"Umu."
"Hm…" Rossweisse was squinting her eyes a bit. "So, um…"
"Yeah, about that…" Momonga reached to scratch his chin while thinking. 'So… I suppose things are progressing fine?'
"Looks like a regular 'ol battlefield to me, partner." Ddraig commented dryly.
Momonga looked around the desolate front lines.
"Ahem, it looks as if Serafall has… taken some liberties with her orders." Michael noted from beside Momonga.
Roughly an hour ago Momonga had disentangled himself from Kunou and Yasaka as the morning had arrived, and after checking up on his wives, sort-of-lovers and Peerage (sans Kuroka and Koneko as the former had put a 'Training in progress, please do not disturb' sticker on their shared space), Momonga had decided to take a quick tour of the front lines of the civil war to both keep his image up and to get a hands-on idea on what was going on in the civil war between the houses who had pledged loyalties to Momonga, or rather to the 'True God', and the houses who had chosen to side with the Maous.
He recognized that it would send a wrong sort of image if he just hang back in his territory for the whole war, as it'd open him up for accusations of cowardice should his position start to waver, which might eventually lead to escalating wobble of his position that'd pose a risk of having he devils loyal to him turn their tail and run.
Not to mention that Sona had been busy working to get her house's logistics and finances in order to provide assistance to the war effort, Rias had been busy trying to keep her mother from breaking down and try to help her organize Gremory House's affairs remotely from Phenix territory, and Ravel had been doing much the same with the help of Lady Phenix who was instructing Ravel, Seekvaira and Sona on the family leadership manners, with the mind-wiped white-haired pink-eyed woman of Agares family looking outright confused over the instructions but doing as told.
Momonga had checked up on Sairaorg as well just to check if the young lord of Bael house was doing alright, and checking if the mind-wipe Momonga had applied on the man was not hindering him too much from his designated task to be Momonga's puppet in Bael house. He noted that the young man looked quite relaxed as he was still in his hospital bed and had been sleeping while oddly nervous-looking and unusually modestly-dressed Kuisha had assured Momonga that Sairaorg was tired and needed to rest for a while and recover. Momonga felt that something had been off in the scene so he asked one of his Cherubim-maids to keep an eye on the pair as inconspicuously as she could, just in case.
With most of the metaphorical fires either put out or contained to less important areas, Momonga arranged himself an escort and messaged Michael about a meeting somewhere near the frontlines. The Arch-Angel had agreed and suggested a location, which Momonga scouted with his [Lead of Yatagarasu] beforehand in case it was a trap.
Momonga had decided to grab Rossweisse with him as well, as he was planning on going for a date with her to reinforce her loyalties to him after the tour, if it went well anyway, although he realized too late that touring a warzone might not be an ideal start-up spot for a date. 'Erk, I should have thought of that first… I figured it'd be less morbid…'
The stench of a corpse-pyre in front of a manor of some sort that had belonged to a rival house of devils was making Momonga somewhat uneasy, as it was all too easy for him to imagine himself as one of the bodies in the pile if his true nature came to light at the wrong time. Not to mention it was clearly making Rossweisse act strangely- Although oddly enough she didn't seem all too squeamish about the bodies.
Momonga meanwhile, or at least the part of him that was Suzuki Satoru, was creeped out by the pyres themselves but not all that bothered otherwise due to his past brushes with death in Neo-Japan and now in the 'ero-world', whereas the part of him that was 'Momonga' was only feeling a slightly disappointed that valuable corpses were being disposed of instead of stashed away to be used for materials in spells- Although both sides of him recognized that trying to order the corpses to be preserved would likely cause a lot of raised eyebrows.
Michael, meanwhile, was acting as if there were no bodies at all as he walked alongside Momonga and Rossweisse and briefing them on the situation, with a contingent of strong Gray Angels walking behind them as additional honor guards.
"Serafall has trouble with her orders?" Momonga focused on Michael's words. "What do you mean?"
"She has… hm, I believe that the best way to put it is 'overeager'. The most realistic being 'bloodthirsty and insane'. I believe that she requires extensive censure once this is over." Michael bowed slightly towards Momonga. "It is natural for a devil to be filled with bloodlust and sin, but- ah. My apologies, Father, it seems I still keep repeating the old words out of habit. Ahem… Hm, indeed. It might be so that it is unsightly to blame Serafall for her oddities, but it seems as if she's very eager to complete her orders and exterminate the devils who have chosen to side against us. Worryingly eager."
"It should be alright. I assume she's just keen on getting this unsightly business done and buried. Not to mention that if Serafall's rampage is decisive and one-sided enough, there's a chance that the remaining noble families surrender… Umu, or rather the scions and client-families of the noble family surrender." Momonga realized that he had made a mistake in stating that the non-cooperating families would be slain, as it effectively meant that at that point the strong leaders of the rival houses would not surrender under any circumstances as doing so would result in their death, and chances are that the minor families under the noble house would probably honor their own bonds and fight to death, some irregulars and occasional human-based ex-Peerages notwithstanding.
'Oh well, you live and you learn.' Momonga sighed internally at the lost opportunity while Suzuki Satoru was somewhat conflicted on whether he should feel bad or not for condemning thousands of mostly innocent devils to their deaths just because of the decisions of their leaders. However in the end he brushed it off.
"Hm, regardless, how is the front line looking to you, Michael-kun?" Momonga turned to address Michael once again and formed the question as to not betray his own lack of information regarding the ero-world battlescape.
"Dire, for the enemy side. For us… I believe that our only obstacle will be the two remaining Maous if they decide to show up, in which case the situation will become somewhat more complicated. However I rest assured that Father has this possibility covered, and in case the situation changes even further with the addition of external actors such as other Pantheons, I suspect that even our current fighting power will be enough to defeat the current Beelzebub and Asmodeus even without your assistance albeit likely not without losses, allowing you to take care of the external actors." Michael bowed slightly. "Only a few devil houses are still opposing us, and I believe that we will be done with our conquest in a matter of weeks or months. The economical and sociological impact of losing roughly third of the devil population will be offset by influx of Angels and Youkai, which is why I suspect you decided to bring Youkai here, whereas I doubt Heavens will be usable for the Angels anymore- Between your system breaking and us turning Gray, I doubt the old realm retains any worth."
'Heaven?' Momonga nodded as if he was on track with the whole situation. "Indeed, that is so. I hope you'll be able to integrate yourselves with the devils? Some friction is expected but do try to keep major incidents to a minimum."
"I believe that your church will ensure that such events are rare, although I must admit that my old sensibilities are somewhat squeamish at the idea." Michal bowed for the seventh time, making Momonga a bit uneasy and wondering if Michael was actually that reverent or if he was actually mocking Momonga with the constant bowing.
"Right, that's great…"
"I am uncertain what will happen to the human souls now that Heavens is no longer there to take them, but I shall not pry as to what Father has prepared to house them." Michael looked a bit thoughtful and Momonga felt as if his footing was eroding right under him as he had no idea what Michael meant. "The influx of souls seemed quite high the last time I managed to connect to the System, which means the souls are going somewhere… Ah, my apologies, Father, I fell victim to daydreaming and wonder at a time of war."
"It's alright, don't worry. Now then, I believe that we have a war to fight. Do you need my assistance in the front lines?" Momonga sweated internally as he spoke.
"Thank you for offering, Father, but we have the situation under control. Please do not concern yourself with us- We shall prevail." Michael bowed for the eighth time, making Momonga fairly sure that the Arch-Angel was mocking him… But the part of him that was Suzuki Satoru took over and reminded Momonga that such rapid bowing was not all too uncommon for Neo-Japan when a lower branch manager met a high-ranking manager or even a CEO, at least based on the few times Suzuki had been witness to such a thing.
"In that case I shall head off. Stay safe and fight well, Michael-kun. I believe in you." Momonga disguised the internal sweat-dropping as he motioned for Michael and the contingent of Angels to leave, while he made a [Gate] and motioned for Rossweisse to follow him.
"...Hmm…" Rossweisse looked thoughtful as she stepped out of the portal behind Momonga, and the two of them emerged into a side-street of the Shinto 'capital' in the Underworld
Momonga was somewhat worried that he'd be recognized and attacked so he did the same that he had done in Tokyo, and used a few of his remaining Scrolls to appear unimportant to the outside observer, but didn't overindulge on them as he was in friendly territory so he didn't expect too strong of an attack to come his way. 'Sheesh, I'm starting to go through these scrolls at a worrying rate… I'll have to check up on the Overlord General soon and see if he's gotten any scrolls prepared…'
"I was thinking that perhaps we could go for a small date and talk?" Momonga asked Rossweisse and offered her his arm. Rossweisse took it and nodded seriously while having a small blush. "The Shinto is making a city here so I figured we'd grab a bite or something like that… I hope you weren't too put off by what you saw just earlier?"
"I'd like that. And it's not like that was my first time seeing a battlefield… I was a Valkyrie, after all. At least before I turned into a devil." Rossweisse nodded in a bit fragile way. "Heh… I never actually got to deliver heroes into Valhalla. By the time I got done with my training no-one believed in Norse Gods anymore so when I was roaming the battlefields all I had to choose from were some deserts and everyone's souls were really rude, not to mention when I mentioned Valhalla I'd get called infidel and told to go away, and then there was this jungle and everyone called me a ghost and tried to banish me… Not that it'd work, considering those I approached were just souls, so throwing bones or prayer beads at me wouldn't really work… But I caught the hint, not to mention I wasn't supposed to guide just about anyone to Valhalla…"
"Hm, are you sure you searched from the right places?" Momonga felt a bit sympathetic as he had vague memories of such an event from the time he and Rossweisse had meld together briefly and he had caught a glimpse into her past. "It doesn't feel like it was a nordic battlefield. At least, I'm pretty sure that Norway of present-day doesn't have deserts…"
"No, but there hasn't been any big wars in the scandic area for half a century and I missed my chance to look for souls in the latest big conflict there, so I figured I'd go search for souls of dead warriors somewhere else…" Rossweisse sighed. "It's a bit embarrassing to talk about, so-"
"What if you tried to look for dead warrior souls here in the Underworld? Surely you'd find someone you could bring to Valhalla?" Momonga pointed out. "Ah, sorry, it might have been inappropriate for me to ask…"
"I could probably find some souls willing to go to Valhalla here… But I'm not sure if there is Valhalla anymore. With Odin-sama and the others dead and most of the other Valkyries buried or in captivity, I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to try to move souls… Not to mention that I'm no longer a Valkyrie so I'm not sure if it'd even work in the first place." Rossweisse sighed quite heavily, making Momonga worried that she was mad at him as the pair walked between the edo-era looking buildings on streets that paradoxically had modern pavement. "By the way, I tried to convince the other valkyries to join us. Brynhildr-sama and the others are in a sort of denial about the whole situation but I think they'll come around eventually."
"That's good to hear. Listen, about what happened to the Norse pantheon… Wanna talk about it?" Momonga tried to raise his relationship with Rossweisse to lift her loyalty by seeing if he could do something for her. 'I need her to safeguard me in case I get ejected from this body like what happened earlier…'
"I… I'm not sure I'm ready to go over that myself either. It's… ah…" Rossweisse looked quite fragile so Momonga hugged her. "It's… well… My home, and now it's gone… I don't mean to say I don't appreciate what you've done for me, but… It's too early."
"I understand." Momonga squeezed her briefly and reached to grab her hand. "Feel free to search me out if you ever want to talk about it."
"That being said… Do you want to talk about your home?" Rossweisse turned the conversation around. "When I looked into your memories I saw that you had two homes- One in some sort of… a highrise, I think? And one in some sort of underground structure, kind of? I'm not sure, I think I heard something about tombs but… I feel as if that place was not really something that could be called that."
"...Yeah, I had those. How much did you see of them?" Momonga spoke with lower volume out of instinct, as his mind was suddenly thrown into another gear- With a part of him looking forwards to talking about Nazarick, a part of him wary that the knowledge would be used against him, and the third part feeling conflicted over the fact Rossweisse knew as much as she did due to the soul-meld.
Momonga quickly curb-stomped the instinct to drag Rossweisse to some desolate alleyway and wipe her memory or turn her to a stain on the pavement due to how much she knew, and how badly she could compromise his cover. 'While it'd be tactically advantageous to remove loose ends, the benefit of having someone to safeguard my soul and having someone to talk to who knows the real me far outweighs the consequences… Not to mention that without Norse to back her up, it's not like Michael and the others would listen to her over me… Right?
"...After all, that whole thing with Michael-sama and the others, it's a lie, right?" Rossweisse spoke quietly as well and Momonga spotted that the woman had made some sort of glowing runic symbol before speaking, likely to reduce the chance the two would be overheard.
"I'm not sure what you mean?" Momonga nonetheless played it safe while feeling his paranoia flare to life.
"It's… Ah. Right. Sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Rossweisse looked at Momonga and seemed to glean some sort of answer from his expression. "Not the right place and time. I got ahead of myself."
"It's alright. Umu, yes, the situation is changing quite rapidly and I'm struggling to keep up as it is so things are somewhat unclear…" Momonga played the situation down as on one hand his paranoid side didn't want to admit anything aloud in case Rossweisse was leading him into a trap by having him admit something big and recording it in secret, but on the other hand he recognized that speaking his troubles wouldn't help if he kept lying so he went at it in a roundabout way that he could later squirm out if the recording theory proved true.
"Ah. I see… Well, for what it's worth I'm with you either way." Rossweisse nodded seriously. "I mean, my point of reference is Odin and his 'leadership' so if you don't mind me saying, I'm not exactly opposed to what you're doing… What happened to my people and my home was, haah, not great but it's not like Odin gave you a choice there. At least you didn't have the prisoners executed or anything… Even if Brynhildr seems to be trying her hardest to be the first. Ah, speaking of which, can I be present if you go talk with the captives at some point? I feel as though Brynhildr and the others are going to talk themselves into a noose if they don't have someone to translate for them…"
'Ah. Right. Odin was… a somewhat lacking… leadership figure based on Rossweisse's memories so I can see why she'd stick to me even if she knew that my godhood was a lie… Then again, it's not good to think that 'better than someone else' is 'good enough', there's always room to improve… But all things considered, and those recent massacres notwithstanding, I don't think I've done all that bad a job at leading, I think?' Momonga contemplated the situation. 'Ddraig? Feedback from your end?'
"Well, you've been mostly delegating stuff to more competent people in any given field so it's not like you had that many chances to screw up, if you don't mind me saying. Which is a good thing. I mean the delegation of tasks." Ddraig noted. "The biggest screw-ups tend to happen when leaders that are competent in one field try to apply that knowledge to other fields where they are little more than commoners in terms of capability and knowledge, and disaster ensues. Honestly I'm a bit surprised you aren't going hands-on to some of the things that happen around you, but on the other hand, as long as your right-hand women and men won't become too power-hungry then the system works fairly well… Generally that last thing is what causes the most trouble, so if I were you I'd watch my back. Not that you need me telling you that."
'Well, that, and it's easier to pretend to be omnipotent or whatever if you never have to use your power except in very controlled scenarios…' Momonga thought back on his duel with Serafall. 'I'm pretty sure that if I had lost to Serafall I wouldn't be in the position I am now… The stigma of losing would have probably crashed my whole cult.'
"Well, between your preparation and your weird magic, if that is magic at all, and my assistance, the conclusion to the battle was pretty certain from the get-go…"
'Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.'
"Yeah, and underconfidence is the bane of influence and action."
Rossweisse tilted her head slightly and Momonga realized he had been quiet for some time so he detached himself from self-quoting competition with Ddraig in order to focus on the date.
Momonga tried to recall what Rossweisse was saying before he got distracted. "The other valkyries? Ah, right. Sure, I'll call for you when I go to talk to them. Got it."
"Thank you, Momonga-sama." Rossweisse sighed in relief and squeezed his hand, and Momonga put his finger on Rossweisse's lips.
"Please don't call me by my name, there's a chance it's compromised so I chose another." Momonga told Rossweisse and she nodded slightly.
"In that case… Can I call you Suzuki-sama?"
Momonga froze up a bit in indecision. On one hand that name hadn't been potentially burned by the Overlord General, or rather the Elder Lich that it had been previously, but on the other it made him feel quite vulnerable. 'S-sheesh… Then again, it should be alright… Besides, only Sona knows about it and I told her that the Suzuki Satoru-thing was just a roleplay or something between me and Rossweisse so it should be alright?'
"S-sure… Just, drop the 'sama', I think we're past that already…" Momonga looked to the side while blushing, somehow feeling embarrassed over such a small thing. But his 'real' name was a small thing that felt quite intimate to him.
"Alright… Satoru-kun." Rossweisse squeezed his hand back and Momonga realized hadn't realized he had squeezed her hand a bit while thinking. "So… Should we look around or do you have something specific in mind? It looks like the local craftsmen are setting up shop really quick here- Do you think there'd be something that sells cheap detergents and stuff like that? I sorta need more of that because I ended up having to wash the other Valkyrie's clothing because they were all sorts of grimy, not to mention that the prison they are in is in serious need of cleaning…"
"Couldn't you use your magic for it?"
"I… Suppose so, but if something sudden and dangerous happened I would not be as ready to fight." Rossweisse looked a bit guilty and pulled her hand from Momonga's so she could poke her forefingers together. "Moreover, cleaning up the place felt a bit homely, sorta like how I was often assigned to clean-up duty during my training days, so I figured I'd indulge myself somewhat…"
'Healthy paranoia. I approve.' Momonga thumbed-up Rossweisse mentally for not wasting combat-potential on stuff that could be dealt with otherwise.
It looked like his thoughts showed on his face as Rossweisse blushed a bit and looked away. "So, um… H-hey, that looks cute?"
Rossweisse was pointing at a shop that looked to be selling cold noodles and… heart-shaped candy?
'Uh, what?' Momonga blinked as he could have sworn he'd seen the owner of the business before, before he realized that the bandaged, limping creature running the shop had been the tengu who had initially blocked Momonga's request to know Yasaka's location, before Momonga had decided to instead go off and play with Kunou a few days back.
The brutalized-looking Tengu seemed to spot Momonga at the same time as he spotted the bird-like thing, and let out a 'Hieeeeee?!' sound while scrambling to slam the shop's windows and doors shut in panic.
"Ah- oh. W-was it something I did?" Rossweisse seemed to wilt a bit so Momonga went ahead and waved his hand to distract her.
"Don't worry, I knew the owner of that place. We didn't get along. Do you want some of the candy he sold? I can… persuade him to open up and sell to us."
"Ah- N-no, that wouldn't be good…" Rossweisse grabbed Momonga's hand and led him off with hasty footsteps as the passer-by's were staring and Momonga realized that he and Rossweisse holding hands must have caused his presence-reducing scrolls to expire.
The 'Cult of the True God' had not spread properly to Shinto of Underworld so seeing Momonga, the supposed 'True God' suddenly in their midst seemed to cause confusion and even fright to the people, or rather people-shaped creatures of many sorts and sizes that walked the street. And with the ex-guard now-merchant Tengu panicking to slam windows and doors shut, it looked as if the youkai had become quite wary of Momonga and quickly made way to vacate the streets, seemingly mostly out of fear if the few expressions Momonga managed to decipher with [Actor] were anything to go by.
'Huh, well, I didn't expect Shinto to just turn around and start respecting me instantly. Not to mention the rules I set in place with Yasaka means that until the youkai have properly integrated with the Underworld they're basically on-rent vagrants so it makes sense the rank-and-file are more afraid of me than reverent or respecting, but how come they can see me- Ah- Wait! The hand-holding! That is why the shopkeep managed to see me and the rest were alerted by the ruckus! Dammit!' Momonga felt like hitting one of the nearby wooden pillars as Rossweisse led him through a small maze of tight streets and corners. 'I got careless! I let my guard down! Dammit! This… Haa, I'm lucky that my concentration lapsed somewhere that is ostensibly friendly territory. But this can't become a habit- I've forgotten to stay on guard so often I can barely keep track of it… One day I'll lower my guard in the wrong alleyway, get jumped and die!'
"Uh, buddy, I think you killed an Outer God in one hit, and I'm pretty sure that even without that just about anyone stupid enough to try to jump you in the Underworld has probably died already by forgetting to breathe." Ddraig seemed to brave something and then reached with it's massive mental claw to poke the mental representation of 'Momonga' on the top of its head a few times, which it managed to do as the skeletal avatar was holding the sides of it's head and screaming it's frustration and fear to the sky. "Relax a bit. While I like a fight as much as the next dragon, I'm pretty sure that an accidental massacre of an allied city because you thought someone was stalking you or something and you nuked the whole place probably isn't going the direction you're going for…"
'Yeah… sure… yeah… Right…' Momonga realized how badly he had gotten spooked by something so minor, and realized that his acting was likely starting to negatively affect his mental state- Not to mention that letting Rossweisse know as much about him as she knew was not helping his paranoia.
"Um…"
Momonga realized that Rossweisse was looking into his eyes quite intently and intensely while she had a small blush on her cheeks. "Ah, ahem, that… That was a thing, yes?"
The awkward stammer seemed to cause something to make sense for Rossweisse as she breathed in quite quickly before seemingly making her mind up and slapped the sides of her cheeks quickly to bring herself to focus. "Right- I know what's going on. You're stressed out after all that, right? Hm… Listen, I feel as if it'd be better if we went somewhere a bit more secluded and just… talked, I suppose. Or something like that? Or maybe you'd like it if you were just, uh, alone and calmed down a bit? When I saw into you I saw how stressed and paranoid you were, and I feel as if those are not becoming any easier of late."
"...Haa, yeah, I'd like that…" Momonga conceded as he recognized the truth in Rossweisse's words, and while admitting weakness of sorts did make his paranoid side act up, he was well aware that he'd eventually snap if something too unexpected happened when he was in the state he was in currently. "Listen, I intended to take you out for a date but I don't think that's going to work right now. I'm sorry about that. But if you have the energy, do you mind if I teleported us to somewhere that we can occupy in private, have lunch with just the two of us, and talk about things?"
"Yeah, that might be a better plan for today… Shall we?" Rossweisse took Momonga's offered hand and quickly suppressed a shudder as she looked at the [Gate] that Momonga cast. "Shees… I know what that portal is but I always get a bad feeling when I look into it…"
Momonga sighed and lamented the fact he didn't have any items to change the spell's visual effect.
'Sheesh… I took a lot of things from Nazarick into my inventory before the end of the game but if I knew Ddraig was going to pull me here I would have taken a lot more…' Momomga thought as he landed into Phenix manor and sent a message to the service staff to prepare lunch in one of the more remote rooms.
"...Hm…" Ddraig hummed in deep thought in response to Momonga's internal monologue…
.
.
There was a huge crash.
"Phaagh… Rgh! You think this is enough to defeat me?! Foolish!" An armored form stood up to block a volley of metal balls after getting knocked to her knees by a huge laser.
Beelzebub glanced at Asmodeus as the two Maous fought side-by-side in what looked like some sort of frozen hellscape, complete with deep-blue crystals of ice jutting out of the broken snow-ice.
The search for the door out of the underwater city had ended as the intricate exit-door had opened seemingly on its own, making Beelzebub worried that the titanic creature who had confronted them earlier had invited them to a trap… But considering the two's goal had been to attract Hastur into his lair in the first place, the two Maous didn't have an option but to proceed deeper into the nightmarish realm.
And true to Beelzebub's guess, the two of them had been instantly confronted by a group of peculiar individuals, among whom was the angel-vampire hybrid from earlier.
'Hm…' Beelzebub had already deduced that the blizzard of razor-sharp icicles and snow which had grounded the devils initially was magically induced and had used his [Kankara Formula] to undo the effect, and utilized a strategy of keeping long range and running away alongside Asmodeus to kite around the group of strong individuals using their speed and ability to fly.
True to his guess, the vampire-angel hybrid had flown after the two Maous, caught up to them, and she had been fought back using Asmodeus's shield… But both of the Maous knew that they couldn't avoid melee forever, and the angel-hybrid's swift catch-ups were straining Asmodeus. Moreover, the insect-like creature that was in the chasing group seemed to be a warrior of some sort considering the blades he wore, and if he was anywhere around the angel-vampire's capability in melee, the two Maous would be in trouble if they were forced into melee with both the vampire and the insect- Not to mention the rest of the group that was chasing them.
"Ajuka-kun, that…" Asmodeus pointed at a pair of figures at the end of the group who were getting a bit separated from the rest on the account that the skeletal, red-armored form of the pair was considerably slower than the female-looking dark-armored form accompanying him.
"Yeah… Figures." Beelzebub narrowed his eyes at the skeletal figure that was jogging after the kiting Maous. "The skeletal structure reminds me of what Riser-kun has become, based on the reports. Figured that he'd be here as well."
"What a wretched fate… However, who is that next to him? She looks like a warrior of some sort."
"A guard, I suppose. She blocked your lasers and my attacks." Beelzebub noted. "It looks like we're attracting stronger specimens of Hastur's collection. This is good."
"...Well, that's one way to put it." Asmodeus noted as a huge creature that looked almost like a comedic rendition of a 'christian demon' wreathed in infernal flame appeared seemingly out of nowhere to block the two Maou's path.
The demon opened it's fanged jaw to say something starting with 'J', but before it could say or do much else a injector with a few drops of distilled angel-blood found itself under the demon's jaw, causing it's words to turn into a gargle, followed by it's form twisting and turning as the blood flowed through its body and finally causing it to explode into a shower of fire and boiling blood. Although the fact the two Maous had punched the demon in its midsection in unison when it was distracted likely had more to do with the explosion than the holy blood's effect.
"On the topic of distractions, have you sensed where Nyx is?" Asmodeus asked as the two Maous kept up the running-around while dodging, blocking and retaliating against the group chasing them.
"I'm not certain. Wherever she is, she's probably not conscious because I can't feel her aura, or she's so deep in this place that she's beyond our reach." Beelzebub said after a brief moment, during which Asmodeus brought up his shield to block the red-armored angel-vampire's charge and then fired the absorbed energy back as a horizontal laser that forced the rest of the pursuers to dodge or block the attack.
Beelzebub spotted a manor of some sort that had part of its side broken and pointed it out for Asmodeus. "I'll make a distraction, let's take cover there and get our breath back."
"Got it."
Beelzebub turned around as soon as he got the confirmation from Asmodeus and flung his hands wide to open his coat and send a number of ancient-looking Evil Pieces flying out… With each Piece having mutated and used to contain a malformed horror from the War between the Three Factions.
A volley of flesh, claw and torturous sounds of humans and devils that had fused together into amalgamations during Beelezbub's experiments rolled forth to meet the group of individuals that had chased after the two Maous.
Well aware that such a display wouldn't be enough to completely distract the enemy, Beelzebub created a devil circle to send a huge gout of all-covering smog that quickly spread and engulfed the whole area in bitter, choking darkness, under which the two Maous managed to enter the broken manor to catch their breaths.
"...The grotesques should keep that group busy for a moment. It's good that I prepared for the possibility of an apocalyptic war." Beelzebub sighed and spent a moment panting. He wasn't particularly exhausted but if anyone was watching then he'd rather have them attack him now rather than delaying it until a moment when he was actually vulnerable.
"I thought you got rid of all of those after the war?" Asmodeus looked a bit ill.
"I did… But only those that I unleashed on the Heavens and Fallen. Not that it was much of a loss since most of those that were used in battle were mindless and beyond recovery. These are new, partially formed from Strays and the earliest versions of Evil Pieces that didn't quite work to turn humans into devils. No use in wasting potential." Beelzebub motioned for the pair to keep moving while making a glyph to scan the building's interior. "Let's set a trap. This building seems to have quite a deep cellar."
"How are we going to get out if we trap ourselves here?" Asmodeus pointed out a flaw in Beelzebub's plan as the two Maous walked deeper into the building and went through an odd room that had mounds of broken dolls lining it, and then descending down the path that was open at the end of the room.
"That is precisely the point. I set one homing glyph at the entrance of this snow-place, and another at the entry point to this whole place, so I'll just move us to the entrance of this place once the pursuers find out we're here and think they can trap us here with no way out." Beelzebub told his plan to the fellow Maou while disarming traps that were laid in the hallway- While the traps would have been enough to fool a regular devil, they were quite obvious to Beelzebub's eyes even if he hadn't been disarming such traps in the crypt-like tunnels above. "I've not used teleportation until now so it's unlikely that the enemy knows about it, and based on how recklessly they chased us until now I suspect the enemy will just pile into our trap in a single file. I'm not naive enough to think that we'll be able to finish them off with just a single blow like that, but it should be enough for us to beat them back momentarily and seize the initiative."
Asmodeus nodded as the two Maous walked on a corridor that was lined with cells and bars, and-
"I~ see~… What a devilish plan indeed~ As befitting of hungrige ratten~ (hungry rats)"
Beelzebub stopped on his tracks, as did Asmodeus.
Both of the Maou's faces had flushed white as they slowly, creakily turned their heads as if their necks had grown rusted, and…
A creature cloaked in yellow. A uniform of unseen horror. A face without a face, with hands that bore long, too long fingers with too many joints with nails like claw-tipped tendrils, with a voice that echoed the young cheer of a dead son to confuse the grieving father.
The creature was locked behind bars of frost, but freely animated and in the background of the cell were gold coins, books and other items of eldritch power.
Beelzebub felt as his chest tightened as if iron bars had wrapped themselves around his ribs and pulled his chest together in sudden terror- That his plan of trapping Hastur had been, in fact, seen through by the ethereal horror.
Why else would Hastur taunt them by seemingly entering a prison cell out of his free will and confronting the two Maous that way?
"But I wonder~ why exactly are gentlemen (rats) in this glorious tomb? The cheese, I fear, is laced with poison~" Hastur reached towards his 'face', reached for his featureless mask that no longer bore a face, to unmask the horror once and for all, and-
Beelzebub grabbed Asmodeus, and the two teleported out to the glyph at the entrance.
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Pandora's Actor paused as he had been reaching for his officer's cap to greet the intruders that had stumbled upon the Frozen Prison, and try to pump as much information out of them as he could. 'My my. Demiurge might have had a point…'
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…And a second later the two Maous were teleported right back to the frozen manor.
"W-what?!" Beelzebub shrieked in horror as he realized that the trap he had intended to set for Hastur had turned on him as he looked around the cell he and Asmodeus had been teleported to. "No! This- This cannot be! I miscalculated! Hastur planned for this all along?!"
"Less talking, more running- Hit me!" Asmodeus braced for impact and Beelzebub realized what he was aiming for, and hit Asmodeus's raised energy shield with all his might, enough for Asmodeus to redirect the energy, add his own to it, and then fire it off at the wall of their cell.
The cell's wall caved in, and allowed the two Maous to escape right into the melee that was still going on between Beelzebub's flesh-horrors and the group of strong individuals in the now-familiar looking frozen hellscape that had had turned dirty gray after the smog from Beelzebub's distraction settled.
And the Maous landed on the snow just in time to see the last of the flesh-horrors fall.
"Beelzebub… Go." Asmodeus pushed Beelzebub away. "Someone needs to seal this realm, and I won't be able to do it. So go out and seal me in with these monsters. This place will be my tomb. Go."
"Falbium-kun, I…" Beelzebub saw the resolve in Asmodeus's eyes as the Maou turned to face the group of strange creatures, including what looked like elven twins, a bluish insect with weapons, the vampire-angel hybrid, a strange frog-creature in a suit, and the skeletal Riser with it's black-armored bodyguard.
"Go!" Asmodeus sensed Beelzebub's hesitation and turned to kick Beelzebub in his stomach with enough force to send him on his way, causing the Maou to fly off with the force of the impact towards the direction of the door in the distance. "Fly, you fool!"
"...Dammit… Falbium-kun, I won't forget this sacrifice…" Beelzebub turned, materialized his wings and flew off towards the door to the sunken city, and made his way towards the exit of the forbidden realm. 'I hope I make it in time… If Hastur managed to bypass us and enter the prison… I have to be fast or he'll get out before I can seal this place!'
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"...It seems your friend has made a runner." The skeletal creature walked in front of the odd group and approached Asmodeus, with the dark-armored warrior walking right behind him with her barchiche in tight grip.
'Talking, huh… Suits me. Every moment I buy is a moment Beelzebub can spend trying to get away…' Asmodeus put his hands into his sleeves and he landed on the snow in front of the hostile group. "Pretty much so."
"I see. Shalltear- Make sure he doesn't get away." The skeleton gave the order, and the red-armored vampire-hybrid nodded and tried to fly off in a direction… And had to roll off as Asmodeus launched a volley of energy darts to intercept her.
"It's rude to run off when people are talking, you know?" Asmodeus childed the vampire who growled quite furiously and gripped her lance.
"Hm, and it's even more rude to try to invade someone else's place and start killing their people. If Shalltear didn't have the item I gave her she would have died when the three of you attacked her, you know?" The skeletal creature opened his hand and waved it a bit. "I saw that you guys had Saji-kun with you. You're devils, I take it?"
"A keen observation. I am Asmodeus, one of the Maous of the Underworld, but I suspect you knew this already." Asmodeus put his hands back into his sleeves and nodded slightly.
The skeleton's jaw fell open in shock, making Asmodeus suspicious that something fishy was going on.
"A-a-a-a Maou?! Like, something like Rias-buchou's brother?"
Asmodeus's eyes narrowed even further from the skeleton's stammering. '...Hm… Is he trying to catch me off guard by pretending to be clueless? I have to be careful…'
"It seems you've heard of Sirzechs-kun. Is he here?" Asmodeus asked the question with disinterested voice but dreading the answer internally as Beelzebub had used the fallen Maou's ashes alongside the rest of the Pillar heads in combination with the power of the Central Piece in order to create a huge void-bomb, or at least that was as far as Asmodeus understood Beelzebub's ritual. 'If these horrors got their hands on Sirzechs's ashes, there's no saying what they might be able to do with them…'
"No, I don't think so… But since you've heard of him, do you know what's going on with Rias-buchou? Was he married off to Riser? What about the Rating Game?"
Asmodeus narrowed his eyes further as the skeleton spoke of strange things. 'Rias Gremory? Marriage to Riser? Hm… Ah. I assume this skeleton means the Rating Game some time ago… The Rating Game where Riser Phenix died.'
The Maou inspected the features of the skeletal creature and was fairly sure that they matched quite well with Riser's current appearance, even if his wargear was considerably more refined compared to the rags that were reported. 'Why would Riser ask about that, surely he knows what happened afterwards… Or he's buying time by distracting me with pointless questions?'
The Maou realized that he had been trying to buy time, but it looked like the group in front of him was buying time as well- Which in turn made him realize that just like Beelzebub falling to Hastur's trap of trying to trap it, Asmodeus had split himself up from Beelzebub to buy time just as Hastur had planned!
"I see… Cunning. You got me." Asmodeus realized he'd need to run off and catch up with Beelzebub to help him as the group in front of him were likely little more than a distraction, which started to make more and more sense as to why they had chased the Maous in the frozen plain instead of doing so in the sunken city or the crypt-like hallways- In other words, the goal of the group was all along to split up Asmodeus and Beelzebub from one another so Hastur could swallow them up one by one, in the same way he had likely devoured Nyx.
'...Sheesh, I can see why Beelzebub was as paranoid as he was, back in the camp…' Asmodeus created a devil circle to cause the snow to explode into a blizzard, and then dodged back as the insect-like warrior charged through the snow to slice at the Maou's neck.
The blade missed, if barely, and Asmodeus jumped back while sending wave after wave of magic to batter back the group that seemed to have switched back to 'fight' mode.
"[Command Mantra: Hold]" The frog-like creature tried to use a compulsion, but Asmodeus shook it off after a single twitch… Even if that twitch was enough of an opening for the vampire to bury her lance to the Maou's side.
Asmodeus coughed blood as he blasted the vampire back and quickly patched up the hole in his side, but the opening was enough for the insectoid creature to charge in again and slice at the Maou's head with its long odachi.
Unable to dodge as fast as he could just earlier thanks to the partially-healed hole in his flank, the blade connected, sliced Asmodeus's eye and caused half of the Maou's vision to turn to black.
'Hm, melee combat against so many strong individuals is not a good idea… Then again, I don't have many options right now.' Asmodeus brought up his shield, [Absolute Defense] once again, even though the strain of having to use it so many times in quick succession was starting to build up.
A serpentine creature of some sort sprang up from the snow and landed it's fangs on the shield while the snow cracked under Asmodeus to form a almost maw-like rift, and he realized that the elf twins that had stayed on the background were using the distraction of the melee combatants to direct their own attacks at the Maou, with the snake likely intended to push the Maou into the rift.
However, Asmodeus's wings were stronger than the push of the snake, and he managed to block the charge before side-stepping mid-air to allow the snake to fall into the rift that closed around it, crushing the creature into bloody pulp like a rock-made maw closing on a juicy fruit.
Asmodeus saw from the corner of his only good eye that the dark-skinned elf male was shaking the staff-wielding girl by the shoulders while the girl had a distressed expression, but he couldn't get too good a glimpse as he was forced to dodge a charge by the vampiric angel.
The Maou grabbed the vampire's lance mid-charge, crouched under it, and used the speed of the charge against the vampire by lifting the lance from its middle with his free hand to send the vampire over his shoulder and flying off in a tumble.
The vampire impacted against the dark-armored warrior who was clearly contemplating splitting the vampire into two mid-impact, but in the end the two of them crashed together and collided with Riser, and all three fell into a heap of tangled limbs.
Asmodeus scrunched his eyebrows as he was fairly sure that he hadn't put enough force into the throw to cause the two to fall against the skeleton and suspected foul play, but couldn't get too deep into it as the chitin-covered warrior swung at him with a pair of halberds.
The Maou dodged, and made to slam his open palm against the warrior's open flank, only to stop mid-attack as he realized that the opening was a feint, and barely avoided getting his hand cut off by the warrior-insect's oodachi that it had hidden behind it's back with one of its arms.
The insect nodded slightly to the Maou, seemingly out of respect for seeing through him, but Asmodeus was too busy to bother with warrior's honor- Not that the Maou responsible for Underworld's military had put much weight on honor to begin with, as honor might suit a individual warrior but would spell doom to a nation if it was employed by it's generals.
Instead Asmodeus used the opportunity of the nod and small pause in the insect's attacks to fire the laser that he had charged over the course of the battle by absorbing attacks with his [Absolute Defense], landing the devastating attack on a weak spot in the insect's armpits.
"Hguaaaaa!" The insect let out a chittery warble as the laser caused one of his arms to fly off and blasted the insect back. "Not. Again!"
'Again? Hm… I wonder, did Nyx survive after all?' Asmodeus noted the warrior-insect's frustrated words as he turned to face the charge of the dark elf twins.
The lashing whip of the male dark elf was dodged easily by the Maou, and Asmodeus grabbed the wooden staff that was swung at his face by the female dark elf, grabbing the blunt weapon by it's shaft and he pulled the dark elf girl off her feet, even if she was far stronger than her appearance gave credit- But the Maou had to let go of the staff as it grew thorns that would have disabled his hand if he hadn't noticed them in time, making him realize that it had been the dark elf girl's plan all along.
The male dark elf swug with his whip again while blowing a pink mist at Asmodeus, and the Maou cast an explosive glyph in front of his feet to blow the mist away and to open some distance between himself and the elves by surfing the shockwave of the explosion.
However, before Asmodeus could get his bearings straight the insect warrior charged through the smoke, with his red-glowing eyes leaving a blazing trail behind them.
[Absolute Defense] went up again, blocking the chain of blows… And Asmodeus coughed blood as the partially-healed wound on his flank combined with the strain of using the ability much more than it was initially designed to be used, and caused his concentration to dwindle just slightly.
The insect warrior pushed the attack, and Asmodeus blasted the creature away with the laser.
His vision swam as the insect warrior was knocked back and was obscured in a cloud of smoke and snow, and-
"Hguh!"
A red lance pierced through Asmodeus's chest at the same time as a bardiche sliced his waist, cutting him in two as the dark warrior and the red-armored vampire charged past the fallen insect warrior to strike.
Asmodeus's power was spent.
The [Absolute Defense] would not activate anymore.
Asmodeus allowed himself to relax as he realized that he was done for.
'...What a wretched death… Beelzebub, I hope you… got… away…'
The Maou saw as his only remaining eye grew blurry, and he realized just how tired he was.
'Heh… I did say I wanted… to take… a nap…'
And thus, the Maou died.
And thus, his last trick activated in the form of a trap he had set on his body to ensure that it wouldn't fall to the enemy hands, well aware of what could happen to it based on Beelzebub's ramblings.
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Beelzebub paused just for a fraction of a second as he ran through the corridors of the crypt, covered in water from head to toe after blazing his way through the underwater city and dodging the golem-like creature's attacks on the way as it had risen once more from the city to block Beelzebub's escape, yet was not agile enough to actually catch him.
Beelzebub felt a tremor of a huge explosion emanating from far below him, and realized that Asmodeus was no more.
'...I won't let your sacrifice go to waste, my friend…'
So Beelzebub ran, and flew, and crawled through the corridors, through the traps, and through the cave-ins that had sealed some of the passages as if the crypt itself had been rammed through something and its first floors had suffered from it.
However, as soon as Beelzebub arrived at the opening that he, Asmodeus and Nyx had crashed through…
'...Oh no.'
The opening was full of soil and gravel, and was completely impassable. '...Dammit, this… This is bad, wait, that gravel, if I analyze it somewhat… Oh no. Oh no… D-don't tell me, this can't be…'
Beelzebub grabbed the gravel with both hands and started to dig, before he realized he felt a breeze of fresh air coming from a direction opposite to the one he had come from. 'Oh no. No, no, this… Hastur, you, you couldn't…'
The Maou stumbled up and walked towards the source of the fresh air with defeated footsteps, up a corridor of long and wide marble stairs, and…
Beelzebub found himself in a ruined Kuoh.
The Maou looked around, and saw that the night sky was as it was supposed to be. The night was dark, and the thin layer of snow that was caused by the 'real' Human World's black-hole star was gone.
And the sky was buzzing with dark, malformed dragons.
The dragons seemed to notice Beelzebub as soon as the Maou stumbled out of the mausoleum entrance.
The Maou looked up… And began to laugh.
'It's a lie. The sun is a black hole. The real sky is deep ultramarine. I didn't escape. There is no escape. The world is already…' Beelzebub's thoughts ran ragged with his mounting insanity, the knowledge that a feeble being like himself could not outsmart or even delay a horror like what he was facing now. '...The Human World has already been devoured by Carcossa… And we are but tin soldiers fighting on a made-up battleground for the amusement of horrors that make up the rules.'
And so, when the swarm of dragons swept down to attack, Beelzebub did not fight back but opened his arms and welcomed his death, denying the horror it's final laugh by not allowing it to see Beelzebub dance on its strings in a mock battle that would end only one way.
And so the swarm of teeth, claw and fire swept him away.
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Le Fay Pendragon narrowed her eyes as she had been keeping an eye out on Kuoh from the broken remains of what looked like a camp of some sort, perched on the side of a mountain looking down on the ruined city.
She had been cataloging the points of interest in the ruins for the past few days, marking them on her map for later exploration for clues to the dark lord's whereabouts, and then tracing them until she would eventually find the horrid creature that had slain her brother and the rest of the Hero Faction.
That had been her plan anyway, before Kuoh had suddenly become a teeming playground for a huge swarm of Evil Dragons, and a few reports she had gotten from other mages in Japan told her that the whole country was teeming with the beasts. '...What happened? Did that monster realize I was after it, and send these monsters to hinder me?'
However, Le Fay had kept up her observations while seething internally, promising death, blood and destruction to any fool who got in her way, even if it was herself, and kept cataloging the points of interest and even daring to go explore a few of them when the dragons were busy chasing after refugees or fighting against fighter jets and navy ships that occasionally patrolled the coast.
That was, until a male humanoid creature that Le Fay vaguely recognized from the ancient texts to be one of the great Maous of Underworld stumbled out of the mausoleum that looked out of pace in the backyard of semi-ruined manor, opened his arms while laughing maniacally, and seemingly let himself get killed by the swarm of dragons that descended upon him.
The dragons devoured the scraps of the body in a feeding frenzy before squeezing into the mausoleum in chase of fresh prey… And the entrance of the mausoleum seemed to widen to accommodate the dragons, despite being clearly too small for the beasts to enter conventionally.
Le Fay narrowed her eyes as she looked at the spectacle through her binoculars, and marked the place as her next place to investigate.
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Momonga got a paranoid feeling that something was going on behind his back while he was unloading his stress of his situation to Rossweisse, and Rossweisse was talking to him about her life as a Valkyrie over lunch and under a layer upon layer of anti-observation wards.