Disclaimer: I don't own High School DxD.
The Trails of Avarice
Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply
Chapter 10: The Tribulations of Life
"You guys, ready?" Bonnie asked Binh and Xiaoyu standing downrange from her. At their nods, she raised her Void Gear [Rapid Death Dealer] and opened fire.
In an instant, a wall of void shots that spanned the breadth of the training yard the trio were in flew towards the two Knights. Undaunted by the barrage, both reincarnated Devils surged into motion and began performing great feats of agility as they evaded the projectiles.
Binh aided by her skills and Xiaoyu by her Sacred Gear, the duo managed to easily evade the first wave of shots.
"Let's crank it up a notch." Bonnie declared, and suddenly her rate of fire spiked. Where her earlier salvo had left plenty of gaps for the nimble Knights to exploit in order to evade, these gaps were now rapidly closing. Despite this, the duo still managed with some difficulty and a number of grazing hits to evade any serious injury.
"You're both still doing good. So how about I go all out!?" Bonnie announced, even as she switched her mode of attack. Where before she'd only been laying down a barrage of fire in the Knights' general direction without aiming directly at them, now, somehow without letting up on her incredible rate of fire, she began taking proper aim.
Immediately, her new tactic delivered results. Binh who despite her training was the less agile of the two Knights was quickly hit in the head with a kill shot and fell to the ground. Xiaoyu lasted a little longer, her Sacred Gear gifted agility allowing her to avoid immediately being taken down but as Bonnie boxed her in with a series of carefully placed shots, she was unable to evade a center of mass hit that took her out.
Applause broke out as the two Knights fell and Bonnie stopped firing.
Turning to the source, Bonnie smiled. "So how did they do, Devi?"
Standing in a covered walkway that encircled the training yard was the Satan, Devora Mammon, who with a tablet folded under arm was clapping at the impressive display the members of her Peerage had put on in their latest training session.
"Very well." Devi replied as she walked over to Boonie her tablet in hand. Meanwhile, the two Knights had gotten up and moved over to join them as well. Xiaoyu rubbing her chest, just over her heart, where Bonnie's 'kill shot' had hit her.
"Argh! That hurt. You sure it won't bruise, Bonnie?"
"It won't, Xiaoyu." Bonnie reassured with a roll of her eyes. Xiaoyu was always skeptical about anything supernatural. Which when considering they were Devils now, living in the Underworld, yielded magic and was surrounded by it all the time, could become very frustrating for everyone dealing with her.
Xiaoyu nodded but still rubbed the area where she'd been hit like it was sore. Well, maybe Bonnie had gotten a little overexcited at the end there and hit her with a shot just a little stronger than was normal for training, but she hadn't lied that it wouldn't bruise. It just hurt like a bitch for a while. Xiaoyu didn't need to know that though.
Devi shot Xiaoyu a worried look, but the Chinese girl just shook her head. Seemingly mollified that it wasn't a big deal, Devi brought up the tablet. "Ok, if everything's fine." Xiaoyu nodded, though she rolled her eyes afterward at Devi's overprotectiveness. "Then let's review that training exercise. As I said, all of you did well. Bonnie included."
Bonnie blushed at that, delighted to hear praise from her King and not so secret object of her affections. "Bonnie your rate of fire with [Rapid Death Dealer] has always been phenomenal, far exceeding my expectations for that weapon's capabilities but from what I saw today I think you've crossed another threshold in terms of its capabilities."
Bonnie felt her blush burn even hotter as she lapped up the praise.
"Managing to add in precisely targeted shots while still laying down that incredible suppressive fire? Most impressive."
"Thank you, Devi." Bonnie replied with a pleased smile.
A blush seemed to spread across Devi's face at the smile, but she quickly turned away to face the Knights so Bonnie couldn't be sure.
"Err… Well, as for you two. This idea of yours to train against Bonnie to test your agility is brilliant. And if your results today are anything to go by, it's producing results already. You've been doing this for what? A week."
The three reincarnated Devils nodded.
"Well, thanks to that I can safely conclude that both your agility has risen by at least 5%. Binh-"
Devi's analysis of the training's effectiveness was cut off when suddenly the entire area, no the entire city of [Spiral Urbis Opes], resounded with the sound of shattering glass.
Abruptly Devi shot her head to look at the sky above, the others quickly following suit, to witness what looked like a dome of energy over the city disintegrating.
"That was our teleportation blocking wards." Devi noted with some shock.
It had been quite the normal day for the various denizens of the great Devil city of [Spiral Urbis Opes], and all of them had been like the Devi, Bonnie and the Knights, engaged in various daily activities. Training, studying, handling whatever affairs their station called for and everything that a person could possibly be doing in a major city.
However, this normality was shattered as the city's wards against unauthorized inbound teleports were shattered and was followed up by a dozen magic circles of unknown origin appearing throughout the city. From these circles, streamed out an army of humanoid war machines that quickly proceeded to wreak havoc all around them.
If it had been almost any other city in the world, this would have immediately led to pandemonium among the city's panicked residents as they rushed to safety, thus hampering any response that the authorities might have mustered to resist the invaders. However, this was [Spiral Urbis Opes]. A city that was first and foremost built as a fortress to defend the seat of the Mammon Clan, and its adult population were all veterans of the Great War. As such even as D.O.M.E.'s combat drones began their assault, the city's people followed the protocols drilled into them over the centuries and evacuated the vulnerable while they counterattacked.
From the gardens of the palace where Leloucia Amon often went to do the mountains of paperwork that required her attention as Mammon's Seneschal, a pillar of fire bloomed as she scorched the platoon of drones unfortunate enough to appear there. In the city itself, in the shopping district, Ravel Mammon summoned tornadoes to suck up the enemy, disorienting them and making them easy targets for the attacks of the Iwakura twins and Valerie Tepes with whom she'd been on a shopping trip, even as literally hundreds of the city's residents joined in. Along the city walls where a large group of the drones had appeared, Tyrion Viné morphed himself into a massive giant and began crushing them barehanded, completely ignoring their feeble beam attacks, while his father massed his troops and rushed into the city to offer help there.
In Mammon's palace, where the bulk of the invaders had materialized they were met with the skilled defense of its many defenders. Palace guards under the command of Atlan Furfur and Hansel Leraje, all determined to prevent a repeat of the last invasion of the palace, fought viciously and quickly overwhelmed the drones. They were helped in this by the firepower of Jackie and Clyde who worked as a very effective heavy weapons team, supporting the guards as they took down one group of drones after another. From the castle's underground labs, a horde of twisted undead abominations surged forth much to the shock of D.O.M.E. as Tohru unleashed her pets. Viola Marchosias meanwhile was tearing into the attackers as if possessed, screaming all the while about how they'd hurt her wife even as a visibly weakened Ellen followed in her devastating wake, picking off any enemy her wife missed.
Despite this though, D.O.M.E.'s multi pronged attack had accomplished its goal. It had pinned down the city's various defenders in locations all across the metropolis and allowed it the window of opportunity it needed to reach its real goal: The Primal Void
"That was our teleportation blocking wards." Devi noted with some shock.
She and the others spun around though when they felt the magical surge of an inbound teleportation directly behind them. As the light of the spell faded, the quartet found themselves facing eight of D.O.M.E.'s combat drones. Seven looked like humanoids armed with what looked like machine guns and axes in vaguely knight-like armor, with what would have been a slit in such armor instead being a track for a disturbingly human-like eye. They were led by what must have been a command model, a humanoid with elaborate crimson armor with large thrusters mounted in a wing-like arrangement on its back and sporting multiple vernier thrusters throughout its frame and with the same human-like eye in a track that ran along its 'face'. It was armed with a rifle looking weapon and an axe.
"Take cov-"
Devi never finished her order, as she was summarily cut off by the command drone casting a spell in a utterly serious voice, "[Primal Petrification]!"
The moment the last syllable of the spell was spoken, Devi instantly froze.
"Devi!" Bonnie cried even as Xiaoyu tackled her into the cover of a stone flower box even as the drones all opened fire on them.
"Hahahahaha! The mighty Primal Void, felled by a single spell!" The drones jeered even as they continued raining beams of energy at the Devils.
"What have you done to Devi!?" Bonnie demanded as she propped [Rapid Death Dealer] over the top of her cover and unleashed a storm of return fire at the drones. The drones weathered the barrage, taking substantial but largely cosmetic damage, returning fire all the while. The flower box that Xiaoyu and Bonnie were taking cover behind was almost completely destroyed when suddenly a series of elemental attacks hit the drones from the side, destroying one of the green ones and giving the two enough of an opening to make a dash for new cover behind a sturdier blast shield used to offer shelter to observers when someone wanted to practice a powerful attack.
Seemingly unperturbed by the lost of one of the drones, the enemy simply redirected some of its fire at Binh, the source of the elemental attacks, who had been hiding behind a blast shield of her own, while still keeping up the fire on Bonnie and Xiaoyu. At the same time, a number of smaller drones, similar to those used by the Iwakura twins shot out of folds in the command unit's armor and began maneuvering around the girls' cover.
While all this was happening, the enemy somehow still managed to find the time to answer Bonnie's question tauntingly, with a clearly different, more cheeky voice. "I petrified her of course! With a spell I specially designed for my fellow Primal."
He's a Primal too!? Bonnie all but shouted across the Peerage's telepathic network, sparking panic as everyone abruptly became aware of the situation in the training yard. The American shoved the hysterical questions sent her way out of her mind, idly noting that Xiaoyu were answering them for her, even as she peeped her gun out of cover for a moment and in a quick burst shot all of the smaller drones out of the air and dealt enough damage to one of the green human sized ones to cause it to explode. She would have done more but her successful attack quickly focused all the enemy fire on her position and she had to duck back to avoid getting hit as the concentrated fire chipped away at the edge of the blast shield.
"Oh you lot really are fighting hard! My drones are dropping like flies, you three even managed to take out my funnels and two of my Heavy Infantry types-" Suddenly a spike of earth erupted from beneath one of the green drones and impaled it, disabling it, and causing the others to scatter as other spires of earth shot up around it. "Make that three of them. But it's all useless! With Void out of the picture, I've won here today already! Too bad, none of you can give her a true love's kiss to free her! Hahaha!"
Even as the deranged voice of the enemy laughed gloatingly, Bonnie's mind raced. True love's kiss? Is this some kind of fairy tale?
The laughing abruptly cut off, and the voice coming from the drones' changed to a motherly feminine tone. "No. 7, shut up! Don't tell them the spell's weakness!"
You're shitting me, he was being honest? Bonnie thought even as she popped out of cover as the drones suddenly froze after saying that and released a full burst, taking down another of the green drones while Binh launched an impressive fireball to take out another. Xiaoyu charged at the command unit, her Sacred Gear enhanced kick allowing her to completely remove the arm holding its rifle. This seemed to snap the enemy Primal out of its stupor though as the drone promptly drew its axe and slashed at her, which she barely evaded and forcing her to flee back into cover, as the two remaining green drones opened fire once more. Though she made it a point to stomp on the rifle as she did so, destroying it.
Is it me or is their rate of fire increasing? Binh observed as she and Bonnie both jumped back behind the protection of the blast shields, joined shortly after by Xiaoyu.
It isn't just you. The twins confirmed. The more drones you destroy, the stronger the remaining ones become individually. The Primal must be redirecting its power into them or some such.
Damn! At this rate, we won't be able to get close again. Xiaoyu noted with a wince as she took in the grazes she'd received courtesy of the enemy from their last exchange.
Here! Bonnie said as she passed Xiaoyu a bottle of Phoenix Tears. The Knight nodded gratefully and took a small sip, just enough to heal her wounds.
"Damn it! No. 7, No. 2, now they know the spell's weakness." A tired sounding voice came from the drones, even as they kept up their unrelenting barrage which was by now having a noticeable effect on the blast shields as they wrapped under the sustained fire.
"Oh come off it, No. 3! It doesn't matter anyways! She'd a polygamist isn't she? There's no way someone like that even knows what true love is." The enemy's No. 7 voice shot back.
The members of Devi's harem all bristled at the Primal's words, and Bonnie felt the same fury. Well, I'll just prove you crazies otherwise, won't I! Binh, Xiaoyu, I have a plan!
Both Knights sent her a burst of desperate curiosity, even as they eyed their cover slowly deforming as they showed signs of being well on their way to failing. Bonnie sent them what she had in mind.
That's crazy! Xiaoyu noted.
It's also our best bet, these shields won't hold out much longer. Binh countered. Unless you have a better plan?
I know. Doesn't mean it's any less crazy. Xiaoyu resignedly observed. Let's do it!
Thank you, both! Bonnie said sincerely. On my mark. Three!
Binh fell into a sprinter's stance, clutching a talisman in each hand.
Two!
Xiaoyu readied herself to perform a high jump.
One!
The blast shields glowed bright red and began to melt.
Go!
Xiaoyu leapt over their cover and landed right on top of one of the Heavy Infantry drones, smashing it and slamming it into the Command type as it came in to take a swing at her with its axe whose edge had been encased in energy. The move sent the Command type stumbling back and distracted the remaining Heavy Infantry drone as it moved to redirect its fire onto the Chinese girl. This gave Binh the perfect opening to sprint forward to slam both her talismans onto the side of the Command type, before both girls leapt away. Just in time, as a moment later, the drone was engulfed in a large explosion that reduced it to scrap.
The last drone was thrown back by the blast and showered by debris but with a burst of its thrusters remained upright and quickly opened fire at the Knights. The fire was so intense that the two girls, despite their enhanced speed, were barely able to keep up, quickly accumulating a host of wounds. But they didn't head for cover though, they needed to keep the enemy's attention on them and not Bonnie.
The moment the Command type exploded, Bonnie shot out of cover. She'd have run sooner, but Binh had pointed out that this was safer, since if their surprise move worked, there would only be one drone left by that point and they could capture its entire attention thus leaving her unmolested as she finished her part of the mission.
I'm not letting them get shot at without helping though! Bonnie decided, as she ran out from behind the blast shield, [Rapid Death Dealer] drawn. She fired at the drone blindly while running towards Devi.
Despite her lack of aim, Bonnie managed to fire so many shots in her short burst that dozens hit the drone. It however weathered the shots easily, having been increasingly empowered by D.O.M.E as its other drones were destroyed and it shifted its focus towards it. It smoothly shifted fire towards her, letting up its barrage on the Knights.
Bonnie! The Knights cried worriedly, even as she the enemy fire flying her way. Bonnie ignored them, instead focusing on running - How can a short distance suddenly seem so long!? - and intercepting the enemy shots with her own.
She managed to shoot down a good number of them, but one slipped through her guard clipping her in her side just as she crashed into the petrified Devi. The collision sent the two of them tumbling to the ground, and jolted Bonnie's new wound terribly. But she ignored it. Not letting up on her intercepting fire, it was the only thing keeping her alive, she crawled up Devi's body.
The drone's fire slackened somewhat and she guessed that the Knights must have engaged the drone to distract it, but it was still firing on her. It was clearly determined to stop her.
As Bonnie made it to Devi's face, she gave the sloppiest kiss of her life. Worse than her first inexperienced kiss all those years ago with Clyde. It was even worse than the kisses she gave when she was smashed. It was most definitely not the kind of kiss she'd ever want to share with Devi, but right now that didn't matter. Not when this kiss could prove her love for her was true!
Distracted by her romantic musings, Bonnie's interceptor fire ebbed and a single bolt of energy aimed for her head slipped through. The shot should have killed her, but at the last minute was swatted aside as Devi reached up to grab hold of Bonnie's head and pull her up into a proper kiss. Bonnie was too stunned that her kiss had dispelled the petrification and what that meant, and the just as important fact that Devi was kissing her back to even notice.
She was also far too preoccupied to notice as a stretch of Devi's shadow suddenly deformed and shaped itself into a spear and impaled the final drone before sprouting a collection of spikes that tore the machine apart, destroying it.
Bonnie only came back to her senses when Devi gently pulled back from the kiss. The two women looked into each other's eyes for a long moment as they parted, before Devi pecked Bonnie on the lips once more.
"We'll discuss things between us later, ok?" Devi said lovingly, caressing Bonnie's face. The American nodded, a happy smile on her face.
Devi made to stand, Bonnie moving aside to allow her to do so, wincing as she did from the wound to her side. Devi was about to heal her when a bottle came flying their way, catching it she saw it was a vial of Phoenix Tears.
"It's Bonnie's. She lent it to me earlier." Xiaoyu said by way of explanation as Devi turned to them questioningly. Both Knights seemed to be fine, a little exhausted but not wounded as their clothes seemed to suggest they should be. Considering the half-filled vial of Tears, they must have used some on themselves already.
Devi nodded and handed the vial to Bonnie who shot her and the Knights a grateful smile.
It was just as Bonnie was swallowing the healing liquid that reinforcements finally arrived. Hansel, Attie, Lulu and the rest of her Peerage poured into the training yard along with hundreds of troops.
"Devi!" Ravel and her other lovers cried as they rushed to embrace her. Bonnie looked on, the usual twinge of jealousy she usually felt at such scenes strangely dulled.
Maybe it's because I'll be one of them soon. The American thought to herself hopefully, even as Jackie and Clyde rushed to her side. Her childhood friends fretting about her well-being.
Bonnie reassured them that she was fine. Nothing a little Phoenix Tears couldn't fix. She likewise offered similar assurances to everyone else who asked.
But her attention wasn't on them, it was on Devi as she arranged for security to be tightened, for someone to find Ellen and help her repair the wards and a whole host of other things in the wake of the attack. She stood there transfixed as the woman she truly loved - And wasn't that grand? Knowing, objectively, that my love for her is true? - commanded her people in a time of crisis.
She waited patiently for Devi to be done and for her to turn her.
"Let's go talk Bonnie," Devi said at last as she offered her arm.
Gladly taking it, Bonnie walked arm in arm with her King for what she hoped was the first of many times to come.
It was a day after the enemy Primal's attack and Devi was holding a debriefing in her study. Her whole Court was in attendance, as was her Peerage.
"First off, anyone knows who the attacker was? I could tell he was the Primal Life, Shepherd of the Living, but not his name. Any clues?"
"Not definitively. Not yet. But I think I might have a clue." Attie offered her liege. "The drones all had a great deal of variation between the four identified types, but there was one point of consistency between all of them. That human-like eye of theirs."
There were affirming motions all around, as everyone concurred on that point.
"I've done some digging and have come across a possible match for use of that design element. A rogue AI originally built by the CIA known as Depths Of Minds Elevating or D.O.M.E. for short."
"Can an AI be a Primal?" Lulu asked skeptically.
"The only limits on what a Primal may incarnate as is its relative closeness to the others and even that is fairly broad seeing as anything within a given planet and associated planes is considered acceptable. So yes, it's possible." Devi explained.
"That's ridiculously broad!" Tyrion decried.
"I think that's the entire point." Devi replied with a shrug. Tactfully not mentioning that the True Primals took quite a bit of fun out of choosing the oddest combination of beings to incarnate their local avatars as. She doubted the others would appreciate how their world was being put at risk by a bunch of interdimensional supergods acting on their whims.
"Moving on," Devi said to get things back on track. "Ellen, how did Life get past our wards?"
An uncharacteristically withdrawn Ellen, replied, "He brute forced his way through them."
"The backlash hurt so bad, it had Ellen screaming in agony!" Viola interjected furiously, even as she hugged her wife comfortingly.
Devi winced, the backlash must have been insanely intense to make Ellen respond like that. The woman was quite the masochist after all, though she was admittedly primarily a sadist, as she often allowed her wife to reverse their roles in their sadomasochist games and got quite the thrill from it as well. - And I really wish I didn't know any of that! - Thus to have actually ended "screaming in agony", the pain from the backlash of her wards shattering must have been incredible.
"I'm sorry Lady Mammon," Ellen said as she bowed her head apologetically. "It's my fault that we've been invaded twice in such a short space of time."
"It wasn't your fault either time, Ellen." Devi reassured. "Rizevim managed to get through because he had help from the inside," Tyrion shifted uneasily at this. "And this time you were outmatched. You were after all up against a Primal."
Ellen shifted uneasily in her wheelchair, that for once in a long time she actually needed, looking unconvinced but nevertheless nodded.
Devi sighed internally, for now this was the best she could do.
Knowing her though. This is probably enough. She'll just take this as a challenge and up her game and come up with even more terrifying wards in response.
Satisfied, on that front for now, Devi moved on, "Hansel, Tywin, how tough were the drones? How do they compare with our men? Everyone do feel free to chip in."
The two generals exchanged looks before Tywin gestured to Hansel to speak.
"They weren't much trouble at first."
Everyone made agreeing motions or noises.
"I agree. I managed to incinerate a dozen of the basic infantry models early on." Lulu chimed in.
"Yeah, those things were pretty fragile in the beginning." Attie added. "I could literally tear them apart with some simple magnetism. But they got tougher as we mopped them up."
"Indeed." Hansel said taking control of the discussion once more. "As the twins theorized and Tohru's analysis of their remains confirmed," The aforementioned parties nodded at the mention of their names. "The Primal seems to be able to redistribute its power from destroyed drones to still operable ones, somehow enhancing them in the process."
"It made the last few tough bastards." Jackie noted. "One, a basic infantry type, took a direct hit from Clyde's [Black Maw Cannon] and shrugged it off. And earlier Clyde was blowing them up in the twos and threes."
Clyde nodded, confirming Jackie's story.
"How dangerous are they at full potential power then?"
"Not sure. We're still modeling the possibilities based on what data we have." Tohru explained. "But if what happened yesterday was any indication, the drones become tough but not unbeatable."
"Agreed. Even at their strongest the drones were still manageable foes." Hansel reported.
"Casualties?"
"Minimal. A few deaths, sadly, especially among the civilians and off-duty personnel that joined the fight. They lacked the equipment to withstand the drones' firepower once they started powering up."
Devi frowned. She never liked hearing about deaths among her people.
"Have the appropriate reparations been offered to the victims' families?"
"Of course, Devi." Lulu replied easily.
That was, as sad as it was, the best that Devi could do for them.
At least their lives weren't lost entirely in vain. Yesterday's engagement proves that our armies are an effective counter against this Primal's drones.
"Good. Then Hansel, Tywin, I want both of you to prepare our forces to be able to react better if such an attack happens again. And also to prepare them for action at a moment's notice. If we ever get the chance to repay Life for yesterday I want to act on it."
"We'll have plans for your perusal shortly, My Satan." Tywin said after sharing a look with Hansel.
"Very well. Is there anything else that's pressing?"
Tohru raised her hand, a intrigued gleam in her eye. "I have a question, but it's not urgent though."
Devi just nodded her head encouragingly, signaling the ghost to go ahead with her question.
"Thanks, Devi-sama. I was just wondering about how that Primal managed to petrify you in the first place. I mean, I thought you'd just fight the spell off."
"I probably would have, eventually." Devi acknowledged. "Unless Life regularly renewed the spell, I would've broken it. But that could have taken quite a while. Days, months, years? I honestly couldn't say. But considering how confident he was in the spell, I'd say it would have been long enough to take me out of the equation during the Primal War."
"That explains why he used it. But why include a weakness?" Clyde asked, as she crossed her arms looking affronted at the very idea.
"It didn't have a choice, Clyde." Tohru explained in a classic lecturing pose with an arm crossed over her chest and the other gesturing as she spoke. "The more powerful binding spells, like that spell surely was, all have some built-in weakness like that. The fact that leaving a single exploitable weakness strengthens binding spells is one of the quirks of that type of magic."
Clyde nodded apparently satisfied.
"Any more questions?" Devi asked the crowd after a few minutes of silence.
No one replied.
"Then this meeting is adjourned."
The various attendees filed out, Bonnie making a point to leave last and blow Devi a kiss before leaving. The Satan just shook her head in amusement at her latest lover's antics.
"-and that's my report on the Primal Life's invasion of [Spiral Urbis Opes]." Devi said ending off her lengthy report to the other leaders of the growing alliance, now formally including the Greeks and Hindu pantheons too. Representing the devils were Sirzechs, Serafall and herself; Shemhazai, the new Governor General of the Grigori represented the Fallen; Michael was the Angel's representative as usual; while Odin, Zeus, and Indra represented the Norse, Greek and Hindu pantheons respectively.
Shortly, after the invasion, the other leaders had demanded that a conference be held to discuss it. For once, Devi wholeheartedly agreed. Despite her general distaste for such functions, she knew she needed help in the Primal War and building rapport with the alliance ensured they would support her in it. More immediately, she hoped they had more information on Primal Life. While Attie had been able to confirm that the humanoid eye was a distinctive feature employed by D.O.M.E., there was no confirmation that it was indeed the Primal Life.
The leaders mulled over Devi's report for a long moment before Zeus spoke up.
"Well, I have some good news and some bad news for you Devora." The King of the Greek gods in the guise of an elderly man with a well-built body and dressed in a toga replied.
"What have you discovered?" Devi inquired curiously. The Greeks had gone to investigate the point of origin for the Primal Life's attack force that Tohru had been able to work out. The Satan was thus very curious about what they'd found.
"We can confirm that the Primal Life is D.O.M.E." Zeus informed. "The demigods who explored his base were able to get him to admit that much. However, he got away."
Devi frowned, it sounded like the Greeks had engaged D.O.M.E.
"That was extremely reckless of your heroes, Zeus." Michael chimed in. "Confronting a potential Primal? After seeing what they can do?"
Devi blushed at that, the leader of the Angels was referring to her unplanned bout with Great Red. She hadn't known it at the time, but apparently the fight had at some point got violent enough that they'd torn holes in reality that had led to people across worlds catching glimpses of the fight.
"I agree. I scolded the fools for it." Zeus replied to his fellow faction leader. "It was sheer luck that D.O.M.E. was too busy packing up shop to pay too much attention. That and they had the sense to run after he spotted them."
"He's shifted his base of operations then?" Sirzechs asked with a frown. Devi could commiserate. She'd been hoping that they'd be able to pin it down and launch a retaliatory attack.
"Unfortunately, yes." Zeus confirmed.
"Well, it's not that big a deal." Azazel, who for some reason had resigned as Governor General of the Grigori but still had a seat at the conference, joined the conversation. "I mean with those telepathic twins and the Sephiroth Graal in Devi's Peerage, it'll be a cinch to track him down."
"As if, Azazel." Devi said with an annoyed sigh. If that were the case, she wouldn't have asked for the alliance's help in the first place.
"Oh come on, Devi! Combined those three give you the greatest information gathering ability in the world. Add in Altan Furfur and you're unbeatable on that front."
"Even then we have limits. Or have you forgotten the wards that limit the twins? Add to that the fact that while Val can talk to the dead she can't command them, which makes anything they say suspect at best. And that's not even taking into consideration that D.O.M.E. is a Primal. We can shield our presence from each other, what more people with weaker powers?"
"Oh right! Sorry." Azazel said sheepishly.
"You'd do well to remember your place, Azazel." Indra, King of the Hindu gods reminded. He wore the guise of an Indian man with a buzz-cut hairstyle, wearing circular sunglasses, an aloha shirt, and a jewel around his neck. "Devora, would not have come asking for our aid in this matter if she could settle it on her own. Beings of great power such as ourselves do not accept, much less request, the aid of others lightly."
Devi privately thought the Indian god was full of himself to place himself in the same category as a Primal, but for the sake of the alliance made no sign of it. Not all of the other leaders were as controlled however, as Odin and Zeus both shot the other god annoyed looks.
"On the matter of powerful beings," Serafall cut in, obviously trying to defuse the rising tensions with a change of topic. "Devi has something to report about the Primal War as well."
At the mention of the War, all the leaders immediately turned their attention to Devi.
Good to see they understand its importance. Devi thought, as she began her report. "I do. I recently had a talk with Great Red." Several of the leaders gave various signs of amusement at this, obviously thinking that she was referring to their 'spar'. Devi just ignored them and continued with her report. "And Ophis, both of whom are also Primals. They informed me, and Attie's intelligence reports confirm, that Rizevim is working to set off the War in earnest by freeing the last two Primals who have been sealed."
"Is that man mad?" Zeus asked incredulously.
"Yes." The Devils present all confirmed.
"Mad men are always the most dangerous." Shemhazai said resignedly with a shake of his head. He would know having worked alongside Kokabiel, one such madman for years.
Devi nodded, and continued her report, "Once the two are released, all of us will be active at the same time. At that point, it's only a matter of time before our natures will draw us into conflict."
"How is Rizevim trying to unseal the Primals, Devi?" Sirzechs asked, looking determined to do whatever he could to oppose the Lucifer.
"I'm uncertain." Devi admitted. "Though he has been collecting artifacts with lingering traces of a Primal's energies and I think he intends to use them somehow."
"So we just need to prevent him from getting more of those?"
"Preferably, Indra." Devi agreed. "Though I honestly don't know how that'll help. He has already amassed a lot of artifacts. Mayhaps he already has enough. I know for a fact that he has access to Ophis' and Great Red's power. To make things even more difficult, I can't be sure who the sealed Primals are and so can't be sure on a full list of what we might need to protect."
"That is indeed troubling," Odin admitted as he stroked his beard. "But based on what we know, all we can do is secure any powerful artifacts or sources of power we have in our possession just in case they are what he's looking for."
The other leaders nodded. It was hardly ideal, but it was the best they could manage based on what they knew.
"I must ask however, how is it that this Rizevim even knows about the Primals." Zeus questioned. "I mean before Devora mentioned it, I had never heard about them at all."
"The others were quite happy to bide their time and not announce their nature." Devi said with a shrug, unwilling to admit that she been unable to figure Ophis' hint on who had set this up. In hindsight, Devi had realized that the "box" Ophis had mentioned must have been the Primals' seal or something that could lead to it and thus the "caveman" must have been the person to have set things in motion. However, for the life of her, the Super Devil could not figure out what her fellow Primal had meant.
"Still-"
Zeus was cut off when Indra supplied his own answer, "He is part of the Chaos Brigade, no? An organization who has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to infiltrate even your highest echelons? Is it even a surprise he'd learn our secrets considering that?"
"We've purged many of the Brigade's agents already. But there unfortunately always seems to be more." Sirzechs admitted, even as Serafall and Odin nodded.
"Which is why we're compartmentalizing our operations even more than ever before." Serafall explained. "Starting with this new team, DxD, to act as our rapid reaction force against further Brigade aggression."
Devi frowned at the very mention of the force. While she was not opposed to the basic concept, she was leery of some of its members. Particularly as some of said members were former enemies like Cao Cao, now apparently serving under and being vouched for by Indra, and Vali Lucifer and his team, who Odin had even went so far as to adopt the leader of to clear them of their crimes. She was especially angry in regards to the latter because of what happened with Fenrir.
However, Devi was pragmatic enough to accept the necessity of adding their power and skills to the alliance. That and she also acknowledged that from a certain perspective as a Old Satan that joined the new regime, she was in a very similar situation.
That said, she'd still demand a reckoning for Fenrir's fate when the war was over. Michael and her were both agreed on this point.
"And what of our other forces?" Odin asked. "As powerful as this team is, I doubt they'd be able to stand up against the full might of the Chaos Brigade much less a Primal."
"They aren't designed to." Sirzechs explained. "They are merely our vanguard. The rest of our forces are being mobilized and restructured for rapid deployment as well. We're still in the planning phases for that however and so have not shared the details yet."
"I'll forward the details once we have at least a basic outline of what we have in mind." Serafall announced.
The other leaders looked satisfied with this.
"Well then, I believe that's all the urgent matters we have to discuss?"
When no one raised an objection to this conclusion, Sirzechs continued, "Then I believe it's time to formally establish DxD."
The ceremony to commemorate the formation of the new team was a gaudy affair that Val tuned out, just like Devi and the rest of her Peerage, all of whom had been forced to attend. Well, officially only Devi and Ravel as Devi's wife was required to do so, but no one felt it fair to allow the two of them to suffer through it alone so they'd all volunteered to come along.
And now we're all bored out of our minds! Bonnie noted irritably as they watched Indra, the arrogant prick, give a long and boring speech.
At least it's almost over. Devi sent reassuringly. He's the last speaker and after him, we can all leave.
Azazel's not going to speak? Isn't he the de facto leader of the team? The twins noted. Of course, everyone knew that officially the team's leader was the reincarnated angel and exorcist, Dulio Gesualdo, possessor of the Longinus Zenith Tempest. But nobody in Devi's Peerage was fooled by that, if anyone were the leaders of the group it was Indra's former vanguard Sun Wukong and Azazel. Considering the Buddha was a known loner and not much of a leader, that meant that the real source of leadership in the group would come from the former Governor General of the Grigori.
Not likely. If for no other reason than to keep up appearances. Clyde reasoned.
You'd be correct there, Clyde. Devi confirmed, even as Indra finished speaking and Sirzechs moved to the vacated podium to say a few last words in dismissal.
Hmm… Looks like the formal ceremony is over! We can finally go! Xiaoyu cheered.
Sorry to burst your bubble, Xiaoyu, but I would like to speak to a few people before we go. Devi sent back, even as Val's heartbeat raced as she thought about what Devi had planned. When she'd heard about this ceremony, and more importantly who might be attending it, she'd asked Devi for a favor. One that her lover had easily agreed to. She just hoped that what she hoped for panned out.
Aw! Xiaoyu whined even as she and the rest of the Peerage dutifully followed their King as she made her way through the crowds.
To Val's disappointment, the person that Devi sought out first was Vali Lucifer.
Apologies, Val. But I had to catch him before he left. We'll talk to Gremory next. Devi sent to Val apologetically.
Val sent her an understanding burst of thought back, even as she listened in on the conversation. She knew Devi disliked the boy but also didn't want to hurt him for the sake of the alliance. As such she'd need to rein herself in when dealing with him today. To that end, Val was going to help her by being an extra set of eyes and ears to keep that annoyance from boiling over into violence.
"Lucifer," Devi greeted the boy coldly.
"Mammon," the hybrid shot back just as coolly, even as his team tensed. Val herself began fingering one of the vials of Devi's blood she had secreted away on her person, ready to draw it and drink it down for the power up she'd need for a fight with the boy's team if things came to that. Beside her, she sensed the rest of the Peerage likewise ready for a potential fight.
"I have something for Albion." Devi said getting right to the point, clearly not willing to offer any pleasantries.
"What is it?"
Devi produced a tetrahedron shaped diamond and tossed it to the boy who caught it easily.
"It's an add-on to his Divine Dividing, just like the [Resurrection Scale] I gave Ddraig. It's a spear called [Subtle Executioner], made from one of Albion's feather just like the [Scale] was made from one of Ddraig's scales. It's a Longinus class offensive weapon that delivers a dose of the deadly poison I developed, [Void Anathema], with every contact."
One of Lucifer's teammates, the magician Le Fay Pendragon gasped at that, causing her leader to look at her questioningly. She quickly explained her reaction, "Vali, that's the most powerful poison in the world, bar none. Alone its toxicity is as deadly as a Longinus. It's what her troops used to kill [Annihilation Maker]'s monster during the recent invasion."
The hybrid's eyes widened at that, which caused a satisfied smile to spread across Devi's face. She always did enjoy it when people appreciated her work.
"Don't worry about poisoning yourself. I've included a special sheathe with the spear that'll make it safe to handle. It even has seven doses of the counteragent preloaded. Jab someone with the dose and they'll be immune to the poison's effects."
"Just seven?" The magician's brother, Arthur, said. "That's quite specific. Just enough for everyone on our team, I see."
"What can I say? I don't trust you much." Devi admitted.
Lucifer shot her a glare. "Then keep your fancy spear. I won't need it."
Devi returned the glare full force. "[Subtle Executioner] is for Albion, boy. Take it and channel your power into it the next time you use Divine Dividing and it'll be assimilated into the Sacred Gear. After that, I don't care if you ever use it."
The boy looked ready to refuse but stilled, in the way people inexperienced with telepathy did when they talked to people in their own minds.
"Fine! I'll take it for Albion." He said sounding petulant. "But I'm never using it."
With that, he turned and prepared to stalk off, but Devi stopped him, "Before you go, just let me remind you of one thing. I have more of the counteragent."
"Don't worry about me using it against you, Mammon." Lucifer shot back dismissively as he stalked off, his team following in his wake. "I'm never using your little trinket."
As the boy disappeared from sight, Bonnie sent a confused message to Devi, Err… Devi, I'm confused. Why did you even give something that powerful to the boy? Don't you hate him?
I do! The boy is too much like his grandfather for my tastes. Devi admitted. But Albion is my friend, and in respect to his rivalry with Ddraig it was only appropriate I gave him something to make up for giving the [Scale] to the Hyoudou boy.
I can understand that, Devi. Xiaoyu commented. But isn't it a waste to give something that valuable to someone who will never use it?
The boy won't be the White Dragon Emperor forever. Binh explained ominously.
Enough of talking about the boy, let's go find the next person Devi needs to talk to. I'd like to head as soon as possible. Jackie shot irritably, which was understandable since she was currently on her period and would likely much rather be at home relaxing in bed.
Agreed. Anyone seen where Rias Gremory is?
Everyone quickly scanned the crowd of guests.
Over there! Ravel announced a moment later, gesturing to the far side of the hall.
Val felt her heart speed up at that, as her nerves caught up to her again. Devi walked up to her and took her arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze as arm in arm they walked over to meet Gremory.
As she did she saw an androgynous looking boy by the high-class devil's side looking at her seeming as nervous as she felt.
Gasper. Val murmured the boy's name in her mind. The boy had featured prominently in her mind recently as fragments of memory about her past life that revolved around him floated into her consciousness. She'd had flashes of memory about him from the earliest times since her reincarnation as a Devil, but only since the battle with the Primal Life when she'd drank Devi's blood for the first time had she been able to remember anything meaningful about him.
What she'd learned had unsettled her.
"Greetings, Rias Gremory. And to your Peerage as well, especially you Red Dragon Emperor." Devi greeted kindly.
"Greetings, Satan Mammon." The Gremory returned with an accompanying curtsy, her Peerage following suit with varying degrees of formality.
Val didn't pay them any mind, instead she kept her eyes firmly on Gremory, desperate to keep her eyes from wandering over to her fellow former Dhampir.
"No need for pleasantries, Rias." Devi assured the girl, before turning to the Hyoudou boy. "I'm actually here to ask the Red Dragon Emperor a few things."
"Yes!?" The boy replied, stiffening in the wake of being put on the spot.
Devi looked to the boy's King for permission as was proper, and upon receiving her nod, proceeded to ask the boy, "Tell me Hyoudou, how does it feel to be resurrected from death?"
The boy shifted a bit uneasily at the reminder of his recent death, but to his credit calmed quickly.
"I can't really say, being dead during the experience and all." The boy replied sheepishly.
Val frowned, the boy was lying. At least she thought so, her Sacred Gear allowed her to talk to the dead after all and she knew from conversing with them that the dead could experience the world just as well as the living.
Devi knew this too, but she seemed willing to let the matter rest.
"Is that so? Well, unless you'd like to get a chance to experience being dead again, I'd advise you to be less reckless in the future. After all, just because two Primals have a soft spot for you doesn't mean you're always going to be resurrected."
"I know that." The boy replied surprisingly seriously, before he suddenly adopted a confused expression. "Though isn't it three Primals? I mean didn't you give me the [Scale]? It helped a great deal. Shalba Beelzebub had to kill me twice because of it."
Devi grew agitated at what the boy's said, though she doubted anyone outside of the Peerage noticed. The only sign she gave was the surge of embarrassment she inadvertently broadcasted across their telepathic network and the slight tightening of her hold on Val's arm.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Devi deflected. "I only gave you the [Scale] because I was returning it to Ddraig and because I wanted to see if it would work. I don't have a soft spot for you."
"She's lying." Ravel cut in immediately after Devi finished. "She likes you quite a bit. Considers you quite the hero too."
Val and the rest of Devi's Peerage gave various agreeing signs. It was after all the truth, Devi had on more than one occasion been quite vocal about the boy's various accomplishments.
The boy and the rest of the Gremory Peerage and their associate seemed quite pleased with this, even as Devi blushed prettily.
"Traitors. The lot of you are all traitors." Devi whined.
Ravel broke into laughter at Devi's rare display of childish pique, and was soon joined by the rest of the Mammon Peerage.
Even as she giggled at her love's expense though she squeezed her arm, still entwined with her own, lightly as a sign they were just teasing. Devi could be quite hypersensitive to teasing at times, especially in public and it was always best to let her know that they meant no harm.
Involuntarily, Val noticed Gasper frown at her squeezing Devi's arm and her good humor vanished. In its wake, was a rush of confused emotions. Too confusing for the Rook to make sense of.
Sensing her distress, Devi set aside her embarrassment and spoke up.
"Enough of laughing at my expense." The Primal said seriously, causing everyone to calm in response to her tone. "Rias, there is one more thing I would like to talk to you about."
"Yes, My Satan?"
Devi frowned a little at the girl's continued formality. Val knew she hated it when people turned down or as in this case refused to even acknowledge her attempts to make things more informal. Her love had confessed that it made her feel like these people saw her as nothing more than her titles, and didn't see her as a person.
Despite her annoyance, Devi nevertheless pressed forward.
"I would like to extend to you the offer for you and your Peerage, and associate as well, to visit [Spiral Urbis Opes] and receive some special training from me."
The girl seemed suitably impressed by the offer. It was after all not everyday that a Satan offered special training to anyone. Though Val knew that the girl had received such from her brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, before. So perhaps her expression was a mask, Val honestly couldn't tell.
"By associates, you mean Irina?" Gremory inquired while gesturing to the reincarnated angel.
Devi just nodded.
Gremory turned to her Peerage and the lone reincarnated angel as if canvassing their opinions. They all nodded immediately, except Gasper who hesitated and only nodded after a deep breathe and a long look at Val that she resolutely avoided.
Turning back to Devi, Gremory announced her decision, "We accept."
"Very good." Devi replied sounding pleased. "See you in a week."
Without waiting for any reply, Devi turned away and with Val still on her arm marched to the nearest teleportation point. The rest of her Peerage following behind her.
"Everything will be fine, Val." Devi reassured as she summoned the magic circle to take them home.
I hope so.
AN:
Ok, first thing first. I'll be changing releases to the weekend. It's just more convenient for me.
On to the chapter itself. This chapter was mainly D.O.M.E.'s invasion of [Spiral Urbis Opes] and its aftermath, along with some set up for the next chapter. Hopefully the whole thing wasn't too shabby.
About the low casualties from D.O.M.E.'s attack. Keep in mind, it only sent 100 units. The whole attack was only a distraction to give him the chance to petrify Devi. That's the only reason for the low, but non zero, kill count. Also keep in mind, that low casualties is relative to a city of many thousands. The way I see it, a militarized culture like the Land of Greed isn't going to take a few 'civilian' deaths as harshly as ours does when terrorists kill a handful of people so the descriptor of "minimal" can readily apply to a larger number of people than you'd think.
The alliance is another thing worth talking about. In this case, the Greek and Hindu pantheons are much more deeply tied to the Three Factions and Norse than canon. Why? Because of Devi's rather dramatic Awakening. It scared them into tying themselves more openly with the preexisting alliance. That and her talk of the upcoming Primal War. They want to choose a side they know and if not trust then can predict for that war.
Val was something of a wreck in the last scene wasn't she? Well considering what her most recently recovered memories have revealed to her, it's pretty understandable. I think I made what they revealed to her quite obvious, but for the handful who might not have caught it I'll refrain from spoiling you. Just know that it's a doozy and very nicely explains why Val was so distracted (she didn't catch any of the telepathic communication within the Mammon Peerage that was definitely happening when Devi was talking to Rias) and so hypersensitive to Devi and Gasper.
And lastly here are the inspirations for D.O.M.E.'s drones that made a meaningful appearance:
Heavy Infantry Type: AMS-119 Geara Doga from Gundam Unicorn
Command Type: MSN-06S Sinanju from Gundam Unicorn
Hope you all enjoyed this fic.
Also I'm still looking for a beta. If you're interested drop me a PM.
Please review. No flames please, they'll be ignored.