Chapter: 11
He was a true demon among devils, a wandering black sheep with an appetite for anything that moved, a murderer. Sora knew all that about himself but didn't see a reason to care about such things anymore. Why should he? He had nothing left to worry for. His life? Hah! He could die that very moment and not give half a shit as long as he gave the world one last "fuck you." Loved ones? The last one died by the man who had a hand in making him. Ambitions? Not a one to be found, there wasn't a thing he wanted in life anymore - except for more people to cut apart. Revenge? Done years ago when he trashed that kami-forsaken place and made it inaccessible to anyone that didn't know where it was or didn't have the right gear to uncover it.
What did all that really say about him? That he was some kind of mentally unstable murderer most likely, and that suited the teen just fine. Though he could understand why - at times - people seemed a little...unnerved by his presence, really it wasn't all that big of a mystery to him seeing as he usually killed things a rather brutal way.
But that was just how he did, and had done, things for well over a decade now making it as simple as breathing. That wasn't going to change anytime soon and he didn't really want it to by this point. He was more than happy with the way he was, he did what he wanted when he wanted to do it with the only exceptions being when his King called him in for something. And even then - though he'd never admit it if someone called him out on it - he didn't really mind all that much when she needed him. It made him feel...useful, not just a walking natural disaster waiting to happen. Course that didn't mean he wouldn't fight her every step of the way just for the fun of it.
Then there was his charge, the little worm he was made to train until the day his King and her fiance duked it out in what amounted to a giant game of chess. To be honest he wanted to just dump the worm's carcass into the river and be done with it, but King seemed attached to it for whatever reason. Though he had to say that the worm was quite interesting to train, it seemed to be very malleable to battle knowledge when it was directly applied.
Sora had to guess that it had something to do with that sacred gear on it's arm, legendary dragons tended to be much better at combat than most others it seemed.
Sadly the torture session was cut short due to the worm passing out from exhaustion - and some blood loss - leaving the little blond to care for it. As loath as he was to let the two stay anywhere near each other without his supervision, he just didn't feel like putting up that fight today. In fact he didn't really feel like doing anything today, it was an odd sort of lull for him. But he figured that if he went out for a walk then by the time he got back to the training ground he would be ready to continue molding the slightly insignificant creature into something more battle worthy. Worm would need all the training it could get if it hoped to even have a chance at beating the infamous fire chicken.
The teen put his hand on one of the many trees in the large forest he had chosen as a suitable training ground. It was isolated, quiet, and surrounded in nothing but nature itself. Much better than the city in his opinion, nobody to bother him if he decided to start doing some training that would normally get the authorities called on him.
He leaned up against the large hunk of wood growing from the forest floor and slid down it until he sat comfortably on the grass. It really was quite relaxing around here, add in the perfect seventy-five degree temperature and the fact that there wasn't an angry looking cloud in sight and you got the ideal day to just laze around.
"You look like you're having fun, mind if I join you?" Sora sighed at the voice that appeared from the other side of the tree. No rest for the wicked.
One pink colored eye followed the well groomed looking Adolf K. Weismann as the other devil took a seat beside him. He didn't bother getting ready for a fight seeing as how this guy could kill him twenty-five different ways before he even made to move. Kind of pointless to try, almost like trying to climb a mountain using only your teeth - it's only going to hurt like a bitch and you wouldn't get anything done from the act.
Adolf smiled kindly at him, "I didn't think that you had the ability to sit down and rest like this Sora. I've observed you for years now and i've only seen you continue moving from one thing to the next...not that I was stalking you or anything, just making sure that you were someone worth keeping an eye on!" He waved his hands in the air in front of his face back and forth as if to swat away that particular notion. He slumped against the tree again with a content sigh, "And I must say, I definitely didn't make a mistake in my presumptions Sora. You are everything I hoped you would be...just with some minor quirks." Adolf chuckled to himself.
The two sat in silence that was both comfortable and very uncomfortable - depending on who you were at that moment - both just content to listen to the sounds of nature. Finally Sora gave up playing the waiting game after a solid five minutes.
"What do you want Adolf."
Another friendly chuckle, "Oh I just wanted to check on you, you know see if you were alright. I do worry about my friend's after all." Friends? What the hell ever gave this guy the idea that they were friends? They were acquaintances at best. His eyes must have gave something away because the devil frowned a minuscule amount. "Well even if you don't think we are friends I would still like to believe that we are." His smile came back quickly, great an overly friendly stalker.
A small vibrating sound emanated from the young looking man's pocket, breaking their thoughts instantly. "Ah sorry I have to take this, Neko gets cranky if I don't answer her calls." He slid his smartphone out and touched the screen. "Hello Neko, how are- I see. Yes. i'll be there soon, hopefully they are ready for this. Alright I will meet you in C-21 near the main hall. Bye." He sighed and turned around, looking surprisingly apologetic. "Sorry Sora, but I need to take care of something. It's...rather important to a project we have going." Adolf opened up a small magic circle on the ground under him without a thought. "Ah, but before I go." He smiled over his shoulder in his unusually friendly manner. "Don't forget what we talked about. Just call the number I gave you if you ever want to take the deal."
In a flash of silver light he was gone without a trace.
The deal...Sora had almost forgotten about it. To be a free devil and not have to fear becoming a stray was so unreal to him. Yet the thought was so very tantalizing to him, never again would he have to listen to anyone else's orders unless he wanted to, never again would he have to address someone as his superior just because they were his master. Yet even still, he knew he couldn't do it. Not yet anyway. He still had a debt to repay to his King, and for the life of him Sora couldn't leave any debt unpaid no matter how small. Or unwanted in the case of his master.
Regardless of whether it was the right thing to do or not, she saved his life when he hit rock bottom. He would never thank her for it, but he could at least pay her back. His brain started churning as he thought of it, maybe he could train the worm hard enough to beat fire chicken's peerage on his own so the rest of his King's peerage could gang up on the chicken...that would definitely be more than enough. Whether or not they beat him wasn't really Sora's worry.
Sora took a look at the sky above to gauge the time he spent out on his little excursion. The sun had barely moved at all so maybe only about thirty minutes or so, or maybe it was an hour he didn't really know. Probably would have helped if he remembered where the sun was the last time he checked up there.
Either way it was time to head back before the Worm got too cozy doing nothing. He stood up with a groan and dusted off his pants, lazy days like this one didn't come often for Sora so it was kind of upsetting that he wouldn't be able to enjoy his calm mood today.
SMHM
Adolf arrived at his destination in front of a giant, magic resistant, metal, hydraulic locked door in the deepest area of a large cave complex. This was the entrance to one of his many bases, this one was known as C-21 and was the current base of operations for his group of friend's.
He walked over to a console next to the giant contraption and put his hand on a half-sphere that was sticking out from a keyboard where the keys would normally be placed. Without hesitation he injected a small portion of his demonic energy into the sphere and watched as it lit up with his own silver aura. Lines criss-crossed over the surface and made abstract shapes in a rather pretty light show. The ball began to glow green underneath his silver aura and it broke apart along the lines revealing a core made of white light which turned green immediately after his energy touched it. The hydraulic locks disengaged with multiple hisses and the door slowly groaned open.
He smiled as the orb went back into it's dormant state and began a silent countdown. In ten seconds it would automatically close the doors regardless of if someone tried the mechanism again. It was a marvelous little thing that his friends in the science department whipped up a year ago when the last base was destroyed.
The orb was keyed into the different magic signals in the upper class members of the group and would only open for those specific people. It was designed to need a great deal of magic to open as well so there was no threat of someone collecting enough residue to open the door. And of course with all the anti-magic seals and talismans on it - that were hidden from sight - there was no way anyone under a Maou-class enemy could possibly blow the door down.
To those working in the science center it was their pride and joy, their little baby.
Stepping through just before the door shut and locked tight behind him, Adolf made his way through the well-lit halls of his facility. The place was every bit as mesmerizing as the first time he saw it, the walls were a thick magic enhanced metal with black and white checkered floor tiles. Yet this was just the entryway. The rest was much more amazing, a giant main hall with running water and trees all over the place with multiple routes leading to the various departments that were built in. Dotted throughout the main hall were food courts, a small school for the few children running about, and various other amenities that anyone would ever need.
In the center was a cylindrical plexiglass elevator that led down into three different floors. The first was a large assortment of apartment style rooms - all big enough to host a medium sized family - that were each home to at least one person. Below that was a recreation room complete with a swimming pool, game room, and a library for the occasional reader. Finally under that was the place where he met and made strategies with the people in the 'active' group, otherwise known as his inner circle or the 'Twinrose' as some of the people in C-21 had taken to calling them.
Up in the main hall there were four main paths away from the elevator that led to the four separate areas devoted to mechanical engineering/maintenance, scientific research/application, magic theory, and advanced artifact application. They all basically worked on what their names said but magic theory was geared more towards making new spells, and such that could be used for the defense of the facility and for the 'Twinrose' to use.
It was an amazing place to be sure and everyone who lived there was able to go to any place they wished as long as they stayed out of the bottom floor and did not disturb those working on delicate experiments in the different labs. Though only the top brass could ever leave the base as long as it wasn't under some kind of cataclysmic danger
He smiled kindly to the small group of people that walked past him and they returned the gesture with their children greeting him excitedly. He was rather well liked by everyone that lived here for the chance he gave each and every one of them. He granted true freedom from the tyranny of the past and present system of Maou. But that was a conversation for another time. He turned a corner and approached the door leading to the science labs. Adolf greeted the guard and walked inside with the intent of finding Neko and his team's current project.
Turns out he needed have looked for long, for as soon as he got passed the entryway he was tackled by a white blur - one that nuzzled his cheek. "Hello Neko, it's good to see you too." He chuckled as she continued to hug him tightly. She was like this every time he went out alone, it was nice to know that someone was that worried about his safety. "So are they ready yet?" She nodded her head yes excitedly with her cat-like eyes shining. "Then let's go see them shall we?" The two stood up and walked over to one of the many unmarked doors - well Adolf walked, Neko immediately jumped onto his back for a piggyback ride.
Inside the room was dark with the only light coming from the different monitors and the two glowing glass tubes in the back. All around the place scientists ran around to different stations with most having large smiles on their faces - though it was hard to see that in the dark.
His gaze moved to the tubes which held project N-K_2. A few years ago - back when the group was first formed - he and his peerage had managed to find the remains of two incredibly powerful devils that had died during the Great War. Out of curiosity he had taken the remains, and within two years of study his scientists had made a great breakthrough, they had the possibility of reviving the two devils. So over the next few decades the group had worked towards the goal of reviving them and bringing them back into their former glory.
It may be seen as somewhat inhumane to work on something like this but they were devils, different rules. Plus is would help turn the tides on their enemy if they could bring back two of the people that were able to fight against the biblical God together with the original Maou.
He approached the person in charge of N-K_2 who was looking down at the monitor with a frown. Perhaps something had gone wrong? "How are they Mister Nilos?" He asked politely.
"Hmm? Oh Shiro you're here!" He jumped back in shock before straightening himself out to appear more 'proper.' "Well...the revival is going much more smoothly than we had ever dreamed sir, but there appears to be a few things wrong with them." He grabbed the clipboard and stared down at the scratch marks on it that must have somehow looked like words to the man. "First is that their magic reserves are nowhere near where they should be for someone like them. At best I would place them at middle-class status and their energy doesn't seem to want to rise beyond that point…"
"We can always train them back into their previous state. There is no need to worry about something like that, all it means is that they will need to train with the rest of us, which means that they will get better accustomed to us much faster." He easily waved off the man's concern on that point, after all it really was no trouble to train two new recruits as long as they were willing to put in the effort needed. And with how powerful they used to be they would no doubt wish to be that strong again.
Nilos nodded at the his point and decided to get to the biggest problem. "Well that's not all sir. It looks like they can't use their magic." What...but that made no sense! "They have the magic needed to use spell but something is holding back the flow. We've been trying to get it to flow out of them both using electrical signals to have them do it and using the machine but, nothing. It's stuck within them and refuses to escape." He looked uneasy as he muttered the last bit, it clearly disturbed him that such a phenomenon could exist in two devils as powerful as these ones.
Adolf felt Neko slid off his back as he walked up to the glass tanks. Floating inside were two clothless pale girls - one with long black hair and the other with long white hair. He put a hand on the glass of both tanks and stared at the faces of both girls. A sigh escaped his lips and he turned to face the head scientist with a smile. "You have done a remarkable job with this Mister Nilos, I know that if anyone can get these two back to the way they were it's you. I'm counting on you." He saw the man's face light up in happiness of his praise. Adolf really didn't know why the people here looked at him like that, like he was their father, but he had to admit that it wasn't all that bad. He always wanted a big family after all.
SMHM
So sorry about the long wait...and the fact that this is a new 11 instead of 12...anyways! I am out of my writing funk and to prove it here is the new version of 11 since the other was REALLY bad in my honest opinion. Hope you enjoyed!