Welcome back to Hellfire!
You guys might have already noticed in the latest chapters of my other stories that I no longer reply to reviews in chapters.
This is because I don't want to inflate the word count and give you readers less content than you were expecting.
So, unless it's a review that I feel that I must reply to, you will no longer see any responses outside of PMs.
With that out of the way, on with the story!
Past
Ichigo drank the last of the broth in his bowl of ramen, setting the bowl back down on the counter once every last drop had vanished down his throat.
He was sitting in a ramen bar in a quaint little town just a few bus stops away from Tokyo. It was called Kuou, he believed.
It wasn't the healthiest of lunches, but it was cheap and delicious, which was good enough for him.
He could worry about eating more healthily once he had a stable income.
He set down exact change for his meal next to the now empty bowl and walked out of the bar, hefting his backpack over his shoulder.
He wasn't even sure why he had come to this little town. He just suddenly felt like getting off at that particular bus stop.
It really had nothing of interest. No particularly important landmarks, no outstandingly reviewed restaurants or hotels that was still affordable for him, and no university for him to attend.
It was about as ordinary as Karakura was before it became the hotspot for supernatural occurrences.
But, it had its appeal, in a cozy, homey sort of way, like Karakura did for him, before…
Ichigo increased his pace, determined to keep his mind off of the past. He hadn't left behind everything he knew just so that he could waddle in self-pity for the entire journey.
He probably should have been paying more attention to where he was going.
"Oof!"
"Kyaa!"
Ichigo grunted when he bumped into something, or rather, someone, who let out a cry at the same time.
The former Substitute Shinigami looked down, and saw a young woman, probably just a few years older than him, sitting on the pavement, bags of groceries in her hands, though some of their contents had been spilled.
He put 2 and 2 together and immediately went forward to help her.
"Oh damn…sorry about that, I should have looked where I was going." Ichigo apologized as he helped her pick up her spilled groceries and deposit them back into her bags before extending a hand to help her up.
"It's no problem…I should have been doing the same. You're…not from around here, are you?" The woman asked as she pulled herself up to her feet with his help.
"No…you know everyone in this town?"
"It's a small town after all. Everybody knows everybody. I'm Hyoudo Kasumi, a proud longtime resident of this town. Pleased to meet you." The woman introduced herself, extending her hand for a shake.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, travelling around Japan at the moment. Nice to meet you too." Ichigo returned the gesture.
"A traveler, huh? What brings you to our boring little town?"
"Not much really. Just felt like getting off at the bus stop for no particular reason."
"Just going where the wind takes you, huh? That's not a bad way to travel. How about you help me with these, and I make you a cup of tea?" Kasumi asked with a grin, gesturing towards her bags.
"…Sure, why not? Least I could do for knocking you over." Ichigo assented, taking the bags from her while adjusting his own backpack so that it wouldn't fall off.
They started walking, with Kasumi leading the way, presumably to her house.
"So, Ichigo, if you don't mind me asking, about your hair, is it…you know?"
"No need to feel bad. You're the first to actually ask rather than just automatically assume. The answer is no. My hair color is completely natural, hard as it is to believe. My mother's half-German, so I got it from her."
They continued making small talk all the way until they had reached her house, a cozy-looking two story building.
And as they did, Ichigo couldn't help but feel like this woman would be inexorably tied to his fate from now on.
It was the next morning that Ichigo set out from the town of Kuou.
Kasumi, and her husband, Hyoudo Daigo, who had been every bit as friendly as his wife, had let him join them for dinner and stay overnight in one of their empty guestrooms, sparing him the need to look for a cheap motel to stay in, but he didn't want to take advantage of their hospitality, and took off after a heartfelt goodbye.
He had only known them for a day, yet he already felt like they were as close friends as Chad and the others had been.
It was a good feeling after all, having friends.
Ichigo paused in his walk to the bus stop when he came across a church not too far from the town.
During their dinner the night before, the Hyoudo couple had revealed their childbearing woes to him.
They had been trying for years to have a child, and finally succeeded in conceiving three years back, in their third year of marriage.
However, fate was not kind to them.
Kasumi was born with a genetic condition that made it not only difficult for her ovum to be fertilized, but also unlikely for the fetus to survive the entire gestation period without exceptionally meticulous care.
They had not known this beforehand, and she miscarried in her fourth month of pregnancy, much to their sorrow.
Two years later, just last year, they were given another chance to have a child, and this time, they went out of their way to make sure that they gave their unborn child every chance of survival they could give him.
But, once more, Fate drew the short straw for them, and this one was lost in the sixth month.
Furthermore, their doctor had informed them that even if their child were to survive the gestation period all the way to the date of birth, the chances of surviving the childbirth were 50% at best, for both the child and for Kasumi.
That was when they had decided to give up on having children, and adjust their lifestyles.
However, Ichigo could see it deep in their eyes.
They had not yet fully given up on having a child, no matter how small the chances, or how great the risks were.
Ichigo was not a religious person, despite having firsthand experience with the afterlife. He wasn't even a Christian.
But, the two had been so kind to him, a complete stranger.
The least he could do to repay them was offer a prayer for them.
So, he stepped inside the church, went straight up to the altar, lit a candle in their names, and clasped his hands together in prayer.
"Hey, God. I'm not one of your followers. To be honest, even after finding out about Soul Society, I'm still not so sure that I believe in an almighty higher being. But, if you are real, then…please, help those two out, will you? Those two have to be some of the kindest humans around. If anyone deserves a little bundle of joy, it's them. That's really all I have to say. If you can hear me…"
"Amen." Ichigo finished as he unclasped his hands.
He stared at the altar for a while, not sure if there really was a God out there, or if he had really heard him.
"I'm sure the Lord heard your prayer."
Ichigo blinked and turned to look at the newcomer.
He was a light brown-haired man in his mid-to late 20s, the same as Kasumi and Daigo, dressed in priest robes, smiling at him.
"I'm sorry?"
"I couldn't help but notice you standing here. Everyone in this town knows everyone, and I don't know you. Plus, you really don't look like the praying sort, if you don't mind me saying. But, if your prayer was really heartfelt, I'm sure the Lord heard it." The priest said.
"…Even if I'm not a follower?"
"All of us have different beliefs. I believe that the Lord loves all of us, whether we believe in Him or not."
"Thanks…"
"Oh, where are my manners? Shidou Touji, the head of this congregation, as small as it is." The priest introduced himself.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, traveller, and hoping that you're right." Ichigo said as he felt a weird twinge in his chest.
What was with this town? He kept meeting people he just couldn't help but think would be important to him somehow.
It was a few days later that Ichigo began to near Kyoto, where Yoruichi had said that her real estate agent friend was based.
He wasn't looking to settle down anywhere just yet though. He just wanted to see the city that was once the capital of Japan.
He decided to take a more scenic route than the train, instead walking from a nearby town to the ancient capital.
That may have not been such a good idea, considering the distance.
It had taken the better part of the day, and he could only barely make out the city lights in the distance, standing out against pitch black of the night sky.
And even if he made it, would he be able to find a place to stay at this time of night? From his experience from travelling around Japan, the cheap places were unlikely to keep their reception desks open this late at night, even though they were technically supposed to.
Maybe it was different in big cities, where vacationers often visited at all times of the day.
He could only hope. He really didn't want to have to sleep on a park bench for the night or something.
It was along the path to the city that Ichigo paused, having come across a long flight of stairs built into the side of a small hill, leading up through a series of Torii gates to what was presumably a shrine.
Why was there a shrine out in the middle of nowhere like this?
But, it might be a good opportunity.
Ichigo estimated he was still a two hour's walk away from the city at the minimum, and his legs were already aching from almost non-stop movement since morning, only stopping to consume his rations for lunch and dinner.
Plus, the air smelt like it was about to rain.
If he couldn't find a place to stay in the city, he would have to spend the night out in the rain, which definitely wouldn't be good for his human body.
Staying the night in the shrine would definitely be the better option, but he would only be able to definitely stay if it was abandoned, and in good condition despite that. If it was still in use, it would depend on the head priest's or miko's decision whether or not to shelter him.
He weighed the pros and cons of the two options, and started climbing the stairs.
Whether he went to the city now or a few minutes later wouldn't really make any difference. He still needed at least two hours to walk to the city, and it would certainly start raining before then.
On the other hand, if the shrine was abandoned yet in good condition, or the head priest or miko was benevolent enough to let him stay, he wouldn't have to worry.
His lower limbs ached and protested as they now had to work against gravity, but he eventually reached the top and took a gander at the modest shrine that was built atop the hill.
It was well maintained, looking almost brand new except for some spots where the wooden structure had been worn away by time and weather.
Combining that with the light coming from inside the building, it was safe to say that it wasn't abandoned.
Hoping that luck would be on his side this evening, Ichigo walked up to the sliding doors of the main building and knocked gently on the wooden frame.
The shuffling and muffled voices that he could vaguely hear from the other side stopped, probably out of confusion that someone was visiting their shrine this late at night, but soon, footsteps began to approach the door, which slid open with a small creaking sound.
Two people stood on the other side of the door.
The first was a beautiful Japanese woman, probably the same age as Kasumi, or slightly older, with long black hair, hazel eyes and a well-endowed body, dressed in the traditional clothes of a miko.
The second was an imposing man with Western features in his 30s, with short black hair, a matching beard, purple eyes, possessing impressive musculature, and standing taller than even Chad. He was dressed in a simple yukata, likely traditional sleepwear.
The former was looking at him with a gentle, albeit confused expression on her face, while the latter was staring down at him with a wary look, which was understandable, considering that he was a stranger that had popped up on the doorstep of their slightly out of the way shrine in the middle of the night.
But, Ichigo was experiencing a familiar twinge in his chest, much like when he had met Kasumi, Daigo and Touji.
Five times in less than a week? What the hell was going on?
"And who might you be, young man?" The woman asked him.
"Just a traveler, seeking refuge from the coming rain. Might you be so kind as to allow me to stay the night?" Ichigo asked, keeping his tone polite.
The man's face hardened in suspicion, and he opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, it never came, because the woman cut him off.
"Of course. This shrine will never turn away someone who is in need of help. Please, come in." The woman smiled and stepped aside, pushing against the man to force him to do the same, beckoning him inside.
Ichigo blinked, momentarily stunned at how easy that had been, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The inside of the shrine was about as he expected, looking relatively simple with an altar built to worship whatever Shinto deity was enshrined here.
There were sliding doors on the left and right walls, which presumably led to the other parts of the shrine, probably storage and living quarters.
It was simple, but…how should he describe it…warm?
"It is a pleasure to meet you, young man. I am Himejima Shuri, the head priestess of our humble shrine." The woman smiled as she introduced herself.
Then, she gently nudged the man with her elbow to prompt him to do the same.
"…Baraqiel, a friend of Shuri's." The man said in a curt tone.
That…was a really odd name, though Ichigo chose not to comment on that.
Though, the way he was standing closely to Shuri and the protective gleam in his eyes made Ichigo think that there was a lot more to their relationship than just that though.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, travelling around Japan at the moment. Thank you for allowing me to stay the night." He said, expressing his gratitude by bowing to them.
It was because of that that he had missed the momentarily shocked look on Baraqiel's face.
"Welcome to our shrine, Ichigo-kun. Please, come this way. I will show you to a guestroom." Shuri said with a smile on her face, walking through the door on the left wall.
As he followed her, he wondered how these two would factor into his life.
Present
Ichigo was starting to get tired of all the stares. Just a little.
It had been a week since his ranking battle with Grayfia, and the stares being directed his way as a result of said fight had yet to die down in the slightest.
He supposed it was to be expected, considering that he had directly manipulated Hell's Chains into doing something aside from their sole directive, a feat that apparently only the Original Devil himself had ever accomplished.
He already heard a lot of Devils calling him the Second Coming of Satan, or the First Reincarnated Super Devil, and other ostentatious names like that.
Apparently, it was almost unheard of for even Pure Blood Devils to have six pairs of wings.
In fact, the only Devils who did have six pairs were the current Yondai Maous, and the son of the original Lucifer, who was currently missing.
So, lucky him, he was special, again.
Currently, the Devils who had watched, or at least heard of the match, which was pretty much the entire population, were torn between awe at his power, joy that their first king had seemingly returned, fear for the same reason, and outrage that a Reincarnated Devil was the one who bore the power of Satan himself, an opinion that was mostly reserved for the more pompous Pure Blood High-Class Devils.
Serafall had told him that the Devils' council wasn't sure what to do about him, aside from granting him his rightfully earned title of Ultimate-Class.
They weren't sure whether to celebrate the return of their forefather's power, or to demand that he somehow surrender it, because obviously, a Reincarnated Devil wouldn't have any idea what to do with that kind of power.
There was an awful lot of eye rolling to go along with that, not that Ichigo blamed her.
He was fairly certain he would be far more productive in the use of Satan's power than a bunch of rigid, power hungry old farts that reminded him unpleasantly of a certain other council of rigid, power hungry old farts that would remain unnamed.
With all the unwanted attention being directed at him, he was glad when Serafall told him that he would likely be cooped up in her territory for a while, learning everything that Serafall had not had the opportunity to teach him in the month between his reincarnation and the match against Grayfia.
Speaking of the silver-haired wife/maid/Queen of Sirzechs Lucifer, she wasn't actually wounded by Ichigo when he brought out his full power, mainly because he hadn't actually done anything other than look straight into her eyes.
Somehow, that had completely knocked her out cold, though she quickly regained consciousness a few hours later, none the worse for wear than she had been before they had used their full power.
Thankfully, she didn't hold a grudge against him for defeating her pretty much one-sidedly, or for usurping her title of Strongest Queen, admonishing herself for not taking him seriously from the beginning.
When she heard that Serafall was going to be teaching him, she had volunteered her services, wanting to help her fellow Queen get settled into their society.
Which was where they found themselves now, in the library of Serafall's mansion, almost up to their eyeballs in what were apparently texts of essential knowledge.
Since Serafall was in charge of foreign diplomacy, there was a need for him to quickly learn as much as he could of the other Factions that existed outside of Biblical Faction.
It was truly astonishing that the supernatural world was so bloody huge, and that Soul Society and the Devils were just a part of a much larger picture.
Still, they hadn't gotten there yet.
For one thing, Serafall had yet to teach Ichigo the Devil's language, which necessitated a few days of vocal and writing practice so that he could get it down.
Plus, it was still more important for Ichigo to learn of the three Biblical Factions, Heaven, the Grigori and the Devils, because they were the ones he would encounter the most.
They had already covered most of the key points of the Biblical Factions' history, including, but not limited to, Adam's and Eve's temptation by the Serpent of Eden, leading to the fall of humanity, Lucifer's and his cohorts' fall from Heaven, and the Great War, during which Grayfia had revealed to him that YHWH, the Biblical God and Satan's other half, had perished, something that only the top brass of each of the three Biblical Factions were aware of.
It was necessary to hide the truth from the masses to prevent instability, and so that they wouldn't be invaded by other Factions seeking more territory and influence.
Shock did not even begin to describe Ichigo's reaction.
The Biblical God was dead? Hell, Gods could die?
He flashed back to a year ago, when he had prayed in Kuou's church for Kasumi's and Daigo's success in childbearing.
Looks like Touji was wrong. His prayer was not heard, because God wasn't around to hear it anymore.
Genesis, the beginning of all of existence itself, was only vaguely touched on, because the truth could not be ascertained. According to the Bible, YHWH had created the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th day, but it didn't make complete sense, since the other Factions still around that had not been created by YHWH also had their own versions of Genesis.
For all they knew, all of the creator Gods, or perhaps none of them, were the ones who had jumpstarted Creation.
And since YHWH was dead, no one could ask him.
Following the Great War, all three Biblical Factions retreated from the frontlines to recover from the losses they had sustained, entering a period of uneasy peace that continued even today.
Heaven had lost YHWH and a good number of Angels, the Devils had lost their leaders and almost half of the 72 Pillars, and the Grigori had pretty much been decimated.
It was not long after the Great War that the Devils' civil war had occurred, where the Current Maou Faction, led by the four Devils who would become the current Yondai Maous, rebelled against the incompetent children of the Original Maous to save their race from extinction.
It just so happened that that was when Sirzechs and Grayfia met, the latter originally being a member of the Old Maou Faction, having come from the Lucifuge Clan which directly served the original Lucifer.
They fell in love, which led to Grayfia defecting near the climax of the civil war, and subsequently got married following the current Yondai Maous' inaugurations.
Their love story was the Devils' equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, just with a much happier ending, and had even been adapted into a screenplay.
Grayfia seemed embarrassed to even bring it up, but considering it was present in great detail in pretty much every history she could get her hands on, she ended up having to tell the story to him.
Once they were done with the history lesson, she set about teaching him the names of both the active and extinct Clans of the 72 Pillars, along with the names of prominent Devils, dead or alive.
Serafall had said that Ichigo learned best from firsthand experience, but it wasn't like he was bad with this kind of learning.
There was a reason he still managed to constantly score near top scores despite having to juggle his human life with his Substitute Shinigami duties 4 years ago.
The fact that it was all fresh and new to him helped to maintain his interest in the subject.
Particularly interesting were the entries on the various unique traits of each of the 72 Pillars.
For example, the Sitri Clan had a heightened affinity with water magic, which explained Serafall's nearly godlike level of ice magic, which was a branch of water, a result of her Super Devil power combined with her clan's trait.
Not all traits were passive in nature like that.
There were abilities like the Baal Clan's Power of Destruction, which was basically a physical manifestation of the very concept of destruction itself.
Actually, 'Power of Annihilation' would be a much more apt name, since it purportedly erased any traces of whatever it touched from existence completely.
It certainly explained why Sirzechs Lucifer's reiatsu felt like a black hole at its very core.
He possessed Baal blood in his veins, passed down from his mother, Venelana Gremory nee Baal, who was known as the strongest female member of the Baal Clan before she settled down with her husband, the current head of the Gremory Clan, and had Sirzechs.
It wasn't just the 72 Pillars that possessed unique traits. Most Extra Clans also had their own hereditary ability.
The Extra Clan Abaddon had the ability known as Hole, which basically opened up an entrance to a pocket dimension over which the user had full control of. They could use it for a variety of purposes, like as a storage space, but it also had impressive combat capabilities, allowing the user to absorb attacks from others and throw them back, or in the case of physical attacks, absorb the inertia of the blow and use that instead.
Apparently, it could even split up the power of the attacks it had absorbed and fire one by one rather than all at once.
Not all of the traits of the 72 Pillars were listed. Some Clans, like the Belial Clan, which 'Emperor' Diehauser Belial, the reigning champion of the Rating Game, was a member of, kept their trait a secret for a variety reasons. Only some Clans had chosen to make their traits known to the public, which was why they were listed in the compendium.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the traits really did function like hereditary traits, for there were some cases of scions of Clans not possessing the traits due to some genetic quirk, which in most cases led to their ostracism or outright exile from the Clan.
Having learned all of that rather fast, Grayfia next started teaching him about their enemies, Heaven, the Church, and the Grigori.
The first was Heaven.
As the Bible had stated, it was the resting ground for sinless souls of believers that had passed on.
Unlike the souls in Soul Society, which needed to be sent there via Konso, because of their intense belief, it appeared that the souls of believers automatically enter Heaven, Hell or Purgatory depending on whether or not they had sinned, and the weight of their sins.
But, Heaven was also much more than just a paradise.
It was also home to the Angels.
Angels were basically the opposite of Devils. Created by YHWH to be his messengers, his soldiers, fulfilling a large number of roles.
Their appearance could vary just like a human's, but telltale signs were the white feathered wings on their backs, and the golden halo above their head.
They could convert their reiatsu into Holy energy, the opposite of the Demonic energy that Devils used, and like Devils, had an innate ability to aurally and verbally understand almost any language.
Like Devils and their class system, Angels also had their own ranks, though with notable differences, the most prominent being that the rank of the Angels could only rise with the number of their wings, as opposed to the Devil's class system, where a Low-Class and High-Class Devil could both have a single pair and still have a huge disparity in status.
The first was the lowest rank, which belonged to ordinary Angels, signified with either one or two pairs of wings. In terms of raw power, they were the weakest among all Angels, much like Low-Class Devils.
The next rank actually had a name: Ophanim. They were more powerful, and likely older Angels that had ascended and obtained a third pair of wings, with more power than regular Angels, the equivalent of Middle-Class Devils to weaker High-Class Devils.
Next was Cherubim. They were Ophanim who had managed to ascend through training and obtained their fourth pair, the equivalents of most High-Class Devils.
The last rank was the most well-known and the highest rank achievable: Seraphim. They were the strongest Angels, possessing five pairs of wings, with power ranging from Ultimate-Class to Maou level.
And according to a compendium Ichigo had read, there were currently only six Seraphs: Metatron, Sandalphon, Raguel, Sariel, Remiel and Zafkiel.
And above even them was a higher level of Angel that could not be naturally obtained, the Great Seraphs: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, who were collectively known as the Four Great Seraphs, Heaven's highest authority aside from YHWH, and likely their leaders now that their God was gone.
They, along with Lucifer, were YHWH's firstborn, and were thus given twelve wings each as the absolute proof of that, with Michael's and Lucifer's having a golden color to signify their position as YHWH's most trusted Lieutenants.
One of Lucifer's pairs had been stripped from him when he became a Devil as a sign of his fall from YHWH's favor.
Despite the matching number of wings, the Great Seraphs and the Super Devils did not possess the same level of power.
The Four Great Seraphs were certainly stronger than the six Seraphs, but the difference in power wasn't that massive.
Another great difference between Angels and Devils was the way the upper class treated the lower class.
Unlike Pure Blood High Class Devils, who mostly looked down on the Low-Class, Middle-Class and Reincarnated Devils, the high-ranking Angels seemed to actually get along with the low-ranking ones, without much disparity in their treatment other than what facilities in Heaven they were allowed access to.
Also under Heaven's command was the Church.
It wasn't referring to the Catholic Church, or the Eastern Orthodox Church, but all Christian Denominations as a whole. Though they differed in their beliefs, they still served the same master, even if he was no longer around.
Of course, not every single Christian in the world had combat potential. Only a small portion of believers were handpicked to become Exorcists, humans trained to kill the enemies of Heaven and the Church, which may or may not be the same.
The standard equipment of an Exorcist was rather simple. A sword that could project a beam of Holy energy, a revolver loaded with sanctified bullets, a bottle of holy water, and a silver cross.
It didn't seem like much, but Holy energy was lethal to Devils. Even minor contact with it would immediately wound them. For weak Devils, getting stabbed by a blade of pure Holy energy was pretty much guaranteed to kill them.
Stronger Devils, like him, could resist the effects of Holy energy unless it was particularly concentrated, say if he were directly struck by a blade of Holy energy that a Seraph had generated.
And even then, it might not work on him, considering how he was supposedly a 'Super Devil' and all.
Would Holy energy even have any effect on him anymore if he were to exert his full power?
It wasn't exactly something he could test out, except maybe by barging into the Vatican, which probably wasn't a good idea.
Not only would that likely trigger another Great War, the current Cardinal wasn't someone he wanted to piss off, if what he had read was anything to go by.
Vasco Strada, the current Cardinal of the Vatican, the second highest authority in the Catholic Church, and also the Strongest Exorcist of all time. He was the wielder of the legendary Peerless Holy Sword, Durandal, and was so strong that in his prime, he was considered to have the same level of power as one of the Original Maous.
And he was doubtlessly, 100% human.
Just reading all of that made Ichigo certain that he did not want to meet the man under anything but friendly circumstances.
A Holy Sword was on a completely different level compared to the swords of Holy energy that the average Exorcist employed.
The majority of them had been created by YHWH himself, weapons possessing so much Holy power that they could easily vaporize an Ultimate-Class Devil at their full power.
Excalibur, Caliburn, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi (which was incidentally one of the few Holy Swords that YHWH had no hand in creating), all of the weapons that Ichigo had only heard of in myths and legends turned out to be very real, and very dangerous.
And even among all of those legendary weapons, Durandal, the Holy Sword wielded by the Paladin, Roland, stood out, possessing the most destructive power of all Holy Swords, so much that it apparently had to be kept under heavy duty seals when not in use to prevent it from utterly annihilating everything around it.
Furthermore, Vasco Strada was said to be the greatest modern Durandal wielder, so skilled at handling the damn thing that he had been compared to Roland himself.
Was he really a human?
And he was not the only one. There was another famous Exorcist that he probably did not want to cross paths with.
Ewald Cristaldi, a Cardinal Deacon, the third highest authority of the Catholic Church, and the acknowledged greatest wielder of Excalibur since King Arthur himself, being able to singlehandedly use three Excalibur fragments at the same time.
In the Great War, it was only natural that Heaven would send out its strongest warriors, including the Holy Sword wielders.
It was during then that Excalibur's wielder, a descendant of King Arthur himself, was killed, and the most famous Holy Sword in existence shattered.
However, Heaven was able to recover the fragments and reforge them into seven lesser Holy Swords, known collectively as the Excalibur Fragments, each possessing one of the original's abilities.
They were probably created to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, and would be forged back into the original Excalibur once all of the Fragments had been assembled, but before that could happen, the first Fragment, Excalibur Ruler, went missing, leaving only six Fragments in Heaven's possession, and thus, the original Excalibur was lost.
But despite being pieces of the original, each possessed power that would not lose out to the other Holy Swords.
It was already difficult enough to wield a single Holy Sword, because they not only required a good deal of power and skill to use, but Holy Swords all possessed a form of sentience which allowed it to decide its wielder.
Being able to wield three Excalibur Fragments at the same time was a testament to Ewald Cristaldi's talent as a Holy Sword Wielder.
The world really was full of monsters, and some of them were human.
After learning all of the necessary information about Heaven and the Church, Grayfia had him move onto the Grigori.
Ichigo was currently reading a detailed encyclopedia about the Grigori, and one particular entry stood out to him.
The title of that entry?
'Baraqiel, Cadre of the Grigori'.
And right below the title was a picture of said Cadre, who was identical to the man bearing the same name he had met in the out of the way Shinto shrine a year ago, except with ten jet black feathered wings sprouting from his back.
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
Yeah, that had to be it. The Baraqiel he met and the Fallen Angel Baraqiel had to be two different people, who just happened to look alike and have the same name.
…Who was he kidding? With his luck, the two were probably one and the same, and likely still remembered him.
What should he do if they ever met?
On a personal level, Ichigo liked Baraqiel.
He had only stayed one night at the shrine, but they had talked at one point, and that had been enough for Ichigo to consider him a friend.
Baraqiel was surly, but he had a strong, warrior-type mentality that Ichigo couldn't help but respect.
And he seemed to sincerely love Shuri, that much was clear, being very protective of her, which was what resulted in his less than warm reception towards Ichigo, something he understood and could not fault him for.
But, they were now basically enemies.
If they ever came to blows, would Ichigo have to kill him?
It was because he was too busy agonizing over that that he didn't notice the new arrival in the library.
At least not until said new arrival crashed into him with all the subtlety of a freight train, knocking him, and the chair he was sitting on, over, causing him to let out a startled yell.
"Hi, Ichigo-chan! Working hard, I see!"
He didn't really need to look to know who it was.
"Serafall, get off me." Ichigo said tersely from his awkward prone position on top of a topple chair.
The slightly diminutive Maou grinned at him, her arms wrapped around his torso in a deceptively strong hug.
"Don't wanna. You're comfy." Serafall said childishly as she pressed her head against his chest.
His eyebrow twitched again, and his hand immediately seized the top of her head, tightening like an iron claw.
"Ow! Ow! Ow ow ow! Ichigo-chan, stop that!" The current Leviathan immediately started protesting his rough treatment.
"I'm afraid not, Leviathan-sama. Leviathan-sama is a Maou, and thus must act accordingly. What would Leviathan-sama's subjects say if they knew Leviathan-sama was acting in such an unseemly manner? As Leviathan-sama's Queen, I must correct Leviathan-sama's behavior immediately." Ichigo said in a deadly tone, accompanied with a cold smile that would send even the most stouthearted of men running for the hills.
His grip on her head tightened even more, causing Serafall to struggle even more.
"Waah~! Ichigo-chan, you meanie! Even though I came here to give you some good news!" Serafall cried comically, tears at the corner of her eyes.
"Good news?" Ichigo asked, his grip slackening just enough for her to escape and rub her sore head, which in turn also allowed him to finally get back up.
"Allow me to explain, Ichigo-kun. Because you have advanced to the rank of Ultimate-Class, you are now eligible to form your own peerage. As such, you will be visiting the capital, Lilith, to register yourself as a new King at the monument, and will receive your Evil Pieces afterwards. Allow me to congratulate you." Grayfia explained fluidly as she bowed to him, completely unperturbed by Serafall's sudden intrusion, and his subsequent handling of his King.
Though, he could have sworn he caught a gleam of approval in her grey eyes before they return to their neutral state.
"Ah, Grayfia-chan, I wanted to tell him that!" Serafall complained with a pout.
"If Leviathan-sama were the one to explain, it would take too long. You have a tendency to go on long and unrelated tangents." Grayfia replied instantly, as though she had been waiting for Serafall to say something.
"Waaah~! Grayfia-chan is being mean too!" Serafall pouted, an expression that did not look out of place on her childlike facial features, but was rather unbecoming of a Maou.
Ichigo paid them no mind, focusing on the news instead.
"Is that so…Wait, didn't I get my rank a week ago? Does it usually take this long for Evil Pieces to be assigned?" Ichigo asked, finding it rather odd.
He heard that the fertility rate of Pure Blood Devils was low, especially among the 72 Pillars, so there weren't all that many Pure Blood High Class Devils born every generation.
However, with the class system in place, there should still be a fair number of candidates for the title of High-Class, even if one were to consider the discrimination the Devils' council, the authority that would ultimately decide whether Devils were worthy of taking a promotion examination, displayed against Reincarnated Devils.
He would have thought that that Evil Piece sets would be created to be on standby for when they were promoted.
"Oh, it's pretty simple, really. Ajuka-chan had to make your set of Evil Pieces special, so it took longer than normal." Serafall said nonchalantly, as though that explained everything.
Ichigo remembered that Ajuka Beelzebub was the lead researcher of the Devils, the one who had created the Evil Piece System in the first place to replenish the numbers they had lost during the Great War and the civil war.
But, why did his Evil Pieces have to specially made?
Ichigo stared at Serafall pointedly, and she relented with a sigh after a few seconds.
"Ichigo-chan, you basically know that you are a Super Devil now, right?"
"Well, yeah, almost everyone I've met has been calling me that. Kinda hard to miss."
"But, do you actually know what a Super Devil is?"
Ichigo paused.
Now that he thought about it, no one actually told him what being a Super Devil entailed exactly.
"Um…a super strong Devil?" Ichigo guessed weakly.
"Well, that's putting it lightly. Super Devils are basically mutated Devils who possess much more power than the Original Maous from birth. Sirzechs-chan, Ajuka-chan, Falbium-chan and I were born with about 10 times more raw power than our original counterparts, along with our six pairs of wings, and have only continued to grow stronger since then. At our full power, all of us could rank in the World's Top 10 Strongest, outranking even most Gods. That's the kind of power that ordinary Devils could never hope to even come close to, even if they were to train their whole lives. If you need a clear comparison, just one of the four of us could have defeated that mad man, Aizen, after his transcendence by ourselves without needing our full power."
If Ichigo were drinking something, he would have spat all of it out instantly. That's how shocked he was.
He had faced the transcendent Aizen himself, and frankly speaking, the guy was a monster. If Ichigo hadn't attained an even higher level of transcendence by using the Final Getsuga Tensho, he wouldn't even have been able to stand in his presence without being disintegrated.
If Aizen had the chance to use his full power, the entire realm of Soul Society probably would have been destroyed in a single blow.
And to hear that any of the four of them was much stronger than that kind of crazy monster…well, it was jarring, to say the least.
Just looking at Serafall right now, he couldn't imagine that she held a monumentally greater amount of power than a Hogyoku-empowered Aizen.
He could certainly sense that there were hidden, unfathomable depths to her power, but…
She seemed to be able to tell what he was thinking, because she explained.
"I know that none of us actually look it, but it's true. Right now, none of us are in our true forms."
"True…forms?"
Ichigo had a very ominous premonition.
"Yes, our true forms, in which we can exhibit all of our immense power. Truth be told, if you were to look our true forms, you would definitely not be able to associate us with Devils at all. Or perhaps, you would think that we look far more like Devils than ordinary Devils do. That is, if you didn't lose your sanity from looking at us first. Right now, all of us are exerting extreme control over our power so that we can at least look normal and be able to interact with our subjects without accidently killing them just by being around them, so fine that we can maintain them unconsciously, even if we're fast asleep, or completely out cold. In these false forms, I think the most any of us can exert is around 1% of our true power."
Ichigo shivered.
1%.
All he had been sensing from Serafall, the power that could match even the venerable Captain Commander of Gotei 13, was just a fraction, a hundredth of her full power.
Suddenly, he got the feeling he wasn't anywhere near as wary of Serafall as he should have been.
Ichigo froze when Serafall, who suddenly seemed more terrifying than ever, pointed a finger at him.
"And Ichigo-chan, you are now one of us, a Super Devil too."
All at once, the implications of being counted among the ranks of Serafall and the other Super Devils hit him.
He was also one of those stupidly strong beings too.
"Well, truth be told, I have no idea where all your power comes from. It's true that being born from a Shinigami father in a human body and a Quincy mother infected with Hollow powers would give birth to a powerful being, a perfect hybrid of four opposing species, but I don't think that alone would have been enough to elevate you to the same level as us…No, it must have been your attainment of transcendence when you fought Aizen Sosuke." Serafall mused to herself, though loudly enough for him to still hear her.
"When you attained transcendence, you opened a pathway to a much higher dimension of power, one great enough to put you on our level. Ichigo-chan, you remember what Urahara Kisuke said, right? When you used the Final Getsuga Tensho, you lost your Shinigami powers, but you didn't actually lose your reserves. They simply became inaccessible to you, because your powers, the 'link' that allowed you to convert your reserves into reiatsu, were lost. When you became a Devil, you regained full access to your immense reserves that had been bolstered by your transcendence. In other words, right now, you possess the same level of reserves that you had back when you used the Final Getsuga Tensho. No, considering they've been still been growing even over the 4 years that you didn't have any access to them, you might be even stronger than that now."
…What?
What?
What!?
WHAT!?
His power was even higher than it was back when he was a transcendent being beyond even Aizen!?
But…his surroundings weren't being warped with every movement he made, he wasn't accidently killing all the weaker beings around him with the sheer weight of his presence, and most of all, he did not feel that empowering sense of omnipotence.
"I already know what you're thinking. You don't feel like you have that kind of power at the moment. Right now, I have your power on a very tight leash, so you won't be able to release most of it without my permission."
Ichigo blinked and stared at her with confusion, silently asking her why.
"…Ichigo-chan, I haven't told you this, but when I reincarnated you into a Devil, you immediately turned into something I can't even begin to describe with words." Serafall said with a very unsettled look.
Ichigo felt a chill run down his spine.
If it was something capable of unsettling Serafall…
"Whatever it was, it was probably…your true form as a Super Devil. The only thing I knew for certain was that if you were left in that state, you would have engulfed the world. Luckily, I had anticipated that something like that might happen, so I was able to restrain your power by placing a seal on the Mutated Queen Piece I used to reincarnate you. So, until you acquire the control required to maintain your current form without my help, you can only use as much power as I allow." She said with a firm look, as though telling him she wouldn't listen to any objections he had.
Not that he was planning to. If it was a power he couldn't control on his own, he was better off without it until he could.
He would rather not accidently annihilate the planet and all life on it.
"Anyway, since we have that kind of insane power, it's only natural that ordinary Evil Piece sets would not be able to handle it. That's why the Evil Pieces of the current Yondai Maous had to be specially created to be able to adjust to our crazy power. Ichigo-chan, you are now also one of the Super Devils. Not only that, but you possess the powers of our great ancestor, Satan-sama himself. It's only natural that your Evil Pieces had to be specially made too, in anticipation of the day that you will have full control over your power." Serafall concluded on a serious note.
Ichigo was completely speechless, still processing what Serafall had just rather unceremoniously dumped on him.
Just as he regained enough cognition to start asking questions, the current Leviathan smiled brightly, killing the mood quite effectively.
"Now then, off we go to Lilith! Then after that, we're throwing you a party!" Serafall exclaimed gleefully as she started pushing him from behind.
"Wait, what?"
Ichigo had been uncomfortable with the stares he had been getting from pretty much every Devil he passed by, but right now, he would give anything to find himself in that situation again.
At least then, he could actually walk away from the stares.
Here, he had no such option, especially since he was the guest of honor.
The guest of honor of what?
A goddamn party that Serafall and her parents had thrown in the Sitri estate to celebrate his place as the former's Queen, his attainment of the rank of Ultimate-Class, amongst other, less official titles, and his acquirement of his set of Evil Pieces.
And apparently, they had seen fit to invite what seemed to be the entire upper-class portion of their society.
He and Serafall had first gone to the capital to collect his Evil Pieces from Ajuka Beelzebub, who had a research facility built near the heart of the city.
Said facility was actually deep underground, and thus inaccessible from the surface unless one knew where the elevator, hidden inconspicuously in an out-of-order phone booth with opaque glass (which he found very cliché), was, and had both a passcode and a keycard.
The Devil who was known as the most mysterious of the current Yondai Maous met them at the lobby, and proceeded to drop a case into Ichigo's hands with a smile on his face, beckoning him to open it.
Ichigo complied, and found himself staring at an incomplete chess set, missing the King Piece, which Serafall had still not explained to him now that he thought about it.
They looked to be the same as the unused Evil Pieces that Serafall had shown him when she reincarnated him, with one notable difference.
Serafall's pieces had veins of icy blue running inside them.
The ones he had been handed had the same, except they were pitch black.
Serafall had mentioned that normal Evil Pieces did not have any veins, so he supposed that these were the mark of Evil Pieces modified to handle the power of Super Devils.
Ajuka asked him to pour his reiatsu into the Evil Pieces to ensure that he hadn't miscalculated anything and that they would be able to handle his power, and upon doing so, they all started the same shade of absolute pitch black that his reiatsu now bore.
The Evil Pieces appeared to be able to contain his reiatsu without showing any signs of instability, so Ajuka called it a success and shooed them away so that he could continue his research, though not before Serafall reminded him about the party, which he responded to by waving halfheartedly as he turned around to return to the depths of the facility.
Serafall then brought him to a massive monument built right in front of the building in which he had that meeting with the Devils' council and the Yondai Maous, which he learned was actually the parliament building.
It took the form of a 50 meter tall King Piece carved out of a marble-like material, with many, many names inscribed on it.
Ichigo noted Serafall's name, as well as that of the other Maous, Rune and Sanna, as well as many other prominent Devils.
Most were glowing in a variety of colors that likely corresponded to the color of their reiatsu, judging by the ice blue that illuminated Serafall's, but there were some that were not glowing at all, and had actually faded a bit.
He could easily guess why. The owners of those names were probably dead.
Following Serafall's instructions, Ichigo placed a palm on the panel that was built into the monument and inject a minute amount of his reiatsu into it, taking care not to accidently force too much in and break the damn thing.
Immediately, his name etched itself onto a part of the blank space still available, which still took up most of it, and started glowing with a pitch black radiance, something Ichigo did not think was supposed to be possible by the laws of physics, but he guessed logic wasn't something that applied to Devils very often.
Serafall proceeded to set off a few party poppers she had pulled out of nowhere, causing confetti to rain down on his head, and also prompted a round of applause from the crowd that Ichigo had only just noticed had gathered around the monument to witness the spectacle.
Then, he found himself here, in the ballroom of the Sitri estate, being perpetually gazed upon by what appeared to be hundreds of High-Class and above Pure Blood Devils, who appeared to feel no shame in staring unblinkingly at him.
And even worse was the damn monkey suit that Serafall had stuffed him into. It was making him itch in all the wrong places, and he couldn't exactly just start scratching.
Which led to him greeting guests that had come forward to either congratulate him, heap compliments on him, offer their daughter's hand in marriage to him, or in the single females' cases, offer their own, with a very stiff smile that he hoped like hell had gone unnoticed.
At least the food was good.
"Ah, Ichigo-kun, do you mind if I steal you away for a moment?"
Ichigo turned to meet the blue-green eyes of the current Lucifer.
Sirzechs Lucifer smiled genially at him, which did absolutely nothing to assuage the sudden surge of fear that Ichigo felt when near that sensation of a never-ending, all-annihilating abyss.
Suddenly, the itchiness all over his body was the least of his concerns.
Still, he swallowed down his nervousness and answered him.
"Not at all. What is it?"
"I would rather not say here. Let's talk in private." The Devil known as the Crimson Lucifer said and ushered him away from the crowd.
Ichigo didn't know whether to be thankful to him for getting him out of that awkwardness, or be terrified at the thought of being alone with this unholy (no pun intended) being.
To his relief, Sirzechs had led him to what appeared to be the Sitri estate's library, where Serafall was already waiting.
"Ah, Serafall, you're already here. Good." Sirzechs commented when he saw his fellow Maou.
"What's this about, Sirzechs-chan?" Serafall asked, evidently not knowing why Sirzechs sought both of them out.
"Well…I guess I need to explain a few things to Ichigo-kun first. Ichigo-kun, you already know about the other Biblical Factions, right?"
"You mean Heaven and the Grigori?"
"Correct. As you know, we are currently in a state of ceasefire with our two enemy Factions because of the damages all sides sustained during the Great War. However, from time to time, things between us are still very tense, and when members of opposing Factions meet, it's not uncommon for a fight to break out and for one or both sides to suffer casualties. Because of that, you could say that this peace we enjoy right now is nothing more than a façade. The slightest change in the status quo could cause another Great War to erupt. And unfortunately, Ichigo-kun, the return of Satan-sama's power more than qualifies as a 'change'. Already, half of the council is demanding that we declare war on Heaven, the Church and the Grigori, and wipe them out once and for all." Sirzechs explained with a grimace.
An expression that Ichigo quickly adopted.
It was fairly obvious that the return of the power of the original Devil would cause a massive upheaval of the status quo, but he hadn't thought that it might go as far as to start another war.
"Well, if you were to look at it from a logical perspective, they might have a point. Heaven has lost their God and the Grigori's numbers are only a fraction of what they once were. On the other hand, despite the extinction of more than half of the 72 Pillars, we now have 5 Super Devils whose powers all could match most Gods, 4, if were to exclude you on account of your current incapability to control your full power, in addition to multiple Ultimate-Class Devils who can rival the original Yondai Maou. If another Great War were to break out, we would most likely win. However, in spite of that, the Yondai Maou would rather seek true peace between the Biblical Factions. Even if we were to win, we would still likely incur many casualties on our side, and the aftermath of the war would leave us vulnerable to attacks from other Factions. The Four Great Seraphs, and most of the Grigori's leaders agree with this sentiment as well. That is why, every few months, leaders of the Biblical Factions meet in secret to exchange information, root out members of our Factions who have been incite dissent and start another war, things like that. And our next meeting just happens to be tomorrow."
"…And?" Ichigo asked, not quite liking where this was going.
He could hazard a guess as to why Sirzechs was telling him all of this.
"Ichigo-kun, I would like you to participate in the meeting as well."
Yup, called it.
Ichigo stared into the abyss.
The disconcerting part was that the abyss was undoubtedly staring back at him.
There weren't any literal eyes floating around in the darkness surrounding him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched from all directions.
Ichigo blinked once…twice…and then palmed his face with a sigh.
"Great, now I'm starting to have weird ass dreams…"
He vaguely remembered returning to the party after Sirzechs had told him about the meeting, and had quite a number of drinks after being egged on by Serafall.
His memory after that was fuzzy, but judging by the pounding in his head, he probably drank too much, and was now experiencing a hangover.
It wasn't a pleasant experience.
And because he had fallen asleep drunk, it wasn't out of the question for him to be having strange dreams.
"I can assure you, little one, this is no mere dream." A deep, disembodied baritone suddenly rang out, echoing through the abyss.
…Okay, drunk as he was, he was pretty sure that dreams usually weren't supposed to talk to him as though they had been listening to every word he said, and tell him that he wasn't dreaming.
Seriously, how wasted was he?
"Your level of inebriation has nothing to do with what you are experiencing at the moment. Nothing except your migraine, anyway."
…And now it was reading his mind.
Okay, maybe, just maybe, this wasn't just some weird alcohol-induced dream.
"Yes, I am glad to see that you are more receptive to the idea." The voice spoke again, this time in a far more sardonic tone.
…He could definitely do without the sarcasm though.
"My apologies, little one, but you make it far too easy." The voice rumbled with evident amusement.
"Alright, I'll bite. Who are you, if not a fictional product of a dream?" Ichigo asked out loud, since he couldn't exactly tell where the owner of the voice was, considering that one, it was pitch black, and he could barely make out his own hand in front of his face, and two, the voice sounded like it was coming from all directions.
As soon as that thought passed through his head, the world seemed to shift around him, the darkness that completely permeated every corner of Ichigo's field of vision suddenly moving to converge and coalesce at a single point, revealing the nonsensical, kaleidoscopic landscape it had been obscuring, causing him to experience a sense of vertigo and almost lose his balance.
What was he even standing on? There didn't seem to be a stable foothold for miles, much less under his feet.
His attention returned back to the ball of darkness that had formed in front of him, looking out of place in the bright, colorful realm he was in.
It slowly began to compress itself into the shape of a human, before its features solidified at once.
What was once a mass of black had become a tall, handsome black-haired man with red irises surrounded by black scleras, regal facial features, and very old-fashioned black noble clothes.
However, what really caught Ichigo's attention were the six pairs of bat-like wings extending from his back.
The mark of a Super Devil.
"It has been a very long time since I was last able to assume this form. Is this a phenomenon made possible because we are in the realm of the Dream? I suppose it does not matter at this juncture." The man muttered to himself in the same voice that Ichigo had been talking to just a moment ago, looking at his hand with a look of unfamiliarity, as though he was seeing the appendage for the first time.
He looked up, straight into Ichigo's eyes.
"Hello, Kurosaki Ichigo. I need to speak with you. You, who have inherited my-" The man spoke to him, but was cut off by a loud sound of something cracking.
Both of them turned to observe a large crack that appeared in the air not too far from them, slowly getting bigger, spreading in a web pattern.
"Um…is that supposed to happen?"
"It appears that time is not on our side. We will have to continue this conversation on another occasion." The man said with a disappointed sigh.
The realm shattered around them, falling to pieces like fragments of broken glass.
The man began to vanish, dispersing back into the darkness that he once was.
"Wait! Who are you!?" Ichigo immediately called out, wanting some idea as to what the hell was going on.
"My name is-"
The man started to say, but his voice was soon overpowered by the sound of the realm breaking down around them.
However, Ichigo very clearly heard his words, and shock did not even begin to describe what he was feeling.
The next moment, he found himself staring up at the canopy of the bed he was lying in.
This…was the same room he had stayed in in the Sitri estate the day before he had met the Devils' council and the rest of the Yondai Maou for the first time.
Was he awake?
The sound of soft breathing caused him to turn his head, to find his field of vision taken up completely by Serafall's peaceful sleeping face.
He…wasn't even going to question why his King was sleeping in the same bed as him.
He was still too busy trying to process the fact that he had just met the Original Devil.
"And you're sure it wasn't just a dream?"
"Sure didn't feel like one."
While he was still not completely convinced that the encounter had been anything more than a figment of his alcohol-addled imagination, even the remote possibility of being able to speak to the Original Devil himself, whose power Ichigo had obtained, was far too big a deal to keep to himself.
Which was why he had consulted with the Yondai Maou while they were on their way to the meeting between the pro-peace leaders of the Biblical Factions.
Their reactions ranged from shock to intrigue.
But, none of them looked to be dismissive of his claims.
They knew far too little of the enigmatic First Maou to be able to say anything for certain.
"What exactly did Satan-sama look like?" Sirzechs asked.
"Tall guy, black hair, red eyes with black scleras, old noble clothes, six pairs of bat wings." Ichigo recited, his image of Satan rather clear in his head.
"Hm…that certainly does fit some descriptions that we have heard the oldest living Devils speak of…"
"What exactly did he say?" Ajuka asked this time.
"Um…not much, actually. Just that he wanted to talk to me since I inherited something of his, probably his powers…Oh, and he said something about being in the realm of the Dream." Ichigo replied, recalling the few words the purported Satan had said to him, leaving out the sarcastic exchange at the beginning.
He did not miss the way that the Yondai Maou glanced sharply at each other when they heard the last few words he had spoken.
"Satan-sama said 'the realm of the Dream', not 'the realm of dreams', correct?" Falbium Asmodeus, looking wide awake for once, asked sharply.
"Yeah…" Ichigo confirmed, not quite understanding the significance behind the slightly different wording.
But, judging by the looks on their faces, it carried far more weight than he could imagine.
"The realm of the Dream…certainly, anything is possible within 'its' domain…"
"But for Satan-sama to have to contact Ichigo-kun through the realm of the Dream…is that conclusive proof that he is indeed dead?"
"Or perhaps, he is simply incapacitated, and is incapable of communicating in any other way?"
"But…what role does it play in all of this? What does this mean?"
"It means one of you needs to start explaining, because I'm beginning to get a little irritated at being left out." Ichigo cut in in a terse manner, not happy at being excluded from their conversation.
The Yondai Maou started, as though they had forgotten that he was even there.
They turned to him with identical serious expressions.
"Ichigo-chan, have you ever wondered what lies beyond the walls of the Dangai?" Serafall asked.
"…I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say impending doom." Ichigo deadpanned, not really wanting to know what fresh hell was beyond the walls of the realm that had almost killed him on several occasions.
The Yondai Maou chuckled at the same time, apparently finding his answer amusing.
"You're not too far off actually. Beyond the metaphysical walls that separate dimensions from each other lies the primordial sea of chaos from which all of creation is said to have sprung forth from, so chaotic that it is impossible for normal mortals to stay without being ripped apart by the eldritch energies that predate even Genesis. We call it the Dimensional Gap. And in the Dimensional Gap lies a certain being, who, along with only one other, is the only being capable of directly manipulating the endless realm, much like how only Satan-sama, and by extension, you, is the only one capable of manipulating Hell to your heart's desire . We call it Great Red, for we know no other name for it, the legendary red Dragon recorded in the Book of Revelations."
"…A Dragon." Ichigo parroted, skepticism coloring his words.
"Yes, Ichigo-kun, I can assure you that Dragons are very real, scarce as they are in numbers these days, as real as Devils. In fact, they are considered the strongest species aside from Gods. And Great Red is no mere Dragon. It is the Dragon, the apex and first known of its kind, possessing power that vastly exceeds that of even the strongest Gods, much like its counterpart, the Infinite Dragon God, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis, who has been ranked first in the world's Top 10 Strongest since the dawn of time, and is the aforementioned only other being who can manipulate the Dimesional Gap. Some say that Great Red's power outclasses even Ophis's, if only by a little."
Ichigo vaguely recalled the term 'Top 10 Strongest' being dropped quite a number of times in the past few days.
Serafall put it rather succinctly.
If beings with power on the level of the Original Maous could be considered 'the super boss that awaited the player after the main game of an RPG', then the Top 10 Strongest were 'walking cheat codes'.
Apparently, any of the Yondai Maou, as well as Ichigo himself, in their true forms and at their full power could rank among the world's Top 10 Strongest beings.
Other holders of the prestigious title included the Bane of Olympus, the Greek King of Monsters, Typhon, for example, who possessed so much power that an entire pantheon of Gods fled at the sight of him, and even Zeus was not able to kill him, only being able to lull him to sleep, trap him in a hole in the ground, throw a whole fucking mountain on top of him to keep him there and hope to hell that he stayed asleep.
Then, there was his Norse counterpart, the God-Slaying Wolf, Fenrir, son of the Jotunn, Loki. His sons, Skoll and Hati, possessing only fractions of their sire's power, were capable of devouring the sun and the moon, and Fenrir himself was foretold to kill the King of the Norse Gods, Odin, during Ragnarok, the Norse Apocalypse.
Another example would be the Hindu Triumvirate. Especially the Hindu God of Destruction, Shiva, who was ranked 2nd among the Top 10, apparently possessing powers that almost completely specialized in the aspect of destruction, more so than even Sirzechs's Power of Destruction, which Ichigo could not even imagine to be possible.
And above even that ridiculous existence was a being that held the perhaps-not-so-much-ostentatious-as-much-as-well-deserved title of 'Infinite Dragon God'.
And there was still one being who possessed more power than that?
"What does such a powerful being have to do with my not-dream anyway?"
"One of Great Red's titles is 'Dragon of Dreams'. While not concretely proven, Great Red is said to possess powers over fantasy, and has the ability to turn them into reality. Even something that should be impossible can be made possible if Great Red chooses to make it so. Even if Satan-sama was really dead, if Great Red is involved, it is not outside the realm of possibility that the one you met in your dreams was the real Satan-sama."
…Okay, that was on a completely different level of 'broken'.
And people thought that Satan's powers were stupidly strong?
"But…why now? Why is Satan-sama trying to contact Ichigo-kun all of a sudden after going missing for so long? Is there something going on?"
"Aren't we just overthinking it? Ichigo-kun is the successor to his powers which haven't been seen since Satan-sama's disappearance. Isn't it only natural that Satan-sama would take an interest?"
"However, we still don't know how Ichigo-kun came to possess Satan-sama's powers. If the Kushanada have always had the ability to bestow Satan-sama's powers onto another, why not do it sooner? Why wait until Ichigo-kun invaded Hell to do so?"
The three male Maous continued to converse amongst themselves, agonizing over the mystery that Ichigo had been trying to solve himself.
Why him?
Why was he of all people granted Satan's powers?
If the Kushanada had the ability to grant the powers of the Original Devil to whomever they chose, it would make more sense to choose a Devil rather than a then human like him.
Yet, they had not done so.
Why?
That was what he had been trying to figure out ever since he learned that he had come into possession of Satan's powers, but he was no closer to figuring it out now than he was at the start.
"You guys really should stop worrying so much. It's not like we'll be able to figure it out by agonizing over it. Rather than that, isn't there a much simpler solution? Ichigo-chan, Satan-sama said that he would contact you again, right? So, when he does, just ask him what's going on." Serafall interjected with a carefree tone.
The four males turned to stare at her with surprised expression, that simple answer never having occurred to them, before Sirzechs smiled wryly.
"I suppose you're right. Ichigo-kun, the next time you meet Satan-sama in the realm of the Dream, find out as much as you can from him. For now, let's keep your 'dream' to ourselves. Do not mention it to the other Factions. No one else should know until we know more."
Ichigo nodded, already intending to do so.
His possession of the Original Devil's powers was already enough of an upheaval to threaten the status quo of the Biblical Factions. He didn't want to imagine how Heaven and the Grigori would react if they learned that he was somehow in contact with Satan, apparently through the power of the strongest being in existence no less.
He still wondered why, but without more evidence, it was impossible to draw a conclusion.
Asking Satan seemed to be the simple solution, but there was no guarantee that he would meet him the next time he slept.
It took more than a month after he had already become a Devil for the Original Devil to contact him after all.
Maybe he should just ask the Kushanada? They apparently could not disobey him, so if he asked them why they granted Satan's powers to him, surely they would answer?
…Wait, could the Kushanada even talk?
During his invasion of Hell, he had never seen them make any sounds other than a low groaning.
He imagined it was hard to speak without a lower jaw.
Crap, was his only option to wait for Satan to contact him again after all?
"We're here."
Ichigo snapped back to attention when Sirzechs spoke.
The five of them had set out from Lilith and boarded one of the dimension-traversing trains, headed for the human world.
Since this was a secret meeting between most of the leaders of the Biblical Factions, they couldn't very well have it in one of their territories, where two other Factions would be at a tactical disadvantage, and where they could potentially be found out.
So, they had arranged a neutral territory in the human world for the three sides to meet.
Where that was, Ichigo had no idea. The only thing he knew was that it was in Japan.
He felt the train tremble as it grinded to a halt, having arrived at its destination.
The doors opened with a hiss and the five of them stepped out into the underground platform that only Devils could access and boarded an elevator that took them up to the surface.
Ajuka cast a spell, causing the air around them to shimmer for a second before returning to normal.
Ichigo assumed it was some sort of concealment spell, since, save Ichigo, who was dressed in a comfortable set of shirt, jacket and jeans, their outfits were hardly inconspicuous.
When the doors opened, Ichigo found himself in a rather familiar place.
Bustling crowds of humans, streaming through automated ticket machines, either to exit the station or enter the platform. It was a fairly common sight in any train station in Japan.
However, the electronic signboard that hung over the ticket machines told him exactly where he was.
"…We're having the meeting in Kyoto?"
"…You know, when I heard that we were having the meeting in neutral territory, I was expecting a top secret base somewhere deep underground, hidden and protected by so many layers of spells that it would be easier to wait for us to come back out than try to break through all of them." Ichigo commented as he looked around the meeting room.
"…I definitely wasn't expecting a private room in a restaurant."
They left the train station and immediately made their way to the heart of Kyoto, passing through a set of Torii gates that caused Ichigo to shudder when he felt a sensation much like ice going down his back.
Ajuka dropped the concealment spell, alarming him for a moment, before he realized that no one around them had the reiatsu of a human.
Much like Shinigami and Devils, all of them bore the appearances of humans, but none of them were actually human.
What were they?
Despite the fact that they were apparently now in an area devoid of humans, there were still a lot of stares, and most of them were still being directed towards Ichigo, despite being the most normal looking among the group.
Or maybe it was because he seemed too human that they were staring.
Either way, the Yondai Maou continued moving, completely unperturbed by the gawking around them, probably already used to attention.
They finally stopped in front of a high-class restaurant, and the greeter ushered them inside after confirming their identities, leading to this private room on the top floor of the restaurant.
It was spacious, with a large round table that took up the center of the room, a chandelier that hung over it, and a balcony with a smaller table that could seat six people.
Ichigo could not imagine that this place was very secure.
"If we had to set up the meeting grounds ourselves, the sheer amount of magic we placed into securing and hiding it would surely attract attention, no matter how well camouflaged it is. An inconspicuous location like this is less likely to be discovered, as unbelievable as that might seem. Furthermore, this is the middle of the Kyoto Youkai's territory, so an attack on us while we're here is also as good as an attack on them, and they will respond in kind." Sirzechs explained.
"…Youkai? Really? So everyone we met past the Torii gate were all Youkai?"
"That's right. In fact, this meeting place was arranged by the Youkai at our request, so its security will be left to them. Though, they requested something in return…"
"What is it?"
"Nothing to concern yourself with at the moment. You'll find out eventually. For now, let's focus on the meeting." Sirzechs changed the subject, causing Ichigo to get suspicious.
Whatever it was the Youkai had requested in return for arranging this spot for them, it had something to do with him.
Ichigo was about to ask Sirzechs to explain, when he felt his skin crawl as multiple powerful reiatsu signatures appeared nearby and began to approach.
His instincts were warning him that whoever these reiatsu belonged to, they were dangerous, and natural enemies of his.
"Ah, they're here." Sirzechs said.
Ichigo turned towards the door.
The reiatsu signatures drew closer and closer, and the door slid open to reveal their owners.
The first person at the door was an effeminate blonde man with gentle green eyes, dressed in ceremonial armor much like Sirzechs's.
Behind him was a voluptuous woman with curly blonde hair and the same gentle green eyes, dressed in a conservative white gown.
Beside her were a tall blonde man with the same green eyes, but hardened rather than gentle, dressed in white robes, and an equally tall man with hair and eyes the shade of burning flames, dressed in a more pragmatic looking robe that allowed its wearer maximum mobility without getting in the way.
All of them had 12 feathered wings, though the first man's were golden in color while the other two's and the woman's were white.
The only remaining Archangel after Lucifer's fall, Michael, the current leader of Heaven after YHWH's death, and the other three members of the Four Great Seraphs, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel.
The four of them filed into the room and took seats opposite the five Super Devils, all of them directing curious and cautious gazes at Ichigo.
Following behind them were three more men.
The first was a tall man with blonde and black hair, a black goatee, red eyes and twelve jet black feathered wings extending from his back, dressed in a purple trench coat and black trousers underneath, with a smile on his face, causing Ichigo to start as he was immediately reminded of Kisuke.
The second was a slightly shorter man with long black hair, black eyes, with ten black feathered wings instead of twelve, dressed in black robes, looking far more serious than the first.
The third was rather familiar, and Ichigo grimaced, not expecting to meet him again so soon after his reincarnation. His physical appearance had not changed since Ichigo last saw him, but he was now dressed in a cloak covering black armor, and had revealed his ten black feathered wings.
Azazel, the Governor of the Fallen Angels, his right hand man and the Vice Governor, Shemhaza, and one of Cadres, Baraqiel. Three leaders of the Grigori.
There were technically four main leaders of the Grigori, but from what Serafall had told hin, the last of the four, another Cadre, Kokabiel, was opposed to the idea of a truce, and wanted nothing more than to finish what was started centuries ago, and was thus not a part of this meeting.
The three of them stepped into the room, and while Azazel and Shemhazai took their seats, Baraqiel stopped and stared at Ichigo, just as he figured he would.
The two stared at each other for a few moments, drawing confusion from the others.
Then, Baraqiel smiled grimly.
"Well, this is an unexpected surprise. I would say that it's good to see you again, but considering where you're sitting, that might not be true." Baraqiel said with a sigh.
"It's been a while. I figured we would cross paths eventually, but I didn't think it would be this soon."
"You two know each other?"
"We've met. It doesn't really have any relevance to the meeting.
"I agree. Shall we begin?"
"In that case, let's start with who the newest addition is." Azazel asked as he looked at Ichigo with a curious gaze that had grown more intense when he and Baraqiel revealed that they knew each other.
"Of course. This is Serafall's new Queen, Kurosaki Ichigo."
Aside from Baraqiel, the eyes of the leaders of the Devils's two rival Factions widened considerably.
"The hero of the Winter War? That's quite the addition you got to your ranks, Sirzechs. Guess that explains how you managed to get the Youkai to reserve this place for us. So, what rank did he end up getting? High-Class?" Azazel commented with no little surprise.
"Ultimate-Class. He defeated Grayfia." Sirzechs corrected.
"Wow, now that's an impressive feat. Must have been by the skin of his teeth though. I can't imagine that that frigid wife of yours would go down so easily." Azazel whistled appreciatively.
"Actually…it got pretty one-sided once they both started using their full power."
A stunned silence followed
"…Your wife lost? Grayfia Lucifuge, the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation, who possesses power equal to one of the Original Maou, lost? To a newly Reincarnated Devil?" Azazel asked incredulously.
"Yes, that's actually one of the topic we wanted to discuss today. We have confirmed that Ichigo-kun is a Super Devil like us."
That certainly got their attention fast.
"A-Another Super Devil!? Furthermore, a Reincarnated Devil!? Is that even possible!?"
"Even if you ask us, we can't really answer since we don't know much about the Super Devil mutation either. But, that's still not the end of it. It appears that Ichigo-kun possesses the abilities of our Lord and Creator, Satan-sama."
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, pandemonium descended.
And I'm done with this chapter.
I actually wanted to add in more, but I felt the next part fit in better in the next chapter than this one.
I'm going to make this clear. I had a hard time writing this chapter, mostly because most of it ended up being one huge info dump, which, while integral to the setting of the story, I feel should never take up the majority of a chapter.
Second, and this is probably incredibly obvious, the meeting between the leaders of the three Factions was kinda forced and very abrupt, because I couldn't really think of another way for Ichigo, after becoming a Devil, to interact with Heaven, the Church or the Grigori without it being in a hostile manner on the other side's part.
I guess this is what I get for writing a chapter with only a vague idea of where I was going.
I hope that the next chapter will be of a higher quality, because I actually do know what I'll be writing. Mostly.
That's all for now. As always, please read and review.
