Damn my body hurt like hell.

Ever since my first meeting with Zekram Bael and acquiring Regulus as my servant, I was slowly getting results with my trainer. Now that Regulus was with me, I would also occasionally train with him, who could of course shape shift into the form of a young boy. Luckily a Devil's body was far more physically robust and potent than a human body, allowing it to stand up to much greater physical strain than a human's. That of course didn't prevent me from feeling sore all over.

How Sairaorg managed to attain his power at the start of cannon was beyond me, but that didn't mean that I was going to give up.

At least when it came to comparing with my physical training, my demonic power was improving a lot, though it was nowhere close to Sirzechs's level. I at least had better control with my power of destruction than Rias did, being able to manipulate my demonic power into the form of flames.

Thus I had decided to name them the Flames of Destruction.

As for Regulus, well since I had been ordered by the leader of the Great King faction to keep the fact that I had a Longinus a secret I had decided to give him the name Reg for now.

It didn't need to be some complicated name so Reg would do for now. That was until Regulus would be revealed during my Rating Game with Rias, but that was years from now.

For now however I needed to keep my focus on getting stronger.

As for my body, well besides some muscles slowly developing, my durability was getting better, which was a relief. That meant more sparring time with my instructor and Regulus.

Compared to my instructor though, Regulus went all out whenever they trained, and the only good thing that came out of it was some improvement with my fighting technique.

[You are strange for a Devil, master.] Regulus noted, observing me while they relaxed in the courtyard of the Bael castle.

"How so?"

Besides the fact that I was once a human with no fighting experience before becoming a pure Devil.

[From what what I know about your kind, most Devils would rely on their demonic power rather than train their bodies to the limit, which you are doing right now.]

Well he certainly had a point there.

It was certainly a surprise for my family when they found out from my instructor that I was training my body as well as my demonic power.

Unlike most Devils, I planned to combine my physical prowess with that of my demonic power for even more destructive power. All Sairaorg had with his body was Touki and Regulus, but with my power of destruction added to the mix it would make me one formidable opponent.

I was more like Vali in a way, with his Longinus and demonic power, though he never took the time like Sairaorg did to train his body to the limit.

Maybe someone would dub me as the Strongest Lion King like Azazel did for Vali. That wouldn't be a bad nickname to have. So long as it wasn't any demeaning nicknames like the ones Vali, Issei, and Rias got then there was nothing to worry about it.

"Let's just say that I'm curious about how far I can go with my body."

[In other words you want to reach the limit of a Devil.]

"Exactly."

Just as Crom Cruach and Vasco Strada reached the pinnacle of their bodies, my goal was to reach that height as well. Not that of a Super Devil, but just the physical power of a Devil.

Though in my current state I still had a long ways to go before I would reach that go.

At least my demonic powers were coming along nicely.

Not like my father would care of course since he would still compare me to the Gremory siblings whenever they saw each other. Only my mother would acknowledge my improvement with my training.

Just thinking about my mother caused me to frown. It was still hard for me to believe that she was carrying my father's second child.

Then again it shouldn't have really been a surprise. In the original timeline, Lord Bael had a second wife when Sairaorg was born without the power of destruction, producing another son who was born with their clan's power. This time around there was no need for a second wife since Zeroth was born with the power of destruction.

The only question was who my sibling was going to be.

If it were Sairaorg who was born without the power of destruction, would my father still cast aside my mother even though she had given him a son born with the power of destruction? It wouldn't be at all that surprising considering how much pride my father had.

But then there was always the chance that Magdaran could be born.

If it were Magdaran then at least he would be able to have a more easy going life than he had in the original timeline, with most of his responsibilities as the next head resting on my shoulders. Not to mention that he would have a loving mother compared to Lord Bael's second wife.

He could focus on his hobby as a botanist to his hearts content even if their father would not approve of it.

There was also the chance however that my future sibling could be a girl. Hopefully that would not happen. I had my fill of having a sister in my previous life.

"By the way, your Sacred Gear can change form according to the wielder's thoughts, right?"

[That is correct. Why do you ask?]

"No offence, but axes just aren't my style."

[What are you thinking of then?]

"A sword."

Combined with my power of destruction, Touki, and strength, my swordsman skills could become more destructive than Xenovia's. Not to mention that I was also interested in obtaining Siegfried's Demon Swords for myself.

They were after all the ultimate weapons against Angels and Fallen Angels.

Sorry Kiba, but those Demon Swords were going to be mine.

[First you want to strengthen your body, now you want to use a sword. You really are a strange Devil, master.]

"You only get to live once."

Not for me anyways, but Regulus didn't know that.

There were lots of things that I didn't do in my previous life: fighting and wielding a sword were just one of the few things that I planned to cross off my list.

Compared to my demonic power training however, they were still lacking without much improvement, even if I could last longer against my instructor and Regulus a lot more then when I first started out.

[Then I suppose we should get started then.]

"Don't hold back."

All of my training would all be worth it in the end. After all, I had a body that could last for over 10,000 years and needed to be ready for anything.


If there was one thing I hated the most about my new life as a High-Class Devil besides my father, it was the meetings between the children of the other nobles.

Not to mention the damn suits were tight as hell. It was no wonder the kids didn't kill themselves from having to wear such clothes, but then again it might have been because fancy clothes never suited me in the first place.

That and many of the kids seemed to avoid me due to my status as the next Great King of Bael, which was fine by me because I had never been much of a social person anyways.

It was pretty obvious for me to tell however what these gatherings were truly for.

Marriage.

There used to be 72 Devils that held a peerage, with dozens of armies at their command, but after the war most of them had died, wiping out almost half of the 72 Pillars. Because of the low number of pure Devils compared to the reincarnated ones, the remaining pure Devils would arrange matches for their offspring to further their line.

It wouldn't be at all surprising if they were all somehow related to each other from a past marriage.

But because of the deaths of the original Maou it was difficult for pure Devils nowadays to produce more of their kind.

It was only a matter of time before my father decided to find a match suitable for me. Just like Rias and the other heirs of their clans there was no escaping an arranged marriage.

Though in my case it wouldn't be so bad as long as she was beautiful and had an interesting personality. She would of course have to deal with my own harem since I planned to have one.

Watching the other kids mingle in the great hall I took the chance to search for familiar faces from the light novels amongst the crowd.

It was pretty easy to spot my cousin, Rias Gremory, with her long crimson-red hair and blue eyes. She seemed to be chatting with two other girls around her age, whom I guessed were Sona Sitri and Seekvaira Agares, the next heads of their clans. All three of them wore elegant dresses befitting of their statuses.

To think that the three of them including me would soon become known as the Rookies Four was still hard to believe. If I didn't reach Sairaorg's level of power soon, the title of the Strongest Youth could fall onto one of them.

As the next future Head of the Bael Clan there was no way that I would let that happen.

"You are Zeroth Bael are you not?"

"That is correct."

To my surprise the one who had greeted me was the future queen of Sairaorg Bael, Kuisha Abaddon of the family part of the Extra Demons and the house that produced the 3rd Ranked Champion of the Rating Games though it was mostly because of the King Piece that he was able to reach that position.

Of course the only ones who knew that at this point were the old Devils and quite possibly Cleria Belial.

Since Rias was not in charge of Kuoh Town yet that meant that Cleria was still alive, but it was only a matter of time before she was killed.

I still wasn't certain if I wanted to change her fate because she already could be in a relationship with the exorcist Masaomi Yaegaki.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Kuisha Abaddon from the Extra Demons."

She was around my age, with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail like Akeno's. Not to mention that she was very beautiful for her age and would become a beauty like Rias and Akeno when she got older.

"What is a member of the Extra Demons doing here?"

If I remembered correctly from my studies the Extra Demons secluded themselves from the current Devil society, not wanting to involve themselves with the government and that those who involved themselves with the current society would have to break all ties with their households.

So what was Kuisha doing here at such a young age?

"I used my ties with Bedeze Abaddon to get in. To be honest, I was searching for a Devil worthy of my services."

So she wanted to join my peerage, huh.

To be honest I wasn't certain if I wanted to use the same peerage that Sairaorg had in the original timeline, which consisted mostly of scorned Devils. But Kuisha's power of hole could be quite useful and there was no guarantee that I would be able to find a more suitable candidate for my Queen.

Just like with Regulus it had to be fate that I would encounter another member of Sairaorg Bael's peerage so soon. That didn't mean of course that all of the members of my peerage were going to be exactly like Sairaorg's.

"Then how about you join my peerage?"

"But we just met."

"You won't find a Devil more worthy for your services than the next Great King of Bael."

After all the House of Bael had the purest blood of all Devils and they were the true rulers of the Underworld after the fall of the old Maou.

Kuisha frowned. "You seem to be so sure of yourself."

"Of course because I aim to be the strongest Great King."

"Then how many servants do you already have in your peerage?"

"Just one."

"What piece did you use for them?"

"Seven Pawns."

"I take it then that you already have an idea of what kind of peerage you want?"

"Of course."

It was like I was the one being interviewed for a job when it was Kuisha who was searching for a peerage to join. Seriously, this girl was way too serious for her age.

Then again Devils did seem to mature a lot faster than humans due to their upbringing.

The only reason I was mature for my age though was because I had the mind of an adult while I was stuck in the body of a child.

"Then why do you want me to be part of your peerage?"

Uh because you came to me looking for a High-Class Devil to serve.

"Because you are exactly the kind of person that I want to be a part of my peerage."

Fishing for a piece inside of my pocket, I pulled out my strongest piece.

"How would you like to become my Queen?"


Life in the Bael castle seemed to be a lot livelier now with the newest addition to my peerage and it was about to get a lot livelier with the newest addition to the family.

With Kuisha I now had another partner to train with besides my instructor and Regulus. While my physical training was with Regulus and my instructor, my demonic power training was with Kuisha.

To think that she would one day be able to take down Akeno with just one attack was still hard to believe.

With training though the members of my peerage would only get stronger perhaps even surpassing the level Sairaorg Bael's peerage was for their Rating Game against Rias.

If they kept this training up Rias and her peerage wouldn't stand a chance against mine when they faced off.

All that really mattered to me now besides my training was to decide the remaining members of my peerage.

At the moment the only members of my peerage were my Queen and Pawn: Kuisha and Regulus. That left seven positions opened for the remaining spots of my peerage.

If I remembered correctly the other members of Sairaorg's peerage were Devils from extinct families with maybe one or two of them being from the remaining Devil clans of the 72 Pillars.

Of course the only ones worth keeping from Sairaorg's peerage were already a part of mine. The others didn't really stand out that much to me.

Sairaorg's ideals were different from mine so it was only natural that my peerage would be different from his with a few exceptions.

Two members from Sairaorg's peerage were enough for me.

Xenovia and Ravel would make fine additions to my peerage though.

For Xenovia though that meant taking part in the Kokabiel fight, which was something I was not looking forward to, but her Durandal suited my syle.

"Zeroth."

As for Ravel well her tactical skills would also be great for my peerage.

"ZEROTH!"

Broken from my thoughts, I looked up to see my father glaring down at me with that annoying look of his.

"Where is your head at boy? Your mother is waiting for you."

That was right. The newest addition to the Bael family was born and to be honest it made me nervous.

Already my mind was running through the simulations of what would happen to my mother and her child if they were born like Sairaorg, but if it was Magdaran then she should be safe from the humiliation she endured with Sairaorg.

I didn't know what to do if my sibling was born like Sairaorg.

My father would cast my mother and sibling out, no doubt keeping me by his side as his heir and then he would probably take another wife to forget about the failures of his first wife.

Just thinking about it made me want to kill my father here and now.

That man did not deserve to be the Great King of Bael.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I walked inside the chambers with my father coming in behind me.

This was my first time walking in on someone who had just given birth and it was nerve racking for someone like me who had never experienced this in real life.

My mother seemed to be exhausted from the birth, but what caught my attention was the small bundle in her arms.

Come on please don't be Sairaorg.

My mother smiled when she saw me. "Zeroth, come and meet your new baby brother."

To my relief I could sense demonic energy radiating from his body, which meant that he had indeed inherited the clan's power of destruction.

"What is his name?"

To me it was pretty obvious what his name was going to be, but I just wanted to make sure to confirm it.

This time it was my father who answered my question, looking down at his new son with pride. No doubt he was pleased that his second child was also born with the power of destruction.

"Magdaran Bael."


Well there's one change to Zeroth's peerage that I made for his Queen.

As for Zeroth obtaining Siegfried's Demon Swords it will most likely definitely happen.

This means that Kiba will not be acquiring them in this story, and its not like he really needs them anyways since he has two Sacred Gears along with their Balance Breakers, so it probably won't be hindering him that much.

Also here is Zeroth's updated peerage. This will be the only chapter it will be displayed on unless there are any changes made to it. For future references to his peerage they will be posted on my profile page along with his harem.

Zeroth Bael's Peerage –

King: Zeroth Bael

Queen: Kuisha Abaddon

Bishop, Mutation Piece: Kuroka

Bishop: Ravel Phenex

Knight: Jeanne

Knight: Xenovia Quarta

Rook: Katerea Leviathan

Rook: Rossweisse

Pawn x7: Regulus

Pawn: Kiyome Abe

Anyways that's it from me, let me know what you all think about it.


NEXT CHAPTER: A Stray Cat