Kapitel 86: Chapter 86: Blame the architect
"Haa… haha, yes… yessss…" A borderline inhuman hiss left Katarina Leviathan's mouth as she looked down at the sight of the Three Factions converging on a single building at the edge of the backwater city they had chosen for their meeting. The Khaos Brigade had infiltrated the human city in advance and had set their base of operations in the mountain overlooking the city of Kuoh, which gave them a good view of anything that happened in the city.
Katarina was so close in multiple senses of the word. So close to fulfilling her vengeance, ridding the material plane of Serafall Leviathan and her oh so annoying cutesy and inappropriate acting, stripping her of the ill-gained title, and finally returning it to the title's proper holder.
That is, Katarina Leviathan herself.
The feeling was borderline euphoric. After such a long wait, vengeance would be hers… And the only thing holding her back was...
"Will that take long, skeleton?" The woman spoke as she turned to look at the skeletal figure which was clad in black robe and who was casting a massive, shimmering magical rune-circle that looked vaguely Nordic to Katarina's eyes.
The skeleton had started casting it's spell as soon as the three battle-forces in the distance had converged to a single spot, or as the skeleton had put it, 'within range'.
"Temper your eagerness to serve our master with a calm heart, fellow servant." The 'Overlord General's, or rather that was what the creature had wanted to be called yet Katarina would forever call it 'Skeleton', spoke out in it's ever calm yet oh so dry, growly and annoying voice, directing its words to Katarina.
A black-haired woman with cat-ears in front of the two 'big hitters' of Khaos Brigade's Kuoh battleforce let out a whimper in response to the skeleton's speech, even if she wasn't the subject of it.
'Ugh… And that woman, that was one of Vali's pets… Kuroka, right?' Katarina grind her teeth together in annoyance, albeit she knew that while she was mighty by her own right and further strengthened by Ophis's gift, the snake of power, there was no way she'd be able to fight the top brass of all Three Factions at once.
For that she needed the Skeleton to make a diversion, and then die in an attempt to fight off the Three factions, allowing Katarina to fight Serafall one-on-one and crush the 'cutesy' usurper's head between her hands.
The skeleton looked at Katarina's face, sighed theatherically despite not having lungs, and then returned to its casting.
Normally the light-show the casting was making would have attracted the attention of the battle-forces in the distance, but Kuroka was making an illusionary barrier that shrouded the battlegroup from view.
Although, it looked like the black-haired cat-woman would likely collapse from exertion soon, even though she seemed to draw power from chanting 'Koneko, I'll… keep you safe...' over and over again while her face was streaked with sweat and her features were sunken thanks to extended exposure to the skeleton's creepy aura.
'...Haha… And, it wouldn't be too unexpected if that undead creep died in the fighting… Perhaps if I sent a small 'gift' it's way once bolts start flying, distract it from it's fight, and get the skeleton killed…' Katarina only barely resisted the wide smile that would have stretched her face to breaking point as she thought of getting rid of the creepy skeleton that had turned her life for the past few weeks into a living hell. And had forced her to re-hire her entire service staff a total of twenty-two times during the monster's brief stay in her mansion, after the monster ate the batch she hired time after time.
Granted, in the end she had become aware of the monster's goal, that was, weakening Khaos Brigade by eating it's service staff.
In other words, the skeleton was a traitor.
Although the monster didn't know that the service staff was not essential to Khaos Bridage's operation, so it's plan was instantly foiled yet Katarina chose to not reveal that fact to it. Instead she'd just watch from the side as the traitor twisted itself deeper into its own noose, until she'd forwarded the information she gathered to Ophis herself and had the skeleton murdered.
Assuming, of course, that it survived the battle that was about to begin.
All in all, Katarina Leviathan was feeling positively euphoric.
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Overlord General who had risen to the rank from mere Elder Lich sighed theatherically at the Katarina woman who seemed to be at the peak of her joy.
'...Well, I shouldn't have expected the insects to be able to see the future they are moving towards, but this Katarina one seems to be blind even by insect standards.'The skeletal Overlord felt somewhat worried as the woman was, after all, quite important to his plan.
The plan's first stage was simple on the surface, and was executed by the Overlord General himself. The plan's second, third, fourth, and further stages would then be executed by the Supreme Being, who'd use the Overlord General as his pawn until he saw the need to dispose of him.
That fate was something the Overlord General cherished, that he'd succeed in his un-life, and that he'd succeed in fulfilling the goal his creator had set for him, but which was unknown to the created himself.
After all, the future was only the Supreme Being's to see and mold as he saw fit, and insects such as the Katarina woman and even the General himself were but pieces on the Supreme Being's chessboard.
'...However, it seems that the woman's shifty movements and unusually cheerful mood indicates that she's either planning on 'betraying' me, as if I had trusted her in the first place, or otherwise rebels against her true master. But that doesn't matter, as I had prepared for the possibility.' The General turned his focus back on the spell he was casting. "Slave. Are you ready?"
The cat-eared woman in front of the General twitched violently, glanced back at the Overlord, and nodded just minutely.
The Overlord General merely looked away after receiving confirmation.
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Vali Lucifer was feeling somewhat uneasy, angry, and frustrated as he contemplated the situation.
Albion had spoken to him from within Vali's [Sacred Gear] and informed him that the dragon could smell Ddraig's scent- Or rather, the presence of [Boosted Gear].
Naturally, the news had ignited Vali's competitive and battle-hungry spirit, as well as Albion's rage towards the red dragon. Yet, at the same time it wasn't as if Vali could just break formation right then and there and leave the Khaos Brigade to fight Ddraig's bearer, whoever that was, as he'd likely turn Khaos Brigade against him if he broke cover at that moment.
And when even Albion advised caution against the monster that was calling itself 'Overlord General', Vali managed to prioritize caution over bloodlust when it came to hasty actions. After all, it'd be likely that the undead creature would give pursuit if Vali left, given that it had been quite curious about Vali in the past week he had been 'in' the Khaos Brigade as per Azazel's orders.
Vali knew that he was not the greatest infiltrator or spy out there, but he had been picked for the role because the maid Azazel had used for spying had been killed. By the 'Overlord General', according to the stories Vali had heard, which meant that the undead creature was at least capable of finding spies and rooting them out.
In other words, he was forced to sit on his hands while a hated enemy walked past him.
Overall, the situation was not fun for the agent of the Fallen Angels.
"If Ddraig just showed himself... " Albion grumbled as well. "Bah. The new wielder wouldn't have learned to use Ddraig's power since the Gear would have picked a new host only a couple of weeks or so ago… When we find him and fight whoever that poor bastard wielding Ddraig is, we're going to roll over them. I was looking forward to a proper fight…"
'And you're still angry over me losing against that 'Momon', right?' Vali added his two cents. 'Bah. You know who he was, possibly, so it wasn't as if I had many chances anyway…'
"And you almost lost against Serafall Leviathan as well." Albion reminded Vali of the brief skirmish that had happened more or less on the same spot- That was, in Kuoh and near 'Momon's Estate' during Serafall Leviathan's rampage against Azazel, Vali and Kokabiel.
'Oh come off my back…' Vali groaned in his mind before mentally tuning out the dragon's biting retort that followed. 'Hm… Azazel would be aware of the ambush that the undead thing is planning since I reported that to him, which means that the moment the skele-lord attacks, I should get out of the blast zone before the Three Factions unite their forces and counter-attack… I don't want to get caught in the crossfire and die against some random Angel or Devil.'
Vali lamented the fact he had lost two of his 'groupies' to the excursion- That was, Bikou who had his head crushed and soul devoured by the Overlord General and now Kuroka as well, who he suspected would meet the same fate as soon as the General was done with her. 'I'll have to demand proper recompense from Azazel for this… Ah well… TIme to find new allies, I suppose…'
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Four human-like forms that represented the peak of their respective faction's power stepped forwards in unison, sat down, and faced towards the center of the table in a now-cramped conference room in the first floor of 'Momon's mansion. And then the motion repeated, except with three forms instead of four.
The normally spacious room was cramped due to the fact it housed two Maous, two arch-angels, two Fallen Angels, and a single Youkai. As well as a single maid, and a group of retainers for each faction- Youkai Geisha for Shinto faction, Fallen Angel guardians for Fallen Angels, Guardian angels for Heavens, and a Peerage for Devils.
Yasaka narrowed her eyes at the occupants of the room. 'They are treading on my people's ground yet we have the lowest number of representatives allowed into this conference… Granted, we have leased this land to Underworld for their activities so technically this is Underworld's land for now, but still, this is a breach of diplomatic etiquette…'
The whole situation, however, was feeling quite odd to Yasaka so she chose to withhold her comment and observe until she made sure just why she had been invited in the first place.
After all, she was the head of the Shinto faction and the representative of Shinto gods, yet this conference seemed to be about peace-talks between the Three Christian Factions. And while it was proper etiquette to include the Shinto faction into the peace talks due to the location where the talks were taking place, the proper representative for the occasion would have been a pair of Tengu diplomats who would have relayed the results of the talks to Yasaka and the Shinto faction.
Yet, Yasaka had been called to come to the peace talks personally, by Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub no less, which meant that Yasaka didn't have a choice but to come herself or risk bad blood between the factions by refusing. Not to mention that the personal invitation meant that the Underworld would owe a favor to her, which was something Yasaka would leverage for all it's worth.
There was no cruelty the nine-tailed fox of legend couldn't commit if it meant a brighter future for her daughter, Kunou. And there was no kindness that she wouldn't show if it meant a softer future for her daughter, and for her people.
So, Yasaka kept observing as the Three Factions proceeded to make their introductions, even if the gesture was futile due to each participant's history with each other, but such was required for an event like this.
However, Yasaka blinked in confusion as an eight person opened his mouth, who was standing slightly beside the conference table.
"...Ahem, and I would be Momon Phenix. Welcome to my estate." The young man spoke out while holding onto a creepy-feeling golden staff that instinctively sent a cold shiver down Yasaka's spine as she concentrated her attention, both mystical and non-mystical on the staff.
Yasaka focused her Youkai power on her eyes to sharpen her view and to allow them to see things beyond what normal eyes saw… and the staff seemed to speak to her.
No, it was more like the staff gestured towards her, and Yasaka saw that a faint outline of her own face had formed on the surface of the staff, invisible to all but her, except that her face in the gold was drawn to a silent wail of incredible agony.
Yasaka looked away from the staff, feeling a bit shaken after the staff's wordless warning to not pry further into it. '...What exactly is that item? Is it sentient? Who is that boy?'
"My Lord, please excuse us for-" A fair-skinned, tall maid walked to the table with brisk steps but paused as 'Momon' raised his empty hand at her to stop her as the maid had grabbed a chair from the side as soon as Momon looked like he'd come to the table as well.
"Do not worry about it. Please, see to getting us something to drink and eat." Momon moved his hand over the empty space next to the conference table and a chair materialized into the space. And then the boy sat down on the chair.
Yasaka narrowed her eyes as Heaven's faction seemed to pause at the sight, with Michael looking specifically confused, while Fallen angels looked smug above all, and the Devils looked… wary.
Yet, only Heavens looked like they'd object to the normal-looking boy taking a seat in the faction's table, which meant that the two other factions likely knew some hidden secret in regards to the boy's true identity, which excused the boy's outrageous behaviour.
'...This 'Momon'... He sits alone among the factions, so he must know that he is signalling that he is a faction of his own. Yet, the fact neither the Devils or the Fallen object to his presence at the table means that they either have some dealing with him, or…' Yasaka felt as if the reason why she had been invited cleared itself to her. '...Or this peace conference is the Three Factions becoming Four Factions?'
She thought about it for a second, and dismissed the idea as 'ridiculous'.
Yet, she kept observing, as the patient fox would get her prey while a hasty one would only chase the bird away. And Yasaka was nothing if not patient, so she merely observed while keeping a low profile like a fox lying in wait in a bush as the chickens wobbled in a line in front of her, waiting for the rooster to pass so she could pounce in peace.
"Ahem, Momon-san. I fear that while the Three Factions, and our illustrious guest of Shinto faction, know each other quite well due to our shared history…" Michael seemed more than a little nervous as he spoke, cuing Yasaka to the possibility that the Heavens knew Momon as well, but hadn't met him before. "Could I trouble you to introduce yourself further?"
"Oh come on Mic-kun." Azazel leaned back on his chair and put his legs on the table while addressing the leader of Heaven's faction. "You were always daddy's boy. You still want to do that dance and song in front of daddy dearest?"
Michael opened his mouth, closed it, and the motion was mirrored by Gabriel next to him. And then the two turned to stare at Momon who gained a resigned expression, sighed and moved his hand to the side in a calm, almost royal motion… And an armored angel rose from a pure white magical circle behind him, taking an intimidating pose while standing guard behind it's creator.
Yasaka successfully resisted the urge to lift both of her eyebrows in surprise, and only lifted one in mild question as the young man's- no, the disguised yet ancientdeity's true nature became clear to her. And for the devils as well, apparently, as they reacted in a way that didn't surprise Yasaka- After all, if He had revived, it wasn't surprising that the Devils would panic the most in response.
Sirzechs paled, as did Beelzebub beside him, before the Maou coughed to his fist while having an expression that screamed 'oh no!'. "Ahem, but before we go into that the Devil faction suggest that we speak about-"
The Maou was ignored, however, as Gabriel launched herself from her seat, impacting against 'Momon' in a flurry of feathers and knocking the two down from the seat.
Momon quickly hand waved the newly-made angel to back away before it could run the Arch-angel through with its spear for the inappropriate act, and then did the same towards the lion-headed, four-winged angel that had suddenly taken the place of the maid in the conference room.
'...What?' Yasaka unfolded her hand-fan to cover the lower half of her face in order to hide her surprise while she kept a keen eye on the chaos in front of her.
"DADDY!" Gabriel practically cried as she hugged the seemingly young man's face against her considerable chest while her twelve pairs of wings unfolded from her back and flapped around in excited frenzy, causing the room to become covered in a thin layer of feathers.
"Please control yourself, miss." Momon placed a calming hand on Gabriel's head, gently scratching her scalp a bit and then pushing her away. It seemed that the petting motion caused Gabriel so much joy that the tips of her wings darkened just minutely, followed by her expression becoming horrified, before she realized that Momon didn't reject her, as he had pet her before pushing her away.
The Arch-angel practically sprang upright into a 'proper and impassioned' pose, which looked quite comedically inappropriate for the situation as her clothes were crumpled and her wings were still twitching and flapping excitedly, which wasn't helping the room's cleanliness on the account that the place was covered in feathers like if someone had torn a old-fashioned pillow in it.
"Ahem, anyway… I believe that this conference was about a peace treaty, yes?" Momon looked quite resigned to his fate as he climbed up from the floor.
"A-ah- y-yes, um, ahem- of course, father." Gabriel seemed to get her emotions in check after a moment of struggling. And then she failed to keep herself back as she collapsed on her knees. "But- I can't… C-could I just ask… w-why did you abandon us?"
"Sister…" Michael had slid over to his fellow arch-angel and had placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Father has his secrets, and his ways… Father, I was overjoyed to hear of your return, and from seeing you… But somehow you give off a different feeling from before? Your… Presence is..."
"...He has amnesia." The fallen angel lieutenant, Baraquel growled from the side. "Stop crowding around him, you oversized pigeons, and listen to what he has to say."
Michal's face was as calm as ever, but Gabriel seemed to take offense from the Fallen Angel's words.
Yasaka merely observed from the side, waiting for her moment- Even though she didn't exactly know what she was waiting for, or what she'd do once the moment arrived.
"Ahem, yes, it is as Baraquel-san says." Momon coughed to his fist. "I went to greet Azazel-san and Baraquel-san, as my maids mistakenly took your, umu, group to be intruders…"
Michael nodded his head, almost as if everything was making sense to him.
'Granted, the Fallen and the Heavens have been at each other's throats so it wouldn't surprise me if the followers of that deity took offense from the Fallen walking on his ground…' Yasaka followed Michale's trail of thoughts which showed clear on the arch-angel's otherwise impassioned face. Unfortunately for the angel, Yasaka saw beyond such a simple mask. Her dealings with the Youkai underworld and it's intricate web of politics, rivalries and grudges had taught her as much- Although the fact she could only see confusion, resignation and occasional spikes of panic from Momon worried her somewhat.
'Hm, those sudden 'twitches' are a bit concerning… Don't tell me, the god of heavens has lost his sanity ever since his disappearance? Or perhaps that's just him trying to cope with the stress of the situation…' Yasaka could relate to the young man-looking deity's plight, as she had her share of stresses from trying to perform the role of a negotiator and peace-maker between rival Youkai factions.
However, she was glad to see that the deity was trying to be a mediator, as the fact he had gone to meet the Fallen, and from what Yasaka's scouts had told her, the young man-looking God had arrived in the presence of devils.
In other words, the meeting was indeed at least an attempt to forge peace between the three factions, perhaps permanently.
'Hm, how fortunate. I suppose that'd also explain why I was asked to be here personally, since if mere tengu diplomats had been here, witnessing such an union, then that could be taken as an insult towards the Three Factions for failing to send appropriate representatives to a faction meeting.' Yasaka nodded appreciatively to Sirzechs's direction, thanking the Maou for inviting her directly as it prevented a two-sided embarrassment- Both from the Three Factions failing to inform the Shinto about what was happening on the land they had leased, and the Shinto faction from failing to provide adequate envoys to the event that was unfolding.
It seemed, however, that Sirzechs took the motion to mean something else than what Yasaka had intended it to be as the Maou nodded back with severe expression on his face, breathed out while closing his eyes like if he prepared himself for a fight, steadied himself, opened his eyes with steel-hard determination in them, and finally slammed his hand against the table before standing up from his seat.
"Michal-san! Azazel-san! Do not be fooled- For Momon is not God-ow, but… Hastur himself, seeking to divide and torment us!" Sirzechs struck a pose, pointing his finger at Momon who blinked. "Do not be fooled by his act- Yasaka-san! You have sent the scion of Yatagarasu to follow him, you know what he has done to the Underworld! Testify with me! This is our time to strike, before he can-"
Yasaka blinked in confusion over Sirzech's sudden and nonsensical speech, but the speech came to an abrupt end as something lurched and the invisible detection-ward she had put up to detect high-energy spikes broke from overloading.
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The Overlord General opened his arms.
The skeletal figure with crooked skull, clad in black robe arranged into vague semblance of cloth armor 'breathed out', mimicking the theatrics it instinctively knew it's master favored.
The massive casting circle of the super-tier spell shrunk suddenly as it's cast time concluded, and the cat-eared woman dove out of the way, which incidentally broke the illusion which had both concealed the power's ritual from view, and it's rising energy from wards and other observation methods of mystical nature.
But that was of little matter.
"It is time… Super-tier spell, [Iä Shub-Niggurath]! The Bounty of the The Black Goat with a Thousand Young!!"
The mountainside overlooking city of Kuoh burst with a wave of black energy that flew down like a sudden avalanche of darkness, covering the battleforces that had converged below.
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A mollusk-like shape emerged from the deep dark of the pacific ocean, causing the very water in the Being's presence to turn heavy and unnatural.
An American aircraft supercarrier, which had been nearby, sank to the bottom of the deep dark instantly, as did it's escort-ships as the water on which's buoyancy the battlefleet relied on turned first into heavy water, and then to dark, slick ink-like substance that would suspend nothing, but devour everything.
The instant deaths of thousands was utterly ignored by the creature as it's squid-like 'head' broke the water's surface…
Indeed.
The Deep One, the Great Dreamer had Woken… Too soon.
The sun was still young, the earth was still in its infancy. The planets themselves were not aligned, and the cycle was not yet complete.
The Deep One gazed above into the stars and beyond, having risen from the deep void below, through the crust of reality and into the existence of materia, past the pretending guardian's gaze that sought feebly to protect the existence against theirpassing.
Or rather, it was the delusion the dragon in the kaleidoscopic fake void had, for in reality the Beings cared not for the creature's efforts to hold them back, but rather they had not focused their gaze on the world the dragon protected, only glimpsing the world in the passing and the dragon of the Interdimensional Gap had taken the passing of the Being's gaze as it's victory.
A surge of power came from a direction, and the Deep One turned it's milky, unseeing eyes away from the stars and instead looked into the direction of the power, turning it's body as well as it had risen to surface of the deep, dark sea but was still submerged up to it's waist.
The True Being remembered the annoying, repeated commotion that had woken IT. It remembered the energy the annoying creature had given off, and the source of power felt familiar, but not quite.
The True Being remembered a sticky white substance that had stuck to it's facial tentacles when it had woken and had risen through the deep black void, where the commotion had taken place.
A gigantic vein pulsed in the molluscoid creature's 'temple'.
Cthulu took a 'step' towards the source of the familiar, annoying energy.
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