Medea and I hovered in the air, observing the ground below us. Purple skeletons moved in coordinated groups, ferrying bricks and beams about. Coal and Aqua were at Sairaorg's place hanging out with Regulus and Shang Tsung was working through the exercises Medea gave him, giving the two of us some time with just each other. I'd asked Medea what she wanted to do and she'd brought me here, to the sight of our future home.
The foundations for my castle had been set. Construction on the basic structure had begun. It looked very different from the designs I'd originally given to Medea, far larger with a more grand style than the simple keep-like look I'd originally wanted. I wasn't put out by Medea's contributions though. She was the one building the place. If she was willing to spend even longer working on it to make it larger and more suited to her architectural tastes, then she was more than welcome to.
"And I'm going to put a second tower there." Medea said, pointing to a circular foundation on the western side of the burgeoning structure. She was explaining her plans for the structure with a happy smile on her face. "I only really need one, but if my apprentice ever realizes his potential he will need his own space to work where he will not be in my way. This is in addition to the shared laboratory you and I will have on the top level."
"Staffing this place is going to be difficult." I said, making a rough estimate of the approximate, titanic size of the castle Medea had designed.
"The skeletons will suffice."
"For cleaning and serving, yes, but that isn't all we'll need. The skeletons can't think. Do they know how to cook?"
Medea frowned. "They can follow simple instructions, but I cannot imagine anything they made would be enjoyable."
"So we'll need cooks at the very least. Probably a butler or the equivalent of one as well to coordinate the skeletons and the cooking staff. Plus anyone else we'll think of later once the place is fully built. We've got time though. Getting to that point will take a while."
"It may progress faster than you might think, master. I was able to enchant a number of my Dragon Tooth Warriors to produce materials to my specifications. Even now, I am overseeing them through a familiar while they work. The production of construction materials will now be rapid. My apprentice and I are also making progress with my golem idea."
I raised an eyebrow. Medea had approached me a while ago about using metals pulled from our mines to create powerful magical constructs to serve as both servants and guardians. Adamantium and Mithral golems would be a powerful force to be reckoned with, be they for combat or more mundane purposes. The skeletons were simple to make and easy to mass-produce, but they would be taken apart by any supernatural foe. A well-made adamantine golem was an entirely separate matter. I'd given Medea every material she asked for to try to help her progress along.
"What kind of progress?"
"We've created a simple prototype that functions as intended. It is now only a matter of experimentation to alter the process to create constructs to suit our needs."
"Well done, Medea. You just gave us the tools to raise an army if we wanted."
"A Baron can't be without his military."
"I need to get you something nice for everything you're doing for me. What is your desire, my Queen?"
"A castle." Medea said, grinning at me. "You just let me build our castle however I want and I'll be happy, honey."
"Far be it from me to interfere."
"Speaking of gifts, that reminds me." A teleportation circle expanded out from her encompassing me. A few moments later, we vanished in a flash of light.
Medea's wings vanished as she walked forward. She'd brought us to our lab in the basement of the manor. "I have not had as much time as I would have liked to work on this so it took longer than I'd hoped, but it is finally done."
Curious, I followed her around the corner. I stopped at the threshold of the room, staring wide-eyed. In the center of the room a glowing white magic circle had been etched into the floor. Smaller, joined circles sat around its perimeter. There were three, arranged in a triangle. Each smaller circle held an item floating suspended in the air above them.
The first was a staff of dark wood with veins of silver metal flowing up its length to where a blood-red gem was affixed to the top.
Next was a black glaive. Violet light emanated from the weapon and seemed to pulse.
The third was a silver spear. Intricate red designs snaked up the spear's haft to a wickedly sharp point.
In the center of the larger circle and the triangle a set of armor floated. It was ruby-red with black accents. Above the armor a familiar helmet floated. Still cracked from where Rule Breaker had pierced it, the inert form of Perfected State hovered in the air above the armor.
I wasn't a magical craftsman, but I'd seen the work Medea had put into Aqua's armor and could feel enchantments when they were powerful enough. Every item suspended above the circle was powerful. Far beyond the meager trinkets that we'd been selling to the Underworld. No, these were items that had been made to the best of their maker's ability.
"Medea… What is this?" I asked. I had no idea what was going on here. I hadn't even known she'd set up…whatever this was. I'd been spending a lot of time out of the house recently, so she'd evidently set it up when I was out.
"One moment please, master." A shadowy, translucent crow coalesced from the shadow cast by her hood. A screeching caw escaped the spectral bird's beak as it flew past me up the stairs. "Forgive the subterfuge, but we wanted it to be a surprise."
The air behind Medea shifted and warped. A dark void similar in appearance to one of my Holes appeared before shaping itself into a medieval keyhole. Three figures emerged from the keyhole.
"Surprise!" Aqua said, dramatically throwing her hands wide. Coal had a big stupid grin on his face. Shang Tsung held his chin high, but his expression was less sharp than usual.
"Okay, now I'm really confused." I said, looking between them.
"Despite my efforts, I found that I alone was insufficient to do what I was attempting with that frustrating helmet." Medea said, sending an irritated glare towards Perfected State where it floated in the circle. "I could have figured out how to do what we are about to achieve on my own, but it would have taken a long time. With the castle, my apprentice, movie nights; I didn't want to spend my time on this when there were other avenues of achieving the same result."
"You still haven't told me what this is." I said pointedly, but without heat. Whatever it was my peerage had surprised me with, something told me I'd like it.
"A thank you gift." Medea said simply.
"Medea, you don't have to thank me for–"
"You saved my life, Balthazar." Medea cut me off, expression deadly serious. She rarely used my name in front of others,causing me to pause. "Aside from the obvious reincarnation and keeping me from disappearing into nothing in the mud, you've given me a life. I have good food. I have good company. I am free to explore and experiment to my heart's desire. And I found you. That is worth a thank you gift, insufficient though it is."
"Medea…"
Aqua raised her hand, shooting an apologetic glance at Medea. The witch just smiled encouragingly at her.
"The same can be said for me, Balthazar," Aqua said. "I… I was going insane. Legitimately insane. I'd forgotten what reality was and couldn't sort out what was going on in my own head. I'd still be trapped there if it weren't for you." When she stopped talking, she looked pointedly at Coal.
Coal chuckled. "You already know what you did for me, master. No need to waste time saying it again."
I looked at Shang Tsung next.
He chuckled. "I had no part in this. It was nearly complete when you reincarnated me." He flinched when he saw the glare Medea was sending at him. "Of course, I am appreciative that you chose to bring me into your service. You have kept to your word, as I will to mine."
"That was really touching, and I do appreciate it, guys, but I still don't know what we're doing here." I said.
Medea grinned, eyes shining in the magical light illuminating the space. "We are making a new Sacred Gear, the first ever created for a pure-blooded devil. Sairaorg may have acquired his own, but Regulus's Axe was not made for him."
Shocked into silence at her words, I slowly looked around at the items floating around the circle. She was making a new Sacred Gear? They were making me a Sacred Gear? That was…a lot. I knew for a fact Azazel had been trying to crack the Sacred Gear system for literal thousands of years and was only just starting to make progress. Medea was telling me she'd done it in just under a year, albeit with help from Aqua. This was absurd, something I'd never have expected. But it would be so rude of me to say no when they'd gone to the trouble of setting all of this up. And getting my own, personally-made Sacred Gear? I was one-hundred percent okay with that. "What… What exactly are you making? Which one of these will be the Sacred Gear?"
"They all will." Medea said. "I could have attempted to replicate some of the more esoteric abilities of certain Sacred Gears I have researched, but that seemed like a waste. I can teach you how to accomplish most of what those items accomplish with magic, and your existing abilities already put most of them to shame. I thought, 'What is the greatest way to help you?'. The answer was obvious, you needed a weapon. Protection would be welcome as well."
Coal smirked as he walked up to the magical circle, staring at the armor floating in the center. "That nun I told you about that once held Perfected State? She unlocked a neat Balance Breaker with it. That's what let her heal other people. You won't have the same healing ability she did because my soul isn't bound to it anymore, but the Balance Breaker should still function once Medea and Aqua do their work. Whenever the nun would use the Balance Breaker, the helmet would wreathe her in robes similar to her benedictine habit. The robes could also change into armor to protect her. I described 'em to Medea and she did a pretty good job of recreating the general aesthetic, with some color changes and making it more tailored to a male that is."
"I am not so much creating a new Sacred Gear as I am repurposing and reforging Perfected State to better suit you." Medea continued. "I am binding the other items into the inert Sacred Gear to create a new effect while simultaneously strengthening it. As a result, the Sacred Gear will be bound to you with the Balance Breaker's armor already unlocked. The Sacred Gear itself will be the weapons around the circle. The ritual will bind the weapons together, melding them into one. Each of them was created to be as powerful as I could make them. You will be able to change the Scared Gear between the three given forms at will – a staff, a spear, and a glaive. I originally intended to give you more options, but 3 is a powerful number. It will make the Sacred Gear stronger. You will be able to make up for the lack of versatility easily enough by carrying other weapons in your pocket dimensions."
"How do we do this?" I asked.
"You step into the circle and give me access to the pocket dimension where you store your power. I will need to use a large amount of it to bind the Sacred Gear to you. Sacred Gears were originally made for humans, but with Perfected State's persisting magic, your power and Aqua's help, I will be able to bind it fully to your demonic soul. It will be bound to you and you alone, unlike other Sacred Gears that seek new owners when their current host perishes. It will be yours for eternity, remaining attached to your soul instead of seeking out another host. It will be a part of you, growing in strength as you do, empowering you even as you empower it."
A small Hole opened up in front of Medea at my will, giving her access to my stored power. "So I step into the circle? Is there anything else we need to prepare first?"
"No. We are ready." Medea said, already drawing a tendril of red demonic power from the Hole.
"Thank you. This is… I didn't expect this." I said, not knowing what else I could say to show my appreciation. This was a great gift.
"Quit keeping us waiting already. Get in the circle." Coal said, laughing.
I stepped into the circle. The white magical lines turned ruby red as I entered. I stepped up next to the floating armor, looking it over and trying to imagine how I would look wearing it. Would Perfected State still be the helmet?
"Aqua, prepare yourself." Medea said, pulling at the power I'd given her access to and pulling it out in blankets of volatile energy. She stood at the point of the triangle where the spear floated.
Aqua walked up to the circle and gave me a small wave. Her Keyblade appeared in her hand and she stabbed it forward. A beam of gold energy shot forward into Perfected State. Aqua twisted her Keyblade and there was a sound like a deadbolt unlocking.
Medea knelt, slamming her hands into the ground at the edge of the circle. Demonic power flowed from my pocket dimension through her and into the circle beneath my feet. The red glow in the room steadily increased, shining like a trapped star. The staff and glaive floated along the lines connecting them to the spear. The three weapons slowly melded together, letting off immense energy.
Medea stood, arms raised. She pushed forward with one, pulled back with the other. The melded weapons floated forward towards me. I felt the armor press into me from behind as I grasped the haft of the weapon.
Aqua aimed her Keyblade at me. Another beam of energy lanced out of her Keyblade into my chest. She twisted the blade and I felt something lock inside me.
The magic circle beneath me vanished. The room fell into darkness until the enchanted lanterns began to glow once more. Everyone was looking at me
I was staring down at the spear in my hand. I could feel it humming with power. It felt like an extension of myself. With a thought, the spear shifted into the form of the staff. The staff shifted to a glaive. The glaive shifted back to the spear.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them I was wearing a set of red-black armor.
Medea had an amused smile on her face. She waved her hand and a mirror appeared in front of her, letting me look at my appearance. The armor fit my form closely. There were no bulky plates or pauldrons. It felt like a flexible dragonhide more than metal. If I had to guess, Medea had made it almost entirely out of mithril due to the lack of weight and how it fit me so comfortably. The helmet wasn't Perfected State, but I could see a resemblance. Whatever Aqua and Medea had done to bind it to me had changed it slightly, but there was still a reminiscent look of it.
The colors had changed as well. The red had been replaced by gold. Gold and black melded seamlessly together around me. The contrasting shine and darkness made for a striking look.
"Do you like it?" Medea asked, sounding very pleased with herself.
The spear vanished from my hands. I walked forward and pulled her against my armored form. "I love it." My helmet vanished as I leaned down to kiss her. She wound her arms around me and held me against her.
When we parted, I placed a quick kiss on her forehead before looking around the room. "Thank you."
Coal gave me a thumbs up. Shang Tsung merely nodded.
Aqua had a slight blush on her cheeks as she said, "I'm glad you like it. Medea did most of the work. All I did was unlock some stuff for her while she was working."
"She is being humble." Medea said. "Her power allowed me to do things that should be impossible."
Aqua shook her head. "I just did what you told me. It really wasn't all that much trouble."
"It still sounds to me like you helped, so thank you." I said. I turned back to Medea, grinning. "As for you…" A Hole opened behind her. "I think you deserve a…"
I trailed off. Medea's excited smile had morphed into a furious, near enraged glare.
"Bedeze Abaddon has just arrived in our lands and is approaching the Castle's construction site." she said.
My eyes narrowed. "Coal, Aqua, Shang Tsung, stay here and guard the manor. I don't know what he's doing here but be ready to fight."
My armor vanished. Like my spear, I could feel it, waiting for me to call it back, but I didn't want Bedeze to know about my peerage's gift. I didn't want him to know about anything. The fact that he was apparently looking at my castle was already pissing me off.
Why was he even here? I'd thought Kuisha and I were beneath his notice. The last time I'd seen him he'd seemed irritated with my very existence before disappearing to never be seen again. Until today apparently.
The Hole behind Medea changed destinations and we walked through it.
My wings shot out to hold me aloft as Medea and I floated above the construction of our castle. A short distance away from where the skeletons were hauling brick was a blond devil dressed in a white suit, inspecting the construction as he walked towards it. Another Hole transported us directly into his path. He looked up as we appeared, frowning minutely before his expression changed into a wide smile.
"Nephew! How good to see you again. I love what you're doing with the place."
"Bedeze," I greeted coldly. "Why are you here?" I did not want this man here. I'd met him all of once before and it hadn't been a pleasant encounter. Now I was making waves in the Underworld and he shows up unannounced? Even a fool could see his angle.
He frowned, adjusting the cuffs on his jacket. "Do I need a reason to visit my family, nephew? Bastard or not, it is my brother's blood in your veins. I came to check in on you and to see how my holdings have fared in my absence."
Oh hell no. This guy did not get to walk into my life out of nowhere and sweep up everything I'd built for himself. I would not allow this, but it would be better if I could get him to leave amicably. He had powerful backers that I would rather avoid pissing off. But if push came to shove…
"My holdings have fared well." I said, holding his gaze challengingly. I was delighted by the way his grin twitched into a sneer. "Thank you for your concern. If you would like to discuss this further, I would be amenable to meeting with you at a later date. Is there a time that would suit you?"
"Now suits me just fine, nephew." he said pointedly, walking forward. "One should make time for the elders of their house when they are called upon."
"You'll forgive me if such customs are unknown to me. I wouldn't have known what with the only one who could have taught me never so much as sending a letter."
Bedeze laughed. "Oh, please. A handful of decade's absence is hardly notable. I had important matters to attend to, carrying our name to the heights it deserves. With my success in the Rating Games, the Abaddon name once more knows the respect it is due, a fact that, without my approval, you have taken advantage of to sell your trinkets. But I am a gracious uncle. I will forgive you."
"I fail to see how consistently failing to surpass Diehauser Beliel has done anything to elevate the Abaddon name. Your failures are yours alone. My achievements reflect on my house. Now, you are trespassing on my lands, uncle. But I am a gracious nephew. Leave and I will forgive this dalliance. We can set up a date to meet later when we've–"
"The arrogance."
I narrowed my eyes at the man. He'd dropped his pleasant pretense, openly glaring at me with disdain.
"It's your fault your father is dead, you know? You bastard. Had he not fallen in with that dandy he would still be here."
I didn't know what happened to my parents. Kuisha didn't either. Were she here, she would probably press for more information because Bedeze was talking as if he did know what happened to them. I wasn't Kuisha. Call me cold, but those people that died weren't my parents. I never knew them and I had memories from a previous life to help me raise myself. The only thing that mattered to me was the asshole in front of me walking around my home like he owned the place.
"It's time for you to leave, Bedeze. If you would like to meet again, I will schedule a–"
"No, I have left you alone for too long, I think. I was gracious enough to allow you to live on my family's lands, but I am seeing now that was a mistake. We could not even have a simple conversation before you attempted to remove me from the land that is rightfully mine. Were it not for my generosity, you and your sister would have grown up in slums. And you repay me by attempting to banish me from my own home?"
"This is not your home anymore if it ever was to begin with. I am the Baron of these lands, and as such, I dictate who is allowed within the borders of my territory. You are not."
Bedeze sniffed. "I had hoped to settle things between us amicably, to guide you into the correct future as a good uncle should. Instead, it appears I will have to discipline you. You seem to have the mistaken impression that you need not comply with my demands. You do not seem to know your place in our family's hierarchy. Growing up without your parents there to teach what was proper was clearly harmful to your development. I will correct this malady."
Bedeze's wings appeared as he slowly rose into the air. His hands hung at his sides, two small Holes crackling with demonic power appearing in his palms. "Do try to take this lesson to heart, dear nephew." He slowly raised his arms.
Medea thrust a hand forward before Bedeze completed his movement. A spell circle with an hourglass pictured on its face appeared before her palm. The field before us was bathed in light as the foundations of the castle behind us glowed with frightening power.
Bedeze froze. His eyes shot wide in surprise. His muscles tensed. He did not move an inch. There was a faint green shimmer in the air around him.
"Master, what should I do with him?" Medea asked coldly, her eyes boring into the trapped form of my estranged uncle.
"We should…" I opened a Hole around Medea and I, pulling us away as Bedeze's Hole detonated right behind us. A thunderous boom shook the air as the power released by Bedeze's attack cratered the ground where we'd been standing. Like me, he didn't have to move to open a Hole.
Medea growled in frustration. The spell circle she'd been holding had shattered when I moved us. We were both high in the air now, our wings holding us aloft as we stared down at Bedeze.
My uncle was no longer trapped by Medea's spell, but even still he did not move. He stared up at us, consideringly. His eyes narrowed. "This is not over, Balthazar. You could have shared in our family's success at my side. I will take what is rightfully mine." A Hole opened around him, whisking him away.
Immediately, I summoned a Hole in my hand. "Coal, Bedeze disappeared through a Hole. Is he at the manor?"
"No, master." Coal responded through the Hole in my hand. "Since you're calling, I guess that means he wasn't here to catch up?"
"If he shows his face, chew it off." I ordered, closing the Hole.
In the air beside me, Medea was fuming. "Our lands are too large to cover them all with wards. I have prioritized areas where our holdings are and where we spend time, trusting my familiars to find all other problems. Teleportation is restricted within our lands, but I have not seen a need to account for Hole. I will remedy this immediately. Bedeze will not be able to infiltrate our lands again."
"It's clear he's after what we've built, but how is he planning to take it?" I thought out loud. "His first play was to bully me into compliance. That failed. What will he do now?"
Medea's lips thinned into a line. "He cannot defeat us here where we hold the power. I have just demonstrated that I can overcome him when I am prepared. He will now try to select a battlefield where he has the advantage."
"You think he'll aim for a political play?"
"It is possible, but I am not so optimistic as to think this will end without bloodshed. I've wounded his pride. He will try to draw us into a fight, one where he has the advantage."
"A Rating Game." I'd watched some of Bedeze's matches when I was younger to try to find inspiration for other ways to use Hole. I stopped very soon after starting when I realized Bedeze had the imagination of a particularly dense rock, but I still remembered a lot of what I'd seen.
Pompous prick though he was, Bedeze was ranked third in the Underworld's Rating Games for a reason. He had a large amount of raw power that he threw around to destroy his competition. He would fill up a Hole with energy and then detonate it directly on top of his opponent before they could react. He could open a Hole near-instantly and its destination could be directly against someone's head. There weren't a lot of ways to defend against something like that unless you had powerful wards or the exact same ability. Even then, the raw power he put into his attacks would still be enough to break through most defenses.
But it wasn't hopeless. Powerful though he was, his strength wasn't trained, rather untamed and raw.
Thanks to my previous life's memories, I knew that power wasn't his own, but a byproduct of the King Piece in his chest. I wasn't too sure of the details surrounding the piece, only that the Great King faction gave it to Bedeze and a few others after convincing the Satans to turn it over. He relied heavily on both the King PIece's power and Hole. His overreliance on Hole was one of the main motivators for me to branch out into other disciplines. Without Hole, he couldn't fight effectively. That was why he always lost against Diehauser Beliel. The moment Hole was sealed away from him by the Beliel's Worthless power, Bedeze always surrendered.
Bedeze certainly had weaknesses, but that didn't mean he was weak. Far from it. The bombs he created with Hole could pack enough punch to level a building with just a moment spent channeling them, nevermind what he could do when he pushed more power into them. There was a reason he over relied on the technique, it had proven effective. Combine that with The King Piece massively magnifying his strength, and that wasn't even considering his peerage.
He had a full peerage with an assortment of powerful individuals from various backgrounds. Different pantheons and creatures were represented. He even had a Sacred Gear User, albeit a weaker one. I was confident in the quality of my peerage, but I wasn't sure if we could match his quantity.
I'd lament the fact that Medea hadn't immediately killed him if that wouldn't have put us in an arguably worse position. Devils murdering each other out of the blue was not a good look, even with our proclivity for sin. I needed to deal with Bedeze decisively. If he brought our issues out into the open and showed himself as the clear aggressor, I'd be able to avoid the poor optics from killing him as justified defense of my name and house, but it might suit me better to leave him alive, shamed and forever disgraced to serve as an example to anyone who thought to come after me in the future. I already had some ideas in that vein, provided I could pull them off effectively.
"Yes," Medea agreed with my summation. "A Rating Game is likely his end goal."
"I can just refuse to participate for now. We're not in a position to fight Bedeze and his peerage. We stop all sales and focus on shoring up our defenses until we're forced into a confrontation."
"He may have expected things to go this way. He will have a plan in place to force our hand."
"Then we buy what time we can and meet him head on. I would've preferred to keep our hand hidden a while longer, but it was inevitable someone would eventually try something." My eyes narrowed as I glared at the space Bedeze fled through. "My 'uncle' has just volunteered to serve as a example of why you shouldn't fuck with us."