Chapter 3

Shooting off

Condensation

Compression

Rotation

Multiplication

Ignoring the bullets around me I looked towards the stopwatch in my hand. 2.8 second. Great improvement considering how it took me 3 seconds last week. I got better at handling the rotation too. Accuracy… insufficient but still workable. I took a towel and wiped my sweats.

Ever since that night when Serafall tricked me I've been spending 6 hours from noon till evening every weekdays to train my magic at the mansion's pool. It was frustrating to see the magic I worked so hard on to be that useless, even if I knew Serafall's ice were rigged.

And yeah, I know those ice walls were way stronger than a tree had any right to be.

...Huh, I wonder if anybody else have ever said that line in the past. Probably not, but I'll just assume there had been one because I certainly don't want to be the first to have said that.

You know, It's at times like these that I feel like I'm sitting on an open window on the 50th floor of a skyscraper. Behind me was a room full of books which contains all kinds of knowledge, and before me was the blue sky, the white clouds and tons of birds chirping and making ruckus all over the place.

I could make the smart decision. To go back within the safety of my room, with all those knowledge of mine. Or I could jump down, mistakenly believing I could fly within my disoriented state.

Welp, that's actually a rather philosophical of me.

…I miss my old life. To be honest, I don't know how much longer I can handle all of this craziness. I trained and trained but honestly I don't think I would be of any use by the time cannon arrive.

Sure maybe I could beat the likes of Freed or other schmuck, and even help against enemies like Kokabiel. But as the series progress even ultimate-class devils are merely treated as chump changes.

"Young master." I heard a familiar voice. "It is about time to go."

Go? Go whe- "To Serafall-Sama's territory. "

Oh, right. Pops told me about all that troublesome stuff didn't he? I was going to the Leviathan territory to get my own Peerage. Apparently that was the point of the whole 'Can you use magic? ' thing last week was about.

As pureblood devil I was automatically treated as a high-class devil the moment I was born. It's a boon for all direct offsprings of the original 72 members of Ars Goetia. And as like any other high-class devil that means I have the right to obtain a Peerage of my own.

The only problem with that is the fact that devils who aren't able to control their mana can't imprint their souls on the evil pieces, and therefore can't have a peerage yet.

Well, it's actually called demonic power instead of mana but fuck that lame shit.

Anyway, since I have proven myself to be able to use magic, there's no more doubt that I can adeptly control mana. The only reason it took a week was because of Serafall's time slot.

She always come over just about whenever, but she's surprisingly busy sometimes. It's a thing that happens a few times each year. She usually let her works pile up and clear them up in one big swoop so she's been caught up in her jobs since last week.

-Or not. Why the hell am I even surprised.

Oh wait, I'm actually not.

Looking around I could see some familiar faces. First off were pops, Sonya and Serafall. Then there were the other three quarters of the satans consisting of Sizerch, Ajuka and Falbium. After them were some other acquaintance and the rest are those whom I only know by faces.

Goddamnit sis.

"Ah, Fari-tan~~!"

Like so, everyone's eyes turned toward me. Ugh, I'm getting butterflies in my stomach. God knows how I wish I was born as a sloth instead. Or maybe a ragdoll or persian cat. Those shitstain got things easy, they just have to act cute and then they're good to go for the rest of their miserably short live.

I thought Serafall wasn't able to do the ceremony straight away because she was busy with work, but she was apparently preparing for my crowning as a king, sending invitations to everybody here and there.

If it were anybody else doing such a thing I would have claimed that they were trying to make a publicity stunt, but since it's Sera then I'm a hundred percent sure she just wanted to brag about her cute little Fari-tan to everyone.

Goddammit sis.

"Good evening, Aneue." Usually I would merely nod to acknowledge it whenever other greets me, but Sera definitely won't be satisfied with just that.

I wouldn't care at all if this was a normal case, but right now Sera is still on duty as a proper Satan followed by judgemental eyes around her, and I don't think acts like pouting and giving me a noogie would give nice impression of her towards others.

If she still have any that is. I mean, she goes around wearing those revealing mahou shoujo clothes everywhere, hell she got a kids' TV series based around her! An ecchi one with long-ass transformation scene and lots of panty shots!

Back in my last life, I had always thought that Sona's hostility against her sister was too over-the-top, but now that I'm experiencing said troubles myself I can't help but to agree with her sentiments. Dealing with Serafall is like facing a consistently cheerful five years old. With ADHD. In a sugar rush.

Goddammi-You know what, forget it. It's rude of me to swear at my sister all the time, even if only in my mind.

"So, am I to assume everyone is here to watch me, or...?"

"Ahaha, something like that~~?"

Oi, what's with that question mark at the end.

I really want to tsukkomi her, and would have if it wasn't so inappropriate at the moment.

"Then can I just do it straight away?" There's no way in hell I'm staying here even a second longer than I need to. I've got no social soul. Hell, I probably don't even have a social bone in me.

"Aww~~ Don't be embarrassed," She cooed at me. Cooed.

Shaddup, the only thing I'm embarrassed about is having you as my sister.

"F-Fa-Fari-tan?"

Now why the hell is see staring at me with those puppy dog eyes- Oh wait I spoke my thoughts out loud again didn't I. Damn it.

Now how am I supposed to handle this… Ah, maybe running my mouth will work?

"Now just cry your heart out as much as you want, I don't care at all."

I could see her eyes glimmering, tears threatening to go out at any moment. Heh, this is gonna be fun. Now let's see if my mouth will fail me or not.

"Of course, I am not trying to use reverse psychology on you, nor am I trying to cheer you up from what might or might not be a slip of the tongue. This I can proof by stating the following theorem: Schrodinger equation. a cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. If an internal monitor detects radioactivity the flask will shatter and release the poison within, which shall kill the cat. After a while, the cat is to be treated as simultaneously alive and dead as we cannot see the result, which is stupid because just like people, cats die when they are killed. So the point I'm making by butchering what is a proper quantum mechanical theorem is the fact that it's sometimes better to think inside the box rather than outside, unlike Heinberg or whoever mad scientist it is that killed an innocent cat for the sake of a mere equation."

Is it working?

...Yep, it is. Sera is currently donning a goofy grin as if I just said something funny.

I wonder why?

"Now before I extend anymore than that I shall firstly declare this speech of mine to be called [The Anime Tiddies Equation], which will be treated as the devil's equivalent of humanity's bible. Now continuing on, we shall once again continue our reading of the first chapter of said equation, crowned with the name of [Cats Die When They Are Killed]. Now the reason why this is so important that I put it as the first chapter is because the wisdom behind- OUCH! Shit! Fuck ah' bit mai tongue! It fucking 'urts ike ell! Fuck dis gay shit wo needs someing so iiotic anyway!"

Farewell, my [Anime Tiddies Equation]. You have served your purpose well enough.

As I continued to swear nobody within my surrounding said anything, not even Serafall.

"Now where was I? Maybe I should've listened when the doctor warned me that I have a very bad case of ADHD. My imaginary doctor that is. Oh right, my peerage. Yeah that's what this is all about right? Pretty sure it was." I turned towards my sister. "Now are we going to do it or can I just go back home straight away?"

The silence that followed was rather nerve-wracking yet at the same time exciting beyond belief.

The silence was epic beyond words

#Epic

#Deep

#2cool4u

- Me, 20XX

"Ahaha! Fari-tan's so cool~~!"

Shaddup. Now hurry up, I wanna go back to my warm and cozy bed. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I can get a kotatsu to be set on my room. Lazing under the warm table while watching TV or DeviTube sounds like heaven on earth to me. Wait, I actually live in the underworld so does that means it's actually heaven on hell?

That sounds idiotic as all hell.

Ah well, I guess I should ask pops to get me one sometimes later. Back to business it is, I suppose.

"Say, shouldn't we hurry up? It's getting pretty late."

"Hm? Sure~~"

It's actually only eight in the evening right now but I tend to sleep early. Very early actually, considering the fact that devils are nocturnal beings by nature and therefore likes to do their activities in the night. The underworld only has an artificial sun that doesn't gives any demerits at all to devils or even vampires of any kind, but they just call it triviality whenever said fact is called out against them.

And yeah, the satans created an artificial sun. Don't ask me how as I don't know either. Thankfully though I do know the why, I.e. the reason they made one in the first place.

It was for the sake of reincarnated devils.

The sun had always been there before humanity have even existed. In the entirety of humankind's history the sun always comes up every morning and goes down every night, with no exceptions for so many millennials. Therefore the satans, in an effort to make reincarnated devils feel at home has created an artificial sun.

How sweet of them, right?

They actually came up with the idea after many reincarnated devils boycotted against them because some people decided it was a good idea to spreads rumors that the current satans were a bunch of elitist who hates reincarnated devils that were formerly some mere weak humans and treats them as sacrilege.

Their act of making the sun was smacking the face of those who spreads and or believed said rumor.

How face-smacking. Heh, I love their style.

"So how do I do this?"

"Just put your hand on the pillar. Then you can chant whatever and the pillar will go 'KABOOM!' and all that."

Welp, that sound like asking for troubles. I wonder if Ajuka has any attachments towards explosion. I can't quite see any other reason for him to to design them with cases of explosion being a part of how it works… Unless he is a mad scientist of some sorts.

Still, a chant of sorts, is it? There's so many things I could say, from stuff like Unlimited Blade Works chant to songs like Despacito to memes such as "Wakanda Forever".

But, hmm… This is actually a one-in-a-lifetime kind of significant moment, so I suppose being a little bit more serious than usual won't hurt. Therefore I opened my lips.

[For the ones to attain glory]

[Are those of unwavering heart]

Two rather idiotic lines they were, I'd admit that much. But I'm of the opinion that there is an ethereal beauty hidden within that simplicity. More than anything it's a small belief of mine. A rule of the thumb to follow, if you will.

I could feel the air pressure from the explosion. Huh. So it does explode. I thought Serafall was kidding when she said that. It seems I was proven wrong this time around.

Like so, before me appeared 15 chess pieces, all white with blue outlines. Or at least that was what I expected. In reality there were only 11 of those pieces. Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that 4 of them were missing or anything, they're there along with the other 11. The thing is, they're of a different color compared to the rest of them. These four pawns were entirely ocean blue in color.

"Mutated pieces," I reflexively muttered out. As if it was a signal of some sorts, I heard the sound of somebody clapping. Then another, and another, and it continued on as if it was infectious. By the end of it I doubted there was anybody who didn't clap their hands.

"Fari-tan, congratulation~~!"

I felt her hands hugging me. Her bountiful bosom were pressed against my back, but I can't get myself excited because of it. Sisters are being that stood out in a unique way, even amongst the strange species known as women.

Even when her bust were pressing on my skin I can only think of them as mere flesh, not unlike any other part of her body. Siblings love is, in the end, a mere fantasy of those who doesn't have any sibling in the first place.

…

Uh, sis? Can you let go of me already? I'm kind of choking right now. You're hugging me a little bit too hard here. My back is fine since your breast are as soft as marshmallows but my lungs are crying out in pain right now. Could you please unhand me? No? Why not!? I don't know if you can see it but my ribs are caving in right now!

Goddamnit sis.

Another year has passed by. I was worn out as all hell, in both physical and mental aspect. I was trying to learn how to wield a weapon, just in case so that I'll be save in cases where I was forced to fight in close quarter combat.

Itried using all kinds of weapons, but in the end the one that stuck with me was the katana. In my past life there was a dojo that taught the way of the katana near my house, though it would probably be more fitting if I were to call it a gym. Back in the days I was still an utter weeaboo and my parents also wanted me to work out more, so I joined it with little to no hesitation.

But the people of the Sitri house doesn't quite know that, so when I wielded the katana properly seemingly without any training in this life they praised me as a devil with Satan-given talent at wielding katanas.

Therefore they made it so that I'm obligated to train with my sword for four hours each weekdays. And while doing so I also started training in ice magic lately, which took up another four hours of every day. Along with that was mandatory etiquette lesson which took an hour every weekdays and six hours of sleep everyday.

That means out of a week which is made up of one hundred sixty eight hour I had to spend ninety five hours out of it on my schedule. A horrifying number for a slacker like me.

I have good teachers though, so there's no worry that I'll get bored of learning from them. After all the ones training me are Souji Okita, Serafall and Sonya.

...Yeah. If somebody told me I would be taught by a historical Japanese figure, a mahou shoujo cosplayer and my personal maid, who are all actually devils I would whack the shit out of said person. Yet look and behold, it's actually happening right now. The wonders of life, I suppose.

"Your thoughts are going astray. Please concentrate properly." Said the devil before me.

Training with Okita is actually rather enjoyable, as long as I were able to ignore my body's plea for rest, that is.

I gestured for us to continue the spar. Within the fraction of a second I could see him appearing right in front of me. As expected of a knight, his speed isn't something I could keep up with even when he is still holding back. I acted on instinct and raised my sword to parry his blade…

Yet said attack never came, and instead I felt a crushing pain in my guts. Damn, that one's going to bruise later. I really need to work on catching feints.

I stood up once more, and again signaled for him to continue.

My gaze enveloped the ice before me. It was spiky in shape, which would have made it look threatening, yet I have nothing but amazement for it. My hands would probably be frozen if I were to touch it considering how cold its temperature is, but even then I somehow have this urge to examine it from top to bottom all the way through.

"And that's how you use ice magic."

...Right. That soured my mood. Now this is something I don't quite get. Or rather, I don't get it at all, not even the slightest bit. I just don't know who is the bigger idiot between me and my older sister. Chances are we both were, though.

"...How?"

"Jeez~~ I told you already didn't I?"

She made an expression that was akin to a pout, but it was imperfect with the edges of her lips curving upwards. It was a rather strange face, but a beauty like her would be beautiful no matter what expression she wore. Still, a smile hidden under a pout, I guess she's just teasing me right now.

"..."

"..."

Many times in the past I've tried to stop her from disturbing me, back in the days when I was naive. After a while I finally came to the realization that such a wish was nothing but a mere pipe dream. But if she's teasing you then there's one thing you could do to stop her from getting you into her pace and escape from being reigned by her.

It's to keep quiet and never give her the first inch she needs to take a mile away from you.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Seriously? Is there really no other explanation? Was she truly not teasing me with her "advice"? And I put a quotation mark on that word because it's truly and utterly useless.

[Just imagine it and it'll pop out] is not a proper instruction of any kind! Hell, even a certain white haired loli's tips of [Don't think, imaijine!] is better than that, and that line has a spelling mistake!

…

…

Wait… Imagine? Have I truly imagined my magic? ...No, I haven't. Up till now I've been thinking of magic. I thought up each and every step of it individually and processed everything in a systematic manner. Magic should be more lax, more free and most importantly unbounded.

Imagine

Imagine

Imagine a block of ice

…

I felt something wet and cold beside my right foot. My eyes confirmed that yes, it was truly ice. Serafall and I shared a look, before we both grinned at one another.

Now, I understand that I should properly learn etiquette as I'm a noble and all that. I truly do, and I also know there's not any excuse for me to say against that fact. But even then, I'd really have to ask, why in the name of Genryusai's beard would one need seven different fork for!?

"Is it this one?"

"No, young master. The appropriate fork is the one to it's right."

Fuck this gay shit.

"Can I just dance instead?"

I don't particularly like dancing either, but I would be more than delighted to dance with Sonya. She was just that lovely to me.

"...That is acceptable."

...Huh. I didn't expect her to actually accept my request, but I guess she's softening up to me. I suppose she was letting me have a break, as I'm going to the human realm in a few days.

I'm will be eight years old in a week. I have learnt a lot within these two years. Okita said I have reached the limit for a person without real combat experience. Serafall also told me that my Ice magic was in the same condition for the most part.

My etiquette still need sharpening, as you can see by the mistake I just made earlier. But even then I'm actually still way ahead of the curve compared to others around my age in it.

As for my swordsmanship and magic? If I were to fight against any of my peers around my age then it would be considered nothing more than bullying. Sairaorg would be an exception to that, but that monstrous training-maniac isn't really something one should compare themselves to.

That's why I'm leaving. If I want to become stronger then I need to gain some proper combat experience. It might have been because of the regret I had for not living my previous life fully, but I always had this urge to become the best I could be in this lifetime. There were still some tension between me and the rest of the family anyway, so I don't really mind living separately from them for a few years.

"Please adjust your height, young master."

Ah right, I need to do that don't I? Devils can inherently manipulate the silhouette of their body as they want up to about twenty percent. One can try to go over said limit, but there are chances of the magic rebounding if you constantly use the ability like that. The rebound varies, from having said changes become permanent, to even becoming a frankenstein.

As our height differs a lot from one another, she have to lower her height while I have to heighten myself. Of course, it's still within the twenty percent limit though, so we still aren't of equal height but that's still manageable.

Our gazes met one another. Without another word my right hand went to her waist, and my left fingers were interlocking with her right hand. Like so, we danced away.

I walked leisurely, without minding the woods and grass around me. My steps were shaky, but at least I was able to walk. The last time I came here I collapsed midway.

Small baby steps. That's something I learned through being trained by my three teacher. To not take things impatiently. That's why I waited for these two years.

In my way to reach my destination I met a familiar face. ...It was to be expected, I suppose. After all I didn't see her at the party hall.

"...So you're here too." Said the woman before me.

"Yeah. I never liked balls and parties. Knew it doesn't suit me."

Pops, Serafall and Sonya were all attending a party dedicated to my and Sona's birthday. In a building specifically made for balls and parties, not as a part of the mansion.

Devils have a really small population compared to humanity, and the underworld has more land than sea even though it's of the same size as earth, so lands are surprisingly cheap. A certain frugal virgin Valkyrie would have loved to live here, what's with her obsession and all.

"Shouldn't you be joining them?"

"I'm about to. Just wanted to see my sister for a bit."

Was that so. Well, that was a more than acceptable reason. Much more acceptable than mine.

"Let's go, Sonya."

I walked on forward with Sonya following behind me, passing the woman with a complex face I can't quite understand just yet.

I arrived at my destination. Before was a small grave, not grand in any way but probably befitting of the woman resting within. Or at least it should be, if she was truly the way people described her.

"Hey mom. Been a long while. It's about eight years, isn't it. How the time just flies. I've got lots of shit to say."

"Heh, I wonder if you would punish me for using dirty words. Sorry if you're disappointed in me. I really would have liked to be something you could be proud of."

"Sona grew up well. She seems to find Chess as a personal holy grail of her own. Really took a liking with em, that sister of mine."

"Pops is… Just like always, I suppose. I don't know how he was before you died, so I wouldn't know if he's any different compared to when you were still alive. The butlers and maid said that he did though. They can't seem to describe it to me, but maybe that's because I'm his son. Who knows, I guess."

"As for me, I'm… I'm sorry. I know it's not something I can quite make up for by just apologizing but I'm sorry."

I could feel tears flowing down from my eyes.

"I'm sorry that you died because of - because of me."

Maternal death. That was the reason she died. The reason a husband lost his loving wife and a daughter lost her endearing mother.

I've read the original story of DxD, and know Sona's mother was a proper character in it. She barely had any part in the story, but she existed. Yet now she is dead, lying buried down deep within the ground before me.

It was maternal death. She died bearing me and my twin sister. She was supposed to birth a female child, and took care of her properly, but she is dead right now. Because she had birthed a twin.

Because I was born in this world.

At that moment, I had a sword on my waist. It was the sword that accompanied me through these two years of training, constantly clashing Okita's own blade. I liked it to the point I kept it with me everywhere I go.

And along with it, I kept my evil pieces within me, as I don't feel like having somebody else delivering it to me later on.

And right now, I am facing my regret, my one fear that I had since the moment I realized my mother has died because of me.

Those three fact, has made a miracle.

…

I felt my two rook evil pieces disappearing, and saw that my blade was different from what I remembered. It's form changed entirely. The size altered to that of a nodachi, with a long guard which extends inward from its center, similar to a shinai. The hilt was white, though most of it is wrapped in bandages.

A rusted blade, one I knew by name.

"Nozarashi."

I muttered out. And I could feel the blade shaking in response.

A chapter straight out of the oven. I barely took a fast once over through it. There's probably a lot of mistake so there's nothing I could say even if you think the quality has dropped. How shameful. But I still have ANOTHER exam next week, so I probably will update within two weeks time... This time it's finals or whatever you'd call it in English. I'm in third grade of middle school so it's the one that determines whether I can get into a good highschool or not. And yeah, You're reading the writing of a fifteen years old. I hope that doesn't hold you back from reading this thing.

Welp, my mom is already starting to... how to put it, 'advicing' me into learning again for the exams, so see you later.