Chapter 12: Dis.


"Let me understand this whole mess," Tobio leaned on the sofa with his arms wrapped behind his seat, glare focused on the gray-haired devil, "My granny was a member of the Himejima Clan, a small society whose purpose is to purify evil creatures such as these 'Youkai'?"

"Yes," His master answered, knocking aside the cold look, "You were a descendant."

While Danhauser wasn't in the mood for answering all the questions that were aggravating the Mutated Knight, Belial had promised to clear all his thoughts. Surprisingly—for him—conversing with someone else regarding divergent issues is helping him, not by a huge margin, but fairly well to keep his mind clean from the words of a certain German.

"Were?" The Japanese repeated, his eyes moving along with the Longinus Dog, Jin, and the shapeshifted dragon, Bova, running in circles around Danhauser's room.

"Remember, you just said evil creatures, Devils are evil creatures, therefore you're right now one of their enemies," Danhauser sighed, shaking his head, "Sorry about that, by the way."

Tobio rolled his eyes, "Eh, whatever, the bastards didn't exactly care for me anyway, so what gives?"

"Why would you jump to that conclusion?" Siegfried asked, bored after watching the dragon and dog chasing one another, "Perhaps they didn't know about your existence. Just as Master said, you were their descendant, meaning that your grandmother kept her distance from them for an amount of time."

"Actually, I phrased that wrong," The Belial rubbed his neck, "You are still a descendant of the Clan, sure, but they'll deny your existence completely after turning yourself into a Devil."

"His Sacred Gear may or may not play a role there…" Danhauser targeted the Black Dog, for an odd reason, the Five Principal Clans have a strict personality. He even dared to call them racist. A good example is one of Tobio's cousins, Akeno Himejima, who was declared as an abomination by her own Clan.

A similar fate fell upon Sona's Queen shoulders, Tsubaki from the Shinra Clan, just by being born with her Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice. Her own Clan behaved antagonistically with the girl. This may be the reason why Ageha Ikuse isolated herself from the Clan, to make sure Tobio doesn't go through the same treatment.

He could inform his newest chess piece, true, but he fears that he may start growing a grudge towards his godly artifact and his hostility toward the dog may damage their relationship and inhibit Canis Lykaon's Balance Breaker.

"Now it makes sense," Siegfried nodded, smiling at Tobio, "I have to say, your former Faction, the Himejimas, act identically to the Church."

Similar to his eyebrows, the Japanese sank deeper on the couch, "How so?"

"They eliminate creatures that can harm humanity," He answered nonchalantly, "Plus they have multiple headquarters."

"I wouldn't call it headquarters," Danhauser countered, "More like 'allies fighting for a similar purpose.' I doubt a Himejima would be allowed live or enter the Doumon's territories unless it's important, but hey, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know how they solve things."

"You know who the leader is?" Tobio asked, glancing up at the roof, "The Himejima Clan, I mean."

"No, I don't," Danhauser lied. "Either his cousin or the one who'd chased after Akeno is the leader of the Clan."

Slash Dog clicked his tongue, gently slamming a fist on the cozy seat, "Damn." He sighed, rubbing his nose, digesting everything that his Master had explained from beginning to end.

The room fell into silence, each one of them minding their own business. Danhauser began shuffling and glancing around his habitation, waiting for someone to bring another subject to talk about. Unfortunately, no one seemed enthusiastic to converse.

"Come on, someone?" Danhauser's focus landed on Tobio, who was occupied on discussing with himself, then at Siegfried who sat beside him, arms folded, legs outstretched and eyes closed. Jin and Bova still fooling around, or in Bova's self-defense, trying to duel the canine.

"Sometimes, I wish I could read minds," He harrumphed behind a clenched fist, "Is there any questions you have Tobio?"

"…" Tobio stayed quiet, shooting Belial a look that lasted three seconds, "Nope. Not at all."

"Okay."

"Actually…" The Longinus User trailed off, ensnaring Danhauser's attention, "I do have a question…"

"Oh? What is it?"

The brunet tried to follow the two playful creatures with his light gray eyes, "Hey, uh, Bova, right? Can I ask you something?"

The Dragon gridlocked, sending one last growl at the dog before looking at the owner of the voice, "What?"

"Are you in the Peerage, too?"

The dragon shapeshifted back to his gargantuan form. "No."

Tobio let Jin jump over his thigh, smiling, he scratched Jin's neck, chuckling whenever the dog expulsed whines of approvance. "Are you going to join…?"

"…" The dragon, disregarding Ikuse's curiosity, continued to stare at him with red orbs honed with wariness, studying intensely his body language rather than his words. Finally, he blinked those red, slitted eyes, followed by a grunt, "Maybe. I don't know how dad and my brothers would feel if I joined you guys. Even if they accepted, I wouldn't join so easily."

"Oh?" Danhauser curved an eyebrow, "Having you in my Peerage would be actually amazing."

Bova laughed, "Heh-heh-heh. Want me in your ranks? Cute." He smashed both fists together. "The only way you'll recruit me is the Dragon way. I don't plan on turning myself into your servant unless you show me you're worthy enough."

"Haven't we fought enough to prove my worthiness?" Danhauser said amusingly.

Bova pouted, "Yeah, but all those fights ended up in a draw! This time, someone will fall unconscious."

Belial had to fend off the urge of flinching in front of his Peerage, he couldn't find a comeback to oppose Bova's choice of words, the dragon is, without a single doubt, correct in his statement. Every time Danhauser brawled with Bova, he would make sure to slap a deadline in the fight as soon as possible, for a good reason: Bova's Outrage Mode, which Danhauser's frightened of.

Nonetheless, of all that, Danhauser shook his head and winked at the dragon, "Anytime, big guy."

"Is he fucking serious…" whispered Tobio, wide-eyed.

"Who would win? The Dragon or the Devil?" inquired Siegfried, "An intriguing question, I dare to say so myself."

"No, it isn't." Bova grinned, never looking away from those gray orbs, "Baby imp here wouldn't stand a chance."

"Don't listen to this overgrown lizard." Danhauser returned the facial expression, "The only thing he could beat is a glass of warm milk."

Bova's tail lashes back and forth excitedly behind him, thumping powerfully into the narrow walls, forcing both Knights to hang their heads when the chunk of muscle moved toward them. "Heh! I'll enjoy wiping that grin out of your face!"

"Okay, boss lost his mind." He turned to the silver-haired Knight. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

Siegfried kept his eyes on the two, "Why? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about this duel, besides…" He gazed downwards, "I would like to know how much a dragon and a devil can bleed."

"…What?"

"Nevermind that," mumbled Siegfried, facing his King once more. "Something else you wish to discuss, master?"

The King broke eye contact, "Back to business, then," he scratched his scalp, sighing, "You guys finished training?" Seeing them nod, made the Belial hum, "Okay, then go to Kuoh and spread flyers, after that, you have the day practically free, I'd recommend you practicing a little more just in case, but do as you wish."

"I'll give you two a hand," Bova walked to the doors, most likely not taking a 'no' for an answer, "I'll be outside."

Danhauser smiled, waving at the retreating dragon, "Dismissed." He spun around and laid his hands on the table, grinning,"Damn I always wanted to say that."

"Just one last thing," Slash Dog said with a raised hand, pry into locate the fitting words, finding none, he groaned and addressed the elephant in the room, "Any pieces of information from my… classmates? Anything?"

"…" Danhauser bit his tongue. He perfectly knows the status of the missing students and unmasked the one devising from the shadows, but should he tell him?

"Anything at all?" Once again, the brunet desperately repeated, taking a step closer.

"They're alive."

Tobio's heart stopped beating for a second. Lost in words, he muttered incoherent things, "W-What?"

"They're alive," Danhauser confirmed with a deep sigh, whirling around to look at his servant directly in the eye. He could see hope sparkling in those light-gray orbs. Unfortunately, Belial wasn't done. "However, we don't know who's the leader, the name of their little group, and their purpose. For now, we'll keep ourselves low and stay calm."

The shine disappeared from his eyes. "I can't stay calm while my friends are in trouble!" Slash Dog barked, "We need to do something! I…I can't just sit here with arms folded."

"And we're doing something," Danhauser countered, eliciting a frown from the Longinus User, "We're training, remember? I'd sworn that I'll keep you and Sae safe from those terrorists. They'll come back, I'm sure of it. I urge you get combat ready when the fickle finger of fate points at us."

After listening to his assurances, Tobio rubbed his temple "I… maybe… couldn't we just ask the Underworld's headquarters to help us out?"

"Why would they?" Immediately, the King dismissed the option, much to Tobio's dismay, "I'm sorry, but the Underworld has nothing to do with the Luxury Case, unless you have a huge offer to give in return, then maybe you'll peek their attention. The Underworld is only getting involved when they invade a Devil's territory. Chin up. They're still breathing, why else would they capture them?"

"All I ask is patience, damn it." He didn't like to play the fool, but he has no other option left. If he somehow told his cousin about this, then surely, she'll get suspicious, how come a teenager, who hasn't watched the news for who-knows-how-long, identified the group behind all this chaos? When professionals went to investigate the strange case of the missing students?

Belial did promise he'll lend his servant a hand when the time comes, but for now, the best course would be to tread lightly, and in his own way.

"…" The brunet chewed his lip, hands curled into trembling fists. He ignored Jin's snuggles, "… I get it. I'll be going, boss."

He twirled, walking like his shoes were too tight, making short little strutting steps like a clockwork soldier, his Sacred Gear following from behind.

"Before I forget," Danhauser called out, looking down, "Share this message with Sae, if you guys, by any means, discover a familiar face from the school trip, stay away." He peered up once again, seeing Tobio cast a small glare behind his shoulder, it felt like a cold knife stabbing his chest, "I repeat, stay away and contact me immediately, no ifs or buts—this is for your sake guys. Clear?"

The Japanese clicked his tongue, closing the door, "Clear."


Siegfried blinked. "What just happened?" He faced his King, "Did I miss something?"

"Tobio's friends are captives by a group of mysterious criminals. All this transpired during a ruined school trip to Hawaii," Danhauser answered with a small wave of his hand. "They're alive, that's what counts."

"How can you tell?"

"The news stated that there was no blood and no bodies were discovered at the crime scene, yet."

"You sound way too calm, master."

"Huh," Danhauser frowned as he lay back on the table, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Siegfried trailed off, passing a hand through his silver hair. He lowered his face, then in a second he took aim and fired a look, "There are lives at stake, Danhauser… adolescents, innocents facing who knows what, maybe the television is hiding us the truth, you should know that."

His frown morphed into narrowed eyes. He folded his arms, "What're you implying, Siegfried?"

"… Just so I know, are you worried about this whole situation at all?"

Danhauser withstood the urge of groaning in front of his Knight. He should've seen this coming; Siegfried was an Exorcist, his former job was supposed to protect the weak from lurkers of the dark such as Devils and Vampires. Once his former leaders commanded him to protect a village at all cost, with a strong nod, the swordsman jumped into the fray. Now? He's been ordered to spread flyers while innocents are being either experimented or killed by the wicked.

"We're not ready. We're not fucking ready. We'll have to wait until Slash Dog's plot commences. The consequence of recruiting Canis Lykaon, ladies and gentlemen," Danhauser took a deep breath, "We're going to help Tobio. That's what matters," he responded, adding, "Besides, will worrying about them help save them?"

The silver-haired teenager bit his tongue, looking aside, frowning, "I… I suppose not, but still..."

Danhauser smiled faintly, preceded by a single clap, "Great. Then I'll continue not to make that mistake."

"…" Siegfried didn't look back but felt his eyebrow twitch slightly.

Danhauser, on the other hand, ignored it, motioning to the doors with a nod, "Siegfried, keep an eye on Tobio while spreading flyers. Also, there are Exorcists in Kuoh. I'll explain later. I prefer if you stay hidden from them, perhaps they'll know about your appearance with a mere glance."

After an extended pause, the swordsman scoffed, "I doubt it. While I'm well-known among multiple Churches' installations, they still don't know about my features. Only my name, and nicknames—but if you wish, I'll change my attire to appear as a civilian."

"Thank you. Don't forget watching over Tobio."

"Of course, master."

Seeing his first Peerage member give a salute and disappear from the same route that Tobio and Bova had, made Danhauser groan behind his palm, "And here I thought that leading a Peerage would be easy." He chuckled, massaging his heavy eyes, "What an idiot I am."

Then he sat down heavily in the easy chair, seemed almost to fall into it, leading his elbows atop the elegant table. A shiver ran through his spine as the memories of yesterday's conversation flashed before his gray orbs. The worst part is that he couldn't share this with anyone, if he did, the Magician would bite back and it wouldn't end well for both parties, especially on Danhauser's side.

The sigh that escaped Danhauser's dry lips was quiet as if his brain needed that time to develop what had transpired this week. His eyes hovered fixed on the floor, on the exact place Rudiger had stood straight and tall.

"Okay, I need to distract myself with something else," Danhauser changed his focus on the floor, grumbling. He knows that the German is friends with Diehauser. Maybe he's not that bad? Knowing Diehauser, The Emperor may be picky when it involves forging bonds. This could be doubtable because, for an odd reason, Diehauser thought it'd be a fantastic idea to bring back to life a child murderer.

"Maybe he's doing this to make sure I don't harm Diehauser…? Like hell, I would do that, anyway." Danhauser huffed and softly slammed a fist on the table, "Whatever it is, he'll come back to make me spill the beans. How unlucky."

Danhauser broke when the door banged, vaulting slightly. He glared behind his shoulder, unmoving. "Yes?"

"It's me, sweetie, are you busy?" His mother, Calcabrina, said from the other side.

Danhauser sighed softly. His mother would punch doors like they were exclamation marks to whatever she had just shrieked. Often, they would bounce in the frame and she'd repeat the cycle again, shattering Danhauser's eardrums for the second time. She's a good woman from the heart, but dear Maou, she needs to control her power behind those fists!

"Not at all," Her son responded after the silence, "Come in."

Soon enough, he heard his mother mutter an 'excuse me' followed by the door opening. It's creaking sent a chill swim down his spine. It sounded like some dying animal, crying out in pain and sorrow with its last breath. Spooky.

Even his mother winced, shooting a small glare at the frame, perhaps writing a mental note. Her deep red-eyes jumped over to her son once again, smiling, "I'm sorry for bothering you, sweetie, but I have to tell you something," she paused pushing locks of ebony hair behind her ear, "Has my brother or yours informed you that tomorrow you'll be visiting your father?"

Danhauser's eyes widened slightly. Father, a word that he hasn't heard for a long time, even in his previous life. "No, they didn't at all."

Her smile disappeared, "I knew it," she huffed, rubbing her temple with a faint sigh, "I don't even know why I'd decided to leave it in the hands of those two…" she shook her head."Well, now you know dear, be prepared, okay?"

Danhauser nodded, "Okay, I'll be ready, then."

She tilted her head, something was wrong. "Is something bothering you?"

Her son held the urge of jumping from his spot. "Not at all, I'm great, nothing to worry about."

It was getting hard to look her in the eyes, mostly when her red pools showed the kind of gentle concern his real mother used to show. She moved closer, dropped to her knees and laid her hands lightly on his shoulders and instead of flinching like he usually did, he—surprisingly—was soothed by it. "You know you can tell me what's troubling you, right?" A proud smile bloomed on her face, passing her thumbs over his cheeks. "After all, I'm your mother."

"… I'm nervous about meeting dad," The half lie slipped out, smooth and easy, like melted butter sliding down toast.

He doesn't feel too proud about lying. He'd even received compliments of it in his previous life by his small group of friends. The flattery didn't make him feel great, on the contrary…

"…" Calcabrina kept her silence in check, scanning her son's gray orbs with hers. She contained a sigh, "… Don't be. Your father is a great man. It's a pity he has to stay in that damned city." Her smile returned shakily, squeezing her child's shoulders, "Promise me that no matter what, you'll return to mommy, okay?"

Danhauser moved his eyeballs from side to side. Then back at Lady Belial's lovingly gaze, "Suuuure?"

Calcabrina's smile widened. She felt like a bouncing ball, "Perfect." She hushed, planting a kiss on Danhauser's forehead before standing up, "Food's going to be served in a few minutes, love you."

The teenager waved at her retreating form. He brought a hand to lightly rub his chin, imitating a contractor evaluating an employee, "Well, today's Sunday. So I won't be missing Sairaorg's showdown. Better stop my Peerage and Bova from spreading flyers, they'll miss the food. I hope they add a bunch of bananas for our resident dragon."

Chuckling at his horrible joke, and cringing slightly along the way, he hopped down the table like a slinking panther and rushed quickly towards the door, hoping to reach his Peerage just in time.


Dawn broke out from the horizon, and the train was late. Danhauser was left with Diehauser and Malacoda on the platform with ten minutes of hearing the cringy jokes of their dear uncle. His mother had bid them a farewell, sticking around the territory to watch it for Lord Belial. Gilles de Rais offered his assistance. Danhauser also put Siegfried in charge while he's absent on his exploration with his family. Bova wanted to come, but he couldn't, much to the dragon's anger.

The sudden discordant, machine-like shriek broadcasted the entrance of the elegant carriage. Not impressed by the quality—all polished metals and rich upholstery. The doors reluctantly eased open with the smoothness of butter sliding through toast, the handles bright as diamonds. There is only one benefit of waking up at five thirty in the morning from the slam of the door that came like a bullet. Credit goes to the Malebranche Brothers.

Danhauser had mounted a train during his previous life, and there was a seat that he always loved. Endowed with the generous elbow room and a guaranteed window seat all to himself. Settling into his self-proclaimed throne followed by Diehauser and Malacoda seating in front of him, they shared a mutual sigh after hearing the air conditioner turning on and caressing their skins.

"Now we're talking!" Malacoda sighed once again, leaning in his seat with his arms behind his head, "Damn how much I love air conditioning!"

"Make it two," Danhauser looked around to see if there was any passenger on the train, dumbfounded by the emptiness. He turned to his uncle, "Are we the only ones on the train?"

"Well, if you count the driver, then we're four," Malacoda answered with four fingers sticking in the air, kicking his feet up on the table to lean further on his seat, startling the Emperor.

"…" Slowly, Diehauser aimed his orbs towards his uncle, who in return, was wiggling his eyebrows at him.

"Don't worry, Dan. It's no big surprise that this train is mostly empty," Diehauser said, pushing Malacoda's feet off as he did so, "Not many devils would want to take a step closer to that city."

"Why?" He asked, ignoring Malacoda's puffed cheeks.

"For starters, the city's purpose is not entirely made for people who want restart their lifestyle. It's preferable to just stick with the Extra Demons if you want to start from zero." Diehauser responded, "I'm not implying that you can't live there, of course, you can, but don't expect something out of this world."

"What your brother means is that the city has shitty scenery," Malacoda shrugged. The train taking a plunge, inching ahead at an endurable pace. "All in all, the citadel isn't a place for tourism and a place to start from zero."

"Then what's its purpose?" Danhauser asked. The ride rocking back and forth, its relentless whining and groaning equal to a newborn wailing after leaving their mother's womb.

He flashed a grin, "T the place is secluded from the current Devil Society such as the 72 Pillars and Extra Demons, the only thing that is bridging the city with these two are exchanging stuff with one another."

"Such as…?"

Lord Malebranche winked, "Anything."

Danhauser blinked and slowly turned to his brother, who is supposed to know a lot about the Underworld. He saw the nod, confirming his curiosity.

Malacoda boomed a laugh, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the famous city known as the Treasure of Lucifer himself! The Eternal Citadel!" He took a deep breath, "The City of Dis!"

"City of this… what?"

"No, no! Dis! Not 'this!' Dis!" Malacoda corrected him, wagging his tail across his nephew's face.

Danhauser brushed the barbed tail away, "Why the Eternal Citadel?"

"Our ancestors believed that no matter what happened to the world or how the Underworld, Grigori, Heaven changed or collapsed, Dis would go on forever, no matter what." Evil Tail said with a pinch of pride mixing in his voice. "And they were right! The City continues to move on even after the First Satans's deaths during the Great War! Dis turned into one of the most important places in the Underworld."

"I don't get it, yet," Danhauser admitted, "Why would no one want to take a single step toward that place? It is the Treasure of Lucifer, isn't it?"

"Let's just say Dis isn't concentrated on tourism, like uncle had said," Diehauser replied, "the City of Dis is fixated on delivering more than anything else."

"Trading system, yeah?" Danhauser arched an eyebrow, earning a nod from his brother, "That's where the money comes from?"

Honestly, the Pillars have multiple ways to obtain cash. A perfect example is the Phenex. Danhauser knows that the House that Ravel comes from is perhaps one of the wealthiest around the Pillars. Around the top five, he dares to bet. Not only because of their powerful potions but one of Lord Phenex's sons is known as one of the bosses of a media company, thus increasing their fortune.

He doesn't know if the Rating Games has a payment. Surely, it gives fame to you and your House, mostly if you are around the Top Ten, and thanks to Ruval, the Phenex House triumphs right there.

"Not really," Diehauser said, "The money comes out from anywhere. The way how Dis works is to export goods to Houses of Ars Goetia, Houses of Extra Demons or any other race. Unlike the Pillars, they don't show distrust to any other race and they even accept you with arms wide open as long as you have money filled in your pockets."

"So they work together to sell merchandise to many customers?"

Malacoda slammed a hand on the table, laughing, "Pfff! Teamwork?! Good one!" He flashed a toothy grin, "Kiddo. They're in a war!"

"What," Danhauser deadpanned, "You're joking, right?"

"I'm afraid not!"

"So, you literally sent us into a conflict between Clans?"

Evil Tail scoffed and waved off his worries. "Relax. It's no longer a war where blood was smeared on the walls and corpses found on the streets. They'd understood that no one was actually winning. The Clans realized it was in their mutual interests to broker a truce, each Clan is fighting in a similar way, selling."

"…" Danhauser shook his head, "Are you involve in this war, too?"

"Not really, my Housecarl makes business with them." Lord Malebranche scratched his nose, "After all, where do you think they get their slaves to do their dirty jobs?"

"Slaves? Isn't a bad thing to enslave creatures from different mythologies?"

Malacoda frowned, but after grasping his nephew's words, his eyes wrenched wide, "Whoa! Don't think the slaves are different races! We stopped doing that a loooong time ago! When Lucifer reigned to be specific." He cleared his throat loudly, "Anyways, that's where my Housecarl strikes! We, the Malebranche, thanks to our birthplace, Malebolge, which turned into a prison for evil creatures, are in charge of selling slaves to the Clans that are living in Dis! The slaves are Stray Devils that either my Housecarl captures and jails them on Malebolge or when a King is pissed and disposes of their shitty servants by selling it to yours truly. Capisci?"

"…" Danhauser struggled on nodding, but he triumphed, albeit with difficulties. He didn't know what to expect. Good treatment? Not at all. It wasn't surprising that Dis would go and find anything useful on the Stray Devils, unlike the other Factions, which they execute on sight.

Choosing the life of a Stray Devil is like the world has turned against you, leaving you alone with the Chess Piece that your former master had reincarnated you as.

The worst part is that some of them choose the path of wanted criminals just to protect their dear ones, such as a certain famous black-haired Nekoshou.

What concerns him the most is the way Malacoda had said it, with the same happy-go-lucky tone he regularly carries around his vocal chords, as if he was speaking of the weather.

"He's a Devil, an old one." Danhauser grimaced, rapping his fingers along the table, "The way he thinks pretty much is the way a Devil thinks around here. I shouldn't be surprised."

The exchange had dwindled to nothingness, now the silence was as pure as an alabaster blanket. Diehauser kept his eyes fixed on the scenery behind the train's window. Malacoda merely looked up to the roof. When his ears became more adapted to the lack of sound he thought he could hear the gears grinding neighboring the train, but other than that only his cadenced breathing brokered the air.

"Hey, brother," Diehauser blinked, side-glancing at the teenager, "Can I ask you something else?"

"Shoot."

"Through fire, nature is reborn whole. What does it mean?"

"It refers to the cleansing power of fire," The Emperor replied nonchalantly, "Rosenkreutzer's motto. That's what you were talking about Rudiger yesterday?"

Danhauser forced a smile, "We chatted about this school. Thanks for your answer." He yawned, "I'll shoot in the dark and say it's going to take hours to reach Dis, I'll take a nap."

"G'night!" Malacoda chirped.

Diehauser stared before hesitantly turning his gaze back to the window, "… Sleep well."


When the vehicle stopped and the doors had hissed open, a gigantic cloud of dark smoke erupted from the belly of the station. Danhauser, unaware of the sudden assault, had a smoker's cough, hacking and wheezing while the two unaffected devils forcefully shut the door closed. He'd been ordered by The Emperor to stay here and wait for Evil Tail to fetch some gas masks situated around the terminal. For a second he'd thought his eyes were about to pop out from his sockets.

Malacoda hadn't taken too long to find the cleanest masks that the building had available for new visitors of Dis. It'd be a pain in the ass leave the station if it wasn't for Malacoda who knows the Citadel like the palm of his hand.

The three stepped outside of the building, attended by the mournful streets—they looked as if God had taken an eraser and begun to remove the beautiful nature that stayed behind with the 72 Pillars; like he'd had a sudden stroke of perfectionism and decided to start from zero. The tropical trees and other greenery appear in profusion within miles of roadway and even the lakes are beginning to be paved over by devil's ambitions. They didn't respect nature.

It was uncomfortable to see behind of the thin white vapor that is expelled from multiple factories. The gas mask didn't make the situation any better, while it protected his lungs; the cracked lens was so small that later Danhauser had to squint his eyes to have a comfortable sight. If someone ever asks him the definition of pollution, Danhauser, without hesitating, would lend them a free ticket to explore the Citadel.

Lord Malebranche took a deep breath and sighed dreamily. "Ah! It has been weeks since I'd walked around these streets." He said, voice distorted by the mask. He spun around with arms wide open. "Thanks to Dis' prominence as a mercantile hub, it's been divided into dozens of districts by the Clan Merchants, we're in the District of Lucifuge, only those silver-haired bastards and customers are accepted here! So, welcome!"

Danhauser pursed his lips and kept on walking, his eyes swimming to the gigantic wall—whose function obviously is to separate them from other Clans—to the few houses and stores filled by buyers. The wind growled like some horror movie opener. He looked down at the land tanned of silver and gold, even with the mask on, he could inhale the swarming cesspool of corruption, chaos, scheming and invention. It was almost disgusting.

"Dis' many station bustle day and night as merchant trains approach and depart, carrying possessions of all sorts to places of all sorts to creatures of all sorts!" He heard his uncle's words as they annexed in the middle of a crowd. The citizen's movements like an army of robots being controlled by a supercomputer. Their consciousness in an autopilot mode—oblivious of their surroundings.

"Ugh, crowds…" Whenever he accidentally crashed with a devil, he'd utter an apology and move closer to Diehauser and immediately checking his pockets to make sure everything's there. Funnily they parroted the same gesture.

He felt his brother's hand on his shoulder, pinning him. "We're here." He said, and Danhauser could only nod and sigh with relief, he adjusted slightly his mask and waited for next orders.

Malacoda shoved the door open, letting his nephews jump inside first. "You can take your masks now, the air's fine here." He said after tossing the object away from his face. He slid a hand across his black hair, "Just a small walk and we'll reach his office. Let's go!"

Danhauser took a long breath after expulsing his gas mask, feeding his lungs with clean oxygen. He was relieved to finally be done with the outside and breathe under a roof. The mask smelled like some residual smoke and sweat. It was horrible. The walk they had to do to approach the building where his Dad works. Thankfully, they'd reached the decent corridors on their way to knock on daddy's door.

"… Even though they'd stopped the bloodshed, the war between them hasn't concluded as the Devils now turned to trade, exploiting warfare in the economics department! The Clans kept their rivalry at each other's throats, stubbornly outshining and outsmarting one another in pursuit of wealth and power!"

"Plutocracy in its greatest splendor," muttered Diehauser, pulling his mask away and entrancing Danhauser back to the real world.

"Sounds like a Cartel to me," Danhauser tossed his two cents, lips of course sealed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Malacoda said over his shoulder, halting. "Here we are!"

Checking out his left hand had still grasped the gas mask, Danhauser peeked up,"…Matanbuchus Belial." He tasted the name over his mouth, studying the sign embedded with gold.

"The one and only!" Evil Tail boomed a laugh, slapping Diehauser's back. "You gray rats stay here. We'll jump to introductions in a sec, Capisci?"

"What're you going to do?" Diehauser asked.

"We're going to kiss passionately."

The Emperor stared, "Ah."

Malacoda winked at his amused and youngest nephew, "I'll talk with your geezer for a bit," not expecting a response. He spun around, took a deep breath and—


With a kick that practically flung the door off its hinges, Malacoda scurried in with a goofy grin. He closed the door with a push of his tail. "Miss me? Buchus?"

Matanbuchus was slackly browsing the old wrinkled newspaper before looking up with those famous gray eyes. "Really?" He deadpanned, letting the newspaper land on the table, "Kicking my door? What if someone was here?"

"I would notice their presence easily," Malacoda pouted, arms folded, "And you're not doing shit! Just lying on your ass on the seat!"

Matanbuchus stared before chuckling, "Touché. Welcome back." He stood up, stretching, "You don't know how much you missed during your vacation, Coda."

Lord Malebranche blinked, "Hmm," he laid back on the nearest wall, staring at the man who looks identically as his oldest nephew, just with a beard and a suit, "What? Some slaves tried to escape? A brawl for food or a hot bimbo? Same crap, isn't it?" His tail froze, leaning slightly, "… or something that could peek my interest?"

"Something that could peek your interest," Matanbuchus repeated, sitting on the table, "It seems a new race has visited Dis."

"Y'know, I'm not in the mood of playing riddles after a boring ride," Malacoda said, "So, just hit me with your best gun."

"Or even better—I'll give you a hint." Diehauser's father said, slipping his hand into his pockets, "…It starts with 'Vam' and ends with 'pire.'"

"I said hit me, don't shit me," Malacoda said aghast.

The gray-haired devil laughed, slapping his knee, "Trust me, that was my reaction, too!" He slid out a pipe and a small satchel of tobacco. "Holy shit, Coda! I can't believe it. Of all races wandering on this damned world, the Vampires decided to send us a call!"

Evil Tail eyed the product in his hand, clicking his tongue. He concentrated his gaze on the man, "Which one of the two, though? Feminazi or Meninazi?"

His brother-in-law smiled, "Meninazi Faction." As if stowing a cherished gun, Matanbuchus pinched a volume of tobacco in the opening, tamping it evenly with a pipe tool. "I think you know what I'm trying to say."

His shoulders slumped slightly, "So, the fuckboys wanna buy some products to repair their territory after ending their overthrow?" He sighed, "Damn, and I was expecting something more thrilling, y'know?"

Matanbuchus smirked, clamping the pipe between his teeth, "And that's where you're wrong."

"Enlighten me, then."

"Try to guess."

"…" Malacoda frowned, watching keeping an eye out of how his sister's husband slithered a wooden match on the table then hovering the match over the packed product, he sipped pulling the flame inward, "Sorry man, nothing."

Grand puffs of smoke left from his mouth, relaxing, "They didn't actually send us a call. They are here, personally." He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke seep into his cells. "In a different building, though. A grown-up man and a boy that looks to be in his early twenties. Sounds familiar?"

His red eyes, his mouth, and even his barbed tail stopped working with a wide-open expression of stunned surprise, and although he was staring straight at Matanbuchus, he appeared not to notice him at all. "… My brother had told me about two figures fleeing from a mob of pissed-off vampires."

"Huh-huh." He blew a ring of smoke at Malacoda's direction.

Lord Malebranche ignored the smell of coal infiltrating his nostrils, "One of them was an adult—the supposed King of Tepes."

"Go on…"

"And the brat's his son…" Malacoda trailed off, whistling, "Holy shit! Are you guarding the former Fourth King of the Tepes?!"

"…" He inhaled slowly, his system responding to the smoke, and felt his lungs being wrapped in a warm blanket, "We're not protecting them. They stood at the entrance for Maou-knows-how-long." He grunted smoke, "We threatened them to move away from the Citadel's walls like five times, the son looked ready to leave defeated, but the fatherfucker didn't." He shrugged, "We rolled our eyes and let them in. Right now, a legion of guards is watching them."

"Meh. I would just attack these two, to be honest. Vampires are a pain in the ass, yeah?"

"We want to know what they want. If we're interested, we'll continue the talk, if not, we'll kick them out. Easy as that. I doubt he's here to work under Regent-Lord Lucifuge, though. Like us, they're prideful creatures, even more, arrogant I dare to say." His eyes sharpened. "But after thinking about it, I think I know what their motives are."

Malacoda's eyebrow curved, tapping the floor. "…What?"

He blew once again, "… Something that has the possibility to mark history," he leaned back. "Also I'd received small Intel from Regent-Lord Lucifuge. It seems the one that had caused the Coup d'etat was his second son, Marius Tepes."

"Damn, his own son dropped a Judas' act? Dick move."

Matanbuchus bobbed his head, "Reasons remains unknown, that's where I strike in." He heaved an exhausted sigh, "I need you here, Coda. I'll be speaking on behalf of Lucifuge with the jackass, who knows if he's going to do something alarming behind my back, you know how these assholes play."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," Malacoda dismissed his concerns with a wink, "I'll be watching your back, my princess."

"Speaking of princess…" Matanbuchus changed the subject with a dreamy smile, "How's my precious Calcabrina doing? Haven't heard of her for a while."

Malacoda slid a hand into his jacket, "Sis's alright, I guess. She's been acting off lately. Send her a poem or a pic of your ding-dong, maybe that'd brighten her mood. Also, she told me to give you this, catch."

Matanbuchus laid his pipe on his thigh, catching the object with ease, "A letter," he grinned, listening to his brother-in-law humming. He opened it, pouring himself on the two-cent paper. He smiled sadly and chuckled throughout the adventure. He sighed happily after reaching the last sentence. "So it is true…" He folded the letter, picking up his pipe, "If the letter is right, my supposed dead son has been training, a lot. Reasons?"

Malacoda grinned, pointing a thumb at his shoulder, "Why don't you ask him personally? They're here."

Matanbuchus' eyes widened, bending over as sharply as if he'd been punched in the stomach, smoke discriminately abandoning his throat, "W-What?!" By slow, torturous degrees, the coughs eased in intensity and then gradually, breathing properly. "P-pardon the fuck, Malacoda?! Why you didn't say a word?!"

Malacoda raised his hands, "Whoa, calm down! I thought you knew! Hadn't you felt the demonic power of Diehauser?!"

"I did felt a vast amount of power, I thought it was you!" He argued, groaning, quickly standing up to the window, taking one last sip of his pipe, he opened the window and tossed it away, "Damn it! Now this place smells like shit!"

"Then maybe's the time to stop smoking shit!"

"Shut your trap!" Snapped Matanbuchus, drawing out a spray from his drawer. Shaking it, he applied it to the whole room, waving his hand frantically to spread the smell of cinnamon to the furthest corners. He took a quick sniff, "Better."

Malacoda rolled his eyes.

"How do I look? Presentable?" Matanbuchus asked, cleaning his suit from any signs of tobacco.

"You look fine," Malacoda assured him, pushing himself off the wall, "I'll get the rats inside now, prepare yourself."

Matanbuchus could only nod as he adjusted his tie.


"Rudiger seems to be a cool guy," Danhauser suddenly said, hands inside his pants.

Diehauser smiled, "He is. I knew you would like him. He always knows how to entertain teenagers around your age."

Danhauser pursed his lips, "Right." He muttered, "Anyways, what can you tell me about him?"

The Emperor frowned, "… Don't you think it's wrong to talk behind someone's back?"

"Shit," Danhauser held back a hiss, "You're seeing this in a bad light. I won't be spreading fake rumors around the Underworld, I'm just curious about his past."

"…" Emperor Belial stared.

"Plus, he knows about me coming back to life. You'd told him behind my back."

"I didn't," Diehauser shot back. "The news of you leaving your coffin had spread around the Underworld. That was enough to catch Rudiger's interest."

"You'd granted him the permission to read my documents."

"I did it to make sure nothing was wrong with you. He's an expert when it involves anomalies such as this one." Diehauser explained, breaking eye contact, "I'm sorry, but I don't feel great speaking about his past. You'll have to win his trust."

Danhauser bit his tongue, "Well, I guess I deserve this. Unlucky."

"Why you want to know anyway?"

"…"

Diehauser sighed, "Troublesome."

Suddenly, the gray door swung open, Malacoda's head popping out from it, "Get moving! Dad's ready!"

Diehauser looked down at his brother, "Are you ready?"

Danhauser felt his heart's vibrations throughout his throat, tightly clenching the mask—he thought searching data would calm him down slightly, but after seeing the smallest crack coming back to life from the door, all that jumped out of the window. He only nodded, walking alongside with the Champion. Their uncle kept the door open.

The moment Danhauser made it inside the room, his nose perceived a pleasant smell while his gray eyes fell upon the unknown figure whose expression was a combination of thunderstruck, panic and denial. Finally, the supposed father broke into a wide, honey grin, Danhauser for a second thought actual nectar was about to fall off his mouth like a waterfall.

"If it wasn't for that beard, I'd thought it was Diehauser's twin," After the fleeting silence, Danhauser found himself lifted and compressed by a pair of strong arms, spinning him around until he was dizzy, the gas mask breaking from his grasp.

He ignored the modest smell of tobacco.

"I can't believe it!" Matanbuchus laughed heartily, giving one last squeeze before putting his son down. It was like he was in a dream. "It is true! You're alive! You're fucking breathing!" He maneuvered his hands over the shoulders of the Emperor, shaking him, "Isn't that fucking great, son?! He's standing right here! At your side!"

Diehauser smiled, discounting his uncle nudging his side, "Yes, I know, father."

He slumped in the chair pursued by a stretched sigh, he laid his elbows on the table, hands forming a pyramid, "How're you feeling, Dan?"

They stared back at each other for what seemed like days until he finally dropped his gaze. "I'm, uh, great. Yeah, great. Thanks for asking."

After answering, he lifted his gaze back, noticing that the three are looking at him, he gulped. "They want me to continue the conversation, don't they?"

Taking the outstretched silence as a yes, he harrumphed, "Nice room."

"Smooth." Diehauser chuckled quietly.

His father smirked, "Amazing isn't it?" He gestured to the whole place with a flick of his hand, "This is how they'd left the room for me after the previous worker left. Me, praising its architecture, decided to leave it like that."

"Huh, who'd worked here before you?" Danhauser rubbed his arm, "Someone from our House?"

"Nah," Malacoda answered, "It was a fuckboy from the Lucifuge Clan who had a boner for his older sister." He paused. "Euclid Lucifuge, he quitted and died during the Civil War."

He felt his eyes stretching. "O-Oh."

His father frowned, "Something wrong, son?"

"I-It's nothing. I just remembered something about my Peerage." He lied, like always.

Matanbuchus felt the tugging of his lips, "I see." He paused, "I heard from your mother that you're focusing on training, why?"

Barely audible, not even with the devils' enhanced hearing was possible to decrypt the message, he said. "…Well, I want to achieve my True Form."

There was a silence. The adults in the office all continued to stare at the teenager. Danhauser felt tortuously out of place, like slices of pepperoni that had erroneously made its way atop a vegetarian pizza.

It started with a lip jerk, then a grin, followed by a snicker and finished by a hyena's laugh. Malacoda affectionately ruffled the hair of his nephew, "Holy shit! Never saw that one coming!"

"Color me impressed," Matanbuchus had his eyebrows lifted since the declaration—"You want to unlock your True Form…? Why?"

Danhauser quieted and tossed five fingers over his collar, casting a small glare at his entertained uncle.

"Do you even have the slightest idea what True Form is? Are you sure it's a good idea, to begin with?" Diehauser asked.

Before Danhauser could address this question with a confident response, someone intervened, "Of course he doesn't! That's why we're going to show him what that is!" Evil Tail shot a wink at the Emperor, "Waddup, Big Champ. Wanna get your ass whooped by your good ol' uncle?"

The Champion felt his cheeks cracking into a smile, cocking an eyebrow, "I'd love to see you try."

Malacoda felt his tail dancing faster than before, strongly facing Matanbuchus, "Is there any place where I can put your rat in a wheelchair?"

Matanbuchus narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the room, before hesitantly nodding at the doors, "You know the place."

Lord Malebranche burst into a vigorous laugh, "Follow me, Hauser! I'll make sure to shit on ya!"

Diehauser just rolled his eyes, his throat accidentally slipping out a chuckle, before reluctantly obeying.

Danhauser felt something weighing him down over his face, his eyesight decreasing, "Fights like this one are worthy of watching. Who knows if you're seeing another one like this one, again." He heard his father's muffled voice, "Let's go."

He only nodded obtusely, hands adjusting the ragged gas mask, staring at Malacoda as if he'd just produced an elephant out of his pocket. He could feel the sparks of his brain connecting the dots.

Someone of these two has True Form.


"How're we doing this, huh?" Malacoda cracked each finger—the grin hasn't vanished since their arrival.

Diehauser looked around, his eyes landing over the ever distant Malacoda, "No weapons, demonic powers are acceptable."

Malacoda shrugged, "Whatever floats your boat." He glanced over his shoulder, offering thumbs up at the front seats, winking at his nephew, "Watch and learn, kiddo! Because this is going to be the smackdown of the century!"

"Make sure not to make a whole mess, Coda," Matanbuchus said, sitting beside his son. "You know how difficult is to clean up all the Resin you leave after your 'warm up'."

"Yeah, yeah." Malacoda rolled his eyes.

"The fight's going to last five minutes, no more, no less, the last thing I need to hear is angry demands from the slaves and the Lucifuge." Malacoda looking at his son then at his brother-in-law, "Understood?"

Evil Tail smirked, "I won't hold back, kid."

"…" Diehauser nodded, raising both fists. "You know what to do."

Malacoda laughed, black substances slowly trailing off his cheeks, "As you wish!" As if he'd just said the magic word, he kneeled and began to grow. His back bubbling and bones transformed, he felt every molecule shaping, the clothes sinking into his morphing skin. His whole body's color texture turned black and viscous.

"YESSSS! It feels fucking amazing!" He flexed out his human-shaped, sticky, unstructured mass made of pure Pitch Resin. It made him snicker—he glanced down at his huge three-fingered hands, stretching them, noticing the strands of ooze linking his phalanxes. With the last grunt, he faced his challenger.

Diehauser watched the scene unfold before him, ropes of resin leaking from his uncle's chin and neck, making a whole mess of him. Beady red pupils glaring back. His ears, hair, and shirt dissolved beneath his black skin.

The abomination grinned, showing his definite sharp teeth, passing his blackened tongue between the two lower fangs ascending just above his upper lip.

"That's…" Danhauser gaped, his eyes solely focused on Malacoda's True Form, "… amazing!"

"Dan, what's Malebranche's House trait?" His father asked.

Danhauser frowned, before slowly responding, "… It allows those who are members of the House of Malebranche to manipulate Resin?"

"What else?"

Danhauser's frown deepened, tapping his chin, "That's… that's all... Am I missing something?"

Matanbuchus just chuckled, nodding at the fighters, "Show us the frightening strength of a true Ultimate-Class Devil."

A burning passion glinted on Malacoda's eye. He stretches his arm back like rubber, forcing Danhauser to cock his head back to avoid the fist from knocking him out, and with a hard yank, he throws his fist back at the end of the arena. It was so fast that the fist's movement is invisible!

Diehauser dodged the flying hook. Seriously, if Danhauser was in the Emperor's shoes, he'd immediately go back to the hospital. Diehauser isn't any ordinary Devil at all, in truth—he's an Ultimate-Ultimate Class Devil. That's a huge achievement that not even Malacoda, who'd triggered True Form and has been alive for so long has attained.

His train of thoughts was cut short as another blur of Pitch Black went flying towards the Emperor, a blur that was ready to blow Diehauser's teeth out!

His years of training kicking in, Diehauser ducked as the fist rushed over his head. Feeling how the punch pierced the air as it passed his gray hair—he spared a look behind his shoulder, noticing Malacoda's fingers anchored on the floor.

The Emperor's eyes widened slightly. He invoked his wings and soared into the sky, just in time to evade his uncle who'd catapulted himself from far away to Diehauser's former territory, sending small blobs of Resin to the air after he'd splashed to the ground.

"Not so fast!" After shapeshifting back into his humanoid form, Malacoda shot his arm after the elevated Devil.

"Why Diehauser is not using Worthlessness?" Danhauser murmured as his eyes locked on the elastic arm. It moved like a snake ready to bare its fangs over its prey.

"That's because Worthlessness can't nullify a True Form," His father responded, "There are things that Worthlessness isn't capable of rendering worthless, one of them is the spirit and soul. Maybe if your brother had True Form, I would be proven wrong."

Danhauser just nodded, agreeing with Matanbuchus' ramblings. There's no one from the House of Belial that has ever achieved a True Form—yet—maybe that's the key to bring back Malacoda to his original form, this is, however, a mere theory, since there is not enough evidence to provide a right answer.

Malacoda grinned when he felt his stretched hand wrap into Diehauser's leg. Tightening his grip, he swung downward and smashed his prey to the floor, a sudden think dust cloud hiding the Emperor.

Diehauser grunted as he jumped out of his crater, rolling aside just in time to dodge the punch hurling from the skies and landing on the floor—stabbing the ground after reaching its destination.

Malacoda clicked his tongue, using his previous trick—Malebranche took advantage of his anchored fist and used it to waltz closer to his Nephew, "I'm getting bored over here!"

Diehauser dismissed Malacoda's taunting. In that frozen second between standoff and fighting, he saw his eyes flick to him. His face is unreadable, no dread, no invitational smirk. He didn't recall how many punches were thrown, but he suddenly pierced Malacoda's forehead, skull, and brain with a straight punch, stopping after his fist reached Malebranche's head backside. The thrust was so powerful that the Champion made a huge hole in the roof with his aftershock alone.

"Did he fucking killed our uncle?!" Danhauser's mouth fell slightly, seeing how Evil Tail stopped moving—froze with the clenched hand of Diehauser impaling his head. Danhauser hovered his eyes over his father, noticing that he wasn't making a drama out of this, "…Or not?"

"Well, this is awkward," Malacoda suddenly laughed, Diehauser immediately making distance between the two, "At least take me on a date first before penetrating my body, would ya?"

Before Diehauser could retort, Malacoda's forehead slowly got sewed from the inside by strings of Resin. "Not going anywhere, bitch!"

"Diehauser is holding back, isn't he?" Danhauser asked while watching how his uncle charged after Diehauser, the latter blocking the incoming barricades with his arms, hissing when a punch made it behind his defense. His father hummed, "Why? Uncle's strong."

"He's doing this to demonstrate you what a True Form is," Matanbuchus answered, shrugging, "Remember when you'd answered me what Malebranche's House trait can do? This is what Malebranche's True Form can do. Besides, Coda is also holding back."

With a fierce kick, he sent Diehauser to a wall, enough to prepare himself for his incoming attack. Smirking, Malacoda inhaled rapidly from his mouth and in response, his body inflated and grew.

The Emperor frowned and left the hole in the wall, charging after his uncle.

He ignored his nephew's futile attempts and twisted his body three times and raised both arms. Finally, he untwisted and spun. Fast.

Diehauser grunted, ignoring the disgusting taste of Resin that somehow made its way into his mouth. He began coating his free arm with demonic power and began on rolling and fleeing away from the laughing old fart. It was like fighting with a walking merry-go-round while dodging the constant barrage of powerful punches which are greatly enhanced by the momentum of his launch.

He dodged another swing of resin and captured the second one, stopping the wild spinning top from any mischief. Malacoda's light-red eyes widened before he glared behind his shoulder and tried to once again whirl around.

Diehauser smirked back, taking advantage of Malacoda's frozen state—he harshly yanked him downward, easily flawing Malebranche's stance.

"Shit!" Malacoda cursed, his face slowly approaching the floor. He couldn't see what his nephew was scheming in front of him, but a sudden blow that was as strong as a charging truck aimed at his stomach was enough to end his curiosity. In the blink of an eye, Evil Tail flew across the arena.

Diehauser glanced down at his arm, frowning as he saw his whole hand washed with Malebranche's House trait, cringing when the squelching sound mounted his ears after extending his fingers.

Diehauser instinctively looked up—a big cloud of dust covering half of the arena, what brought him on a defensive stance was the fuss his uncle was making behind the brownish fog. He's still conscious.

"Y'know, you've gotten stronger," Malacoda complimented, walking outside of the cloud with a huge hole in his chest, hands around his waist. "But, I'm afraid I have to end this, now."

Diehauser took a deep breath, a pulse of demonic energy running through the circuits of his body, small cracks slowly appearing below his feet. He watched how slowly Malacoda's chest began reassembling with tendrils of resin, "Bring it on, then."

Danhauser blinked at the worst time. When his eyes once again flushed open, both brawlers were now in the middle of the battlefield. Time seemed to slow down—each threw a punch simultaneously and—through some stroke of a wand—strikes one another squarely on each others' fists.

At first no-one moves, their brains unable to make sense of the input from their ears and feet. The ground is grunting and the noise is like lengthened thunder only worse because the vibrations are coming from below.

"Fuck!" Matanbuchus cursed, raising both palms up and summons a barrier, the powerful whirlwind, his spell cracked slightly, "Alright! Timeout! That's enough you two!"

Unfortunately, they didn't obey.

They repeated the same act and, once again, their fists connected. They did it again, and again, and again, sometimes a headbutt would mix on the interchange, until they increased the speed of their swings which can no longer be seen, leaving only blurs to the eyes of the audience.

"Stop this shit!" Matanbuchus demanded, struggling to keep the barrier up, "You two are wrecking this place!"

Danhauser gulped and helped his father on keeping the shield stable, his eyes wide as dinner plates, out of words.

Malacoda was losing the engagement of dominance. Each time his knuckles crashed with Diehauser's, his arm made of resin would wobble like gelatin, making him gasp in pain.

However, he felt like every fiber of his being was vibrating with anticipation. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins. His hands trembled and his eyes were wide. "What's this…? Is this is what a cat feels like when waiting to pounce on a mouse? Is this… excitement?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! YESYESYESYES! FUCK YES IT IS!" Malacoda bellowed, "COME ON, SHITHAUSER! GIVE ME YOUR FULLEST!" Two bulges appeared below his original arms, before a pair of resinic arms suddenly sprouted free from them, turning him akin to an Asura, all four of them salvaging his nephew's body.

Diehauser gritted his teeth when the new arms punched his sides, "You asked for it!" He stood pinned in place, bends forward and moves his arms upwards at speeds which they can no longer be seen, leaving only demonic power in their place.

Shockwaves and sonic booms reckoning the whole place, debris falling from the roof, the solid ground rippled and moved in wave motions. Droplets of black substance vaulting off of Malacoda from each hit.

Four pairs of rough hands tried to seize him, to break him, to drop him unconscious, but it wasn't enough. Diehauser aimed to his uncle's buffed and viscous chest, Resin pooled out of it, seeing the ripples caused by his powerful strikes, just like water in a pool will ripple when a rock is tossed in.

A sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Malacoda's body. His stomach ached, his arms lost tension and his legs began to weaken, his damage absorption began wearing off, forcefully he was being pushed away.

Diehauser noticed this. He threw his body weight behind the fist that edged closer to Malebranche's face—it hit his nose with such vigor, resin spilled into his face, punching him across the room.

"SHITSHITSHIT!" Malacoda kept bouncing on the floor, like a beach ball on a Summer day. For each bounce, a chunk of the earth literally rippled as if made of some kind of flimsy cloth. He struck four fists on the ground in order to stop himself. Unfortunately, a gray blur landed a kick over Malebranche's face, forcing him back.

Time slowed before Malacoda's shocked eyes, his gaze not focused on his nephew, but on the four black limbs abandoned on the floor, his arms were ripped off.

"FUCKING STOP THIS ALREADY!" Matanbuchus snapped behind his defensive spell, sweat sliding across his temple, eyeing his shocked son now and then. "If you keep this shit you'll destroy Lucifuge's District!"

The Champion wasn't done. Digging his fingers on his uncle's skull, he spun him faster than a dog chasing after their tail, throwing him into the sky and watching how Evil Tail smashed into the roof, before slowly peeling out of the ceiling.

The Emperor furiously tapped on the well of power, feeling how his heart ignited like a sports car's motor, sending all the reserves of demonic power over his clenched fist. The excitement wired his body like he was plugged into the mains. He felt like his brain was on fast-forward. And there was no off switch.

Finally, he drew his fist back again and it plowed into Malacoda's abdomen, it was like hitting a train head-on.

Malacoda felt something jiggling and bobbling inside his body. He blinked, "Huh," and exploded outward, dispatching thousands of blobs of Resin across the battleground.

Diehauser gasped for fresh air. Sweat lingering in the air, ignoring his clothes stained with black and the aching bruises across his body.

Father and son lowered their arms—the cracked barrier disappeared as they finished the gesture. Glancing around the room with wide eyes and mouth hanging open, holes all dispersed over the roof, as is a rain of meteorites fell from the skies, the ground replaced by debris and craters, the walls smeared by the remains of Malacoda.

"Holy shit…" Danhauser brought a hand to his thrumming chest. "That was brutal…"

Suddenly, blobs of Pitch Resin began twitching and slide in the middle of the destroyed floor, like a slug fleeing from salt. All of them reunite in the middle and restored once again the anathema that Diehauser had fought. It began to form the plant of his feet, and slowly molding his head.

"…" Evil Tail swayed as he stood up, deactivating his True Form, turning him back to his previous form.

He grinned, shooting a thumbs-up, "Let's call it a draw, yeah?" His eyes rolled back in his skull and fell flat on the floor, unconscious.

"W-What kind of power is that…? Matanbuchus felt his phone vibrating in his breast pocket, fishing it out, he answered the call, "H-Huh, uh?"

[Matanbuchus! I need you and Malacoda's assistance immediately!] Said the caller, [An earthquake has happened in our District! I need you two to make sure the mine's entrance isn't blocked by rubble!]

"…"

[Matanbuchus?!]

He nodded dumbly, "U-understood, Regent-Lord Lucifuge." He hanged the call, his eyes lingering on the ones who caused the disturbance.

Danhauser fell flat on his butt, gulping. "Is this the top? Is this… the world of the…?" "They aren't even in the top ten strongest beings in the world! They're fucking monsters!"

Diehauser groaned as he dropped to the ground, leg crossed. He glanced at his stunned father with sympathy, "Sorry for making a mess, dad."

Matanbuchus glared daggers, "… Your mother will hear this."

The Emperor winced.

Before his father could scold him more, he felt some tugging on the corner of his suit. He glared down, "What is it, Dan?"

Danhauser looked back. "You know about True Form, right?" He didn't wait for a response, "Tell me more."

Matanbuchus closed his eyes and massaged his nose, gesturing at the knocked figure of his brother-in-law with a nod. "Go back to my office. Diehauser, take your uncle there. We'll continue this conversation later. I have to make sure the mines aren't blocked by rubble."

His children didn't need to be told twice. Diehauser swung Malacoda up to his shoulder as if he was nothing more than a school bag. They walked to the exit with Danhauser following from behind.

Matanbuchus paid one last look at the place, he slammed both hands over his face, groaning. "I don't recall my oldest son making earthquakes by a swing of his fist. Was I out of the Belial Territory so long?"

Knowing that not even silence would respond his question in hand. He pocketed his hands and walked away, muttering, "I badly need a smoke…"


Hello. I'm back. I'm horrible writing fighting scenes. I made three chapters for you guys since I was kind of late updating, let's see if you don't fall asleep. Cheers.


Next Chapter: Mistakes Were Made.