Commissioned by Emperor King Monke! Hope ya enjoy it dude, and sorry again for the long ass wait on this chapter.
"Will you stop walking around like you own the damn mansion?!" Rias screeches towards Miyabi while Lizel sighs yet again while following after them.
The blonde Gyaru was currently strolling through the hallways of Lyon's mansion, opening the doors and checking out each room without much of a care.
And the Gremory Heiress kept following after them, grumbling the whole time. Something about Lyon being in danger of getting dried up.
Lizel found it all amusing, because the Gremory Heiress might be right.
If Lyon keeps going the way he is with her, then she'll surely pin the man down until she has her fill.
And as a Succubus… Well, it takes her a lot to be satisfied.
"Why would I do that?" Miyabi questions right back with her usual snarky and annoying tone, punchable smirk on her tanned face. "I'm going to be living here for a while, so might as well check out the place and find a room I like!"
Lizel knew from experience that Miyabi just made that excuse up on the spot. And… it actually sounded plausible?
Weird. Her friend always came up with the most dumb excuses on the spot, and now she came up with a rather good one.
Perhaps it's the effects of the Zagan Mansion. This place hoards so much knowledge that idiots become somewhat smart while within it's walls.
"Why do I feel like you are thinking of something mean?" Her gyaru friend asks, eyes narrowed in her direction.
Lizel merely gives her a sweet, kind smile. Internally, she holds back the usual vicious insults she usually throws at her.
The Gremory Heiress is here, after all. Might as well make a good impression.
Speaking of the Heiress- "I'm surprised to see the Gremory Heiress here. How did you and Lyon meet?" Lizel probes out of pure curiosity, but also to make sure the girl has no ulterior motives.
She is an Heiress after all, and while it's not a known fact, those that look deeply know very well that the current Gremory Lord is a follower of Zekram Bael.
Hell, his wife is part of the Bael Clan!
So of course she'd suspect the girl has ulterior motives to get closer to Lyon, the last Zagan.
"A Contract led him to Kuoh, a city that is currently under mine and the Sitri Heiress jurisdiction." Rias starts, tossing her hair over her shoulder while sending one last glare towards Miyabi. "He kindly came over to relay what happened after he dealt with some stray Fallen Angels."
That makes Lizel blink.
Now she isn't one to look down on people, nor she ever will, but Lyon feels quite weak to her senses.
Yes, his reserves have been growing recently, especially after their first meeting, but that doesn't really change the fact that he is still very low in the ranks of Low Class Devils.
And yet, he dealt with several stray Fallen Angels?
That piques her curiosity on his skills, and what he is capable of. After all, he has access to an invaluable library with the most wondrous books that even Gods will salivate over at his back and call.
It would only be natural for him to abuse that knowledge for his own growth and safety.
"So you two became friends after that?" Rias nods, then sniffs and pouts.
"He's a bully!" Now Lizel can smell a story behind that. A story she is very eager to hear-
"The hell?" Miyabi's voice draws her and the Gremory Heiress attention, and their bright eyes land on the Gyaru, now standing in front of a fully open doorway, the last one of the large hall of the last floor.
Raising a brow, Lizel walks forward. "What's wrong?"
Miyabi steps back, holding the door open with a frown. "All the other rooms are perfectly clear, while this one is insanely dusty." Looking inside, Lizel finds herself frowning at the state of the room.
A messy bed, scattered chairs and table, clear physical and magical abuse against the walls, and other signs of a seeming physical struggle.
Or just someone venting their anger.
"Why didn't the servants clean this room up?" Miyabi questions aloud while carefully stepping into the room, the scent of mold and dust being increasingly strong in it.
Rias frowns lightly, stepping in right after the two Succubus ladies. "He doesn't have any." She answers, and both Miyabi and Lizel realize why the mansion looked so sparse.
There was always a risk of them getting bribed, so Lyon very likely sent them all away so to not risk that.
"Then does he clean the rooms himself…?" The gyaru wonders aloud, mostly to herself as Lizel steps closer to the walls to inspect the clear magical damage.
Fire and electricity burns, even water marks, followed by dents in the walls clearly made by objects like the table and chairs being thrown at it.
Maybe… "Could this be where his father passed away?" Lizel suggests lightly, feeling a pit form in her stomach in seeing the damage brought about from primal anger.
Rias gulps loudly at that. "No, I doubt it…" That attracts the gaze of the two older women with her. "The Clan Head sleeps in the main room, which is at the top of the mansion. That's Lyon's room now, but he said he rarely even goes there when I asked." So then…
"So this is- Was, his room then…" Lizel whispers, tracing the damage done against the walls with her bright eyes once more.
"If it is, then please tell me this isn't what I am thinking it is…" Miyabi attracts their eyes, and both women turn to stare at the Gyaru as she straightens herself.
Before her is a toppled over trashcan, and in Miyabi's hands is a large and empty bottle. One that clearly contained pills.
Rias's face pales profusely at the sight.
Miyabi bites the inside of her cheek and turns to look at her childhood friend with a complicated gaze, and Lizel could already imagine what exactly happened.
His father passed away in his sleep, making Lyon the last Zagan alive and the current head of a House that countless more houses and Zekram Bael himself salivates over.
Gods, Devils and even Fallen Angels themselves desire such treasures, with the Zagan Library being of incalculable value with all the knowledge hoarded across the centuries by the Devils deemed to be the smartest in existence, and who even the Original Lucifer himself favored greatly.
All of that crushing weight of being targeted by so many unknown enemies, with the fear of possibly being unable to even enjoy the smallest of things due to the highly probable possibility of being targeted and/or betrayed.
Lizel suddenly comes to realize just how enormous the weight upon Lyon's shoulders is.
And how the sudden gain of it all may lead one to try and commit suicide from the sheer pressure and stress.
"Put it back where it was." Lizel whispers to Miyabi, who nods and settles the bottle back into the bin. "Let's leave the room."
"And let's never speak about this again."
xxxXXXxxx
The awkward silence is starting to annoy me a bit.
The flapping of large wings fills my ears together with the rushing of wind, but aside from that? Just awkward silence.
But I can't blame the guy. He's clearly depressed and looks like he hasn't slept in days with those bags beneath his eyes.
I look below my feet and at the prehistoric bird I'm currently riding, one of the many Sacred Gears with a manifested form.
Frozen Archeopteryx, if I remember right. Sacred Gears like this are quite amazing honestly, and could really be considered Longinuses of their own if their owner is smart.
Wielders of such Sacred Gears fully rely on it and their beast, which grows in size and strength together with them.
But even if the owner grows in strength, he still remains the weak link that sits back and lets the beast do all the fighting.
Working together is always better than just sitting back and watching. It ain't a Pokemon battle, after all.
"What are you doing over there?" Finally, Wu Xin speaks up. If I remember his name right.
His downcast eyes are focused on my open palms, where two Spells lay in the middle of quite a few Magic Circles. "Just charging up some Spells in case of emergencies."
Magic Circles are absolute bullshit, no joke. They are mainly used by novices to perfectly calibrate and keep their Spell under control… But some Veterans that look deeply at them should most definitely know how fantastic Magic Circles are.
Calibrating, containment, empower- And best of all, they take very little Mana to create and keep active. Why? Because they automatically draw in the World's surrounding air.
They are self-sustaining for the most part, requiring very little attention from the creator and wielder.
Hence why I am currently abusing them.
I visualized a Spell with immense power, and I can conjure it without even wasting a bit of my own reserves by abusing Magic Circles.
On my right palm is a small glowing purple dot in the middle of nearly two dozen Magic Circles, all spinning around it like a Dyson Sphere dancing around a Star to siphon it's energies.
But instead of siphoning, this is to empower and contain the Spell in the middle of it. With nearly twenty times the efficiency.
I'd go way beyond that and maybe try for a hundred Magic Circles, but then I'm afraid that the Spell inside it will reach… Well, a Continental Scale.
This is after all something I am currently testing out. I've had little time to test out my theories and creations, so might as well try it when I get the chance.
And when I need to survive.
Wu Xin hums lightly. "The one on the right feels dangerous, while the one on the left no so much…" He has good instincts, gotta give him that.
I turn my gaze to the Spell in my left hand, which is but a simple black ball surrounded by two Magic Circles, nothing like the other one. "This one is more of a gamble, to be honest." If I manage to kill someone with this thing, I swear to the Big G that I will howl.
"How does the area you found look like?" I decide to ask him before another awkward silence falls between us.
He sighs and runs a hand through his long and messy black hair before answering. "It's like a farm. Large, spread out buildings. Four in total. Barn, a house, a tools shed and the last one is probably a storage room."
So they disguised it as a normal human building instead of a compound. "No Magical Barriers around the place?" Wu Xin shakes his head with narrowed eyes.
"Completely clear. I barely even saw people around, and there's no cattle either." So they didn't even waste time and resources in making it appear actually like a legit farm.
I mean, that's to be expected. They would have had to work the farm and take care of the cattle as show, but Pureblooded Devils do none of that, they are too prideful.
It's basically an underground base, perhaps to hold their captive targets far away from their other not so secret bases.
"What…" Wu Xin starts, drawing my attention back to him as he takes in a deep breath. "What do you think they are trying to do to my sister?" I pause, then blink slowly.
Did you really have to ask me that?
"Whatever you are thinking, it's not that. Devils beneath Zekram Bael despise humans and will never, ever, lay with one." And it's not just them. A great deal of them would never lay with a Human, unless that human then becomes a Reincarnated Devil.
And even then they will still be squeamish.
My words make Wu Xin relax a great deal. "Alas, I do not know what exactly they are doing to her." Torture? Drugging? Both?
I really do not know. But personally, I lead towards the usage of drugs of the magical type, and not the Cultivation type.
By using those, they are probably trying to get her addicted so that she'll break and get more by following their orders.
Mind Control magic is also likely, but since they still haven't tried anything against the wards of my home that means that they did not resort to that for some reason.
Probably because the Clan that had such powers and was actively below Zekram Bael himself kinda got bodied at the start of the Civil War due to the general fear felt towards them.
I'm sure Zekram was so pissed off when he lost such useful pawns.
Especially since it was Sirzechs himself who packed them up.
A sudden glow and chime brings me out of my thoughts, and I flick my eyes towards the back of Wu Xin's right hand, where a glowing green Rune just appeared.
His eyes narrow as his Freezing Archeopteryx dances around a mountain, revealing the large valley beyond.
"There it is." I lean forward and stare down at the large open valley, quite the beautiful sight with the setting sun ahead of us.
And near the middle of it is a lone farm, seemingly abandoned. Looks like a cozy place too.
"Shall we land directly on it?" Wu Xin suggests, and I hum softly in thought.
"Have your Archeopteryx spin around the farm a few times before we land, see where exactly your Rune points you to." Nodding, Wu Xin crouches down and pats his frozen Sacred Gear beast, who lets out a low cry before sweeping down.
We reach the clearly empty buildings within a minute, and the giant prehistoric bird dances around the farm for yet another minute while Wu Xin stares deeply down at the Rune on the back of his hand.
Finally, he lifts his head in a certain direction. "It's quite far off. A few dozen meters that way." He points towards the small tools shed with his chin, and I hold back from clicking my tongue.
The facility below is clearly quite massive apparently.
"Then let's land by the barn. That's where the entrance should be." The brother gives me a confused look for a few seconds before his eyes widen in realization and anger.
Yep. Not subtle from the Devils.
And as expected, the moment the prehistoric bird lands right in front of the open barn our eyes land on a large closed hatch.
They didn't even try to hide this thing…
I bring out the disk Georg gave me, then gently placed it on the ground. Once they teleport here, they should quickly see the hatch by scanning the area around them.
"Shall we sneak in?" Wu Xin suggests as I straighten myself, his Sacred Gear shrinking down to the size of a bird and landing on his shoulder.
"It is our best bet. We don't know if there are any High or Ultimate Class Devils guarding this compound." I nod, then lead the way towards the large hatch. It's around the size of a car, and as I draw close I notice that it's magically sealed.
Breaking the barrier will be easy, but it mostly works as an alarm lock. Unless…
I crouch down and conjure a small dagger using Kiba's Sacred Gears, then rest it against the hatch.
Blade Blacksmith and Sword Birth are rather horrifying Sacred Gears due to how much freedom the wielder has when creating swords with them.
Swords to make the wielders invisible, swords that launch projectiles, swords that are microscopic in size, so on and so forth. If one can imagine it, one can conjure it with the swords created.
And I hold back a smirk as I feel the barrier around the hatch disappear. Even Magic Disruption can be made into a sword.
The barrier finally disappears, allowing me to grab the handle and slowly wrench the heavy metal open while avoiding making any noise.
"Here, hold this." I grunt towards Wu Xin, swiftly freeing one of my hands to conjure and give him another blade.
He takes it with a raised brow before stepping onto the stairs leading downward, then keeping close as I follow after him and lower the hatch shut.
It'll take a while for the sudden disappearance of the barrier around the hatch to be noticed, so by then we should have made our way deep into the base before the alarm gets raised.
"What's this for?" Wu Xin finally asks, the downward going corridor before us being mostly dark, aside from the few purple magical lights lighting the way.
"It makes an invisibility field around us." I conjure another sword and breathe out while shaking my other arm. Damn door was heavy. "And this dampens any noise we make, so…" Wu Xin grins at that, and I huff out a light snort.
We're really being very sneaky right now. "Shall we engage any Devils we might run into?" I suggest towards Wu Xin, making him pause and actually think about it.
The mere fact that he can think rationally and not instantly say 'Yes!' due to rage earns him a lot of points in my respect book.
"Can you erase any blood or bodies we leave behind?" I hum at that. I think I can, these swords can be quite busted after all. So in the end, I give a nod. "Then if yes, but I believe it best we end it all in one quick blow."
Yep, more points in my respect book. His training and logical mind manage to still work despite the stress and duress to save his sister.
The stairs quickly end as another set of armored doors, but this time without a magical ward guarding them, so Wu Xin draws close and has his Sacred Gear hope down on his hand.
The prehistoric bird shrinks even more, until it jumped and flew through the keyhole opening of the doors.
After a few seconds, Wu Xin gives me a nod, so he slowly draws the door open.
I step past him and flick my gaze left and right, dark hallways filling my vision on both sides. "Good thing we know in which direction your sister is…" I mutter as Wu Xin slides past the doors and slowly closes them.
His gaze flicks back and forth just like mine did. "No shit… I fear this place is a damn maze." Hell, I hope the fuck not. I hate mazes. Especially if I am in one.
Totally ain't because I got stuck in one when I was a kid.
Wu Xin suddenly tenses, and his head whips in the direction we are supposed to go. "Incoming." He whispers, holding the invisibility sword close.
"-rently they are being attacked too!" A voice reaches my ears, and I soon make out a trio of Devils speedwalking in our direction.
"All bases at the same time? What the fuck is going on?" One of the Devils, the one behind them, asks aloud.
So the Hero Faction started their attacks. Hope it goes well.
I rest a hand on Wu Xin's shoulder so to have him lean back as the Devils draw close.
"I don't know, but I don't like it." The last Devil says as they draw closer, and I raise my free hand.
Holy Light swords of microscopic size, numbered in the dozens, and with highly acidic properties and insanely sharp blades. As sharp as I can make them.
The Devils draw closer, and I breathe in.
Then flick my arm through the air just as they are a few meters ahead of us.
And they drop down to the ground like sacks of potatoes.
"What the fuck..?" Wu Xin whispers as a trio of black swords then plunges in the corpses before us, disintegrating them on an atomic scale.
They were around Middle Class in strength, but Devil skin is insanely soft to Holy Light, and add to it an insane level of sharpness and well… Their brains are easy to reach.
Especially if some of the micro-projectiles pierced through their eyes.
"Quick and easy, no?" Wu Xin snorts and shakes his head, then leads the way down the hallway.
It's mostly quiet and very much empty, and even when I spread my senses as far as I possibly can, I rarely even feel rooms.
That is until we go past another intersection, and Wu Xin pauses and turns his head towards the right.
His eyes narrow slightly in focus, and in the end he quietly sends his miniature bird to scout out the area.
Whatever is relayed back to him makes his face pale and turn slightly green.
"What do you see?" I ask, and the look in his eyes tells me I do not want to know.
"There are cells filled with mutilated corpses down that way." My own face blanches.
What the fuck? Why would the Devils below Zekram do this shit?
"What race?"
"Youkai and Humans, from the looks- No, there's some Fallen Angels and other Devils too." What the fuck?
What the hell are you trying to play at, Zekram? What sort of absurdity are you cooking up?
Wait… "Wu Xin.." I start, licking my suddenly very dry lips as a random straight thought flicks through my head. "Is your sister very kind-hearted?" Please, let it not be it-
The further blanching and horror on Wu Xin's face makes me grit my teeth.
"Those motherfuckers-!" The now very irate brother growls out through gritted teeth, eyes insanely bloodshot now.
They tortured people before her eyes to make her give in to their demands.
Reincarnating her will be useless, as it won't make her obey their orders.
Mind Control is out since Devils capable of that no longer exist aside from the usual Memories Change Spell that is frequently used in the Human World.
But that Spell has a massive limit and can only change memories as recent as a whole week, not a whole life, else the brain will simply collapse upon itself from the sheer strain.
Drugs are also possible, yet… they resorted to such a twisted method.
"Come on, let's go." I help the irate brother straighten himself. "Let's hurry. I don't like how empty this damn place is." I really don't.
Even if the Devils in here moved to support the other bases under siege, it shouldn't be so empty.
We only ran into three Devils conveniently walking past the entrance, then nothing else.
I bite the inside of my cheek at that thought, and a microscopic blade appears right beside one of my fingers as I lean close to Lyon.
"We might be walking into a trap here. I fear they already know we are here." I whisper before dispelling the sword and the silence field it conjured.
Wu Xin calms down at that, but the fury in his eyes just burns hotter.
If they can't break the sister with innocent lives, then they might be able to break her by torturing her brother.
Zekram is no fool, and I'm sure he's actively moving the chess pieces right now.
We take a left, ignoring the cells full of corpses, then wade deeper into the far too quiet and empty compound.
Our steps are quieter, and so is our breathing as we turn corner after corner, drawing closer to where Wu Xin's sister is being held.
Until finally, after one last turn, we enter a long hallway with a brightly lit room at the other end.
And inside the clearly open room we can clearly see a large bed with a woman strapped to it in tight glowing chains.
Pale face, eyes screwed shut, and messy silver hair cascading all over her body sweaty body clad only in garbs given to patients at the hospital.
And the closer we draw, the more I can feel Wu Xin's pain as we take in the clear signs of torture upon her form. Nothing mutilating, but… Yeah.
Blades, fists, magic… All that stuff and more.
We reach the doorway to the large and empty glowing white room with only Wu Xin's sister and a bed in it, and we pause before the Magical Wards that erect in place to keep us out.
I sigh deeply, then raise my head. "The three Devils that walked by the entrance were but bait for us, were they not?" I call out as a wave of potent magic erupts out from behind us, disrupting and destroying the fields created by the blades I conjured.
Wu Xin startles and flips around as the sound of footsteps reach our ears, and I turn around to lay my eyes on a lone Devil.
From the sheer waves of Demonic Energy pouring out of the haggard looking old man, it's clear to sense that he's Ultimate Class.
Glowing red eyes open to peer at us as a wrinkly hand rises up to stroke at his long white beard. This fucking dude must be ancient. "I had hoped to catch a few insects in this trap that can be useful, but boy was I blessed today."
Red eyes crinkle with malice, and chapped lips spread into a vicious grin that showed yellow crooked teeth. "Not only did I catch the brother, but I also caught the Zagan. How and why you are here matters not, all that matters is the reward and praise my Lord will give me for such a wondrous gift!"
I hum, then turn my nose up a bit as I give Wu Xin a dark dagger, resembling the one I used to disrupt the magical barrier around the hatch.
He instantly catches on and puts it to use against the barrier holding his sister captive while I take a step closer to the Ultimate Class Devil.
I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. I can easily escape this shit-hole with a quick Teleportation Spell, but then it's all but guaranteed that with Genesis Runae at hand the powerful wards around my home will easily crumble away.
And while the Zagan Library isn't there, it's still my home and the place I can safely reside without having to give myself up as a tool to the Satans in order to seek protection.
Or worse, have me become a peerage member inside either the Sitri or Rias's peerage.
Rias I can handle since she is sweet, but again, I will not be a slave. Or have slaves of my own.
"Trying to stall for time, Lord Zagan?" The wizened Devil drawls out. "For all that is worth, I am truly and deeply sorry for your current predicament. I had hoped your father would give in, but alas…" He sighs and shakes his head while I clench my fists behind my back.
The mere fact that his words are truthful just disgusts me and angers me further than the norm.
"So I cannot haggle our way out of this?" I probe, mostly buying time for Cao Cao and the others. Clearly their opponents are strong if they are taking so long to deal with them.
My words pique the old Devil interest. "Knowledge from the infamous library, I presume."
I nod. "Knowledge that can help you turn your life around, and greatly master your Clan Trait even further, Old Saleos." He's like me. The last member of a now deceased Clan.
But unlike me, he still carries on the legacy of his Clan. The Clan Trait.
My offers makes the old man's eyes glow with greed for a few short seconds before he closes them and sighs deeply. "Truly worthy of a Devil from the Zagan house. Bartering skills mixed with a sharp tongue are quite dangerous." He chuckles out while I sneer inwardly.
And just like a Devil, you can't help but talk and listen instead of acting instantly to capture me.
Fucking dumbass.
But alas, his confidence and assurance of easily capturing me are giving me valuable time.
Ultimate Class Devil. Power to demolish whole countries with ease.
The sheer force behind that, and the sheer durability of being capable of also taking such damage.
More. I need to focus and concentrate it far more.
Discard the other Spell, far too useless at the moment. It won't work on an old fossil like him.
Twenty- Thirty- Forty Magic Circles.
Containment, Enhancement, clockwise and counter-clockwise spins.
Compression, Heat enhancement, Vibration Enhancement.
Over and over again.
I feel the Magic Circles strain and crack, yet I pour my reserves into them to repair them, keeping them active for as long as I possibly can.
I need the concentrated power of a thousand Thermonuclear bombs.
I don't want to kill. I want to Overkill.
Finally, the wizened Devil speaks yet again. "But you are a fool, thinking I still won't get my hands upon that book once I deliver you to my lord." He chuckles out, only to pause when I openly chuckle right back.
This misconception they have in their mind will never not be amusing. "The fool here is you, thinking that such a book exists." His eyes widen. "That the Library exists within the mansion."
"Or that it is a physical existence in the first place."
The books I gave Rias and her peerage? All hand-written by myself. I simply changed the books to make them look aged and old through magic.
The Magic Circles start cracking, their control slowly slipping past my fingers.
So I raise my free hand and smirk at the old Devil that was too stupid to give me time to prepare.
I snap my fingers, and the hallway vanishes, replaced by an endless void filled with trillions of glittering stars.
The lord of House Saleos stills in place, and his eyes gain a distant look just as the endless void of stars disappears just as fast as it appeared.
The Zagan Library is within a Zagan Soul. It is a Dimension that does not store physical matter, but memories. Knowledge.
Anything a Zagan faces in their life is stored within the Library, all for others to witness and call upon as they wish, or grant to others with a mere thought.
And that is exactly what I've done now.
I raise the hand holding the dozens of spinning and cracked Magic Circles.
I've given Lord Saleos an immense amount of knowledge. Enough to lock his brain into an information digesting phase as it tries to process it all as fast as it possibly can, while being unable to send out orders to the rest of the body.
There is, of course, a seal upon the Dimension that makes it so a certain amount of knowledge can be transmitted this way before it automatically locks itself, and prohibits the wielder to access it again until they return within the Zagan Mansion.
Hence why I couldn't make his brain outright collapse with a sheer information overload. If that is even possible to do against Supernatural Races.
Pretty sure one of the previous Lords tried, especially one that lived during the Great War, and used such a method to constantly lock the opposition in place before finishing them off.
The Magic Circles crumble with the sound of shattering glass, and I flick the purple ball with my middle finger to send it flying forth.
Blinding light and searing heat erupts out of the sphere followed by horrifying vibrations that instantly make me want to throw up and fall on my ass.
My world is flipped as the ball of concentrated Vibrations flowing clockwise and counter-clockwise hurls forth with horrifying power that spews forth like magma overflowing out of an erupting volcano.
Vibrations are by far the strongest and most versatile weapon in existence, in my opinion.
Use them right, and you can melt something within second.
Use them another way, and you can freeze something instantly.
Vibrating molecules generates heat, while ceasing the movement generates cold.
Concentrate immense vibrations and focalize the heat in a tiny dot, and the power upon release will be outright horrifying.
I had to contain it so that it unleashes all that power forward, instead of in a spherical blast, else I'd have died too.
I shake my dizzy head and blink the spots out of my eyes while tossing the debris off of me.
That fucking hurt, but it should have worked.
The guy had no defenses on, and took the blow straight to his damn face.
If he survives that, I'm gonna call bullshit on the shit durability the people here have.
I shake my head again and grunt, then sit up and- Oh my fucking Big G…
I gape at the enormous ravine left behind by the minuscule sphere I launched forth.
It's at least a hundred miles deep, and reaches the mountain we crossed over to enter the valley, and left a hole in it.
Luckily, it seems to have exhausted it's energies right after going past the mountain, with the ravine left behind being at least a couple dozen meters in width.
Though it left behind plenty of molten ground that is currently flowing down the perfectly round ditch it dug out.
"What the fuck happened over here?" I flick my still shaky gaze towards the side, and the figures that suddenly appeared at the left hand of the ditch I carved through the valley.
A beaten Cao Cao, Hercules, Jeanne and Georgg swiftly make their way down to me and the mostly collapsed tunnel left behind by my spell, and Georgg rushes to my side to help me stand up while Hercules and Jeanne rush behind me.
Hopefully Wu Xin is alright. I did keep him out of the Library effective range, so he shouldn't have a horrid headache.
"You alright?" Georgg asks me as I dust my robes off with a grunt, then give my head another shake. "What even happened here?"
I blink my eyes a few more times before grinning at him. "Classical Mechanics." I cryptically answer, making Cao Cao look at me as if I made those words up while Georgg blinks and throws a look back at the ravine before us.
Though honestly, there is nothing mechanical about this. It's just me seeing if Georgg can guess what I used.
Then, he looks back at me with a raised brow. "Vibrations?" Man do I love me a fellow intellectual mind.
I smirk and nod. "Highly concentrated and compressed, and given a clockwise and counter-clockwise motion in a large field around it."
His eyes widen behind his glasses. "It'll basically grind anything within it's reach to dust, but also overheat the surrounding space." He whistles, then nods in praise.
"Bit too dangerous though, no?" I shrug.
"Had to do something aside from going Trinity, even if I really wanted to." Georgg gives me a knowing look and nod.
Being smart and having magic at our fingertips can be really dangerous.
I really wanna delve into Nuclear bullshit, after all! But I refrain since it's so damn dangerous.
Breathing in, I turn my head towards the back, and what I see doesn't really bode well.
Cao Cao and Georgg notice it too, and I swiftly follow after them into the now much more dim room even as darkness falls upon the valley around us.
Wu Xin is openly sobbing over his sister while Heracles holds his shoulders and Jeanne stands to the side with clenched fists.
I slowly walk in, then reach over to rest my fingers on the girl's wrist.
No beat. Nothing. She's incredibly cold to the touch too.
"Something's not right…" I whisper to myself, gaining Jeanne distraught but confused look. "She's too cold, and she was breathing when we reached the doors. I saw her chest rise and fall." I know I did.
Her face was scrunched up in real pain, and they wouldn't have chained up a corpse. Nor would they have allowed her to become one in the first place.
Okay, calm down, think…
The facility was clear of any Devils, clearly having been sent away to support the other bases under attack, but also as a ploy from the old Devil so that he could gain all the rewards and glory from the action.
He probably knew Wu Xin was coming, but didn't know I was coming too. Sensed him when he found his sister and rushed back to report.
Freed the facility, moved her in an open room to work as a trap, then fell because of dumb pride and usual Anime Villain idiocy.
But the girl, she was breathing. Alive and breathing. Pale and in pain from torture, yes. But alive.
I flick my gaze around her body, then to her head. Reaching up, I move her hair away and- "Here!" My eyes widen at the sight of a glowing pitch black rune on her forehead.
It felt cold to the touch, nor could I sense any sort of energies from it.
But it's cold, it's there, and any signs of life have left the girl's body.
Realization strikes me. "It's Wu Xin." Said brother lifts his head in confusion, bloodshot eyes filled with tears and confusion at being called.
Georgg frowns lightly. "What do you mean?"
Could it be possible though? A final fuck you in case they capture her brother?
"She probably feared they might use her brother to break her, so this Rune should be something she made to prevent just that." Jeanne frowns and steps around me to stare at the Rune together with the others.
"Did it kill her?" She finally asks softly, and I bite my inner cheek.
"Maybe. But if it did that… Then why is it still active and glowing?" Georgg's eyes widen as he cups his own chin.
And surprisingly enough, the one to offer a piece of knowledge that might be useful is actually Cao Cao. "The Soul." He starts, gaining our attention as he pokes the spot between his brows with one of his fingers. "Some believe the Soul resides between the eyes. Third Eye or some bullshit like that."
…
I'm speechless. I didn't think he'd be capable of suggesting something smart.
"Then she did something with her Soul…?" Wu Xin whispers as I look back at the Rune, and notice that it really is a bit between her brows too.
Four minutes have already passed for sure. Maybe even more than that, so-
"Georgg, check for any signs of Autolysis in the body." I tell the man as I walk around the table, his eyes widening in understanding before dozens of Magic Circles are swiftly conjured to check on the body.
Cao Cao's eyes spin at the complicated word. "The hell is that?"
"Process known also as Self-Digestion, which starts four minutes after someone dies. It's the first stage of decomposition." I rattle off without a care, not knowing if he understood the not complicated version or not.
Pupils are dilated, no signs of having used her tongue to choke herself, body unnaturally cold but not stiff.
Torture signs, but nothing debilitating or that could have killed in the span of time it took us to open the seal and reach her.
Not famished. Well fed, but lack of movements from the legs, seeming atrophy of the muscles from the knee and below. Clearly magically enforced.
Matches with a known Clan Trait of the Murmur Clan, known to control and stiffen muscles and tendons.
Torture practice- No, way to stop her from running away, in case she manages to escape.
Nails ripped out, clear scars on wrist. Attempt at suicide, stopped and taken care of.
"No signs of of possible Autolysis. The body seems…" Georgg pauses and licks his lips. "It's not changing. It seems to be frozen."
I breathe out through my nostrils. "Let's split up. Take her back to your base, put her in a warm room and keep her under watch. Hell, even have some of the girls give her whole body a check."
Georgg nods and moves back, allowing Jeanne to scoot forward and easily pick the silver haired woman off the bed.
"I'll go back to my mansion and check the library for that Rune." I breathe out as Jeanne teleports away with Hercules. "It has to be a safety measure of sorts."
"One that activated due to Wu Xin's proximity." Georgg finishes with a nod, a light frown on his face. "Hopefully, this theory proves true." I hope so too.
With a sigh, Georgg shakes his head and offers me a smile and his hand. "Thank you for this. Truly."
I grab his hand and give it a firm shake. "No, thank you. You very likely saved my life." I'm so fucking tired. "I have your number, so I'll send word back as soon as I can." Just… better lay low for now. Zekram won't be happy."
Cao Cao nods grimly together with Georgg, and I take a step back and throw a glance at Wu Xin, who is left staring at the spot where Jeanne disappeared with his sister.
I consider throwing some words his way but… I don't want to throw false hope or encouragement.
So I deploy my Magic Circle and teleport back into my mansion, and into the office at the top reserved only for the Clan Head.
As I land on the large and comfy chair behind the main desk, I feel my connection to the Library activate once more, and I lean back with a heavy sigh.
I'm so fucking tired.
I hate being so weak.
I hate being targeted by that asshole.
And I hate the horrors he is doing just to get to me.
All for a bunch of fucking non-existent books.
I'd love to just bring him down with the Library safety measures, but that would kill me too, so…
I palm my face with my gloved hands and sigh deeply yet again, then turn my chair to face the wall behind me.
Dozens of small pictures fill the wall, depicting all of the previous heads of the Zagan Clan.
And at the bottom lay the picture of my- No, of Lyon's father.
I cannot call him that when I only have memories of him.
A kind man, with a love for studies just like all Zagan's, and with a love for teaching his son personally.
A man who never let himself be brought down by the negativity around him, and by the sheer responsibilities weighing down on his back on a constant basis.
A man who hid it all behind a bright smile before the son he loved and lived for.
Yet, he still ended his own life, leaving said son alone against the very enemies that wished to tear him apart.
Lyon raged, cried, despaired… And in the end, I woke up in his body after he followed after his father.
A destroyed room I haven't been into since, and a mansion as cold as it is empty.
I never wanted to be thrown here. To have all this shit dropped on my shoulders when all I want is to just study and research.
Whoever threw me here can go fuck themselves. Seriously.
I turn my gaze towards the desk and flick my fingers, calling forth the wards within the mansion.
Several screens of light pop up, showing Rias, Lizel, Miyabi and the rest of Rias's peerage.
Koneko is training with Kiba, while Akeno is talking with Lizel and Rias is throwing hands with Miyabi for some damn reason.
At least they are enjoying themselves.
Wish I could relax for a bit too-
My phone buzzs, making me pause for a second before I pull it out. Florence?
Leaning back with another sigh, I accept the call and pull my phone to my ear. "To what do I owe such a pleasant call?"
For some reason, my words are met with silence, confusing me a great dea- "Lyon." Florence's voice sounds… hard, worried even.
"Yes, that appears to be my name." I drawl out as I rub my right eye. How long has it been since I had a good night sleep.
"You're tired." Florence's words are spoken with a severity that gives me pause.
"Can I not be?" I ask out of pure amusement, futilely trying to change the mood.
"I think you know well what I meant, Lyon." This beautiful woman is far too sharp for my own good.
So I sigh deeply and close my eyes. "Yeah, I know… I'm very tired." Holding all this damn baggage, having to make use of a poor girl's kindness so to get closer to her brother, and so much more just so I can fucking live.
Then so much more bullshit that I just… I can't even swear to that damn guy because then it'll give me a fucking headache!
Florence remains quiet for a few more seconds, until I hear a series of shuffling. "Come pick me up." What?
"Florence, you just got there-"
"Your health and mental well-being is far more important to me than a damn vacation, Lyon." That actually makes my heart skip a beat.
"So, come pick me up. I want to spend time with you."
This woman isn't good for my heart.
"I… Alright, I'll be there soon… Thank you."
I can feel her smile through the phone. "No need to thank me for something that I love doing."
Yep, she's a fucking heart hazard.
A.N. So… I kinda don't wanna apologize for the wait on this one.
Why? Because writing a smart character is hard, and Lyon is by far my smartest character outside of Hayden and Ciel.
Ciel mixes magic with technological bullshit, while Hayden is full on technological bullshit.
Lyon? Physics, science, astrophysics, and all that jazz. It's hard to write a downright genius, especially when I never went to school!
So yeh, iss hard to write this fic cuz am dumb. Tehee!
Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter either way!
If ya wish to support me, hop on over to my ! Once I finish the last two commissions, I'ma start posting lotsa shit on it, mainly two highly awaited rewrites.
Sooo… Yeh, that's it!
P at re on SamuraiCheem
Toodles!