Hello there, Skylinemaster here with another installment of the Devil Familiar of Zero.
"Speech"
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Highschool DxD or Familiar of Zero.
Hazy. Why is everything so hazy? And yet, surreal? I open my eyes, and everything feels so distant.
Wait, it is all coming back to me now. I remember fainting after healing Agnes, Eleonore, Wales, and Cattelya. Alright, I am in a very comfortable bed with two people near me.
I see Siesta on the right side of my bed, and Cattleya on the left side. Both are on the edge of my bed, staring down at me.
"Siesta, can you go get me a glass of water?" I asked her. I could make it myself by I don't want to risk wasting any energy. Siesta, however, remains unmoving.
"Siesta, did you hear me? Can I please have a glass of water?" I asked her again.
Again, she is moving.
"Hello? Siesta? Can you hear me?" I asked her, rising in my bed so that I am eyelevel with her. She is still staring at where I was, it is like she couldn't hear me.
"Cattleya? Can you hear me?" I said, rotating my bed so that I am facing Cattleya. Still, no movement, no acknowledgement of me.
What is happening here?
I got out of bed towards the side that Cattleya is on, and saw my body, lying prone on the bed.
Wait what?
I passed my hand towards Cattleya, seeing if the theory I hold is real. My hand passed through her head, like nothing is even there.
Hm, I guess my theory is true, I am having some type of outer body experience.
I walked around the room, pacing and thinking about what to do now. I am invisible to everyone, and they can't hear or see me.
This is annoying. Not being able to communicate with others.
Hm, let's see if there is any way I can communicate with Karin. She might be able to see, hear, or at least acknowledge me.
I opened the door, walking out to the dimly lit hallway. I turned to my left, towards the stairs as I can hear screams. I walked down the stairs, seeing the morning sun rising through a small window nearby. I came to the first floor, and heard the screaming becoming louder and louder.
I followed the screaming into the kitchen, and then into the door leading into a wine cellar. I walked down the wine cellar, and saw the source of the screams. There, at the end of the wine cellar, is a man in his early thirties tied up in a chair with Karin next to him. The person is dressed in nothing but his underpants, and his face is bloodied. His bald head now has a mask of blood on it.
His aura is definitely unmistakable. The aura of a Devil. This aura, feels extremely dark and overpowering. The Raim and Amy clans were known for their extremely dark auras, so this guy is probably one of them.
Hm, Karin just smacked him across the face.
"Bwahahahha. Do you think that hurt?" The guy said as he laughed after getting smacked. Masochist.
"Tell me! Where is Louise?!" Karin shouted at him.
"Or else what? You'll hit me again?" He said in a mocking voice.
Hm, it isn't a wise idea to taunt Karin.
She did what he said, hit him with her fist.
"Bwahahaha. You hit like a girl." He said, spitting out blood into Karin's face.
"Tell me!"
"Go to hell." He said back. With that, she smacked him again.
"Hey Karin!" I shouted at her. Karin didn't turn around or acknowledge me, so I assume she can't hear me either.
Well, that idea is ruined, let me think of another.
Smack! Blood went flying towards the wall and the bastard is still laughing.
I'll be moving to a place that is a bit quieter.
I walked out of the cellar, and to the kitchen as the sun continued to rise above the horizon.
I know! Maybe Derflinger can acknowledge me as he has magical powers.
I walked around the house, searching for Derflinger. He wasn't in Louise's room, nor the dining room. I found him after wandering around the massive mansion for over fifteen minutes. He was in the master bedroom, lying in a corner against the wall.
"Oi partner! Can you hear me?" I shouted at Derflinger.
No response, not even he can acknowledge me.
"Oi, this isn't a time to be funny!" I shouted at him, hoping that he would answer me back.
Still nothing, I wanted to grab his handle, and shake him violently to see if that would wake him.
I made contact with the handle, wait. That should be impossible.
"Oh, you realized it boy." A feminine voice said to me.
"Show yourself!"
"Mhm, you get right to the point, I like that. As you wish." The voice said to me in a slightly sultry tone. A blight light appeared from Derflinger, causing me to shield my eyes in response. When I took my arm from in front of my eyes, a woman is in front of me.
A woman of significant beauty. A fair skinned woman, standing over six feet tall, with long flowing blonde hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a toga and sandals, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say she is a goddess from the Greek or Roman factions.
"Hello there, young Rofocal." She said with a smile.
"Who are you?" I asked her as she shook her head.
"You still don't know, do you? I am Apophis." She said as I jumped back. Wait, that's impossible! I just killed her.
"You! I just killed you!" I said as I pointed a finger at her, not believing this woman.
"No, you just killed my vessel. Whenever I am summoned, I am fused with my host, but my consciousness can freely move to whatever my vessel touches. When you stabbed my physical body with your sword, I transferred my consciousness to your blade, and then to you." She said as I stared at her.
"Alright, then are you the cause of this?"
"My my, aren't you a smart one? Of course I am." She said mockingly.
"Well, reverse this!"
"Or what? You'll stab me again? I'd like to see you try." She said as she gave me a dismissive glance.
"What did you do anyway?"
"Oh, you are in trapped within your subconscious right now. Whoever touches me shall fall into a deep slumber. That is what you get if you come in contact with my skin. I release a toxin that slowly works its way into your body, causing it to total shut down."
"So, how do I wake up from this?"
"Interesting question, but if I tell you, you must do something for me." She said, putting her hand up to her chin.
"I'll think about it, now tell me."
"My my, you really should adopt a politer tone with me." She said as she waved her hand at me while rolling her eyes.
"Alright, I can pull you out of this state because I can control the toxin's effect within another's body, but in exchange I need permission to stay inside of your sword." She said. Stay inside Derflinger, why would she want that?
"Permission, you need my permission to do that?" I asked her, surprised that an Evil Dragon needs permission to stay inside a vessel.
"Yes, yes it is rather annoying. The God from the Bible, with his limitless hatred of Dragons, placed a curse that forces Dragons to obtain permission before residing with a body. Of course, then he goes an seals Ddraig and Albion inside those contraptions called Sacred Gears, and places them inside humans without their permission. What a hypocrite." She said with a sigh.
"Can I ask Derflinger what he thinks of this?"
"I don't see what good it will do, but fine." She said, snapping her fingers.
"Oi partner! What happened?" Derflinger said from the corner. I walked over to the corner and picked him up, turning him so that he can face Apophis.
"Derflinger, remember that Dragon we thought we killed? Well, apparently she is alive, and inside of your body." I said as he remained silent, a rather strange moment coming from Derflinger.
"And she needs permission to say inside of your body." I said.
"Only until a suitable replacement can be found." She chimed in as Derflinger started to laugh.
"Bwahaha. Oi, partner, is she serious?" Derflinger said as Apophis frowned, causing a scary aura to appear around her.
"Hm, I'd assume so, given the amount of aura she is unleashing." I said.
"Well, I never had a beautiful woman residing with me, so yes, she can stay with me!" He said as I rolled my eyes.
"Alright, Apophis, you can stay inside of his body." I said as I put Derflinger back in the corner.
"Alright then. I'll bring you out of this unconscious state." She said as she put up her hand.
"Wait! I need to ask you something first."
"Make it quick. I want to go into my new body already." She said.
"Why did you choose him and not me?"
"First of all, I hate Devils, so I would never share my body with a Devil out of all things." She said in disgust.
"Alright then. Why did you side with Rizevim then? You are aware that he is a Devil right?"
"Yes, son of the morning star. Well, that fool promised me another chance at life, so I took it. I expected that I didn't have to do much in return, but that idiot sent me to this land to be a servant to another Devil." She said as she shook her head.
"But you are an Evil Dragon. Aren't you supposed to be a homicidal battle maniac?"
"Yeah, and you're a Devil. Does that mean you are all evil to humans?"
"Point taken. Alright second question, what is Rizevim planning to do to Halkeginia?"
"I don't know the entire plan, but from what I heard from Ezaniel, there is going to be some sort of portal that connects Earth to Halkeginia. Ezaniel repeatedly mentioned something about a girl that is crucial to the plan. A girl named Louise or something like that."
"Where is she?!"
"First of all, don't raise your voice at me, Devil. Secondly, I do not know." She said.
"Alright, I've answered enough of your questions, time to do inside of my body." She said, walking up to Derflinger. Her body turned blue, and faded out of existence right in front of my eyes. Then, a brilliant flash of white appeared in front of me, causing me to shield my eyes.
With that, I found myself in bed with Siesta and Cattleya near my bed.
"Siesta, can you hear me?" I asked as she nodded.
"Thank Brimir! We thought you were going to die!" She said as I sat up in bed.
"Don't worry, I'm too young to die." I said with a smile.
"How long have I been unconscious?" I asked her.
"A little over two days." Cattleya answered.
"Alright, how are the others? Did they survive as well, Cattleya?"
"Yes, they have been resting but are in good spirits." She told me.
"Where is Karin? I need to tell her something." I said to Cattleya, who stood up from beside the bed.
"She is down stairs, interrogating a survivor right now." She said as I got out of bed.
"Take me to her. We need to talk about what to do now." I said as she nodded. She turned to the door, and I followed her, and Siesta followed behind me.
We got to the stairs, and saw that Karin is running up them.
"Rofocal! We know where Louise is!" She said frantically. Hm, she managed to break a Devil, very interesting.
"You broke the Devil survivor? Very good. Where is she?"
"She is being held in a manor outside the small city of Aix-les-Bains, just an hour outside of Tristania. But we need to hurry now!" Karin said in a fearful voice. Uh-oh, something must be very bad if it can make Karin fearful.
"What? Why?!" I asked.
"The Devil told me that morning star is coming today. He said you knows what that means."
I thought about what she just said, and I connected the pieces together. Rizevim is coming to Halkeginia by having Louise make a portal with her Void powers.
"This is not good! We need to go there now, or Halkeginia as we know it will be destroyed. Gather everyone, we need to leave now."
"Alright. I'll get my griffin prepared." Karin said as she headed back down the stairs.
"Cattleya, wake up the others. Siesta, come with me." I said as Cattleya left us.
"Rofocal, what is happening?" She asked me as we headed to the master bedroom to pick up Derflinger.
"Remember the history of the Devils that I first told you about when you turned into one?" I asked, and she nodded.
"The son of the original Lucifer is alive and might be coming here to destroy the world. We need to reach Louise to stop him." I said to her.
We both walked into the master bedroom, and sure enough, Derflinger is lying in the same corner where I left him.
"Oi partner! Thanks for introducing her to me." Derflinger said as I picked him up.
"You're welcome. Hope you like him Apophis." I said as I put Derflinger in a scabbard and put him on my back.
I rushed back downstairs, with Siesta following behind me. When we reached the stairs, I saw everyone else assembled in the front of the house.
Henrietta, Wales, Eleonore, Agnes, Cattleya, and Karin are all standing there. Karin is dressed in armor, and with the doors wide open, I can see an armored griffin waiting outside.
"Alright, we need to rush towards Aix-les-Bains now. But first, we need to evacuate the citizens of Tristania. Since the battle will be relatively close to there, we should take maximize effort to minimize the loss of life." I said as they all nodded, serious expressions plastered on their faces.
"So on that note, Henrietta, Wales, and Agnes will get dropped off in the capital and evacuate everyone. Everyone else will be going with me to Aix-les-Bains to save Louise and indeed, Halkeginia. Any questions?"
No one answered, so we left the place. Everyone managed to fit on the griffin, and the griffin flew at top speed towards Tristania.
We got to Tristania rather quickly, and landed at the castle. I thought there would be magic attacks on us as we landed, but there was none. Apparently Karin's griffin is so well known to the palace guards that they didn't attack us as we descended.
"Rofocal, you better come back!" Henrietta said to me as she dismounted. Hm, she seems to be adopting Louise's tsundere attitude.
"Don't worry, I won't die." I said with a smile as the griffin took off again.
The griffin then headed west, towards the manor that Louise is being held in. As we neared Aix-Les-Bains from the sky, I could certainly feel many Devil presences in the aura. Five distinct, powerful auras.
Fireball!
A massive fireball came from the ground, and almost hit the griffin we are riding on. Karin managed to dodge it at the last minute, and I jumped off the griffin to land on the grounds first.
I deployed my wings a few hundred feet from the ground, and I can see over the stone walls of a massive estate near me. There seems to be an elevated platform of some sort, and wait….
Louise!
She is on that platform, with her hands and feet tied to posts. She is strung up and her body is in an x-shape, with her hands and feet being bound to sides of two posts by rope.
I see the fireball shooter, sending hundreds of fireballs in my direction.
I took out Derflinger, and swung at a fireball headed at me. I cut it in half, and saw a blade of energy cut the Devil who sent it at my way.
What happened? I didn't accidently channel any energy into him did I?
"Derflinger? What just happened?"
"I hate Devils, so might as well kill one." Apophis's voice piped up.
"Bwahaha. She is fun and wild partner! Thanks for the hook-up!" Derflinger added.
Well, not what I was planning, but ok.
Alright, four distinct Devils left.
Now, three…..
Two, and one.
They are getting wiped out, I can't feel their energy presences anymore.
Karin and then must have taken them out.
I rushed towards the wall, and saw Karin and the others on the ground. They safely dismounted near three dead bodies, I'd safely assume that those are of the three other Devils presence who just vanished.
"Louise!" I said as I rushed over to the platform, but I was immediately thrown back. It felt like I pushed into a force field.
I then rushed back again, and again was thrown back to the ground by an unseen force.
"Don't you learn?" A voice said as I looked around, there was no one around me.
Then out of nowhere, a figure materializes in the platform in front of me. I couldn't sense any teleportation magic, so I guess he didn't teleport here. He must have been invisible the whole time then. His magic is impressive as I couldn't sense his presence.
The figure is wearing a silver robe, and has silver hair that is tied in a ponytail…
Wait, then where is the fifth Devil energy presence that I felt before?
Then, right next to the silver robe figure, there is a magical circle appearing. There is a brown color radiating out, and the presence was the one that I felt a few moments ago.
There is an elderly looking man that appears from the circle. This man has long grey hair, yellow eyes, and is dressed in brown medieval style armor similar to Karin's.
"Master Lucifuge, the preparations are ready."
!
This is Euclid Lucifuge? Brother of the wife of Satan Lucifer?
Euclid, after hearing these words, smiled.
"Indeed. You there, Rofocal Shax." Euclid said as he pointed at me with his right index finger.
"I must thank you for contributing to this. You killing our rather low level members and that fight with Tariel's followers put you on our map. So the legend of the Devil summoning Void user were then confirmed." He continued as I tried to break down the invisible barrier by punching it to no avail.
"Max, he won't break through, but just in case if he does, watch him for me." Euclid said as he faced Louise.
Maximilien Buer!
Alright, the leader of this Devil conspiracy in Halkeginia. He is Euclid's lap dog it appears.
"Don't worry young one. This will not hurt." He said to Louise as I saw her eyes briefly open. He put his right hand up to her face and a wait… NO!
He created a small black magical sphere in his hand. There are many Devil letters in the circle that are moving at such speeds that I can't read them.
"Help me break this barrier!" I shouted as the sphere was pushed into her body.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!" Louise made a terrifying scream as the sphere was shoved into her body.
The attacks that Karin, Cattleya, Eleonore, and I weren't doing much, dammit!
The sphere created a large light, and then a thunderous crashing sound to be heard. Afterward, there were massive wind gusts, over three hundred kilometers per hour, in the direction of the platform and Louise.
The barrier started to crack, and was shattered by my punch as a blue portal appeared in front of Louise.
"Magnificent isn't it?" Euclid started as the portal to expand in size.
"Louise!" I said, creating four ice spears, which I then threw at the ropes that are holding Louise. Euclid simply flicked his wrist, destroying the ice spears.
Dammit! The Lucifuge are known for their ice manipulating powers, so that was foolish of me to do.
"You have done well, Euclid!" A voice boomed from…the portal?!
Oh no, he is coming through! I can feel his overbearing aura!
A foot stepped out of the portal, and then another. Soon an old man wearing Satan attire was visible!
His aura was undeniable, it was him! Son of the original Lucifer, father of all the Devils.
"Ahaha. This is it! The other world, the place that shall have terror rained from the skies!" He said as Euclid and Maximilien got down and bowed like knights do.
"Satan Rizevim Lucifer has arrived!" Rizevim said, laughing maniacally as he stared at me.
"You." He pointed at me.
"Are the catalyst for this world's destruction! Brace for the end of the world!"
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. This was more of an introduction to the conclusion of this story, which is set to have about 3-4 more chapters. Shit just got real as Rizevim Lucifer is in Halkeginia, and soon, more beings will join in the fray.
Stay tuned to see what happens, and in the mean time, please review! I absolutely love to receive your reviews !