The Demon Lord of Beelzebub stared down at Diodora as if he was a strange animal that had gotten in his bedroom. He didn't stand up, or made any motions other than crossing his right leg over the left. Getting more comfortable.
Diodora dusted himself off, marveling at how easily his limbs moved and bent now. He felt that newfound strength rapidly diminishing, being drained as the surge of power filled in an emptiness he hadn't felt before. But he also had the feeling that he wouldn't completely go back to the same weakened state as before.
Maybe he could replace the crutch with a cane, and look more stylish.
"Lord Ajuka Beelzebub." Diodora made use of his newfound strength to bend and place his hand over his chest. He saw the regrown skin peel off and revert back to the strange rock-like appearance. But it now looked smoother, almost like scales instead of raw mineral "It's been far too long."
"Spare me the theatrics, Invader. At least after making a point of not even trying to hide your true nature." Ajuka spoke with authority but almost no feeling behind it. As if he simply wanted to make things clear, instead of being faced with someone that had essentially kidnapped and replaced one of his family members.
Diodora could respect that, but he also felt wronged. He had meant to nudge whatever connection the original Diodora had with the Demon Lord, try to take advantage of it. Yet nothing of the sort existed. He'd hoped against it, but nothing ever went so smoothly. As expected.
"'Invader'?" Miyuzuin gasped as Genshirou helped her stand, coiling dark tendrils around her to transfer some power after Diodora forcefully ripped hers out.
She started sweating blood, looking paler and thinner, but the Sephiroth Graal's power showed its benefits as the blood quickly evaporated and Miyuzuin recovered her usual tone. When she stood straight, Diodora could swear she had gone through no debilitating effects at all.
"Not my nomenclature, I admit." Ajuka closed his eyes, looking a bit vexed "But one that seems fitting given the circumstances."
"How interesting, I'd love to hear about that." Diodora pushed a bit more for his smirk to avoid frowning "Because it seems to have popped up in a completely different place, and now it's here. With you."
"Isn't your creature aware of it?"
Diodora turned to Stain.
"This one does not know." The Oblex replied "Though the Lord has been interested in that term since this one first encountered it."
"Yeah, you don't because I took it from your mind." A*****l wheezed as she stood back up "Our whole encounter is with me, crystalized… Somewhere… Not sure. It might've broken after the vampires captured me."
"You know about this?" Diodora blinked, honestly surprised.
"I only know it has to do with people like us." She confessed "The sketchy guy that fought off Stain called me that."
Diodora frowned now.
"Don't look at me like that, I have no idea." His sister placed her hands on her hips "I got captured afterward, and being sealed off after having my soul split like it is, did a number on me. I can't… Even keep my act straight."
"That's concerning." Diodora had to comment. A piece of his normalcy was compromised by that fact, but he needed to keep his focus. This and that were on different levels of importance, so he had to prioritize.
He activated Autosuggestion.
Ajuka's brows pressed together.
His mental spell backfired, sending pure dread through his bones. It made Diodora feel so tangibly unprotected that his legs gave out and he fell to his knees. Trembling, scared. He could hear fire in the distance. Feel Olivia's hands caressing his neck.
He deactivated Autosuggestion, but the visions didn't recede immediately.
"Jesus fuck…" He murmured, sweating.
"Interesting, you removed your weakness to His name." Ajuka tilted his head, as if pondering his options.
"It makes me feel more like myself." Diodora wheezed and tried to get back to his feet.
Ajuka let him.
"What's the point if we can't swear? Our mother taught us some prayers while going to sleep as children." His sister interjected, looking very bothered by this place "It's only an easy way to get cookie points with religious people, but those are still our precious memories."
"And yet you had no problem meddling with our timeline, messing things up as you went?" Ajuka asked with the most sterile tone he could muster. More curious than accusatory, if Diodora could call that an accusation with how dry and to the point it sounded.
"Fuck you! The hell was I supposed to do?!" He felt his eyes getting wet as he remembered the meeting. He staved it off as well as he could, because crying here would not help him "One day I'm returning home, wondering what I'll have for dinner. Then, all of a sudden, I have soldiers of the church attacking him from all sides and a body that does not belong to me. What were my options? Let it happen and just die?"
Ajuka didn't reply, and instead just analyzed him. It gave Diodora some time to get his composure back, to try to think logically. He eyed his group, seeing Miyuzuin already looking at peak efficiency, and Kuroka and Genshirou stared back at him. Waiting.
Diodora sighed.
"Alright, we beat the dungeon…"
"You cheated your way out." Ajuka corrected him.
"Was there a way to defeat it normally?" Diodora made an annoyed face.
"That's besides the point." The Demon Lord switches legs, crossing the left over the right one. Still looking very in control "The fact remains that you're a problem, in a way. And I expected different results that'd help me figure out how we should proceed."
"I'm not a lab rat, Lord Ajuka." Diodora wanted to spit on the man's feet but didn't "Have at least the decency to admit you're disgusted by your relative, I'd have at least understood that take."
Ajuka frowned.
"Oh, don't think I'm unaware of what this guy's been up to." Diodora patted his chest, an expression of disgust showing on his face "It took me a while to make peace with the fact that this is my face now. I get it. Diodora Astaroth is a disgusting worm that deserves no sympathy or aid. But, if you knew I was not him, then the least you could've done was reach out first and foremost. You're a god-damned Super Devil. What were you scared of?"
"Someone that can cross the bridge between dimensions and seemingly hijack someone in body and mind does not get to tell me how power works." Ajuka didn't sound disappointed or irritated now. He kept a very professional look, talking slowly and clearly "The same thing goes with the blood thing: It wouldn't just be unintelligent on my part, it'd be outright irresponsible of me. I understand magic better than anyone in the world, I'm also one of the de facto rulers of the Underworld. If the obvious was a facade, if the self-evident could not be trusted after all, I'd be endangering a lot more than just devil civilization."
Diodora scoffed, looking away while his group remained silent.
He looked back, and the stunned expressions made Diodora realize that Ajuka had just casually told them more than Diodora had been willing to.
"Across dimensions, you say?" Miyuzuin didn't look surprised, she kept a tight leash on her emotions. Yet she still sounded hesitant "Literally an alternate world?"
Diodora had nothing to say.
"What are your sources?" Kuroka added, seemingly coming back to her senses "That sounds as fantastical as dragons and deities, but why should we trust what this guys says?"
"It's not his word, but mine." A male voice echoed through the lab, purposely sounding deeper than it was. Like a badly acted out voice line.
A body fell from the ceiling, dropping between Ajuka and Diodora's group. Clad in black clothes, a back hoodie that obscured the guy's face, and some sort of cape-slash-scarf of the same color that waved to an unseen wind current.
"The truth is always hard to digest, especially that of unfathomable implications. But the truth it remains. I am merely an emissary of this truth, of the reality that this world must face."
Diodora scoffed again.
"Sin Devourer, I presume?"
"That is merely a label imposed on me, a mask with a hint of truth which can be seen through the eyeholes…" The young man bowed like some sort of aristocrat, mimicking Diodora's own greeting from before "It is unfortunate that we meet under these circumstances Kuroka, Evil Dragon King Vritra, Miyuzuin."
"Is knowing about us part of this invader thing? Are you one of them?" Miyuzuin looked annoyed, flaring up in power as she either activated some sort of senjutsu or demonic power.
Sin Devourer lifted his index finger in front of his obscured face.
"Knowledge is a dual-edged blade, why should I present such a powerful weapon to you?"
Genshirou stepped forward, lunging with speed well beyond her physical capability.
He thrust his fist forward, and Sin Devourer disappeared as if vacuumed into a hole in space. Only to reappear behind Ajuka.
Dark flames erupted from Genshirou's face, yet they parted ways in front of Ajuka, as if an invisible barrier had been erected in a triangular form. Point looking against Genshirou.
The darkness, the cursed miasma of the flames, quickly dispersed into the air. It had clung to no shield, and yet Ajuka remained unhurt. Such was the power of his Kankara Formula.
"Stop messing around with Yuzu-san!" Genshirou barked out, clearly pissed off now "Why won't you answer our questions? After all Diodora-san had to go through because of you…!"
"I did nothing." Sin Devourer shook his head.
"Lies! Because of you…!"
"Because of me you managed to get Azazel's help to gain the four Vritra Sacred Gears without triggering the Evil Dragon King coronation." Sin Devourer interrupted him "The Nemesis' tragedy was an unintended side-effect, yet I do not regret it in the slightest. This world is running on borrowed time, and we can't keep sitting on our hands like our main Invader intends to do."
Diodora frowned, feeling cold on the inside as that word escaped Sin Devourer's mouth.
"Nemesis?"
Sin Devourer turned his head, and Diodora felt like he was staring straight at him. Not to his eyes, but as if he could see L****s within the devil's body.
"When an Invader is given a world, they get gifts to accompany them in their journey. Power, Sacred Gears, bloodline… And, of course, the world accommodates the form that the Invader's pieces give it. If Hyoudou Issei is a Miracle Child here, then his human father must be changed to someone of importance for the Seraph Gabriel to notice him. A warrior, a master swordsman. If he is a member of the church since very early on, then his friendship with Shidou Irina must take a different form, he can then gift her a Sacred Gear. Because all the nepotism that being a Miracle Child allows him means that, somehow someway, the church has the means to be unfair. Even in the way their followers always just so happen to be important."
Sin Devourer shook his head.
"But I digress. For all of this, there has to be a downside. A punishment, an opposition, a negative. Something that they can, in theory, overcome due to everything given to them. But they ought to grow to be able to face, in reality." Sin Devourer's stare chilled Diodora to the core "You are that challenge, Diodora Astaroth. Whoever you are behind the devil's face. You are the Nemesis, the penyd. The evil that this world's Messiah has to face to meet his destiny. The nameless evil, the ultimate foil. You were torn out of your world and placed into this one to struggle and be torn apart… To die for someone else's glory."