Will stop with the [King] stuff now. It hurts my fingers.
By all means the incursion should count as a complete win. Genshirou possessed two out of the four Vritra Sacred Gears now, there would be no witnesses left behind, and although Stain would slow down for a while all of this had happened relatively fast. So Diodora had plenty of time to think about his next move.
"There's blood in your servant's living room, the spike of power washed over the entire town… And this is something not to be concerned about?" Sona crossed her arms, processing the random information Diodora put together when the two Kings of Kuoh arrived at Genshirou's doorstep minutes after the group had appeared.
"Correct." Diodora breathed slowly, trying his best to ignore how hurt his servants looked "Operations can often go wrong if caught unprepared. But we succeeded. There's nothing to worry about."
"Another failure?" The black haired girl raised an eyebrow "Be careful that it doesn't become a habit, Diodora. You know what happened the last time."
His eyes twitched, his smile strained. He wanted to shoot barbed comments back, but refrained from doing so. As Rias looked worried out of her mind as the two raven haired devils talked.
"Thank you for your concern." Was all Diodora managed in an even tone "But you can ask my servants yourself, this is fine. I guarantee it."
"I don't think your word alone is enough to decide that." Sona replied. Not with venom in her voice this time, just as a controlled and obvious statement "This is our territory after all. And I will personally not tolerate anyone endangering the security of this town."
"I don't think it'd get that far…" Rias interrupted "Isn't that right, Diodora? Didn't you eliminate all the exorcists?"
Such was the story he spun. Going out to train, getting in contact with a group of stray devils. Being ambushed by stray exorcists that had had the same idea… It explained the light-based injuries Olivia and Stain sustained, and the reason why they retreated so hastily. Diodora had to bite his tongue, unable to celebrate obtaining one of the Vritra Sacred Gears as Rias and Sona dropped in so soon after (sort of) dealing with the mess of their arrival.
He wanted to complain, but no one would listen to him right now. Not with the little sisters of two Demon Lords at the door.
"That's right." He replied instead, grateful to have a reason to break eye contact with Sona "Although the light weapons are a problem. We'll need to rest for a while."
He almost bit his tongue, trying to say as little as possible to keep up the lie. It'd only become obvious if he tried to build on it. Not only because of likely inconsistencies, but because it'd look suspicious.
"But are you sure?" Sona insisted.
"I am." Diodora only gave her a side glance before focusing back on Rias. She was the one that mattered after all "I swear this will bring no harm to the town. On my honor as heir of Astaroth, I guarantee it."
"It's not that we don't believe you." Rias sighed in spite of her friend very clearly not believing him "But we must make sure. It's a great responsibility that it's been entrusted to us."
"And one you two have maintained splendidly." Diodora smiled weakly "I understand."
Sona looked like she wanted to press on the issue, but Diodora's words calmed her down. Praise did wonders to get in a devil's good side, like with any being with a mind and ego, but to these young heiresses this applied doubly so. To be told that they were up to the responsibilities they were entrusted… Even a girl like Rias, who wanted to be known for her own person instead of her heritage, couldn't help being weak to such praises.
"In any case, once again please forgive me for scaring you out like this. I'll clean up after myself, and—."
"Lord." A cold feminine voice called out from behind him. It made Diodora freeze, turn around so fast he felt his neck muscles protest.
The half-devil girl that attacked them stood behind him, at a reasonable distance. She hadn't fully healed from the injuries delivered by Stain, and her cold expression almost made Diodora think she'd attack him at any moment. Even if she held none of her weapons anymore.
"Oh?" Rias perked up "Is that a new servant of yours?"
"What happened back there?" Even Sona looked surprised, and maybe a little interested. Were they able to feel something strange from the girl?
"I, huh…"
"Tentative servant." The girl closed her eyes, talking slowly "The Lord saved my life, but I don't feel too keen on entrusting it to a stranger."
"Smart." Sona nodded "No one should serve unwillingly either. If this guy pressures you, you can always come to us for help…"
"Yuni." The silver haired girl said "And thank you, I'll consider it."
Diodora held back the need to blast her with a surge of demonic power.
How had she recuperated so quickly?
Once upon a time, Kuoh Town had been ruled by a woman of the Belial clan. Her identity was largely erased from records, and most people felt more comfortable ignoring her existence than acknowledging what she had done.
Not about what had been done to her, but rather what she did to deserve being turned into a non-person. A Jane Doe in the history of house Belial.
The lady of this town fell in love with a man. Not any man, but one called Yaegaki Masaomi, an exorcist of the church. Which was hilarious given how little hold the faith has in Japan, and even back then, due to how far from Europe it is. Or maybe due to other factors, and how the local deities and youkai mixed in society. Who knows. That's not the important part.
What is important is the context. Heaven and Hell had been in a cold war-like state for quite a while. Neither side was willing to make the first major move, but neither wanted to give in and lower their weapons to the foes they had fought since the annals of time either. They'd look for any excuse to do battle on a smaller scale, one that didn't threaten to wipe their societies out entirely… In such a world, an exorcist and a devil fell in love. Right in this town.
She died. Of course she did. This tale wouldn't be complete without some drama involved. In the end, as far as Diodora remembered, this would end up being the reason why the Emperor joined the Khaos Brigade, exposing the dark secrets of devil society for the world to see. Hurting his own kind in the same place where it would be the hardest to heal: Their pride.
Or something like that. That didn't matter to Diodora at the moment, seeing how he hadn't encountered a King piece user, or even Masaomi himself. Who would be using one of the holy swords to fuse with a dragon, or something like that.
No. Diodora encountered the love child of that forbidden relationship. Someone that hadn't been mentioned at all in the original timeline.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it…" Anxiety gripped his heart, the gravity of his small 'victory' coming in full force once he realized how deeply he had screwed up by showing himself to this girl.
If the Emperor knew of her existence, then Diodora couldn't just replace her. Leave alone the girl's dad. The head of the Belial clan would probably one-shot Diodora with his full peerage at this stage. Not even bringing all of the Vritra Sacred Gears together would help, since the Emperor was what Diodora would've liked to be: An unmovable piece fixed in the Khaos Brigade as a double agent. He could call for both its aid, and his connections in the Underworld if needed.
He could replace her with Stain but… What if it didn't fool him? He didn't understand why she was there to begin with. Her absence might already have tripped some warning signals. And Stain wasn't in a position to assimilate her at the moment. Both due to the poisoning from her light weapons, and loss of most of its body.
Maybe it was the shock of some random girl almost killing him when everything was doing great. Maybe he had grown paranoid.
But what if he was right?
Rias and Sona arriving didn't help at all.
"Genshirou. Take everyone to your room, quick. They need to rest."
"But…"
"I'll explain everything later. Please do as I say now." Then Diodora stopped in his tracks, knowing the moment he opened the door to let the girls in he'd have no chance to do anything else "And about the captured girl…"
The girl had apparently passed out from her blood loss, so Diodora felt confident that at least she wouldn't suddenly keep pushing the attack. And he could be somewhat lax with her.
That had been naive.
"You're very hearty, I can't believe you got up so quickly." Diodora told the girl after the two Kings were gone. Leaving him alone with her as Genshirou… "What happened to my guy?"
"He's tending to your Queen. They're fine, since I didn't find my sword." She replied with a straight face. Apparently no deception in her words.
Diodora wanted to confirm it, but that could wait. If she lied they'd be dead, so nothing would be gained from rushing in.
"I had to take some safety measures, in case you recovered quickly." Diodora smiled bitterly.
"I've taken beatings before." She shrugged.
"So I see. Guess this is normal enough to you, I thought you'd be more…" Diodora made circles with his hand, trying to find the word "...Frenzied, I guess."
"I'd have finished the job, but seeing the little sister of Lucifer is kind of…" She waved her own hand, imitating Diodora's action.
"Shocking?" He suggested.
"Scary." She shook her head "I see you had a trap within your trap. The magic circle was annoying but disappointing."
"Yes, well. Please understand that my safety comes first." He replied with a straight face. Hiding that he hadn't thought of using the girls as a form of safety measure.
"Understandable but no less annoying." She replied.
Diodora nodded, motioning to the kitchen to his left.
"Tea?"
"Sure."
He moved backwards, the girl following suit and keeping the same distance as they switched places. He only gave her his back when he had to search for the kettle and the herbs, making sure to have her just in the corner of his sight at all times.
She waited, leaning on the wall to disguise her lack of strength. To hide that she wasn't actually as recovered as she wanted to appear.
"Won't you warm it u—?" She began asking but Diodora slapped some demonic power into it, getting steam out the next moment. A display of strength, if a small one "Of course."
He had power to spare, whereas she couldn't say the same thing. Neither would fool themselves into thinking they had raised their white flags just because no attack had been exchanged.
They moved back to the living room, her blood still splattered on the floor. And he served her tea. He pushed it toward her, and she leaned closer to pick it up.
Neither spoke while they took the first sip.
"What now?" Diodora asked as he looked at the room where Genshirou and Olivia were.
"Depends on you." Yuni closed her eyes as if becoming one with her cup.
"Funny that you'd say that, because that's obviously the case." Diodora shook his head with a smile "I'm asking whether this will be easy or hard. Really, your choice."
The girl frowned.
"You think you're strong enough to defeat me."
"I know you're not strong enough to defeat me." Diodora lifted a finger as he listed his reasons: "You had a prime opportunity to steamroll us. None of us knew you were there, none of us knew what powers you had or how you fought. Your Privilege Magic gave you a very important edge against us, plus you carried holy weapons. You had every chance to win, yet you took none of them."
He went for his tea again, feeling content with mocking the girl that almost cost him the operation.
"You didn't win then, so don't try to pretend you can do it now." He finished, still on guard in case she did use the opportunity to fight.
The girl nodded along, listening intently. At least she had good manners.
"You think you've got me figured out." She accused him.
Diodora shrugged.
"It was surprising that you knew of me…" Her expression became darker, her voice colder "...But that only means you're a threat."
"Don't be too surprised. I have eyes and ears in certain places, so I'm bound to know a thing or two about important stuff." He shrugged the threat off "Although I'm very interested in hearing out why you were in that hideout. Feel free to enlighten me on that one."
"May I know what creature you have as a pet?" She countered, sipping her tea without breaking eye contact.
"A slime." Diodora replied.
The girl frowned.
"There's no way that thing is a slime."
"Think what you will." Diodora didn't really care. It wasn't like Stain's race would change a lot unless Yuni investigated further.
He hadn't been sure it would exist in this world, and their creation was rare to say the least. So oblexes weren't common enough to worry about Stain's cover blowing up. Unless he outright stated that it was one of them.
Yuni though? If she thought Diodora was trying to deceive her already, then Diodora didn't need to add anything else to the topic.
"Did you put something in my drink?" She asked out of the blue.
"You saw me prepare it." Was all Diodora said.
"It tastes strange." She insisted.
"How could I have?" He asked back, a little annoyed.
"Demonic power can do a lot of things." She crossed her arms "How can I be sure you didn't poison it or something."
"It'd be underhanded." He used Rias' words in this case. Simply because they suited him, even if he didn't agree with them.
"We both know there's no such a method in a fight."
Diodora smirked.
"I suppose we do."
"Switch with me." She insisted.
Diodora shook his head.
"Fine, whatever." He got to his feet and offered his cup of tea, extending his other hand to take hers.
Yuni grabbed his wrist in a flash, twisting around to sucker punch him as his momentum worked against his footing.
Diodora released a burst of demonic power, shocking her muscles and letting him blast her away with an enhanced palm strike.
"What's wrong?!" Genshirou appeared from his room as he heard Yuni crash and fall on the couch.
She was up in Diodora's face the next moment, but the devil expected as much.
Yuni conjured a blade with her demonic power, flexing her muscles to dance around the small space she had and get a clear hit on Diodora's chest.
A barrier appeared centimeters in front of him, making the conjured weapon bounce off uselessly.
"Cool trick." He commended her as he conjured a ball of demonic power, before realizing he'd damage Genshirou's house further "...Mind if I steal it?"
Diodora conjured a wispy blade. A triangle that just barely resembled a weapon by virtue of being held like one.
He twisted his hip, throwing his weight behind the swing. And Yuni was pushed back as her own demonic weapon was unable to resist his amateurish swing.
Diodora pushed forward with a thrust. Yuni dodged with a quick motion, and closed in the gap between them.
Her weapon vanished in the palm of her hand.
"...?!" Without a weapon she tried to cancel out her motion, but Diodora used his own weapon to club at her. Avoiding using it as an actual cutting weapon.
Genshirou's lines appeared the next instant, restraining the girl as she struggled to stay on her feet.
"How?!" She hissed. As she probably tried to use Worthless after her own weapon vanished, failing and thus being caught.
"No such a thing as an underhanded method." Diodora parroted her words "Did you think I'd let you run around unsupervised? I'm not that stupid."
"I'm sorry, Diodora-san. She still had some power left." Genshirou was quick to apologize, yet Diodora didn't feel angry at him.
"No, no. It was perfect." The devil assured him "It's just what I needed. It feels really good to beat up someone with a good reason."
"Absorption Line… You drained me of power." She realized, looking back at Genshirou like he was a ghost.
"You lost way too much blood to be trying to play mind games with me." Diodora chuckled "But that's fine, I don't blame you. I've been in tough spots too. So I forgive you."
He got to one knee, showing two fingers in front of the girl with a sinister smirk.
"Now, let's go back to what we were talking about. About me deciding how this would turn out, depending on how you behave. With a word I can give you out to someone that will eradicate you, make you nothing but memories. The same goes to your dad." He was showing the girl the back of his hand, so when he lowered his index finger only the middle finger stayed up "Or you can play ball with me. Cooperate. You don't have to accept being reincarnated as my servant. All I ask is for some answers, then you can leave. Pretend we never crossed paths."
"Diodora-san…" Genshirou looked a little spooked. Diodora would need to assure him this was only theatrics later.
If only they hadn't teleported to Genshirou's house Diodora could've fed this girl to Stain… Now it'd have to wait.
"Now tell me: Which one do you think it's gonna be?" He showed her his teeth. Enjoying the dread building up on her face a little too much to be normal.