Chapter 3
The Underworld, Devil teritory
The day had come on that the next `Great Conference´ between the leaders of the three biblical Factions would take place.
Or, as you could also say, the next greater conference that was promoted in public.
Technically of course, the faction leaders were seeing each other all the times. Either at smaller or `inofficial´ meetings, where they were discussing their plans. On the battlefield itself, fighting their new - or old in cases of people like the Old Satan Faction for the Devils - common enemies from the Khaos Brigade.
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There was also the fact that there was an even more terrifying threat out there. But that was something that only a few - one of them the Fallen Angel leader Azazel - were aware of.
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This conference however would officially deal with the danger that Khaos Brigade represented to all three biblical Faction and also to the rest of the Supernatural World. For the entire Underworld to see and hear.
They could have of course just as easily held this meeting in secret, like they did so many others before. But the people of the Three Factions and the rest of the Supernatural world should see it. With that it was also meant to calm the citizens fears about the threat and show them that their leader´s were doing something about the problems.
So it was an important event.
But at the same time it was to some degree, what in the human world would be called an `publicity stunt´.
Unlike the Peace Meeting however, where it was an important point to hold it on more or less neutral ground (or as close to neutral as you could get under the Three Factions), this conference was not held in Kuoh or another part of Earth, but in the Underworld itself - right in the Capital of the Devil territory.
To be precise, it would be taking place in Sirzechs own residence, that he had offered for this purpose. This of course made the Devil Faction the official hosts of the meeting.
They were of course also aware that exactly all his also made the conference a potential major target for their enemies. So they had set up the tightest security possible... and the Maou themselves - all four of them combined - together with Azazel and the Seraphs, had personally warded the area.
And also an army of over six hundred Devils had been assembled - back up by a hundred Angels and Fallen Angel warriors each - to guard the meeting place, in addition to the Maos and their guests own peerages and guards.
All in all it was as secure as it was even possible.
Nobody of all of them could know yet how this days would end.
Nobody could have predicted the disaster that was going to come.
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The members of Rias Gremory´s peerage, along with their friends, the now Fallen Angel Irina Shidou and former Stray Devil Kuroka, had just arrived through a Magic Circle.
The meeting would start in a short time and they just entered the hall where it was taking place.
It was to the surprise of everyone present, except the ones who knew who `Rias´ truly was, that the first person she greeted, was not her brother Sirzechs or his Queen/wife Grayfia, but the Fallen Angel leader Azazel.
The Devil King however didn´t seem to care much about it, since he himself and Grayfia greeted his `sister´ friendly one moment later.
Nobody noticed that it was all just an act. Because the girl that had just arrived was not his sister at all, at least not at the inside.
But all that didn´t truly matter right now. Sirzechs had found out what happened to his real sister weeks ago. He had been devastated. But he was dealing with it, as good as he could.
He hated treating the Fallen who was inheriting her body as if they were actually family though... and he knew Raynare returned the feeling. She hated acting like Rias just as much as he hated seeing her acting at it.
Ironically, this actually seemed to be something they had in common.
He remembered for example how the Fallen Angel had reacted as she had been meeting his parents... and he nearly had to suppress a grin, that was then replace by another sting of pain, as he once again thought about what had happened to Rias.
He, just like Baraquiel did on Akeno´s behalf, had spend the last weeks using his resources to find the creature who was directly responsible for Rias death, the Wraith as they had called it.
He had promised himself silently one thing. That he would take revenge for his sister.
But there was the problem. How to find a being that had no body or permanent shape? How to locate something that existed mainly outside of the physical world?
And even more important, how to kill something like that?
The only way to even find it, both he and Baraquiel came slowly to realize, would be if the creature found itself another victim somewhere in the world. They had ordered their agents and contacts to look for cases of `demonic possession´ or similar phenomenons across the world, that showed similar symptoms like Rias did. But so far they had not found a clear sign.
Sirzechs calmed himself down. For now, he had his duties here to take care of.
xxx
A few minutes later the conference had started. Everyone had taken their places, participants and guests alike, and Sirzechs was just announcing the beginning.
So far everything was going on just as planned.
The representants of the Factions - that meant the Maou Sirzechs, Ajuka and Serafall of the Devils, Azazel, Baraquiel and Vali Lucifer of the Grigori (while Vali also represented his own team), the Serafs Michael and Gabriel of Heaven and also Yasaka as the leader of the Kyoto Yokai with two aids, representants of the two Vampire factions... and Issei, in his role as the Red Dragon Emperor.
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Also present were Rias and Sona´s peerages, Irina, Kuroka, Ravel and Raiser Phenex and their parents, Zeoticus and Venelana Gremory, Sona´s parents and Lamia - who was technically carrying the title of a Princess - along with her peerage as well and a few others. That meant in the first line more representators of the other Devil Houses and of the other Factions and also the Underworld version of journalists. They all were however not sitting on the conference table itself, but in a line of seats for spectators at the other side of the room.
A couple of the Angels, who were acting as Michael´s and Gabriel´s guards, were for a moment sending Irina hostile glares as they saw her. One even looked at her with open disgust. It only lasted a split-second, but Irina noticed.
Michael had puplicy declared in Heaven that despite Irina´s fall, she was still considered as an respected ally and that - giving the special circumstances of her falling - she was not completely responsible for it.
But not all of the Angels seemed to be taking their leader´s word for it. Some believed that he was only trying to appease both the Fallen Faction and the Red Dragon Emperor - who was not only her close friend since childhood, but had recently also become her lover.
Irina tried not to let it show that the reactions of these Angels were actually hurting her. She had been proud of being an Angel, despite everything. Even if she knew that God was in fact long dead and Heaven and the Church were keeping up the lie that he still lived, even if she knew that people had been excommunicated just for knowing the truth.
Even knowing all this, despite knowing all these lies, she had still believed in God´s faith and his Church. And now, because of her own anger and bitterness, this was lost to her - no matter what Michael sai to build bridges between the Factions, she was not longer an Angel of Heaven or an accepted follower of God´s teachings... and never would be again.
The only consolation for this was that she could now actually be with Issei without hindrances. Still, she couldn´t help to wonder, silently, if that couldn´t have been somehow possible as well, if she had stayed an Angel - Maybe it would have been, she didn´t know.
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They were right now starting to discuss the danger Khaos Brigade and it´s various sub-faction were representing to their societies.
Yasaka for example brought up the attacks of the Hero Faction on the Kyoutou Yokai some time ago. To their luck - this group consisting of human Sacred Gear users, had been beaten back and severely crippled. It was something they had not at least, Lamia Belial and her peerage to thank for.
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The sudden return of the powerful Devil from the Belial Clan, who had sealed herself away together with her entire peerage centuries ago, had been a complete surprise, and in some cases a cause for worry, for the entire Underworld.
Lamia Belial was a Satan Class Devil - only behind the Maou in power and rivalling even her descendant Diehauser, the current Rating Game champion.
So she wasn´t actually one of the current generation or even of the younger Devils. She had been alive for many centuries in fact. Older than at least most of the current Devil Kings. She had been around in the Devil Civil-War... and before that, at least for the last phase of the Great War. Born during that time as the heiress of the Belial Clan.
But she herself had not been fighting in the Great War. No, she had been - in her own words - nothing but another spoiled and useless Devil heiress. And so others had been doing the actual fighting instead of her.
At least until the Civil War had directly attacked her family and forced her to join the battles by herself. Quite ironically though this led to her becoming one of the strongest Devils and with one of the strongest peerages
Lamia never made any attempt to hide her disdain for her former self.
Issei had a feeling that she wouldn´t have gotten along well with Rias if they had ever met... if they had the chance. Quite ironically however, she was going along quite well with Raynare, Irina and most of his other girls.
What had worried many Devils, especially under the old Clans, was how she would react to certain `events´ and changes in the Underworld.
The most prominent one was the questionable death of her grandniece Cleria Belial, who had been controlling Kuoh before Rias did, by the hands of her fellow Dvils. This was also the event that led to the rule of Kuoh being transfered from the Belial to the Gremory family. So Lamia had more than one reason to be hostily to some of the other Clans... and especially the older members.
To everyone´s relief however, she turned out to be more cooperative as expected. She declared her loyalty to the new Mao and accepted her grandnephew Diehauser as the Belial clanhead and stepped back from her own claim to the title.
She also seemed to have accepted the explanation that Cleria´s relationship with an Exorcist had been a danger to the stability of Devils society at that point and this was the reason for her death. That didn´t mean she liked it and she refused to directly work in any form with the Clans those members were suspected to be involved in the murder. But she didn´t declare a blood-feud either. And she accepted the Gremory´s claim to Kuoh, despite that it once belonged to her own family.
She had also nearly instantly joined the fight against Khaos Brigade when she heard about them and she and her peerage had been instrumental in disabling the Hero Faction and taking out three other smaller splinter factions.
There were however other matters where she was at odds with the current Devil state. The best example was her critizism and the open contempt she showed for the Evil Piece System, that most of the current Devils considered one of the best tools for the survival of their race. For Lamia however, it was an complete disgrace of what it meant to be a Devil.
Or as she called it: Not only was the Evil Piece System in his current form ´practically an invitation for any corrupt High Class Devil to turn and enslave other beings against their will.´
But she also claimed: `In the old times a Devil actually needed his intelligence, his strength and his cunning to win over and recruit servants. Today any high born idiot, no matter how incompetent, could just put an Evil Piece into someone´s body.´
Her own peerage actually consisted of full blooded Devils, who had sworn loyalty to her.
It didn´t take much to say that Lamia´s opinions were not exactly well liked in some circles. But with her great help against Khaos Brigade and some other enemies, she had won the trust of the Devil Kings and the people around them.
Another surprise had been her fast developing relationship with Issei Hyoudou, whose harem she had quickly joined. In most human societies, a relationship between a technically still underaged boy and a woman so much older than him, would have been considered not only perverse, but also illegal. But Devils had no such inhibitions.
Not to mention that Issei was a self-declared pervert anyway. A reputation that the girls he was with either not minded in the first place or stopped caring about a long time ago, given his positive attributes.
Okay, `fast developing relationship´ basically came down to:... she told the young boy she was interested, presented her breasts to him and in return Issei - with some assistance from his other girls - introduced her to the modern concept called dating.
But what do you expect? it was Issei Hyoudou we are talking about.
At least it had been like this in the beginning. After some time however, it became clear that their relationship had become more than just about her breast-size and her own interest in a powerful young boy.
Lamia actually turned out to be a great help in for him, and also some of the others, to come to terms with the loss of Rias. It had been good to have someone present who had not been emotionally involved. Who had not known Rias before - had not been her servant, or her enemy like Raynare... or felt betrayed by her like Irina or Asia. Hundreds of years of life experience and having already lived through an actual war before, didn´t hurt either.
She had helped them to understand both Rias and Raynare and see things from their point of view - to see why they did the things they had done - better than he had before.
So came it that the older Devil woman, who in opposite to Issei´s other girls downright stated to take another lover as well (not that Issei would have much room to complain here), had been accepted, not only by him, but also by the other members of his harem. Especially Irina, Asia and surprisingly Raynare, had grown quite close to her.
None of them would have expected how things would turn out.
xxx
The conference continued.
For the Devils, it was the Old Satan Faction that had been the greatest problem for the longest time. But with the death of most of the descandants of the old Maou now, this group seems also to be mostly defeated.
There were however rumors about a new, till now unknown, sub-faction that was rising up. One those goals and members they knew mostly nothing about. It was quite worrisome, especially since this new group would be completely unpredictable.
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Azazel asked himself how all this people here and countless others across the Supernatural World would react if they knew that there might be an even far greater threat than the terror-organization they were talking about waiting somewhere.
But he had agreed with Sirzechs and Michael that revealing that information would only cause unnecessary panic. Especially since they actually ony possessed the information revealed by Raynare and Issei about it and they knew there was in the moment not really much they could do about it.
How to strike against - how to even react - to an enemy who moved outside their known realities?
What they knew however, was that one of their foes, who had not even been physically there, had managed to fight Sirzechs and Ddraig at the same time on the Spirit Plane. That alone should show much much of a threat they were.
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It was in this moment when it happened. They all nearly instantly sensed that someone had arrived. A number of large powers - very large powers - had somehow broken their security and passed their wards.
What unsettled them even more, was that these energies clearly came from multiple species. They could make out Devils, Yokai, a few Fallen Angels and others.
Given this set up of races and the fact that they were intruding into this conference in the first place, it was pretty obvious who their `visitors´ were, the same group that this entire event was about - Khaos Brigade.
But that should have been impossible. The four Maous, Azazel and Michael had formed the wards together. To break them and enter the place, someone had in theory to be stronger than all of them combined.
Unless... they had someone on the inside who helped them.
But who? It would not be the first time that Khaos Brigade had managed to infiltrate any of their Factions, by far not.
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The Devils, Angels and other beings present in the room were preparing themselves to fight. The guards and soldiers outside were doing the same thing.
"Grayfia," Sirzechs addressed his wife, "go to Milicas. I want you to protect him and get him out of here."
"You want me to leave?" she asked a bit irritated.
"Grayfia, I am here surrounded by Satans, Seraphs and dozens of High Class fighters alone in this room. And outside is our army. I know how strong you are beloved, but you are not needed here. But if someone could get to our son... I want you to guard him and bring him to safety if necessary."
"I understand," Grayfia said, seeing his point.
She formed a magic circle beneath herself and teleported away to the Gremory residence. For the time of the conference, she and Sirzechs had decided to bring Milicas to his grandparents, to take care of him. A wise decision as it turned out now.
They would not loose any more family, Sirzechs thought as he watched her leave. He would not let it happen.
"Come," he said to the others, making a gesture to them to come with him. "Let us see who has just arrived here."
"We will face them outside," Michael stated calmly as well.
Like they were told, the assembled groups of supernatural beings were leaving the room, to face whoever had managed to breach the security of their meeting-place.
As they arrived at the outside, they were met not only with the sight of their own troops outside, but also with the group of intruders who had been surrounded by these troops.
It was a line of beings they had not even in their wildest dreams, expected to see together.
They were surrounded by forty Devils and a dozen Angels and Fallen Angels, but none of them looked particular worried about this. No wonder, given who they were. Not even the arrival of Sirzechs and the other Mao and Seraphs seemed to really unsettle them.
Standing in front of the group, to the right, was a Devil. His hair was silver and - aside from the beard he was wearing - he had an unmistakable ressemblence to Vali. He was radiating a power that was nothing else than frightening.
All who knew the White Dragon Emperor personally realized who this man had to be - especially given the grim expression on Vali´s face as he saw him.
Rivezim Lucifer, the son of the former Devil King and Lilith
Right behind him were standing dozens of other weaker Devils, Magicians, Sacred Gear users and one or two Fallen Angels.
But it were the two beings standing in a line beside Rivezim, who were truly worrisome. They could barely believe that these two actually seem to be cooperating with him - or with each other.
All of the Faction leaders instantly recognized Hades, the Olympian God of Death. What the Hell was he doing here?... and in the company of rogue Devils from Khaos Brigade of all things?
But it was the creature standing in some distance to them both, that worried them even more. It was a grotescue looking being - an abomination - that seemed like a cross between a Fallen Angel and a Dragon - Samael, the eternal cursed `Snake of Eden´.
He was the one who had by the legend corrupted the first humans to sin and had then, as a punishment, transformed into a bizarre mixture of a Fallen Angel and a Dragon and sealed away for eternity by God.
But that wasn´t what truly made this creature dangerous. It was that his blood had been turned into a deadly poison for all sorts of Dragons.
That meant both Issei and Vali were in mortal danger by his presence. In fact Issei had already practically died by a small drop of his blood less than two months ago. It was only because of Great Red´s interference that he was even standing here right now.
How in the world was Samael free? Had Hades helped them to release him? Had the Greek God gone crazy?
They returned their attention back to the Devil in front of their line of enemies.
"You are Rivezim Lucifer," Sirzechs stated. "The Original Lucifer´s son."
"Very perceptive. Indeed I am," the Devil answered smiling. "I am happy to meet you face to face `Lord Lucifer´," he greeted him sarcastically.
"Grandfather!" the others heard Vali growling angrily.
Only a few of the people present knew about the terrible history between him and his relative. But the tone in his voice alone told them a lot.
"Are you here to challenge us for your father´s title Rivezim - like Katarea and the others have?" Sirzechs addressed him.
"No," the white haired Devil replied smugly. "Why would I want something so meaningless? I have far greater goals I want to achieve, than some obselete title in a society that is just a shadow of what it used to be," Rivezim said darkly. "
"You can keep it. To be honest, I wouldn´t want your title, even if you offered it to me on a silver plate. In fact," his face now showed a diabolical grin, "you can burn with it and your small pathetic kingdom very soon."
"We will see about that," Sirzechs responded.
it was in this moment however, that Vali could not longer control himself anymore... and ended the short stand-off with his attack.
"Grandfather, I will kill you," he shouted in sheer rage, activated his Balance Breaker Armor and blasted in full speed towards the Super Devil.
[Divide Divide.] He tried to use Albion´s special powers on him, but somehow they seemed to have no effect.
But Rivezim only awaited him with a grin on his face.
He blocked the blast Vali send to him with a magic circle.
The White Dragon Emperor was still trying to use Divide on Rivezim, but he was still resisting it.
He caught Vali´s fist with his own as he tried to punch him... and then send his armored grandson with a backhand crashing through one of the walls of the mansion.
"Not bad Vali," he commented however, "maybe you are worthy of the name Lucifer after all."
"What the heck was that?" Issei asked loud as he saw what just happened to his rival.
"Yes, it is not like Vali to loose control like this," Sona stated.
"That is not what I mean. With his Balance Breaker, Vali should have been a good deal stronger than that."
"He is right," Kuroka mentioned. "Vali is usually stronger than this."
[It is true,] Ddraig said to them, speaking from the Boosted Gear. [Vali is somehow weakened... and I fear that is not everything. I sense some sort of force over all of us. It is as if something had drawn Vali´s powers from him.]
"Like Albion´s own abilities?" Sirzechs asked now, having heard the conversation.
[Yes, but somehow different. But that is not everything. There seemed to be a few strange powers directed at you, of a sort I have never sensed before.]
"I believe so too," Kuroka cut in, "in fact, I could feel some strange presence, just when Vali attacked him." It was nearly, Kuroka thought...
"Damn," Sirzechs whispered. "You have heard it," he said to Michael, Azazel, Ajuka and Serafall. "Be careful."
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"And you Hades, what are you doing here?" Azazel addressed him. "Have you sunken so low that you now allied yourself with Devils and rogues?" he asked him pointedly.
"Normally I would have killed a lower being like you for daring to talk to me like this," the god responded haughtily. "But I know for sure now that the world like you know it will come to an end soon and your pathetic `Factions´ will be wiped from existence - finally," he stated.
"And I have made a pact that will ensure my own survival in this new world," he added. Now a few of them could hear something like insecurity in his voice, even... fear.
But Hades was one of the strongest beings in this world - one of the top ten in fact. What could have managed to scare him?
"What the hell are you talking about?" Serafall asked him perplexed.
"There are powers out there that far surpass anything your little mind could imagine Serafall," Rivezim announced arrogantly. "And our feeble races are nothing before them. I was seeking to awaken one of them... But then I was contacted by another. And then I was offered a pact. But you don´t need to try to understand..." he declared...
"... All that you need to is to die."
With these words, Rivezim looked forward, somewhere between the assembled Devils.
In this moment something happened that shocked all of them even more.
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Suddenly and without any warning, a member of Sirzechs peerage - his Knight Souji - had a sword through his back.
And he was not the only one. Split seconds later his Bishop MacGregor was being struck down in the same manner. Closely followed by another High Class Devil and one of Michael´s guard, an eight winged Angel.
But it were not the enemies before them. The members of Lamia´s peerage were attacking the other Devils.
But it was not only her peerage. She herself had moved as well. Before anybody could stop her or even react, she had moved right next to the present members of the Phenex Family.
The Phenex Clan was feared and respected because of their regeneration. But her own Power of `Worthlessness´ made it meaningless.
Raiser was the first to react... and the first to die by her hand. She fired a blast of concentrated energy, powerful enough to rip through his body and kill him instantly, with his regeneration being negated by her power.
He was closelely followed by his father, who got a sword stabbed through his back by one of Lamia´s Pawns, who had suddenly appeared behind him.
That only left Ravel and her mother present, who could only starre in silent horror at the sight of their son and husband/brother and father being struck down so easily.
Nobody had been able to prevent this, simply because nobody had seen it coming it.
"What have you done?" Lady Phenex screamed painfully.
"Lamia...!" Issei as well could only look at her in absolute shock about what just happened.
The Maou and the others present were feeling not much different. But for none of them it was as bad as for Issei Hyoudou.
What just happened here was a complete disgrace to the Underworld and a heavy blow at the same time.
Two members of the peerage of a Maou, the Head of a powerful Noble House and his third heir... another powerful Devil and an ally, wiped out in less than a second - not in battle, but during a `Peace Meeting´... attacked from behind by who they had thought were their allies.
How did this happen? Why did this happen?
"Lady Belial - what the hell are you doing?" the Maou Ajuka shouted at her enraged.
She only smiled at him wickedly in return.
In the same moment Rivezim formed a blast of energy in his right hand and fired it at the other two super Devils. Sirzechs blocked it easily with a magic circle he formed before them.
But with this the battle had begun.
"So you have joined Khaos Brigade," Ajuka growled at Lamia.
She actually giggled a bit at his statement.
"Actually no." Lamia questioned sardonically. "Me and his group have merely formed an alliance, but I am not a member. No, I am actually a servant of a completely different force. It seems my dear Rivezim is completely right. You lack imagination. And they really call you a genius?" she stated grinning.
"So all the help you have given to us against the sup-groups of Khaos Brigade?" Sirzechs questioned.
"I have only helped to remove my dear Rivezim´s competition," she confirmed. "With most other sub-faction either wrecked or weakened, his own group Quilloth could become the dominant force inside the entire organization. That it also helped me to win the trust of you naive fools was a bonus."
"I see," Sirzechs replied bitterly.
"Issei-kun," Lamia turned to him. "I had promised you to introduce you to my other lover, didn´t I?" She gestured to the white haired Super Devil. "Rivezim Lucifer, son of the late Devil King - and like they said, the new supreme leader of Khaos Brigade."
Every word she said only felt like another slap into Issei´s face. It was happening again, he thought. It was happening again.
Lamia´s other Knight swung his weapon and cut the arm of one of the Angels. On the first look it was only a relatively harmless injury. But the Angel sank to his knees and a moment later fell to the ground, dead.
Irina, who had seen this from some distance while she was fighting a couple of terrorists, noticed somewhere in her mind that it was the same Angel who had looked at her as if she was scum... and she couldn´t feel all to bad about his demise. At the same time she felt shame for her own feelings.
"What the...?" Sirzechs said. He had seen it as well.
At the same time, a group of ten Devils, half of them High Class, had surrounded Samael. It looked as if they had him cornered. But then, something happened - the Maou and a few of the others could feel a strange power radiating from the abomination - and the Devils just fell down dieing. Their bodies were looking somehow damaged from the inside out, as if it was a strange sickness or radiation poisening that had killed them.
"It is Samael," Ajuka said, "they must have somehow made him even more deadly. Ddraig was right, they have even more powers we are not aware of."
"Yes, that is so true," Rivezim told them mockingly, "we all have reached far more power than before. If only you knew what you are facing."
"And what exactly are we?" Azazel asked.
"If you truly need to know that badly. I - or better said we - have made a pact with a force greater than our world. We are now, as you can call it, enforcers of fate itself. You can call us the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
"You are kidding," Sirzechs said.
"Do our powers seem like a joke?" Rivezim replied.
While this happened, more and more invaders where at the same time appearing at several places in the Underworld capital, more rogue Devil, groups of human Magicians and also Grim Reapers from Hades domain.
They were enganging the defending Devil troops and in some cases even civilians were being cut down without mercy.
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The battle had now fully started.
Sirzechs and Michael were fighting Hades. Ajuka and Vali were facing Rivezim. Azazel was fighting with Samael - the armor of his artificial Sacred Gear was protecting him from the deadly effect of his new powers, at least to some degree - his own light power was doing the rest.
Gabriel was fighting Lamia´s Queen, a red haired woman named Taria, whose powers were bordering on Satan-Class herself. Serafall was was one of her Knights and one Rook.
The problem was that neither of them was at full strength. The strange power that was draining their energy was still in effect. And not only that. Like with Vali earlier, they had the problem that some of their troops from time to time were loosing control of themselves and attacking blindly.
The members of Rias and Sona´s peerages, Kuroka, as well as the surviving members of the Phenex Family and her present servants, were fighting off others of the attackers.
Falbion Asmodeus, the only one of the Mao who had not been present in person, had already been informed and was alarming the rest of the forces of the Devil Faction.
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Only Issei was still standing at the same spot he had been before, too shocked, hurt and unsettled to his very core to even move.
In a short distance around him were standing Rias/Raynare, Irina, Asia, Kuroka, Akeno and Xenovia, who were fighting off enemies who were coming too close to him.
Had he been anyone else, he would have probably been able to deal with this. But for him, it was his worst nightmare come true.
One of his lovers had betrayed him, again.
Why did this keep happening to him? What had he done to deserve this?
"Why...?" he whispered.
It was happening again, it shot through his head.
"Will you die for me?" he heard Raynare´s voice.
"Would you like to be my servant?" he heard Rias friendly tone.
"... she had known the entire time. She wanted me to kill you..." , Raynare´s voice added. "Your `beloved Rias treated you like cannon-fodder.
"Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, they all left you to die at her order."
"I am sorry. I am sorry. I love you. I love you so much. Please don´t let me die," the voices of Rias and Raynare shouted at him together inside his mind. He couldn´t even tell which was which anymore.
`Stop it,´ he thought desperately. `Stop it.´
"Issei," Raynare - the real Raynare - shouted at him with Rias voice. "Come back to your senses, please. We need you here." She said this as she used Rias Power of Destruction to force back a group of attackers.
Damn it, she knew what was going on with him. It was her who had caused this in the first place. Some of the other girls like Rias Gremory and her `peerage of bitches´ had maybe made it worse... but it had been her own deception and betrayal that had started it. And at the moment she hated herself for it.
"Issei-kun, please," Asia, who was standing the closest to him, pleaded as well, "I know this is terrible - that this happens again. But we need you."
"Issei-kun, we need your help," Akeno called out as well. She as well realized what was going on with him.
He heard them all. But it still wasn´t enough.
Lamia - why was she doing this? a part of him asked himself.
`Because she was on their side. Because she was their enemy -she had been the entire time,´ another one answered bitterly.
`Why did this keep happening to me?´ he asked himself. `First Raynare, then Rias and her peerage... and now her.
[Enough,] Ddraig´s voice now boomed though his mind. [One member of your harem has betrayed you again. I feel your pain about it. Even if it was one you have not known for that long. But you still have to protect all the others. There is a battle going on.]
`Yes, I know,´ Issei replied mentally.
"Issei-kun," he heard her voice. One moment later he realized that Lamia was truly standing right before him.
"You - you damned bitch," Akeno hissed at the Devil, who had just appeared in front of them. "How could you do this to him? You knew how hurt Issei already were."
Lamia raised one of her hands... and suddenly Akeno felt how not only her lightning powers seemed to have suddenly disappeared, but also how her own strength was literally drawn out of her. She felt as if she could barely stand on her own legs.
"Silence. I don´t need to expalin myself to a pathetic bigotted little brat, who spend her half life blaming the entire Fallen Angel race for the fact that her Daddy was not around when humans decided to attack her mother. There is only one person here who I own an explanation."
Akeno glared at her in anger.
"Lamia, stop this," Issei now shouted at her. He was ashamed now of the way he acted a moment ago. They were right, they were in a battle and they needed him.
"Issei-kun," Lamia turned back to him.
"You..." he whispered. "You have been on their side the entire time. You have been playing us all - you have been playing me."
`Why do I keep falling for women like you so easily?´ he asked himself silently.
Strange, a part of him thought. It didn´t hurt quite as much as the betrayals of Raynare or Rias. Maybe, he admitted to himself, he had somehow forced himself unconsciously to keep greater emotionally distance, without even realizing. Or maybe you could say he had jsut matured.
But what happened still hurt like a bitch.
"Issei-kun, I know you must feel now as if you are living your worst nightmare," Lamia countered. "You have told me about your fears after all." She was talking to him in a friendly tone, as if her allies were not trying to kill them all in this very second.
"But try to see beyond your own hurt feelings for a minute. "I am not your enemy - I don´t need to be... if you don´t want to. I am merely an enemy of the Devils, the same Devils who turned you into their slave without ever asking you, who left you to die by Raynare´s hands only to resurrect you as one of them.
I am not your enemy, I am theirs. I know it is hard for you to believe me that right now, but I am not doing this to hurt or betray you. I am doing it to save you, to free you.
I am not Rias - who loved you, but only under the condition that you were beneath her. Or Raynare, who had been convinced by someone that you needed to die for the `greater good´, before she even got to know you."
"Don´t listen to her Issei, she is crazy," Akeno called out.
"Akeno is right," `Rias´ exclaimed as well. "This is insanity... and she of all people has no right to bring up Raynare or Rias."
She realized she had made a mistake, as the other girls were looking at her strangely, as she was talking in the third person. All except Akeno, who already knew the truth.
Damn it, Raynare thought.
"Issei, despite all this here, I love you," Lamia continued. "But in opposite to this other girls here, I don´t love the boy you are now. I love the man you could be, if only you would stand up and free yourself from the ones who have truly betrayed you. The ones who have been holding you in servitude, in slavery, the entire time.
But maybe I am not the only one who feels like this." She turned around. "After all, you were also not so impressed by him when you met him the first time, right Raynare-chan?" she addressed her.
She knew, the Fallen Angel in Rias body thought shocked. How did she? Of course, she and Rivezim had been talking about a `higher force´. It was completely obvious who she had to be working for.
The other girls were now starring at `Rias´ in complete bewilderment about Lamia calling her by that name, once again all of them except Akeno.
The Fallen Angel however realized that there was not really a point in hiding her identity anymore.
Like to proof Lamia right, her eyes suddenly flashed from blue to deep violet and her currently six Devil wings were starting to show a shadow of black feathers.
This chapter had actually been supposed to be finished one weak ago, but I had been sick for a few days around last weekend.
This chapter also had some references to the first Arc of GoD.
Like the title suggests, the battle will continue in the next chapter.
The events are still basically a AU to Gods of Darkness (It is Au, even in universe, since it is part of an multiple world story). But the changes are starting to show more and more effect. Like the character Lamia feigning to be on the Devils side for far longer and actually joining Issei´s harem.
The group of the `Four Horsemen´ is being introduced once again, only with Rivezim and Hades taking the places of Loki and Kokabiel.
One main difference is of course also that this version of the events happen before Rivezim´s attempt to awake Trihexa - that will possibly be addressed in the story later -, instead afterwards.