Chapter 3
Serpent of Death
Ajuka didn't react when the doors to his personal lab were kicked off their hinges and sent flying. Thankfully, nothing of value was actually damaged, but the doors hit the ground with a loud thump.
The Super Devil calmly took his eyes off the screen that displayed multiple DNA samples and towards the impolite newcomer. Said newcomer slammed their hands onto the desk as they leaned forward to glare at the Beelzebub.
The one responsible for this was a beautiful tall woman with jet black hair that reached her back, the strands curving slightly upwards, and vertically slit obsidian eyes. Her outfit consisted of a tight dark gray full-bodysuit with metallic light silver shoulder pads and high heels.
"Knocking is a thing you savage woman." Ajuka said dryly with the same calmness as he always did.
"Vritra." the woman said.
"He's dead, yeah." Ajuka responded dryly, again.
"Don't play coy with me Ajuka, Vritra didn't have any descendants but I can feel his energy and smell him. Explain." the woman spat.
"A kid gathered all of 4 of his Sacred Gears." the Devil did just that, the woman's eyes widening at the mere thought.
"Who and where?" she demanded.
"The new Furfur. Which I specifically mentioned that you might end up working in the future with." Ajuka answered as he looked back towards the screen, eyes narrowing as he continued to observe the different DNAs.
"You didn't tell me he was the Host of Vritra!"
"You never asked."
The woman growled, but before she could say anything, Ajuka swiped his hand and the images on his screen moved over to a large blackboard in the room. The woman looked at the blackboard and noticed the words above each DNA sample.
Reincarnated Devil. Pure-Blooded Devil. Dragon. Demonic Dragon. Tannin. Jack.
They all had their distinct differences, as any kind of DNA would have. But the one under "Jack" was way too different compared to the others.
Thank Ajuka for color coding to help anyone who wasn't a nerd understand.
"The thing that defines a Devil is their Devil Gene. It's the thing granting them their demonic energy and their Hereditary Abilities. The Evil Pieces's entire progress is creating an artificial Devil Gene in someone without damaging their body or sense of self, followed by it becoming a real Devil Gene as time goes on." Ajuka stated like a dictionary as he got up from his seat and moved, standing side by side with the woman as he stared at the board.
"Yeah-yeah, you've told me this before. What about it?" the woman asked, not getting it.
"Dragons are nothing like this. They simply just exist. Beings of Power. Energy materialized and solidified in physical form." Ajuka continued his scientist talk, eyes narrowing on the board.
"What does this have to do with anything?" the woman demanded, almost done with this talk.
"Everything." Ajuka responded, unintimidated. He swiped his hand and the first three DNAs were removed from the showcase. "A Demonic Dragon, Reincarnated ones specifically, are unique in the fact that their Devil Gene is crystalized and absorbed into their system almost instantly. They live to their name of living disasters."
"But…?"
"But this doesn't make sense." Ajuka grumbled as the Demonic Dragon DNA was removed, leaving only Tannin's and Jack's.
"What doesn't?" the woman asked, clearly not getting the Super Devil's concern.
"At first I thought I was just comparing the wrong things due to the fact that Jack is not regular by any stretch of the imagination. Son of the Lightning Demon, Host to a Dragon King and Devil Dragon Hybrid. So I asked Tannin for a sample of blood for assistance … But I only got farther away from the answer, until I got one which I hated." Ajuka stated before he removed Tannin's DNA as well.
The woman was silent but motioned for Ajuka to continue. She was genuinely curious about the boy, but clearly not up for deciphering the scientist's words.
"His body is adapting at a fast rate with a single goal. Combat." Ajuka dropped the bomb. The woman's eyes widened at that.
Evil Dragons were infamous for a single reason. Their unhinged brutality, which combined with a Dragon's already unrelenting and monstrous strength, there is no wonder that many ran at the mere sight of one. Usually those were the only survivors, if any at all.
The process in which a Dragon becomes an Evil Dragon was dependent, but it could be boiled down to a single phrase.
The Dragon throws away everything else and rewires their entire body for the sake of power.
No Dragon wished to become an Evil Dragon. Well, no sane one would, but the boost was undeniable.
Grendel. Nidhogg. Yamata no Orochi. Those were just some of the Evil Dragons that had plunged the World into chaos.
Beowulf fought for a week straight against Grendel and barely managed to tie with him only because the continent they were fighting on couldn't handle it anymore.
Nidhogg drove the Norse Pantheon to the edge until Thor stepped in and stalled him long enough for Odin and his Valkyries to seal him away.
Orochi and Susanoo would have ripped the world in half multiple times over during their fight had it not been for Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi preventing the collateral damage from spreading too far.
And that's not even mentioning the Big Names.
"He's not an Evil Dragon, but he's not that far away either…" Ajuka trailed off as he looked at the woman.
"Vritra." she mumbled out.
"It's my best guess as well. Whether he's actually following the Prison Dragon's footsteps or Vritra is keeping his sanity in check so he doesn't snap, I don't know. What I do know is that this has been going on for a while." the Super Devil stated as he closed the blackboard.
"How long?" the duration was the key point here.
"Ten years ago was the starting process. It became prominent four years later, before shooting into overdrive in four more." Ajuka spoke grimly. "He's just 18."
Shit.
"Then what's the plan? You didn't call me back for a rundown of how you've housed a ticking time bomb." the woman spoke. She had spent enough time with Ajuka to know as much.
"You're the best person to handle him. You dealt with Dragons, Evil Dragons and Vritra." Ajuka stated again as he moved back to his desk, taking a seat.
"What? Tiamat didn't answer your calls?" she scoffed.
"She is not obligated to listen to my orders, unlike you."
"Touche."
"I want you to gauge the severity of his condition." the green haired Devil continued, electing a savage grin to form on the woman's face.
"What? Not afraid I'll break your new toy?" she sassed.
"If you think you can, go ahead." Ajuka answered, the woman chuckling.
"His funeral."
Latia grumbled as she forced herself to lift her fork to eat her breakfast. She barely got any sleep and it was clearly showing. A lesson was learned the harsh way, don't challenge Dragons at their games.
She did get the big ego boost of finally seeing Jack's shocked face though.
For like a minute.
Her wings were aching. Even if someone had wings and hid them from sight, they still existed and it was like continuously folding your hands or leaving them motionless, which could lead to their own problems if not used to it. Latia however jumped on the other extreme, she never had to use them that much and she was an utter fool to think that it would only last a little bit. Eight hours. Eight whole hours.
She wasn't sure if this was the usual duration that Jack was used to or if he extended it to mess with her. Once she got tired and was ready to quit, of course he did not agree and literally carried her until she could fly again.
The memory made the blonde's cheeks light up slightly. She looked at the only other occupant at the table and wanted to grumble. Jack, still as casual as ever, continued eating his breakfast, as if the events of the previous night didn't happen at all.
'(Not how I imagined you'll keep a lady awake till morning to be honest)' Vritra chuckled with a suggestive tone.
'She got cocky and I like breaking cocky people.' Jack returned the joke as he sipped his coffee.
Vritra continued laughing but didn't comment on it, before he severed the mental link once more. Jack frowned at that. Vritra has been doing this a lot recently and he couldn't figure out why.
"Arguing with Vritra?" Latia mumbled out, dragging the Dragon out of his thoughts.
"Kinda, but not really. I just think he's acting weird." Jack explained, before shooting the blonde a questioning look.
"You're making that face again." Latia explained the unasked question.
"So you just like staring at my face." he chuckled, causing the girl's eyebrow to twitch.
"You're literally in front of me!" she defended, before grumbling as she rubbed her eyes.
"Want some?" Jack offered his cup of coffee.
Latia nodded as she took the cup and drank the remaining liquid with little to no hesitation.
As she put the cup down, the Astaroth was thankful. After what just happened yesterday, she expected that she and her Fake Queen were going to distance themselves, but that wasn't the case.
Latia didn't ask why, because it was clear Jack was ranting more for the sake of ranting and not actually wanting to explain himself. Jack didn't question Latia's choices because he understood the desire to make a difference and do something. So each just took what happened and kept it in the back of their minds.
Not much in terms of progress. But for now, it was better than nothing.
"Do you think if you use your Temporal Control while someone is savouring their food, the satisfaction lasts longer?"
"I think I liked it more when you were spacing out."
Jack and Latia continued their breakfast, before setting out for their morning training in the same open field as always. This time they moved away from the practical work onto more theoretical one. Something which Latia enjoyed a lot more because it meant more brainwork instead of muscle work.
"Dammit." Jack grumbled as he failed to properly solidify his demonic energy into a sword, the half-tangible creation breaking off and fading away. Latia giggled as she proceeded to create a broadsword without breaking a sweat.
Also because she had the clear edge.
"I don't get how you're not able to do something this simple. Didn't you make swords with your shadows?" the blonde questioned. She was genuinely curious how one who managed to handle 4 Sacred Gears could fail like this.
"My demonic powers are always weird when used on their own. Unless it's about destruction, in which case-" Jack cut off and grabbed the broadsword out of Latia's hands, before covering it in demonic energy and slashing wide with it. What followed was a crescent wave of demonic energy that cleaved away a chunk of the environment with little to no resistance.
"-I can do it just fine." the Dragon finished as the broadsword in his hand crumbled due to the sheer output of demonic energy that coursed through it.
"Interesting… While most Devils are proficient with destruction than creation, it's not to the extent it's this bad. Could it be your heritage?" she theorized as she fixed the environment again.
"Come again?" he asked as the Astaroth rolled her eyes.
"Affinity. For example, I'm an Astaroth and creation is kind of our main thing due to our Clan Trait. Yours is an Offensive-Type Clan Trait, so you perhaps simply don't have the capacity for it. You never wondered about this until now?" Latia asked. The more she dug, the more confused she became.
"Not really. I had Shadow Prison to help compensate for that fact and again, blowing shit up was not a problem. So I never saw a reason to get too stressed over it." Jack explained with a shrug.
"Isn't that inconvenient?" the blonde pressed on. It seemed like a really big flaw.
"No. Because of this." Jack said before draconic energy formed in his hand and shaped into a sword, solidifying it immediately after.
"What- But how!? You couldn't do this a moment ago!" she refused to believe what she just saw.
"I still can't. With demonic energy. My draconic one is a different story." the Dragon explained before dematerializing the weapon.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Beats me frankly."
"...how do you function?"
Jack had this unique talent to baffle her in ways she didn't think were actually possible, but here she was, trying to understand how the person in front of her couldn't use power based on imagination to successfully create something simple like a damn sword.
"Well draconic is so much easier compared to any other magic system. We don't imagine, desire, believe, calculate or anything like that. We just will it into existence, simple as that." Jack shrugged as he explained his point of view, Latia's eyebrow twitching at the explanation.
Before an argument could happen, Jack froze for a moment as he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"Get ready." the Dragon warned as he looked around. Latia was confused by his words, but didn't argue as she did the same.
It was an open field in the middle of a forest deep in Astaroth Territory. No sane man or woman would come here with bad intentions.
Then again, not like a sane person would try anything like this to begin with.
Jack's eyes narrowed as he felt air deforming nearby. Springing into action he spun around and kicked away a black spear that was diving straight for him, Latia followed quickly and set up a quick magic barrier around them.
The barrier instantly broke, but it did its job as both Jack moved away and dragged Latia with him, successfully avoiding being torched as black yellow flames shot up like a pillar from the spot they previously stood on.
"Decent reaction speed and danger sense." a woman's voice rang in their ears. The flames started clearing themselves, revealing the black haired woman who talked with Ajuka. In her left hand, a black spear was present, with the same black yellow flames dancing around the tip.
"Any idea who?" Jack asked as he readied himself. He didn't find her familiar in the slightest.
"No." Latia's short reply gave him all the answers he needed. Either an assassin or someone with a deep grudge against the Astaroth Clan. What luck.
"It's not nice talking about someone when they're right in front of you." the woman snarked as she started walking forward, the spear radiating an ominous pressure, a grin forming on her face.
The woman's spear got engulfed in flames before she hurled it forward, a streak of fire following close behind. Jack moved sideways to avoid the projectile and closed in. Despite being unarmed, the woman didn't back down at all and rushed in as well. Her fist got engulfed in the same black yellow flames as she struck towards the Dragon. Jack summoned his own black purple flames and clashed head on.
Jack was surprised when the two attacks connected. It was then he also realized the nature of those black yellow flames. Cursed fire, just like his own.
The woman's grin increased in size as she watched the boy before her equal her in that brief clash.
"Don't keep me waiting boy, show me the real power of a Dragon King."
And that was a red flag. She knew about Vritra. This meant it wasn't Latia that was targeted.
"Who the hell are you?" Jack demanded as they separated from each other.
"Beat me and you'll find out. Or ask the fat-ass living inside of you. Either-or." the casual response of the black haired female was the final nail in the coffin.
'(Kid, I felt something nearby, watch out-)' Vritra spoke up in a hurried tone, but didn't get to finish.
'Vritra! Who is this, your ex!?' Jack yelled out in his mind as he focused on the woman, who was eyeing him from top to bottom, neither satisfied nor disappointed.
'(Oh. Oh! Ooooooooooooh… Oh shit. You're fucked.)' the Prison Dragon said in an unhelpful way.
'WHO!?' Jack roared.
'(She's Falak, one of my previous-)'
Jack widened his eyes as he suddenly felt something coming from behind. He twisted his body, avoiding getting skewered by the black spear that returned to the woman's hand. Just as quick he summoned a shadow sword to parry the thrust that came immediately after.
"Stay focused." Falak instructed before continuing to attack with her spear covered in cursed fire.
Not to be outdone, Jack's shadow sword lit up in flames as he clashed against the spear. Fire danced around the two, and unsurprisingly, Jack found his shadow sword severely inferior against the black spear and the need to constantly replace it. But he bought enough time.
Falak's movements became sluggish for a brief moment. She caught a glimpse of Latia's blue eyes and magic circles with the edge of her sight.
Jack accelerated and moved past another trust towards Falak's side, where his flames roared to life as he slashed towards the woman's side. On cue, multiple demonic projectiles came from the other side courtesy of the ignored Devil.
Falak however just chuckled. She broke free of the Temporal Control and swung her spear horizontally towards Jack while bringing her right hand up towards Latia's attack.
Jack was overpowered and sent skidding back while the demonic projectiles were destroyed without problem by a blast of fire, completely rendering the pincer attack useless.
'Shit.' despite only testing the waters, Jack understood how bad the situation was.
'(You can't match her unless you start going serious) Vritra informed, further solidifying that fact. '(She clearly has some different agenda because she's not actively trying to kill you, but Falak isn't one to play around too much)'
'So entertain her or die.' Jack ducked under a wide slash aimed to decapitate him, but forced to block a low kick that sent him further back.
Falak twirled her spear and slashed backwards, cutting in half Latia's attacks aimed for her blindside.
"You're never going to hit me if you just attack straightforwardly." the woman chided with a laugh.
"I never aimed to hit you." Latia said simply as she activated her Temporal Control again.
Falak's movements once again turned sluggish for a moment as Jack used the distraction to jump out of her shadow, where he slammed his flaming fist straight into her face.
The loud boom was followed by a chuckle as Jack felt his wrist being gripped.
"That's more like it." Falak praised as she spit blood to the side, before letting go of her spear and pulling the Dragon close, nailing him straight in the chest with her own flaming punch.
Latia tried to interfere as she overlapped two magic circles, but Falak interrupted the Devil by kicking the falling spear towards her before it hit the ground, forcing her to block instead.
Jack broke out of her grip and tilted his head to the side to avoid another hit, the black yellow flames grazing him. Shadows started swirling around him as he caught another incoming fist.
Falak was surprised when Jack actually pulled her closer. Bad move. She just covered her left fist in flames and got ready to punish.
Only to widen her eyes when she realized she couldn't.
A blue thin tentacle came out from Jack's side and wrapped around her left arm while tendrils of darkness from the ground locked her feet in place.
Jack used the surprise to grab his opponent by the shoulder and jump up, slamming his flaming knee into Falak's face before clasping his hands together and bringing them down in a hammer motion.
The sledgehammer-like attack was blocked by a black scaled tail that came out from Falak's lower back side.
"Cheeky." she approved before she burnt the restraints away and shoved the Dragon to the side with her tail. At the same time, she caught her returning spear and unleashed a stream of fire towards Latia, destroying all the magic circles she set up in the meantime.
Latia brought her wings out and managed to fly out of range to avoid being torched. Falak was ready to hurl her spear after the flying target, but changed plans and held it horizontally above her head to block Jack who came crashing down with a flaming greatsword before pushing him away.
Falak's fire ramped up as she spun around to slash against the incoming greatsword slice, which shot out two more blades on impact, one heading towards her top side and the other for her lower side. On cue, her movements turned sluggish again.
No problem.
With brutish skill, Falak forcefully stepped onto the blade aiming for her bottom and grabbed the one heading for her top with her free hand, before forcefully dragging Jack closer and heabutting him. Not willing to give the Dragon time, she grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into the air towards the wind wave launched by Latia.
"Send more!" Jack shouted as he spun midair and guided the wave of wind around him. Latia didn't question it and fired three more.
Falak charged her spear up as Jack ignited his flames, which only got amplified by the wind around. Jack clustered all the fire into a ball which he launched towards the black haired woman, who grinned and hurled her spear to contest.
An explosion happened in the air, before the spear returned to Falak's hand while Jack and Latia landed on the ground away from her.
"If that was all, maybe I should just end you both." Falak said in fake disappointment as she played with her spear.
"Cursed fire, similar to yours but there's a distinct difference which I can't pinpoint yet. That spear is enchanted to return to her. She is hiding a lot." Latia informed him. Even though he found those things out by himself, it meant she was aware too at least.
"She's aiming for me. Get away." Jack ordered as he created another shadow sword covered in flames.
"No, you can't handle her on your own." Latia argued. While she couldn't fight head on, she wasn't useless.
"Let's get her then." Jack gave up on arguing as he dashed in, Falak returning the gesture.
Clangs were heard as darkness fought against the black spear. Jack started accelerating as two blue tendrils sprouted out from his shoulders that each held a flaming blade of their own.
Despite the disadvantage at first look, Falak simply maneuvered her spear in precise and fluid motions that parried or knocked Jack's blades into each other.
Falak stepped backwards, avoiding another twin slash. Once she did however, a magic circle lit up under her feet and a barrier was deployed around her. Inside the barrier, time was severely slowed down, clearly Latia's doing. A wave of black purple flames instantly crashed downwards on top of her.
An attempt for sure, but a futile one.
Falak's flames raged while her spear became three black flashes due to just how fast it was thrusted.
The first broke Latia's time field.
The second broke Jack's fire wave.
The third hit Jack's weapon and broke it, launching the latter away due to the force of the attack.
Jack's feet dug through the ground as he forcefully stopped his momentum, only to tilt his head to the side to avoid the black spear dived for the kill.
Falak grabbed Jack by his shirt again and was ready to pull him closer, only to stop as she brought her tail out again to catch an incoming demonic spear aiming for her back, crushing it instantly.
That moment was all Jack needed as he grabbed the spear, his own cursed fire mixing with the one present on the spear. The two fires rejected each other and violently exploded.
Jack and Falak were knocked away from each other, with the former launching five curving fireballs. Falak cut them all in half, only to realize the remains continued on.
Latia used this moment to create a controlled hurricane on Falak's position, which swept up all the fireballs and became a fire tornado. The tornado was cleaved apart by Falak brandishing her spear, but she was forced to block a wave of flames that fell on top of her right on time. The female Dragon spun her spear like a fan directly above her head, creating a whirlwind that gathered the fire which she guided back towards Jack and Latia, who dodged the stream before it exploded.
It may have looked like Jack and Latia were familiar with working together, but that was far from the truth.
Latia's Akashic Analysis simply helped her understand the current situation, paired with her opportunistic mindset she was great at creating or using openings. Jack on the other hand had enough combat experience to know how to abuse blind spots and openings, along with getting out of trouble.
The two-on-one fight continued. Jack traded hits with Falak while Latia tried to support. The black spear drew blood or chipped off Jack's weapons every time it was swung. The cursed flames clashed continuously and burnt away the green environment. Latia's Temporal Control provided short gaps for Jack to go in while he kept the attention on himself with the use of his Gears.
Overall, it was a stalemate.
Until someone got bored.
The intensity of Falak's flames shot up, passively burning away any attack that Latia sent her way. The black haired woman covered her spear in flames again as she went for a stab straight for Jack's heart.
Jack felt like he was boxed in despite the rather straightforward attack. Rather, space was locked around him, preventing any lateral movement.
Moving sideways was impossible. Backwards was simply idiotic.
So he rushed forward with his flames as his eyes flashed red.
Purple met yellow, but just as Falak was ready to call this off as a disappointment, crimson broke through and her spear was knocked out of her grip. Jack reeled his fist back, Crimson Lightning and Vritra's Dark Flames dancing around his arm, followed by performing an uppercut towards the wide eyed Falak.
A loud boom resounded and a shockwave forcefully snuffed out the woman's flames as she was sent flying into the air, before crashing loudly on the ground.
Jack silently stared at the motionless woman before swapping to his hand. His knuckles were bleeding and he felt his entire arm starting to go numb.
'Still can't use my lightning and fire at the same time, but better than before.' he thought as he clenched and unclenched his fingers.
'(Good, because this isn't over yet.)' Vritra warned.
On cue, Falak casually got up, and Jack could swear he saw a quick flash of yellow in her obsidian eyes, before she brought a hand up to cup her dislocated jaw and forced it back in place, a sickening crack being heard.
"I almost thought you forgot that you're part Devil." she smiled, and with the blood around her mouth, it looked anything but nice. "Then again, you fight more like a Dragon than one of those stuck up bats."
'What actually is your relationship with her?' Jack questioned the Dragon King as he readied himself. He noticed how Latia's assistance was starting to decrease, meaning she hit her limit and had to push herself if she wanted to continue dealing with the black haired woman.
'(She kinda fought me continuously when I was still alive because she thought I didn't deserve the title of Dragon King. Got her ass kicked every time though.)' Vritra informed with a chuckle.
'And now she's here to take her wrath on me!' Jack grumbled. Damn sins of the ancestor trope.
'(Calm down. She doesn't play with her food if she's mad)' the Prison Dragon argued.
Then again, fighting to the level that would make High-Class opponents start to go pale could be considered too much for some. Clearly not her however.
"Has Vritra told you anything?" Falak asked in as sweet of a voice as possible as she started approaching, wiping the blood on her face off.
"Just the basics." Jack confirmed, summoning another shadow sword as he did so.
"You have the potential, but you're missing something." she went for a thrust, Jack parried it. "You have it, but you're not aware."
"I thought Dragons hate beating around the bush with this cryptic bullshit." he slashed out twice, both getting deflected by the spear.
"I was ordered to." a horizontal slash.
"Who and why?" he held the spear in place with one sword and created another in his free hand for a slash.
"Your employer because he likes tests and theories." she twirled her spear around and deflected the slash before going for a roundhouse kick.
Jack crossed his arms over and blocked the roundhouse but couldn't counter back due to shock.
"Ajuka!?"
"Yeah, that's his name." Falak responded dryly as she went for another thrust towards Jack's head.
Jack grumbled and let go of his swords, tilting his head slightly while stepping in and throwing a flaming punch towards Falak's face. Falak simply caught Jack's wrist and pulled him closer, kneeing him in the gut. At the same time, Jack elbowed Falak in the chest.
The spear got knocked away as the fight became nothing more than a slugfest, the two Dragons did what their kind did best.
Beat the shit out of each other.
The contest of blows came to an end as Jack ducked under a roundhouse and attempted to sweep Falak' other foot, only to end up hit the back of the head by a heel kick. The woman attempted to stomp down on him, but widened her eyes as she saw Jack's grin.
Her foot collided with the ground as Jack melted into their combined shadows and jumped out from behind her, a shadow sword in his hand.
Falak instantly recalled her spear, only to realize it didn't respond properly. On the side, Latia was restraining the spear with magic circles, waiting for exactly this moment. Black purple flames with tinges of green covered the spear before it broke free of her restraints and returned to Falak's side.
Jack slashed without mercy as Crimson Lightning and cursed flames surged through his weapon. Falak caught her spear and ignored the flames on it as they were instantly replaced by her own before performing a violent twist and clashing against Jack.
Another explosion rang as both sides were pushed back, Jack damaged both by the recoil of his own attack and the direct damage of the exchange.
"Hahahaha! Just like that! Keep doing just that!" the female Dragon laughed out loud as a black aura started gushing out of her. Jack and Latia felt a shiver crawl down their spine. That black aura was not normal at all.
'(Oi! Balance Breaker, now! You can't handle her Death Aura otherwise!)' Vritra instructed in a serious tone.
"Get back." Jack ordered his companion as he lowered his stance.
"What's this? Fighting me all alone while sending your little girlfriend away? Is that your plan?" the black haired woman mocked.
"No, I'm gonna blow your mind."
"Oh?"
"The Blood of the Evil King in me…" Jack chanted and his aura started rolling in waves, earning a full blown grin from their opponent.
"So you do have something left! Good, very good. It would be a shame if you fell so soon." Falak approved as she didn't do anything and just waited.
Sadly, a green magic circle appeared by Falak's ear, causing her joy to die down.
"You couldn't have waited five more minutes?" she grumbled as her aura receded and all fighting pretenses vanished. The Astaroth recognised the symbol in the magic circle as the one belonging to her Clan.
Latia watched as this happened and awkwardly stared at the only male present, who stopped his chanting midway and started taking deep breaths.
Forcefully stopping a chant for a Spell or Ability was deadly, especially for a Devil. If their mind wandered off-topic while they were flaring their demonic energy, the side effects were variable, but none pleasing.
She should know, she made this mistake multiple times in the past, letting her analytic thoughts wander off and distract her.
Despite this, Jack only seemed exhausted because of the energy that he started tapping into but didn't use. It was like opening a floodgate but instantly closing it once again while the water that passed through just stood there with nowhere else to go.
"My boss will deal with the damage, for now, back to the lab we go." Falak said to the two as she created a magic circle.
Teleporting through the use of magic circles wasn't as easy as snapping your fingers and poof, you're there.
Technically it was, but not practically.
First, the problem was where you were teleporting. Coordinates and Spatial Interferences were an important part.
Then came the actual teleporting, the sheer amount of energy spent to teleport a person for very long distances was taxing, let alone a group. Unless it was a two-way passage, it wasn't very efficient to constantly do it.
Yet here was Falak, shooting straight across the Underworld in one fell swoop. From the Astaroth Territory to Lilith and into Ajuka's lab.
Once Ajuka saw the three of them, he nodded satisfied.
"You know, out of all things, I didn't expect you'd throw a damn psycho at us first thing." Jack said bluntly, electing a chuckle from said implied psycho.
"It was just a test. Besides, you're both fine and I think some actual team combat worked wonders for you two." Ajuka defended with a wave of his hand.
"She probably would have killed us if we didn't match her." Latia argued. She understood the intent, but clearly there had to be a better way to execute it.
"You won't know who you're fighting and when. You won't even be aware that you will be fighting to begin with and your enemies won't be showing mercy. That's the nature of the task you both got yourself into." the Beelzebub didn't honey his words either. If Latia didn't enjoy the idea of dealing with terrorists, now was the time to voice it.
"Could have at least let me keep at it a bit more. This brat was about to do something." Falak complained herself, leaning against a wall as she crossed her arms.
"I got all the data I required. You're now back to your usual schedule." Ajuka explained, causing the black haired woman to click her tongue.
"I don't really like being in the dark, so will anyone tell me who she is already?" Latia asked suddenly, making everyone realise a slight hole in the situation.
Ajuka knew Falak because she was his subordinate. Vritra knew her because he recognized her scent and aura from back in the day. Jack knew her because of Vritra's help.
So Latia was the only one unaware.
"You didn't tell her?" Ajuka asked Jack, practically blaming him.
"I was busy dealing with something else. Why didn't you?" Jack deflected the accusation back.
"I was busy dealing with something else."
"If you're gonna use an excuse, at least be original."
"I lead a race."
"That's better ain't it?"
"You're her Queen."
"Fake."
"You're her bodyguard."
"Overglorified at that."
"You just proved you're not."
"Then why is my paycheck so low?"
"You get paid?"
"Are they really doing this?" Latia asked as she watched the two males sass each other.
"Yup. Rarely seen this happen unless it's one of the other Satans." Falak shrugged.
"So, who are you?" the blonde decided to ask the woman in question herself.
"Falak." she said simply, Latia eyes going wide.
If anyone thought or asked about something like "The Strongest Peerage", it was easy. Sirzechs Lucifer's was the answer with no debate. Ignoring him, he had a lineup that made many shiver at the mere thought of facing those monsters individually, let alone together.
But that did not mean each individual Piece was the absolute strongest in their category, the woman before her was the living proof of that.
"The Ultimate Pawn, Serpent of Death Falak." Latia said, realizing that she finally met her uncle's only piece, joy overtaking her shock.
"Ajuka told me about you, and you exceeded my expectations today." the black haired woman praised.
"Really?"
"I expected you to run away at first sight or pass out after 10 minutes."
"Oh…"
Well she probably would have done that had it not been for a certain someone.
Said someone finally stopped arguing with his employer, agreeing to disagree.
"How did you get her to agree to this?" Jack addressed the biggest question in his mind as he motioned to Falak. Evil Pieces could be used forcefully and against the receiver's will, but the female Dragon did not look like the kind that was afraid to go against the World by becoming a Stray.
"He promised me something." Falak shrugged, not explaining further, a clear hint to not dig for more details.
"And as for why he just threw you at us?" Jack pressed.
"It was to gauge your progress on working together and what you require help on." Ajuka answered. "Do you need me to say what and why?"
"No." was the common response.
Jack knew himself better than anyone else. He knew his faults and didn't try to delude himself that they weren't there.
Latia was mostly in need of actual field experience, theory could be perfect but it meant nothing if she couldn't actually apply it.
"Good." the Beelzebub nodded. Whether or not they actually needed his help, that was to be seen, but he respected their will for self-improvement.
"So what's our rating for this test?" Latia asked.
"You barely pass, girl." Falak voiced her thoughts first. "You lack an actual will to kill others. You had many chances to get a good hit and fatally injure me, but didn't."
In that entire fight, even if she was holding back, Falak left enough potential openings. Sadly in her opinion, Latia chose to stay in the backline and be the support. As good as she performed, she could have done much more if she actually focused on being on the offensive.
On the other hand…
"As for you, you should just let yourself loose more often." Ajuka's Pawn grinned as she turned her sights towards Jack, who scoffed.
"(So many years and you're still stuck with that mentality. Is that why you're now serving under Beelzebub?)" Vritra finally spoke up, loud and clear for everyone to hear.
"And look where yours got you. Stuck across multiple trinkets made by an old fart, not even fully conscious. Be glad this kid managed to get all four and wake your stupid ass up." Falak fired back at the Prison Dragon.
"(Go fight Indra first then we'll talk)" Vritra continued.
"I would, but Beelzebub doesn't let me." Falak retorted without any shame.
"Don't drag me into this." Ajuka made his stance clear already, he didn't care.
"Ok! I don't really know just how big this grudge between you two is, but I'm not playing the middleman." Jack interrupted before the argument escalated any further.
Neither of the two said anything, with the black haired woman eyeing him from top to bottom once again
"Oh I'll have fun working with you." she chuckled
"Huh?" was the appropriate reaction.
"Despite being the recognized Strongest Pawn in the Underworld, that's mostly because of the private matches between the Satans. Unless they're important in the high society, nobody knows how I really look since I don't make public appearances and grass hair over here doesn't really care about Rating Games." Falak explained, cleaning up some unasked questions. "That lets me go in and out to clean up certain people."
"Which includes the Old Satan Faction." Ajuka continued, earning Jack's full attention. "Her Space Control was an important factor as to why I approached her to help me."
"And I heard you got quite the hate for them, guess that means we'll be tagging along quite often." the Serpent of Death finished, smiling.
"Will it end up with me getting burnt or bit?"
"Only if you want to."
"Alright, I can work with that."
"Heh."
It was genuinely amusing to watch the interactions between Dragons. So simple and straightforward, no need for anything else. It was not uncommon for two Dragons to try and kill each other then a couple hours later to end up as best of friends.
Born for fighting. Live by fighting. Die through fighting.
That's just how they were.
Latia smiled as well, but it died down slightly as a fresh memory reared its ugly head.
"Power to make all those people who wronged me pay."
The blonde shook her head. Not the time nor place for that, but she will deal with it.
"You know, at this rate, you should learn how to text messages. You really have a weird way of transmitting messages." Jack said to Ajuka.
"I personally think it's perfectly suitable considering the situations, but if you so desire, we'll meet with the other Satans in a week."
"We?" Latia repeated, earning a nod.
"They were brought up to speed with everything and wish to see you two personally. They also want to hear about your information regarding the Old Satan Faction's bases." the green haired Devil explained everything, directing the second part to Jack.
"From A to Z?" he asked just to make sure.
"Everything. Your heritage, Vritra, reputation and current identity. We tried dragging Mephisto into this meeting, but he did not give us a definitive answer." Ajuka explained.
"That old man wouldn't step out into the light unless it concerned the Grauzauberer. Can't blame him, I'd stay away from Devil Society too if I could help it." Jack joked.
"I would have locked myself in a bunker and started creating a new civilization if I wasn't busy with my job." Ajuka agreed.
"Please don't." Latia pleaded.
"Not you too. Why can't you take my side this time too?" Ajuka raised an eyebrow at that.
"Because you taught me that people who don't do their job are nothing less than, and I quote, "self-entitled ingrates with no actual value in society"." when Latia finished, Jack almost burst out laughing.
"Or procrastinators. Don't forget the last part." the green haired Devil defended himself.
"Yeah, that's my boss. A nerd who would rather spend his days in a lab with his inventions." Falak poured fuel on the fire.
Ajuka did possess a humorous side. He just didn't show it to literally everyone like his friends.
"I suggest you go back and keep training. I feel like something big will happen." Ajuka went back to his serious tone.
"How do you know?" Latia didn't doubt her uncle's sense of danger when it came to what would happen, but she wasn't going to blindly follow it.
"Abalam suggested to Zekram that a competition should be held between High-Class Devils to motivate the young generation." Ajuka said, but he himself didn't believe this reason.
"That seems out of nowhere…" Latia muttered as she started thinking about it.
"I have no idea what is going through his head, but Zekram trusts Abalam more than us, plus we don't have any actual reason to refuse such a thing. This would let Heirs see just how they match up against each other in a competitive environment." the Beelzebub was just as lost when it came to finding out the actual reasoning for this. Although he wasn't against it, he was always suspicious of the Agares Head.
The Civil War was an event filled with death and betrayal, and despite being on the same side, Abalam always gave him this red flag, but nothing fixed.
The fact his former Clan was now for all intents and purposes linked with the Agares Clan due to his brother's marriage and Latia's existence made it kind of messed up, but the Beelzebub long since stopped caring about such worries.
He was a Satan, he'll kill anyone that dares endanger the Underworld, bloodline be damned.
"Here's the last thing before you're free to go." Ajuka moved the conversation along as he walked towards a table and grabbed the pendant with a blood red gem, followed by throwing it towards Jack.
"This looks cool and all, but don't think accessories are my main priority." the Dragon said as he caught the object.
"It's made with Agares Crystals and combined with your energy signature. It will mask you to any of the Rating Games' Systems and allow you to participate as if you were an actual Piece while wearing it." the Beelzebub explained. With the potential of a competition that might include Rating Games, he couldn't run the risk of any unseen event happening.
"Could have just mailed this, you know?" Jack complained as he threw the pendant on, hiding it under his shirt.
"I just like calling people to my personal lab. Harder to trace back than messages or packages." Ajuka countered.
"Aye aye. See you in a week I guess." Jack waved.
"Goodbye uncle." Latia bid farewell as she opened a magic circle that she and Jack used to return to the Astaroth Castle.
Once the two left, Falak turned towards Ajuka with a questioning gaze.
"Something on your mind?" he asked his only Pawn.
"You think something is going to go wrong." she guessed.
"Obviously. I'll make my own preparations in the background and adapt based on what gets decided on." the Devil affirmed.
"He has potential." she said flatly, changing the subject towards the Devil Dragon Hybrid.
"It would be a crime against the universe if he somehow didn't." Ajuka scoffed. He almost felt bad for anyone below Ultimate-Class who crossed Jack. Despite having no formal training, he proved that he was indeed a force to be reckoned with.
"However…" Falak trailed off, earning a raised eyebrow. "He's killing himself."
"What made you come to that conclusion?" the green haired Devil was now interested.
"Three times during that fight his aura shot up like crazy. The third was at the end, when he was preparing something. The other two were when he pulled out his Crimson Lightning and mixed it with his fire, in which he wounded himself just as much as me, if not more." the Serpent of Death mused as she rubbed her jaw.
"So he's having the same problem… Interesting." Ajuka muttered as started thinking.
"What? "Same problem"?" Falak repeated, earning a nod.
"When he was born, Sirzechs almost killed everyone present in the room including himself with the sheer power he was radiating had it not been for his mother. Similarly, when Milicas was born, he almost killed himself and Grayfia with his own demonic energy had it not been for Sirzechs' timely interference." Ajuka started, his eyes narrowing. "Early on, Raiden was also hurting himself every time he used his Clan's Trait due to the lightning's power until he learned to control it better."
"So you think it's because of his father?" the woman summarized.
"Partly. Furfur's Crimson Lightning is in the same category as Bael's Power of Destruction, being born as direct offsprings from Lucifer's Demonic Annihilation, and so far, every time a new Devil was born of either of those two bloodlines with extreme talent, they're prone to killing themselves." the male grumbled. Just because you were lucky to be born with so much more talent than others was not entirely problemless. He remembered the amount of times Sirzechs and Raiden almost got hospitalized due to trying to adapt their bodies to their Clan's Traits.
Sirzechs had luck due to his Gremory side while Raiden was a pure Furfur, regardless of this, it was still living hell for the both of them.
But once they learned to control their powers…
Ajuka shook his head to stop himself from getting side-tracked.
"Make sure to keep a watch over that too. I want details if possible." Ajuka instructed, earning a nod as the woman stretched slightly. "Back to Malebolge?"
"Yup. I need to do today's fill and check on those stone bastards." the female Dragon half-complained.
"You know the drill-"
"-if any of them get any funny ideas, to let you know. Yeah-yeah, we've been going at this for enough centuries." Falak waved the worry off before waving her hand, a tear in space happening as it expanded to fit a person. The Dragon walked through the hole and on cue it mended itself.
Ajuka didn't say anything. She was right, they were doing the same routine for a long time, but he could never be too sure. He was entrusted with this job and he would rather annoy his subordinate a bit more every time than risk twelve living weapons rampaging around.
Ajuka was brought out of his thoughts as he received a letter through a magic circle, the crest of the Pheles Clan being present.
Mephisto finally sent his definitive answer about his presence at the meeting.
Back at the Astaroth Clan, Jack and Latia spent time recovering while sitting on a sofa in one of the living rooms. One had just fought someone that would give a Dragon King a run for their money head on while the other was sucked dry of any demonic energy, especially after the teleportation.
Jack offered to share some of his reserves since she didn't have any actual physical wounds, but was rejected.
The Dragon sent a side glance at Latia, who was staring at her soda bottle.
Why soda instead of something fancy? Jack asked for some, and Latia gladly supported that. Teenagers will still be teenagers, regardless of Race.
"You ok there?" Jack asked the girl after he drank from his own bottle.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
"How we'll meet all the Satans and probably the chairman of a Magical Organization." Latia stated.
"Afraid already?" the Fake Queen continued.
"Yes." the blonde admitted as she finally looked away from the bottle.
In about two weeks, her life turned from being just another face in the high society to being one of the people involved with the jobs handed out by the leaders. Today she literally fought against the Ultimate Pawn, a Legend she only heard about and could imagine how their meeting would go in her dreams.
Falak crashing their training to assess their combat standards was not one of them. Not at all.
Soon, the joy was overtaken by rationality again. Anyone would be shook from such a drastic change.
And it was all because of the person in front of her.
"Sorry?" he asked, unsure himself. At least he was aware he was the cause.
"Don't be. Just slightly shook, I'll be ready when the time comes." Latia waved the worry off.
"Nu-uh. That doesn't work with me. You stuck your nose in my business, so I'll stick mine in yours." Jack proclaimed as he got up.
"And what's your plan?" she asked.
"Have you ever been to Britain?" Jack's grin was clear.
"Couple of times, but I don't mind going again." a female voice answered, but not Latia.
The two were surprised, and when they turned towards the voice, they were met with Falak entering the room, no longer in her dark grey full-body suit and instead suited with casual clothes of the same colour.
"What are you doing here?" Latia asked, taken back by the woman's appearance.
"I told you didn't I? I'll work with you two soon, and since I'm now to my own choices for the time being, decided that I'll stick around and get some free entertainment." the female Dragon casually informed as she vaulted over the back of the sofa and landed down.
Jack didn't know what to say when he stared at the Serpent of Death, and clearly, Latia didn't know either.
Not like they could just tell her to get lost.
Or could they?
'(Oh this is going to be funny)'
'Fuck off.'
Well hello there random reader on the internet and welcome to this dumpster fire.
This one was supposed to drop earlier, but IRL got in the way. It is what it is.
The actual first fight of the Story too. While I'm not a God at writing fighting, I want to think its coherent enough to follow and entertaining so you don't fall asleep reading it. Also a deeper look at Jack's capabilities with the Vritra Sacred Gears and some of his current problems with his own problems, ones which he doesn't seem that concerned with. Curious.
Falak... Ah Falak. Most are probably going to wonder who the fuck and why. Well, its confirmed Ajuka had the Serpent in his Peerage and that's it, no other details, like most things in DxD. So, since I was shinning the spotlight on the Astaroth Clan as a whole and Ajuka too, decided to use something already there instead of going into OC Territory. Why a Waifu? Well, its DxD. Booba. Type Moon also ruined me.
By now I think you noticed a trend that I don't really like to go overly into details about the appearances of a character, or outright don't even mention it if they're not important, like the Astaroth Mansion Servants. Its more of a pet peeve, but I think most people on this site read the same description of the same character one too many times, plus most of them have some official appearance already there, so its even more convenient.
As for the plot itself, the calm before the storm is pretty much almost over. Latia is being speedraised faster than a underleveled Pokemon with an EXP Share for this.
Lord Agares is trying to do something and Zekram is approving of it. Is this actually good? We'll see.
History hints and new explanations were sprinkled here and there to tie in with the Canon Lore.
Next time, Magical Girls.
Thanks for your time, and hopefully, until next time.