บท 10: Playing the Devil
After they returned home, Tiamat took Issei to his room to interrogate him.
"Okay, dear husband, care to tell me your plan?" Her eyes certainly weren't asking a question.
"Fine! Fine! I'll tell you everything!" If possible, Issei wanted his plan to remain a secret, but he didn't want to upset Tiamat too much, especially right now when its only been a few days since her arrival. "First, that male devil is irrelevant, ignore him. Well, maybe he'll have some political benefits in the future. Anyway, the main target was the silver haired woman."
"You mean Grayfia Lucifuge? Why would you go after the strongest queen?"
"Not go after her, make her come after me. If I accept Riser's duel, do you think I would lose?"
"Not a chance." Tiamat scoffed.
"That's right. Right now, the most important thing that matters to the most important person in the Underworld is Rias Gremory's engagement. Sirzechs Lucifer, former Gremory, will do anything he can to make his sister happy. A full fledged siscon in real life."
"I know. I don't understand how a man like that attained such power."
"The problem that lies in his path however, is that if he interferes directly, the old satan faction will gain support and incentive to trigger a civil war within the devil community. As much as he loves his sister, he will try to avoid that until the last second."
Tiamat was starting to put the pieces together.
"I see. So, what you're saying is..."
"That's right. Me accepting a duel with Riser Phenex is a blessing in disguise for Lucifer. I am the Red Dragon Emperor. I have no doubt he can somehow use Riser's defeat to null the engagement. In other words, Sirzechs Lucifer will benefit from me accepting the duel." Issei had a cheeky smile on his face.
Tiamat threw her head on Issei's shoulder.
"Hah...You're a crafty one. He will do anything to make sure you don't reject this proposal. And he'll probably send his queen as the middlewoman."
Issei hugged her back, "Now, all thats left to see is how many favors I'll be able to extract."
Tiamat wanted to know exactly what favors he wanted to make this plan in the first place, but she decided to not ask.
The doorbell rang, and both of them knew who it was.
"That was...a bit faster than I expected." Issei spoke.
"It helps that Miki-san and the fallen aren't home." The blue dragon said as they made their way downstairs.
They weren't in a hurry, so the guest had to wait at the door for a minute. They didn't however, dare to press the doorbell again.
Once the door opened, the maid greeted the duo.
"Sorry for disturbing you so suddenly, Issei Hyoudou-sama and Tiamat-sama. I have come on behalf of the ruler of Underworld, Sirzechs Lucifer as his queen and messenger." No signs of nervousness could be seen in Grayfia's posture, testament to her professionalism.
"We meet again, Grayfia." Issei purposely called her without any honorific. It wasn't a way to look down on a maid, he was just preparing for the inevitable future.
When Tiamat looked at his expression, she understood what one of those favors was going to be. She had always been good at reading people after all.
"I'm sure Lucifer would like to meet me in person, so lets not waste time here and head straight to the Underworld. You don't mind if Tiamat comes with me, do you?"
That sentence told Grayfia that Issei was going to move at his own pace, "...No, by all means."
She activated a special teleportation circle around them to take them directly to her master's office.
Sitting on a chair behind the desk was Sirzechs Lucifer, with his wife, Valina Leviathan, a descendant of the original Leviathan. She had long straight red hair and a petite body, with a few bangs covering her forehead. She was taller than her husband, but her figure prevented that from showing too much. While Valina had the name, she was lacking in demonic power, which led to Serafall having no problems in taking up one of the Satan's spot.
Noticing her presence, Issei's plans were slightly altered.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Hyoudou-san. I've been looking forward to this meeting ever since you revealed your identity to Sona Sitri." Sirzechs stood up to greet them. "And of course, Tiamat-san as well, welcome to the Underworld."
"Not my first time." Tiamat answered nonchalantly.
Grayfia walked over to the desk to stand behind Sirzechs.
"So we finally meet, Lucifer. I've also been looking forward to this meeting." There were chairs to which they were guided by Sirzechs' gesture, indicating that this wasn't a public-formal meeting.
"This is my wife, Valina Leviathan."
"I offer you my humble greetings." Valina took a deep bow. But by no means was it accompanied by any sort of fear.
Issei answered her with a nod.
"You probably want to know why I didn't accept Riser's offer immediately." He pretended to play back and forth.
Tiamat stood behind Issei instead of taking a seat herself, displaying that he wasn't alone here.
"I can't imagine their being any drawbacks to you accepting that proposal. Riser Phenex made a foolish move, one that naturally, I regret not being able to prevent. But it was made and is inevitable that he can't take it back." Sirzechs in return pretended he didn't have power over other devils.
"There may not be drawbacks to accepting, but there are advantages to rejecting. Am I right, Lucifer?" Issei smiled like a Dragon.
"That's...I wonder what you mean by that." Sirzechs continued the farce, but Issei ended it with his next statement.
"Let's cut to the chase. I really don't give a shit about your family matters. It was a coincidence that this opportunity presented itself to me, and I decided to take it. By accepting and humiliating Riser Phenex, I can help you get your little sister the gift she wants without a war." His eyes had turned into that of a True Dragon's, scaring everyone in the room except Tiamat.
The devils did their best to not show their surprise. But brows of sweat could be seen on all 3.
"I can see that despite being young, you're smart man. Very well, what do you want from me, Sirzechs Lucifer, the King of Devils and Ruler of the Underworld."
Issei held up 3 fingers.
"Three?" The red haired man asked.
"Three favors. A single favor from you would be worth a lot, and I want three of them." and the Dragon replied
Sirzechs was about to bargain, but he was sent a small shock from his wife. He glanced at her and got what she was trying to say.
Valina always had a good hunch in these situations. And right now, her hunch was telling her that in order to 'save' Rias, they can't play games with the man in front of them.
Issei Hyoudou was giving her an eerie feeling that she had never gotten in her lifetime. Her gut was telling her that this man had a certain conviction and determination, combined with a knack for getting what he wants, and therefore he can't be underestimated.
"Fine, three favors it is." Sirzehcs agreed to Issei's offer. The look on his face was asking if he was going to cash in these favors right now or save them for later.
"Looks like we have a deal. You can tell the phenex that he and I will fight in 10 days' time, one on one, with the winner taking whatever he proposed."
Valina and Grayfia thought it funny that Riser had made a bet in which Tiamat, one of the Great Dragon Kings was collateral.
"As for the favors, I think I'll call in one right now, and save the other two for my future needs." Issei had a sinister smile on his face. "First, I need to tell you that I plan on creating a Dragon Faction."
The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.
"...I see. I must tell you that that is no feeble ambition. Especially for a-"
"Don't worry about how I'll accomplish it." Issei interrupted Sirzechs. "My first favor will be to grant you the opportunity to be the first faction to form a friendly relationship with us. Give me Kuoh, and any other territories the Devils hold in the country of Japan. In addition to that, I want the land where the Great Dragon King turned Devil, Tannin resides. That is my first favor."
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