BANG
"Tell me that again!" An older devil that looked like a middle-aged man with black hair and peaceful violet eyes and wears noble attire said, he was the oldest and most influential devil on their current society, Zekran Bael.
"Very well, this afternoon about two hours ago a youngster entered the Saint Peter's Basilica to rescue his friends. Aparently Bishop Thorn decided to kidnap two of the kids from the current strongest generation of the Norse Mithology as one of them had an near umparalelled talent for light and holy arts while the other had divinity and an great talent for wielding most swords including demonic and holy types. It didn't help that both carried with them items that easily rivalled the complete Excalibur or Caliburn, if not completely overshadows them.
"The kid that invaded the Basilica is called Erik, he is the first disciple Odin took for the last few hundreeds of years and is also possessor of the four sacred gears that have the spirits of the four chaos dragons. After the child entered the basilica and found his friends near death as they were being experimented on to make the church find better ways to improve its strength the boy snapped.
"His sacred gear went out of control and summoned a storm that destroyed the Saint Peter's basilica and many other historic places to the ground. The damage the church suffered is also being spread from the fact that many believe that this is the fury of God over a fake idol and the result was that the number of people that still believe in the Chatolic Church is plumeting to an all times low as we speak, it is said that the numbers are dropping at an intense rate and if this continues the Catholic Church could possibly become a minor branch while the Protestants and Orthodoxes would become the center instead.
"Continuing the previous topic, after creating such a disaster stronger exorcists arrived. The new generation user of Durandal tried to eliminate him but was swiped away by one movement of the hand. He then proceeded to fight with Griselda and Dulio while protecting the girls in his bosom, he was heavily injured but doesn't seem like the injuries will leave scars nor will they kill him. The archangels tried to descend but it was by that point that two of the Valkyries armies, one army of Einjehard, Thor, Odin, Loki, Tyr, Frigg, and about eight more gods showed up and ready for battle. They then restrained and started treating both sides while the leaders of the Norse and Heaven started discussing about what shall be done.
"In the end it was decided they would call it even as, despite the heavy losses for Heaven, it was still something they provoked in the first place. It is strange that the one to call the shots was Michael instead of God, but he might be busy with some other matter, his absence was also noted by the Norse Gods that looked annoyed when they thought that God was looking down on them. It needed the union of both Gabriel and Michael to convince them otherwise. However, it was also decided that the church and Heaven, as well as all of their allies, will no longer be able to request the services of the Norse Pantheon's mercenaries nor will the Norse's people be allowed passage through terrain owned by Heaven by the risk of death.
"It was also agreed that if, at any moment, Heaven moves against the Norse a war will happen and they would destroy heaven itself. It would normally be considered a bluff but with their armies and Thor it would hardly be impossible, at most, it would be hard."
Zekran heard it all, but unlike how other devils were celebrating and gloating over this situation he knew better. That meant that the Norse would start to wonder a bit more about God's presence as he never made an appearance after the great war. If Norse truly started a war with Heaven it is almost assured that devils would end up involved with it.
Needless to say, this new kid was another headache. A child with enough power to destroy most of the Vatican and fight it out with two strong exorcists, the mere thought of how strong this child will become is terrifying. Of course, as the informed person he was, Zekran had already heard and inquired information over this boy.
He was a walking disaster, that is the honest opinion of Zekran. He would do anything he feels like it and even though he didn't start for long he already did many outrageous things that could make Zekran tremble just by thinking of it. One good example was that, according to one of his fonts, the boy had recently invaded Tepes territory, defeated and then removed the fangs of more than a hundred vampires and is using said fangs as a necklace. He also took away nothing less than the Sephiroth Grail for himself, to think that such a gear was not on the Devil race firm grasp made Zekran gritt his teeth in anger.
He wanted to plan something to deal with this kid, either to force him to not touch the devils or to make him work for him as possibly a peerage member of some kid, but he couldn't think on how. The problem was that the kid was highly valued by both Thor and Odin and the kid also was notorious for only doing what he wants without concern for laws, he might plan as many political plays he want but if the kid ignores them all and leaves then he can't do a thing.
"Sir, we also have new news that just arrived." A new servant came running. "Protests amongst the Old Satan Faction territory are exploding as the number of devils who are pushing to take this chance to restart the war are increasing exponentially, the protests and civil unrest already took about 30% of all territory of the extra devils and it shows no sign to stop with some devil peerages even already trying to go to the Vatican and fight."
"Sir, important news!" Another servant came running. "There are happening invasions throughout devil territory on the human world by part of the exorcists who think we are somehow responsible for the attack in the Vatican, violence is rising."
"Sir, important news!" You guessed it, another servant came running with news. "An attack started in Kuoh town to remove the church and us from the territory by the part of the Japanese Pantheon who doesn't want us there. It is also happening in other territories across the globe as many pantheons are taking back their territories with the most notorious being the Hindu and the Greek Pantheon."
And more and more reports came one after another. Zekran could only growl in frustration, he had his work cut out for him and it would not be easy by any stretch of the word as the devil's influence and the church would take a dip for the next few tens of years due to this sittuation. He could just think that the one who is the happiest right now is probably if not deffinetly the fallen angels who will certainly have an influx of stray exorcists and can just look over and see their two strongest rivals weaken while not doing a single thing.
Of course, it was not only the devils that were in trouble. It could be said that this single action of Erik caused the entire world to enter in chaos as many pantheons entered an state of unrest.
However, amongst them the one who actually was enjoying this the most was undeniably the Japanese Pantheon. They always had problems with the Christian factions of Heaven and Devils, they had even taken some of the territhories of Japan and had the gall to nearly annihilating an entire race of Yokais with the few remaining being either running away or turned into reincarnated devils. It was to the point that one was being walked around by the younger sister of one of the Maou and twins were part of a brat of the Phenex household.
But, the fact that made this Pantheon feel even better was that the one responsible was a member of an allied force. The Japanese and Norse Pantheons had long since entered an alliance in great part thanks to the friendship that Susanoo had towards Thor. There were even rummors that the daughter of Yasaka, the current leader of the Yokais, might be with Vidar, one of the sons of Odin. And, of course, there is also the fact that Nuharihon is great perverted friends with Odin and the two together with Azazel are known for going to strip clubs and entering in competition for the dancers there and how much they can spend.
There is even a legend that there are some milionare hookers that prey to them in thanks every day after they obtained such success in one night. It is even said that one of the new milionaries of Silicon Valley was once a dancer in one establishment that was 'blessed' by their presence.
"So, what do we do after we take back our land?" Amaterasu said while laying on one of the three thrones on the room, she and her brothers had reunited to decide what to do and all had large smiles on their faces at the misfortune of others.
"I think we should tighten our relationship with the Norse further." Tsukiome said. "With the addition of this new kid the Norse will only grow stronger and if we two become closer then we can more easily deal with the possible war that might start in the future."
"Yeah, and it wouldn't hurt to be also closer to the Hindu's Pantheon's Shiva's faction. After all Shiva is much easier to talk to and after they obtained the Asura clan's full support they already suppressed Indra's side by a considerable margin even with Sun Wukong and his descendants in the equation. They also expressed more than once they would like to form an alliance and the training methods of the Asura race are quite compatible with the Yokai and the Norse's people as well." Amaterasu commented.
"... So we are in agreement we will tighten our alliance?" Susanoo asked in mere confirmation.
"Yes."
"Agreed."
"Good, then we can go for the next topic. What should be done about the boy exactly?" Susanoo continued. "Personally I would like for him to come over for me to help to teach him about how to better control a storm. As a God of it, I feel great pleasure in what he did to that arrogant Christians who like to think the world circulates around their belly, but I can't help but be annoyed by how badly it was controlled. If he trained with me for a while I bet I could make his next storm at least able to totally annihilate the entire Vatican."
"I understand your idea. I also heard that he excels at fire and ice due to his sacred gear so perhaps I and Tsukiome could help teach him too. Having a weapon that is the sharpest on the alliance side would make our lives much easier if war does breaks out. Also, we could try and make that project a reality by using him as a test subject and the fact he would be here would only improve our chances." Amaterasu said thoughtfully.
"Perhaps," Tsukiome said. "But before we can do that we would need to go to the Norse Panhteon and talk with them properly. We need to know their input into this and if they would agree of him being fostered for a while somewhere else."
"Yeah, perhaps we could try and see what Shiva has to say as well. Heck, maybe he will even want a crack at the kid too, after all Shiva is known for being the best spear user in the world being only matched by Odin slightly." Amaterasu said
"That sounds like it will be interesting." Susanoo commented while craking his neck for a bit. They could help with the training of the kid and in exchange the Yokai and young ones of the Japanese Pantheon could be allowed to sharpen themselves in the tterrithories of the Norse Pantheon as there were many wild beasts and places that would undobtedly be of great use to the youngsters in developing themselves.
At the same time on Grigory Azazel was also having some difficulties, manly the fact that he was having an influx of new blood so fast that the paperwork was giving him a headache even just by looking at it and Kokabiel was again trying to instigate the other cadre on going to war now that the enemy 'weakened'.
However, Azazel was not so innocent. If war did break out the chance that the other pantheons would act was huge, if not certain. Their war would likely be seen as just a way to make the youngsters of the other pantheons sharpen themselves and the winner of the conflict would likely be surrounded and eliminated quickly.
The best option for Grigory was, actually, to enter an alliance with someone else. There were options, but the best one that Azazel wanted was undoubtedly the Greeks. If he were to ally with the Norse or Japanese Pantheons it would be seen as a direct act of war, but even so Azazel knew that there would be opposition since there were already more than 60% of his forces and most cadres advocating for an alliance with the Norse Pantheon if only to get their hands on the boy who gave the most grievous blow to Heaven since the end of the Great War.
There is also the fact that the Grigory and the Greeks had nearly no connections while the Greeks were already somewhat close to the Devils for a while now, it was not going well at all for Azazel. He was between entering an alliance with someone who was likely to betray him for their older allies in case fights do break out, or entering an alliance with the Norse and possibly start the war just like that.
Sighing he decided to send an envoy to the Norse to talk it out and acertain what will be done there, the one to send was an easy option too as there is only one man he could trust into going into such an important mission and not screw up the whole thing by being an asshole or being too subservient. He just hoped his wife would not be too mad by the period he will need to be on this mission nor will his darling daughter be sad as Azazel quite liked the smile of young Akeno.
On Heaven another discussion was going on, to be more precise it was the four Archangels with serious faces looking at each other.
This was a nightmare for them, plain and simple. There hardly could be something worse than that short of a restart of the Great War. The number of believers was falling, there were at least 60 more angels who fell and were removed from Heaven, the number of magic tomes and items that were lost would set them back for at least 80 or so years compared to what they were using, the lost of personnel who could make the weapons used by exorcists was terrible to the point where they could now produce 60% less, they were losing territhories left and right due to other Pantheons taking the control of the land back making the church and Heaven sphere of influence shrink, and so much more that listing all the problems it caused was easier said than done.
"So, we can't do a thing, huh." one of the four, Uriel, said. He had a tired face and looked like an middle aged man who just got fired from his job and wanted nothing more than go to the bar and drink enough to forget how much his life sucks right now.
"No, unfortunately, we really can't." Their leader, Michael answered. His face was completely neutral as he said that, his normally harmonious voice now felt flat and toneless like he was reciting the words without being able to express what he feels. "This is simply a terrible nightmare for us, but we can't do anything about it except try our best to make the masses keep their believe that God is looking after them."
"So, in other words, lie." Raphael commented with a sigh. He had run over to treat the injured but even so, he barely managed to save the Pope and two bishops and a few cardinals, the fact he couldn't save so many made Raphael feel like shit and a failure. "And to think we need to simply accept this situation instead of fighting back, if father was alive we would not be so docile."
"There is nothing we can do." Gabriel commented in a rare moment of seriousness for her. "Even when father was alive we couldn't defeat the Norse easily if at all, and considering that since the war and with father's demise we dropped in strength while the Norse kept growing stronger this entire time it is a wonder how this sort of thing never happened until now."
"Not to mention how we are universally hated by all Pantheons even more than the devils or the fallen angels thanks to the expansion we enjoyed during the time father was with us and the fact that we killed so many witches during the middle ages that the surviving ones attach themselves strongly to the other Pantheons or the devils only made the pantheons even more formidable. We truly are on a decline." Michael said with sadness in his tone.
He is the one more acutely aware of how things were going for Heaven, as the one to replace God after his demise he had to deal with the System he left behind and he also was the one that tried to interact and build bridges between Heaven and the other Pantheons on the last few hundreds of years, but the answer was a big no on all fronts.
On his desperation, he had even approved of projects like the Holy Sword Project, something he despised but considered a necessary sacrifice. He clearly stopped the project as soon as results were available and took care to punish those who did the atrocities even if on his name by the end of the day. He also made others like the creation of homunculi to fight for the Heaven in the Sigurd Institution that made clones of heroes, the number of failed projects was enough to fill a mountain.
With time Michael had to manipulate the system or he would have fallen a dozen times over from the many atrocities he had ordered to be done, but if not for that then Heaven would be simply too weak and they would be swallowed up by some of the Pantheons or even exterminated by the Devils or Grigory.
Even this operation to kidnap these two girls was one such example of something he had ordered. After the debacle that happened between Cleria Belial and Masaomi in that the end result was that one more user of a Holy Sword was killed and Saint Jeanne that was present decided to leave the church lead to unrest amongst the followers. They needed a new saintess and a user for the Holy Sword otherwise the exorcists would lose faith. It was then that he heard of those two girls from the Norse who could fit the bill perfectly.
The plan was simple, they would kidnap the two girls during a fake mission, take them to the Vatican, and use liberal amounts of hypnosis and education to make the two firm believers. After that, they would claim that they found the two captured by a magic cabal and saved them. The two girls, that would be 'moved' by being saved by the heroic members of the church, would turn to Christianity.
Even if the Norse thought that something was fishy they wouldn't have proof and the two could perhaps even work to help make the bridge between Heaven and the Norse.
But, it all went down the drain with the actions of Erik who found them in the center of Saint Peter's Basilica when the two were being treated from the injuries caused during the capture as neither girl feel without a fight and it took Alexander Andersen, Toji, and twenty Iscariot members to take the two girls down. They were near dead by the time and the injuries were so severe that only the current user of Twilight Healing could help.
And now, 60% of the Vatican was in ruins and they had an even stronger enmity with the Norse and its allies. It was truly a nightmare for Michael, he could only cry inside whenever he thought of the situation and feel hatred for the situation he was forced into. Ordering such things, dealing with those he deep inside looked down upon (for him only his father deserved to be called a God, the others are heretic fakes at best), and now having to do nothing even after such an attack due to his current weakness.
He could only pray that the boy at least was going to get punished.
On the Norse Pantheon, things were tense, to say the least.
The fact that Erik did what he did on The Vatican and nearly caused a war to erupt was something that could, by all means, be called a great sin to the Norse and could easily lead to him being thrown into Hel for at least a hundred years at the very least, but, there is, also, the fact that he only did so after he had discovered that his two friends were both captured by the very same Vatican.
Also, if they were to consider the state the two girls were it is no surprise that the boy would snap in rage. It didn't help business that it was likely that Thor had openly applauded such action and praised the boy right in the middle of the destroyed Vatican City.
It could be said that Erik's situation was tense at the absolute least and the young clan lord of his family had also excommunicated him for his actions going against Clan interests, it didn't help that the young clan lord wanted him gone for a long time already due to jealousy. The next decision of Odin on how to deal with Erik would be seen by the whole globe.
The decision, truth be told, took about five days to be decided and it was only put into stone after emissaries of other Pantheons including the Hindu and Japanese Pantheons as well as an emissary of the Grigory came along. There were heated discussions but it seems they reached an agreement and now they came to see the decision on the throne room.
"Erik, move forward." Odin said while sitting on his throne. Erik moved step by step, his gaze firm, and his steps certain, he had no fears even when some called for his death. With his senses, he could perceive that his friends were there including Eleonora and Sofya who both looked pale after the whole incident and they had only just recovered after extensive use of medical treatment and some magic potions
Erik still hasn't heard but he could well imagine that this was an attack by the church and Heaven, something that highly infuriated the members of the Pantheon. Erik also knew that amongst those supporting him were not only Thor but also Loki who actually approved of his actions, the trickster God even went to talk with Erik about it while Erik was put into house arrest after returning from the Vatican. The elder God had told him about how he would do what he could to support Erik and that considering his actions as bad is an insult to the principles of Asgard.
The god still didn't like Erik who was friendly with those from other races, but he could still approve of Erik's actions and the fact that his action made the world look at the Norse with awe again after so long without the respect they deserved. In his own words Loki called himself a compatriot extremist, he wanted the Norse to be the ruler of all Pantheons or at least truly respected by all.
Disregarding that Erik came to the foot of Odin's throne and bowed with respect.
"I have heard of all your actions, while it is true that what you did was correct by the accounts of our costumes it is also true that your unruly behavior led to we nearly reaching a war between the Norse and Heaven. You did that by your own hand and disregarding orders and as such punishment is in order, the punishment in question has been agreed upon by me and the top Gods of our Pantheon. You, young man, shall be put in exile for the duration of four years. The location of the Exile is not yet decided but until the location is decided you shall remain within my personal palace and be watched over by me personally to ensure that you will not do anything else that might bring problems to the Norse Pantheon or I will personally execute you." Odin said all in one go, many people sighed in relief hearing that as it was likely that this was the best solution for everyone.
If this is how things will be it is likely that the boy will be taken to spend the next few years either on the human world or on some other Pantheon, that would make Erik himself go through with whatever comes to him and it also will help him in growing stronger for going through adversity. Rossweise, however, could not accept such a thing.
"Odin-sama, please reconsider!" She said, moving to in front of Erik. "My brother did something bad, true, but he is too young and his friends were under such terrible circumstances, him doing what he did was only due to that and because his sacred gear went out of control. Please, don't force him into exile." She said, bowing her head low.
Odin looked at it and simply answered.
"My decision is final. Four years in exile, the destination shall be decided in the next week or so. That is final." As these words left Odin's mouth they left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't like this in the slightest, but it was necessary regardless of his own desires. If he didn't punish the boy in some manner the little idiots that feared their own shadow and refused to even think of a war would whine and there is a chance others would take Erik as an example and truly start a war.
What Odin didn't expect, however, was the answer for his words, even if he didn't fault them in the slightest and even enjoyed them quite a lot deep down.
"Then I will go too." Rossweise said raising her head and looking straight at Odin while taking off the cape that symbolized her status as a Valkyrie. "He is my brother, no matter what I will protect him and if he is going for an exile, even if just for four years, I will still go with him to make sure he is safe."
"Are you sure of that? If you go now in this state you would lose your status as a Valkyrie as you would be leaving your post." Odin said.
"I know, being a Valkyrie was a dream come true to me and I worked hard for it, but my brother is still more important than it for me ten thousand times over." Rossweise said and put her hand into Erik's shoulder who looked at her with teary eyes even if he fought against leaving a single teardrop, he was a man and had to protect the others, showing weakness by crying is not what a man should do. Rossweise smiled at him and he mouthed a 'thank you' to her, she could understand it all and hugged him there and then, she could sense him trembling a bit but the reason as to why he was trembling was a mystery for everyone including himself.
"Very well, then this meeting will end with thi-"
"And so will I." a girl's voice echoed as Eleonore moved forward. "It was because of my weakness that I and Sofy were captured and if not for that Erik wouldn't go to such lengths and is being exiled. If he is going to be forced to go somewhere else then so will I. Besides, it sounds like fun."
"I agree, after my blunder, I cannot allow for my cute little brother" Rossweise glared at Sofy who had just said that. "I must at least make sure he will be safe." As Sofy said that her cheeks got a bit flustered while she took a side glance at Erik. The image of him coming to save them in his armor and what she heard of his state when she disappeared was more than enough to make her heart skip a beat too many.
She could only imagine if Eleonora felt the same, it was hard to say with her truth be told.
"Hahaha, if you guys are going then so will I! This looks like an interesting adventure and a chance to fight strong enemies." Belatrix said. She then took a glance at Erik. "And also, well, yeah." She said and her face light up almost crimson.
"Humph, if he is going then so will I." Elizaveta said, her gaze was firm on the backs of the other girls like if she was challenging them instead of the whole situation.
"That sounds like fun. I am in." Kaya said with her scythe on her back and a smirk on her face even as she launched a glare at Loki.
Olga stepped forward and just nodded her head, not speaking a single word but convening her decision.
"I will go, if not this idiot might make problems for everyone by sheer stupidity." Ludmila said while stepping forward, she could sense that Erik's gaze locked into her as she walked forward and she put an extra swing of her hips just in case. She might not he the most developed of her friends, but she knew that the others also habored some feelings for the boy and she refused to lose.
To be honest, every girl here was extremely competitive and being 'meek' or 'fragile' just would not truly fit as a descryption to any of them. They were all warriors of the Norse through and through, they get what they want and that is it.
Odin, despite himself, smiled slightly and nodded.
"Very well, you all are free to do as you wish. After the decision as to where Erik will be placed is made and until the time is over you all are not to return to us in Asgard, but always remember that you all are the precious children of the Norse and that you all are the future of us all." Odin proclaimed. "Also, Erik. As you will be leaving soon I have some vital information to give you, it is something of great importance going forward. I will tell you on more details after I go back to my personal quarters, until then there is a list of books I want you to look over that I think will be of use to you."
As Odin said that he made a teleportation circle beneath Erik's feet. Odin looked around and noticed Gondul glaring at him with an intensity that could make even the all-Father Odin feel like he was walking on the edge of life and death, Odin also noticed that the representatives of Grigory, Japanese Pantheon, and Hindu Pantheon's Shiva faction all were looking at him and giving him a stiff nod.
After the light died down Erik could look around again and he saw a pile of book that had the name Playboy on top of them. Odin was already with a smile on his face, he had already seen the signs and thus it was time to go forward and teach Erik the marvelous way of the pervert, and look and behold he already had a selection of girls around him and considering the looks he could see from some of them it would not be long now before things followed their course.
AN:
Thanks for Darkmaster10000000 for helping proofread this chapter, and also I want everyone to clap for him as this is his birthday and I am happy for him and for his friendship, I hope that he has blessed years and that it only gets better for him.
Next chapter will be a time skip and following that the next one will be CANON already. Oh, and I wanted to inform that I am looking for one more Beta as I want to improve this story and help out on my other fics as well. If you would want to help and maybe even work with me in writing a new fic please send me a PM and we can talk.
Anyway, just to make myself clear Erik is NOT Satan-level just yet, the only reason he managed to damage the Vatican so much was due to how no one expected an attack and the angels only worry about devils 99% of the time and they already not thought about the other Pantheons as something to worry about. Also, if anyone has a problem with what I put that Michael did do remember the words of Valper over how Michael only stopped the Holy Sword project which was torturing young children AFTER there were results.
I can bet that he, as the leader of a falling faction which is continuously growing weaker, would be willing to do anything to preserve Heaven.
