Chapter 8 - King Takes Pawn Pt.1
Meeting Room of the four Maou, Underworld - Highschool DxD World - Two days after the end of the previous chapter / 1 Month and Four days before the original start of canon
(General P.O.V)
"So Ajuka, is this legitimate Super Devil Research from the Naberius?" Serafall asks as she looks at her fellow Maou, the green-haired devil frowning as he checks through the files thrice to ensure he's not missing even a single piece of information on the USB drive.
"As much as I would like to say no, I cannot lie here Serafall as this is most definitely what you and Heiress Gremory feared it is, meaning that we have sufficient reasoning as well as proof that the case of the SS-rank Stray Devil Kuroka needs to be reopened…" Ajuka states, frowning as he is not happy to see that this research has been able to occur without his knowledge in the first place.
Ajuka is a man who is above all, a pragmatic man of logic and scientific research, as such he has never really believed that a woman like Kuroka would go mad like the Naberius claimed she did from mere Senjutsu.
While Senjutsu does indeed run the risk of exposing one's self to the hatred of the planet itself, potentially driving them mad that way, he also knows from various sources that Senjutsu practitioners are often quite careful with handling that issue.
Not to mention a King of a peerage should be capable of leashing the power of their reincarnated devils should they lose control of it, although while there are cases of strays killing their master before fleeing, Ajuka always felt like something was missing in regards to this case.
With the research data on the USB on hand though, it is starting to paint a picture he dreads the political implications of, as it would mean that the Naberius house has dabbled in forbidden research that has some hefty consequences to consider…
Ajuka glances over to one of the other Male Maous, one that bears the same red hair as his little sister, Sirzechs Lucifer, as he seems to be deep in thought while also rather anxious. It's clear to both men that the moment the case is reopened, there is a chance the Naberius house will do something foolish in an attempt to prevent the political shitstorm that's about to be dumped on their doorstep.
As much as Ajuka would like to believe his fellow devils aren't stupid enough to piss off a man who can quite literally use his bloodline power to destroy your body in a way not even Phenex Tears can properly regenerate, he's seen how arrogant the latest generations of devils have gotten thanks to the peace they've been under.
Suffice it to say, Ajuka isn't holding his breath on the possibility of them doing something stupid and potentially putting the lives of not just Sirzech's sister at risk, but also Serafall's as well. This means he needs to take great care to reopen the case and try to withhold presenting the Research as evidence to reopen the case, mainly due to where the USB was kept prior…
"Sirzechs, If you intend to reopen this case, I strongly advise that you try to refrain from using this USB as evidence to do so until you have no other choice as I have no doubt the Naberius House will figure out where this data might have come from" Ajuka says in a serious tone, the green-haired man looking up at Sirzechs who nods sharply, the man soon turning to the sole female Maou of the four of them.
"Serafall, I will need your assistance in coming up with another reason for reopening this case, specifically I need to speak to someone who would have the authority to request to reopen the investigation" Sirzechs says, Serafall frowns for a moment as she thinks of who he'd be talking about when the answer hits her like a freight train.
"You want me to arrange a meeting with Lady Yasaka of the Youkai faction don't you?" Serafall asks, knowing that she of all people would be the one who would desire a chance to find the truth, especially since the Youkai have been pretty antsy over the whole affair for some time now.
Sirzechs nods as he begins to talk to Serafall about what he has in mind, with Serafall's grin growing wider and wider the more Sirzech talks, Ajuka doesn't take the time to listen though as he's still busy checking over the data one last time to make sure there are no hidden surprises in the data for when it's time to inevitably present it.
Once Ajuka is done with the final check of the data, he looks over to Fabium Asmodeus as the Bald Maou looks like he's completely tuned out of the conversation at this point, as it's clear the devil in charge of Military affairs doesn't have much to contribute at the moment.
And with any luck, Fabium will never have to get personally involved in his capacity as the Maou of Military affairs at any point within the next decade or so, none of those in the room currently desire to see another great war or any war in their lifetime.
One can only hope this doesn't spiral out of control…
Kuoh Academy - At the same time as the meeting
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
The last two days have been quite slow, despite finally having gotten a chance to get a place to train without any prying eyes, since we ended up deciding that my new Pocket Dimension Sweet Home required some slight modifications, ultimately ending up turning the largest of the three available spare rooms into a Dojo.
Not to mention my peerage wanted to do some personalizing of their new rooms as well, which I genuinely couldn't bring myself to say no to despite the fact it ended up taking two days to finish both the modifications of the Very large spare room into a dojo and the personalization of our new bedrooms.
However, today we can finally begin working on training ourselves to prepare for future events as well as develop new skills that our future counterparts never could have dreamed of, all thanks to a full library of games and game consoles that can serve as suitable inspiration!
"You seem pleased Rias, Care to share your thoughts with your best friend?" I hear to my right, turning my head with a smile to see Akeno standing above me who looks down on me with a serene smile of her own.
"Just thinking about stuff we'll be doing after school Akeno~" I say with a smirk on my face, Akeno giggling at how eager I am to train myself alongside my entire peerage today, especially due to the fact we got side-tracked doing all the modifications.
As Akeno is about to say something though, I notice Izayoi soon come into the classroom, reminding me that I have yet to talk to her like we usually do during lunchtime. Akeno follows my gaze and smiles in amusement, deciding to drop the conversation for the moment so that I can do my usual lunchtime conversation with Izayoi.
"Hey Rias-san, guess what I found in stores recently…?" Izayoi asks with an excited smile on her face, eager to tell me her latest find in what I believe is a local game store in Kuoh Town, admittedly making me quite curious as to what she found.
"Is it a copy of Pokemon FireRed like you were hoping to get?" I ask Izayoi, the busty brunette shaking her head before showing me a picture, my eyes widen at what I see shown on the picture, soon making me look right at her once again.
"You found an Ocarina of Time Nintendo 64?!" I exclaim in surprise, having not expected Izayoi to find such a rare gem in the first place as she nods excitedly, looking at the picture again herself before she looks back at me.
"Yep and I got it for a real bargain too, I don't think the guy who was selling it knew what he was sitting on but eh at least I saved a lot of Yen on this one!" Izayoi says with a smile, happy with her extremely fortunate purchase, however, this is where Izayoi asks me a rather surprising question…
"Hey Rias, wanna play it with me later this week, in two days maybe?" Izayoi asks, catching me off-guard as I didn't expect her to ask that of all things, I consider the question for a moment before slowly nodding my head.
"I guess, but will your parents be willing to have me over?" I ask Izayoi, who waves off the issue without much worry, explaining that her parents had been wanting to meet me for a while since I've been a good friend to Izayoi.
While this might be true, I have a slight suspicion in the back of my head that it's not just because I'm a good friend, perhaps knowing about Izayoi's preferences although I can't be certain as it would be rude of me to assume as such.
"Well then, after school in two days then?" I suggest a rough time frame for me heading to her house, with Izayoi excitedly nodding her head as she quickly gives me her address so that I can come over as soon I am done with club-related activities.
Before long though the bell rings, requiring Izayoi to go back to her class as lessons are about to resume in earnest, My eyes are locked on Izayoi's form as she leaves. I can't help but feel slightly eager to meet Izayoi's parents, not only because it's a step forward in my friendship with her but perhaps the beginning of something…more…
Either way, class is starting now so I shake my head to clear my thoughts of such things, after all, I don't want to be distracted while working on schoolwork or potentially miss a teacher randomly selecting me!
Rias Gremory's Pocket Dimension - After School Hours
(Rias Gremory's P.O.V)
BOOM!
"MAOU DAMN IT!" I scream out as my latest Cero attempt misfires again, my right hand singed badly from the failed Cero which is a vast improvement from my past attempts to create a Cero since I am no longer losing the entire hand now from failures.
It still hurts like mad though and tends to be a waste of demonic energy, forcing me to use the bonfire that Akeno has ever so graciously lit next to me to not only heal my hand but also ensure my magical reserves never get low.
Speaking of Akeno though….
"Fufufu, that's it little kitten, run away~" Akeno says with a blush on her face, firing off lightning bolt after lightning bolt at Koneko as the two of them are training magical reserves and speed respectively.
The Senjutsu training that Koneko has been doing before we got the Sweet Home seems to be paying dividends as she's able to just narrowly dodge the lightning bolts, however narrowly dodging isn't enough for Koneko right now as the company provided information has detailed exactly how strong she can become in time given the drive to train herself.
As for why Akeno is trying to increase how much her magical reserves are, I have a feeling she wants to try and increase her innate devil powers to continue avoiding the use of her Fallen Angel Side.
Meanwhile, Yumi is hard at work trying to create new variations of her swords, with helpful access to not only the Wiki of the entire Fate series to draw inspiration from but also some more esoteric examples such as the Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts.
Although the latter of which she's been mostly unsuccessful, with only a partially successful recreation of Soul Eater that still needs a fair bit of work before it's a complete replication, she's getting there at the very least, She doesn't lack the motivation for improvement after all…
I can see Yumi has YouTube opened up on a spare laptop, with various scenes of Archer EMIYA creating and firing off swords as if they were projectiles, with Yumi trying desperately to replicate that with her Sacred Gear to very little success so far.
Eventually, I pull my hand out of the bonfire and examine it, seeing all the injuries I sustained from the attempt completely healed and my reserves topped up, I smirk before getting back to training my Cero recreation.
I raise my right hand while outstretching only my index and middle finger, calming myself before building up the Power of Destruction at the tips of my fingers once again, the molding process so far is smooth as butter thanks to all the training up to this point.
Just when I'm about to fire it again, I pause and think back to the previous successful attempt back in the Forest not far from Kuoh Academy, if I recall correctly I had uttered the attack's name shortly before firing the successful shot, so that makes me wonder if the use of the name is important.
I take a moment to center myself, taking a deep breath before looking forward with determination in my eyes before finally…
"Cero"
The moment I uttered the name of the attack, the condensed orb of energy that was building continuously at my fingertips turned into a bright red beam made of pure Power of Destruction soaring out into the sky at speeds I could barely keep track of!
Once the beam dissipated, I was left stunned at how seamless that felt to do, it was a properly controlled, successfully fired Cero with no issues at all. As I am trying to figure out why it worked this time, a memory of my past life comes up out of nowhere…
"That's right, names can have power" I say to myself, realizing that I had been erroneously attempting to create a silent Cero without having first actually mastered the use of a Cero in the first place.
With this in mind, I grin and begin to attempt another Cero, molding the power quicker than before uttering the name of the attack at the same time I fired the Cero, resulting in another successful show of a bright red beam pulsing with the Power of Destruction surge out from the tips of my fingers.
While the Cero attack is much more draining compared to my Null Star technique, I now have a fully developed long-ranged form of the Power of Destruction that will become very useful the more I train to use it.
With this in mind, I think I can manage up to about 13 Ceros if I assume I am entering a fight fully rested with my magical energy reserves at 100%, meaning I would need to find a way to recharge mid-fight or switch to more basic forms of the Power of Destruction instead.
Now that I've sorted out the Cero though, I think it's time to further develop the use of my shroud of power's elemental abilities~!
I take a moment to focus before my form is immediately covered in a cloak of pure flames, the flames feel less like a part of the cloak and more like a part of my very existence due to the Deep Weave Perk I took for the Shroud of Power.
Which will be a way to easily overpower Fire-element-wielding opponents I'll have to face in the future, such as my supposed fiance. The moment I think about Riser though, I can feel my frustration and anger regarding my situation boil over, which causes the flames of my cloak to surge violently.
It takes me a moment or two to notice what I've done before immediately reigning in the flames of my shroud of power, although thankfully None of it was close to flammable material that could cause a fire to burst out, even though I could have easily absorbed the fire if it did happen.
With that momentary outburst handled, I decided to first try seeing if I could manifest the fire shroud's tendrils in a more combative manner rather than use them for binding as I have previously done…
Outstretching my hands, I decided to mentally command the shroud to manifest tendrils from my arm roughly the size of my fingers, to which I am soon greeted with the sight of orange, magma-like tendrils emerging from my forearm.
"I can feel the sheer heat coming from them" I say to myself as before I had consciously prevented the tendrils from being any hotter than lukewarm despite their appearance, to ensure my beloved peerage isn't harmed during the binding process.
Now that I'm using them for more combat-related purposes, I'm not holding back the heat anymore which is why it feels like my arm feels like it's right next to the sun for the lack of a better term to describe the sensation I feel.
It is then that I look towards a nearby palm tree in the outdoor garden and hold out my hand towards the palm tree, commanding the tendrils to lash out at the trunk of the tree. The moment I make the command, the tendrils surge out with surprising speed, and with one swipe the tendrils cut deep into the tree trunk.
What surprises me the most though, is the fact that there aren't any flames left in the tendril's wake as I can see that the gashes in the tree look more like someone struck the tree with the tip of a lightsaber from Star Wars.
With the test of the tendrils combat efficiency is now done, although now I know I need to be careful when using them in the future to prevent injuring those I care for, I have the shroud tendrils slip back into my body.
Once they fade back into my arm, I examine my skin for any indication of their presence and find nothing, which makes sense since I can no longer be harmed by fire of any kind so I won't find any blemish or burn that would indicate they were there in the first place.
Might see if I can channel the Power of Destruction through the shroud later, just to see if it's possible to mix the flames and my bloodline's abilities in some capacity, after all, if my future self is capable of combining with Gasper's own Sacred Gear abilities, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to do the same with my shroud's fire elemental abilities~!
With the same hand that is still outstretched, I point it away from anything flammable this time and soon I let out a large burst of flame that surges into the air from the palm of my hand, eventually After several seconds of constantly allowing the flames to blast outwards from my hand I finally feel a drain on my reserves, prompting me to stop and drain the remainder of the Bonfire Akeno prepared earlier.
I smile as I let my fire shroud fade into my body while the shroud itself blends into the Kuoh Academy Girls Uniform I am still wearing even now, it's intriguing just how adaptable company binding methods can be
"Akeno, I'm heading inside to make everyone dinner, can you let Gasper know that we'll be returning to the Club Building soon?" I ask Akeno as I am heading into the Sweet Home itself to begin cooking dinner for me and the entire peerage.
Akeno for her part, pouts at the fact she's not going to be training her lightning any further, although I think it's mostly because she was enjoying the constant slinging of lightning attacks at poor Koneko who appears quite worn out now.
"Alright Rias, but I do hope dinner is quite tasty as I was just starting to enjoy the training~" Akeno says as she giggles ominously, Koneko shivers in slight fear while sending me a thankful look as she has no desire to be Akeno's temporary source of relief right now.
Akeno soon opens a portal back to the Occult Research Club Building to let Gasper know that we'll be coming back out soon enough, all while I head into the kitchen with a smirk on my face…
Well, I would hate to disappoint my Best friend's dinner expectations now would I~?
Outskirts of Kuoh Town, Abandoned Church - Later that Evening
(General P.O.V)
The moon shines brightly down upon the clearing where the old abandoned church lies on the outskirts of Kuoh Town. It has been unused for some time now for many reasons, but it is here that four cloaked figures have appeared upon this moonlit night.
"Such disrepair, such ruin to a place that should be most holy to all who see it, a sign that this town is full of Sinners, sinners that I am all too eager to chop and slice into tiny little bits, maybe enjoy the women before they meet their maker!" One of the two male cloaked figures says as he steps forward, his voice tinged in madness and bloodlust as the other cloaked male figure reaches out and places a hand on the first's shoulder.
"You can indulge in your desires later Freed as our master's orders come first, meaning we must set this place up as a base for the rest of our faction first…" The Second cloaked male figure says to the now-identified Freed, who takes off the hood of his cloak and allows his white hair to glisten in the moonlight, a beautiful sheen that does little to hide the madness in the rogue exorcist's eyes.
"Just let him off the leash Dohnaseek, so long as he makes sure his acts of violence appear to be the work of a mundane serial killer, the two heiresses that watch over this town shouldn't notice us for another month," One of the two female cloaked figures says to the now identified Dohnaseek, Dohnaseek sighing as he pulls off his hood, revealing a man with short black hair who normally wears a Fedora atop his head, something that he is unable to do with the hooded cloak he currently wears, the man soon turns to the shortest of the four currently at the Abandoned Church.
"Mittelt we can't afford to risk our operations being discovered just to allow Freed to sate his darker impulses" Dohnaseek chides the now-identified Mittelt who snarls and pulls off her hood while looking up at her comrade, both of them soon letting out their black angelic wings that denote them as fallen angels as Mittelt appears ready to give Dohnaseek a piece of her mind when the final cloaked figure, a tall buxom female, steps in to stop the conflict…
"Enough, as the woman in charge of this mission assigned to us, I have the final say on whether or not Freed will be allowed to indulge himself…" The cloaked woman says before she turns to face Freed, the mad rogue exorcist grinning as he knows what she's about to ask him.
"Can I trust you to keep your darker impulses from exposing our position here freed?" The cloaked woman says as Freed nods in dark delight, knowing that his answer will grant him his privilege to rid the town of sinners.
"Of course Lady Kalawarner, you can count on me to ensure the devils will believe that killing of the sinners of this town is merely the work of a serial killer…" Freed says with a mad grin on his face, a momentary gust of wind pulling off the hood of the final female figure, now revealed to be the fallen angel Kalawarner as she has a dark grin of her own.
"Tch if you're certain about this Kalawarner then fine, just let it be said that I consider this course of action a bad idea," Dohnaseek says with dissatisfaction clear in his expression, the man believing that allowing Freed to perform his sick, twisted deeds so freely is a bad idea but knows he is outvoted in this regard.
"I understand, but do keep in mind we're dealing with two Devil Heiresses who have only recently gained this town as their territory, so I doubt their oversight of the town is that robust yet," Kalawarner says with a noticeable tone of arrogance her voice, making Dohnaseek sigh but nod his head.
"By the way Lady Kalawarner, have you learned about the traitor's whereabouts yet…?" Freed asks with a dark grin, the buxom blunette fallen angel shaking her head as a look of anger crosses her expression.
"Unfortunately not, I believe she and the Holy Maiden have yet to arrive in Kuoh, so we will have plenty of time to ambush her and take the Holy Maiden from her as the Sacred Gear she holds is an important asset to our lord's plans…" Kalawarner says, as she hadn't expected her of all people to betray them, although Dohnaseek has been tight-lipped in the details of what happened that day.
It is then that Kalawarner remembers something that turns her angry expression into a cruel grin of sadistic glee, a way to get revenge on the traitor in a way that will strike her heart. She soon turns to Freed, knowing what he can do to aid her in the revenge.
"Freed, as it so happens there is a family of humans that are unknowingly quite close to the traitor, I want you to find them and make an example out of them," Kalawarner says, Freed's mad grin growing even wider with Dohnaseek slowly edging away from the Mad Rogue Exorcist.
"As for the name of the family in question…" Kalawarner says before taking a moment to think, trying to recall what the family's name was as she dives into her memories from years ago now, eventually remembering what it was.
"That's right, now I remember… It's the Hyoudou Family"
Author's Notes
Hey there everyone, Welcome to this month's chapter, I have been working over the last 48 hours to get this chapter out and I hope you enjoy it and the next few chapters to come!
Now then, plot discussion time!
Four Maou Discussion
I did say I would bring this up at the end of the last chapter, so here it is
Something to note here is that even with this evidence, they can't exactly move on the Naberius House just yet as they want to not use the USB as evidence in the reopening of the Kuroka case for as long as possible in order to protect Rias and Sona.
With that in mind, they're already looking into ways to extend the amount of time they have in order to have things ready for when the Naberius inevitably retaliate, likely figuring out where the data came from once they connect the dots.
Rias training with her peerage
Well now, Rias is finally able to fire off Ceros now, although as Rias did say before they are extra draining compared to her Null Star technique so for the moment she's not gonna be shooting constantly as her reserves won't allow it.
We also got some insight into the training of many of her peerage members, although Gasper drew the short end of the stick this time, she will get her chance to start training diligently before too long.
Early Arrival of the Fallen Group
This is where various butterfly effects are coming into play here, as well as serving to shine a light on several changes that have come up in this Company Altered World of DxD.
Unfortunately, I cannot say more right now without spoiling future chapters…
Now then, Next time on Devilflare Princess: Schoolyard Rumours, Hellfire Vengence and a King gains a Pawn…
See you all next time!