章 16: Chapter 16
Chapter 16:
Marcus was sitting on his bed inspecting the new smartphone his mother had given him a few minutes ago. It was an upgrade over the last model. It had the ability to establish communication with Heaven even if he was in the Underworld. Gabriel told him vehemently not to break this one because it was incredibly expensive to create and utilized Heavenly technology that was classified to all but the Archangels. Marcus wanted to crack it open and take a peek inside but figured that would probably just get him in more trouble.
Ring Ring Ring!
Someone was already calling him.
He didn't know who it was since he had lost his whole list of contacts with his old phone. No, he didn't bother memorizing people's numbers…no one did that anymore.
"New phone, who dis?" Marcus asked with a chuckle.
"Hi, Marcus… It's Artemis." the first girl he had ever gone on a date said on the other end of the line.
Marcus felt a small wave of guilt pass over him before he stamped it down. "Hey, Artemis. It's great to hear from you. I'm sorry our last conversation didn't go very well."
Artemis snorted. "That's one way to put it. I was ready to put an arrow in your eye when you told me you had two other girlfriends. Not that I'm not still mad at you…" she added at the end. She didn't sound nearly as upset as Marcus was expecting her to be. Perhaps Jade–Cheshire–had been correct when she told him that Artemis would eventually forgive him?
"Even if you're still mad at me, it's good to hear from you Artemis. It hasn't been a great day for me." Marcus said. It was nice just to hear her voice. His feelings for his first–sort of–girlfriend hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"What happened?" Artemis asked in concern.
The Vatican was attacked by an Army of Devils and a rogue branch of the US government. A bunch of people along with the Pope are dead. The Church and Heaven are basically at Defcon One. I'm not sure what my Grandfather is planning, but I'm going to be very busy in the next few hours."
Artemis sputtered loudly in shock. Marcus had to pull the phone a few inches away from his ear. "W–What! The Pope is dead!? How is this not on every single news station!? Is there about to be a Holy War!? Are the crusades coming back!?" she loudly rambled off a bunch of questions.
Marcus could hear a scuffle from the other end of the line.
"No, Jade! I don't know anymore! I'm trying to find out! And no, I'm not calling you Cheshire! It's a dumb name!" Marcus heard Artemis yell at her sister in the background. Artemis spoke to him again. "Sorry about that, Marcus. Jade is of course freaking out as well. She belongs to an…organization that's supposed to know about things like this. This is the first she's hearing about this attack as well. What's going to happen? Are you ok? Where are you?" Artemis sounded very concerned.
"I'm fine, I'm back in Gotham," Marcus explained. "A moved into a new…house." Marcus said delicately. He knew Artemis wasn't exactly well off, and he didn't want to try and come off as bragging, so he didn't want to use the word "mansion."
Artemis sighed in relief. "That's good, do you…do you want me to come visit you?" Artemis asked him. "I wanted to see if we could work things out between us. I'd also like to meet Kara and Megan, if that's possible."
Marcus took that as a good sign. It was too bad that the timing wasn't great for him. "I'm actually going to be gone for a while. I have to go on a very important mission." Marcus chose not to give her the details. He didn't want her spending even more time worrying about him, and telling her he was storming the literal Underworld to rescue his little sister figure would definitely make her worry. Regardless, Artemis was very smart, so she probably knew that something was up anyway. "Can we meet up when I get back?" Marcus asked.
Artemis paused for a moment. "Ok, it'll be a d–date." she said before she quickly hung up on him. Marcus smiled to himself. Even though he couldn't see her, he could still imagine Artemis's cute blushing face.
It put him in a much better mood for what was to come later.
There was a knock on his bedroom door before his mother entered the room. "Are you about ready, Marcus?" Gabriel asked him.
Marcus nodded. Was he ready to storm the underworld and rescue Asia?
Absolutely!
Although, it would be more along the lines of sneaking rather than storming…
"Is grandfather planning anything for today?" Marcus asked his mother. There was no way Big G was going to take such a blatant attack on the Vatican without any form of retaliation on the Underworld.
…An Underworld that still didn't know he had returned either.
Gabriel smiled at her son. "Father is always planning for something, if you're asking about whether or not I'm aware of his plans, then the answer is no. I'm sure everything will turn out for the best though." she explained to him.
Marcus nodded in understanding. "So, what's your plan, mom?" he asked her.
Gabriel grinned mischievously before she explained the plan she had in store for Diodora's birthday party.
…
Rias Gremory was annoyed. She always hated attending 'High Class' parties like this one. It's not that she hated the party itself, she actually loved parties. She just hated the majority of people in attendance.
"Hello, Heiress Gremory. You look absolutely radiant this evening." a male High Class Devil, whose name she didn't bother remembering, walked up and spoke to her. He didn't hesitate to blatant eye-fuck her like she was nothing more than a piece of meat.
Rias clicked her tongue in annoyance, but proper courtesy demanded that she speak to him at least for a few minutes. "Thank you, isn't this party lovely?" Rias lied. "The Astaroth Clan certainly spared no expense." she said while glancing at the decor. The ballroom was filled with decorations that were all either solid gold or made of rare gemstones. In human currency, this single party probably cost over 100 million dollars to set up.
The male Devil nodded enthusiastically. "It's a very special day for Heir Astaroth!" he informed her. "He's finally going to have a complete peerage. Apparently, he acquired someone incredibly famous to fill his final spot. No one knows who it is yet. In fact, no one outside of his clan has ever seen ANY of the members of his peerage in public."
That was supposed to change today. With his "collection" complete, Diodora was finally going to present his peerage to the Underworld.
Rias scoffed internally. She hated how most High Class Devils simply treated their peerage members as slaves or status symbols. Her Peerage was her family, she wished there were more High Class Devils who thought the same. The only two High Class Devils in her age group who treated their peerage the same were Sona and Rias's cousin Sairaorg.
Speaking of those two, they were currently walking over while speaking with a very handsome young man Rias didn't recognize. Upon seeing her cousin approach, the male Devil who she had been talking with quickly bid her adieu and scurried off. Sairaorg struck quite an intimidating figure to the majority of pompous and weak young nobles.
"Cousin! It's great to see you!" her cousin greeted her boisterously and loudly, drawing eyes from around the ballroom. He ignored all of their glares. Sairaorg didn't care at all. Rias wished she could be as strong and confident as he was someday soon. She trained herself almost everyday with her Queen Akeno, but she never seemed to get any stronger for some reason.
Rias curtsied. "Hello, Sairaorg and Sona," she greeted the two of them before turning to their new acquaintance. "Hello, I'm Rias Gremory, I don't believe we've met," she introduced herself to the handsome blond while holding out her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Gremory. My name is Marcus Light," he leaned down and politely kissed the back of her hand like a proper gentleman.
"Light? I don't believe I've heard of that family name before," Rias commented curiously. She wondered if he was a reincarnated Devil? He didn't feel like one though. The Demonic Energy naturally emanating off of him felt incredibly pure.
"Probably not, I'm not from a Noble Devil clan," Marcus told her. "The only reason I'm here at this party is because Diodora and I have a mutual acquaintance."
Rias locked eyes with Sona. Both of them had come to a silent understanding. They were under the impression that Marcus was from a Middle Class Devil family and was trying to use his connections with Diodora to move up in the world. Neither of them would hold that against him, but they were quickly losing interest in Marcus after he spoke.
That was until Sairaorg patted Marcus on the back and laughed. "Hah! Don't let this new guy fool you both. He's strong, the second I laid eyes on him I felt a shiver run down my spine. He's clearly hiding his true abilities!" Sairaorg exclaimed loud enough for people in the hall to once again turn their gazes towards Rias's group. "I would love to spar with you sometime after this fight, Marcus," Sairoaorg declared.
There was a lot of murmuring around them after that. It was no secret that Sairaorg was the strongest young Devil in the Underworld. If he declared someone was strong, then they were STRONG.
Rias was suddenly very interested in Marcus. Perhaps he would accept a spot in Peerage? If he was as strong as Sairoarg let on, then he could become a High Class Devil in only a few years. Also, Rias would love to have him in her Peerage just to piss off Riser Phenex.
She glanced off to the side and smirked at her 'fiance.' He was practically seething at Marcus from across the room. Sairaorg always made fun of Riser and called him a one trick pony. Despite that, Riser was still known to be the 'number two' of the younger generation. With Sairaorg's latest declaration however, Riser had just found himself bumped down to the 'number three' spot.
Despite the hatred in his eyes, Riser didn't come over. He was too terrified of Sairaorg to go against him anymore. In their last rating game, Sairaorg single handedly crushed Riser and his entire peerage all by himself–in less than two minutes.
Rias watched that Rating Game replay at least three times a week. It always brought a smile to her face.
"I wouldn't mind sparring against you in the future, Sairaorg," Marcus replied calmly. "I'm afraid it won't be for a while though. I'm going to be quite busy for a bit after this party."
"That's fine. There's no rush," Sairaorg told Marcus. "I think I see my Queen across the room. It was good meeting you, Marcus." he said before walking away and leaving Rias and Sona with Marcus.
"That guy is certainly interesting," Marcus chuckled. "The second I arrived at this party he immediately singled me out."
Rias chuckled as well. "Sorry about my cousin. He has some kind of sixth sense for sniffing out strong opponents. He means well, but he really does love fighting," she explained to him.
"It's no big deal." Marcus waved her off. "I know someone like that as well." he said before there was a small awkward pause in their conversation. Rias had a specific question on the tip of her tongue.
Annoyingly, Sona decided to beat her to the punch!
"Would you like to join my Peerage, Marcus-san?" Sona asked him out of nowhere. She had been completely silent up until then.
…
A few minutes earlier…
Marcus was surprised at how well his infiltration into the Underworld had been going so far. He glanced down at the watch he was wearing on his left wrist. It wasn't actually a watch–well, it was–but it was also a secret infiltration device created by Azazel. Marcus's Grandfather had commissioned it specifically for him a week ago.
Marcus had a wry smile on his face when he thought about that fact. 'Somehow, Grandfather knew I was going to need something like this. Did he foresee everything happening this way?' Marcus wondered to himself.
The watch was a brilliant blend of magic and technology. It completely masked not only his Sacred Gear signature, but also his Light. No one in the ballroom knew that a Nephilim was walking amongst them. The watch surrounded his body with a completely fake but extremely believable aura of Demonic Energy. To any Devil observers, he came off as a completely ordinary young Devil. Marcus glanced to the other end of the ballroom. Not even the three Maou in attendance of this party could detect what he really was. Neither Sirzechs, Serafall and even Ajuka had so much as glanced in his direction once he snuck into the party. Azazel had certainly outdone himself!
As for actually sneaking into Diodora's birthday party, that was actually the easy part. All he had to do was keep his head held high and act like he belonged as he walked into the Astaroth mansion. The security was incredibly lax. Marcus figured that was because there were three Maou's in attendance. It would take somebody crazy–or determined–to start any trouble at this party.
The room was mostly filled with the Upper echelons of Devil society, they were all gossiping amongst themselves. Marcus had been acting like a wallflower and standing in the corner since he had arrived. He was here to start some trouble of course, but he wasn't going to do that until Asia and Diodora had arrived. Neither of them had arrived at the party yet.
"Hey you!"
Marcus was lost in thought. It took him a second to realize someone was calling out to him.
'Was my cover blown?' Marcus worried. He hoped not, his mother hadn't arrived yet to provide cover for him.
"Hey you," the guy called out to Marcus a second time as he approached. "You're pretty strong aren't you. I haven't seen you around before."
Marcus sighed in relief, it looked like his cover hadn't been blown. He recognized the guy who had approached him. It was Sairaorg Bael. A Devil who was incredibly strong, but couldn't use magic. There was no way he would have been able to see through Marcus's fake Demonic Aura.
"You're pretty strong yourself. You're Sairaorg Bael right?" Marcus said.
"It seems my reputation precedes me," Sairaorg grinned. "That's right, and who are you?"
"I'm Marcus…"
…
A few minutes later…
"Would you like to join my Peerage, Marcus-san?" Sona asked Marcus and he did his best not to frown. The answer to that question, of course, was 'Hell No!' Even if she was a nicer 'Master' than most other High Class Devils, he would never willingly make himself someone else's slave…
He couldn't say any of that out loud though. There were currently more eyes on him than he was comfortable with after Sairaorg's declaration. Marcus noticed that all three of the Maou in attendance were now watching him and the two Devil Princesses as well. Marcus had to remain level headed and polite.
He gave Sona his best practiced smile. "I'm honored that you would consider me for such a prestigious position. Would you mind if I gave it some thought and answered you at a later date?" he asked her.
A bit of a blush formed on Sona's cheeks. She really liked Marcus's manners and she also liked how he didn't immediately jump on her offer as well. 'A handsome man who actually thinks things through… I have to have him!' Sona thought to herself.
Next to her, Rias Gremory pouted. "I would like to offer you a spot in my Peerage as well, Marcus. I still have all of my Pawns, a Rook, a Knight, and a Bishop. You could have any position you'd like! All of my Peerage is also treated like family! There's a lot less rules and you'll definitely like my Peerage much more than Sonas!" Rias did her best to tempt him over her friend.
Sona turned to Rias and glared at her for butting in. "Hoh? I think Marcus would like my Peerage far more than yours. After all, my Peerage is full of beautiful young women while yours only has that Sadist Akeno and the glutton Koneko." Sona sent a dig at the redhead while trying to tempt Marcus at the same time.
Rias frowned, she could admit to herself that Sona's Peerage had her beat when it came to temptations like that. Thankfully, Marcus didn't seem particularly interested in Sona's offer. Rias liked that, she hated dealing with men who only thought with their lower heads–like Riser!
Even though they just met him, neither of them wanted to give him up. A blue magical aura started to form around Sona while a red aura appeared around Rias. To onlookers, it looked like they were about to throw down over him. Marcus was surprised no one was stepping in to stop the fight, but then he remembered who these two women were.
Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory were both Underworld royalty. No one besides their older siblings and parents could actually tell either of them what to do. If they started a fight in the middle of a party, nobody was going to stop them.
"Go So-tan! I'm rooting for you!" Serafall Leviathan cheered next to Sirzechs and Ajuka.
"I believe in you Ria-tan!" Sirzechs proved himself a true sis-con as well and cheered for Rias.
Marcus interrupted them both right before they started casting spells. The last thing he wanted was for them to accidentally destroy the ballroom and this party gets canceled. Diodora and Asia still hadn't shown up! "There's no need to fight," Marcus said to them both to try and calm them down. "I promise that I will seriously consider both of your offers." The auras surrounding both Devil princesses faded away.
Rias smirked and flipped her hair. "I'm fine with that, I know who you'll pick in the end," she said confidently. "I look forward to having you in my Peerage, Marcus." Rias smiled at him warmly.
Sona practically growled at Rias. "That's my line! He'll obviously be picking me. He'll obviously have a better future following me than a lazy otaku like you!"
"So what if I'm an Otaku! At least I'm not flat!" Rias replied.
"I'm not flat! I'm a B-cup! And slender girls like me happen to be more popular nowadays, I'll have you know!" Sona snarked back.
While the two of them were busy arguing, Marcus did his best to sneak away from them. He let out a sigh of relief when he made it safely back into his corner.
"You're pretty popular, aren't ya!?" A playful voice called out directly next to him.
Marcus practically jumped! He hadn't sensed anyone next to him a split second ago. He turned his head to see who had snuck up on him so easily. His heart rate skyrocketed when he saw that it was Serafall Leviathan!
"Weren't you on the other side of the room a second ago?" he asked her. "I didn't see you come over."
Serafall grinned at him. "That's because Miracle Levia-tan is super fast and powerful!" she said while striking a pose that was probably from one of this world's MANY magical girl anime. Seriously, this world had far more of them than there ever were in his past life! Marcus was pretty sure the majority of them were all directly commissioned from this woman directly.
"That's amazing, I guess I still have a long way to go before I reach your level," Marcus said.
Serafall tilted her head curiously. "Before you reach my level…" she repeated his words before she grinned at him again. "Those are some bold words! Levia-tan approves! You will make an excellent addition to So-tans Peerage when you agree to join!" she said while nodding her own head.
"I never said I was joining her Peerage, I only said I would think about it," Marcus replied. He had thought about it, and the answer was still 'Hell No!'
Serafall stopped smiling and stared at Marcus more seriously. "Are you sure about that decision, being a member of So-tan's Peerage could open a lot of doors for you," she told him. "Sairaorg vouched for your strength, but strength will only get you so far in this world." She did her best to try and change Marcus's mind. In the Underworld, proper connections were EVERYTHING. Getting promoted to High Class was almost impossible unless a Devil had connections to a member of the Pillar Clans. She'd hate to see a powerful 'Young Devil' with his kind of potential waste his life away trying and failing to rise in the ranks on his own.
Marcus was very sure of his decision. He was practically the Prince of Heaven, he would never be a Devil. "I'm sure, besides I doubt she'd even be able to reincarnate me. I doubt even you would have that kind of capability." Marcus couldn't help but brag about himself a bit.
'Now he's just being cocky…' Serafall thought to herself. Still, he had intrigued her a bit with his words. Serafall used the ability of 'The King' to see how many Evil Pieces it would take for her to properly reincarnate him into her own peerage. Marcus was emitting the subtle aura of a solid Middle Class Devil, but she was sure he was hiding his true abilities. Despite that, she doubted he would require more than 2 or three of her pawn pieces. She was the most powerful woman in the Underworld after all!
'Infinity!'
That's why she was absolutely shocked when she saw the number of pieces it would require to reincarnate him! 'Infinity…? How is that possible!? Who is this guy!? How have we never heard of someone with this kind of potential before!?' This Marcus guy was not normal!
She needed to speak with Sirzechs and Ajuka about him immediately. Before she could rush back across the ballroom to speak with them, the lights dimmed across the entire ballroom.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I apologize for the wait. I hope you have all been enjoying the party and the fine delicacies I've prepared for you all this evening. Thank you for coming to my birthday party." Diodora Astaroth appeared in the center of the ballroom from a teleportation circle. There was a blond girl of about 15 or 16 years old next to him. Serafall felt like she recognized that girl from somewhere. She couldn't point her finger on where she knew the girl from though.
Before she could think on it further, Serafall stiffened when she felt a palpable amount of killing intent emanate from right next to her! She glanced back at Marcus and noticed he was absolutely setting in rage! He was staring across the room at Diodora with murder in his eyes!
'Is he Diodora's enemy? Did he sneak into the party somehow!? Was it because of the girl?' she wondered to herself.
Marcus took a step forwards towards the center of the ballroom, his eyes still locked on his target.
Everyone's attention was currently on Diodora and the girl next to him. No one else had sensed Marcus's killing intent yet. "W–Wait… Stop!" Serafall whispered at Marcus in a panic. She needed to stop him before he did something that would get himself killed! "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Putting down a monster," Marcus replied as he kept walking forwards.
'This guy is crazy!' Serafall reached forwards to try and grab him! Before she could, a very strong hand clamped around her wrist and stopped her. Serafall's eyes widened in shock! Someone had snuck up on her of all people!?
"Now now Levi-tan. My son has some business to attend to and you will not interfere. Neither will the other two Maou. Diodora dies today!" the woman who had stopped her said in a tone Serafall had never heard from her before.
Despite it being her favorite form of address, there was only one woman who ever actually called her Levi-tan…
"What are you doing here, Gabriel?" Serfall asked the Archangel. She hated how the Archangel somehow had the power to travel practically anywhere she wanted. Even the most powerful Devil wards and barriers were never able to keep Gabriel out. "...WAIT! Did you say you son!?" Serafall hissed. "Marcus is your son…? How? He's obviously a Devil!" Serfall had clearly felt his aura earlier.
Gabriel smirked at the only female Maou. "Azazel made a nifty little device that completely changes the aura of an Angel into that of a Devil. Of course it's only cosmetic, but I have to admit that my Fallen brother did a good job if it managed to fool even you from less than two feet away," Gabriel explained how Marcus had managed to sneak into the party. Marcus was currently halfway across the room at this point. His killing intent hadn't lessened even a little bit. Other Devil's were starting to notice it at this point. They started moving out of his way as he approached Diodora–who was still too busy mingling with his party guests to notice.
Serafall was in the middle of a near-panic attack. "If your son kills Diodora then the great war will restart! Stop him, no one wants that!" She did her best to try and reason with Gabriel. She didn't know what Diodora had done to upset Marcus, but there had to be a way to work things out between the two men peacefully…right?
Gabriel glared at Serafall. "No, not this time. This time there will be blood. Diodora sent an army of stray Devils to attack the Vatican directly and kidnapped our Saintess Asia Argento. The Pope and hundreds of my Father's devout followers are dead. This will not go unanswered!" Gabriel declared and clamped her hand around Serafall's wrist even tighter.
Serafall hissed in pain, she didn't know Gabriel was capable of such an absurd amount of strength! 'Did she get even stronger since the Great War?' Serafall's instincts were warning her that fighting Gabriel meant certain death! 'Also…WHAT THE FUCK!? He attacked the Vatican and kidnapped the Saintess!' She now knew where she recognized the blond girl next to Diodora from. It was Asia Argento! The girl looked absolutely terrified and afraid. She was obviously not standing next to Diodora willingly either! Serafall was now having a full blown panic attack! She had spent hundreds of years trying to make peace so her race wouldn't go extinct and Diodora had practically thrown it all away in a single move!
She wanted to march across the room and throttle the green haired bastard herself!
…
"Thank you all for coming. I would like to present to you all my final Peerage member. I went through quite an ordeal to acquire her, but it was definitely worth it. The Saintess of the Church herself, Asia Argento!" Diodora declared and numerous gasps followed.
"The church's Saintess, you managed to get her to defect?" one of the party goers asked him in awe.
"Won't the church be mad that you've taken her?" another Devil asked nervously.
Diodora chuckled and shook his head. It's quite alright, the church will not do anything!" he declared confidently. Even if they did, he was sure his Uncle Ajuka would take care of it all for him. "Asia and I are in love. She has willingly left the church to be with me. Isn't that right, Asia?" Diodora asked her.
She was about to shake her head and tell him 'no,' but she found that she couldn't. Diodora had cast some kind of mind control spell on her. Asia's eyes temporarily clouded over and her voice spoke on its own. "That's right, I love Young Master Diodora. I willingly forsake the church and G–Go–God." Asia struggled with everything she had to stop herself from saying those words, but the mind control spell was too strong for her to resist. Tears formed in her eyes and she started crying. She couldn't believe that someone would be cruel enough to force her to say those words out loud!
Diodora smiled after she spoke. "See! Asia is so happy to be with me that she's literally crying in happiness!"
"That's amazing!"
"You're truly a man amongst men to seduce such a woman, Diodora!"
"You're a truly remarkable Devil!"
The High Class Devils around him showered him in applause and congratulations for his 'accomplishment.' Acquiring someone like Asia as his Peerage member had drastically improved his status in the Underworld! Diodora was smiling brightly. This was his best birthday ever! Putting together that army of Stray Devils had been extremely tedious and costly, but it was all worth it for this moment. In a moment, he was going to insert his final Evil Piece into Asia and he would finally have his complete set. He had waited years for this moment!
"Sacred Gear! True Longinus!" Someone yelled loudly from behind him.
Diodora wasn't even able to turn around before an unholy amount of pain exploded from his chest! He glanced down and saw a golden spear sticking out of his ribcage. He had been impaled from behind… 'by the True Longinus of all things…' Instinctively, he knew that he was already dead. His final thoughts were about how unfair the world was. His dream was ripped away right before he accomplished it.
His body turned to ash as the most powerful Sacred Gear burned him out of existence.
The entire ballroom descended into panic…
XXX
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