Shout-out to all reviewers. You're the best.
For anyone unfamiliar with the DxD universe, 'Gabriel' is a woman.
Azazel
Azazel headed out. The plan he had put together with Cato required him to do three things for the peace conference to proceed smoothly. First, Azazel needed to make contact with the Church to inform them of the Khaos Brigade's movements. Second, he needed to contact the devils both to work on some defensive options at Kuoh academy and to prepare Issei Hyoudou for his part during the talks. And third, he needed to talk to Vali. The latter had been yet another thing that kept him up at night, yet another concern without reprieve.
'I'm more worried about potential traitors within the three major factions. Yours included.'
Cato's words. Azazel still remembered with perfect clarity the hatred in Vali's eyes after he had stepped in and interrupted the half-devil's fight with Kokabiel. He would've died had I not stepped in. Azazel sighed. Would Vali betray him over something like that? Azazel shook his head. Vali was a risk even without a reason like that, but Azazel just couldn't imagine the boy he had taken into his home siding with the insane Khaos Brigade. That's not right either. I just don't want to imagine it. Azazel was never much of a father. There was a reason none of his half-human children knew who he was, but even so, Azazel understood that to breed trust, one must show trust. He would trust Vali Lucifer and hopefully see that trust grow to pay off. Still, he would put the task of speaking with the battle-maniac off until the last moment. First, to contact the true leader of the Church faction, the archangel Michael.
Getting into contact with him was easy enough, though staging an actual meeting was harder because of the archangel's responsibilities. Some years back, the devils adopted a human invention and expanded upon it, the internet, or more specifically, the devilnet. Naming wasn't their strong suit. The overly friendly Sirzechs Lucifer had practically force-fed Azazel pictures of him, his wife, and his sister through the devilnet ever since. Obviously, angels and fallen weren't generally allowed on the devilnet. Instead, they had made a private server for select members of other factions. Michael himself wasn't invited to take part in it because of his prudish nature, but the lovely Gabriel, another high-ranking angel not to mention certified beauty, was.
Ah, the thought of her alone was enough to make him skip a little as he walked through the streets. He had tried flirting with her, of course, tried to make her fall right into his arms, but she was just too pure. Hopefully she would be there at the shrine along with Michael. And with that, the skip in his step disappeared. Michael was such a drag. The stuck-up angel had tried to wholly embrace his role as the leader of Heaven after God died, and it had made him the most boring existence imaginable. Not that there was much good spirit there to ruin in the first place.
Clouds were gathering in the sky now. The rainy season was about to begin. In the olden days, rain before negotiations was considered a bad omen, sometimes even enough to call the entire thing off. No rain would stop them now. Besides, there were plenty of other bad omens going for the conference, so even the most superstitious of souls would only consider the coming rainfalls something of a footnote. Maybe Gabriel's clothes will get wet…
Azazel shook his head. He needed to have a clear head for whatever was to come. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Cato's massive form on the opposite side of the road, strutting out of the crowd and walking straight in through the gates to Kuoh academy as though he owned the place. The few students that were out in the courtyard gave him slack jawed looks as he went past them without a care in the world. Strange man. His role at the academy was to handle the negotiations with the devils and ensure the groundwork for a coordinated defense when the Khaos Brigade attacked. Azazel made a mental note to be less conspicuous when he got around to meeting with them.
Gabriel had set up the meeting between himself and Michael at the old Shinto shrine. A dilapidated place as far as Azazel remembered, though he hadn't particularly cared to know the place. Shinto was an intrinsic part of Japanese culture, and while Azazel appreciated and took part in the customs happily enough, he didn't care at all for its religious aspects. Michael's reason for wanting the talks there was probably that he wanted a place of some spiritual value, and the old church in Kuoh was an unsavory place. Shinto shrines were usually beautiful. They were designed to give the sensation of stepping from the profane world and into the transcendent. When you stepped through the gates of a Shinto shrine, the torii, you stepped into a world where the spiritual and earthly merged.
He reached the shrine and stepped through its torii, but there was no sensation to it at all. It was just a run-down house. There was a paved pathway up to the main doors that once had trees or other vegetation flanking it to give it a wild atmosphere, but that was no longer the case. There was none of the intended mystery. It was just a winding path through a dried-up grass lawn leading up to an ordinary house with a subpar paint finish. Disappointing. He stepped in without knocking.
Damn it. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. What greeted him instead was Baraqiel's daughter and Rias Gremory's queen, Akeno Himejima. While beautiful enough in her own right, she paled when compared to Gabriel's divine beauty. He would need booze to deal with this disappointment. Michael was sitting cross-legged on the floor by a table holding a small ceramic cup.
"Azazel."
Not the warmest of greetings. Now I understand how Vali feels, I suppose. He hadn't expected better from Michael, which was one of the reasons he had hoped to see Gabriel. Michael had a divine beauty of his own, but it was marred beyond repair by his hopelessly bleak personality. Much like Kokabiel's beauty was tainted by his psycho eyes. And his own appearance was… well, at least he had charm. "Thank you for taking the time to see me, Michael. I know you've been busy."
Michael nodded in response. Akeno poured him a cup of lovely tea when he sat down next to Michael. The angel looked vaguely uncomfortable at sitting so close to him. Perhaps his etiquette was slipping from drinking too much with Cato. He looked down at the steaming cup, willing it with his eyes to turn into brandy. No such luck. Instead, he pulled out the list of names that Cato had supplied him with. Impressive work, truly. Azazel had considered redacting some of the names on the list but ultimately decided against it. There was no advantage to holding information over the other factions in this scenario – they were all in it together, as much as it hurt his brain to consider it such. He handed the list to Michael.
"What's this, a love letter? You should stop harassing Gabriel so much."
It was without a doubt the closest that Azazel had ever heard Michael be to making a joke. Too bad it was delivered in such a way that it sounded like an honest admonishment. Azazel looked at Akeno who was standing awkwardly at the end of the table, unsure whether to leave them or sit down. She would be at the conference too, Azazel remembered, and Rias would know everything from Cato anyway. There was no reason to keep anything he would say concealed from her. "It's a list of Khaos Brigade members currently present in Kuoh city, ready to attack the peace conference."
"This?" Michael practically spat in his face. "So many… how did you even- no, are you sure these are all…?"
"I'm sure."
It calmed Azazel down to know that the Church hadn't found out about it on their own. It seemed that Cato was in a class of his own when it came to information gathering. Another reason that he couldn't afford to lose the man as an asset. The whole idea of a human representative at the peace conference was foolish beyond comprehension. It would make no difference. His demands would be ignored because he had no power to back them up, and the factions notoriously ignored human needs in the first place – which was, of course, why Cato had pushed so hard to represent them. An impossible situation for the man. Azazel suppressed his growing frustration.
"I wouldn't have called you here for anything less. I know you're busy trying to uphold whatever responsibility has fallen to you." Azazel downed the entire cup of tea before continuing. "It will be chaos. That's why we need all three factions united even before the peace talks begin, as silly as the notion may sound."
"Silly? No, you're right. Well, the Church obviously wanted peace to begin with. It's taking all of our power just to keep the system in place, and we have no power left over to offer our protection to humans… it's all gone to hell, to put it simply. The Church has been protecting humans with their own power, more or less. And this list… all of their heroes are against us. What a terrible thing."
It was rather odd for the angel to admit to his weakness so readily. Honesty really wasn't that much of a virtue in the end. "Yeah… it's bad."
"Have you spoken with the devils about this?"
"In a manner of speaking." He hadn't, but he had full faith in Cato's ability to present his case, at least insofar as it regarded the Khaos Brigade. The whole human representative idea was more of a stretch. Azazel shot Akeno a glance as he thought of the devils. She had decided to sit down by the table in the end, though she looked markedly uncomfortable.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I haven't spoken with the devils, but the person who compiled this list is in the middle of speaking with them."
Michael nodded his head slowly. "A mystery individual. Is he another one of your odd fancies, some misfit who found a home underneath your blackened wing? Or maybe a woman to add to your ever-growing list?"
"Decidedly a man. A hero at that, unless I'm mistaken."
"So, they're not all against us," Michael said as he once more looked at the list. Full of human heroes, all of them hedging their bets with the Khaos Brigade instead of trusting in the factions. Were they really so out of touch with humanity? "That's a bandage for the wound if nothing else. I hope you have some more good news though, because as it stands now, it seems the winds are blowing against us."
Azazel cleared his throat. For better or worse, he had to introduce the concept of a human representative here. "Good news, perhaps," he licked his lips. He had to frame it in a manner that stressed how it was a necessity, something born out of need rather than want. "The Khaos Brigade are currently the greatest representation of human strength."
Michael looked appalled and a little hurt at the claim, but Azazel held up his hand to stop an interruption. "This isn't my take, Michael. This mystery individual, as you called him, is the one who presented the human case and made it painstakingly clear to me. The list of Khaos Brigade members should show you as much – how many heroes follow the Church?" Azazel didn't wait for Michael to respond. The answer was probably 'few' or something equally silly. "The Khaos Brigade is the primary human representative. The factions abandoned them."
This time, Michael made no move to interrupt him. Instead, the angel had a pained look on his face. It spoke volumes to Azazel that he didn't even try excusing the failure of the Church.
"Those are not my words."
"Then what do you propose?"
"It's not my proposal either. Our mystery hero has taken it upon himself to represent humanity at the peace conference."
Michael nodded as though it made sense. Then he froze. "He what?"
"You heard me. And before you protest any further, let me be clear that there's nothing we can do about it but keep him safe."
"Right, keep him safe." Michael looked less than pleased, but also less skeptical than Azazel had expected. Perhaps he expected to be able to recruit Cato under the guise of having always stood up for humanity. While not impossible, Azazel knew in his gut that Cato would never follow the Church. "I suppose we just have to do that, then. What about him, does he know how to fight? Can he defend himself?"
"Well, about that…" Azazel's mouth tasted bitter as the words formed in his mind. "The truth is I've never seen him in action. There are some details that I won't bore you with that suggest he does have some skill, but all he ever says about it is… well… he says he's something of a martial artist, really."
Azazel and Michael's attention snapped onto Akeno as she made a choking sound. She waved her hands at them as though to signify that they should ignore her. Odd girl.
"Uh, right," Michael said, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "A martial artist? I see. Perhaps he's a hero of Asian descent then. There are several such heroes unaccounted for in the list."
Azazel shook his head a little too strongly at that. "No, no. I don't think you should be reading so strongly into it. I think he's just something of an idiot."
Michael didn't look like he understood or cared to. In the end, he just sighed. "Never mind all that. I haven't the surplus of energy for curiosity. I suppose we need to work on defense with all haste."
"I take it that you will set aside your qualms and cooperate with both me and the devils then?"
"Have we a choice? No, I'm being foolish. Even if we had a choice, this is the course of action that will best lead us to peace." There was a hint of resignation in Michael's voice as well as his expression as he once more looked at the long list of Khaos Brigade operatives. Resignation and sadness. Azazel himself felt nothing but relief that it had worked out. One down.
The next order of business was contacting the devils at Kuoh academy. It was paramount to do it at the academy itself because doing so would allow them to immediately begin the preparations on-site. The conference would be at the academy after all. While traps and stationary defenses were rarely a staple of angel or devil combat, using every advantage they could was for the best. Humans would set spikes in the ground to stop cavalry, plant mines on the ground where enemies might venture through, or even disrupt their own infrastructure to prevent an enemy from gaining an advantage. Though not exactly spikes, it was the perfect time to put one of his newest trinkets to the test: a sort of magic disruptor. Exactly how it worked remained to be seen. Of course, all of it assumed that Cato had succeeded in convincing the devils to prepare defenses in cooperation with the other major factions.
Azazel froze mid-step.
How had he ever agreed to this plan to begin with?
He was currently walking onto established devil territory for the sake of setting up experimental weapons. For this level of cooperation to function, they had essentially completed the goals of the peace conference without even holding it. Their current preparations were a combined effort to go to war against the Khaos Brigade – an alliance formed of all three major factions. How had it come to this? Were the factions already close enough to make it happen like that? For a while he just stood there, thoughts racing through his head, replaying the events that had made it all happen. Somewhere in there, there was something wrong. But no matter how he turned or twisted it, he just couldn't piece it together. Perhaps it was meant to be that easy. The people at the top of the factions had only been held back by dissidents within their ranks – like Kokabiel or Valper Galilei – and they had now stabilized enough to allow for this sort of thing. Azazel shook his head and ruffled his hair violently.
No matter what, the Khaos Brigade was a threat that he had to deal with. He continued his way directly to the academy. Classes were over for the day. There were still people there for club activities, but Azazel had planned on avoiding the main entrance anyway. Instead, he went around the back and headed straight for the club building that Rias Gremory's peerage used as a gathering place.
When he got there, he was greeted by a clamor of grunting and shouting courtesy of two of the sacred gear users of the peerage. Issei Hyoudou, a boy who needed no introduction, and the owner of the sacred gear 'Sword Birth', Kiba Yuuto, a pretty boy with blond hair, a lean frame, and an elegant poise. Issei looked like a hopeless delinquent brawler by comparison with his forward-leaning form and wild unkempt hair. Azazel stayed hidden as he watched their spar.
Issei used his fists – a shortcoming of his that he couldn't use any weapons. As he fought, he relied on frontal attacks with little thought to back them up – essentially lunges that relied on speed to get up close. Using his fists, the boy of course had no reach advantage, and being nothing more than a pawn in terms of the evil piece system, he could not, or at least should not, rely on his speed either, especially not against a knight like Kiba Yuuto. Knights were known for their fantastic speed, and Kiba demonstrated that well. Every time Issei charged heedlessly into him, he moved out of the way with remarkable precision of movement considering his age. He commented on Issei's moves like a teacher would, offering ideas of alternate attack or comments on his footwork, though inevitably Issei just charged clumsily ahead again.
No, that wasn't quite right. Azazel watched for a while from his hidden position. Issei did show small signs of improvement. Less downtime after his attacks despite clearly getting more tired, less randomness in where his punches landed – or would have landed – and less comments from Kiba as he had to focus more on evading than instructing. Impressive, truth be told. Eventually, the two boys stopped to take a break.
"Damn it." Issei summoned his boosted gear as a gauntlet on him left arm. "I guess I really am nothing without this…"
Azazel stepped out toward the boys hoping they'd notice him. They didn't. Eventually, he cleared his throat spoke up. "On the contrary. Your progress is impressive."
Their heads snapped toward him, Kiba's face lined with apprehension while Issei showed honest surprise and recognition. "You… the weird guy with the amazing collection. Huh, what was your name again?"
"I am Azazel. I suppose I never properly introduced myself, did I?" The two of them had met numerous times, of course, but Azazel had taken a certain pleasure in remaining unrecognized. The time for that was over. "Good to see you again, Issei, and…?"
"Kiba Yuuto. What are you doing here?" Unlike Issei, Kiba seemed to understand the implications of his being there, though Azazel had somewhat hoped for a warmer welcome courtesy of Cato's efforts. Perhaps Kiba just hadn't been told. "The conference isn't for a few more days."
"First, I was hoping to offer a little instruction to your junior here," Azazel nodded toward Issei. Though the wielder of the boosted gear would ultimately become an unstoppable force and need to be put down, greater strength for the conference would be for the benefit of all for the present. "You're progressing well with your overall technique considering your absence of skill when you were turned. Your friend here is to thank for that. I, however, can teach you more about your boosted gear and its true properties."
Kiba disarmed somewhat at that. His wasn't the surprising reaction, however, as Issei immediately straightened his back and, with a gravely serious expression on his face, offered a bow and an 'I'll be in your care'. The boy had none of the inane pride that plagued Vali.
"Have you tried talking to it?"
Issei just looked confused at his question and didn't answer.
"I suppose you wouldn't know yet. Has Rias Gremory told you about the true nature of the boosted gear?"
"She told me that it has the strength of a dragon or something like that. And that weird damned handsome told me that he was gonna kill me because of it… or something like that."
"Not the strength of a dragon. Your sacred gear is the soul of a dragon."
"Soul of a dragon? So, I'm the main character?" Issei's eyes shone with excitement.
"In your own story, sure. No, that's not the point. The point is that your sacred gear is an actual living thing, something that you can talk to, understand, perhaps even bargain with." Left unsaid that any bargain with a dragon was bound to be a bad one. "Your current usage of your sacred gear is limited to boosting your power, is that right?"
"Yes. But come to think of it, I have been having some strange dreams about a massive red dragon head."
"Ddraig is its name. Try talking to it, try learning more about your greatest weapon. You have the potential to become the strongest being in existence, and we all know that women love power…"
Issei's eyes lit up even more at that. Excellent. It wouldn't be hard to keep him in line for now. Just wag a little titty in front of him. "You're saying-"
"Correct." It didn't matter what Issei's imagination was conjuring up, and Azazel didn't care to hear it. "Now, I think it's best that I see your esteemed king before your friend here attacks me for trespassing."
Hopefully, knowledge of his presence at Kuoh had reached her, at the very least.
"She's with her brother," Kiba said, making no move to show him the way there. Azazel sighed. There was certainly a great benefit to meeting with Sirzechs now as well, but part of him resented having to divulge his intentions to the reigning Lucifer. Telling Sirzechs that he would be using experimental weapon's around his sister was unlikely to go over well. Leaving such troubles for when they came up, he told the knight a half-truth to get him to show him the way.
"I know. They're expecting me, as a matter of fact. I had anticipated that you were told as well, but I suppose you were busy with your spar."
Kiba nodded uncertainly at that and reluctantly showed Azazel the way over to the clubhouse. It wasn't that he didn't know the way, of course, just that being a guest came with certain conditions on his part. Showing up unannounced was one thing but barging straight into what could well be private conversation was another entirely. When they reached the clubhouse, only Rias and the small girl, Koneko, were there. Rias didn't even look up as they entered, clearly assuming that it was just Kiba and Issei returning from their sparring session. It wasn't until Koneko prodded her with the end of a skewer that she had been snacking on that Rias reacted. She looked up, a somewhat drowsy look on her face, and promptly jumped out of her seat.
"You're…" she straightened herself and schooled her expression. Raised by nobility. "Azazel. I didn't realize you'd be here so soon. Right. Welcome to Kuoh academy."
"Thank you." Azazel bowed his head quickly. "Have you been made aware of the Khaos Brigade problem and the preparations I have to make here at the academy?"
Rias nodded her head slowly.
"I appreciate your willingness to cooperate. I will be setting up several devices and magic circles across the grounds. After that, it's best if you refrain from using magic within the school buildings – that also goes for that thing," Azazel pointed to the teleportation circle painted on the floor of the club room.
"Not being able to use magic is troublesome."
Azazel almost retorted that it might make them look like real students for once, but he held his tongue. "Only until tonight." That would give him the chance to test the disruptors without anyone else risking an activation if their working range was greater than expected.
He had debated whether to use it as a chance to get the upper hand over the devils by the way of subtle sabotage but abandoned the idea. He wanted peace. Espionage under the guise of an alliance made for a poor start to friendship or peace. He looked around the clubroom. The only person whose eyes weren't filled with apprehension as they looked at him was Issei, but Issei wasn't looking at him at all. Perhaps that didn't matter, he mused. As long as there was peace, he could step back into obscurity and fade away while the small matters of the world raged on around him.
Rias sighed deeply. "Go ahead then; I'll inform my peerage," she said, before furrowing her brows and adding that they should probably speak with Sona's peerage as well. Azazel agreed and let the young devil lead him to the main academy buildings and through the halls. By now, there weren't any normal students left, and Azazel breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't have to feel their condemning glares at his presence there. It wasn't his fault that he looked like a pervert.
When they got to the student council room which served as Sona's base, Azazel was met by a sight he did not expect. Sirzechs was hunched with his back to them over a table, slamming it with his open palm and laughing his ass off for some reason or other, while Sona Sitri, looked positively chagrined. Across from her sat Cato somehow looking impassive despite his smug aura, keeping his eyes focused on the board of chess between them.
"You… you cheated," Sona said, escalating Sirzcechs's laughter to the point that they sounded more like death throes than anything. Cato had the gall to look indifferent, even a little annoyed at the accusation.
"So? I was losing."
"You were lo-" Sona's words descended into unidentifiable huffs as she failed to form proper words.
Azazel and Rias's entrance went unnoticed as the scene just continued playing out in front of them. Sirzechs eventually managed to get his breathing under control and slammed Cato's back instead of the table. "You have to understand, Sona," he said. "He was losing. He had no choice."
Cato nodded gravely at Sirzechs, noticing Azazel in the process. "Azazel! Glad to see you made it. Care for a game of chess?"
Sona, despite her diminutive form, reached in over the table, uncaring that she was knocking over pieces as she did so, grabbed Cato's shoulders and practically shouted into his face. "You can't- you don't just challenge someone else after this! The game isn't even done yet!"
Cato scratched his upper lip at that before gesturing to the ruined board. "Well, it seems like you ended it for us."
"I'll pass," Azazel said dryly. Sirzechs fell into another fit of laughter which saved Azazel from too warm a welcome from the overly affectionate super devil. "I didn't realize that you were still negotiating things. I hope I'm not disrupting anything."
"Not at all," Cato said. "We're just indulging in some culture, as you can see."
Rias made her way over to Sona who looked to be holding back tears and patted her back and managed to get her to calm down a bit.
"Azazel, good to see you," Sirzechs said, throwing an arm around Azazel's shoulder and pulling him in. "I hear you've been drinking with this hilarious guy without even inviting me. What's up with that?"
Azazel shot the redheaded man a confused look.
"Joking, don't worry. Grayfia would have my head if I slacked off with a delinquent like you anyway." Grayfia, Sirzechs's wife and something of a monster in her own right. At the very least, she knew how to keep a toil on the otherwise dangerously free spirit that was Sirzechs Lucifer. "Still, I hope I can find the time to join the two of you for a round after we deal with the Khaos Brigade and all of that nonsense."
"You'd be most welcome once everything calms down." It seemed negotiations had gone well, but even so, Azazel didn't quite understand what was going on. The atmosphere in the room was just too far removed from what he expected. "Has Cato made you aware of the troubles facing us?"
Sirzechs's demeanor stiffened at that and he shot Azazel a worried look. "Troubles? What troubles? Is something bad happening?"
Azazel felt the blood draining from his face. What the hell has Cato been doing? He stood dumbfounded as his brain tried to process things before Sirzechs's uproarious laughter snapped him out of it. "That's not funny. It's not funny."
"You should have seen your face," Sirzechs said between gasps.
Azazel slapped Sirzechs's arm away as the devil tried to slap his back while laughing. Alliance be damned, he wouldn't stand for this idiocy. Somehow, his irate expression only served to make the devil laugh even harder, so Azazel decided to speak to him as though he wasn't laughing at all. Ignoring the problem would make it disappear, or something to that effect. Sadly, it was easier thought than done. "I need to get started with my preparations around the – Sirzechs, seriously. Stop laughing."
Azazel couldn't help the smile from forming at the infectious laughter, though he tried his hardest to suppress it. Sirzechs had to crouch down because of how hard he was laughing. Azazel decided to play his trump card.
"Cato, make it stop. I beg you."
"Sirzechs, your sister is hurt." Cato said coldly, not even sparing a look up from the chess board that he was once more arranging as he had somehow – gods be damned, how? – convinced Sona to go for another round. Rias looked mildly worried at the development.
"What?!" Sirzechs's laughter ended so abruptly that Azazel almost worried for him, but the ashen look on his face instead sent Azazel into fits of laughter of his own. "Hey, that's not funny. It's not funny – Azazel, stop laughing."
Azazel calmed himself down, proving him the bigger adult. "Right. I need to make some preparations around the school. It's imperative that no one uses magic during this time. I'll fill you in on the details later."
Sirzechs looked torn between his supposed responsibility to follow Azazel around and his desire to watch the next game of chess. After some consideration, his desire for amusement apparently overwhelmed him, and he just gave Azazel a thumbs up and turned his full attention to the board. A welcome decision. Though they were technically allied now, Azazel still preferred not having to show off his experimental weaponry to another faction. Azazel nodded in gratitude toward Cato who gave him a small nod in return. We make an excellent team.
And now, finally, for the boring part. Azazel smiled at the thought. He wanted no more excitement for the day; dealing with both the devils and Michael had taken its toll on him. Some menial labor was just what he needed.
He went back towards the clubroom that Rias's peerage used and headed to the clearing where Issei and Kiba sparred earlier. He hadn't tested the magic disruptors yet, seeing as his personal lab was too full over objects that might be affected. Firing off what was essentially a short range EMP inside of a laboratory would be idiocy at best. Testing them outside of the city was a potential solution, but he hadn't had the time. So, this would be more of a test than anything – the main reason that being alone rather than with Sirzechs was preferable.
Azazel placed the disruptor on the ground. It looked like a glass crystal, and it was practically invisible when not in the light. There was a small protruding slab that served as a safety keeping the disruptor inactive. He slid it in place. Nothing felt different, but the test was yet to come. He conjured a spear of light and staked it in the ground next to the disruptor. No reaction. Light magic was of a different sort, so perhaps it would work with ordinary spells. Azazel wasn't exactly a master of magic, being more concerned with technology and arcane engineering, but he knew enough to test the disruptor if nothing else. He went a few steps away and held out his hand, watching with dispassionate interest as a small magic circle appeared in the air above his hand. A tiny white dove sprung into existence out of the circle and hovered mid-air.
Azazel frowned. Still no reaction? Shorter range? He issued a mental command. The dove flew out slowly toward the disruptor. Azazel dropped to his knees; the dove zapped out of existence. He held back a scream as some ungodly mental feedback made it feel like his mind was on fire. He forced himself up on his feet and staggered back a few steps, gasping for breath.
"Holy shit!"
Nausea made him unsteady, but with some deep breaths, he stabilized. The disruptor crystal was snapped in half when he went to pick it up, as opposed to the expected result of it shattering entirely. Does it still have more power left in it? It left too many questions unanswered – questions that he couldn't answer in time without being the object of his own experimentation, something that he deemed too dangerous to do. Much too dangerous. There was no way to know if the feedback would grow proportionately or inverse proportionately to the strength of a spell, nor was there a way for him to know its maximum. It would have to be tested in battle. At least he had an idea of its active range now.
He planted several disruptor crystals in the grass despite his better judgment telling him not to. It was unlikely that anyone that he cared about would fight out here, and both the data from having them tested in battle and the possibility of sabotaging Khaos Brigade spell casters was just too valuable. The dove had only been about a foot away from the disruptor when the latter activated, which made the active area so meagre that even if a spellcaster stood on top of it, they might not be affected. Again, it was worth leaving a few around the place for experimentation. He wouldn't place any inside of the school building though – the risk of friendly fire was too great. If someone like Sirzechs ended up incapacitated, although the notion was incomprehensible, all might be lost. Azazel shook off his remaining doubt as he went back to the student council to explain his plans to the devils in full.
Next chapter is a continuation of Azazel and the start of the peace conference – if it's even fair to still call it that. I had intended to start the peace conference this chapter, but the word count crept up on me.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to post them.
