Chapter 2: Chapter 02: Family Reunion
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The Gamers Guide to Freedom
Chapter 02: Family Reunion
The first thing I had to do upon arriving at my family mansion was to take in the situation, confirming the memories I have floating around my head.
The estate has around two dozen skeletons that serve as little more than servants maintaining the massive mansion and its grounds, but beyond that I am the only living thing around here.
Next, I checked the wards. The runes understand that I'm the new Lord and allow me access to the rooms that I wouldn't have had access to before. This mansion isn't sentient, but it's damn close given how much magic courses through its stone walls.
Izan Dantalion's work, accomplished after he became Lord Dantalion, after his father's, the original Dantalion, death.
And Serafall is right, the Wardstone isn't as powerful as it should be, patchy fixes repairing the flaws that have appeared over the years.
War Wards aren't supposed to be left fully active all the time, and centuries of use have worn down the powerful Wardstones that my grandfather made.
Still, they'll remain standing for years yet even if I think a strong enough person could probably break through them. I'm sure they would buy me a chance to escape at the very least, but I'll have to learn to repair them sooner or later.
Next, I checked my supplies and resources. The Dantalion family made a fortune selling wards before the civil war, and the mountains of gold and jewels remain in the family vault, along with something else of interest I found inside the trophy room.
Sitting inside a heavily warded display case sits a golden rapier, almost pulsating with a soft golden light.
Excalibur Rapidly, a trophy from the Great War. Izan Dantalion defeated a particularly powerful exorcist, claiming the sword as a trophy. I've heard the story from my father. He couldn't lift it without it burning him so he kidnapped the exorcist as well and made her carry it through the portal, using her team and allies as hostages to force her into obedience.
I can't use it, not that it stops me from trying to pick it up to see if maybe gamer bullshit can help me, but with a hiss of pain I pull back my hand, looking at the burns on my palm.
I won't be closing that hand for a while, the burns stinging as I stare at the blade.
Perhaps I can use it as a bargaining chip later. It's a nice trophy but I'm not in a comfortable enough position to keep a nice fancy trophy that isn't actually doing anything for me.
Not to say I don't like having a trophy room, I've always been a collector of sorts, and I kinda want to try and get the whole set, but that's ridiculous.
I'm not making an enemy of the Church and Heaven itself just to get some fancy swords I can put on display for bragging rights.
There's also an egg in the trophy room, black and hot to the touch. It's been here for a long, long time, and I have no idea how to hatch it or what is even inside it.
The room is filled with weapons, trophies I imagine, in all shapes and sizes, some bearing Egyptian, Greek, and Norse symbols and icons. I might need these one day.
Moving on, I head to the final room I wanted to check out, the Library.
You'd think the library would be open to the entire family, but my parents have always forbidden me from going in there. I want to know why, and now there's nothing stopping me from heading in there, the wards that seal the door shut opening at my approach.
There's hundreds of books here, rows and rows of bookcases, but it doesn't take me long to find what I was being kept from.
In the middle of the room sits a single tome, thick and ornate as I approach it, the Dantalion family symbol on the leather cover.
Opening it, I read the first page with a thoughtful smile.
The Dantalion Lexicon of Wardcrafting, by Lord Iarex Dantalion and Izan Dantalion.
Iarex is the true name of the original Dantalion, my great grandfather, and Izan is his son and my grandfather. I never met either, and it was Izan's death that made Iaxes, my father, decide to take our family into hiding.
Wardcrafting is a strange art, because unlike most family magic it can be taught, the runes that need carving into the wardstone are basically a science, not something innate.
That said, nobody but a Dantalion can create a Wardstone, and without it the runes are as useful as a scribble drawn in crayon.
Plus, the wards I can cast at will are a Dantalion family skill, Izan was said to be able to block Michael's light magic with his combat wards.
They aren't around to teach me, but that might not particularly matter with this and the single spell from the Spiritual branch of Necromancy that my mother taught me.
How to commune with the spirits of the dead.
But that leaves me with a question, if my mother could speak with the dead, and the wards are failing… why didn't she contact the spirit of Izan and have him help father fix the wards?
I'm missing a piece of this puzzle, and it annoys me.
Moving on, I head into the side room of the library, the very air changing as I enter. It's almost unnervingly cold in here, and the source of the strange feeling is incredibly obvious.
Five display cases, each holding a different Grimoire. Five schools of necromancy, five Grimoire holding their secrets. When that Gaap family estate was destroyed, my mother saved what she could and moved them here, including the various tomes on Necromancy.
The Gaap family were the patrons of Necromancers, their contracts mostly revolved around humans and other races wanting to escape the perils of mortality, or people wanting to contact or raise their loved ones from the dead. They also took part in a lot of criminal investigations, their ability to commune with the dead making them extremely useful when it came to solving murders with no witnesses.
But it made them enemies, because getting away with murder is rather difficult when you can just call the spirit of the victim back and ask them who killed them. Dead men tell no tales doesn't really mean much when the spirits are hanging around loudly accusing their killer.
Plus, the Gaap family weren't exactly… nice. One of the books is literally bound in leather made from skin, another written in the blood of devils, angels and everything in between. The Church in particular truly hated them, for a great many reasons, not least of which was their habit of ripping souls out of heaven, or destroying souls entirely.
From what I know, my mother approached Izan Dantalion for protection after her family was wiped out, and used the Dantalion family's wards and influence to survive.
Of the five schools, my mother primarily practised the traditional and spiritual branches of necromancy, she found the art of fleshcrafting distasteful, and apparently struggled with blood magic and the Egyptian style of necromancy.
The original Gaap is responsible for no small number of monsters that roam this world, rumoured to have made the original Vampires through blood magic, created countless Mummies and used Fleshcrafting to make thousands of monsters, many of which still live to this day.
During the Great War, they unleashed their creations of the human world on Lucifer's orders, and they're probably responsible for more deaths than any other of the original seventy-two devils, mostly because their kill count is still rising to this day.
Opening the display case and picking up the Liber Animus, the tome on spirit magic written by Gaap, I open it and immediately close it again as I hear whispering in the back of my mind.
Placing it back down, I shake my head slightly in bemusement. Of course the books are sentient, why wouldn't they be?
I'll have to deal with it sooner or later, but for now I need a lab of action.
Hiding under the wards forever isn't going to work, and I don't like the idea of cowering away anyway. There's an entire world to explore, I don't want to spend the rest of my very, very long life stuck in my mansion and grounds.
Firstly, I need to work out who wants me dead, then I need to kill them before they can kill me, which means I need to get stronger.
Which is another issue because while I can practice Wardcrafting with what I have around the mansion, a lot of Necromantic spells and rituals require corpses or living subjects, of which I am in short supply unless I want to lower myself to using my parents.
I could just grab some humans for practice, but I don't want to. I see no reason to subject random humans who probably don't even know magic exists to whatever suffering I'd inflict on them just so I can practice, I'll do a little grave robbing later on to solve my corpse problem. If I need lucky subjects… well, I already have enemies, and I'm sure I can find some subjects worthy of my attention.
I have no mercy for those who have decided to attack me and my family.
The fact is, I want to live an easy life, that was always my plan before my death, but my secret foes are a threat to that life, a foul shadow hanging over my lifestyle until they've been dealt with.
I must be proactive now so I can be lazy later.
Heading up to the office, I take a seat at the large desk and look around. I have memories of this room, but always from the other side of the desk. It's not my fathers office anymore, it's mine.
Picking up my phone, I dial one of the only numbers I know and listen to it ring. My father got us all phones when he decided we were finally coming out of hiding, but I just have Riser's and Serafall's numbers listed.
"I have to say, I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon," Serafall says as she answers.
"I've had enough time to plan my next move, to decide what I want to do," I answer calmly, I might be dealing with a Satan but I hold the cards. I'm not dumb enough to think she can't wiggle out of her 'favours' if she needs to, but she needs me to follow through with the deals my father made.
I don't want to stay in my mansion forever, but she doesn't know that. I lack the patience of most devils, my formerly human side isn't used to having literal centuries to waste.
"I'm aware you're conducting your own investigation into the attack, but you'll understand if I don't want to leave the matter in the hands of a virtual stranger. I have my own methods of discovering the truth, and I'm going to hold my own investigation into my parents' murders. I want the records on the property owned by the Dantalion, Gaap and Leviathan houses, and who currently occupies them, along with the bodies of the assassins you have," I say, my tone utterly professional as I wait, the line going quiet for a moment.
"Are you calling in one of your favours so quickly?" Serafall asked, making my lips twitch.
"Do I need to?" I ask, the silence dragging out before I hear the quiet sigh in the other end.
"No, but you'll excuse me for trying to get you to use it anyway," Serafall says with a giggle that sounds just ever since slightly fake. "I can get you the records, and Ajuka has already performed his autopsy on the corpse so there's no problem with me giving it to you. I'll deliver them both to your mansion personally, tomorrow," she swears, making me smile slightly.
I don't think she had anything to do with it, I've been following the news on my phone, and this looks really bad for her. They spent a long time hyping up the return of two noble houses and spreading rumours of the rightful descendants of Leviathan supporting the current government, so for it to go sideways has hurt the Satans, especially if I don't go along with her and retake my position in the seventy two pillars, but that doesn't mean I can't make her sweat it.
She's far stronger than me, but I hold a lot of the cards in this little political game.
I have no doubt she wants to use me to advance her own goals, she's a fucking devil after all, but that doesn't mean I can't use her towards my own ends as well.
But if I'm going to get dragged into the big chess game called Underworld politics, I need to learn about the players and pieces. Information is as powerful as any magic, and it'll play a big part in me becoming a player, not a pawn to be used and tossed aside when they don't need me anymore.
Turning on my fathers computer, a gift from Serafall to help him learn about the world he'd be rejoining, I stretch slightly and get to work.
As I read up on contracts, an idea fills my head. Perhaps nothing will come of it, but some research on the mortal internet gets me the contact information I want, and composing an email I send it off and go back to my research.
Serafall Leviathan
Fuck.
She knew the Gaap's had the power to talk to the dead, it used to be in incredibly high demand after all, but she didn't expect Kuro to want to hold his own investigation.
The body wasn't a problem, she had no part in the attack and she doubted it would really reveal anything useful, but she had a big problem.
They'd identified the body, and came to a surprising conclusion. Most of the corpses were low-class reincarnated devils, complete nobodies essentially.
But the biggest problem was the records he wanted, because she already knew the answers he was looking for.
It was common sense that the mastermind would be someone who had a lot to lose over the Dantalion's return, and she knew a lot of Lords were reluctant to hand back the territory they'd stolen from the three families after the Dantalion's went into hiding.
So it was logical to make a list of potential suspects based on who was going to lose power, territory and wealth if they returned.
The problem was that the names on that list were all people she really couldn't afford to have Kuro suspicious of.
They'd never really worried about the Leviathan's getting their territory back, not after Tsufaame Tereaku Leviathan's death in the civil war.
Before her death, Tsufaame had disowned her daughter Katarea for not being able to use the Leviathan family magic, and to make things worse her son went on to have a child with a human woman, then die with his daughter falling to the sleeping illness.
It seemed like the Leviathan family was all but destroyed before it became apparent that Iaxes was the son of Izan Dantalion and Leviathan, the twin sister of Tsufaame, and Leviathan herself had the foresight to make sure her son would be legitimised if the rest of her family was wiped out or unable to take her seat, and while she'd gotten Iaxes to agree not to reclaim the Leviathan territory he was rightfully the owner of when he returned, it wasn't official and Kuro had no reason to do the same.
The Dantalion family really didn't have that much territory to reclaim, as most of it was around their mansion, and still in their hands. The Agares family had taken a rather large piece of it, which until recently Seekvaira Agares had been running as practise for becoming Lady Agares, and the Agares family had easily agreed to return it when asked.
The Bael family had been less eager to return the smaller chunk of territory they had taken, but they'd agreed when Zekram ordered the current Lord Bael to return it, Malilius Bael might be a proud man but there was no doubt who actually ruled in the Bael house.
The Gaap family was one of the bigger problems, because while they hadn't had a part in the near destruction of the infamous Gaap house, they'd massively profited from it all the same.
The Gremory's claimed almost all the Gaap territory after Nyra fled to the Dantalion's for protection. A large part of their immense wealth came from the fact that they'd capitalised on the Gaap's destruction to double the size of their own territory, and Zeoticus had been the one to fight against giving up his stolen territory the hardest, since it would devastate the Gremory's economy.
The Phenex's also held a decent chunk of Gaap territory, since both families' original territory shared borders with the Gaap's, but the Phenex's simply arranged for their daughter to marry Kuro with the territory being the 'bridal price'. That deal had fallen through as well, but the Phenex's were wealthy enough that even if they did lose the territory it wouldn't really hurt them, and they lost more from the attack than they gained, not least of which was two of Lord Rakul Phenex's peerage members who had been caught in the blast.
Plus, Phenex's weren't completely immortal, and Ravel herself had been caught in the blast, if she'd been in the epicentre she may very well have died, so it was clear the Phenex's had nothing to do with it.
No, another problem was who held most of the truly massive Leviathan territory. She'd be handing over a record saying her own family had so much to lose if Kuro returned, and her own parents very much didn't want to return the territory they'd ruled for centuries.
Which was bad because if they were forced to give it up, her father would find a way to get some of his lost power and prestige back and the fastest way to do that would be to make an alliance with another family.
And the best way to do that would be to marry off Sona, pulling her back from Kuoh and forcing her into a political marriage. Sona would agree of course, she was a mature and responsible girl, but she'd be unhappy and that was not something she was willing to let happen.
Plus, the Gremory's had a chunk of Leviathan territory as well, Zeoticus was a political beast and never missed an opportunity to grab more power, and back then it was simply who was the fastest and who had the power to actually hold what they grabbed.
She hadn't missed the fact that the two families that benefited the most happened to have Satan relatives, and Kuro wouldn't either.
The Astaroth family also held a smaller piece of it, and were determinedly not happy about being forced to give it back.
Essentially, everyone who was going to suffer for the Dantalion's return happened to be part of the current government, her faction.
The faction she was trying to get Kuro to join.
To make it worse, she had no legitimate reason to refuse because that just made it look like she had something to hide, and it was all public information if someone was willing to dig deep enough.
It's why she couldn't get him to use one of his favours, because when he asked if he needed to he was essentially asking if she was willing to help him investigate the crime without being forced, and saying that she wasn't would damage her longer term plans for him.
She didn't know if he did it on purpose, if he was testing her, or if it was just an unlucky coincidence but she couldn't risk underestimating him.
Getting Iaxes to agree to let her family keep the most of the Leviathan territory had been a long and arduous process, and he wasn't even that interested in them, he just knew their value.
Getting Kuro to agree, when her family was on the list of potential suspects, was going to be much harder.
Even if she told him that his father had already agreed to let them keep the land, in exchange for a great many things, it didn't completely clear them because it was damn costly for her family either way.
But again, this was all information he could find out by himself with enough effort, and if she tried to hide it then it could come back to bite her hard later on.
She knew she had enemies who wanted to see her fail, and they'd waste no time in trying to turn Kuro against her if she made a single misstep, and it wasn't just the Old Satan faction she had to worry about.
She'd like to say that the government was a united organisation, but the problem was that devils didn't exactly work together well.
Devil's were sinful and selfish creatures, always looking to get one over everyone else, regardless of race, and while their power was enough to keep most of them in line, it didn't change the fact that she had a lot to deal with.
But she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and refusing Kuro's request or giving him falsified records would only fuck her over later on.
Sending for the records, she sighed to herself. Too much was reliant on Kuro, and she knew nothing about him.
Kuro Dantalion
When I expected a Leviathan visiting me today, this isn't quite what I had in mind.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me so quickly, cousin," Katarea says, the somewhat tanned woman bowing to me slightly
When she arrived at the now reopened visitors point on the edge of my territory, I had some serious doubts about whether I should let her in or not, but while she's rather powerful, I can still use the wards to banish her if she tries anything.
I know who she is, Katerea Leviathan (though she was disowned by her mother before her death so she shouldn't technically call her that), granddaughter of the original leviathan and my cousin.
My father and her mother were twins, Izan took the son and Leviathan took the daughter as the heirs of their respective families.
She's also one of the leaders of the Old Satan faction, a group of staunch traditionalists that really don't like the current Satans, mostly because the leaders believe they deserve the positions themselves due to them being descendants of the original Satans.
"It's fine, though I have to say this came as a surprise, I knew you existed and of our relationship but I didn't expect you to reach out so quickly," I admit, sitting opposite her in the fancy living room as she smiles at me.
"I didn't wish to waste any time, not when so much was at stake," Katarea says calmly as I look her over, as a somewhat older woman in DxD she has massive breasts of course, and her dress is rather revealing with a large amount of cleavage on display, along with the side slits leaving her legs mostly exposed. If she takes offence to my gaze she doesn't show it, if anything her smile grows slightly as she watches me take in her body. "I communicated with your father as well, though admittedly we ended our last conversation with a rather unfortunate disagreement."
"He never mentioned that, but he was trying to keep me out of politics. Rather short-sighted now, I suppose," I deadpan, glancing over at her silent companion standing behind her.
If I thought Katerea's dress was revealing, her silent follower's dress is downright slutty. While it shows no cleavage, it instead has a massive amount of underboob on display, her nipples clearly visible as the dress only covers the top half of them and while it connects again at the belly button it immediately parts below, her panties also clearly visible.
I have no idea who she is, I don't remember anyone in DxD who looked like her, and between her tanned skin, golden eyes and waist length pink hair I think I'd remember her.
"I suppose he hoped you'd not need the knowledge anytime soon," Katarea said calmly. "You have my condolences, of course. Our disagreements aside, I was sad to hear of his death, and furious to hear of the circumstances. Our bloodline is too small for such loses."
"You said you and father disagreed, may I ask why?" I ask, her smile not fading as she nods.
"Of course, I imagine you'd just call back his spirit and question him directly if I refused, would you not? Simply put, we had rather vast ideological differences. I believe my last words to him were something about him being a misguided fool who had spent centuries with his head in the sand," Katarea admitted, making me smile briefly.
She's honest at least.
"Well, you aren't wrong about the second part," I agree, even if you're going to hide away you should at least keep track of what is happening outside your hideaway.
"Perhaps I was too harsh, but honestly I was rather aggravated to find out he'd already agreed to let the Sitri clan keep the Leviathan lands, our lands that they stole away," Katarea admits, before shaking her head. "But he meant well, I could tell that much."
Wait, the Sitri clan have the Leviathan lands? How the hell did that happen?
"Shouldn't you be in control of the Leviathan lands, disowned or not? How did the Sitri family end up owning it?" I ask, making Katerea sigh.
"The Sitri clan don't own them, legally they have no claim on the lands, but they took over them all the same. During the Great War, then the civil war, devils were dying constantly, entire families were wiped out and with their land empty it became something of a rush for the other families to claim it. That said, occasionally a lost heir or surviving Lord would turn up only to find his lands stolen by his neighbours, so a law was put in place so that if a family member returned they could reclaim their ancestral land. The Sitri's can call it theirs all they want, but they have no legal right to it." Katerea explained, making me narrow my eyes in thought.
"As for me, you're right that I was disowned, though the rumours about why are inaccurate. I don't have our family magic, but the reason I was disowned is because I'm infertile, after a lance of holy light pierced my womb. Even the Phenex tears couldn't fix it so my mother made my brother the heir instead, he disowned me after her death over an argument about his choice of lover," she continued, scowling. "Simply put, his lover was a human woman. Family law says only a full devil can inherit the title, and our niece Ingvild is only half-devil. If the fool had just reincarnated his lover first, Ingvild could have become Lady Leviathan, but he didn't trust the evil pieces, they were still fairly new after all," Katerea sighs. "I suppose it doesn't matter now anyway, Ingvild is afflicted with the sleeping disease, she's been sleeping in my manor for over a century."
"Wait, you wouldn't mind a reincarnated devil being Lady Leviathan?" I ask, brows furrowed in thought. "I thought the Old Satan faction disliked reincarnating the other races into devils. That you wanted them gone from our society."
"Why would we do that? The Evil Pieces are a masterpiece, one that gives us an edge over every other race. I hate Ajuka, he killed my mother after all, though rumour says he tried to make her surrender. Reincarnated devils are a necessity for the survival of our race, only a fool wouldn't see that, and despite how the false Satans like to paint us, we are no fools," Katerea replies calmly. "The Old Satan faction was formed to protect our way of life, in response to the false Satans practically gutting it, outlawing long-standing practices and changing the very Underworld itself to better suit the reincarnated devils, even at the cost of our history."
"Do you mean the practice of taking human souls?" I ask, making her nod seriously. I looked into that, the Gaap actually have a exception due to the fact that souls are an important part of our magic.
"Among a great many other things. Do you know that the Underworld once had a ten-day week cycle? And that the Underworld was once cast in eternal night? They changed the week and Ajuka made a false day and night cycle to make the reincarnated devils feel more at home, and that's just the start of a list of a thousand changes. I understand the need to make the reincarnation devils… comfortable, they outnumber us, though most of them have very little power. Devilkind has far too many enemies to waste time fighting amongst ourselves, we are still at war with Heaven and the Grigori, after all. The false Satans can hope for peace all they want, but Angels and Devils were made to fight one another, and only a fool would trust Azazel," Katerea scoffs, this doesn't match what I expected of the Old Satans, but I can't deny she's making a lot of sense. "I don't like reincarnated devils, but I don't hate them and I certainly don't wish to see them gone. We just despise the way that the false Satans are changing what it means to be a devil, we are sinful, evil creatures after all."
"A fair point, though I don't know enough to agree or disagree, not yet. I'm still playing catch up, and until I know more I won't be joining up with any factions," I warn, making her chuckle.
"I'd have been disappointed in you if you agreed to join my faction because of a few honeyed words, that's not why I came here. I realise my opinion has no real legal weight, but I came here to tell you that I acknowledge you as the rightful Lord Leviathan, you don't need to worry about me or my faction opposing you," Katerea says, making my eyebrow raise.
She is an antagonist, right? Well, I'm not Issei so it makes sense that I have different friends and enemies. Riser helped me after all, maybe I'll befriend Kokabiel as well at this rate.
It actually fills me with something similar to pride to know the other Leviathan acknowledges my claim, it makes it feel more real.
Though, this gives me an idea.
"Thank you, cousin. Our family is far too small to fight amongst ourselves, so I have an offer for you," I start, making her blink. "I'll reinstate you into the Leviathan family, to take the position as Lady if the worst should happen to me and I don't have any heirs, if you swear that neither you, your faction or your allies will direct you or indirectly do anything to endanger me or my future family, you'll understand my paranoia of course, we devils are sinful, evil creatures after all," I say, watching her eyes widen in shock before they narrow in thought.
That's a fairly restrictive oath, but after what seems like a minute of silence, she breaks into a small smile.
"I, Katerea Leviathan, swear to do nothing to endanger Kuro Dantalion or his family, directly or indirectly, and to do my utmost to ensure my allies and faction do the same," Katarea says, drawing the same cross over her chest that Serafall did.
"Then as Lord Leviathan, I welcomed you back into the family and declare your brother's decision null and void," I say, before pausing. "Is that sufficient, I'm not familiar with these things."
"It is more than sufficient, there's no official wording or required ceremony. My brother cast me out in a single sentence, and with less flowery language than you used. Family business is just that, for the family. I kept calling myself Leviathan because I wasn't willing to let the name die out, now I can do so and mean it. This means… more to me than you could possibly know," Katarea says, a large smile on her face.
What it means to me is that a powerful faction will have a harder time bothering me.
"We are family after all, and I don't want our family to die out either. Even if you're infertile, there's always a chance it could get healed eventually, and if not then you'll just have to not die," I deadpan, making her laugh.
"Yes, that certainly is one solution," Katerea agrees, sounding far more cheerful. "But that leads me to the other thing I wanted to speak with you about, we cannot allow our lineage to die out, especially you as now you hold the future of three noble devil houses, and as such I wanted to request you attempt to… expand those houses, as soon as possible," Katerea says, the implication clear.
"Oh?" I ask, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
"Yes, with the low fertility of devils, and three houses relying on you to repopulate them, it's best you work on spreading your seed as soon as possible. Normally it'd be best if you room three wives, but realistically bastards work just as well. Izan Dantalion was a bastard himself after all, and he was the greatest of the Dantalion's. As long as your partner is a devil, reincarnated or otherwise, any child is a boon to our race. With that in mind, this is Ingrid," Katerea gestures to her side, the pink haired woman blushes slightly despite her professional demeanour.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Dantalion," Ingrid says, breaking her silence.
"The pleasure is all mine," I reply, making Katerea laugh slightly.
"I would hope so, Ingrid is a fairly high ranking member of the Old Satan faction. She has volunteered to bear your children, if you desire. She's powerful, but has no family magic of her own, her magical potential should help ensure your children are themselves powerful," Katarea says calmly, the hint of a blush on Ingrid's tanned face as she stands there, well aware of my gaze. "I'm not asking you to marry her or anything like that, or even take her as your mistress, simply offering her as a breeder," Katarea continues as Ingrid's blush grows, Katerea passing over a piece of parchment with a magical circle on it. "This is so you can summon her, feel free to use her however you desire, just try to finish inside her womb when you can."
"And you're fine with this, Ingrid?" I ask, watching a multitude of expressions pass her face.
"Lord Beelzebub volunteered me for this duty, and I have sworn to serve him and the Old Satan faction. If he believes the best way I can serve is with my body, I will obey," Ingrid agrees, a hint of betrayal in her tone.
"Don't mind Ingrid, she has longed for Shalba Beelzebub for decades, so having him volunteer her to be bred has stung rather fiercely. I warned you he had no interest in you many years ago, perhaps now you'll listen," Katerea said bluntly.
As she went to reply, I perk up. Well, this should be interesting.
"My apologies, but I had a prior meeting today and my other guest has arrived," I say, lowering the wards and allowing my second guest to teleport into the mansion, to this room directly. This could end badly, or I could profit massively as Serafall appears, Katarea's eyes widening before they narrow angrily.
"Kuro, I brought- Katerea," Serafall said, trailing off as they glared at each other. "What are you doing here?"
"Visiting one of my only surviving family members, thanks to your incompetence. And you, thief?" Katarea says, scowling as Serafall growls to herself.
"I'm delivering some records and materials Kuro requested. Filling Kuro's head with your propaganda?" Serafall said coldly, making Katerea laugh, equally coldly.
"Lord Kuro is capable of coming to his own decisions, I'm not here to recruit him, but to ensure he knows your inability didn't kill his entire family," Katerea responds immediately, anger and hatred in her tone.
"Shame. But then, you aren't a Leviathan anymore, are you?" Serafall immediately responds, calling into Katerea's trap as she smirks.
"I'm afraid your information is out of date, Lord Leviathan has welcomed me back into the family, overturning my brother's decision. Not that it's any business of yours," Katarea says smugly, Serafall's eyes widening in shock, turning to me in anger.
"Kuro, that was unwise. The Old Satan faction is at the top of my list of suspects for the attack," Serafall says, making me raise an eyebrow in amusement.
"Hah! We had nothing to gain from killing my uncle, our goal is to preserve the houses, not wipe them out. The same cannot be said for you, I imagine your family were thrilled to hear of the attack, only losing their cheer when they realised Kuro and survived and they still had to give back the massive territory they stole," Katarea scoffs accusingly.
"My family has nothing to do with this, they'd already negotiated with Iaxes, you-"
"You are both my guests, if you can't maintain your manners, I'll be forced to ask you to leave," I say, briefly flaring the wards as a reminder that I could kick them both out if I reactivated them. "Frankly, your politics bore me, you're both leaders of your respective factions, stop squabbling like children," I say, making them both freeze in shock at my blunt tone.
"My apologies, cousin. I have said all I wished to, and have no desire to be in the presence of the women stealing our family name for her own prestige. Just remember, she has more to gain from you than you do her, even if she'll pretend it's the other way around," Katerea says, rising to her feet and bowing to me. "Come Ingrid, we have other places to be."
As they leave, Serafall glares at the spot they teleported from, before sighing.
"I wouldn't trust her, the Old Satan's are borderline terrorists, if they didn't have so much support we'd have gotten rid of them years ago," Serafall warns as she places a file down on the table, several body bags behind her.
"She had just as much to say about you, and yet she's as much a stranger to me as you are. I intend to explore all of my options, I'm sure you understand," I say calmly, watching her sigh.
She can't forbid me from interacting with my cousin, the Old Satan faction is a legitimate political block after all, but the fact that I'm communicating with her rival faction should worry her a little, put her off balance.
"Of course, just mind yourself Kuro, Katerea is dangerous and untrustworthy," Serafall says with a sigh. "The records you asked for, though I'd warn you not to jump to the obvious conclusions, I have reason to suspect that someone is trying to frame the Gremory family, Zeoticus isn't so unsubtle," Serafall says as I open it, slowly reading through it.
I can see why she's saying that, because the ones with the most to lose are the Sitri and Gremory, hers and Sirzechs's families.
"I'll take that under advisement, I don't like rushing things anyway, so I won't be jumping to any conclusions," I say calmly.
Astaroth, Agares, Bael and Phenex also own pieces of my land as well. Interesting.
I have an idea, technically it'll lose me some of my territory but it could get me a steadfast ally in the process. Hmm, I'll think about it a bit more when I've gone over the maps.
"I'm glad to hear that, I don't want to see you become a tool for whoever assassinated your family, if you'll excuse me, the life of a Satan is very busy and I have much to do," Serafall says apologetically.
Why do I think that what she has to do revolves around Katerea?
"Of course, we both have much to do," I say easily as she schools her expression.
If I can make both sides fight over me, then I can get a lot more out of them both.
"Thank you, and if you need any assistance in your investigation, please let me know. We'll both sleep a lot better when this is solved," Serafall says as she gives me a soft smile, leaving quickly.
Calling for my skeletons, I have them taken to my mothers workshop and read through the paperwork, marking out a map of the Underworld as I plan.
My planning gets interrupted as I feel a tugging on my magic, my eyes widening.
I sent the email, but I didn't expect them to take the bait so quickly.
Well, I suppose it's time for my very first contract.
So, with a smile I make a magic circle and step through it, reappearing in the human world.
"What th- oi, where the hell did you come from, pretty boy?!" Issei Hyoudou shouts quietly, not wanting to attract his family's attention.
"As it turns out, hell is exactly where I came from," I deadpan, my wings appearing in a show of power.
Well, this should be interesting.
Bonus Scene - Sirzechs
Sitting in his office, he sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
"You know I had nothing to do with this, it's as much a problem for me as it is for you," Sirzechs replied, making Serafall nod on the screen.
"I know you didn't, I want to know if your father was involved, and I'm not dumb enough to investigate another Satan's family. He was furious at the idea of losing the territory, fought us every step of the way, and he has the most to lose if the Dantalion's return," Serafall explained, making him nod before he narrowed his eyes.
"There's something else, isn't there?" he asked, making her nod.
"We've identified the bodies of the attackers, most of them are reincarnated low-class devils, and the majority of them came from the Gremory territory. Personally, I think it's a set-up. It's too easy, too obvious and your father is many things, incompetent isn't one of them," Serafall said with a sigh.
"But Kuro Dantalion is young and inexperienced, and you said he's demanding the bodies?" Sirzechs asked, grimacing when she nodded. "It doesn't need to trick us to cause us some serious issues, only him."
The obvious suspects were the Old Satan faction, but they were under careful watch and this was rather subtle for them.
"I'll look into this, it's not my fathers style but I'll investigate all the same. Thank you for informing me," Sirzechs said with a deep sigh.
Technically there was nothing wrong with Serafall investigating his family herself, one might even say it made more sense since people might say he had a conflict of interest, but the Satans couldn't afford to be making enemies of each other so they had some unwritten rules.
"Good luck, I know it isn't pleasant, I've just had to order a subtle investigation into my own parents. This is my mother's style, though I doubt she was involved. The Gremory's and Sitri's might not be officially allies, but they are friendly enough and she'd have nothing to gain from framing them," Serafall admitted with a sigh.
This was eating away at her, she'd asked him to let her handle it despite him being the Satan of Domestic Affairs, and the fact that the bombing was done right under her nose looked bad for her, and likely felt even worse.
In truth, he'd probably have failed to stop the bombing as well, it was a very professionally done job, which made the fact that it was done by nobodies all the more suspicious.
Not a single one of the identified attackers had experience in this kind of thing, one of them was a fucking store clerk.
"And we need to act fast, if the Old Satan's are already approaching Kuro," Sirzechs agreed, sighing for himself. "I'll start my own investigation, and good luck with your own."
As he ended the call, he sighed to himself as he watched his wife walk into the room, in her usual maid outfit as she stared at him.
"My apologies, my Lord, but your sister is here to see you. She insists it's urgent," Grayfia said calmly, making him look up at her.
Her expression was completely blank, as usual while she was on duty, but he could spot the slight hints of disapproval on her face and leaking into her tone.
And he already knew exactly why.
"Very well, send Rias in," Sirzechs sighed, already preparing himself for this conversation as his wife, maid and queen left to get his sister.
Watching the door open, he schooled his expression as he watched his sister walk in, wearing the rather revealing uniform of Kuoh academy.
The red skirt barely reached her upper-thigh leaving her long legs on display, and the shirt was incredibly tight making it very clear just how gifted she was in certain places, in any other human school it'd be seen as slutty but Kuoh was owned and run by devils, and changing the uniform had been one of his better decisions. Serafall certainly didn't complain.
Her expression looked calm and professional, but he could see the worry in her eyes, her long red hair slightly messy from where she'd been nervously playing with it.
"I already know why you're here, and I've told you before that I can't interfere with the politics of a pillar house, even if I used to be a member," Sirzechs said immediately, watching Rias's eyes widen, shock, hurt and disappointment filling her blue eyes. "Especially because I used to be a member."
"But-" Rias started, before she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I was supposed to have years before I was forced to marry Riser, then father changed it to months, now it's become days. Father is being unreasonable, I'm not asking you to call the wedding off entirely, I'm just asking for you to buy me some time, a month, hell I'll take a week if it's all you can do," Rias said, a hint of desperation slipping into her tone.
"To be blunt Rias, and then what? What difference will a month make?" Sirzechs asked with a deep sigh.
"It'll give me time to prepare, and train my Peerage before I challenge Riser," Rias said, making him mentally sigh. "Please, onii-sama, just talk with father, see if you can talk some sense into him."
"I- I will try, but he is determined to go through with this quickly, you've missed a lot in Kuoh but there is going to be a rather dramatic upheaval of power in the Underworld soon, and it's going to hurt the Gremory family a lot. Father hopes to make the alliance with the Phenex family the first step in recovering a lot of the power he's about to lose," Sirzechs explained, seeing Rias's impressive mind working through the information.
Rias wasn't dumb or weak, but she was a bit lazy and she had a point. She'd wasted months in the human world because she thought she had years to prepare, then father cut the time down after an argument and she chose to stay in the human world out of spite.
Now she had a matter of days before she was due to marry Riser, and frankly she didn't have time to train anymore.
"That's all I ask, brother," Rias said with a small smile, tinged with sadness, moving forwards and hugging him tightly for a second, her breasts pressing against his chest before she pulled back and bowed. "I apologise for interrupting your evening, thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Lord Lucifer."
"You're always welcome here, Rias's and I'll see what I can do," Sirzechs promised, watching her leave.
It wasn't until Grayfia coughed that he realised he'd been watching a little lower than he probably should have.
"You realise Lord Gremory won't listen, he's already finalised many of the details for the wedding," Grayfia said, her tone openly disapproving as she stared at him.
"But I will try all the same, perhaps I can buy Rias a week or two," he sighed.
"Which won't make a difference, Rias looks down on Riser and his Peerage, but they've won almost every Rating Game they've taken part in. Rias can't beat Riser, you're just getting her hopes up," Grayfia continued bluntly.
A part of him wanted to reprimand her for her words about Rias, but he knew she was right. Riser wasn't that powerful, but his regeneration was impressive even by Phenex standards, Rias wasn't skilled enough with the Power of Destruction to out-damage it, Akeno refused to use her Holy Magic, Gasper was still sealed away and Kiba and Koneko had no real ability to seriously hurt Riser.
Riser would win even if he went in alone and barely did anything, because he could just take everything they threw at him and then just crush them when they were too tired to fight.
He usually let his Peerage do the fighting not because he couldn't fight, but because he didn't see the point in it when he knew his opponents couldn't actually do anything to him.
"Then what would you suggest, Fia? Force my sister to marry some hedonistic man child?" Sirzechs muttered, making Grayfia raise a sculpted eyebrow at him calmly, silver eyes staring at him almost judgingly.
"You aren't forcing her to do anything, it's out of your hands. But yes, I think Rias should go through with the marriage, rushed as it might be. The only difference between whether she marries him today or in a month is whether she embarrasses herself in a Rating Game first, the marriage is for the good of the family, as the Heiress she should understand that," Grayfia reasoned, entirely logical and calm.
"She hates the idea, putting herself and her Peerage in the hands of someone who whores out his own Peerage. I don't want my little sister being passed around, and it would kill her to see her Peerage treated like that," Sirzechs argued, Grayfia's expression thinning with a light scowl.
"An over-exaggeration, and you know it. You had me look into Riser months ago, the members of his Peerage that are used as bargaining chips and entertainment are entirely willing, there are several members who are uncomfortable with such things, or even public displays of affection and Riser never pushes them or forces them into performing such acts. Simply put, most of his peerage are as hedonistic as he is, and sex is a simply game for them. There is no reason to think that Riser would treat Rias or her peerage any differently," Grayfia retorted, she'd always been good at weaponising cold logic.
"Rias has done a lot to damage Riser's reputation, he dislikes her, and you think he'll treat her kindly? Perhaps in public, but you can't think he won't force himself on her and her peerage in private," Sirzechs scoffed.
"Firstly, they'd be married and the husband has the right to bed his wife whenever, and wherever he desires, it's his right. It'd be his right to command her peerage as well, regardless of the orders, such are the laws of our world. That said, Riser fears you and while he'd likely sleep with Rias, if only to try and fulfil his duties and try and impregnate her, I can't imagine he'd be rough or violent with her," Grayfia replied again.
Unable to think of a retort that didn't sound petty or weak, he fell silent as he acknowledged that Grayfia was probably right.
"I don't want to see her sad," Sirzechs finally said, making Grayfia stare at him with an odd expression.
"Is that all?" Grayfia asked calmly, making him blink.
"I…" Sirzechs started, before going quiet.
"Do you know what day it is?" Grayfia asked, making him blink in confusion.
"I believe it's Sunday," Sirzechs answered in confusion, making Grayfia nod.
"Kuoh is closed on Sunday, and yet Rias was wearing her school uniform. You aren't as subtle as you sometimes believe, not to me at least, and not to Rias either. Your eyes wander when Rias is around, and Rias knows it. She wore the skimpy outfit you designed in the hopes that it'd help convince you. Rias isn't as innocent as you like to pretend she is," Grayfia said, her tone still utterly calm as she stared at him, guilt flooding him.
Of course they'd noticed, his eyes wandering her long legs or lingering on her breasts, the way he stared at her ass as she walked away.
"Fia-" he started, surprised when she interrupted him. It was out of character for her to interrupt her 'Lord', not very maid-like.
"Sirzechs, I don't particularly care if you lust for other women, we are devils after all. I know Okita offered herself to you, and I wouldn't have been disappointed or upset if you took her into our bed, if you wanted a harem I would have happily accepted. What I do mind is how you act like a jealous scorned lover when it comes to Rias," Grayfia said bluntly, leaving him speechless as she stared at him before sighing.
"I apologise, my Lord. I went too far, I would only ask that if you choose to interfere in the affairs of two noble families, then you at least be honest to yourself about why you're doing it," Grayfia said as she gave him a polite bow and excused herself, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
He was determined to help Rias, despite Grayfia's words, he couldn't help it. It was a trait he and Serafall shared.
Shaking his head, he thought hard.
He couldn't just cancel or delay the marriage, Satan or not. That kind of abuse of power would cause a massive scandal since the Satan's weren't supposed to involve themselves in family politics, and to make it worse his father got extremely defensive whenever he got involved, because having his own son be both more politically powerful and just more powerful in general hurt his pride.
He couldn't simply go around his father and deal with the Phenex's either, not only would that be meddling in noble affairs, Rakul Phenex and his father were friends, Rakul would take as much offence to his meddling as his father would.
Even the families not involved with the engagement would take offence to a Satan interfering with family politics because it would send a message they didn't want.
He adored his sister, perhaps more than he should, but he wouldn't damage the stability of their race to help her, he couldn't.
The only way to get the marriage delayed or cancelled without causing a massive scandal was to get his father to agree. His father would only agree if it was a bigger political gain than an alliance with the Phenex's, and right now that meant one thing.
He needed a way to make sure his family would keep the Gaap territory, which meant getting Kuro Dantalion to agree to give up a literal fortune for the sake of his little sister. Without messing up what Serafall was doing, or pushing him towards the other factions.
And he had only a matter of days to do it.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DarkWolfShiro
DarkWolfShiro Author’s Note: Please deliver all complaints about my upload speed to Podge and Thundercunt on my discord.
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