Capítulo 80: Chapter 80: But the foundations start to shake
Tone's going to Overlord for a while
Tannin grumbled as a massive tail hit him in the chest, causing him to fly miles in the kaleidoscope-like void until he finally managed to stabilize himself.
"Red! Listen to me, you overgrown wyvern with peanuts for brains!" Tannin roared in frustration as the massive dragon seemed to be more interested in causing massive explosions and wasn't paying attention to the devilfied-dragon, outside breathing fire on it once in an almost mocking manner.
Indeed, the fire had burned the dragonfruits that Tannin had brought as a mid-battle snack, which basically told Tannin how much the Great Red thought of dragons who were dependent on such a trifle.
Indeed, the massive dragon disappeared into a shimmering portal within the kaleidoscopic void, only to reappear elsewhere and cause a massive explosion as the portals collapsed on the non-existence meeting existence.
"Grrr- Hal! What did you do to that Issei-boy!" Tannin's roar was utterly ignored by the massive dragon that seemed more interested in floating off in a cascade of explosions and fire while he put a pair of cool-looking dragon-sized sunglasses on its face.
Tannin couldn't deny that he found the whole spectacle quite beautiful, but he knew he had a mission for which he had come. And it seemed that barking at the Great Red wasn't enough to draw its attention.
So, Tannin flew towards the Great Red, put his hands together while forming a two-handed finger-gun… and stuffed the 'barrel' up the massive dragon's butt.
The Great Red paused, scandalized, and then sent Tannin a baleful gaze.
Tannin huffed fire. "Got your attention, huh?"
And so the battle began.
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'...Yet, this might complicate things…' 'Lord Phenix' thought, or rather the Overlord Wiseman thought, as he arrived at the Dragonfruit farm in order to see his host body's two remaining sons.
The Dragonfruit was a fruit that most underworld's dragons needed in order to sustain themselves, yet the fruit's natural habitats had been destroyed in the civil war that had ravaged the Underworld. This, combined with the power of dragons, had caused quite bit of strife between the dragons and devils and would have lead to a second war if it wasn't for a dragon named Tannin.
Tannin, who decided to undergo partial devilification in order to turn himself to a bridge between the two races, had set up a dragonfruit farm in a safe forest-basin shielded by a vast range of mountains in the Underworld that would later be known as 'Dragon Mountains'.
Of course, the devils wouldn't be happy with a dragon merely claiming a piece of territory, so Tannin had first acquired the rank of 'ultimate-class' devil in the Rating Games, which in turn entitled him to a piece of land- And that way the dragon's decision to claim the mountain range would fly under the radar of the devils, as most of them had merely dismissed the location as worthless.
Yet, the location was one of the last ones where the dragonfruit grew. And when the knowledge of the strategic resource's resurfacing reached the devils, the fact Tannin had acquired the rank of 'Ultimate' allowed devils some ease of mind as a 'honorable devil' was technically in charge of the vital resource while the lizardman-like dragons of the Underworld regained access to the fruit.
The territories surrounding the mountain-range were more or less off-limits for regular devils afterwards as per Tannin's orders, but since the dragons felt uncomfortable being more or less segregated into a single spot, there were multiple deals made with devils in order to secure logistics for dragonfruit throughout the Underworld.
That deal which usually started with devils of Phenix clan going to the farm in order to buy the fruits, a job that fell to Phenix due to their immunity to dragonfire (and in turn resistance to the lethal side-effects of the dragon's short temper), and then divided them to various other families responsible for further transporting the fruit.
The Overlord Wiseman knew as much from the memories his master had entrusted to him, while also giving him much needed knowledge on how to properly greet, meet and bypass the various defences the dragons had erected.
Indeed, 'Lord Phenix', or rather the original devil had been quite well acquainted with Tannin. Not quite friends due to their different status and ideals, but at least capable of being in the same room for extended periods of time without tearing each other to bacon strips. Which was quite good, as far as devil-dragon diplomacy went.
Indeed, it had been one of the major reasons why Tannin had accepted Lady Phenix's request to shield her two sons, although the fact the dragons had also acquired two hostages to the dragons was a good bonus. Of course, 'Lord Phenix' knew Tannin wouldn't use the hostages if the situation required as the dragon had a code of honor, but the rest of the devils who had less contact with the dragons probably wouldn't know that.
'Hm… Indeed… Master told me that the two Phenix heirs could pose a problem for him if I were to die… After all, it would make one of those two sons the 'master of the family' if I were to perish, since 'Lord Phenix' no longer has a wife who could held to the title until one of the heirs came of age.' The disguised Overlord Wiseman nodded. 'Hm, doing this without most of my abilities could be quite difficult, but I should be able to do it…'
The memories of the man who had been once known as Mengelsk Phenix, or 'Lord Phenix' warred against everything he was about to do, but the undead immunity to external mental effects kept the being that was the Overlord Wiseman from being deterred from its goal.
The dragons who guarded the lands kept sending the Overlord Wiseman suspicious, borderline glances and sniffed the air after his passing, but nonetheless allowed him to enter due to 'his' status… even if the level of hostility the dragons showed was atypical of the normal visits the Lord had made.
"Hm…" The Overlord Wiseman walked along a path made by wooden stakes hammered into the side of a mountain which led to a fortress-like building that had been constructed into the stone, a building that served mostly as storage, trading post and as a guest-house that was overlooking the forest-basin growing dragonfruit.
The disguised undead narrowed its eyes as it spotted a pair of people it hadn't expected, and seemed to be mingling in a courtyard of sorts almost as if they were eating outside and enjoying the mountain air.
"...And then the guy goes 'my dick is smaller than yours' and gets a smith to forge a katana as long as a washing pole to prove it!" Souji Okita slapped his hand on his thigh, almost as if he was telling a joke of some kind to the three people present.
Indeed, the second person was McGregor Mathers, while the third and fourth were Lord Phenix's two remaining sons- Ruval, who was already a grown man and was in fact the oldest of the sons, and Lord Phenix's youngest whose name the undead creature masquerading as the lord wouldn't bother even bringing from the stolen memories due to the boy's weakness.
At the same time Ruval was quite a high-ranking devil in the Rating Games, which in turn made the lesser of the two sons all the more insignificant to the Overlord Wiseman's analysis.
"Lord Phenix. A pleasure." Mathers seemed to notice the undead creature's approach first and rose from his stone-seat to bow at the 'devil'. "Your visit was not announced- Is everything alright?"
The undead servant of the Supreme Being could tell that the Bishop was a bit high-strung. "Please, sit. I did not want my presence announced. After all, I merely came here to see my sons and didn't want any of the noble dragons to pause their work for unnecessary sermons and whatnot."
"Ohey! I was just talking about buncha ye oldie stuff to yer kids!" Souji brought a drinking gourd on his lips and took a deep swig as the four were sitting around a stone table and drinking tea and liquor. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"I could ask the same… I was not informed that Sirzechs-sama had sent his Peerage here as well. After all, moving the dragonfruit is a task entrusted to the Phenix…" The Overlord Wiseman used his dryest voice, causing the cloth-clad samurai to shrug.
"We were sent here to help guard yer kids." Souji informed. "Speakinowhich…. Heyyy Ruval! Wanna swig?"
"I'm good, thank you, Souji-sama." Ruval turned down the offer courteously. "Father, I am glad to see you… But are you alright? I have heard such appalling rumors…"
"Indeed. And I fear most of them may be true." 'Lord Phenix' nodded his head. "You have lost a brother, as you are aware, yet you may not be aware that you have gained another. Adopted one."
"I see… Who is he?"
"One who goes by the name of... Momon." The Overlord Wiseman had to bite its fleshy tongue in order to not slip the true name- After all, everyone present but itself would be dead soon, and the chance to see the terror in the fleshy creature's faces would be quite amusing. Yet, it would also compromise the mission and his lord, should any of them escape, so the Overlord Wiseman hold himself back. "In addition after I had died, your new brother resurrected me… Yet my wife was a bit too generous in offering him a reward, when she negotiated the terms of my resurrection, and ended up contracting herself as a mistress. A temporary arrangement, I'm sure."
"That is… distressing." Ruval seemed quite shocked and turned his teacup in his hands while his brother shivered and grasped his cup of tea harder. "I am quite anxious to meet my new brother. And while I understand that this exile into these lands have been for my safety and the safety of the family, I must confess I have grown somewhat restless of late. I am sure of my strength, perhaps I am the strongest in our family, yet I am the one who is sent away when a strong foe hounds our family… This 'Supreme Being'... Yet you haven't mentioned my sister? She was captured, after all..."
"Indeed. Yet, my daughter was rescued by the same Momon. And is now his fiancee."
Ruval spat his tea out. "Ahem… Forgive me if this sounds a bit odd, but… Our new brother is fiancee to his sister and has his new mother as his mistress? I feel as if we have become part of the Olympean pantheon… Surely you jest, father?"
"It is quite unusual, certainly." 'Lord Phenix' nodded as he pulled a stone chair back so he could take a seat as well. "Where is Tannin-sama? He usually smells me a mile away and comes to… greet me when I visit."
"He's off, hm, on a secret mission." Souji whispered conspiratorially while leaning to the side in a drunken manner. "But I imagine he'll be back soon. Ish."
'Oh? I figured that trying to figure out how to deal with Tannin would be the hardest part of this mission…' The Overlord Wiseman bowed mentally at the Supreme Being's foresight. 'With him out of the way… This should be a fairly simple affair, even if I can't use my abilities...'
"Hm… I feel malice." Mathers muttered under his breath while the trench-coat wearing creep swayed back and forth. "Deep malice."
"What is it? The Supreme Dork or its lackeys?" Souji leaned forward, shedding his drunken state like how a duck might shed water from its back.
'...The Supreme… Dork?'
'The Supreme Dork?'
'Dork? Supreme Dork? SUPREME DORK?'
Ruval's eyes widened as dark miasma exploded all over the courtyard, followed by the man's eyes growing hazy and unfocused as the [Aura of Despair: IV] hit and caused [Insanity] debuff on the devil.
His brother let a shrill scream while clawing at his own eyes, tearing them out of their constantly-regenerating sockets.
Souji fell over from his chair, shocked, while Mathers instantly raised a shield of some sort in the Overlord Wiseman's direction.
It proved futile as the [Call Greater Thunder] struck from clear skies above, electrocuting the man and causing the shield to wane alongside his concentration.
The dark miasma of [Black Halo] exploded outwards while the ground turned black under its corrupting aura, and from the ichor-saturated soil rose the dark forms of Death Knights the Overlord Wiseman instinctively knew its Master favored.
Silver-like blade turned air into a web of thin, needle-like lights as the tip of Souji's blade struck hundreds of times in mere seconds, tearing the death knights to shreds before the summons could do so much as take a step…
But that too fell to the Overlord Wiseman's strategy as [Emotion Suppression] finally caught up to its rage and allowed it to forge a path to victory.
Indeed, while Souji had been busy killing the summons, the Overlord Wiseman extended his arm towards the samurai, ignoring how he lost all of his fingers and then the whole arm as the flashing blade danced closer to him, reducing his Health at alarming rate despite dealing damage the type of which the Overlord was most resistant to. "[True Death]"
Souji stumbled mid-swing as his skin paled and he fell to his knees… Yet he was still alive.
"[Call Grea-ngh." The next spell was interrupted as Mathers cast a circle in the air that sent a wave of pure white energy at the Overlord Wiseman, gouging a sizable chunk of his health and causing him to almost disappear, if it wasn't for the Overlord Wiseman casting a wordless [Hold Species] on the not-priest and causing him to stumble and cease his spell. 'Holy damage, of all things, from a devil? As expected from someone hailed as the strongest magician…'
Yet the spell wasn't quite enough as a Death Cavalier charged from the ichor, fully formed and mid-charge upon the moment of its realization, and ran the immobilized magic caster through the back with its lance.
"Mather- Grrr!" Souji flew back as a fireball hit his blocking blade, opening distance between the undead magic caster and the swordsman while the Overlord used the Death Cavalier's charge to push Mathers closer to him- The swordsman would be strongest up close, while the magician was strongest at range so the undead being reversed the two's positions.
The Overlord Wiseman dodged a wild swing as Ruval was attacking randomly, wreathing the whole courtyard in fire in an attempt to fight off some invisible foe that his [Insanity] had conjured for him.
Yet the fire was of concern as the undead had natural weakness to it. Indeed, the storm of flames had spilled over and set the forest before them alight and more importantly scorched the Death Cavalier back to black mist it had formed from.
Indeed, the flames scorched the fleshy body that covered the Overlord Wiseman and caused the flesh to melt to a barely-holding slurry that was nightmarish to behold.
The no-longer disguised Overlord activated its [Negative Energy Touch] as Mathers was close enough to grasp, yet the priest showed surprising speed and agility by dodging the grasp and in turn grabbing his burnt, blackened and attempting to put it into some sort of hold.
However, that hold was enough to trigger the [Negative Energy Touch], driving fatal amounts of negative energy into the devil that hadn't expected the sudden attack, causing him to collapse into a barely-living mess of cracked skin and twisted, corrupted muscle.
A soul-chilling scream echoed in the mountains as the pile of flesh screamed in pain.
"Dammit, Mathers… You… damn creep! Don't die on me!" Souji charged while the exchange was taking place and managed to almost get within striking range… Only for a whip of flame to wrack the man's back and cause him to stumble. "Ruval! Stop attacking me you brat!"
"Get away… GET AWAY FROM ME!" The Phenix heir's babbling was utterly insane, however, and it seemed that managing to land a hit on something fleshy fed into his paranoia and Ruval kept attacking the Knight.
"Dammit- You better regenerate from this!" The samurai's blade danced once again, causing severed limbs to fly in every direction as he turned Ruval from perfectly healthy if insane man to a four-limb amputee in a flash of steel.
"Ghyaaa!"
Ruval's scream was joined by Souji as the Overlord Wiseman used the distraction to cast [Vermillion Nova] as he needed to finish the fight quickly, before the dragons guarding the mountains could investigate the ruckus.
"Hrrrgh… Mathers!" Souji seemed to stumble back on his feel, albeit at great difficulty, and the Overlord Wiseman used the time to finish off weakened Mathers with a [True Death].
The Overlord Wiseman noted that two chess-pieces the Lord Phenix's memories told were Evil Pieces popped from Mather's dead corpse, yet neither of the pieces looked magically active- Indeed, they were but normal chess pieces.
"Hrr… Fine… I guess… Sorry, old man… I guess I'll have to go all out… Just this once…" Souji's voice turned into a low, grumbling roar with the last words as he saw the death of his fellow Peerage member.
Overlord Wiseman extended his hand towards the swordsman as the samurai's body burst into fire from within, cracking his skin and turning it blackened like tar.
A pair of youkai-like horns extended from his head while his body bulged, as if there was something under the molten skin wanting to escape… and then it burst forth in a dark miasma that was covered in blades and sharp beaks. The darkness formed into a swarm of youkai that the samurai released from within, hell-bent on tearing the undead attacker into shreds.
'Hm… It was rumored that Souji's true nature was that of a Youkai…' The Overlord Wiseman extended its [Black Halo] as much as it could- Yet, he knew that his master had picked the Overlord-class servant to summon specifically so that he'd hard-counter the two that now stood before him.
Indeed, the [Aura of Despair] affected the Youkai as well- And while Souji managed to resist it, his beasts did not. And the youkai crows, tengus and other monsters fell upon each other in a reckless, insane and frothing melee that made a beautiful backdrop to the burning stone building and the forest of dragonfruit that Ruval's rampage had set aflame.
It was poetic, in a way, as Souji's flame-clad back was towards the Overlord Wiseman while his blade was on his shoulder and the fanged, horned humanoid creature looked at the burning forest.
"So- This is the end…" The creature's voice was rumbly, but whatever point it was trying to make was lost as the Overlord Wiseman cast a bolt of ice at its exposed back, taking advantage of his theatherics to deliver a sneak attack.
The youkai swung around, cutting the ice bolt mid-flight, but couldn't stop the [Hold Species] that followed and caused the transformed samurai to stumble over as the momentum from the swing knocked him off his paralyzed feet.
The Overlord Wiseman didn't have many daily summons left, but he hoped that the last two Death Knights he summoned from the corrupted tar would be enough.
The two knights took position and started stabbing their blades into the downed, weakened and paralyzed samurai.
It was almost music, in a way, as the blades kept stabbing into the flesh and pulling out in rhythmic motion while the demonic creature's gurgles and rumbles turned to whine and finally to silence.
'Haa… Part one, complete.' The Overlord Wiseman glanced over at its missing arm, knowing that while he had only managed to take a few hits, most of them were quite serious and the only reason he had managed to fight the two as well as he had was due to the sudden nature of his attack.
"[True Death]" A single cast was enough to end Ruval's rampage, causing the man's erratic flame-attacks to halt and him to fall to the flames of his own creation- Flames that shouldn't hurt the phoenix, but the dead body was phoenix no longer and so the hell-flames climbed on the body like hungry predators.
"[Death]" The boy who had been sobbing and tearing his own eyes while curled to a fetal position became still, his features eternally frozen to that of horror.
'Haa- I have triumphed… But in the end, I lost control… Or did I? Was this all part of your plan? Did you plan my summoning so that I would best counter these two? Have I failed you or not, master…' The Overlord Wiseman looked into the darkness, desecrated earth, flame-engulfed forest and finally to his own sole remaining burnt and bony hand. And then he wondered about the grand underlying reason why the Supreme Being had entrusted a healing potion to him. 'My Lord said that I should use this if my 'host' stopped living, in order to re-apply my disguise… Does that mean he intended this to happen? There's no way this was coincidental…'
The Overlord Wiseman nodded as its master's plan within the plan revealed itself to it. 'I announced my presence to the gatekeepers… I planned on pinning the assassination to Tannin and killing him as 'revenge', which would keep him from blabbering. The Noble Families would instantly believe my word as 'pure-blood devil' over those of the dragons or dragon-devils… But with this development…'
The bony hand clenched into a fist. 'In order to amend my mistake… They must all die.'
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Tannin hobbled out of the Interdimensional Gap, burnt all over and covered in gashes, slashes, with a massive hole in one of his wings and missing one of his horns. 'Damn… That was a good fight… I'll just need to get this info to Sirzechs- I knew I should have squashed that brat the moment I smelled him…'
The lizardman-shaped dragon took a few stumbling steps forward and then fell face-down into the sand-garden of his home in the Dragon Mountains, burying his snout a foot deep into the pleasantly cool sand.
Or rather, what should have been pleasantly cool sand, but instead was corrupted, foul ichor that invaded the dragon's nostrils.
"What?!" Tannin's head shot up, and then he saw the burning forest of dragonfruit and the smell of death invaded his nostrils.
The dragon's mouth fell open as the creature shot to its feet… and then the wail that had escaped its maw turned to a roar of insatiable rage. "WHO DARES?! WHOOOOOOOOO?!"
A spike of ice hit the dragon's back, causing the weakened dragon to stumble.
"Who- You." The dragon saw the burned, broken body that stood in the roof of the Blaze Meteor Dragon's home.
Indeed, the broken and burned undead body of Lord Phenix pointed its finger at Tannin. It seemed that the undead was not in the mood for talking, however, as a huge ball of lightning descended from the sky, hitting the weakened dragon and forcing him on his knees.
'Dammit- That undead bastard sent his servant… I see now- It infiltrated the Phenix house under Sirzechs's nose, seen but unseen, and spread its talons within the Underworld while uniting them under his banner against an enemy it created for itself to face…' Tannin saw the pieces on the table joining together, and was no fool. Nor had he buried his face in the sand when the rumors of 'True God' began to resurface.
The dragon let a defiant roar even as it knew it wouldn't win this fight- The undead creature was weakened, that much was certain, but the Blaze Meteor Dragon had dueled the Great Red, his body was battered and broken, and he had lost his dragonfruit which he could have used to recover.
The undead raised its hand as Tannin readied himself to breath fire with all his remaining might… and stumbled forward as a sword pierced his back.
He glanced down, seeing the flames that leaked through the wound in his stomach, and the blade of the corrupted katana which had broken his scaly skin like it was butter.
Tannin fell on his knees… and looked to the side to see an undead, corrupted and puppet-like youkai-body that vaguely resembled Souji Okitta.
The undead swordsman lifted its blade, as if it was overseeing a harakiri…
And Tannin's severed head fell to the ichor-filled sand.
.
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Roughly a hour later the sky of Dragon Mountains was pitch black with the smoke of burning trees, clouding the stars of the night, and air was deathly cold while only undead dragons roamed within.
And then the undead monster among the undead dragons pulled out a vial of red liquid, and poured it on the scraps of flesh still clinging to its charred bones.
'And lo, the trap within the trap is set… Waiting for the flies to come.'
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Sirzechs Lucifer sighed as he put another stack of papers to the side after signing the bunch. Within were orders, coordinates and regimental names that Asmodeous had arranged in preparation for the mobilization of the Underworld's now-assembled army. Or what constituted an army, anyway, as the after-effects of the civil war still lingered in the numbers they could muster for war.
"...Here, Lucifer-sama." A maid put a cup of tea in front of the stressed Maou.
"Thank you, Grayfia…" Sirzechs took the cup gratefully and drank from it with slow, deliberate sips while his wife and Queen stood by his side. The woman was still in her maid-persona that made her quite cute, even if she would likely frown and grumble if Sirzechs told her that. "Have you heard about Beelzebub?"
"He's awakening the monsters in his lab, just in case they are needed." Grayfia noted. "Serafall-sama is preparing for the peace conference and is currently in dialogue with Heavens… W-what?"
Sirzechs paused as well, shocked and almost unable to comprehend what he was seeing.
Indeed, there were two Knight pieces in front of him on the table, almost as if they had appeared out of thin air.
Indeed, the Pieces had returned to their King, as was normal for the Evil Pieces whose user had died.
Which, in turn, let Sirzechs Lucifer know that Souji Okita had died.
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