Chapter 27: The Leaders' Summit Part 1: Prequel to the Conference
Upon her arrival, Ophis could tell Anos was up to something when she teleported to the Gremory Domain. Death's stench was basically consuming the domain.
And as she got closer to where she sensed Anos and the Fallen, she knew for a fact that they were up to something.
"What is that Demon doing? He has this entire estate smelling like Death," she thought as she passed through the halls.
As Ophis walked through the halls, numerous servants and maids bowed respectfully to her.
Ophis, oblivious to their presence, just kept walking in silence.
"Look, it is Lady Rin," "I have never seen her speak before," "I don't know, she kind of scares me," "yea, I get that feeling too."
Before coming back, she wasted her time managing and answering questions she couldn't even care to remember at the Khaos Brigade.
If it were her choice, she would abandon them to their own devices and wait for Anos to deal with the annoying Red Dragon.
But unfortunately, Anos was correct; the organization has grown large…very large at that, and it's nearly impossible to know how deep its tentacles stretch into different factions of the supernatural world.
Although before she left, Kuroka asked her to talk to Anos to see if she could get her sister to go to the Gremory Devils.
After walking for a while, she arrives at the door and steps inside, not bothering to remember to knock before entering a room that's not hers, "you both smell of Death. I can't imagine what you have been doing can be good."
Mittelt rubs the back of her head, "I don't know how to answer that," after talking to Death, she got an answer, but it only opened the door to more questions.
"I want to inform Mittelt of the entity that merged with her soul, but it seems she has already made herself known to Mittelt."
Rin tilts her head, "interesting, what did you learn," "Death is the last surviving member of the Mesopotamian Pantheon."
"You mean Ereshkigal," as if not caring, Rin said, "oh well, I have returned, and Kuroka has a request." Anos raises an eyebrow; he doesn't know much about what Rin has told them about himself.
However, they can probably tell he is their new leader since Rin has given up on leading the Khaos Brigade.
And is now waiting for Anos to deal with Red and the Vali Team joined for personal reasons but have unofficially defected and are currently spying on them.
"If it's within my power, I don't mind," "she wants her sister returned to her," Anos snickers, "unfortunately, that is not within my power."
"Is it not with your power," "she's not in my peerage, and I doubt she wants of her own will, but I can deliver the message," "I was just requested to ask, and you have given your answer."
Mittelt then tugs Anos on his sleeve, "what are we going to do now," "she can't possess you while in the land of the living seems her power comes from the underworld.
"So you should stay there for now," Anos says, rubbing his chin.
He then looked back at the time; it was getting late; also, Sona and Rias were busy rebuilding the school.
"Hmmm, what are you thinking, Anos," "it seems you need to spend more time in school," "why da'fuck why," Mittelt says while looking at Anos in disgust.
There wasn't anything Mittelt could learn in school besides the different ways human children acted, she may look young, but it was just her outward appearance.
Plus, it would be easy to get her enrolled; she stayed in Kuoh.
Mittelt drops her shoulders in defeat, "I guess since there's no way to stop Death switching places with me then."
Anos ruffles her hair, "see, you're getting it," she moves his hand away with a slight blush, "I'm not. a kid stop."
Anos then creates a teleportation circle, "one second, Rin, this won't take long," she nods, "wait, where are we going," there was a flat of red and reaper in front of Issei's house.
"They should be back before morning; if you need anything, just call," and before Mittelt could tell Anos she didn't bring any clothes, he was gone, so she walked up to the house.
Arriving back, Anos was greeted by Rin, who was still standing in the same spot waiting patiently, "time for sleep," "yes," both left Mattel's room then left for his own it wasn't that far.
Hence, the walk was short; they slept minutes later.
The next day Anos was contacted by his sister early in the morning while he worked with Ajuka to tweak some of the teleportation circles.
They decided to start working on finding a way home early in the mornings, it was easier for both, and Rin was there just to watch in silence.
However, it did make Ajuka uncomfortable having her there.
The good thing was that her eyes never left Anos and were satisfied with just watching.
If it made Anos uncomfortable, he didn't, but more than likely, it didn't.
"Hello, Rias," says Anos, "I don't mind having Mittelt here, but I would like to know why."
"Mittelt told me how much she liked going to school with Asia and wanted to go again," "BULLSHIT," yelled Mittelt in the background.
It seemed Anos was on speaker, and Mittelt had heard what he said on the other side of the call Mittelt was glaring at the communication circle hovering over the table.
"Oh, so you don't want to spend time with Asia? Well, I guess you can just go to a," "wait a minute now, Anos."
Mittelt says, earning a chuckle from Asia, sitting to her left, Issei sitting to her right, and Rias, who was sitting across from all of them.
"Well, there you have it," "this is still bull shit; I don't have anything here," Asia looked at herself and sized each other up.
"Mittelt, you might be able to squeeze into some of my clothes," Mittelt calmed down some more.
She had been annoyed that Anos dropped her there without giving her time to grab anything.
"That could work, I guess," Mittelt shoved a sausage in her mouth to hide her blush, "anything else, Rias," "yes, could you come by ORC after school if you have the time."
Anos glanced at Ajuka; although he couldn't hear the call, the glance Anos gave let him know he had to leave in the afternoon.
"Yes, is everything all right," "yea, Sona and I want to talk about last night."
Understandably their eldest brother asked them to keep quiet about what they saw, and he surmised that she would eventually ask him questions.
"Sure, I figured you would have some," "okay, so you then," at that, Rias ended the call, "going somewhere, Anos," "yes Rias and Sona have questions about last night."
Ajuka closed a book he was reading while Anos sat down to read another, "I'm just going to tell them a partially fabricated story," Ajuka turned from the bookshelf with a raised eyebrow, "fabricated?"
A Few Hours Later
Anos was grabbing something to eat with Rin before he went to talk to Rias and Sona, "so humans pour this soy sauce on raw fish and call it food, I thought mammals had to cook their food to eat it."
Anos uses the chopsticks and picks up a tuna roll, "yes, but you can eat fish raw if prepared correctly," Ophis eyed the sushi in her hand, then dipped it in the soy sauce provided and put it in her mouth.
She then at the same time spit it out, "that sauce ruined the fish," then she started removing the raw fish and shrimp from the sushi, desiring to just eat the fish instead of everything else.
Anos just chuckles and continues to eat his own sushi, "would you like some more," "yes, but I want only the fish and shrimp," "I don't think we can don't think we can do that here?"
After watching how a human raises their hand to get another human who carries the food to come to the table, she does the same.
A waiter then comes to the table, "yes, miss, how may I help you," "I want two tunas, four swordfish, and one hundred of your largest shrimp."
The waiter says, "umm, we don't do that."
Still, he takes a step back after Rin narrows her eyes dangerously, "you dare defy me," after saying that, she receives a quick chop to the head from Anos.
"Why," says Ophis, "ma'am, just bring us sushi that has only meat in it," the waiter looks at Anos nervously, nods, and turns on her heel towards the back.
"I don't want the rice, and plus, with how small it is, I will need at least a thousand before I am close to being satisfied."
"You need to learn moderation," "there is plenty of food," "yea, probably for a week if you gorged yourself."
"Humans have farms. They grow more food," Anos raised an eyebrow Ophis really was a ditz sometimes, "that's not how," Anos glanced to the side, seeing the waiter come.
"Never mind, your food is here," after convincing her to leave since it would be impossible for the restaurant to fill Rin's bottomless pit of a stomach.
"Besides those confusing sauces and needless vegetables, the food was good," "really, I can't tell you to look like you enjoyed the meal," Rin cocked her head to the side, then smiled a crooked smile.
It looked more like a crazed smile, unlike when you ate a delicious meal, "how was that," "you know what, don't bother smiling."
"You did not like it," the crazed smile didn't bother him, but for someone else, she might look like she was going crazy.
"You could try practicing a bit. You looked a little crazed," "crazed," she asked with a tilt of her head, "are you calling me crazy," now it was Anos turn to tilt his head, "no, I wasn't saying that."
Rin then smirked, "that was a joke. Was it not funny," Anos just shook his head with a smile as they drew closer to the ORC.
They ended up walking the whole way instead teleporting inside the ORC, not for any particular reason except that they just wanted to walk.
After reaching the ORC, Anos sees two familiar people walking out of the ORC one is a girl with blue-green hair, and the other is a girl with chestnut hair missing a left arm.
"I know you must hate me, but what other choice do we have? I was excommunicated, and you were relieved of duty because of your injury."
Says the girl with uneasiness in her eyes, staring deeply into a sheet of paper.
"I know, but to become a Devil, have we really fallen so far," says the chestnut hair girl rubbing her stump, crying.
Their attention is diverted as they see Anos and Rin walking in their direction.
"Xenovia and Irina, correct. You both look upset. What's wrong," says Anos with a friendly smirk.
Irina looks defeatedly toward the ground while Xenovia grips the paper more tightly, "yes, I just have the decision to make, and I just don't know if it's the right one."
Irina snaps her head toward Xenovia, "it's not our only decision; we can get a job," "how" barks back, Xenovia tearing up as well.
"Neither of us has work experience outside of the church, and we are too young to get a job anyway. We have no home and no one to turn to. What are we supposed to do?"
"This must be a test from god. I know if we just have faith," "no, Irina, god is," Xenovia pauses.
She still doesn't want to tell Irina about the Death of god.
Irina has a deeper belief in god than she does, and her so telling her will break her spirit even more after losing her arm.
"I don't think I am in his graces anymore, plus I don't know what else to do with my life," Irina hugs Xenovia sash starts to cry.
"I haven't abandoned our Lord Irina truly, even after being excommunicated. I haven't stopped praying."
In the beginning, Irina was furious after hearing that Xenovia was excommunicated for abandoning god and refused to talk to her after they returned to the church, but when she was relieved of duty for her injury.
She felt isolated since Xenovia was her closest friend in the church.
She didn't know whom to turn to and followed her to Kuoh even when Xenovia considered reincarnating as a devil.
Of course, Irina didn't want her friend to do that and had been trying to convince her not to.
Learning that she hasn't turned her back on god in the process but still doesn't understand why they excommunicated her.
Anos watches silently as Rin sends a message into Anos's mind, "it seems the human doesn't know the biblical god is dead."
"Yes, that is what it seems at first glance," both girls had forgotten that Anos and Rin were still there until Anos coughed into his hand, grabbing their attention.
"I don't know the full story, girls," Irina and Xenovia turn their attention toward the duo and as.
Anos begins to speak comforting words to them while simultaneously connecting his and Xenovia's thoughts.
"Xenovia, it's Anos. I connected our thoughts," Xenovia locks eyes with Anos noticing he is still talking to them while conversing with her in her mind, "How can you do this?"
"Having two separate conversations is nothing for me," "oh, I see." Anos continues, "I know the secret you are keeping from your friend," Xenovia's eyes widen, but Anos stays silent.
"At this point, you both aren't in the church anymore and only have each other, so is keeping the secret of gods death," "you don't understand. If I tell her she will be heartbroken," "true, but can you not tell she is already heartbroken? If you are close friends, then it shouldn't matter as long you have each other."
Anos then ends the onside conversation and ends his words of encouragement that only Irina heard.
"Yes, I get what you are saying, Lord Anos, but would it truly be okay that would go against our teachings."
"Yes, because you're a devil, does it mean you can't follow gods teachings? Asia became a devil, but I have never seen her faith falter, and her personality hasn't changed either."
Irina understood what Anos was implying, but "what I don't want Xenovia to be condemned to hell while I go to heaven."
"What if its gods will for Xenovia to become a devil? Then what," at that Irina couldn't find a counterargument, "I would become a devil, but I would stay her friend."
Says Xenovia with resolution in her eyes, "Xenovia."
Still, she puts her hand with a sorrowful look, "Irina, I have something important I need to tell you before I make a decision."
Leaving the two, Anos and Rin, to head inside.
At the same time, Xenovia tells Irina the devastating news of the biblical god's demise, "was that wise, Anos? The girl's mental state could falter," "yes, they both need to trust each other now that they are alone."
Upon walking inside, Anos scans the room to see Rias and Sona talking at the desk.
Upon their arrival, everyone looked at the entrance; Rin was staring blankly without a care.
Asia, Issei, Kiba, Mittelt, and Koneko were hovering around the window, absorbed in their conversation.
While Sona's peerage talked amongst themselves on the other side of the room, they all stopped when Anos and Rin arrived.
"Hello, everyone. Hope we didn't make you wait long," Rias stood from her desk and smiled at her brother while Sona couldn't look him in the eye, so she just glanced off to the side.
But this doesn't go unnoticed by her queen standing next to her.
"No, we haven't been waiting long," "no, not long at all, but I would like to know why you have been lying to us," says Sona as whatever was bothering her has been pushed to the back of her mind.
At that, Anos then explained why he kept just how strong he was from everyone.
He told them roughly the same story as he told Riser during the rating.
He said his body could not contain the amount of magic inside it, and it didn't show signs that it wasn't decreasing in size.
Thanks to Ajuka constantly updating and strengthening the seals, his body never broke down, this story was a complete fabrication, and it only took about an hour.
"So this was brother's idea," Rias comments, "it makes sense to a certain degree. If other devils knew that the high-class devil couldn't control his power, then, that could be seen as incompetence on their part," said Sona analyzing what he said.
"But why keep it from me Anos? I am your twin. We are supposed to be close are we not," "Rias there was no need to make you worry even more than you already do."
Rias opened her mouth and then closed it.
Unfortunately, Anos was correct after learning the difficulty behind her brother's birth and how he was sick.
She always, deep down, felt a mix of worry and fear because of how bad the birth was described to her.
"So Lord Anos, when you use a lot of magic does it hurt," says Asia with a hand raised.
Asia was thinking of last night when he fought Kokabiel for them.
The battle was life-threatening, but Anos was able to hold his own.
"Do any of you know what mana overuse or exhaustion is," "mana overuse is using too much magic at once that your body can't handle and mana exhaustion is using too much magic and tiring yourself out," says Sona pushing up her glasses.
"Exactly I experienced both of these," this was a lie, but it was true back in his old world when he was a young Demon.
Anos was unable to control his monstrous power.
Everything Anos told them was problems he faced in his past life, not in his current one.
"My magic is a natural power, but at the cost, it drains my reserves, and using it for an extended time can break my body down."
Anos then turns his attention toward Asia, "I experience no pain only exhaustion, but I haven't felt that way in years."
"I can start to understand why your Anos was not made the next family after all his achievements, he doesn't wield the power of destruction and his power can't hold his larger-than-normal magic reserves."
Anos then raises his hand over his chest; and shows one of the seals he has placed on him, "this seal keeps my magic under control," with another wave the seal was gone.
After that revelation there was silence but was broken once Anos spoke again, "this also why I don't participate in rating games incidentally. This all still being kept secret from the rest of society, so I ask you all to please keep this secret too."
They all agree, Anos stands but remembers something else he wanted to ask, "by the way, Rias, how is Mittelt doing? I hope she isn't causing any problems."
Rias gives Mittelt a quick glance from her desk, "besides listening to her talk about how much she hates devils, she been on her best behavior."
Anos smirked at Mittelt, she just rolled her eyes then in a flash of red both disappear back to the underworld, Rias then let out a sigh of relief, "thank you Gremory I know our conversation before wasn't."
Still, Rias lifts her hand to cut Mittelt off.
"It's obvious you have personal grievances against devils since you cling to Asia. If I were a betting man, I would infer you lost your sister," Mittelt says nothing and continues.
"My brother trusts everyone in this room so that should be enough for you to start to put your trust in us. All I'm asking is to just give us a chance."
Honestly, Mittelt was trying to find something wrong with the devils around her to justify her anger.
Besides Issei, she couldn't really find anything.
"I'll take it under consideration," Mittelt said while flicking her hair over her shoulder with a roll of her eyes.
A few minutes later, Xenovia and Irina walked through the double doors.
Irina had a destroyed look in her eye, and she was just mumbling incoherent words.
"Have you made a decision Xenovia," says Rias, "yes and I told Irina the truth about god," a sympathetic expression forms on everyone's face.
Now understanding why the former exorcist looked even more distraught than before, "we may be devils you too but we aren't inherently evil for the most part."
Rias then gestures toward Asia, "Asia here hasn't faltered in her faith and continues to pray each day knowing full and well that she causing us headaches."
Once hearing that, Asia started apologizing to everyone, "Asia, truly, it's fine. It's a part of your charm," says Rias easing the poor girl's heart.
Rias then takes a knight piece from her desk and places it on top; wordlessly, Xenovia walks toward it, taking a heavy gulp before picking it up.
"Now repeat after me," says Rias as she stands up, "do you swear in the name of Gremory to be my servant and protect your friends and me with your life."
Xenovia nods, "now pledge your loyalty to" "I, Xenovia Quarta, promise to pledge my undying loyalty to you."
The Evil piece starts to levitate, slowly entering Xenovia's chest; there is a flash of red, and seconds later, it disappears.
Irina cautiously walks toward Xenovia, "are you okay? Do you feel different," Xenovia squeezes her hands and checks her body.
She wondered if it worked since she didn't feel any different, "I feel fine I don't notice a difference."
On a side note, Mittelt was very confused when she got reincarnated.
Anos just told her to press the pawn piece up to her chest.
"Hey Rias, Anos didn't tell me a chant when I got reincarnated. He just told me to stick the pawn piece in my chest." Rias shrugs, "to be honest you can do it without the chant it just feels more formal."
Irina didn't let out a bee she didn't know she was holding in, "that's a relief I was hoping your personality didn't change. Like Issei," she says, wiping a tear.
A stupid look forms on Issei's face, "wait did I change how was I before," Irina blinks in confusion at Issei with a tilt.
"I mean...before I left... you weren't a pervert, but it seems you have been overcome with the sin of lust."
There was a moment of awkward silence, "I mean why would I want to peep on a guy," "huh," says Irina, and Issei responded with, "huh," in the same confused way.
Irina points at herself, "I am a girl," "yea, I didn't know that at the time," "Irina, the guy has been a pervert since the day he was born," says Koneko in a monotone voice.
"Oh," says Irina in an equally monotone voice, then there is another moment of silence, "wait, why do you look so defeated," says Issei flailing his arms.
Sona decided she no longer needed to be there and left with the rest of the peerage.
"Irina wouldn't shut up about you on the way here. Let's just say there is a reason why you don't meet your heroes," says Xenovia trying to sound supportive.
"Xenovia," screams Irina while slapping her on the shoulder with a blush, "oh, was that a secrete," "yes," "oh sorry."
Transition to the Underworld Gremory Estate
Anos arrives in his room to see two unfamiliar suitcases and a maid that is obviously from the Phenex Manson due to the colors on the maid's uniform matching that of the Phenex.
His mother, Ravel, and Lady Phenex were all helping to unload Ravel's clothes into Anos room.
Still, all four ladies stop after noticing a flash of red from behind them.
"Welcome back, master Anos," says the maid with a bow, then continues unpacking, "hello, mother, Lady Phenex and Ravel. I see you are unpacking Ravel's clothes, but why in my room, though?"
"Come now, Anos, you are both betrothed, so it's only natural for the both of you to sleep in the same bed," Anos glances at Ravel, but she looks away with a blush.
"I see. Well, do what you like," he says as he walks out of the room with Rin following behind.
"I told you he wouldn't care," said Venelana smirking at Lady Phenex, "never underestimate a mother's knowledge of her own son."
Both adult devils giggle, "seems you have some free time. What will you be doing," says Rin, and Anos rubs his thought, "I was going to relax in my room for a minute, but I can also get back to work."
Three Days Later
For the next three days, Anos spent most of his time in the underworld in Ajuka's laboratory.
Whenever he took a break, he spent that time with Ravel since they would eventually get married.
He was called by the devil kings periodically.
Still, one of the times he was called was in regards to possibly revealing his true identity to Azazel and Michael.
Ajuka thought Azazel was one of the smartest people he knew, and gaining his help might give them fresh ideas for finding him a way home.
Serafall brought up the issue regarding a Shadow, which may be about him, so it might be a good idea to get them to know Anos so they know he is a good person.
Anos saw no flaw in their reasoning, and if they thought it would be helpful for them to know, then he had no problem with them learning.
There was also an incident with Azazel being back in Kuoh but said he was only there to observe the Red Dragon Emperor up close and possibly Anos if he got the chance.
Of course, Rias complained that the leader of the Grigori was in her territory spying on one of her servants and her brother but after Serafall contacted him, he promised that was his only intention.
Anos paid this no mind since he would meet the Seraphs and the highest-ranking Leaders of the Grigori before the actual meeting at Kuoh.
The other leaders thought this first meeting was about the shadow, which wasn't a complete lie but not the one they learned from the Shinto Trinity.
Two days before this meeting, Vali told Ophis, who told Anos and then Sirzechs.
The Leaders of the Three Great Factions would be ambushed in an assassination attempt by Katerea Leviathan and members of the Nilrem.
Using this information The Three Factions put a small army on standby and informed Yasaka after it was informed she would be attending as an ambassador from the gods.
And of course, a small detachment of Youkai was also put on the stand to be ready for the surprise attack.
But this did not alter their plans for the piece talk one and only made it even more imperative that they work together.
Currently, Anos was in Ajuka's laboratory working on something that was defiantly a half-baked idea that could destroy Ajuka's Laboratory, but was Ajuka upset about this, no, he wasn't.
He couldn't stop drooling and kept wiping the fog from his glasses every few seconds.
A machine connected to Ophis's head connected to a larger machine resembling a miniature Stargate.
Ophis was essentially a mass of enormous energy, so Anos wanted to convert her power to spells that could open portals to other worlds.
The problem was whether or not the machine could contain Ophis power.
So she was told to hold back the flow to about .5% and slowly release more until they reached the point where the machine wouldn't explode.
This was their tenth attempt because they had to keep dialing back the amount of power Ophis was, releasing and increasing the machine's compacity.
Anos flipped a switch and started typing on a key paid, "okay, seems stable," a few seconds passed.
The machine didn't explode, but it was near its breaking point, so there was no need to increase it, "now let's bring up dimension 1, aka Norse and Greek."
The Stargate warped then revealed the red tattooed god, but now he was on a sled with a woman and a head on his hip.
Anos stood in front of the gate and nodded, "okay, next one," there was quick typing.
"Now loading dimension two, dragon maid," Anos raised a finger stopping Ajuka before he hit enter.
"Actually, skip this one," Ajuka's raised an eyebrow in a moment of confusion, then dropped it seconds later in realization.
In the past, they have opened different windows into different dimensions, and it seemed that the entities sometimes sensed their presence somehow.
In this particular world, they came across a Dragon in a Maids outfit, and in turn, it didn't take long for the maid to realize they were there.
The Dragon maid opened her mouth as a mass of magic started to build up but was slapped in the back of the head by a human with glasses.
Who then pulled her down the street, very annoyed, but the maid looked back with a glare directly into Anos's eyes.
Even now, Anos doesn't know if the girl was looking directly at him, but she knew they were there.
"Ajuka, go back to the other world I want to see if they could sense us if we watch them for long enough."
"Sure, just a second," there was more typing but just after Ajuka hit enter the lights on the gates started flaring as it started to smoke.
The keypad then caught fire, and the Stargate cracked along with the rest of the Stargate.
Noticing that it was about to explode, Anos put a containment barrier around the gate, then exploded with Ophis inside.
Anos released the barrier to see a partially nude Ophis with a blank expression, "you couldn't protect me as well" "I doubt a little blast like that would cause you to even blink."
"What happened…did the machine overload again," said Ajuka kicking a piece of debris, "watch it. I have lived before creation, so I wouldn't randomly lose control of my power."
Ophis narrowed her eyes at Ajuka, who just flinched under her gaze, "no, this was something else," Anos sighed.
Just when he came up with a new idea, a new problem also arose.
Ophis turned to Anos with a tilt of her head as she watched him analyze every piece of the machine with an intense gaze.
Her hand twitched, and she wanted to do something out of character and was about to.
She stops when Ajuka walks past, placing a hand on his shoulder, "don't lose hope, my friend, we will find your world, and you will return to your people. You just gotta stay positive, yea."
Anos chuckled, "do I come across as defeated to you," Anos then stood tall, "but thanks for the kind words. They are greatly appreciated."
Ophis opened her mouth slightly but closed it deciding to stay silent.
"Ophis were you about to say something," said Anos after noticing her mouth move slightly.
But she just shakes her head; a communication circle forms next to Anos's ear.
He accepts it, "my dear brother," Anos raised an eyebrow Sirzechs sounded too excited.
He must be up to something, "do you know what is happening in a few days," "nothing comes to mind. What's up? Are you up to something?"
Sirzech's chuckled softly, "no, our darling little sister neglected to tell us there was an open house at Kuoh," Anos smirked, "did she now? We can't let her be the only person at school whose family doesn't show up."
"Not at all. Mother and father won't be able to come until the day of, but I plan to drop by now," "you know I just reached a stopping point, and right now is perfect."
"Where would you like to meet," "I can come to you," "excellent," the line ends.
Anos then looked at the mess and was about to destroy it, but Ajuka intervened.
"No need to destroy it. I want to study all of it to see what the problem is," "are you sure," "as a scientist, trial and error come with a job. You go and take a break and allow me to dissect all of this," Anos give Ajuka a grateful smile.
Anos prepares a teleportation circle as Ophis stands next to him.
They disappear in a flash, reappear in front of Sirzechs office, and walk inside.
Sirzechs was wearing a casual business suit. His hair was not the unruly mess he always had, "hello brother, looking sharp."
Anos is engulfed in a red glow as his tire changes to a normal black suit with a crimson undershirt with a black tie, "so are you," "thanks."
"Anos," says Grayfia with a bow, "and greetings Lady Rin."
Grayfia then creates a silver teleportation circle teleporting them all to the ORC.
"Xenovia, I can't believe you started something like that. Maybe the evil piece transformed your mind," "I don't see the problem. I just said I wanted babies," "nooo, I was not. You were forcing eggs."
As the flash dies down, Anos has a blank expression on his face while Sirzechs holds an amused one, "this you gonna be good," Sirzechs says while glancing at Anos.
"You think if I beat him half to death, he will learn to be less of a pervert."
Everyone in the ORC turns on their heel after seeing and feeling the magic of the teleportation circle.
"Hello, everyone seems we arrived at the right time," "I wouldn't say that," Anos then turns his gaze to Issei, and the latter flinches under his gaze, "Issei front and center."
"Yes, Lord Anos," Issei dives over the couch and lads at Anos feet with his head bowed. Anos was reasonable and fair, so all he wanted was an explanation.
Anos knew of Rias, Asia, and maybe Akeno's feelings for the youth, but from what it seemed, the boy was peeping on another girl in front of the girls who liked him.
"Explain," "yes, sir," Issei then filled Anos in on what happened and how he was not in the wrong this time.
Sirzech couldn't help but laugh anytime Anos glanced at him, "it seems you regained your innocence," Issei looked up with tears in his eyes, "you actually believe me."
Anos raised an eyebrow, "Issei, you are many things, but a liar isn't one."
While this happened, Koneko, Kiba, and Akeno were on one knee holding back their laughter while Rias just pinched her nose.
"Why are you guys on one knee," "that is my brother…well, my other brother Sirzechs Lucifer."
Asia's eyes widen in surprise, "so that's the Great Devil King Lucifer."
Says Xenia under her breath as Irina takes a step behind her in caution, but his smiling face did ease her shyness.
"It's a pleasure to meet the wielder of Durandel and twilight healing, both outstanding sacred gears," says Sirzechs taking a step toward both girls.
Sirzechs then glances over Xenovia to see cowering Irina having a hard time looking him in the eye, "and you must be Irina.
It is a pleasure to meet you as well, and I am deeply sorry for what happened to the both of you."
Sirzechs gives them both a warm smile, "thank you, Great Lucifer, but if it were not for Lord Anos, I do not think I would have been able to make a decision.
But there are still moments when I feel I didn't make the right decision.
Still, I need to support my friend. The devil's give me that opportunity."
The heart-warming and gentile smile on Sirzechs face eased Irina's nervousness.
"III…thaaa it is a pleasure to meet you too, sir." Sirzechs chuckles, "no need to be so nervous as of this moment I am not here as the Devil king."
Rias then steps between the two looking between Sirzech and Anos in suspicion.
"Glad you brought that up. Why are you two here," Rias then points at Anos, "him I can understand," then at Sirzechs, "but why aren't you here? Don't you have important devil-kind business?"
"I didn't know it was a crime to come and see my darling little sister," says Sirzechs trying to hold back his laughter.
Rias narrows her eyes at both of them. "Anos," says Rias narrowing her eye's further, "hey were only here to attend our little sisters Open House."
Rias then lock eyes with Grayfia; she only told one person because she didn't want the rest of her family to know.
"Grayfia, you promised," Grayfia says nothing and remains silent.
"I almost forgot mother and father will also be coming."
"What don't any of you have responsibilities," Rias says with a pout.
"You have King stuff, Anos has research stuff, and mother and father have political stuff."
Sirzechs then scratches his cheek, looking off to the side, "well, I guess I didn't entirely come to just laze about. We were actually considering having the Leaders Summit here."
Transition to Issei's House
Anos sat at the table with Mittelt while Rin stood behind Anos in the living room Sirzechs sat on the couch conversing with Mr. Hyoudou.
She was putting food on the table for Anos and Mittelt, "do you two need anything else before I move on," "no, ma'am, but I want to thank you for taking care of Mittelt.
I hope she hasn't caused you any problem."
Mittelt kicks Anos under the table, unnoticed by Mrs. Hyoudou, "no, Mittelt has been wonderful. It's almost like she is a part of the family."
Mrs. Hyoudou then walks toward everyone else in the living room.
Anos inconspicuously waves his hand, concealing their conversation.
Sirzechs, mid-conversation, glances at Anos for a moment but just as fast accepts the drink from Mr. Hyoudou.
"Mittelt, how have things been since coming here," "I haven't really felt or noticed anything different. I don't get dreams, and I don't feel like I have been possessed."
"Interestingly seems she wasn't lying about not having any power over the land of the living, but still," Anos then glances at Issei, more specifically, the arm that holds the boosted gear.
"Why are you looking at Issei," says Mittelt wondering why his attention has been diverted, "Ddraig was able to from the boosted gear that allusion around Rin was fake."
"You want to see if Ddraig can keep an eye on Mittelt for you," says Rin leaning forward.
"Yea, but I'm not too keen on possibly releasing him as compensation for watching Mittelt."
"Well, he questioned you the first time regarding me, so there might be a chance he might tell Issei, he has something private to ask," "but there is a chance that he can't sense anything in the first place."
Anos then rubbed his chin in thought; Rin was right; in the end, Anos decided to think of another idea later that night. Anos had trouble with another development "no," says Anos in a monotone voice.
"Anos," argues Rias, "come now, Rias, it's just one night," says Sirzechs, "how is he supposed to sleep tonight," Sirzechs chuckles while Anos sighs.
"Another thing Rias where are your clothes," Rias was in nothing more than a see-through nightgown which left nothing to the imagination, "I always sleep in the nude; you both know this."
Before the situation could escalate any further, Grayfia steps into the room from inside the hallway, "come now, my Lady, it is time for us to go," Rias turns to leave but stop to turn on her heel to hug Issei one last time.
Unfortunately, Anos was quicker and intercepted her, "I love you too, Rias, thanks for the lovely hug," "this wasn't meant for you, and you know it," she said with a pout.
Rias relinquishes the hug meant for Issei and walks out of the room with her shoulders slumped; the moment Rias leaves, Asia steps into frame with Mittelt and Rin.
"I know I haven't been sleeping in your room lately, but I did plan to sleep here tonight to make up for the lost time, but it seems I must sleep in my room again."
"Jeez, I didn't know sleeping with me was such a bad thing," "oh, I didn't mean it like that, Mittelt, I promise," Mittelt smirks, "I was just pulling your leg Asia don't worry."
Asia lets out a sigh of relief and then wishes Issei goodnight as the trio leaves for Asia's room.
Issei looks over his room and thinks, "I know I agreed that they could sleep here, but I didn't expect them both to sleep in my room; plus, I don't necessarily have the room for both of them to sleep."
"What's with that look on your face Issei," Issei rubs the back of his, wondering how he will have to tell The Devil King and his Sensei that they might have to share a futon.
"Well, you see…I don't want to sound rude, but where are you guys going to sleep," in the end, Sirzechs took the futon.
Still, Anos wasn't interested in sharing it, so he decided to turn Issei's bed into a bunk bed and sleep on the couch.
And told the young devil that he would change it back once they left the next morning.
It did not happen that night except when Sirzechs said brought up the topic of Issei's fascination with large breasts.
Forgetting that he was on a bunk bed, Issei hits his head on Anos's bed, "brother, I have a feeling what you are about to say can't be right."
"All I was implying was that Rias does have a set wouldn't you agree," "I refuse to answer a question like that," Sirzechs then directs it toward Issei.
"I think my," feeling a chill run down his back Issei rethinks his response, "I mean uhhh…am I allowed to answer," Sirzechs chuckles, "sure?"
With new-found confidence, Issei speaks his mind, "yes, my master chest is very nice, no more than nice they are perfect, sir."
Anos rolls over in his bed, and Sirzechs adopts a more serious look, "have you ever thought of transferring the power from your boosted gear to her breast? What do you think might happen."
Sirzechs smiles warmly, "you know what silly idea? Don't think too much into it. Sleep well."
Sirzechs promptly rolls over as Anos just shakes his bedrock slightly from his movements.
The next day Rias departs with Sirzechs, Grayfia, Anos, and Rin after telling Mittelt, Asia, and Issei she would be showing them around.
Still, she would have rather just gone straight to school.
"So where do you guys want to go," Sirzechs rubs his chin in thought, "food wouldn't be a bad idea none of us have eaten breakfast."
Rias nod, trying to think of a good place to eat, "what are you guys in the mood for? We could get just about anything around here," "I want meat, preferably a cow or maybe a horse," says Rin.
Rias looked at Rin, taken aback by her weird request, "does she want to eat an entire cow? That couldn't be what she meant, but why did she say horse? Has she eaten a horse before?"
Rias continued her inner thoughts, unaware that the dragon god in disguise wanted to eat an entire cow or horse, "well, if you just want meat, I'm sure we can find something. Rias, are there any buffets around?"
Says Anos, offering a solution to Rin's desire to eat, "a buffet is a place where you can eat all the meat you want, correct," she says, turning her head toward Grayfia.
"Yes," "then I shall eat at a buffet. Take us to one," Rias glances at Anos, and he smirks at her with a glance.
"I am fine with a buffet. How about you, Grayfia," "I am fine with that, my Lord," with that, the group makes their way to go find a buffet.
It was a good idea that they went to a buffet because the disguised Dragon cleaned out every ounce of meat, causing the buffet to close hours early.
After all, they ran out of meat.
Rin cared very little about the owner yelling at her and was more concerned about why no more meat was being restocked.
The unfortunate thing about this situation was the buffet wasn't even open that long, so they had to close earlier than planned.
Luckily everyone else ate their fill before they were requested to leave, "well, that was an experience never been thrown out of anywhere," says Sirzechs, finding this situation amusing.
"Same who knew we would find this much entertainment this early in the morning," says Anos, more amused at Rias expression.
For Rias, if she wasn't annoyed before, she was now.
That was one of her favorite restaurants, and now she can never return, "are we done? I have to get back to school," Rias then receives a message for Kiba via a communication circle, and so does Anos.
"The White Dragon Emperor is at the school," says Kiba, "Anos, the White Dragon Emperor, is here talking, but I think he is just here sizing up Issei."
A Few Minutes Earlier
After departing from Xenovia's apartment, as Mittelt and Asia went inside to get her, he kept feeling weird, like he was being watched, "partner, why are you on edge this early in the morning."
Issei scratches the back of his head and stops in his tracks, glaring from side to side, "I don't know. I just feel like I'm being watched by someone's gaze."
"Does it feel malicious," "nahh, but they are watching me," "continue on to school. I'll see if I can sense anything nearby."
Issei continues his walk toward school, and after a few seconds, Ddraig speaks in a semi-alarmed voice, "it's the White one, just play it cool. If he hasn't attacked you yet, he is probably just sizing you up."
"What should I do? We are in a populated area; we won't do anything yet … probably," Issei screams at Ddraig mentally, "what do you mean probably."
"Uhhh…we have destroyed a few time countries and tows during a few of our past battles," Issei sighs mentally.
He had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.
"Seems like he left but stay on guard. I doubt he went too far since he came here just to see you," Issei nods and continues his approach toward the school.
As Issei drew near the school, he saw someone leaning on the bridge he was about to cross with silver hair and a white jacket.
Ddraig was about to warn him that he was the White Dragon Emperor, but suddenly the Boosted Gear reacted.
Issei's entire body shivered from the strange sensation, "what the hell," "be on guard; the boy up there is giving off the aura of the White One."
Issue nods and braces himself for a fight against the silver-haired boy in front of him, "hey there," says the silver-haired youth giving Issei a sideways glance with a smirk, "how about you get straight to the point.
You must be the White One; what do you want, and why are you here," "your more perceptive than I thought, the names Vali it's nice to finally meet my Rival."
Issei takes a cautious step back as Vali takes one forward, "why so tense I only came to say hi," Issei's left arm was pulsing like crazy he looked down for a second to glance at it. His senses warmed him of danger, and out of reflex, he caught Vali's finger, "not bad… let's see what else," "hold it right there."
"I don't think it would be smart for the both of you to pick a fight here," using their superior speed as a knight, Xenovia and Kiba have their swords drawn at Vali's throat. "Issei, are you dumb or stupid," says Mittelt standing in front of Asia, who had a barrier in front of Mittelt.
In contrast, Mittelt had lighting in the palm of her hand, ready to strike Vali.
"Like I said, I came here to chat, but if you guys are itching for a fight, I wouldn't mind entertaining you all, but I can guarantee you I am much stronger than Kokabiel."
Issei, Xenovia, and Kiba glance at each other for a few seconds, then vanish their swords and let go of Vali's finger.
Vali looks past the ones in front of him to see two familiar individuals, Rias, Akeno, and Koneko, approaching at a brisk walk, unaware that Anos and Rin were behind them.
He wondered to himself why they were concealing their presence from everyone except him since no one looked in their direction.
Vali's eyes narrowed as the Ophis eyes locked with his "Anos has a question for you," "oh really," "are you listening, Vanishing Dragon? I hope you aren't here on behalf of the Fallen Angels."
Tuning back into the conversation, Vali responds, "like I said, I didn't come here to start anything," having done what he wanted to do and now wanting to speak with Ophis and Anos, Valli walks past them.
But drops a warning for Rias, "just so you know, those who get engaged with the Heavenly Dragons don't live great lives, so it makes me wonder how yours will turn out."
Vali walks off as everyone watches him walk off the bridge and just watches him a few moments later before departing to go to school.
Sensing that at this distance, Koneko wouldn't sense their presence Anos and Ophis stop concealing their presence.
"So what does our unofficial leader need this time," "I have a proposition for you and also a request," Vali raises an eyebrow.
A few minutes later, Vali had a sinister smirk on his face, "are you sure your pupils and sister might come out with a few bumps and bruises."
Anos nods, "they need something to get stronger for…a war is coming, and they aren't ready," Vali's smirk vanishes, and a look of understanding now forms on his neutral face.
"Very wise of someone our age," he says while leaving on a nearby wall, "this may hurt Kuroka's feelings; she's been wanting to ask you if she can see her little sister."
Anos nods in understanding, "true…just tell her I'll bring it up to Koneko and leave the decision up to her," Vali smirks.
"Well, that's only fair, but as for my request," Vali grows more serious.
"Train me," Anos raises an eyebrow, "train, didn't Azazel and the other Cadres train you," Vali nods toward Ophis, "Dragons only acknowledge one thing in this world and its power.
So I'm just guessing, but if Ophis has taken this much interest in you, it must be because you bested her in combat."
Anos raises an eyebrow with an amused smirk.
Vali defiantly had a good intuition, "or it could be your winning personality; who knows."
Vali drops the subject he was directly on the money for, "if you think you can handle my level of training, I wouldn't mind giving you a few pointers." Vali chuckles, "I defiantly can't wait. I saw a taste of your fight against Kokabiel, and I am eager to test your might."
Epilogue
Vali arrives at the headquarters of the Khaos Brigade, watching as the Devils and members of the Nilrem prepare for the upcoming assault in The Leaders Peace Treaty, plus the leader of the Youkai.
As Vali walks down the hall, Katerea, Shalba, and Creuserey walk toward him, hoping to avoid a conversation, he avoids making eye contact and leans on the wall to let them pass.
Shalba stops in his tracks to look at Vali, who began to walk away as they passed him, "I forgot to thank you for leaking away the information. It will be a great help towards getting back at those fake devil kings," "I Just want to fight, and doing this allows me to fight numerous strong opponents."
At that, Vali walks away, "being thankful, are we? I hope you're not going soft," Shalba scoffs.
"Fuck no, if anything, I don't trust him or his group…we still don't even know where his loyalties are, plus after what Lord Lucifer told us about him, he defiantly isn't aligned with our goals."
Creuserey stares intensely at Vali, "what do you think should we eliminate him to save us time and trouble."
"Nope, it would be best to keep them around for now. No telling what other uses we can get out of them."
Vali entered the training ground where his teammates were training.
Arthur was fighting Kuroka, and Le Fay was fighting Bikou, "hey, I got something to tell you all."
They stop their sparing and make their way toward Vali, "Le Fay creates a barrier to conceal or conversation," without question, she does just that.
"What's wrong, Nya," says Kuroka with a smirk, "nothing, I just have something to say from Anos," "wait, did you tell him what I asked."
"He said he would leave that up to you? Sister, if she wants to talk to you," Kuroka sighs with a drop of her head.
"So this is what Anos wants us to do," Vali then explains the request Anos asked them to accomplish the night of the ambush.
"Seems out of our way, plus we are supposed to fight the northern gods that night," says Arthur.
"I don't think it would be; we could wrap it up in under a few minutes, defiantly less than ten tops."
Responds Bikou countering Arthur's response, "come on, bro, it could be a good teaching moment."
"Do I strike you as a teacher," Vali smirks, "I heard one is the wielder of Durandal."
Arthur pushes up his glasses, "oh really, now that is interesting. I wonder how it fares against my own equally powerful holy sword."
Meanwhile, the three Leaders of the Old Satan Faction conversed with Rizevim, "Lord, everything is progressing smoothly. We anticipate that Vali may have leaked the information about the attack, so we request to ask for more troops in case they have prepared a counterattack."
"I guess I can send you a brigade's worth of troops," "thank you for your kind gesture, my Lord; we won't let it go to waste," says Katerea.
Rizevim waves her off, "my Lord, if you may permit me to ask, how is your project going," Rizevim exhales a sigh of annoyance not at the three in front of him but.
At the results so far, but they didn't know that.
At the moment, all three were on their knees and pleading for forgiveness even though Shalba was the one who asked, "oh shut up, my annoyance has nothing to do with it for now."
Yes, he was mad at the results; combing DNA was as easy as picking up a rock, but for some reason, combining both DNA seemed like a fool's errand.
He just couldn't understand why the fetus wouldn't fertilize.
He tried using a clone, but the moments he tried adding some of the DNA, it died moments later; it seemed if it wasn't a devil, the DNA wouldn't mix.
So he tried a different approach starting at the beginning stages of life which yielded better results.
Still, the fetus wouldn't live long, no matter how perfect the conditions for its birth were.
"They are going fine," no, they were not, and he was running low on blood samples, "I just need to fine-tune some more things," he felt he was close, so close, but he couldn't figure out what was going wrong.
The Day Before the Official Meeting of the Three Factions
Michael, the current leader of Heaven and strongest of the Four Great Seraphs, stood next to the vacant throne of his father.
His brothers and sister, Uriel, Gabriel, and Rafael the four of them stood in a semi-circle in front of the throne.
They were planning to leave for a private meeting that the Devils asked them to do.
They figured it was a trap but were assured it wasn't. After much deliberation and learning, Azazel agreed to come along with the highest-ranking Cadres.
Serafall didn't state what this pre-meeting was about, but they said it concerned the shadow.
What was strange was that Yasaka, the ambassador of Shinto, was being left out.
The only reason all Four agreed to go, compared to the original Satans, was that they were much more trustworthy.
Michael was a punctual angel and didn't like arriving late, so they were bewildered when Metatron came in saying he had an urgent message.
"Are you sure this can't wait, brother? We were just about to leave," Metatron shook his head, "no," Uriel pinched his nose.
When they told the rest of the Seraphs they were going to a meeting, nearly all said it was a trap to eliminate the Leaders of Heaven.
"Metatron, please, we have already verified the venue they asked us to arrive at; plus, if they wanted to kill us, why not wait for the official meeting?"
"I have already said my piece on that matter, so I will remain silent, but this is about something else," time was of the essence.
They would have been there by now, "it must be important. If you felt the need to stop us right before we left, what is it."
Gabriel says, "I just received a message from Hermes," all four Seraph's eyes widened, "Zeus has called for a Heavenly Council."
There was silence; Michael was stunned, then opened his mouth to speak, "he has the backing of the Norse, Shinto, and Hindu."
Metatron's head rose in anticipation.
The Heavenly Council was created before the creation of the earth itself and had yet to be called since the start of The Great War.
The Heavenly Council was, in simple terms, a council meeting amongst the leaders of the different pantheons with God to discuss issues that threatened their very existence.
It was called four times before The Great War, When God told the gods he found Trihexia and planned to seal it and the problem of the two heavenly Dragons.
There wasn't one for God's death since only God himself could call upon the council or if a leader had three other Pantheons' backing.
So even if Michael wanted to, he couldn't call upon the council because he wasn't a god.
Even then, this was the first time the council had even been called upon by anyone other than their father.
"Is this about the Shadow," said Michael.
He kept a calm look on his face, but inside, he was nervous, he had to do many new things after Father's Death, but this was one he didn't think he would have to deal with.
"Yes, the meeting is to discuss the problem of the Shadow and deliberate knowledge about the Shadow, and Zeus has asked you to lead the Council," all eyes were on Michael.
He couldn't turn it down, so Michael did what he had done since Father's passing and became the Leader of Heaven, "this is an official decree from the Leader of Heaven. Send squares of Angles to every Pantheon to heed the call and gather for the Heavenly Council Meeting."
Metatron stood at attention, "yes, my Lord," Michael then turned to Uriel and Raphael, "sorry, but it seems you won't be able to go. I need you here to start preparing everything."
"Brother, what date would you like to set," "I do not have one yet, and make it known I will discuss the date in time," Metatron nodded and left to leave.
End Chapter