Chapter 7: Evil Tail Malebranche


Barely several minutes had passed since Diehauser, and Gilles had cleaned the whole tribe from the malicious werewolves. They'd took more time since the King wanted to see if there was someone without bites or claws across their bodies. Unfortunately, they'd failed in their research. After coming back to the manor, they'd teleported to Danhauser's room and had a brief conversation about theories to shape the case.

Of course, their efforts at least paid off since they'd succeeded in saving only one human who's affiliation is with the church, much to Gilles' disgust. The kid is called Siegfried, sharing the same name as his ancestor who is famous for slaying the Golden Monarch Dragon, Fafnir, with the Demonic Emperor Sword, Gram.

The amazing feat about Siegfried is his boasting as one of the strongest exorcists that the church has available in their ranks. Danhauser believed in him since the bastard could keep up with Kiba and Xenovia without breaking a sweat in the Light Novels plus he was one of the strongest swordsmen in Khaos Brigade, just behind Arthur Pendragon.

Diehauser as always, wearing his deadpan expression, preferring to judge the new character in his mind.

Gilles, on the other hand, stuck with laughing his ass off.

Siegfried's left eye twitched, fists clenched at his sides. "I don't recall announcing a buffoonery."

"You do not?!" Gilles said between his laughter. "Top Warrior! A Top Warrior?! I cannot believe your headquarters has declared you as their ace!"

Danhauser was impressed at how the teenager repressed his emotions at Gilles' mockery. Exorcists have always been sticklers for discipline. It seems that their teachings indeed had paid off, for a second he thought that the young Exorcist would lunge at Diehauser's Queen and die in the process.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Siegfried retorted. "I have proofs," frowning, muttering the last part. "No… the better term would be I had…"

"Oh really?" Gilles smirked, apparently missing the last sentence. "Would you kindly show it to us?"

The Exorcist folded his arms, nodding at the sword on Gilles' back. "Your answer lies on your back. Gram is truly picky when choosing a new possessor; she's always seeking for the strongest swordsmen, I was one of those until you came to the picture."

The Queen scoffed, shoving Siegfried's praise aside. "I am not. I assure you."

"You're lying." Siegfried shook his head. "If that was the case then why she has chosen you?"

"You know, you're relatively calm," Diehauser interrupted the conversation, drawing the Exorcist's attention. "Hadn't you said something about 'saving the tribe' a few minutes ago? You're just wasting your time."

"Because as far as I can tell, you three already had done that," Siegfried answered, eliciting arched eyebrows from the three.

"What makes you think we'd saved that place?" Danhauser quipped.

"You'd found me unconscious in the cabin, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, we had." Gilles snickered, darkly. "What an incredible way to prove us that you are, without a doubt, one of the strongest Exorcists around, I am downright frightened!"

Growling silently at the sarcasm, Siegfried moved on. "Then that means you'd also took care of the enemy and saved the innocent people." A faint smile graced on his lips, bowing his head in respect. "I speak on behalf of the tribe and thank you for saving us—we are in your debt."

Danhauser felt a sudden knot tied around his throat, memories of the bloodshed flashing in his mind. Does that mean that Siegfried was the first one to get knocked out? He'd missed the screams of pain and begging from the people?

Siegfried was half right and half wrong with his theory since Diehauser and Gilles had defeated the werewolves, but unfortunately, all of them were the nomad people with corrupted hearts.

"…" Diehauser hadn't said a word, not breaking eye contact with the grateful child.

Breaking his bow, he nodded at Diehauser. "I presume you're the one in charge?" Not waiting for a response, he requested. "If you wouldn't mind, I wish to greet my people and the exorcists that had accompanied me during my travel."

"…I can't." The Emperor answered after a tensed silence, dragging a frown from the silver-haired boy.

"I understand that you have a lot of questions." Siegfried tried to negotiate, clearly not noticing the change of atmosphere. "But, can we address that later? I need to see if they're—"

"You don't get the point." Diehauser sighed, shaking his head. "The tribe and the Exorcists... they didn't make it."

"…Excuse me?" Siegfried suppressed a shudder.

"You heard what I'd said." Diehauser tried to sound gentle, but he failed, his expression and tone hard as stone. "I'm sorry."

"I-I…" The silver-haired stammered, his voice suddenly desolate of emotions, shakily taking a seat on the bed. "I lost my sword and the people that saw me as their… hero? Just like that?"

If Danhauser hasn't felt awkward before, now's the chance, especially when the three stood there like vultures waiting for their prey die from dehydration, you can guess who is who. No one lifted a finger, Diehauser as usual, stoic. Gilles hasn't shown signs of sadness—he'd just rolled his eyes and gave the child his well-earned silence.

Danhauser was looking around gawkily, trying to push the obnoxious presence invading his room, he wasn't good with this type of stuff at all. Sairarog was a different story since those scars are just slow and easy to heal, the future strongest youth is fishing for a friend, and Danhauser can be that fish. Belial just needs to earn the trust of Bael.

"What're your questions then?" Siegfried whispered, eyes obscured by his beautiful silver hair.

"... Are you affiliated with both tribe and church?" The Champion asked, hoping the question wouldn't damage Siegfried more than he is.

"Only the church," Siegfried replied quietly, sure as hell still hurt from the shocking news.

"Then why would you be there?" Diehauser immediately jumped to the next question. "They'd asked for your comrades' assistance?"

Siegfried laughed dryly. "Don't take my words to heart." He paused, clenching his fist. "Truthfully, the Clan saw me as one of them even if I was involved with the Christians. Whenever I had the chance, I would pay them a visit. Unfortunately, the church had to stick their noses whenever I go, just to make sure that I wasn't spreading confidential information."

"And today you were visiting them?" Diehauser speculated, earning a slow nod from the Exorcist. "What's the name of the tribe?"

Surprisingly, Gilles answered the question. "Volsung. That was the name of the Clan."

"How would you know?" Siegfried demanded.

"That is none of your business." Gilles sneered back.

"Do you remember how everything had happened?" Diehauser intervened, not wishing to start a bar fight. "Any idea of sorts?"

"I was the first one to lose consciousness, but I remember something falling through the roof, knocking both myself and the Tribe's Chief."

"A werewolf," Danhauser muttered, remembering the lack of roof inside the littered room. "The one that had created all the massacre begun from there, fissuring the ceiling with no bother."

"…" Siegfried sat quietly, like a scolded child who'd stole from the cookie jar, digesting all the information.

"Only one, though?" Diehauser turned to his brother. "I mean, I'm pretty sure they'd knew how to defend themselves. I'd discovered a few swords lying around on the floor... near the corpses, plus three exorcists were temporary watching over them, they could have had taken care of any creature without breaking a sweat."

"Oui. They had known how to fight." Gilles chimed in, "I had shown them basics of the way of the sword. A pity that was not enough to protect them."

"Also, let's keep in mind that this had happened around day time, perhaps slowly approximating the sunset." Diehauser reminded them, he faced Siegfried. "Or not?"

"…" Siegfried only nodded, locked inside his mind, however, he would shoot a suspicious glare at Gilles now and then, something that hasn't go unnoticed by Danhauser.

"If that is true then how could they had transformed into a beast?" Gilles frowned, shaking his head. "The shapeshifter can only turn at will when it is a full moon."

"Which conveniently that'd happened the moment we teleported in the cabin." Danhauser clicked his tongue, arms folded. "Someone had been scheming this for a long time." He wetted his dry lips. "But Gilles is right, how the figure had turned itself into a werewolf if the moon wasn't even out from the skies?"

"Easy. That was either a Ultimate-Class werewolf or a High-Class." Diehauser answered with a matter-of-fact tone. "Something that you should know is that an Ultimate lycanthropic can shapeshift at will, without worrying about the cycles of daytime and nighttime, High Class is a rare case, but there have had been incidents about it."

"What about Middle and low Class?"

"Low Class are the ones we'd found in the tribe; they would get hurt since their bone structure is shaping for the first time, and they're in the berserk-like state. They'd only transform during a full moon." Diehauser took a deep breath. "Middle ones are the ones that either can control their mental state, but they still get hurt by their mutation or the other way around."

"So can we all agree that the one that had invaded the tribe was an Ultimate-type?" Diehauser received nods from the two devils. "In conclusion, the attack had started during the fall of the sun, where Siegfried was with the Tribe Leader, the beast fell from the roof and knocked the Exorcist—"

"'Top Warrior.'" Gilles summoned the air quotes, chuckling, scoring a warning glare from the human.

"—followed by attacking the Tribe Leader."

"Hearing the screams of their leader, the two exorcists and citizens tried to see what happened but they hadn't reached too far since the beast made it in the main lobby first, resuming its slaughtering from there." Danhauser continued.

"And lastly, the bastard went outside and infected the rest of the tribe members." Gilles reached the climax of the story, sighing.

"That would be the best theory we could grasp in our hands. Case closed." Diehauser nodded, facing the ever silent Exorcist. "Since it's bedtime, I'll let you stay here just for today, until then, you either go back to the church or do something else with your life. If you follow me, I'll see if there's still a vacant—"

"What were you three been doing in the tribe?" Siegfried interrupted, snarling quietly. "Don't give me the excuse of 'We were just passing through.'"

"We were just passing through."

"Why you—!"

"Gilles…" Diehauser pinched the tip of his nose, groaning. "Please, refrain of angering our temporal guest."

Gilles only snickered.

"You three haven't answered my question." Siegfried reminded them, his sharp look not lessening a bit.

"Well, he was going to figure it out anyway…" Diehauser trailed off. "I'll keep it blunt. We'd made contracts with them."

"I knew it," Siegfried grumbled, hammering a clenched fist over the bed. "You weren't humans at all—all of you are devils."

"Aren't you worried?" Danhauser asked, catching the Exorcist's attention. "I mean, you're talking with three Devils so casually…"

Siegfried scoffed, shrugging away Danhauser's statement. "You'd already offered me a bedroom to stay here for the night. I doubt you're using me as bait to lure the Exorcists."

"So, you're fine sleeping under Devil Territory?" Danhauser pressed on.

Siegfried once again shrugged. "What else can I do? You three are standing in front of the only exit in this room; it would be foolish to try and fight without my equipment in hands." He paused, immediately adding. "And this bed appears to be comfy; it would be a waste to neglect a single night of luxury."

"…" Danhauser made a sound with his nose. Seeing Siegfried carry a stoic expression and answering all his questions nonchalantly, made the Devil slightly anxious, how can someone act like that after knowing that a canine induced in steroids murdered his allies and a Clan that saw him as one of their own?

"Or is he trying to act strong?" Danhauser's eyes still locked on Siegfried's red ones. It was unnoticeable for those who didn't concentrate his gaze on that particular place. Danhauser could see the pain lingering in those ruby tinted eyes after hearing who'd killed them.

"There's something that I'm not fine with," Siegfried spoke, immediately breaking eye contact. His glare focused on Gilles. "I've been in deep thought about a matter; I cannot accept Gram settled on your grip."

"Hoh?"

"Gram may have chosen you, but even then, I don't think it's fair to earn a reward without challenging her former owner first... I will assess your talent."

"Are you challenging me to a sword fight?" Gilles grinned, knowing full well the answer to his question.

"If I win, I'll take my leave with Gram." Siegfried gambled. "If I lose, you can have her, and I'll walk away with empty pockets."

"Hm." Gilles hummed, scratching his chin in deep thought. Finally, he nodded, grin widening. "I accept. Rules?"

"You cannot use Gram during the sword fight," Siegfried answered almost immediately.

"Ah, of course." Gilles bobbed his head in acknowledgment. "If I did, the fight would not be fair at all, anything else?"

"You can use more than one sword."

Gilles raised a brow at the second rule, but remained quiet, silently agreeing. "Alright, then tomorrow we may commence our duel."

Siegfried nodded, facing Danhauser. "Perhaps you would know where my stuff is? I had a basic sword of light attached to my waist, but it's gone now."

Danhauser was slightly surprised. "Uh, the maids took all your dangerous equipment away, just to keep me safe." He scratched the back of his neck. "I'd asked them to leave them under my care, but since I'm still a child, they'd immediately refused my order."

"Could you give them back to me?" Seeing Danhauser nod, he returned the gesture. "Excellent. Can I temporarily use some new swords for my match?"

"Do you want some damn fries with that?" Gilles scowled, not liking the idea of supplying a filthy exorcist with his precious weapons. He didn't want to fight him either, such a waste of time, but after thinking about it for a while, he'd immediately accepted just to humiliate him in front of everyone just for the sakes of it. Not like his master needs to know this, right?

"The more swords, the greater the beating." Gilles chuckled at the thought, smiling down at Siegfried. "Of course you can. I'll just take them out from the armory."

"Great. You have my gratitude." Siegfried returned the smile with a small of his own. He turned to the Champion. "Is the room still ready willing and able to its use?"

"Yes." Diehauser gestured at the exit. "If you follow me, we'll find a room for your taste." Nothing else to add, the Emperor walked away, followed by his Queen and the one-night guest.

"Wait!" Danhauser called out, stopping the three from their tracks. He took a deep breath, facing the Exorcist dead in the eye. "Can I speak with you, please?"

Siegfried was slightly surprised by the sudden question, but he'd hidden it beneath his mask, being an exorcist, you need to keep your emotions hidden at all cost, we don't want your foes teasingly pulling the right strings, right?

"If you want, we can wait outside." Diehauser offered, pointing the door with his thumb. "We have time to waste, so don't worry."

"I see," Siegfried responded, not looking away from Danhauser's gray orbs. "Then I guess I'll listen to what you have to say."

Danhauser held back a victorious fist pump; he knew this was just a small step to achieve what he truly wants.

He wants Siegfried on his peerage. There, he said it. The chances for the Exorcist to accept? It's one in a million in Danhauser's eyes since he's not a Stray Exorcist and still a follower of a particular religion, but that hasn't stopped him from at least trying. If his memory is right, Siegfried joined the church for the sakes of fighting fellow swordsmen. Hence the reason why he later followed Cao Cao, just to find worthy people and thus started a one-sided rivalry with Arthur Pendragon.

"If Cao Cao wants him, then he can kindly come here and suck my True Longinus." Like hell, he's going to waste such the Hero Faction. He's the protagonist of his tale.

"Then we'll wait." The Champion drawled, sending a small nod at his younger brother, completely understanding his unoffensive plot.

Waiting for the two eldest Devils walk away from the room, Danhauser sighed, steeling his nerves. If the child before him doesn't accept, then he's going to respect his answer like an adult, the last thing he'd ever wanted is to force their will to join him, that's a marvelous way to make your servants turn into Stray Devils.

"Okay." Danhauser took a deep breath. "I stopped you here because I want to make you an offer. Something that could benefit the both of us."

"…" Siegfried kept his silence in check, accidentally slipping a look of surprise beaming in his eyes. At first, he was perplexed by Danhauser's words, but after repeating mentally the sentence two or three times, he finally understood which only made his astonishment frame his face.

"Is he trying to…?"

Folding his arms, the exorcist harrumphed. "What kind of offer you're speaking of?"

Danhauser went straight to the point. "To keep it brief. I want you to join my Peerage."

Siegfried kept a straight face after hearing the proposal. "Your Peerage." He recited, evoking a hum. "Are you kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not," Danhauser replied. "Even if you don't have Gram anymore, I can tell you're still skilled. I want people like you."

Siegfried fixed his stare on him for a good amount of time, trying to spot any untruth in his words."Ah." Suddenly, he chuckled as if he'd just arrived in time to witness the birth and climax of a joke.

Finally, he started talking, notwithstanding, he struggles on forming coherent words. "H-Hold on… you want an Exorcist to join the Peerage of a Devil?"

Before Danhauser could express his reasoning, Siegfried took the lead, bursting into a fit of laughter, making the devil's cheeks burn slightly.

Danhauser felt his pride slowly withering away, as he kept looking at the Exorcist making fun of his invitation. He has to admit; it sounds stupid if you say it aloud, but it is not stupid if it works.

"Dear Lord, this is too much to handle!" Siegfried exclaimed, slapping his forehead in amusement. "What's next? A nun, falling in love for a Devil?!"

Danhauser's left eyebrow twitched now in annoyance. He'd honestly preferred a blunt and cold 'No' then THIS!

In the nick of time, his chortles soon died out, much to Danhauser's relief. Coughing on his fist, he cleared his throat to speak. "Please, don't let my snickers offend you."

"Too late." Danhauser merely grunted. "For knowing his favorite Clan died, he surely is having a lot of fun." He held back a smile, letting the Exorcist have his fun—a good way to keep depression from fogging his mind.

Danhauser then sighed, slightly disappointed at the unfortunate turn of events, it was evident, though. "I'll shoot in the dark here and surmise that you won't join?"

Siegfried slowly nodded and changed his position, ready to summon his sub-species Sacred Gear if things started to get messy. "You guessed right."

"Are you sure?" The gray Devil tried to persuade him. "This place is like a haven. Great meals, a place where you can practice swordsmanship, and your name is going to increase significantly by getting recruited by a prestigious House, and also, cozy bed, remember?" He pointed to the bunk.

"A pleasant offer, but my answer is still no."

"How unlucky," Danhauser muttered, giving Siegfried one last nod followed by a sad smile. "Well, at least I tried, good luck in your fight against Gilles, you'll need it." Turning around, he headed towards his bed, ready to sleep like a rock.

"That's it?" Siegfried scowled, seeing how the Devil jumped to his bed as if nothing happened. Is he not going to force him? Kill him? Or at least even try to ask him why did he'd refused his proposal?

"Is he playing tricks?" He may be a child around his age or slightly older, but he's still a Devil from heart and blood. They're globally known as manipulators and embodiments of sins. Even then, these Devils, in particular, were kind enough to provide him refuge for the night, but perhaps they're waiting for him to fall asleep to make their move?

"What're you doing?" Siegfried felt his tongue moved on its own. He immediately regretted his actions.

"Going to sleep," Danhauser answered, turning back. "Can't I?"

"Are you not going to kill me? So you can take advantage of my weakened state and turn me into your servant?"

Danhauser blinked at Siegfried's words, his look turning bitter. "Honestly? You'd kill me right on the spot. I don't want to resort to violence when I try recruiting potential members." He paused, gesturing towards the door. "You have a significant bout tomorrow, right? You should be well-rested."

"You're weird," The human blurted out.

Belial smiled at the remark. "Good night."

"…" Watching how the Devil—Danhauser—shifted around the bed to find a suitable position made the Exorcist turn around and open the door and close it, earning a nod from Diehauser and an annoying glare of Gilles, they walked away, ready to find an empty bedchamber for the young swordsman.


"Why are we here, again?" Danhauser yawned, stretching his arms widely. Since yesterday, Danhauser immediately had fallen asleep, after all, that chaos had occurred he wouldn't be surprised how'd quickly his eyes gave up.

The match between the Exorcist and Gilles hasn't started, yet. He's not going to miss that one even if he already knew who's going to be the victor.

"Maybe when the match is over, I should give it another shot." Danhauser sighed, Siegfried is such a good member for his peerage to be left wasted. He's going to try once again. All or nothing as they say.

"We're here to pick up Uncle Coda!" Cleria jumped in joy, squealing.

"After a long time he finally decides to show up?" Danhauser, cocked an eyebrow, he honestly didn't want to be here, at all. He's not a morning person.

"Pretty much, yeah," Diehauser responded, watching how another train left the station. "I'd told you, everyone had expected him to be late."

"And why would he be late?" Danhauser pressed on the conversation. "He has an outstanding job on the Underworld?

"Maybe he was in jail."

"What."

"His work consists of keeping an eye out for prisoners not escaping their cells." Cleria clarified. "Don't let Diehauser's words unsettle you."

"What I say still stands, though," Diehauser breathed out heavily. "Maybe the Ars Goetia government arrested him for breaking the same rule over and over again."

"Give him a break, would you? He's not that bad!"

"I never said he's a bad person, Cleria." Diehauser retorted, drawing a pout from the young woman. "I'm just saying that he needs to cool down, I'm still baffled on how quickly he gets out. Maybe dad had to convince them."

"Which rule he broke?"

"Devils can't fly in the Underworld or use magic circles, hence the means of transport." Diehauser motioned to their surroundings. "Funnily that is one of the rules I implied, ah, how troublesome."

"If I remember correctly, Tannin flew to our territory." Danhauser frowned, before blinking.

Hold on a second.

"Wait, you made the rules?" Danhauser asked, surprised.

Diehauser merely shrugged a single shoulder. "Changed a few, made a few." He sighed tiredly. "I'd never explained to you what's the purpose of being a Lord of the House of Belial, right?"

"Not really."

"In a nutshell, I'm a Senator," Diehauser started, trying to find the appropriate words. "The most important functions of a Senator is to make laws, maintain legal order updated by modifying the law, and ratify or reject Bael's and Maou's proposals."

"In other words, he's the law." Cleria added, grinning.

Danhauser gulped. He knew that sooner or later he was going to take his brother's place in the senatorship, imagining standing in front with all the Noble Devils observing each step he made was enough to make him shiver. "Sounds rough to leave it on someone's shoulders."

"I'm not the only senator, though," The Emperor stated. "Housecarls who's ranking is King are senators, too, but unlike them, I'm the Head of the Senate."

Still, it sounds terrible, knowing exactly that Underworld's corruption is all thanks to the hand of the Old Devils, meaning that there are a few things that remained unseen from Diehauser's eyes. A prime example would be the King Piece. Sure as hell there'd been occasions where they'd ignored Diehauser's opposition since we are ranting about the remaining Noble Devil Clans and the House of Bael against him, and if Zekram is involved in the feud, then the Champion has nothing else to do than obliging to their demands.

If it wasn't for the case that Bael is one of the purest houses, most respected and feared around the Underworld. Diehauser could've had the upper hand.

Sairaorg's father is an asshole, there's no doubt in that, but maybe he's doing his duty as a true Great King, somewhat rightly, since Lord Bael sometimes accepts Diehauser's rejections and new rules. Even if he doesn't agree with them, maybe he sees them in the eyes of the Devils' population and how it would benefit them.

Suddenly, a train stopped right in front of them, making the young of the three blink in surprise, his consciousness pulling him back to the real world. Watching how the twin doors slowly opened with a hissing sound, revealing a shadowed figure standing in the entrance.

"All right everyone, Uncle Malacoda is back in town, and he brought the boom!" The figure blared a laugh, leaping out of the railroad car and standing in front of the three gray haired Devils.

"Uncle Coda!" Cleria squealed graciously, immediately rushing and hugging the now named Malacoda.

Malacoda returned the gesture, patting her back, his laugh not fading away. "Now, now! I know you missed me so much, but let me breathe a little, yeah?"

Cleria giggled and took a step away, her smile spread on her face. "How was the voyage?"

Malacoda grunted. "It was meh. The travel was similar to the food they'd offered, shitty." Suddenly he grinned, his red eyes glimmering with appetite. "But the ladies, phew!" He kissed his fingertips as if he'd just palated something out from this world. "Wish I could've drawn them as my French girls!"

"Uncle!"

"I kid, I kid!" Malacoda playfully raised his hands in defense, winning a soft slap on his shoulder from Cleria's part.

"…" Danhauser let the conversation ooze in, watching the interactions between the two Devils behind his brother's presence. Studying each part of his body, he has the same demonic aura as his mother—Calcabrina—something that could be a tad confusing in the future. Danhauser admitted it, he's handsome, while his hair is dark, a portion of it in the back and several streaks tinged with red. His red eyes looked way lighter than his mother's which were darker in comparison.

Three things that made him shine from other Devils: his almost sadistic grin, the three spears lunged on his back and the barbed tail gunked on his lower waist.

Honestly, this new Devil was like a male version of Calcabrina.

"Isn't he the one who'd moaned when I'd yanked his tail?"

"Wait. The first thing you'd said when you'd stepped out of the train was supposed to be a catch phrase or something, Uncle?" Diehauser asked, finally annexing himself to the conversation.

Malacoda frowned, trying to roll back in time just to remember what he'd previously had said, succeeding, he shot his nephew a grin followed by a wink. "Thought I'd try it out, see what you think! Always open for-!"

"It was horrible."

"Ew, Cleria, you should show this filthy peasant some manners." Malacoda hissed before pinching the tip of his nose in disgust. "He should also take a bath, fuck's sake man!"

The Emperor smiled, letting Cleria savor the moment. "I can see you're acting like someone your age and not your shoe size, geezer."

Malacoda grinned and wrapped an arm around Diehauser's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. You know you love my performance." His smile softened. "Anyways how's work for ya?"

Lord Belial heaved a sigh. "Nothing changed for the worst, thankfully. How about yours?"

Malacoda scratched his head with his barbed tail. "I was going to talk about that, but I want everyone to hear it, so yeah, I'll explain it later." He broke the embrace with a squeeze, facing the younger Belial. He grinned. "Now for the dessert!"

"Oh no."

Before his uncle could make a move, a hand froze him in place. "He lost his memories." It was Diehauser, warning him with a hushed tone, making sure his brother hasn't heard them.

Malacoda's tail stopped moving for a second, before once again following the soft whispering of the wind. "Got it!"

Danhauser decided to make the first move. "Uh, hey uncle."

"…" Malacoda bent his knees towards the floor, contemplating Danhauser. Contented, he smiled and ruffled his gray hair. "I'm still pissed when you'd pulled my tail, you know? But I can let it slide, for now."

Suddenly, the bystander's little shoes left the floor, now landing on Malacoda's shoulders, thankfully Uncle's spears were aiming downwards. "Don't move! We don't want to pay the doctor a visit now do we?"

Danhauser obeyed his teasing.

"We should go," Cleria suggested, pointing a thumb to their private train. "We're here just to pick you up. Now we can leave."

"Agreed," Diehauser tossed his two cents. "I don't want to miss Gilles' duel."

Making sure his nephew is safe, he nodded. "Gil? Fighting? Lead the way, Houser!"

As they walked to their transport, Danhauser hesitantly patted his head. Surprisingly it was soft. He'd thought it'd be raw and sharp.

"What's up, kiddo?" Malacoda looked up, smirking.

"What's your Housecarl's name?" Obviously, he's Calcabrina's brother, a good way to know about his mother's background is asking the eldest of the family.

"Ah right, your memory loss," Malacoda muttered the last part. "Okay, let's start with a quick introduction, yeah?" He cleared his throat. "The name's Malacoda Malebranche, Head of the House Malebranche, fourth-ranked in Rating Games and most importantly, your lucky uncle, nice to meet yah!"


Danhauser had read the narrative poem: Divine Comedy, anyone had, either as homework for school or just to kill some time in their respective houses. He, however, hadn't expected it to be a thing in this universe, of course, Malebolge is officially a location from the Underworld and Vritra's balance breaker, but he hasn't predicted Malacoda being a character.

Anywho, his mother, Calcabrina Belial—née Malebranche—was raised in Malebolge, interestingly enough, she was the only female of her former Housecarl, in other words, Malebranche is now a male-populated Clan. His uncle, commonly known as "Evil Tail Malacoda" is a participant in the Rating Games and an influential member, too, achieving the fourth rank, as previously boasted by his uncle.

"If the Malebranche's are real, then it means that Dante and Virgil were the first humans to come back in one piece from the Underworld?" Could it be that Dante's poem, Divine Comedy, is an actual map of the Underworld? Did the two poets indeed reached Cocytus and met the wicked Samael? If so, then it means that Samael is the "Satan" described in the literature?

Too many questions, so little answers.

He doesn't know a lot about his maternal relatives' culture, yet. Danhauser had made a mental note to talk either to his uncle or mother about their pasts, ask Malacoda how to use Malebranche's Clan trait and the arts of manipulating a spear. Yes, he'd finally decided, he's going to wield the spear, it's the safest weapon in his eyes.

Whatever, back to business.

Standing far away from the manor, deeper in the forest, everyone stood in a beautiful wooden bridge and under the latter, a river—they're still in Belial Territory even if they'd walked away from the castle. The bridge was huge, to the point that three carriages could roll side by side with room to spare.

And all that space is going to be used for Gilles' and Siegfried's fight.

"I still can't believe you'd allowed an Exorcist stay in the manor." Cleria deadpanned. "That was reckless from your part."

"It was just for one night." Diehauser countered. "Besides, when this match is over, he's going to leave."

"Don't know man, Cleria's right on this one." Malacoda folded his arms, watching how Siegfried practiced with one sword, the rest wrapped on his back and waist, one of them being his sword of light. "Exorcists are one of our greatest enemies."

"You're saying it as if I can't defend myself," Diehauser rolled his eyes, imitating his uncle's movements.

"Of course you can—for a damn reason, you're the Champion of the Rating Games." Evil Tail said. "Still, though, he could tell the Church's headquarters about it."

"I doubt he even knows about us." Diehauser waved off their concerns. "I'd made sure to keep our surname hidden from his grasp. Plus, Dan wanted to recruit him for his Peerage."

That's when Danhauser grew into the center of attention, much to his chagrin.

"Are you serious?" Cleria was the first one to articulate her bewilderment. "That was dumb and dangerous, Danny!"

"Ditto."

Danhauser shot a tired glare at the Champion. "Thank you very much."

The Emperor whistled innocently.

Sighing, Danhauser embarked on the tale. "Look, I know it sounds stupid—"

"It does."

"—but, we'd found him unconscious in a tribe along with two dead exorcists." Danhauser exhaled, rubbing his shoulder. "In the end, the Church perchance concluded that they've just lost a powerful piece in their ranks and ended their searching."

"I see. What were you doing in a place like that?" Malacoda questioned, brow raised. "Assuming that a bloody party had occurred there, of course."

Danhauser held a groan. "To keep it blunt, I'd wanted to know about how Contracts worked, and my brother had suggested working with Gilles, and then out of nowhere, chaos had cropped up."

"And then you found the brat?" Malacoda gestured at the focused Exorcist, earning a "yes" from his young nephew. "Welp, shit."

"You weren't hurt, right?" Cleria asked, concerned.

Danhauser shook his head.

"Sis knows about this?" Malacoda jumped to the next question.

Diehauser took the bullet from his brother. "Yes, she'd been informed."

"And nothing happened at all?"

"Well," Diehauser's right eye twitched. "I encountered something interesting. Men usually sort things out quickly. But women prefer to talk about it, then, think about it..." He heaved a sigh. "Then talk about it some more… no offense, Cleria."

Cleria pouted, leaning her hands over her waist. "Believe it or not, we sometimes have good ideas, Diehauser. You should try listening."

"Yeah, but they have so many of them... so sometimes I pretend to pay attention, and..." Seeing their puzzled looks made the Emperor groan. "Ugh, let's just say women have tempers too."

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared, ensnaring everyone's attention.

"Finally," Malacoda snorted, his annoyance quickly curved into happiness when he'd spotted two familiar silhouettes, one of them moving towards the group. "About damn time you showed up, sis."

Calcabrina rolled her eyes, standing in front of the group. "To think that I'd finally be safe from your idiocy." She smiled softly. "There's no avoidance from it, or there is?

Malacoda scoffed, pulling his sister into a headlock, rubbing his knuckles rapidly across Calcabrina's scalp. "Like hell, I'd forget my cute little sis and her ugly rats!"

"Get off of me, you moron!" Calcabrina ordered loudly, trying to reach for his brother's tail, but failed. "You're ruining my hair!"

"Bah! Back then, you wouldn't care about your hair getting messed up!"

"The maids worked so hard on making it dazzling!" She elbowed him, earning a soft grunt from the amused Evil Tail.

Danhauser watched the exchange before angling his gaze at Cleria. "Is this normal between them?"

"Yep."

"Looks like they're about to start," Diehauser announced, looking at the main reason they'd come here in the first place.

Everyone quieted down after that.

"So here we are," Siegfried hummed, pointing one of his unsheathed swords at Gilles. "I estimate you readied yourself?"

"Of course." Gilles' answer was short, but it was all he needed.

"…" Not uttering a single word, Siegfried unleashed another sword, going for the dual-wielding style.

"I am curious," Gilles admitted, cracking his fingers. "Why three swords?"

The Exorcist smirked. "Maybe you'll find out."

Danhauser knew the answer of that, but preferred to slip his mouth shut—he doesn't want to be found suspicious in the eyes of his family.

Gilles sighed, already getting bored of this. "As you wish, let us begin, then."

Siegfried frowned, eyeing him suspiciously. "… Where's your sword?"

"Hmm? Oh!" The Queen gasped. "My apologies, I was contemplating." He offered a forced smile, extending his arm to the side. "From one to six, choose a number, please."

Siegfried's frown deepened. "I'm sorry, but what're—!"

"Choose a number, please."

"Three."

"Ah, a dangerous choice, but I will respect it, now, behold my weapon." Gilles slowly brought a hand to his waist, making the Exorcist take a fighting stance. Taking the sword out from behind, he exhibited it to the world.

"… A table knife?" Cleria trailed off, squinting her eyes.

She'd only spoke the truth, laying on Gilles' hand was a stainless steel dinner knife pointing threateningly at the small frame of the Exorcist.

He's making fun of Siegfried.

"…What's the meaning of this?" Siegfried growled, his body tensed.

Gilles casually shrugged. "What is the dilemma? You had speculated I would take this challenge vigorously?" He didn't wait for a response. "Though you are strong enough to be titled as a powerful Exorcist, the Orthodox Church is known to be as the weakest of all. I had tried to encounter something more suitable for our duel, but this has to do." The worst part is that Diehauser's Queen genuinely seemed apologetic for not having a smaller blade than this.

"Enough with your derides!" Siegfried snapped, clenching his swords in anger. "I'll make sure you regret your mockery!" He yelled, rushing at his opponent.

"In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," Gilles stated the truth, raising his knife.

Siegfried's strongest attack was useless against Gilles' parry.

"H-He just parried my two swords?! With a knife nonetheless?!" The Exorcist tried to push onwards, but he couldn't move at all.

The time around the two swordsmen froze.

Malacoda whistled. "Gilles is going to enjoy breaking him."

"He's quite fast from someone of his age." Calcabrina complimented the teenager before biting her lips. "But not enough."

Danhauser clicked his tongue, the outcome of the battle already written on the scroll.

Siegfried bounced back, taking a steadying breath. "No one has ever stopped my attacks!" He attacked once again, a series of fast swings that went up and down followed by a mixture of sweeping slashes, lighting thrusts, and overhead cuts. Gilles stopped them all. "Am I getting overcome by a stupid toy? Am I this far away?!"

Parrying another swing, Gilles easily pushed Siegfried down to the floor. "Is this the strength of someone whose blood comes from the Dragon Slayer? Pathetic."

"Shut up!" Siegfried roared, lurching to his feet and leaping back at Gilles with the same tired, predicables strikes he'd made a few seconds ago. The Exorcist's stoic façade was collapsing in the presence of Gilles' insults, and when he attacked again, it was with a ferocity untempered by discipline and skill. Gilles stepped aside, dodging a perilous stab that could harm his lung.

Once again, Siegfried found himself cornered when Gilles blocked the two swords at the same time, pinning him.

"Is that all you have?" Gilles taunted, slowly pushing him down.

To his surprise, Siegfried grinned, his eyes cast downwards.

Then, he received an answer.

A silver dragon arm manifested on Siegfried's back, carrying the third sword that the Exorcist saved for this moment. It lunged forward, aiming towards Gilles' neck, unfortunately—for Siegfried—the Frenchman instinctively ducked the dicey beheading thrust and moved away.

"A Sacred Gear," Diehauser confirmed everyone's curiosity. "What a twist of events."

"Well, well. Color me impressed." Malacoda hummed, using his barbed tail to scratch his chin, eyes concentrated on the third arm. "Who'd thought that the kid had a card under his sleeve?"

"Which one, though?" Cleria asked, her eyes not leaving the brawl. "Never heard of one that offers you an extra hand."

"It's shape is similar to a dragon's arm." Calcabrina chimed in, biting her thumb. "Could it be… Boosted Gear?"

"The one where the infamous Welsh Dragon Ddraig resides?" Seeing her nod, Malacoda shook his head. "Nah. Boosted Gear is red in color; it also has a green jewel."

"My guess would be a Twice Critical." Diehauser shrugged his shoulders. "Is the only Sacred Gear that is a gauntlet and not a Longinus Tier."

"Here's the catch. It's not a gauntlet." His uncle reminded him. "It's an artificial limb attached to the brat's spine."

"It's a sub-species." Danhauser mentally answered, letting the older people solve the case. If his memory isn't fuzzy, sub-species is a rare case among Sacred Gears that could also affect the Longinus as demonstrated with a well-known female Dhampir of the Tepes Clan. Danhauser always compared it to a shiny Pokemon, rare as hell and only sheer luck can help you obtain one.

Even with the advantage of an uncommon Sacred Gear, Siegfried couldn't match with the strength of the infamous Bluebeard of France.

Siegfried took this opportunity by dashing towards the still puzzled Frenchman. The Queen narrowly dodged the attacks and spun the knife under the child's weapon and rolled his wrist. The Exorcist's sword slid from his hand and flipped through the air.

"Had enough yet?" Gilles yawned, spinning Siegfried's blade in a beautiful series of professional fencer's blows. "Or you want me to substitute the knife with a pair of chopsticks?"

Siegfried grounded his teeth and rushed at him. Gilles cackled at his stupidity. He threw the sword from the bridge and weaseled a streak of scorching fast thrusts. He evaded a sweeping slash and caught a booming Twice Critical across in his open palm. He gestured to the river.

"Time for a bath," He said, and twirled the Sacred Gear's wrist, picking up the exhausted Exorcist from his feet and tossing him over the bridge's parapet. Siegfried splashed down into the cold water, and Gilles sighed with relief, glad that this childish playtime had reached its deadline.

"Well, it's over," Diehauser announced. "I'll be honest, I've seen the ending coming from miles away."

"Same here," Malacoda grunted, eyeing Gilles who's walking back to the manor with elegance, humming a song.

Before anyone else could speak deeper about the subject in hand, something broke from the river's surface—it was Siegfried.

A pissed Siegfried.

"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Siegfried coughed loudly, all his hair and attire soaked, shakily getting out from the river. It wasn't a fight at all—he just turned into a joke for this House of Devils. He felt insulted by Gilles' not taking the match and his efforts seriously. "This… wasn't a fight at all, you bastard!"

"Wow, language," Danhauser muttered, they ignored him.

Gilles spun around, smiling. "I am afraid I have to decline that offer, little pig." He pointed a thumb where the castle is. "You see, I have to find a suitable spot for my new demonic weapon. Should I hang it on the wall or place it where the rest of my collection is?"

"So he has the rest of the demonic swords? That'd explain why Siegfried hasn't used one of those, yet." Danhauser hummed.

"…" No words came from the drenched teenager, he just fell to his knees and commenced slamming a fist to the grass. He'd been defeated and humiliated.

"Damn it all…! Damn it! Damn it fucking all!" He could hear footsteps approaching his powerless form. "I fought with all my arsenal! I can't be this away from being the strongest exorcist! Can't I…?"

"I think we have dry clothes somewhere." Diehauser started, not expecting a response, he carried on. "I'll instruct the maids to save some food and water in a bag for you, and then I'll teleport you back to the human world. You'll be on your own. Good luck." The Emperor walked away, followed by his cousin, waving at her family.

Calcabrina imitated their actions, glancing at her son and brother. "Sweetie is something wrong?"

"I'd like to ask my uncle a favor." Danhauser blurted out, drawing curious looks from the two brothers. He turned to Malacoda. "I want to wield a spear and use the Malebranche's Housecarl trait, preferably now."

Malacoda blinked, twice and boomed a laugh. "The kid truly has the blood of a Malebranche in his veins! Fucking love it!" He exclaimed vulgarly, shooting his nephew an approving grin while overlooking his sister's glare. "Deal! Let's go steal a spear and burn those muscles!"

"Wait!" Siegfried called out, startling the three Devils. He took a deep breath, shakily standing up, drops of water falling from his hair and attire. He faced Danhauser with a serious expression. "I have a proposition I wish you could listen, if you have a moment, of course."

"…" Danhauser glanced at his uncle who shrugged, then at his mother, receiving a similar gesture. He knew what's going to happen, but the question is, why? "What is it?"

Siegfried stood straight, ignoring the cold wind caressing his wet clothes. "The way I see it, our fates appear to be tangled together. In a world replete with cunning creatures, could that be mere chance?"

Danhauser curled an eyebrow, folding his arms. "In a nutshell, you want to become my servant now?"

Siegfried hesitated, disliking the word 'servant,' but regardless of it, he nodded. "…Exactly. So what do you say, hmm? Why not help one another in this forsaken and daunting future that awaits us ahead?"

"Why? Hadn't you declined my offer yesterday? What made you change your mind?" Danhauser questioned, not buying it. "And you don't sound pleased about it, either."

Siegfried bit his lip. "Don't take displeasure at the tone of my voice; it's just… 'servant' is a word that leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"It's the sad truth, though," Danhauser replied firmly. "You want to join me because of what Gilles had done with you, right?"

"So that's his name." The Exorcists mentally growled. Belial was right; he wanted to prove Diehauser's Queen that he's not a waste of oxygen. "Yes, you caught me red handed. That's the sole reason of why I want to make an alliance with you."

He'd learned something during that fight. He'd thought that he was strong—but in reality, he's just a big fish in a small pond. Back then, he wanted to beat the famous Vasco Strada of the Vatican, and reap the epithet of "The Strongest Exorcist."

But just by this fight alone. Siegfried's dreams were laughed and thrown away, like a bag of empty chips. Even then, he didn't let that discourage him from moving onwards.

In fact, Siegfried found another dream.

And the one who's going to show him that road is standing right in front of him, frowning at his blunt frankness.

"I see," Danhauser muttered, not looking away from Siegfried's red eyes.

"But," Siegfried quickly spoke. "What I meant before is true. This planet is a place where you can't survive without someone watching your back—teamwork is key to survival. I'd wanted to be known as the strongest Exorcist you know? But that dream of mine had already splintered." He laughed tiredly. "Now, I want to become the most powerful swordsman, your powerful swordsman. If you accept me in your ranks, I'll always stand by your side. Always."

He dropped to one knee, stabbing his sword into the ground. "I'll be your sword in human form. Just unsheathe me and point me at the enemy, Master."


"Well, good work on recruiting your first servant!" Malacoda clapped. "Never expected it to be a former Exorcist, but hey! Who I am to judge?"

Minutes had passed in the blink of an eye, Malacoda and Danhauser are the only ones standing outside of the castle, the same place where Belial had met Tannin, and his son. They'd just went inside to fetch two spears from Calcabrina's room and show Siegfried's official bedroom.

Gilles was displeased about the news, but held his tongue out, not wishing to start a dispute. Cleria was still unsure about it, but she'll try to move on. Calcabrina and Diehauser welcomed the former Exorcist with arms wide open.

Danhauser was happy. That's all you needed to know.

"Thanks." Danhauser smiled, nodding at the twin spears lying on the floor. "So what's first? My second ability or sparring?"

"Hmm." Malacoda hummed in deep thought, rubbing his nose. "Let's go with my Clan trait. I will only show it to you, and explain how to use it efficiently, since wielding this weapon tends to be a tad complicated."

"Okay." Danhauser accepted, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright!" Evil Tail rubbed his hands enthusiastically. "Unlike your brother, you have in yourself the powers of a Malebranche and a Belial respectively! You already understand how to work with demonic powers?" Seeing his nephew nod, he proceeded. "Great, then let's get to the point. Observe."

Malacoda laid on one knee, brushing a hand over the grass before putting some pressure on the ground, a second passed, then two and followed by three, and suddenly, magic happened.

The rich green grass started to deform at the gentle touch of Malacoda, for a second Danhauser thought that his uncle was withering nature itself, but he was only molding it completely.

Satisfied, Malacoda lifted his hand, letting his nephew take a look. He'd only infected a small chunk, nothing serious—Danhauser thought, but how it modified the grass made him scratch his head. It was a small pool of a pitch-black substance of sorts; he slowly moved a finger to poke the material.

"It's… Viscous." Danhauser murmured, the sensation was like piercing through a vanilla flan. He tried to pull his finger back; he struggled a little at first, but with more effort, he succeeded, taking along the way a trail of the black fluid. "It's elastic and warm, too."

"Ta-da!" Malacoda exclaimed, puffing his chest proudly. "So? Awesome, isn't it?"

"Not really," Danhauser answered, seeing how the resin was flowing to the ground, but extremely slowly. "I presume that you can make small puddles of this liquid on the ground to ensnare foes and break their balance, half of the creatures we know can fly and easily avoid this."

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Malacoda scolded, chuckling at his musing. "It seems that you're thinking small, alright then! I'll show you the true potential!"

"What're you—" Danhauser felt the ground swallowed half of his body, startling him. He couldn't move his legs, like if he just accidentally stepped into quicksand. It was warm but scary.

"Look around." He heard the voice of his uncle, obeying, he spotted the small black puddle turn into a fucking lake! All the trees in the zone are slowly sinking like destroyed ships during a war, and all because of the pitch-resin doing its work.

"Okay, that's great," Danhauser grunted, trying to pull his leg out, the suction preventing him from being able to pull it out and at the same time the other leg went down deeper. "Can you take me out, I'm starting to freak out over here!"

Malacoda only snickered, resting atop of a drowning tree. Snapping his fingers, he summoned tentacles made of the same properties as the lake, all of them sliding for Danhauser.

"Oh no." Danhauser watched how they wrapped around his torso, slowly pulling him out. "My uncle is tying me up with his tentacles; we just need elves and orcs to start the perfect doujinshi."

Finding a new spot in a branch of a random tree, Danhauser nodded his thanks to his uncle, who, in return snapped once again his fingers, the ground solidified forthwith.

"See? You just need to think outside of the box!" Malacoda raised his arms up to the air. "You cannot only booby trap your enemies in pools of pitch resin! You can also create things from them! Such as wolves, birds, dragons and if you're in kinky stuff, tentacles!"

"Sorry, but what was the last part?" Of course, he knew what he'd just said.

"Now let's start learning on how to use a spear accurately!" Malacoda jumped to the next subject, apparently missing out Danhauser's question. "Get down here!"

He now appreciated his other Clan Trait. It's around a mix of changing things from solid to a sticky liquid, and an interesting way of molding figures to aid him during a troublesome moment. He knows that he cannot turn a good lump of ground into the pitch-black substance, perhaps just a little, or not make the same creatures such as Malacoda put on sale, but with enough practice, he could do it, or better.

"If I master it, could I combine it with Worthlessness?" By making the tentacles that his Uncle had summoned earlier plus enhanced with his nullifying abilities then there's not a necessity of running blindly towards the foe, as long as Danhauser can keep the enemy distracted, then an appendage of resin can lunge to his blind spot.

Funnily, the arts of making limbs with this element is not necessarily relevant; he could make an eastern dragon added with Belial traits IF and only IF, he learned how to command it properly. But perhaps, the bigger the creation, the expensive it'd be, and adding worthlessness as a bonus? He's going to exhaust to death. For now, baby steps.

Smiling, Danhauser jumped down, mentally thanking whoever upgraded his exoskeleton enough to survive a fall such as this one. Seeing that only a spear remained on the livid grass, he took it, facing his trainer. "So what's first?"

The grin hasn't wiped away from Malacoda's face, winking he started. "Okay, first of all, we're going to work on your stance, before you go chasing at the unlucky bastard like a pissed dragon." He whistled at him, resting his spear around his shoulders. "Alright, impress me!"

"…" Danhauser glanced down at his weapon and looked back at his trainer before humming and obeying his uncle's words.

Danhauser carefully mo—

"Alright stop." Malacoda raised a hand. "You already had made your first mistake."

"What? I haven't moved at all." Danhauser stated.

"Exactly. You haven't moved." He signaled at their closeness. "Long arms beat short arms, all else being equal. That means if both combatants are equally skilled, and the combat ground suits all weapons, the one with the long arm beats the one with the short arm. Spear beats sword. Abuse your distance; you're far too close to my body."

"Ah, sorry forgot about that one." Danhauser sheepishly shuffled away from his uncle, keeping a decent distance for the upcoming sparring.

"Good. Now," Malacoda drawled. "Before we jump into the action, we're going to tweak your footwork. In all types of martial arts, if your feets aren't in an adequate position, your speed could be decreased, easy to push around and find it difficult to attack." He took a deep breath, nodding at his nephew. "Stand perpendicular to your dear uncle, with your feet shoulder width apart."

"…" Danhauser slowly nodded and obeyed by moving at the right angle Malacoda told him to do so, followed by his feet moving to the right destination. "Like this?"

"Yes." Malacoda hummed. "Turn your body now." Seeing Danhauser moved his body made him frown. "Stop, repeat it once again without moving your hips." Evil Tail grinned at the sight. "Great! Your leading foot should be closer to your opponent."

"What's next?" Danhauser asked, frozen in place.

"Now, bend your knees to lower the middle of your gravity. It will make the opponent struggle in pushing you around." Malacoda pursed his lips, seeing how slowly Danhauser was lowering himself. "There! That's the spot, now, without breaking your stance, move all your weight to the balls of your feet. The added focus will keep your mind sharp, and the change in weight allocation will let you move quicker." He used his tail to grab the remaining spear around his shoulders. "Now that you have pictured that stance on the back of your head, now concentrate on the spear in your hands. You want your weapon to protect your whole body, show me how you would do it."

Danhauser frowned, slowly looking at the spear laying his hands, glancing back at his Uncle to see any hints on the way he wields the weapon around, seeing none, he sighed. "Alright, I'll do my best." With his backhand, it left an inch of pole sticking out behind his hand, just in case his uncle tried to yank it away during the sparring. He hesitantly moved his lead hand a shoulder with apart from the backhand. Lastly, he pointed the tip at Malacoda's stomach. "…I did it wrong, right?"

"Honestly, you were doing it perfectly, but you ruined it in the last part." Malacoda somewhat praised him. "When you're in combat, do not aim to the stomach, always, ALWAYS! Point to where the rear shoulder is. If you do it, the spear would be angled in three ways—onward, toward the opponent in a threatening manner. From their shoulder to your waist, protecting you from shoulder to waist. From your rear hand to their back shoulder, protecting you from one side to the other, capisce?"

Nodding, he shifted the pole just as his trainer ordered him to do so. "Yeah, capisco."

Chuckling, Malacoda spun his spear professionally, taking a pose that it was similar to a famous blue-haired Spearman from the Nasuverse. "Good thing these wooden spears aren't sharp at all! Now listen, for now, attack randomly, I want to see what are the essential things we need to concentrate on the next training."

Danhauser wanted to question his posture, but being aware of Malacoda's dexterity on the weapon, he held his tongue. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Alright, bring it on."

Malacoda grinned almost sadistically and lunged at his nephew. The night is still young and time enough for a few bruises ruin his grey-white skin and attire. He just wished that he could at least survive long enough to learn a few tricks from Evil Tail.


"Are you okay, sweetie?" Calcabrina lowered herself at her son's height, spinning him around to see how many wounds he'd earned.

"You know, now that you ask, my knee is a little sore, could you perhaps check it out? I think an arrow took my knee."

"I was speaking to my son, imbecile."

Malacoda did his best to stifled back his chuckle at the warning glare of his younger sister. "He's okay. I'm kind of surprised that he could stand up even after I beat him into a pulp, your son surely has good endurance." He praised, staring at Danhauser for a while before slipping him a wink. "If you keep enhancing your endurance, in no time, you'll turn into a fitness machine in bed!"

"Malacoda… you're standing on thin ice now." Lady Belial warned him. "Keep talking about profanities around my son, and I'll make sure to impale your tail where the sun doesn't shine."

Danhauser flinched, seeing how his uncle's barbed tail froze into a halt, jittering at the obscene thought.

"I'm alright mom," Danhauser finally answered, taking Calcabrina's eyes off from Malacoda's body. "Just a few bruises, nothing too serious."

Her gaze once again softened. "If you say so." She stood up, ruffling her son's gray hair lovingly while facing Malacoda. "Everyone's in the main room; we should get moving."

They walked together, Calcabrina and Malacoda having little chats about their past and other stuff, sometimes Evil Tail would throw a tease in the conversation, securing a hard look from Lady Belial, much to his uncle's amusement.

"Finally, you three are here." Diehauser greeted them, glancing down at his brother. "Seeing those bruises I'll assume that the training was troublesome?"

Looking at the occupants around the room, he spotted his whole family, including Gilles and surprisingly Siegfried. He shook his head, answering. "Yes, it was."

"Let's make this quick, then!" Cleria cheered, clapping. "Danny, summon your Evil Pieces!"

Danhauser lifted an eyebrow at the order, also getting used at the feminine nickname. "Why?"

"Remember why I'd told you not to open up your chess pieces?"

Letting the Emperor's words sink in his mind, his eyes widened slightly. Nodding, he summoned his Evil Pieces, still locked in its elegant box. He carefully placed it in the middle of the gray table, where everyone began surrounding the Chess Pieces.

"So inside of this container lies the well-known Evil Pieces I've heard of?" Siegfried muttered to himself, looking at the object that would change his life forever.

"Who's going first?" Diehauser asked, looking at the guests scattered in the room. "Gilles?"

The Butler blinked before sighing. "As you wish." He moved his hand inside his pocket, grunting. After a while, he tossed something shiny on the table. "My bet is a Mutated Knight."

"Wait, what?" Danhauser frowned, staring the valuable coins that Gilles left on the table. "Is this the supposed, O legendary tradition of the House of Belial?"

His question had received an answer when Cleria added her part on the gamble. "Three Mutated Pawns!"

"Well, those are a lot of pawns," Danhauser muttered, sticking to watch in silence.

Siegfried only nodded in agreement, standing beside his new master.

Malacoda hurled a small purse of money. "I'm going big here! Mutated Queen!"

Honestly, young Belial was filling slightly jealous and pissed. In his previous, he wasn't living in a family where everyone could shit money. They weren't poor either, but having a slightly higher of wealth wouldn't hurt anyone. Maybe it's just his greedy side flaring up at the disturbing sight.

But hey, they're Devils, what he sees wrong, they see it as something normal.

Calcabrina slid her share for the charity. "Bishop."

"Likewise," Diehauser parroted his mother. "Bishop. Dan, open up the small box."

Danhauser merely shrugged and took hold of his precious Evil Pieces, slowly opening the container.

"… Gilles won." Danhauser mentally cheered of having a mutated Evil Piece in his arsenal.

Everyone groaned except Gilles who only cackled silently.

"My, my. Who would have thought? First a beautiful sword and now the salary of two gentlemen and two beautiful ladies." Gilles giggled as he pushed the treasure closer to his figure. "Oh dear, today is not even my birthday."

"Great! All my dreams completely gone!" Malacoda cheered.

"I don't get it, why you guys are getting depressed about this?" Danhauser couldn't help but ask. "Each one of you has more money in those pockets, right?"

"… What you say it's true." Cleria admitted, chuckling awkwardly. "But winning a game of chance against the family is always exciting and way more satisfying taking their belongings than obtaining them from work, plus it's fun."

The rest nodded their heads, mutually asserting at her choice of words. Finally, the small group began dispersing with Gilles being the first one to offer his farewell and a small glare for Siegfried with the latter returning the gesture.

"Enjoy Gram while it lasts, sooner or later, I'll reclaim what's mine back," Siegfried vowed, watching the departing figure of the Frenchman.

"Don't stay up too late," Calcabrina warned her youngest son, kissing the top of his head. "Remember that you have school tomorrow."

"Ah, speaking of school," Diehauser turned around while nodding at Cleria good night. "You'll be seeing something… interesting in your academy."

Danhauser and Calcabrina curled their eyebrows, the two completely lost on the subject. "What do you mean?"

Diehauser pocketed his hands, shrugging. "Something that the House of Bael had demanded, and I'd accepted it."

Danhauser frowned, Sairaorg's Clan are the Great Kings of the Underworld, perhaps they'd requested some that could benefit the Realm of the Devils and Fallen Angels? He'd wanted to think it was only a selfish claim, but seeing how Diehauser was calm and how he'd accepted it without being forced, then maybe it would be for the sake of their entire race.

"Goodnight," Diehauser yawned, climbing the stairs, followed by his mother.

...

"Well, let's do this, then." Danhauser took a knight piece, scrutinizing it, it was just as the same color of his hair. "Are you ready to leave your life as an exorcist and turn into my servant?"

Siegfried stood straight and clenched his fists, eyeing the Knight Piece in his hand. "Yes, I am, master."

Danhauser smiled at his soldier-like attitude and moved the Chess Piece closer to his chest. "My name is Danhauser Belial—call me Dan." His smile widened slightly. "Welcome to the family, Sieg."


-Guest Review-

Lurker: Ja! Esto te lo digo ya, van a haber docenas de fectos de mariposas durante el transcurso del fanfic, unos que hasta pueden cambiar el rumbo de DxD, y no no tengo miedo de enfrentarme tal fenómeno y este fanfic vivirá hasta que llege al final.

Entiendo que odies esas cosas de traición de Rias o convertirla en un personaje OOC, yo también detesto ese genero, son muy usadas y ya tienden a ser aburridas. Gracias por la review! Saludos!


There we go. Sorry if the fight between Siegfried and Gilles de Rais was not satisfying, I suck writing fighting scenes, but I'll do my best! Since we are talking about DxD and it's one of the main things around the Anime, the other being boobs.

I want to say address something quick. Trust me on this one, guys. Danhauser's Peerage is going to be Amazing.

Now the essential thing about this chapter. Malacoda Malebranche, or more specific, the House of Malebranche.

They're like Mephistopheles, the one who appeared in the German legend and novel of John Faust. But unlike him, these guys appeared in the Italian literature: Divine Comedy and met with the two poets, Dante and Vergil. Their House Trait also comes from the very same poem; their duty was to throw the corrupt politicians under the surface of a boiling lake made of Pitch—resin—sometimes is called as a lake of tar or both. I just imagined this similar to the Sitri's trait.

And no. The whole family is not going to appear for a LONG TIME. So we'll only see Calcabrina's and Malacoda's points of view.

Nothing else to add here, other than I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Cheers!


Next Chapter: An Orphan Dog