Things… were not good for Ajuka. His most recent mistake was starting to catch up with him in the biggest of ways, namely it looked to be that his best friend found out about it due to the Evil System alerting him of things that should not be happening normally.

"Seems Dante is doing quite well for himself." Sirzechs said with an amused smile on his face while Ajuka tried his hardest to look busy even though he really wasn't. The various tests he was running on the unusual break into Hell were running and didn't require his direct attention. Any experiment he was conducting was put on hold or delegated due to the current situation with Dante, both his missing in action and the problem that Sirzechs was here about.

"His Life Makes continue to tell us that he is alive and has not felt any real danger." Ajuka said trying to appear ignorant of what Sirzechs was really speaking of. The Devil King sighed and leaned back in the chair that had been provided to him. His best friend was really a bad liar when it came to him and Serafall. Anyone else, even his family, couldn't tell due to his stoic and silent nature. But those truly close to him knew the signs.

"Ajuka, why is it that Dante is currently marked in the Evil System as having two Demon serfs when he is only supposed to be a Low-Class Devil? Granted I would say that he is most certainly Mid-Class in terms of both intellect and strength but officially still Low-Class." Sirzechs had been greatly surprised to find what was happening to Dante. He had checked the Evil System in the hopes that it might give some clue to where Dante was but that wasn't what Sirzechs found.

The Seventy Two Noble Houses of Hell were represented in the Evil System as rings surrounding a core that represented Hell. Each Devil, or other minor houses, connected to that House made up one segment of the ring. With the most powerful having larger pieces, constrained to sizes based on class. That didn't mean to say that this affected whether or not a Low-Class could be stronger than a High-Class, it just was symbolic of how much power they could have in the system altogether.

His sister had her own segment of the Gremory Ring and her servants had their own smaller segments after hers. Above the minor houses that were connected to the Gremory Family either by blood or oath. All except Dante… who was among those minor Houses as if he had reached the point to be considered less servant and more ally. When a Devil reached High-Class status the Evil System recognized that they could stand on their own, and lessened the influence that the King had over them. They were still part of their King's Household but the relationship changed. It was why many Kings blocked their servants from going beyond Mid-Class or even Low-Class.

This in of itself was suspect but what really was strange was that attached to Dante's piece was two smaller rings that circled around his segment. This represented Demons that currently saw this particular Devil as their master. Demons had their place in the Evil System and it was in subservience to Devils. Demons, or entire Demon tribes would attach themselves to strong Devils and serve them and in exchange the Devils provided, spiritual power, leadership, and economic opportunity. Demons actually made up over seventy percent of Hell's total population, Lilith was the only city that had a Devil majority. The rest of Hell was generally populated by Demons that worked and lived on Devil territory, though in recent times work had begun to uplift many demons into full-on Devils. Most of the older Devil generations or those with few earthly ties tended to fill their households with demons rather than travel to Earth and search for humans with potential.

"Two Demons serfs… very interesting." Ajuka said blandly as he stared with laser focus at the screen in front of him even though it was just long reams of data of little importance.

"Ajuka, what did you do?" Sirzechs chuckled though there was a small tinge of concern. Ajuka stood still for several minutes before finally turning around to face his friend.

"I remotely promoted Dante to High-Class to test his Evil Piece and the situation with his winnings from the Blood Duel. I had thought that I could demote him… turns out that you can't." That actually surprised Sirzechs mildly, he had always assumed that demotion from the upper castes in Hell was possible but never looked into it. "It's not official and I forbade Rias from telling Dante of the benefits of High-Class status."

"One of those being able to take on Demons as followers." Sirzechs said as he held out his hand and summoned the Evil System. The red and gold transparent rings of Hell's Evil System formed from nowhere and soon one out of the Seventy-Two rings was pulled out and focused on. The Ring circled around Sirzechs' arm and rotated to the small segment that represented Dante. His name was engraved in hellish stylized writing, only a faint blue instead of the normal gold. Circling around his piece of the Gremory ring was three smaller ones. The first scaled like a snake and red. The next a transparent green and blue with no discernable texture. And a new ring that Sirzechs did not see before, a blue feathered one. "Ah… he works fast. Another has taken to him. I can assume two are a lamia and harpy but the third has me lost." It was at that that Ajuka came over and looked at the display.

"An Elder Slime. Normally slimes don't have the intelligence to count as sentient beings and so the Evil System regards them as animals. But if one lives long enough before being eaten by their own kind as per their reproductive cycle, they can eventually gain enough spiritual power to garner intelligence worthy of being called self-aware." Ajuka explained and was interested in studying such a demon. They were quite rare and elusive beings. Reported to be friendly enough if not outright attacked, but those that called themselves an Elder Slime's master rarely allowed them to be studied. Apparently they were very endearing creatures as well.

"Thank you, but that still leaves us with the current problems at hand. Dante is collecting Demon followers, unknowingly certainly, but this is still a breach of conduct." Sirzechs closed out the Evil System and placed a hand to his chin. This was a development that was not foreseen but one that was both highly amusing to Sirzechs on a personal level but somewhat concerning on a professional one. It was good that Dante was showing his talent and potential in this way but there might be some backlash toward Sirzechs and certainly Ajuka. The cries of favoritism would be loud, and none would remember when he had not stepped in for his sister's plight. The memory of the nobility was selective when it suited them. But then an idea came to him… normally one he would file away for a later date. Much later… decades later. But here it might be best to implement now.

"'zechs… I know that look on your face. You shouldn't do it." Ajuka said as he frowned while Sirzechs' smile grew brighter.

"You don't even know what it is yet."

"At least wait until a proper opportunity presents itself for whatever it is instead of just doing it out of the blue." Ajuka did in fact have a theory of what Sirzechs was plotting. But his best friend had surprised him in the past before and would do so again in the future.

"Very well, knowing Dante there should be one soon."


Former Harpy Territory

"Wow, this is amazing!" Papi exclaimed as she rode on the back of Dante's giant Familiar. She was used to flying high above the ground but this was a completely different experience. Dante had his spot on the middle head of the monstrous Glutton, while the girls rode its back. Dante had offered to let them ride the other two heads but the sight of the worm-like heads with lipless mouths and giant human teeth freaked them all out. Dante had never understood people's fear of his giant turtle-worm-human-mountain-kaiju hybrid.

"Just tell me when we're done." Miia groaned as she felt her stomach toss and turn with every pounding step of the beast she rode. She had immediately disliked this form of travel but the Old Satan Faction's camp was too far to walk. Urgency was needed if they were going to save Papi's tribe, as any moment the slavers could decide to leave with their prey captured.

"Shouldn't be too long now." Dante mumbled to himself as he watched the land move forward, the entire landscape looked barren of life but for the odd small creature here and there. He suspected that the harpies must fly down to the tops of the jungle canopy for their hunting. He could ask Papi but he wasn't too keen on speaking more with her. It all just freaked him out how fast these girls could attach themselves to him. Moving fast in a relationship was nothing new to him but that was always done with the unspoken agreement between the two parties that it wasn't serious. The way these demon girls acted suggested that this was. He was going to research demons a bit more thoroughly when he returned home.

Home, that seemed to be a lot more in view now. The primary reason why he was going to help Papi was not that her entire tribe had been taken by slavers. He was perfectly fine going out of his way to do so, but it wasn't out of his way. The slavers would certainly have some kind of means to contact over long ranges. Either magically or with some type of device. And Dante could use whatever that means was to get in touch with Sirzechs or better yet Rias and Akeno. That was the hope anyway… plus there would be the chance to enact some revenge.

Dante's Familiar slowed down as they approached the ridgeline that would bring them into view of the camp. Dante had scouted it out with his crows and he could feel the spiritual pressure of all the slavers. He could feel the agitated state they all were in, like chickens with their heads cut off. It was the Rook's hope that they were leaderless, or in the midst of sorting out a new leader. The latter would be the best case situation as it would likely involve a good deal of violence among them, thinning their numbers a bit.

Dante closed his eyes and took to one of the crows that he had sent into the camp. There were already a few carrion birds in the camp, drawn in by the evil aura that these Devil possessed. One more didn't seem to tip anyone off. The camp was busy, clearly in a state getting ready to leave. There were massive cages filled to the brim with bird women hybrids, stuffed in without much care. Most in tattered rags but some not even getting that much.

"I want all of these tents broken down within the hour!"

"Who made you the boss?!"

"Shut it! We don't have time to fight over this shit!"

"I ain't taking a small cut for doing all this work!" Dante listened to more of these fools bark and snap at each other. They really seem to be without decent leadership. Right now he suspected that the only thing keeping them together was that they actually needed to return to the North before they got paid. But the issue of who got the larger cut was certainly bubbling beneath the surface.

Pushing their internal conflict to the side, Dante reached out with his spiritual senses and gauged the slavers power levels. He had to chuckle at this… all of them were at the level of Low-Class Devils. For all their talk of superiority these bastards couldn't hold a candle to the current ranks of Devils in Hell proper who had climbed the social ladder through hard work. Though given that the Old Satan Faction still practiced Class-Right-By-Blood, they all likely thought that they were High-Class rather actually being it. Rias had once told him that nobility in Hell proper were now tested at a young age to determine if they would be granted the immediate jump to High-Class, if they tested well and showed promised it was given while those that did poorly were required to go through the paces like everyone else.

He moved his crow off its current perch and flew over to the cages where the harpies were being kept. Though he maintained a distance as he could tell from the looks, these women had not been fed properly. They lacked much diversity in looks, all of them had slim frames, blue hair and feathers, pale skin, and amber eyes. These somewhat confirmed his theory that harpies reproduced both sexually and asexually. Normally the latter in the lack of a mate meaning that the parent and child would essentially be genetically the same as each other.

"Ey! Get a few of the bird bitches and bring them to the mess tent, let's get one last test of quality before we shove off." The devil that said this darkly chuckled with his fellows but quickly stopped as he choked on his blood. Others followed suit as they found a new hole in their throats. On looking Devils gapped in horror as a murder of crows dive bombed through the armor and flesh of their fellows. Dante opened his eyes after giving his crows the order to begin harassing the slavers. He stood up and after giving his Familiar the order to protect the girls shattered and reformed in the midst of the slavers' camp. The entire place was in chaos as Ice Crows and harpies both assaulted the disorganized slavers. The demons have been freed easily by Dante's Grim Ice constructs.

"Now… if I was communication equipment where would I be." Dante muttered to himself, an island of calm in a sea of chaos. A slaver spotted him and charged forward at the Devil that was unmistakably a stranger, he was quickly frozen solid by a wave of Dante's hand. Then with a lazy kick shattered the devil into a million pieces and Dante continued on his way. More Devils tried their hand at attacking the intruder, all of them were weaklings and were quickly dispatched. Dante did note that none of the harpies attacked him, his dress was blindingly obvious that he was not one of the slavers and he wanted to assume that was why.

Dante searched each of the still remaining tents for anything that might look to be some sort of long-range communication device or artifact. He hoped for the former as he could more easily recognize tech more than magical nonsense. The battle between the harpies and the slavers raged on around him, if he passed a harpy on the verge of being beaten he would throw an icicle into the Devil's knee or something along those lines. But his main priority was finding something that could get him in touch with Hell's government or better yet his Life-Mates. Dante sighed as he looked up toward the largest tent among the camp, this one finely-made with jewels and expensive finishes. It was the last one he had to search and if what he was looking for wasn't there then this would have been a bust.

"Get that, if we bring it back to Lord Pinkerton he'll pay us our weight in gold." Dante heard as he entered the large tent and found a group of devils rummaging through one of the large chests in the back. They looked up having sensed someone enter and all scowled at the devil wearing very human clothing. Dante watched with a bored expression on his face as they all drew their swords. "What have we got here boys… little pissant that has lost his way?" Dante rolled his eyes at this buffoon's attempt at being tough.

Deciding to send a message he flared his spiritual power to its fullest… hoping that his deathly aura had grown to the point where it would just kill these fools. It did not. But Dante was pleasantly surprised that he had reached the point where his spiritual pressure now affected the air around him. It was considered a real mark of power if just by letting your spiritual power out you caused the air around you to static and shake. The next level was stopping people in their tracks, giving them nosebleeds, and weaker souls falling over unable to form a complete thought. None of these devils were that affected but they did look to have a great deal of difficulty taking their next step.

"I don't have the attention span to deal with your threats. Just tell me if there's something here that can get me in touch with the rest of Hell." Dante blandly asked as he kept up the pressure on the slavers. Finally after some time, one of them chocked and fell over unable to take it anymore. The others seemed more resilient, Dante just assumed that was the weakling of the bunch the others kept around for an ego boost. Every group had one.

"We'll tell you nothing scum." The leader of the group ground out, his eyes filled with nothing but hate and disgust for Dante. The Rook sighed and formed one icicle for each of the devils and before any of them could say another word shot them into their skulls. Dante then looked around and had to admit that there was a good deal of wealth here, nothing compared to his current net worth and certainly not a drop in the ocean that Rias had access to. But still nothing to sneeze at surely. But that seemed to be everything that this tent had, wealth. Nothing in the ways of equipment, communication or otherwise. With another sigh he ducked back out to the camp… and found all the Devils dead and the harpies all assembled in front of him. Looking up at him with a mixture of awe, reverence, and fuck-me eyes.

"You all obviously have something to say." Dante said knowing exactly what they were all thinking. And rather than saying it outright at first they all but one, dropped to their knee and bowed before Dante. The one that had remained standing was the tallest among them and she was the only one that had the restraint to not look at him like a schoolgirl in love.

"Devil, you have freed my tribe. For that I give my thanks on behalf of myself and my sisters." The harpy said with a small nod, though when she looked up, Dante caught the small glint in her eye that had the same light as the others. "We have felt your power and we recognize your strength… we would be honored for you to pass that strength onto a new generation of daughters." Several of the harpies behind her nodded vigorously at this while others were bluntly drooling at the prospect.

"Please new master… it's been ages since our tribe has had a male worthy to give us strong daughters." One of the harpies pleaded, this one sounded a bit more like bubbly childishness that he had gotten from Papi. He takes away was that the leader was the eldest and had grown out of that personality… or at least that is what he assumed. After this comment, many more like it began coming off the crowd of harpies before they were all silenced by a glare from their leader. She then looked back to Dante who had an unreadable expression. This caused the lead harpy to stiffen and fear that he wouldn't actually become their new master. This latest attack from the slavers had not been the first and next time might be the last. The tribe's strength had remained stagnant for too long, they hadn't had a male Devil to pass on a new generation of harpies stronger than the last in so long.

"Are we not pleasing to you?" She asked cautiously, feeling a little self-conscious. It wasn't like the harpies didn't know that they weren't the most gifted in terms of womanly shapes. They just didn't think about it for very long. As with most things.

"That's not it at all." Dante shrugged and the harpies let out a sigh of relief. "I just never intended to come here in the first place, I'm lost and want to return back to my family. I was hoping that these Devils had the means to communicate back to Hell's government and…" Dante trailed off as he noticed that he was getting confused stares back from all of the harpies trying to figure out what he was saying. Dante clicked his tongue as he found the extent that even the wisest among them could handle. "I never wanted to become a demon stud, and I have a life away from this place that will prevent me from staying." Dante said simply as they seemed to understand… mostly.

"You don't have to stay, just long enough to have sex with all of us. I assure you master we are very fertile." The lead harpy said with a tone that suggested she thought she solved all his problems with staying.

"T-that… that's not…" Dante groaned and rubbed his face in frustration. He had in front of him a literal horde of sexy demon bird women that wanted nothing more than to be breeded by him and somehow it was a problem! "Okay… first off. Get this place cleaned up and we can discuss this in the morning because there is a bed in that tent and I have been without simple comforts for fucking forever." They seemed to take this as the sex would begin then, but did as he ordered. Dispersing and dragging off the dead bodies… likely to eat them later. They were starved demons after all. "By the way, I saved a harpy named Papi on my way here. Anyone want to claim her."

"We are all yours master but thank you." The lead harpy said and Dante grunted a bit while she called out to one of the harpies in a song-like call, Dante was slightly taken aback by how beautiful the harpies native tongue was.

"You found my Papi!" One of the harpies flew down and tackled Dante, thankfully she did not have the same force that Miia did and so Dante stood tall and firm. "Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you!" Dante did have to smile at the glee that Papi's mother had for hearing her daughter was safe. Even demons cared for their children. Dante then frowned and shook away the bad thoughts that had begun to form in his mind after that line of thinking.

"Alright enough of that." Dante said as he lightly pushed the harpy away. "I also have a lamia and a slime with me, so when you see them coming just send them to my tent." The two harpies frowned slightly at hearing that a lamia would be among their tribe. And that she was apparently close enough tot heir new master to the point where she would be invited into his tent. But they would follow his word as law. Dante entered the tent and looked at the large and very comfy looking bed and couldn't help but feel giddy at the spoils of war. Sleep wouldn't actually come to him until Miia arrived but just being in it was too good to pass up. He was so excited at the prospect of a real bed that he never noticed the growing number of spiders that were crawling inside the tent.


USA, New York

Yubelluna fussed over her dress, much more conservative than her normal attire. Robes that she before had been forced to wear by Riser but now she wore because she wanted to have her master look at her. The irony was not lost on her. But now she had changed over to a formal business dress as this was her first meeting with the executive board of Alighieri Shipping. Dante had inherited his father's control stock in the company, totally seventy-three percent of the entire company stock. But given the situation around his father's death, the current attitude of the company executives, and blatant fact that Dante was never involved in the company to begin with, there were moves to remove him from his position in his family's company.

"Quit with that Yua, you'll be fine." Yubelluna looked back to see Isabella smirking. Both of them were in the elevator as it took them to the top floor where the meeting would be taking place. In the hopes to give Yubelluna a friendly face and backup, Rias told Isabella to go with Dante's Queen to New York. She was dressed a bit more casually than the other woman but far more respectable than she liked to be.

"I just need to get this right, our master is counting on me to protect his company." Yubelluna said mostly to herself and Isabella rolled her eyes at the stupid reason.

"One, Dante has no idea what we're doing. Two, he gives no shits about this company. Three, even if you failed he would still give a damn about you." Isabella listed off and Yubelluna logically knew she was right on all counts. Dante was missing and wouldn't know about the small inches being taken to remove him from Alighieri Shipping. He didn't even know about it before he went missing as per the second reason Isabella gave. Yubelluna knew that her master was in no way attached to anything that had to do with his father. This was a company he built from the ground up, albeit on the funds of a criminal empire. But it was the third reason that had her both feeling a long-forgotten warmth in her chest. The fact of her new life was that Dante cared about her, she couldn't disappoint him so long as she at least tried.

"I know… but this is still something I can do for him while he's gone." Soon the doors opened and both the women walked out of the elevator and began their way toward the meeting. Several people gave looks to the two strangers, quite a few men leered at them. Clearly under the current leadership, cracking down on sexual harassment was low on the priorities list. They both ignored them all, having dealt with far worse. Yubelluna had no time for anyone but her beloved master and to Isabella all these men looked like she could crack them in half with her pinky finger. However they both stopped as they turned a corner and saw someone sitting outside the meeting room. He was a large blond man cracking his fingers, a small bit of spiritual power was leaking from him signally that he was more than human.

"You going to bitch that your meal ticket was killed?" Isabella snapped as she had enough of this man's glaring at the two of them. The three were completely alone in the hallway and we're sure that no one was listening in. The blond man grinned savagely at the Rook's comments before standing up.

"Am I pissed I have to watch myself a little more… not really. Had to do that before I signed on with the boss. Am I pissed that that twerp of a son got him killed? Nah… I killed my old man so I ain't got a place to talk." It was then that the large man's skin began to crack glow with an angry red and orange. "I am very pissed off that those fucks n there are planning on sacking all of us that they don't understand why the boss hired in the first place." The two women began to relax a bit at finding out that his anger did not target them or Dante.

"Anyone of supernatural origin." Yubelluna supplied and the man nodded. It made sense, given that supernatural beings tended to have very sketchy credentials unless they were connected to powerful groups like pantheons or those very wealthy. This mainly applied to supernatural beings entering the human world for the first time though, the situation was very parallel to most immigrant situations. "I can assure you and anyone that you have come to represent that my only intended change is to bring this company to full compliance with the law. I have no intention of getting rid of anyone that agrees with that one term." The man seemed to grunt a bit at this stipulation but knew that this was the best option he was going to get.

"There are going to be people not happy with that, but most will be fine." He said before starting his way toward them. Isabella took a step in front of Yubelluna but the man didn't slow his pace. He passed by them without another word leaving behind the smell of a freshly erupted volcano. Yubelluna chuckled as she watched her friend take a glance back at the departing man, knowing what was going through her mind.

"Thinking about getting his number?" Yubelluna asked and Isabella just gave a noncommittal hum to the question. With that out of the way the two of them walked to the meeting room without another word. Inside were several older men all in business suits. It was the exact picture of a stereotypical executive board. They stopped their talks and eyed the women that had joined their presence. Yubelluna noted that most of them had well-hidden scowls and the rest were too passive to accurately gauge how they were feeling. "Gentlemen, my name is Yubelluna Lovric and I will be representing Dante Alighieri while he is indisposed with his study aboard." Isabella hid the surprise at the total change in demeanor in her friend. Gone was the nervous woman trying her best not to disappoint their master, now stood a solid wall of unflinching determination with a cold detached attitude that would make fit perfectly well among cutthroat politics of hell.

"Yes, it is the subject of Mr. Alighieri that we have come to speak about. A shame that he could not come in person." One of the men said with a sneer, advertising his true feelings for Dante. Others nodded in agreement and Isabella looked to the only other woman in the room with a small unnoticed grin. If this was the route they were going to be taking then it was going to be a bloodbath.

"Let us cut to the chase Miss. Lovric. Your client is an underage teenager with a rather dubious reputation. Something that could be overlooked given our company's nature…" Code for the fact this was one giant front for smuggling. "… but Dante is simply not the type of man that can head this business. Beyond his absentee disposition, he knows nothing of this company or of the shipping business in general. Now, tragically both Elijah and Raimondo died… on the same day." There was an accusation there, unsaid but heard by all. "And the rest of the Alighieri family is simply not ready for what is needed."

"I agree, this could change if we knew where Elijah's daughter was. She is young enough to be groomed for the position but sadly… she is still missing." Again, all the men looked toward Yubelluna accusing her master of crimes that were both correctly placed at him and yet were undeserving. But then the room began to get uncomfortably warm, and strange tingling sensation began to wash over all of the men in the room. They would later go to their doctors and find that they were positive for various forms of cancer due to radiation exposure.

"I see." Those were the last words that Isabella paid attention to before finding herself a chair at the edge of the room and shutting her eyes. The white noise of Yubelluna calmly and logically dressing down these windbags like they never had been before drifted the Rook into her midday nap.


Hell, Ruined Castle

Dante slowly opened his eyes and instantly felt the irritating feeling of the blood pooling in his head. Then came the sense that he was tied up… very thoroughly too. He looked down… up? He looked to his body and saw that he was hanging upside down while completely enveloped in spider thread. This was not what he expected he would awaken to. He expected either a clingy lamia or a bunch of harpies.

He gave a small sigh and listened as he heard the sound of movement all around him. Spiders… he was in a spider's trap so he assumed spiders. He took a moment to look around and noted that he looked to be somewhere that used to be inhabitable. There were walls, real walls though now in a ruined state. Maybe he was in a castle or a town that had been built back when Devils ruled over the jungle.

"Oh good, you're awake." Dante spun mid-air and slowly rotated over to where a woman stood out o the shadows, her lower half concealed by the darkness. What Dante could see though was very appealing, but he knew this was Hell and she was not likely just as she seemed to be. "I apologize for the sudden meeting but I felt it would be prudent."

"No problem… but uh… could you cut me down?" Dante asked as he continued to rotate in the air. "My head's starting to hurt from the blood draining down into it." He was not in fact cut down, the woman that had him trapped just retreated further into the darkness with a smirk. Dante frowned as he began to explore just how much of his body could move… short answer was not at all. The sounds of spiders scurrying around the room was louder now, he could tell that quite a few of them were larger than normal spiders.

"You don't seem to be scared, putting on a brave face are we?" She teased and Dante had to chuckle, he had her pegged already. He had been around Akeno long enough to know the type of woman he was dealing with.

"Oh yes… on the inside I'm a trembling little boy crying out for a safe space." Dante dragged out dryly. The response was a genuine chuckle and he took that as a win. He thought about going for the question to be set free but thought better of it. He would be let go when she wanted and it wasn't like he couldn't free himself at any time he wanted. And he was sure she knew this. While the thread containing him was strong, it wasn't magically nullifying or resistant. This was all part of a game or test. "If you won't let me down then can I at least know where the fuck I am?"

"Hell." She replied as she came back into view, her lower half still not visible to him though it didn't take a genius to know what it was. "But I guess you knew that already. We are in the ruined castle of the Noble Devil House of Paimon. They are however unable to use it so I am holding it for someone that can." She said with an analytical look as she circled Dante.

"Mmm… well I wish you luck in that task. Sounds like a very difficult one given the current state of Hell." Dante said, his face unreadable to what he was currently thinking.

"Could be easier than you might think." The woman said with a small purr as Dante felt a small spiritual probe into his soul. She stopped in her circling and while Dante was turned around and couldn't see she shuddered at the sheer raw primal power was laying in wait in him. It was what she was looking for, someone that had untapped potential to be an Ultimate Class Devil and take control over this territory. "I must apologize, I have not been a proper host. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Rachnera Arachnera." It was at this point that Rachnera stepped out of the magically induced darkness and showed her full form.

"Dante Lakwa… or legally speaking Dante Alighieri." Dante said without missing a beat. Rachnera was actually very surprised that Dante didn't have the least bit reaction to her being an Arachne demon. Even among Devils her kind was greatly feared as being some of the most powerful demons of Hell. And this went double for Reincarnated Devils.

"Now you must be putting on a brave face." She frowned at his obvious attempt at masking his true feelings of fear and disgust. One thing she hated most of all was falsehood, honesty even if it hurt was preferable to lies in her opinion. So much could be achieved if people just told each other how they actually felt about each other as opposed to dancing around their true feelings.

"Nah… nothing I haven't seen on the internet already. There are entire subreddits devoted to spider-girls, your people have a lot of fans among the humans, I being one of them. I have seen the daughters of Aphrodite… I can truthfully say that you, all of you, put those sluts to shame in beauty." He hung there as Rachnera studied him intently, her six red eyes scanning him over for any sign of deceit. And a small blush came over her when she realized he was actually being honest here. She pulled a small string out from the darkness and cut it, dropping Dante to the floor though still tied up. He began struggling with the spider thread but stopped as he felt himself being picked up and turned back around.

"Well aren't you sweet, saying such nice things to a monster like me." Rachnera teased as she held Dante with her frontal legs. She knew she was a monster, she didn't hide it or feel ashamed. But even if she was a monster she was also a woman, and it had been a long time indeed since a man complimented her in a way that wasn't begging for their life, worthless platitudes, or shameless brownnosing. "And with the fact you look absolutely delicious… I think I'll call you honey." Rachnera said as she held Dante closer to her, pressing her ample chest into his. Even if he was tied up, he still knew that feeling by heart.

"No one's taken that one yet… go ahead." That made her raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, already have ourselves a little harem already so young. I do like an overachiever." She had been expecting there to be other women in his life. That was a given for any Devil that had the potential to be an Ultimate-Class Devil. Devils and Demons alike flocked to strong mates.

"Three that aren't going anywhere." Dante said as he leaned his neck out a bit to show off his Life-Mate marks. "And about… give or take five to seven others that are keenly interested." And Dante was only counting those that he knew about and those that had stated clear interest. There those that he had no clue about and some he was mostly sure were just playing with him but weren't really romantically interested. "Then there's the tribe of harpies that want my babies."

"Yes, my little friends told me about that." Rachnera smiled as she began taking Dante out of the chamber she had been using and started toward the main hall of the castle. "It is a good first step."

"First step? Sexy spider lady want to inform me of something." Dante said and Rachnera had to giggle a bit, she was really getting used to hearing him call her such things. She didn't know if it was just his aura or if it was the fact it had been a long time since she had a mate but this Devil was going to be her new mate whether he knew it or not.

"It's the first step in you conquering the former territory of House Paimon." Rachnera said making Dante's face freeze. "For too long we have been without a proper ruler, the children in the jungle have been bickering over nonsense. They will kick and cry but they need a Devil to keep them in line." Rachnera explained as she climbed the walls of the great hall with Dante still in her grasp. She climbed along the walls until she came to the central focal point at the back of the hall, a wall of cooled magma shaped into a gothic throne. She stopped as she took a spot above the seat of power and held Dante above it. "A throne without a ruler, a sad sight indeed."

"And you want a Low-Class Reincarnated former Grim Reaper to sit in it?" Dante said and Rachnera just smiled while she thought about this confirmation that he was in fact a former Grim Reaper. She suspected but knowing for sure was nice.

"Do you know one? If not then I'm sure that I could do with you." She teased as she leaned in closer, holding him even closer to her body than before as she whispered into his ear. "And every king needs a queen, one that advises and counsels his judgment. Comforts him in his times of distress." She then pulled back and away from Dante as she dropped him down into the throne and then climbed down to face him. "In short, I'm asking you to stay a little longer and take these lands for your own."

"The problem is that I don't want to stay any more than I have to." Dante said as he chilled the thread around him down to subzero temperature. The thread froze and with minimal effort broke the cocoon and sat back into the unclaimed throne. Rachnera couldn't help but smirk at how natural it looked to her to see him sitting there. She knew on some level that her judgment was tainted by the sheer number of years that both she and these lands have been bereft of Devil rule but Dante's power had the potential to be something great. She was sure of that. "I want to return back to my family and home back on earth."

"But for how long will that be your home?" Rachnera shrugged knowing that no matter how much a Reincarnated Devil loves their home back in the world they came from, they all eventually moved to Hell. This rung true even more so for those that raised through the ranks of Hell's classes. "Can you not tell me that your life in the human world has not grown more and more colorless and bland when compared to the one in Hell."

"You don't know me." Dante frowned both because of Rachnera's assumption but also because of how true it felt. Even if he didn't like how she just assumed how he felt, her words still struck a chord in him that he didn't think existed. His dreams and plans for his life in the human world felt so distant. They felt like things that he wanted but no longer cared if they came to him. He cared about his image in Hell because it affected Rias' life, he enjoyed screwing around with the nobility of Hell, his life in Hell was slowly becoming more real than the one on earth. "You're asking me to stake a claim in Hell, something that will take time. The time that could be spent working toward getting back to the ones I love."

"What if I said that those goals are aligned." Rachnera tossed out a bone, knowing that she couldn't convince him purely on the merit of her previous argument. Not at first at least. "This castle, despite the current state it is in, held many relics and powerful artifacts. Some of those had stolen in the last few months." Rachnera snarled as she recalled what happened. Three little snakes slithered into her home and stole several Devil goodies she had been holding for the future lord of the lands. "One of those, was a specially crafted crystal that allowed for magical communication across vast distances. Any reflective surface that you have knowledge of could be turned into a two-way link."

"Is that so?" Dante raised an eyebrow at hearing that, knowing that it was bait for Rachnera to further her own goals for Dante. "And where is this crystal?"

"Right in the keep of the Syx Tribe." Rachnera said and Dante slammed his head back into the throne. "And as strong as you are honey, I don't think you could fight off an entire lamia tribe by yourself."

"So you wouldn't help with this?" Dante bluntly asked and Rachnera chuckled, happy that he would be willing to be so frank with her. He didn't fear her even if they currently had a vast difference of power.

"No, that wouldn't help my plans would it." She said cutely, and smiled as Dante again groaned. Seeing that she had won this round, Rachnera continued. "Now that you have the harpies on your side, the next tribe you should look toward should be the Harix. They are simple enough, just get to their Royal Chamber and flare your Spiritual Power and they will all submit." Rachnera knew there was a bit more to that but that was the most simple version of what he needed to do.

"Those are the bee-like demons right. Is that all it will really take, showing my power and like that…" Dante snapped his fingers. "… they submit." Dante finished, but as he did so he recalled that was what he did before getting the harpies to submit to him. Even though he wasn't really trying to do that.

"For demons that is all that it takes. We respond to the power of Devils, ever since Lucifer the Morning Star became the Overlord of All Demons we have been bound to his kin. Even if some demons contest otherwise." Rachnera chuckled as she knew many demons in these lands would refute any connection to Devils. Both the Lamia and Izguz tribes suffered under the previous Devil House, and both of them were highly opposed to any new Devil coming. The other tribes would be less of a challenge as they would at least be amenable if Dante proved himself. "The Harix drones are immune to this tactic, they only submit to their Queen and her daughters. The goal is to reach the Royal Chamber and flaring your power, it will be more than enough to entice them."

"And having the Harix will get me closer to getting this crystal that can call the rest of Hell. That's what you're selling here?" Dante asked and Rachnera nodded. "What about me flying out of here, and back to the harpy tribe. I'm sure that there are search parties out for me, there are plenty of things I can get the harpies to do that can get me in touch with those looking for me." Dante sat back as he watched Rachnera stare at him, moments passed between the two. The silence only breaking at the sound of several massive spiders coming out of the various holes in the walls.

"I think you should stay the night, have some time to think over what we've talked about." Rachnera said before turning and leaving Dante only with his new guards. He eyed the spiders and knew that he could take them, that wasn't the thing keeping him here. All throughout their conversation Dante knew he was speaking with a Demon that far exceeded his own power. One that outclassed him on almost every level. These spiders were more or less for show and to keep an eye on him.

"Sexy, sadistic… and very scary. Can't help it… that's my ideal woman." Dante chuckled to himself as he stood up and let the nearest spider lead him to his room.


Helheim, Hel's Bedchamber

Hel sneezed unexpectedly as she sat back in her large leather couch. She gave a small frown before that turned into a warm smile. She didn't give much credence to old sayings but she hoped that her future master was speaking about her. She had been spending a nice time with her friend, invited to give her an excuse to ignore her duties.

The bedroom of the Norse Goddess of Death was draped in black and the pale green of Helhime. Gothic architecture mixed with Norse runes, while the room was filled with some of the most luxurious furniture that money could buy. Wealth and status was plainly obvious to those that entered… along with a sense of debauched morality. As several of the pieces of furniture were not inanimate objects but women clothed in skin-tight latex and bondage gear, posed to act like furniture.

"Bless you." The Dragon God Ophis said as she sat on the same couch. The two were spending a bit of girl time, or at least the Norse Goddess was trying to interject some personality into Ophis who was seriously lacking in that department.

"I feel like someone special is talking about me, though it could just as well be someone equally as annoying." The only other person that talked about Hel was her father, Loki. She had to roll her eyes at the whinny brat that was her father, it was insulting that she was able to bond with Thor over the fact they both were more mature than their parents. At least Odin mostly pretended to be a perverted senile old man. Loki was actually batshit crazy. Other than her father though, the rest of the Norse pantheon, Aesir and Vanier alike, did their best to ignore her.

"It was Dante… though he wasn't really talking about you." Ophis said as she continued to try and beat Hel in Mario Cart. She had failed to do so thirty times now and it had stopped being funny to the Norse Goddess but she'd wear pink before letting anyone beat her in anything. She was currently just dressed in a pair of lace panties and sports bra holding her amble bust, both colored the black and green she favored.

"So you do know where he is." Hel said with a raised eyebrow, she had spies among the elite of Hell. More than she let her father know of. And the news that Dante had been quote-unquote lost to the jungles that bordered between the Devils and Aztec territories reached within hours of it happening. It made her chuckle and very excited to see what the true master of Death would do in this new development.

"Mmm." Ophis didn't give anymore answer than that. And Hel found it a bit irritating that the Dragon God was so cagy at times about her omnipotence.


Hell, OSF's Capital

"Lady Belphegor, are you feeling well?" One of her many attendants asked after she had sneezed. And she couldn't help but smile as she felt that this was a sign that a certain man was talking about her. A man that had freed her and won her heart.

"Yes, it is nothing that concerns you." She said as she continued down the hall until she reached the great hall where their king was holding court. She walked in without much fanfare. Even if she was on the same standing as the son of Lucifer, a second generation Devil, she despised the pomp and ceremony that these nobles reveled in. Rizevim was of a similar mindset but did it was more that he couldn't be bothered to care for it rather than actively despise it. "Exactly why was I called here again?" She turned to one of her attendants who shuddered in fear of displeasing her.

"The House of Paimon is demanding that King Lucifer march our troops past Wrath's Pass. Apparently, the Usurper killed their heir." The attendant replied and she sneered at the prospect of open warfare with the rest of Hell. As much as she wanted the war, she was bloodthirsty but not suicidal. Certain plans were not yet in line and others were already in motion. An attack now would ruin it all.

"Is that so." She mumbled before starting her walk toward the open space in the hall where the Lord of House Paimon was standing before their king.

"… great insult to our great cause! To strike down my son, a pure-blooded Devil that has more loyalty to the true king of Hell than-" The long-winded boosting and pleading of the man was ended as his head left his body. Everyone gasped and stared at the woman that had done this, and no one gave a single word of protest. Several of the other Satans in the room snarled at the decapitating of one of their vassals but Rizevim just lightly chuckled.

"Now that that fool is finished with can we return to important business my king." Esdeath Belphegor asked as she looked up toward Rizevim. The two had a small staring contest as the two Second Generation Devils felt each other out. Looking for any weakness in the other's stance.


Kuoh, Dante's Bedroom

Akeno sneezed as she started to sit up in the bed she normally shared with Dante and the rest of his lovers. She felt a warm sense of love as felt that somewhere in Hell, the father of her growing child was talking about her. It had been too long since she had him in her arms, though an extended period of time for Akeno was too long.

"Akeno… something wrong?" Rias mumbled as she stirred awake. The two of them had just finished a steamy moment to themselves. Nothing too perverse though, just normal sex to help each other deal with the lack of their shared husband. There was also the fact that both Rias and Akeno loved each other as sisters wives very deeply and that did come to include a sexual component that didn't always involve Dante.

"Nothing's wrong, I felt a little sick but it's gone now." Being pregnant was proving to be all as interesting as she had been told. The last few days had begun to bring morning sickness and an overall sense of slushiness that disappeared as fast as it came. "But he's talking about me, I just know it." Akeno said as she held a hand to her belly, thinking about the day when he would come home and she could tell him about the wonderful news. Rias meanwhile just gave an unsure and evasive look while keeping her thoughts to herself.

"I'm sure he is." Rias assured her best friend and lover even if she didn't believe Akeno. While her Queen looked on the surface calm and collected, Rias knew that she was constantly panicking. Akeno was doing everything she could to take her mind off the fact Dante was out there and they had no idea how long it would be until he came back. Rias knew that some of her emotional chaos could be attributed to her current status, Devils had a smaller period of pregnancy than human by three months and this meant that the effect of pregnancy tended to happen faster and harder on Devils. Rias was actually a little happy that it happened to someone else first so she could better see and prepare for when it would happen to her. "But do you still feel sick?"

"No I…" Akeno stopped for a moment before running off toward their bathroom. Rias sighed before looking over to the clock and felt a small bit of weariness already hit her as she saw that it was still early in the night. A night that would be long and with little sleep by the sounds of it.


Hell, Ruined Paimon Castle

Dante was led by a duo of giant spiders up to a bedchamber that was somewhat intact. Cleaned and without much damage of time or the presence of the current inhabitants. Dante eyed the spiders carefully, not really seeing them able to keep a room like this clean on their own. It actually made him think that Rachnera had been doing this in anticipation for a someone to fit in her plans. Once Dante entered the room, the spiders left him to himself. He doubted that he was actually alone but any spiders in the room were likely only there to warn Rachnera if he was trying to escape.

Because he was under no illusion that he was in a jail cell. Rachnera was keeping him here by threat of force and they both knew it. There was the fact that this room was deep inside the underground portion of the castle, no means for flying out. Only visible way out was in fact the door he had just come through, and he doubted that was a viable option.

Dante sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, it was soft and it did call to him for a good rest. Problem was… he didn't have a body to keep the night terrors out. He wondered if maybe after all he had been through that maybe they would have dissipated. He had seen his father die, he had Akeno back and more, and he was becoming stronger for the eventual fight with the Sala'dandor. He supposed that maybe he could finally get rid of the stupid trope of not being able to sleep without a lover in his bed. But he shoved aside those thoughts as he began to think more on Rachnera's proposal.

"Home… where is it?" Dante asked to no one before snapping his fingers and creating an Ice Clone in the shape of Lakwa. He still couldn't mimic people's personalities beyond his own but he could at least puppet them to act that way. It took his active hand in it so it wasn't an efficient system but it would help him organize his thoughts without feeling like he was going completely crazy.

"Boy ya what I'm goin' say. Any place dat you've got your girls is da place ya belong." The ice clone chuckled and Dante could just hear his surrogate father tell him he was over thinking all of this. That he should go and do as he wanted beyond what fears he might have. "Ya don't have anything holdin' you to da human world, nothin' real anyway. Set down your roots boy, stake your claim and have a damn good time doing." Dante frowned and shattered the clone and reformed someone he knew would take the more logical approach.

"The potential of this is too good to pass up. This land is of key strategic importance, funding can be brought in to fortify it and make you a respected member of the Devil military elite." He listened to his father's words, as much as he hated the man, his father was a person that didn't normally let feelings dictate business choices. Dante seemed to be a small blind spot but that was beside the point. "The human world is limiting for a Devil, it has many things of worth but it is not a place that can be allowed to chain you down. New York was my domain, I knew that and I invested into it because I knew it was mine. Kuoh is not yours, there is nowhere on earth that belongs solely to you." With that irritatingly good point Dante shattered his father, taking no small amount of joy in doing so. Deciding to hear someone similar but far more tolerable he formed another.

"All Devils of any real note hold territory in Hell. Doing this now, so early in your career is nothing but good." He listened to the copy of Ravel and knew she would be encouraging him to take this. That his stardom was something that needed to be cultivated and grown. Dropping off the face of… hell… only to return the demon proclaimed lord of a large swath of land would no doubt be very good for his image. "If it ends up helping you and everyone around you, I'm sure that we would be fine without you for a little longer." It was that reminder of what was honestly the biggest thing keeping him from taking Rachnera's deal. That this would extend his time here, by design. Delays due to events outside his control he was fine with, but to not put every second toward returning back home felt wrong to him.

"Next!" Dante shouted and the Ravel Clone gave a small pout before shattering. "I'm putting too much effort into this aren't I?"

"You're just trying to find solace in those you respect." An ice clone of Radegast said and Dante honestly felt that without the aura of home that the god exuded… he did kinda look like a ferret. In a strange not really kind of way. But the god was still someone that Dante respected and listen too. These clones were just a visualization of his own thoughts given voices by people he knew, he felt like he had already made his choice but he just needed to first convince himself it was the right thing to do. "You feel homesick, guilty that you aren't by their side even if it wasn't your fault. You can feel them, you know that they believe in you. And you know them, know that they won't hate you for taking a bit of time in how you return to them." Dante fell back into the bed and snapped his fingers shattering the last clone.

"Fuck… maybe it would be easier to go crazy." Dante chuckled to himself, briefly thinking about making a Akeno or Rias clone. But decided against that as it would do little else than make him miss them more. "I'm sure I'm not missing out too much… just classes and shit." Dante groaned but had a sinking feeling that wasn't the case.


Author's Notes

Okay, last time I was feeling kind of out of it so I didn't say anything but now I'm back. So here we see things continue to progress and Dante ahs some internal issues concerning his future. This has been something that he has tried to avoid thinking about for a long time, the fact that his life as a Devil is pulling him further and further away from a normal life on Earth. It's not something that is too crucial to him but this sudden confrontation with this is just bringing out these feelings. It's something I feel that Dante would have to deal with as opposed to Issei in canon. Issei in canon didn't have much of a reason for wanting to have anything like a normal life even for a time. But Dante had goals and hopes for a normal life before becoming a Devil. Now those are being pushed further and further away.

Also other stuff happens, Yua is getting into the corporate world, Sirzechs finds out Ajuka's secret, Hel and Ophis play Mario cart, I reveal Esdeath is the daughter of one of the original Satans and is in this story, and Akeno is dealing with pregnancy.

Hope you all enjoyed this

And because it's been a awhile I'm going to be posting the current harem list.

Dante - Akeno (Main and Linked), Rias (second girl and Linked), Koneko (Linked), Yubelluna, Ravel Li, Ni, Isabella, Karlamine, Serafall, Athena, Hel, Gabriel, Ophis, Kuroka, Xenovia, Rossweisse, Živa, Esdeath, Miia, Papi, Suu, Rachnera, Kii. Sevreal more in the works but ideas are always welcome

Issei - Asia (Main) Tsubasa, Momo, Irina. Possible more with only one more planned

Reviews

Rmarcano321 – they are not, yes and no, no as prefer to read epic length stories, maybe, just because two things are awesome doesn't mean they belong together.

BON5379 – no, Grayfia and Sirzechs are happy in this fic so there is no reason she would be.

Devilscreed – The fact I have Akeno as Main Girl wasn't a clue? Thank you. Yeah, things are a little more decentralized for this arc and this is something that will become more common as things happen more on a global scale.