Vali looked incredibly uncomfortable as he sat on my most comfortable chair to watch me work.
"Why?" he asked, edging further back into the chair.
I turned to look at him over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" I pulled another hammer out with a squelch and Vali actually jumped. I wouldn't have taken him for the type to get creeped out by something like this.
"Xarion…. You're using a decaying corpse to hold tools." he sounded like he was having a hard time keeping in touch with reality.
"Okay? I already have enough of them working on the armor, so why shouldn't I have this guy stand here instead of standing in a closet with the other overflow?" I turned to the zombie devil who stood a foot away from me and secured my tongs in its shoulder so I would have easy access to them when I needed them again.
I heard a disgusted groan over my shoulder. I turned around and smiled when I saw Vali put his noodles down on a nearby table. Maybe now he wouldn't spill them on my chair.
If I was being honest, I was mainly doing this to screw with Vali. Cleaning zombie gunk off of my stuff was a bit of a pain, but it was worth it for the look on the White Dragon Emperor's face, and I considered myself justified considering he and Azazel had paraded me around as a woman.
Another zombie pulled a vaguely blade-shaped hunk of red-hot metal from my forge and placed it in front of me, then rejoined the others to help them work the mithril.
When Azazel had dropped off his thank you package for not joining Beelzebub there was a lot of good material in it. It seemed stupid to not take advantage of that fact, so I was alternating my time between forging my sword and a set of mithril armor. I was a squishy human right now, so any added protection was in high demand.
You would not need this pointless armor if you awakened the Balance Breaker. Ddraig's voice spoke in my mind.
I sighed aloud as I thought back, I get it. The Balance Breaker is important, and I want it very much. But from everything I've learned from Azazel, the foremost expert on these things, it's not something that can just happen. So give it a break while I work, please?
I heard some irritated dragon grumbling as Ddraig slunk off to whatever corner of my mind it was he went to when he wasn't pestering me.
Ever since the evening I'd obtained Boosted Gear, Ddraig had been on my case about the scale mail. I wanted it, but short of trying to zenkai boost my way into it, I didn't see a good way to unlock it yet.
"So, Vali." I said, turning around as a zombie put the metal back in the fire.
Vali's gaze was still transfixed on the zombie who had essentially become the tool equivalent of a coat rack. "Yeah?" he said without looking at me.
"You wanted to learn about artifice, right? Now seems like a good time. Plus, it'll get you out of my chair." The cushions were starting to wear out, and now there was a crater in the chair in the shape of Vali's rear. I wasn't irritated about it or anything.
"I've reconsidered." he said as he stood up, absentmindedly picking up his ramen cup as he backed out of my lab. "I'm going to go…. Go." He shut the door a little harder than necessary behind him as he left.
Smirking to myself, I had my zombie grab my hammer from me and walked over to the closet attached to my lab. I'd never used it for anything before, so I'd pulled out all the shelves and converted it into zombie storage.
Anyone who wasn't a necromancer was seriously missing out. Undead were excellent for a variety of reasons. Their undead strength was greater than their living strength, they obeyed any order without question, they didn't need food, water or rest and they could be stored like sardines because they literally didn't care. Well, intelligent undead would, but I wasn't stupid enough to make any of my devil undead intelligent. That was asking to get stabbed in the back.
Opening the door, I was greeted by the sight of over a dozen devil zombies crammed together to fit in the small space. At my unspoken command, one of them clambered around the rest to stand in front of me. In life, she had been the strongest of them, and I wanted to test what exactly she was capable of.
"Let's see if that snake can-"
"Xarion, my friend!" Azazel called enthusiastically as he threw the door to my lab open. It slammed against a passing zombie and knocked it to the floor, along with the box it was carrying.
Azazel and I both watched as several dozen small, silver spheres spilled onto the floor of my lab, creating a symphony of clinks, whirrs and rings as they bounced and rolled to every corner of the room. The zombie slowly got up and began to dutifully gather them all back together.
I turned to Azazel with a deadpan look.
The fallen scratched the back of his head and gave me an ashamed smile. "Sorry?"
I sighed, and felt my irritation bleed away. "It's fine. I have disposable minions to pick them up that are incapable of saying no. Now what did you want before that little episode?"
Azazel's wide smile came back, and a notebook appeared in his hand out of nowhere. "I'm getting really close to a breakthrough that I've been working on longer than some nations have been around, and I was wondering if I could get your input?"
"If you've been at it that long I seriously doubt I can tell you something you haven't already thought of." I was good, but Azazel was far better.
"Just humor me? Please?" the Governor of the Fallen said as he pouted at me, his eyes radiating sadness.
Why was this man ever trusted with any leadership role?
Because of all those who fell, he was the best choice. The others would arrange orgies or mass sacrificial rituals every hour. Maybe even a mass sacrificial ritual orgy.
That was not an image I wanted implanted directly into my brain. I practically growled at the dragon as I fervently crushed the picture Ddraig had drawn forth with my mind magic. That was just…. Moving on.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" I asked Azazel, causing him to clap happily.
He threw an arm around my shoulder and showed me the journal as he began leading me out of my lab. "The biggest issue I'm having with getting my Sacred Gear to work is-"
"Wait, back up. Your Sacred Gear?" I said in surprise as we left my lab. I sent a quick mental command to my zombies to keep working on my armor and sword. They could shape everything and imbue mana just fine, but I'd need to be back in a couple hours to start shaping that mana personally. The process was a little too involved to trust to a mindless hunk of animated flesh.
Azazel gave me an amused look. "Did you seriously think I'd try to crack the secret to Dad's little toys without making one for myself?"
"No, that's perfectly expected, but I didn't know you'd already designed one. What does it do?"
I could practically feel the pride wafting off him as he said, "I made a deal with Fafnir the Golden Dragon Monarch and sealed him. I'm going to put the orb into a spear then that spear should let me summon my own scale mail."
I paused to give him an impressed look. "Okay, that's actually really cool. How exactly am I supposed to help you with something like that?"
He directed my attention back to his notebook as he said, "Well I need a way to expand Fafnir's influence to the entire weapon. I don't really need to bind it to me before I use it because of my deal with Fafnir but I haven't been able to find a way to give him full access to the spear."
Looking over his notes, I couldn't help but be impressed. The image before me was essentially a heavily enchanted spear that drew its power from a purple orb. I didn't see any way to bind it to a soul, but Azazel obviously didn't need to do so if he had a deal with the dragon whose power it operated on.
I pointed to a ward array situated between the orb and the spear and said, "If you're trying to let his power through this is your problem." The barrier he had set up to contain and channel the dragon king's power was also getting in the way of properly utilizing it.
"I know that, but I can't properly align the orb to channel his power without it. The spear would explode."
I tilted my head at him, wondering if he was being serious. "Have you tried not using magic? Just melt the spear around the orb then harden it."
"Well I can't do that because…." Azazel's eyebrows scrunched together as he looked over his notes again. "Huh."
"How did that not occur to you?" I was genuinely surprised he hadn't seen something so obvious.
"King Arthur was still around the last time I actually forged something the old fashioned way. Thanks, but I need to go work now." he said distractedly as he walked away, his gaze transfixed on the notebook in front of him.
That was interesting.
That was a waste of time. Ddraig said, sounding irritated. The sooner you complete your sword and pointless armor the sooner we can be out from under the crow's thumb. Why spend time helping Azazel when you could spend time strengthening yourself?
Because keeping him happy will get him to be more accommodating if there's anything else I need from him. What's your problem?
My problem is you are not doing everything in your power to increase your connection to the Boosted Gear. You have one of the greatest weapons ever conceived sealed within you, yet you insist on wasting time creating a sword. We should leave now.
No. That sword is shaping up to be the best thing I've ever made–maybe that I'll ever make. I've never seen something mutate the way it has, and I have a feeling it will be incredibly powerful. I am not abandoning it.
The dragon huffed in an irritated fashion. Then stop wasting time with Azazel and complete it. The crows will turn on you if you do not leave soon.
What makes you say that? I asked, genuinely curious. If he was able to pick up a threat from them that I wasn't, I needed to know what it was.
You have a host of corpses housed in your laboratory. The lesser fallen are terrified of you, and the leaders are frightened of what you would accomplish should their enemies acquire you. Unlike the devils, they do not have a way to ensure your loyalty. Once they feel you have grown past your leash, they will attempt to kill you whether Azazel orders them to or not.
That was….actually a really good point. From what my spirits and other research had turned up, there hadn't been any necromancers in this world that were capable of even a fourth of what I could do. Without having an evil piece system to enslave me with, the other fallen would be hesitant to let me do too much or to put their faith in my undead as a fighting force for fear of it turning against them at a key moment.
Fine. I'll double down on my sword and armor so we can get out of here as soon as possible, but I am not leaving without finishing both projects.
The armor will be obsolete once you unlock the scale mail.
And I need a way to weather minor blows until I actually unlock it–otherwise I'll be dead. You can't unlock a balance breaker if you die too fast.
Ddraig gave a sigh of acceptance. Very well. So long as you work with haste.
I walked back to my lab and spent the next hour or so working with my undead. Vali didn't return, and aside from the occasional grumbled comment from Ddraig no one interrupted me.
Just as I was about to call it for the day, I received an intriguing mental call from one of my spirits. I zeroed in on it and began to peer through its senses.
This is an interesting development. Ddraig idly commented as he, too, shared the spirit's vision.
Do you think we should tell Azazel?
He will discover this news soon enough from his own agents. Hurry your progress on the blade. I fear our window is closing.
You're not wrong.
I pulled all of my zombies from their closet and redoubled my forging efforts. Things were going to explode soon, and I needed to not be here when they did.
X
Ajuka Beelzebub
Everything was in place. I'd maneuvered some of my agents to keep an eye on Xarion for when he inevitably left Azazel's service. I'd spoken with Serafall and arranged for Xarion to help key members of other factions restore lost family to secure alliances. Peace was within our grasp.
Then Sirzechs had to go and fuck everything up.
I understood why he did it; I was loath to see Rias married off as well, but the manner in which he went about his 'scheme' could not have been more foolhardy.
When Rias soundly lost her rating game against Riser Phenex, Sirzechs panicked. He hired an outside mercenary to 'remove' Riser from the equation without it leading back to him. Unfortunately for all of us, the man turned out to be an amateur.
Riser not only survived, but also recovered a written letter from Sirzechs that the mercenary was supposed to burn after reading it.
Now, not only was Rias married to Riser, but Falbium, Serafall and I were doing everything we could to maintain the already fragile unity of the devils and keep things from falling into civil war. We'd already lost three full pillars to the Old Satan Faction in the wake of this fiasco and were dangerously close to losing the Phenex clan as well.
Losing such an influential family would be the end of us. It would prove us incompetent in the eyes of all who looked upon us. The other factions would smell blood in the water and close in while the Old Satan Faction tore at our already fragile resolve, weakening us from the inside.
We were in deep shit. And I wasn't sure I could figure out a way to get us out of it.
A teleportation circle appeared before me and Serafall stepped out of it.
"Serafall, please tell me you're not here to share any more apocalyptic news. I'm still trying to get a handle on the last seven catastrophes you dropped on me."
The black haired woman was slouched in on herself and it looked like she hadn't changed clothes in days. She was as exhausted as I was.
"Azazel got his hands on the Red Dragon Emperor." she said as she picked up my coffee pot and drank everything in it straight from the spout.
"I'm sorry. I must have misheard you. I could have sworn you just said the fallen angels were now in command of both the White Dragon Emperor and the Red Dragon Emperor, but that isn't true, right?"
She turned to me with tired eyes, her usual jovial disposition nowhere to be seen. "Turns out that the Illusive Necrosage is also a goddamn longinus wielder. First he parades around killed pillar heirs, and now it turns out he has the soul of a dragon stronger than most gods sealed inside him. I'd ask how you and Sirzechs missed that when you met him, but it's in his title. Apparently they weren't kidding when they tacked on the 'Illusive' part."
My pen stilled against the document I was working on. It was a letter to the Phenex family to try to arrange a formal meeting, but that was unimportant right now.
"Xarion?" I said, my mind flying through calculations. "Did you just say Xarion is the Red Dragon Emperor?"
"I never read the report with his actual name. If that's the necromancer, then yeah, it's him." she said, her gaze turning contemplative as she studied my demeanor. "What are you thinking?"
"I can get us out of this mess." I said with certainty.
For the first time since she arrived in my office, a spark of life ignited in Serafall. She recognized the look in my eyes, and knew I was serious.
"What do you need from me?" she asked, trusting me to come through as I had so many times before.
"Antagonize the Old Satan Faction." I said. "We need them to get irritated enough to make a show of strength. When that happens, I'll take care of the rest."
Serafall studied my face for a moment before nodding. "Fine, I'll go poke them with a stick. Make sure whatever you're going to try works. We probably won't get a second chance at this." she said as a teleportation circle whisked her from my office.
Crumpling up the letter I had been writing, I summoned my own teleportation circle.
Xarion was the key. If I showed the devils that I had a necromancer capable of resurrecting the supernatural who was also the Red Dragon Emperor in my peerage, I could force everyone to fall in line.
This greatly accelerated my timetable, so it was unlikely Xarion would willingly join as he would have had I given myself enough time to build a report with him. Unfortunately, desperate times called for desperate measures.
If I needed to kill and resurrect him against his will, I would, though I would make it up to him once we'd diverted disaster, even if it took millenia. My people came first, but my principles were always higher on the list of things I cared about than other devils.
I would secure my people's future, then ensure my newest peerage member was not only content, but happy. It would be the least I could do for helping me to avoid this crisis.
X
Azazel
This was monumentally bad. I knew Sirzechs had a thing for his sister, but I didn't realize it was so serious he would literally destabilize his entire faction to keep her from marrying some inconsequential chicken.
Kokabiel slammed his hand down on the table. "Why do we do nothing! The devils are weak and disjointed. Now is the time to attack!"
"If we strike now we'll ignite another inter-pantheon war. Is that really what you want?" I said, my eyes narrowed.
Kokabiel met my gaze without flinching as he said, "We are the most prepared of any faction. We have the power and the numbers to win. While we sit and squabble about our course, the devils kill hundreds of innocents and reincarnate them against their will. They are preparing for war! Will you allow them to grow even more powerful before we strike, Azazel?"
Innocents had never mattered to Kokabiel, it was one of the reasons I had him as an advisor, I needed perspectives that did not align with my own to get the full picture, but right now he was using my reluctance to harm innocents as a way to force my hand.
"We will not act unless the devils actively target our operations. If we strike the devils now, the fighting would weaken us when the other pantheons arrived to clean up the mess. We will not attack. Am I understood?"
Kokabiel grit his teeth, but in the end he said, "Understood. I will not attack unprovoked, but I will gather our forces. We cannot afford to be seen as weak."
"I encourage you to." I said, I may prefer talking things out to open fighting, but that didn't mean I was going to let the Grigori be caught flat footed. "Just be sure to keep your forces on a tight leash. That goes for all of you." I said as I looked around to the various Fallen seated at the large round table. "That's it for today. We'll meet again next week; sooner if anything else happens."
Teleportation circles appeared as dozens of Fallen returned to their operations in various corners of the world. When the magic dissipated, only myself and one other remained.
"What the hell are we going to do, Shemhazai?" I said to one of my oldest friends.
"I don't know. I know you don't want to be pulled into anymore fighting, but we may have no choice."
Sighing, I said, "I know. I just really hope it doesn't come to that."
Shemhazai gripped my shoulder comfortingly, then disappeared in his own teleportation circle, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I hated war. I did everything I could to work for peace because I never wanted to see the destruction of the old days ever again, but things were spiralling out of control.
At this rate, all it would take to light the fire was a single spark, and it terrified me that there were plenty of crazies in the world willing to strike that match.
"I need to up Xarion and Vali's training." I said aloud. The two boys were my secret weapons. If things really kicked off I would need them, and while they were both strong, they weren't at the level they needed to be to survive a full scale war. As the Red and White dragon Emperors respectively, they had target's on their back the size of Antarctica.
I was about to pay Xarion's lab a visit when my phone rang. I was so surprised by the sound I almost incinerated the damn thing. I'd bought it a while ago more out of novelty than anything else, and very few people had the number to it.
"Hello?" I said as I held the device up to my ear.
"Azazel, we need to talk."
My eyes narrowed immediately.
"What do you want, Ajuka?"