Chapter 9
More than two months had passed since the events around the attack of the Wraith and with Faust and Raynare.
These months were filled with chaos, suffering, and terror... for the entire world.
Or at least for the Supernatural world - since the human one had been left relatively intact. But even there the chaos had spread in the end.
The cause of all this was the so called final `great plan´ of Khaos Brigade. A plan to release an invincible monster... in the hope to control it. Or to at least to use its destructive power for their own ambitions. A being that had been sealed away centuries ago by the `God of the Bible´ - the Christian God of their universe - himself.
As it turned out, this creature was, in fact, nothing else than the legendary Beast 666... Trihexa - one of the two fabled Beasts of the Apocalypse mentioned in the Bible. The other one being the Dragon God Great Red - the Apocalypse Dragon himself, two beings of practically infinite power who rivaled each other.
In opposite to Great Red however, Trihexa was a monster that only lived to destroy, that existed only to spread terror.
The possible fallout if they ever truly clashed with each other alone, would have been enough to devastate the world many times over.
All that were the reasons for God to seal it away, to protect the entire world from this terrible danger. Even if it caused him a great part of his strength. Even if it contributed to his death during the Great War, as it turned out. Still being weakened from the sealing was indeed one of the reasons this universes incarnation of God had perished. In his mind however it was an acceptable price to rid the world of this threat. Especially since - unknown to everyone else at this time - it was only a small part of `God´s´ true self that died that day.
xxx
But now Khaos Brigade, under the leadership of Rizevim Lucifer, one of the three `Super Devils´, next to Sirzechs and Ajuka Beelzebub - son of the original Lucifer and the infamous `Devil Mother´ Lilith and beside that Vali´s grandfather - had been plotting to free it.
Not only to remove his enemies in this world... he also intended to use it for his secret plans to conquer other dimensions... new realities.
Of course, his intention to keep the Beast under his control had been, in the best case, a delusion from the beginning. 666 was chaos and destruction's given form. Nobody would be able to control it.
But Trihexa was, as it turned out, was also something else. It was the same creature Issei had seen in his last dream. The same being that had appeared to him in his sleep months ago, just before his strange memory gap... along with the mysterious shadow, that had been back then, as he remembered, frightened him even more.
Issei and Vali Lucifer, together with the other members of the so called DxD team - that had been formed especially to battle and stop Khaos Brigade - had been able to defeat Rizevim and his accomplices.
But it was too late to stop the awakening of the Beast. No, in fact, it was their opponent´s defeat that had caused it to happen. They found out that they had been tricked from the beginning and that Rizevim´s own soul served as the final key to unleashing the monster.
The awakened Trihexa turned out exactly what it was named to be, a living embodiment of destruction, the Grigori HQ, the Underworld, even Heaven itself, all of them had been targeted and decimated. Even some parts of the human world had been attacked.
Thousands had died in the short, but brutal reign of terror. It was said that the destruction surpassed even that of the Great War.
In the end, the leaders of the three Factions found a solution, a way to stop the menace... that came however at a high price.
They managed to banish Trihexa once again. But for that, they had to make a great sacrifice - themselves. The only way to rid the world of the threat, as it turned out, was to seal themselves away along with the monster.
The Maou, Azazel, the Seraphs, Odin and many of the North Gods, the Hindu Pantheon... they were all gone.
The world had returned to normal, for the moment.
Yet the three Factions and the rest of the Supernatural World had been robbed of most of their leaders, devastated and weakened as a whole.
One thing nobody knew, however, was, that despite all its terrifying power and seemingly invincibility, Trihexa itself was only a manifestation - only a herald, one of many - of an even greater threat.
Nobody controlled 666 - except for the being who had created it in the first place - the shadow who was standing behind it... and his Chief Heralds.
xxxxxxx
The present
The Supernatural world was still recovering from the terrible damage the battle against Trihexa had caused.
One of the many people who were recovering from the events, was Issei Hyoudou. During the fight with Rizevim, he had received a way to temporally use Ophis power. Which allowed him to overcome the Super Devil. But that kind of power had also caused great harm to him in the process... and it didn´t look as if he would be able to use it again... at least in the foreseeable future.
He and Irina were still not able to remember what happened two months ago. The only people who were aware of this, out of their peerage and their friends, were Rias and Asia... they and the being named Faust.
What they didn´t know yet, was that the real terror had only just started.
xxxxxxx
Somewhere in the Underworld
It was a remote place, far away from the cities the Devils lived in or the places where the Fallen Angels dwelled.
In this area, somewhere was a long forgotten cave system - a place where no intelligent being seemed to had been for centuries, was something that could only be described - as an oversized chess board.
A group of 16 statues were standing in exact formation. Every piece on its exact position on a large playing field. Here they had been standing for ages, motionless and without life.
But then, the stone of the surface of the figures suddenly began to break... and then the rock's crumbled all around them, revealing skin, flesh, clothes and living beings. Living beings that were now slowly awakening.
On first glance, they seemed to be statues, but in truth, it was a complete Devil peerage, that had been under a magical seal. Until now...
"We have awakened again," one of the Devils - a Knight - said. "How long had it been master?" he asked.
The King figure broke apart, revealing a beautiful blonde haired woman, who was wearing a medial looking armor that protected her upper body, but was designed to fit her curves, together with a high cut black skirt that showed her legs while she was walking.
"Centuries," she replied. "We were asleep for a long time. But if our seal is broken now, it can only mean one thing..."
"The Age of the Maou is over," stated the red headed woman who was her Queen.
"Yes. If we are awake, it must mean that they are gone," their master confirmed. "That means our time has come. Sayla," she addressed a dark haired woman, who was one of her Bishops. "Go and contact the closes member of the 72 Pillars you can find. Tell them that `The Judge´ has returned."
"And if they won´t believe me my Lady?" she questioned.
"Then tell them, that I will soon come to them in person to convince them," the blonde woman declared. "I, on the other hand, will contact our true allies to find out what happened in our absence."
xxxxxxx
The Human World (Earth) - somewhere in Japan
The two former Exorcists and their compatriots admitted, they felt a bit nervous as they entered the building their scouts had been observing for the last few hours.
This was actually no wonder. The building in question was the secret headquarter of a murderous sect that had been spreading a long list of crimes and terror assaults over the country of Japan for several months now. The most infamous being the attack in Kyoto that cost 32 lives. All that in the name of a so called `New Age´, where God would return to humanity.
As if Irina and Xenovia didn´t know better. God died at the end of the Great War.
Besides that, the building in question looked also exactly like you would imagine such a place. An old large mansion, at the outskirts of the closest city... and in a quite derelict state. The place actually looked like it could have been ripped out of a typical horror movie. For a short moment, Irina asked herself if the cult might not have chosen it for that very reason on purpose.
Now they were standing here, as part of a small group of Exorcists and Angels that had been sent to put an end to this group and to detain - or if things get's out of hand, kill - all members they could find.
The leader of their little group was nobody else than Griselda Quarta, Xenovia´s guardian, one of the strongest female Exorcists and for some time now a reincarnated Angel under Gabriel, the last remaining Seraph.
Xenovia herself was here as a representative of the Devil Faction. Just in the spirit of the peace that had been called out - in first line thanks to Azazel´s efforts - a bit over a half a year ago. Griselda had personally asked for her - in secret also simply because she wanted to spend some time with her again. But officially simply because she was the most qualified for this mission out of the Devils in Japan.
Of course they all knew that sending a group of Warriors of the Church and even fighters of Heaven itself, to deal with, what was at first look simply a group of fanatical pseudo-religious humans, was a bit odd. But the last time they had gotten more and more evidence that the Neo Jindai Sect had dealings with the Supernatural. And with the sheer number of lives, their actions had cost, they didn´t want to take any risks and put an end to this quickly.
Especially after the terrible losses the Three Factions had taken during the recent battle against Trihexa, nobody wanted another aggressive group with supernatural connections to rise up.
By their latest information, Ashia Reizo - the leader of the sect - had recently died. But that didn´t put an end to the group. it was the opposite, while they had actually halted their regular activities for a short time, they only came to defying their leader even more and claimed that he would return to life once more and rise as a new Messiah to lead the entire world into the new age. Yes, clear. As if that cult hadn´t already been megalomaniacal enough before.
What they found, however, as they had finally stormed the building, was not what they had expected.
They all had seen their share of death and battle before. But what they came across inside shocked even them.
xxxxxxx
One day earlier - at the same place
The time had arrived. It would be the first day of the new age - at least in the minds of every member of the sect, who were all gathered in the hall of the mansion. All in all, over two dozen people.
They were sitting here, waiting. Like they had been for days now. Waiting for their beloved leader to return to them.
It was a nearly bizarre sight. 26 men and women were here and even a few children with them, the members of the sect known as the Neo Jindai, the New Age of the Gods... or, as they saw themselves, the `Chosen Ones´. They all were wearing long white cloaks, with a bright six-pointed green star painted on their chests, a sign of their devotion to the new time.
All of them were sitting all over the place, some of them on the cold stone-floor, lamenting the loss of their leader, their Messiah. And at the same time eagerly waiting for his return.
His body, that had been laid out in his quarters on a small pedestal, was literally being worshiped by them.
A few of the women of the group were openly crying and calling for his return. Especially the members of his personal harem... and the ones who had been hoping to join them in the close future.
Now three days had passed. They all knew this was the time for his return. Just like it had once been in Palestine 2000 years ago. Three days. Just like `him´ their master would return after the same time.
At least that was what they were telling themselves. But they all knew that doubt on their master was a sin. So they did everything to stay convinced. Until the evening of the third day.
"Look, he is back," a young brown haired woman suddenly shouted. Under her cloak, she had a nice figure and big breasts and was one of the favorite members out of their master´s harem.
... And in fact, out of their leader´s room came someone walking towards them.
It was him. But they all saw instantly that he was no longer the same. While his features were still marked by death, his eyes were glowing in a deep red light. He had been touched by God.
"Master," they all called out.
"Yes," he said in a bit strained voice. "My loyal followers, my children, I have returned to you."
"He has risen," one of the sectarians shouted.
"It is true."
"Give us your word master." A few of them shouted. "Give us your blessing."
Reizo nodded lightly.
"I hear you." With a gesture of his hand, the resurrected cult-leader silenced them. Like he had done it so many times before. "Yes, I have seen God - I have seen his true face... and I brought a part of him back with me," he announced under the cheer of his followers.
"Tell me, are you ready? Are you ready for the paradise that I will bring?"
His question was answered by a loud "Yes!" shouted by them all.
"Are you ready and willing to play the role you will have to bring all over the world?" he asked.
Once again he was answered with Yes.
"Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for it?" he wanted to know.
As soon as he had asked this question, supernatural energy and flames were forming in his hands... and spreading out at the people around him.
In the moment his followers realized that their master actually intended them to die for his new world, their bodies were already being burned to ashes.
"It is as it has to be," he whispered. "Master these souls are my tribute to you... willing sacrifices for the new age to come."
xxxxxxx
Now
They had found what they had been looking for. Here in the largest room had been the members of the cult...
They were all dead.
The floor before them was plastered with burns, completely charred, human corpses.
Irina was staring at the barely recognizable bodies in horror. She nearly felt as if she had to throw up - even being turned into an Angel didn´t change that. She had lived through the Trihexa war and had watched far worse carnage. But never that close. Never that `personal´. She saw the remains of a little child between the corpses.
Next, to her, Xenovia, wasn´t looking any better.
"Who? - What could have happened here?" she asked.
"I don´t know," Griselda replied. "But one thing is sure. This was the work of some kind of supernatural creature. Don´t you sense the energy?"
"I do Sister Griselda, but somehow it felt so... strange," Xenovia replied.
"Yes, this presence is different from anything I have ever felt before," said by her former Guardian to which she agreed. "Whatever it was, it wasn´t one of the usual supernatural races. And it is still here," she suddenly called out, as she noticed the same energy spiking up close by.
The Exorcists draw their weapons, as they saw a figure coming out of one of the neighboring corridors.
What they saw nearly let the blood run cold in their veins.
It was a man in a white cloak. They all recognized the face of Ashia Reizo, a man who had been declared dead days ago. His skin was deadly pale, wrinkled, dried out and lifeless. But his eyes - his eyes were glowing in an inhuman crimson red color.
They all knew it instantly. He was possessed. The only question was, by what?
"Ah, unexpected visitors - intruders in my lonely kingdom," he said. "The warriors of the `Dead God´, who have come to me."
"Stop it with the bizarre drivel you freak!," Xenovia yelled at him. "Did you do this?" She pointed to the burned remains of what had once been his followers.
"They were noble sacrifices for the New Age," he responded. "But they lacked the enlightenment to live in the new world. So God had taken them to him. And what do we have here?" he looked at Xenovia. "A lovely young Devil... with a Holy Sword. Who would have thought? You know, I had a girl who looked just like you in my harem. She was so devoted. Maybe you could do the same."
"Thank you. I am already a member of the harem of someone else," Xenovia replied, not amused.
"You Angels and Devils, you have so much in common and you don´t even know it. You are both so lost. But do not worry. God´s light will come to you all and educate you, while it burns you away," he said, grinning madly.
Before even most of the Exorcists could react, he sends out another wave of fire, that they were barely able to avoid. One of them, however, was too slow and he ended up in the same way as the sectarians. His body was burned down to the skeleton within seconds by the magical fire.
"That is enough of this blasphemy," Griselda called out. She had her sword pointed at him. "You have murdered your own followers. And now you are attacking my men. I will stop you." She materialized all six of her wings.
"I guess that is one way to put it," the possessed cult-leader replied. "But you could also say this was their fate. A New Age requires sacrifices after all."
"I said shut up!," Xenovia yelled and tried to strike him with Excalibur Destruction, closely flanked by Irina who attacked him with her own blade.
But they were stopped by a wall of fire that appeared before them.
"We will put an end to you, murderer!," Irina called out.
"You should give up little girls," the man declared arrogantly. "I have faced God... and you will fall in despair, because he is not who you thought he was. I know his true name... And it is Ahriman!" He made another gesture and the cross of the other Exorcists - this time a woman - was wearing around her neck was breaking apart. Moments later she went up into flames as well.
Griselda watched in anguish and anger how another member of her team died.
This creature before them radiated enough raw power to rival an Ultimate Class Devil. And that for a man who had, to all her knowledge, only been a regular human without any supernatural combat experience just a few days ago. What kind of being could have given him such power? If she knew this guy had any real battle experience, she and her team would have a real problem dealing with him now.
Ahriman, he had said. The Ancient Persian God of Darkness, she knew of course. Nobody was truly sure about his heritage, only that he was one of the oldest and certainly most powerful demonic entities. Some people considered him the source of all evil. And he has not been heard of for more than a thousand of years now. She would take a look into that, when this here was over.
"Okay, I have enough," Griselda hissed. "Xenovia, attack D-1. You remember, right?"
The younger girl nodded.
"Good. Irina, follow me," she told her.
"Alright."
Xenovia now summoned Durandal. She was holding the sword that looked far too large for her... and swung it for a frontal assault on their enemy.
But the flames once again appeared and blocked her. She used the power of the Holy Sword to try and break them, but the fire was forming a shield in front of her opponent, that was - at least for the moment - strong enough to hold even Durandal back.
Xenovia channeled, even more, power into the blade and started to push the sect-leader back.
In the next moment, however, Griselda and Irina appeared right behind their opponent and attacked him from behind. Attack D-1, she remembered, as in diversion. Having concentrated all his power to block Xenovia´s attack, he had no defense in his back and Griselda and Irina struck him down with no problem.
As their sword cut though his body, however, the energies that had been embedded into his form, seemed to be released violently. He literally exploded from the inside out.
Griselda, Irina, and Xenovia were shielding themselves from the outburst, while the remaining six human Exorcists with them, were unsettled at what had just happened.
From Reizo´s body was nothing left then another pile of burned up remains.
"Sister Griselda, do you know - I mean, have any idea what...?" Xenovia wanted to ask.
"What caused this, you mean, Xenovia?" she questioned. "No, not really. But we will try to find out. Whatever had turned him into `this´, has to be extremely dangerous. You heard the name he had said?"
"Ahriman?" Irina stated.
"Yes."
xxxxxxx
Kuoh - three days later
Like the rest of the Supernatural World, the Devils of Kuoh were still recovering from the events of the last months.
Out of all of the Underworld, however, Rias and Sona were hit especially hard, since both of their siblings were the ones who had sacrificed themselves to stop Trihexa. To say it had hit them hard, would be an understatement. They had been devastated. But being who they were, they, for the most part, didn´t show it.
Rias Gremory, however, had also different problems that were haunting her. Problems that nobody, even her best friends, knew about. Nobody except Asia.
"Tell me again, who exactly are we expecting?" Sona asked her, still a bit unbelieving about what her friend had told her earlier.
All of Rias and half of Sona´s own peerage was assembled in the ORC club-room, to welcome this `guest´.
"She is a very old Devil. Her standing in the Devil Society is just below the Devil Kings themselves, but above the leaders of the individual Clans. The title she is mostly known by is `The Judge´," Rias explained. "She had contacted me a few days ago and asked to meet me. During that meeting, she explained to me who she was."
Sona was looking at her nearly as if she had been telling a joke.
"Then tell me, how does it come to that we haven´t heard about this person before?" she asked incredulously.
"By what she had told me, she and her peerage had sealed themselves away centuries ago, at the end of the Devil Civil-War. By the information I discovered `The Judge´, she acted as some kind of mediator between the Original Maou. Whenever they were at an impasse about their decisions, she acted to help them to come to an agreement. And if that didn´t work out, she acted as a fifth Devil King and gave her vote to whatever side she thought was right.
But when Onii-san and the others took over at the end of the war, she had been seen by many as a symbol of the old regime and decided to disappear. For that, she and her servants put a very powerful suspension-spell on themselves and spend all those time in hibernation. But - but with them all sacrificing themselves to save us, the seal on them was broken."
"And you actually believe that story?" Sona questioned. "If that was so long ago, how can you be sure that she is who she claims to be?"
"Believe me," Rias stated, "she had shown me proof of her identity. I have seen the documents that confirm who she is. I have checked the historical files. She has even shown me the place where she and her servants had been sealed the entire time. Believe me, she is who she says she is. And anyway, whoever else she is - she is a Maou Class Devil, at least as powerful as Grayfia, most likely more. You see that having someone like that on our side is always better than having them against us. Especially with the people, we have lost."
Rias tough facade broke for a moment with her last statement and her pain became visible in her face.
"Rias," she heard Issei calling her name. "Is everything okay?"
"It - it is alright Issei-kun," she said to him. But inside she wanted to scream.
xxx
The truth was, Issei´s concern for her hurt her only more.
She knew she didn´t deserve it - Just like she didn´t deserve him. Here he was, trying to console her at least a little bit, while she was still keeping the truth from him, still deceiving him... after she had betrayed him so many times before.
She just wished she had just told Issei the truth right away - if she hadn´t been such a coward. Then Faust would have never made her `that´ offer... and now she couldn´t tell him anymore, no matter how much she wanted.
Sometimes she asked herself why Raynare had spared her life. Why she had told Issei the truth when the Wraith accused her of intentionally leaving children to die... and just let her go.
But in moments like this, she knew. The Fallen Angel had not simply killed her. She had broken her. The prideful Devil who had resurrected Issei was indeed dead. And after being confronted with the ugly side of herself, she wasn´t sure if she missed that person. All that she showed now, was just a facade.
... a facade that she was struggling to keep up.
xxx
Sona could only agree with Rias in the last point. But that didn´t mean she would trust this person. To be honest, all that sounded somehow absurd to her. A powerful Devil who had been gone for centuries and now suddenly returned, just after the demise of the Maou. Of course, that let more than one alarm going on in her head.
Just like Rias, she had been feeling terrible for the last week. Ever since `it´ happened. It was kind of funny. As long as she remembered, her sister had always embarrassed and out nerved her. But now she would do anything to see her again. She would even gladly spend her days, posing with her in a magical girl outfit, if it only meant...
"I see what you mean," she said to Rias. "I guess I will just have to meet this Devil in person, right?" she remarked.
"You will. Because she is here," Rias replied.
A very large magic circle appeared in front of them in the room, closely followed by the newly awakened Devil and her entire peerage.
The blonde woman was now clad in a flame colored dress, that was elegant, but at the same time, nicely showed off her figure. Her cleavage revealed most of her breasts and her current clothes showed as much of her long legs, as her `battle outfit´ earlier. All in all, she looked like you would imagine the picture of the female Devil to be. She was radiating power and elegance. But at the same time, she seemed incredibly hot, lasziv and well, sexy. Something that Issei of course instantly noticed, despite his worry about Rias.
A tall red headed woman, with a figure that rivaled her blonde haired master´s own - obviously the stranger´s Queen - was the first who stepped forward.
"I introduce, Lady Lamia Belial, High Princess of the 72 Pillars, advisor of the Old Maou, The Judge," the redhead told them. They all could sense an enormous power radiating from this woman. Power, that in fact felt as if it was related to a Dragon. And if her Queen was that dangerous, then there was no telling how dangerous this `Lamia´ person herself was.
At least with Issei with them, they were pretty confident that they could take them if things came hard to hard... maybe. But another fight Devil against Devil was the last thing anyone needed or wanted,
Rias was right, Sona decided. It was better to try to build up a friendly relationship.
"I am honored to meet you Lady Belial," she addressed her politely. "This is my Queen, Tsubaki Shinra," she introduced. "You already know Rias Gremory. This is Akeno Himejima, her Queen..." both Tsubaki and Akeno greeted her respectfully, "and Issei Hyoudou," Sona finished, "the Red Dragon Emperor and Rias Pawn."
For a moment, she had questioned if she should have addressed her as `highness´. While the Sitri Clan technically also held the title of `Prince´, politically the Pillar clans were more or less equal and the advisor of the Maou should be above them. But she decided against it, first because she was still not really convinced about the identity of this woman and second because her position had been vacant for a long time now.
"Issei Hyoudou," Lady Belial turned to him, "I have only been awake again for just a few days, but I have already heard much about you." She stepped closer to him. "I hope to get to know you better," she said a bit seductively and gave him a friendly smile. And gave a side-glance to Rias, who - unknown to the others - nearly gritted her teeth at what she was seeing.
`Lady Belial´ had now positioned herself right in front of Issei and taken a posture that placed her breasts very close to his face. Something that Issei, of course, liked very much. He couldn´t help but openly stare at them for a few moments, even if all the others around were noticing.
[That might not be the smartest thing Partner,] he already heard Ddraig´s voice in his mind.
The others from Rias and Sona´s peerage, especially Sona herself, cringed a bit. They wanted to get on the good side of these people and they were, by what they heard, they were old fashioned Devils. There was no telling how Lady Belial would react to Issei openly admiring her `assets´
But as they saw now, she was only grinning even more. It seemed that she was `that´ kind of Devil. Not that they were in any position to judge - at least the ones of them who were members of Issei´s harem.
"You seem to be a nice boy," she purred at him. "I have seen what you were looking at," she said to him now openly seductive. "No, there is no need to be ashamed. We are creatures of sin, right? But let us deal with the official business first. Later we can meet more privately," she told him suggestively, while she let her hand glide over his hair.
"Now," she turned back to Sona, "I believe we are here to talk about setting up a meeting with the representatives of the 72 Pillars, to organize my return to Devil society. Isn´t that right?" she asked.
"Yes, that is correct," Sona responded. "As far as you can prove that you are who you claim to be."
"That should be no problem," she replied. "I will gladly give you all proof of my identity you need."
Rias on her part felt as if she wanted to explode, as she watched this woman publicly hitting on Issei. Of course, she was used to sharing him with others. But `her´ of all people... She would rather watch Raynare fuck him a hundred times over, than let this creature lay a hand on him.
She had lied to Sona and the others about the circumstances how she met this woman. And she hadn´t told them the whole truth about who she was. Oh yes, she wasn´t lying about her identity, only that... But there was nothing she could do. So she nearly bit her own tongue and watched silently.
She was leaving the official part of the meeting mostly to Sona. She was just too angry right now anyway.
xxxxxxx
In another part of the town - a short time later
Somewhere in the outer areas of Kuoh, a magic circle lighted up on the road that led into the town - a transport circle - and then suddenly a woman appeared... a Fallen Angel. But the reaction that she showed at her arrival was not what you would have expected from an intruder at all. Quite the opposite.
She was looking around nervously, just as she had appeared... and was then quickly running in the direction of the town´s center.
The reason for this became clear a few minutes later, when three other Fallen Angels showed up in the same way she did. They looked around, trying to locate their target and then followed in the same direction she had run to.
xxxxxxx
Kuoh Academy
The meeting between Rias, Sona and their `guest´ was still going on... as Meguri, one of Sona´s Knights who had not been there before, came quickly into the room.
She walked right to Sona and whispered something into her ear. The Sitri heiress expression became even more serious than before.
"If you could excuse us Lady Belial, it seems there is an urgent matter that me and Rias have to take care of," she stated.
"Of course, you have your duties to attend to," she replied. "And I think everything truly important is already said anyway."
"Wait Sona," Rias said to her. "There is something private that I still have to discuss with Lady Belial. Can you please take care of this matter by yourself? Akeno and the others will assist you if needed."
Sona stared at her friend sternly. First, she waited for this meeting from one day to the other, even if she downright admitted she wasn´t really sure if this person could be trusted. And now she just expected her to deal with a problem in their shared territory by herself, while she wanted to be left alone for a chat with the same person she wasn´t sure she could trust yesterday? What exactly was wrong with her?
A part of her truly wanted to give Rias a piece of her mind. But she also remembered how much pain and stress they both were currently in.
"Okay. But only this one time. Kuoh belongs to the both of us and both of us will take care of it. Is that clear?" she said to her.
"Okay, Sona and thank you," Rias replied. "Asia, would you please stay with me?" she asked.
"Let us go. We have intruders in the town we have to deal with," Sona announced to her own servants and the Gremory peerage.
"You can go as well," Lady Belial said to most of her peerage. "You can go and take care of other business now." At her word, most of her servants teleported away. Only her Queen stayed.
"Do you know who these intruders are?" Akeno asked Sona, as they were going outside.
"By what Meguri told me, Fallen Angels," she replied.
"The Grigori had not told us about some of their people coming here," Tsubaki stated.
"No. That means they might be rogues. Or these Fallen's might have their own business to come here," Sona said. "That way or the other, we will confront them and ask them to explain themselves. Do you know where these Fallen Angels are right now?" she asked Meguri.
"They had been in the southern district, close to the city limits. Bennia and Kusaka are following them right now," the Knight replied.
"Good. Saji, Yura and Garou, you are with me," Sona ordered. "Tsubaki, you and the others, please stay here. Take care of our guest if she needs something else." She realized that her Queen instantly realized the double meaning of her words. If something suspicious happened...
"Kiba, Koneko, I would like for you to come with us as well, just in case. I know you are Rias servants. But I think with Issei and the others all protecting her, she is quite safe. And it was her who wanted to be alone after all," she remarked.
"We will help you," Akeno told her.
xxx
As soon as they had left the room, Rias turned to Lady Belial.
"What the hell do you think you were doing with Issei?" she asked her angrily.
"Why? I only wanted to introduce myself to him," she replied `innocently´.
"And for that it was necessary to act like a complete seductress?" she questioned.
"As if a Gremory has a right to call me out on being a seductress, given your ancestry. As I remember, the first of your clan were practically being professional harlots. But I admit, I had heard much about this boy in the time since I awoke and I might be interested. He might not be that attractive in the classical sense, but in his own way he is... how are you saying in this age?... Oh yes, cute. You would know. After all you are one of his concubines yourself."
Asia was only watching the exchange silently. In opposite to the rest of her peerage, she knew `exactly´ who and what Lady Belial truly was... and what her true relationship to Rias was.
"S-stop playing with me," Rias responded unnerved. "You are only doing this to get to me, aren´t you?"
"Now, we should not go against each other. We have a deal - you and us - after all, right?" Lady Belial replied smiling.
"If we have a deal, why is my brother gone?" it now burst out of Rias. "Your group had promised me that my family would be save. You have betrayed me," she shouted.
The redheaded Queen made a small gesture and a concealed barrer was raised up around the room.
In the same moment Lady Belial´s expression suddenly changed... as she backhanded Rias across the face and send her crashing to the ground.
"You little bitch," she hissed. "How can a pathetic excuse for a Devil like you dare to accuse us? The agreement was that we or our allies won´t kill your family and that we won´t let anyone else do it. And of course that Lord Faust will keep your cute little Issei from remembering your lies and your dirty secrets. There was never a word about your brother suddenly deciding to commit suicide to save the rest of this wretched world. That was alone his decision. The strong sacrificing themselves for the weak. That is blasphemy," she exclaimed.
"And if you ever dare to talk about Lord Faust like this again, I will personally torture your family to death, right in front of your eyes. He would never break a bargain, even with a lowlife like you.
Don´t ever think you are even worthy to lick my shoes clean. I am what you will never be, a being of true power. You might have a name to hide behind, but if you don´t have your brother or your pet-dragon to look over your shoulder and scare your enemies away, you are nothing. Tell me, now that you have lost one and are about to lose the other, of what consequence are you now? What can you do beside groveling to your enemies for mercy for your pathetic family and your so called friends?"
Rias was looking up to her with a bleeding lip and pure hatred. Tears were flowing down her face.
"And then there is your little nephew. What was his name again? Mili... somewhat. Hmm it doesn´t matter, it is not important enough to remember anyway. In a world that is being cleansed of all it´s failures and weakness. What do you think will happen to a useless Devil brat? Maybe I should have him stuffed and keep his body as a soveneir for what happens to weaklings in the New Age."
Rias had enough. She just couldn´t take it anymore. All she wanted was to kill this monster. She pushed herself up and tried to fire her Power of Destruction at her.
But before she had the chance, she herself was hit by a magical attack that stunned her... and moments later she received a magical augmented kick that send her to the ground again.
"Pathetic," Lady Belial commented.
"Issei..." Rias wanted to say.
"What you have with Issei is based on a lie and you know it," she responded. "What do you think he would say when he knew what kind of a person you truly are? What would he say if he knew - once again - that you had betrayed him from the very first moment? That you intentionally let this Fallen Angel kill him? That you basically forced him into servitude? And then, when he actually forgave you for all of it, you had nothing better to do than instantly lie to him once again, when he `conveniently´ got amnesia?
What do you think he would think of you if he knew that you had willingly made a deal with the people who are threatening to destroy your world, just to save your own family and servants... and left everyone else to burn? Here..." she gestured to the door. "He is just a few rooms away. We won´t stop you. Go out there and tell him everything, if you dare."
Rias said nothing. She just looked down to the ground.
"I see," Lady Belial stated coldly. "You are a coward, aren´t you?" she asked.
"I don´t hear anything," she said a few moments later a bit sharper. "And you should better answer, if you don´t want to watch me disembowl the little son of your brother."
"Yes... I - I am a coward," Rias answered a moment later, swallowing her anger... for the moment. The time for resistance would come, but it wasn´t now.
"Good, here we have it. Now." She turned to Asia. "Girl, you are the carrier of the Twilight Healing, aren´t you? Well, how about you take care of your master? We want to show the others what good friends we have become afteral? And there are a few things we want you to do for us," she added.
Asia did what she was told and healed Rias injuries. She barely managed to hold herself back after all she had seen. But she didn´t want to be responsible for Millicas death, if the older Devil was really serious.
As angry as she had been at Rias two months ago, she just couldn´t be anymore after all she had seen.
xxxxxxx
Somewhere a few thousand miles away
At the same time, at one of the other places in the human world beside Kuoh, that would be considered Devil territory... a young man was `rejoicing´ in his `work´... that consisted of gore and blood.
He was a Stray Exorcist after all... who just looked around to the five Devils he had just slaughtered in their own hideout.
He let his eyes glide over the body of the young girl he just had fun with - at her shredded clothes and her naked skin, her clear visible breasts. As he had known, she had been the King of this sorry excuse of a peerage. He remembered how the little bitch was screaming when he had his way with her... after killing her so called servants in front of her.
These pureblood Devils were always this prideful and arrogant until he broke them. It was really amusing.
But in opposite to this, the Devils here were only wannabes, who thought high of themselves because they were `somehow´ related to the 72 Pillars. The only good thing about them was that it was always fun when he exterminated them like the vermin they were.
"I see you have taken care of this trash," he heard a voice. As he turned around, the young Stray Exorcist saw a transparent ghostly figure standing before him.
"Master Freed," he greeted the phantom, "how nice to see you again."
"And you had your fun too at the side," the figure stated with a look at the dead Devil girl. "Just like myself in the good old times... when I had still been alive of course."
"Does it surprise you? You have trained me after all," the Exorcist replied.
"Yes, I did... and as it seems you are taking just after me. I am so proud," the ghost of Freed Selzen laughed. "But for now my dear Angelo, there are more important matter to attent to. There is a new job for you. `They´ want us to deal with this matter."
"They? You mean the ones who helped you to talk to me? What kind of a job is that?"
"Yes yes, they, the ones who had allowed me to contact the world of the living," Freed yelled. "And now they offered me even more. The Devils, the same shitty Devils who killed me."
"The Gremory peerage? So they are the target."
"Yes! and that is not everything, if you do your job well and kill a few of them, they have promised you that they will restore me to life. Have you heard me my dear Angelo? Freed will be back," he announced.
xxxxxxx
At the same place - a few hours later
A man clad in a grey colored cloak was standing above the dead bodies of the slaughtered Devils. His face was hidden behind a featureless mask. He knew he came too late.
He activated a communication device that he was carrying on his arm. But in opposite to the ones most supernatural beings in this world used, it didn´t form a magic circle. Instead, it formed a small portal in the air before him, a portal that led to another dimension.
"I came too late. He was already gone," the man stated.
"We knew that it would come to be like this," a voice answered him a few minutes later. "We knew how this story would play out from the beginning."
"I know. I still had a small hope yet," the figure in the grey cloak said.
"Will you still do it?" the voice asked him.
"Of course. That is the reason I came to this space and time in the first place. I have to stop him."
"Then I wish you good luck. You know what awaits you. If I knew how, I would do anything to avoid this. But even our powers come to their limits with interdimensional mechanics like this."
"I am in God´s hand. We all are, even beings like you. Thank you, Darien," the figure replied.
This was the first chapter of Arc 2. Like announced in the last one, there was a timeskip 2 months into the future and in this time the Trihexa battle has happened, very similar like to in the Lightnovels. Also like in the novels, Sirzechs, Azazel and the most of the Faction leaders had sacrifices themselves to stop Trihexa. That means in the strict canon universe, the plot would now be a bit after volume 21.
This chapter concentrated less on Issei, who only appears briefly and more on other characters - especially some OCs who are introduced here, mostly villians, who will play a role in this story-arc. And it brings in new elements.
The first half also contains a mini plotline with Irina and Xenovia about the sect that had shortly been mentioned in chapter 2. For a reason, since it was brought up again here. The sect storyline might seem a bit unconnected to the rest of the story at the first look. But it also introduces the plotpoint of the possession, that will be important later on.
It is also the first chapter where Raynare doesn´t appear at all. She will also be back in the next one, that will once again concentrate more on Issei.
xxx
Regarding the comments about the 72 Pillars made in this chapter. In the actual Ars Goetica, there are more than 4 Devil-Kings. Belial being one of these Kings.
The Demon Sitri has actually the position of a Prince and would so be technically in rank above Gremory. But from what we have seen, the clans in DxD, are quite similar in power and influence. So I would say that the actual title the family holds plays not that much of a role.
The Demon Gremory in Ars Goetica appears usualy in female shape and is known for the ability to manipulate the feelings of woman.
Combined with the fact that the Devils in this story are for a great part be considered to be descendants of Lilith: Explains the comment about Rias ancestors being `professional harlots´.
xxx
Harem list: Irina, Raynare, Rias, Asia, Kuroka, Koneko, Akeno, Xenovia, Rossweisse, Ravel
So basically the canon harem at the end of the Anime, so they were pretty much given + Raynare.
I am not sure if I will add anyone else, since it is already a pretty good number... even for Issei Hyoudou.
As further possibilites I have thought for example of La Fay, Gabriel, Yasaka, Kunou or even Grayfia (who is pretty much widow now).
I have created a poll about these candidates.
