Good Evening All!
For all you Xenovia fans, don't worry. She is given a fairly brief part in this chapter but we will likely see more of her in the future. I put a brief author's note at the end to address a few things in this chapter, so please take a skim at that before writing any uninformed reviews.
Other than that, just a reminder to please review. I realize I am rather specific about reviewing criteria, but who really wants to be heckled when you're doing something for free yah know? Maybe just write something you appreciated, or even something you would like to see. My knowledge of DXD has been greatly expanded just looking up some of the review references, so I always appreciate it when politely worded ideas are put forth (versus "do this now").
Hope everyone is having a great weekend, and that you enjoy this week's chapter. It is mostly talking as a warning to the sword and shield bangers out there (you know who you are, and I appreciate your enthusiasm).
But enough talking, you want to read the story!
FORWARD!
As always, please ignore any errors you come across and do enjoy yourself.
In the end, Xenovia was allowed to leave the Gremory/Sitri territory; though not without a stern warning. It was a rather humorous scene from Sasuke's perspective as a group of devils with pink shopping bags grouped together to decide the fate of a warrior maiden inside the Occult Headquarters.
Sasuke gave Rias a bare bones version of how he had met and battled Xenovia. Unsurprisingly, Rias was not pleased about it. Apparently there was a truce in place currently between the church and the devils that forbid either party from taking violent action in one another's territory. The fact that a representative of the church had broken the truce by one of their own attacking Sasuke on Gremory/Sitri territory would lead to concessions on their part, something that caused Xenovia to droop as Rias explained the situation to Sasuke.
What surprised Sasuke the most was the flat look Kiba had leveled towards Xenovia the entire time. Sasuke recognized that look, as would most Uchiha. After all, hatred was a hard emotion to hide, especially when you were making no effort to do so. The level of animosity in Kiba's gaze led Sasuke to believe it was something extremely personal that drove him, as opposed to the expected general dislike between devils and the church.
As Xenovia stiffly half bowed and took her leave, Sasuke clinically took note of her bountiful assets. The women of this world really seemed to defy the laws of physics, both in their unnatural symmetrical beauty and the way gravity seemed to be ignored on certain bodily areas. Granted, he strongly suspected the devils were capable of tinkering their looks to some degree, but then there were seemingly human women like Xenovia that also had an absurd level of beauty. Not that he was complaining per se, but if he ended up mentoring Issei long term he would have to come up with a better solution to curb his insatiable drive.
"Oho, see something you like Sasuke-san?" Akeno teased.
"Pervert." Koneko said flatly.
Smiling at them thinly, Sasuke changed the topic with the skill of a long-married man.
"Has there been any word on Beelzebub?"
Rias quirked her mouth briefly at the topic change before responding.
"It's funny you should ask, he actually just arrived this afternoon."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Don't give me that look, I was planning to tell you later tonight. Beelzebub-san agreed to tour the town a few days until our scheduled meeting on Monday, but I don't suppose that is necessary now that we are already here."
"I take it that he was able to come up with a solution since he is coming in person."
Rias briefly frowned.
"When I spoke to brother about it not long after the rating game, he said it had been a while since he saw him so worked up. When I spoke to Beelzebub-san earlier today he was dodgy on details, mentioning that all would be revealed at the meeting. Would you like me to move up the meeting to today?"
Sasuke nodded.
"By all means; the sooner we can set events into motion the better."
One phone call and a magic circle later, Beelzebub appeared in the Occult research room.
Sky blue eyes met Onyx as the two most powerful individuals in the room assessed one another.
Dismissing him with his gaze, Beelzebub walked over to greet the Gremory peerage.
"Lione-kun! Good to see you again; you put on quite the show at the rating game."
Lione looked slightly embarrassed as he exchanged small talk with Beelzebub. As a close family friend of the Gremory clan, Beelzebub had known his father for years and would often take the time to visit with a younger Lione during his frequent appearances. Understandably, Lione had a bad case of hero worship back then whenever he had spoken to an amused Beelzebub. Beelzebub was a legendary figure after the war, his intelligence and on the fly inventing abilities second to none. In terms of childhood heroes, Lione could have chosen far worse; he still felt fairly sheepish though about the whole thing, even years later.
As Beelzebub made the rounds with the Gremory clan, Sasuke subtly tapped a finger on his katana hilt impatiently. It was not unusual for such an important figure to exchange pleasantries before any sort of meeting, but Sasuke had always disdained the practice. He much preferred the practical meetings he designed with the Yakuza, where he zoned out and the whole thing was compressed to the least amount of time possible.
As the conversation grew to the point that Sasuke was about to express his frustration, he noticed a microsecond where Beelzebub was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Ah, this made more sense now.
While Beelzebub was not as entrenched into politics as many of his peers, he still played the game with the best of them according to Sona. This was no doubt some micro level power play to both see how far he could push boundaries and to test how accurate his information on Sasuke was to this point.
Well, it certainly wouldn't do to disappoint.
Clearing his throat loudly, Sasuke pointedly drew the attention of the room.
"Beelzebub; are you here for a meeting with me or to fraternize with the Gremory peerage all day?"
There was an awkward silence as both Rias and Lione looked to Sasuke in both silent fury and a "ARE YOU INSANE?!" look.
Sasuke not using honorifics was expected and had even rubbed off on the Gremory group to an extent, but not addressing someone of Beelzebub's standing correctly in a formal meeting was ghastly. To top it off, he was extremely rude to him. As first impressions went, most would take it as slightly better than directly insulting the man's mother.
A small smile graced Beelzebub's face.
"I see you decided to throw my little game out the window. This fits with what I have heard about you from multiple sources, so at least I have been able to verify the hypotheses I have regarding your personality. Very well, let's get straight down to business."
Opening up a portal, Beelzebub pulled a slender ornate briefcase out as he started walking towards the meeting table. Everyone was soon seated at the table, with Beelzebub directly facing both Sasuke and Rias.
Without speaking Beelzebub slid the briefcase over to a waiting Sasuke. Everyone held their breath as Sasuke opened the lid.
Inside was an immaculate chess set. The figurines were all made out of ruby, perfectly cut and polished to incredible levels of accuracy. They were a perfect marriage between artistic expression and obvious wealth.
Sasuke gave Beelzebub a scornful look as he slid the briefcase back across the table.
"I have already made it clear that I have no interest in becoming a devil. While I appreciate the fact that it is no small thing to be given control of a peerage in your society, I will not give up my humanity."
The entire room seemed to tense up at the slight. Being granted a peerage was a high honor in Devil society; most Noble children got one by right of birth, but being granted your chess set was still an event held with great pomp and reverence.
The two most powerful men in the room eyed each other speculatively as the rest of the room began sweating from the tension.
Beelzebub broke the tense silence with a genuine chuckle.
"I think we'll get along just fine young man; I personally deplore the gutless politics that I am forced into perpetrating day in and day out. I would caution you though to use more tact in the future with other members of my society, as such slights might lead to repercussions."
Sasuke remained in stony silence as collective jaw drops occurred around the room.
A blur shot across the room as Beelzebub casually hurled an object towards Sasuke, who caught it just as effortlessly.
Sasuke wordlessly raised an eyebrow in question at the pendant dangling from his grip. It was a beautifully carved pendant of a man with a serpent wrapped around his body.
"When you spend a millennium as a famous inventor, one of the hardest things is running out of ideas for new things to build. When I heard of your request to manufacture a devil Lord's aura, I was immediately fascinated with the idea. It has absolutely no practical application for everyday folk and would be quite dangerous in the wrong hands, but what is life without some risk involved?"
Multiple members of the Gremory peerage looked shocked at his blunt speech even as he continued.
"It took me weeks even using my time compression chamber to create what you were looking for, but you hold the finished product in your hand. A device that converts your human power directly into that of a Devil Lord."
Rias sputtered.
"All we asked for was a device that would fool people into believing he was a Devil Lord, not one that effectively turns him into a Devil Lord for all intents and purposes!"
Beelzebub shook his head.
"What you asked for initially was truly impossible and showed your lack of understanding on the matter. The energy signature of a Devil Lord is as unique as a human fingerprint; even if you could fashion an illusion powerful enough to replicate the signature, it's fake nature would be glaringly obvious to other Devil Lords."
Sasuke gave Beelzebub a hard look.
"Do you swear on your power that this is not some move to deceive me, and that I will remain human even after donning the pendant?"
A controlled thread of killing intent leaked out of Beelzebub as he stared down Sasuke.
"There is a fine line between simply being rude and driving one to hostility; take care that you don't cross that line boy. I will swear to no such thing on my power, though I will tell you honestly that I harbor no ill will towards you even after your repeated rudeness. My pride as an inventor demands that I give good products, and to stoop to such trickery would be beneath me. There is also the small matter of your saving the life of a young woman I consider to be the little sister I never had that compels my honesty."
Rias looked truly touched.
"Bee, I never realized-"
Beelzebub cut her off hastily, embarrassed for his true feelings to shine through his aloof exterior.
"The pendant is representative of the Pillar you will be pretending to descend from: Andromalius. Here is an excerpt from the Book of Pillars that describes the original Lord."
Clearing his throat, Beelzebub began reciting from memory.
"Andromalius is the Seventy-second Pillar, a Mighty Earl. He appears in the form of a man holding a large, hissing serpent in his hand. Andromalius may reveal those who have stolen from you, and those who seek to be as a predator against you. This Devil may reveal trickery and those who are wicked against you. He is able to punish and harm those who have harmed you or seek to. Andromalius governs 36 Legions of Devils."
Rias seemed deep in thought as Beelzebub finished his description.
"Andromalius is not well known; definitely nowhere near close to the top fifteen elite noble pillar houses. Are you sure that it will be sufficient to pacify the naysayers?"
"Ah, but that's the beauty of it. It's true; Andromalius House is not well known. Thus, we have a far less likely chance of some unexpected old noble showing up that knew some of the original family. The line died out completely long ago and the pillar is not prestigious enough to ever have anyone try to claim it.
I think you are underestimating just how excited the common devils will be to discover a link to one of the old pillars, even if it is not a particularly prestigious pillar. The idea of a new scion marrying one of the established elites would not be completely far-fetched, provided that we move quickly to make the announcement while the boy's ten minutes of fame are still ongoing."
Beelzebub turned back to Sasuke.
"The chess set is an added bonus I threw in as a personal thanks for entertaining me so much during the rating game. I thought the old farts in the boxes were going to explode when a human started beating on a well-established team; I haven't laughed so hard in a century. Even so, the set is one of a kind and I hope you appreciate it's value."
Everyone in the room looked puzzled.
"Bee-san, we realize that a chess set is a great gift in our society, but with Sasuke-san not wanting to become a devil it would be rather useless to him." Rias gently told him.
Beelzebub surveyed the room with a hawk like gaze.
"What I say in the next few minutes leaves no one's mouths on pain of death, understood?"
There were nods all around from shocked faces as the gravity of the threat settled in.
"After the war, I was tasked with creating a system that would assist our failing population. Devils do not breed as reliably as humans, and our numbers were decimated from our many conflicts. While most know of the evil piece system, what few consider are the many experiments and iterations that came before it. The set you hold is one of those early "failures" and I was told in no uncertain terms to destroy it and never attempt to create a similar set."
Rias frowned.
"It sounds like they were afraid of something, to slam the door closed on this prototype so fiercely. What is this chess set capable of?"
Beelzebub paused.
"When humans were first created, they were actually quite powerful and long lived. After their initial dispute with God, he stripped their power and longevity until they are now the weak specimens we see today. This chess set has the ability to change that genetic altering and restore a human to their original state."
A shocked silence emanated from all the devils present in the room, while Sasuke found himself very intrigued.
"Just how much more powerful are we talking about? On par with a devil?"
"It depends on the piece obviously, but if my calculations are correct it puts even the pawns roughly on par with angels in term of strength and speed, though obviously they would not have wings."
Beelzebub leveled a stern gaze in Sasuke's direction.
"As you may have guessed, this set does not come without a few strings. The most important one being that you must inform me immediately when a new peerage member is added so that I can create a pendant for them. This will ensure that they do not appear to be empowered humans but rather just powerful members of an up and coming Devil Lord's peerage.
With our political climate being what it is, the idea of humans becoming a serious threat to the existing three factions would cause panic and war almost immediately. If you are careless and are caught using this set, I will say it was stolen from my private labs and be slapped on the wrist for not destroying the items when told to. You on the other hand will likely be tortured to death for every ounce of information regarding the set. It's up to you as to whether you take the risk or not and use the set."
Sasuke shrugged.
"We will see when the time comes."
Beelzebub nodded seriously.
"In that case, why don't you slip on the pendant? It will change your appearance to that of the original Lord by bonding to you through his DNA; it took months inside my time space to make sure it would not overwrite your human DNA and will instead only make cosmetic changes. Once the pendant is bonded to you, the effects will reverse once it is removed and your appearance will go back to normal."
Everyone made room as Sasuke stood up and slipped the pendant on.
Nothing happened.
Beelzebub frowned.
"That's strange, it should have alread-"
Suddenly, everyone in the room seemed to freeze.
Sasuke looked at Beelzebub in puzzlement; it appeared the Devil was completely frozen mid-sentence.
Suddenly, a young man appeared before Sasuke from out of nowhere. He had golden armor that seemed to glow, even as a snake made of pure darkness coiled around his neck and hissed in his ear playfully. His vivid red eyes stood out in stark contrast to his spiked up honey blonde hair.
The two figures moved at the same time as they crossed swords in a shower of sparks.
The golden-haired figure smirked.
"Pleased to meet yah, my name is Andromalius. Let's get to know each other better!"
Author's Note: Andromalius is a real mythical figure, and the excerpt from the Pillar book is accurate for the 72nd Devil Lord of the Pillars. His appearance is taken from Gilgamesh in Fate: Zero, so that should give you a good idea of what he looks like. Finally, I realize that Bee is actually a prominent character in Naruto and no reference was intended; it just seemed like a believable childhood nickname Rias would come up with for her brother's best friend that doted on her.