''Raynare?''
''It was no problem.''
Naruto and Rias made their way over to the elevator in silence. They didn't look at each other, not even a single glance. But Naruto knew there was something going on. Some girl who's in the same state as he is suddenly pops up out of nowhere? It was too much to be a coincidence. The elevator doors closed, and the two of them started taking the ride to an uncertain future.
Once both Naruto and Rias had disappeared, Raynare's smile widened. She pressed a button on her keyboard.
''The objective has been secured, boss.''
Well, this is just a little something I've been working on. The idea of a world without Evil Pieces was very intriguing, and since Mara has no interested in continuing fanfiction anymore (the words were ''miss me with that gay shit''), I asked him if I could adopt this fic. The story is taking a bit of a different turn but the core will stay the same.
I've already gotten a couple chapters done, which are all longer and higher quality than this one. I wasn't pushing myself when I was writing this, which is a shame for a first chapter. Just consider this a short introduction to this changed world.
Regarding the romance, it's still pretty much strict Naruto x Rias, but I'm capitalizing on Mara's idea of having a love triangle. Naruto's character, unfortunately not sure which direction that is going in. I don't enjoy writing canon Naruto, and I don't like the pseudo-intellectual edgelord that takes up the spot as MC in most DxD fics. So we'll see about that one I guess.
Just one thing since I didn't make that clear (I think), the events of the conference in the first are several centuries back compared to the rest of the chapter and story. Just a little prequel to show how the world with no evil pieces came to be. The devils didn't suffer as much since the fighting didn't go on for long, hence no need to reincarnate other species.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm willing to answer none spoiler-ish questions, so don't hesitate to PM me. Please let me know your thoughts through a review and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
