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61.22% New Hero in DxD / Chapter 30: Chapter 29

Chương 30: Chapter 29

"So, you want to establish a good relationship with me and mine?" Soma questioned between bites as Irina nodded, beside her Lint was stuffing her face with pizza and Mirana was still a bit terrified regarding Fred Krueger.

She was no good with terror movies it seems, but she still wanted to keep watching so there was nothing to do about it.

"Yes, as we are new in town we would want your cooperation in case anything was to happen. Of course, if you accept and need anything you would only need to ask. We will do what we can to help." Irina said before taking the slice of pizza in her hand and biting into it, a slight moan of pleasure escaping her lips due to how good this pizza was.

Soma put his fingers on his chin in thought before replying.

"I suppose there wouldn't be any issue with that, but I will not help if you enter in conflict with the devils in town and if you try to put your hands on any of those under my protection or my friends I will not stay quiet. Also, do not touch Ravel, Momo, Riser, or anyone of Riser's Peerage... Well, if Riser or his peerage do anything against you then you can act as you wish as long as you do not kill them."

Soma was Riser's friend, but he understood that Riser was a bit on the horny side and if he were to extend his hands towards these girls then they had every right to punish him for it, but killing is a big no no. Besides, Riser could heal quickly anyway so even if he gets his ass beaten there won't be lasting damage to anything besides his pride.

"That works for us." Irina said with a smile and extended her hand to shake which Soma did easily enough.

While shaking his hand Irina her body came close to the sword at Soma's side and she froze for a bit.

She was someone who grew up around holy swords, as soon as she felt the energy around it she could identify the sword as a holy blade with ease. She failed to realize it before due to how this sword's light energy was extremely dense and close to its body, unless one gets close to the sword it would be hard to say it has any light or holy energy.

In a manner of speaking this sword was the reverse of Durandal, the use of Aria centered on the power of the blade itself while Durandal centered on large-scale destruction.

"This sword, where did you get it?" Irina asked in wonder.

Hearing Irina's question Soma put the sword in his lap to show it off, seeing the expressions of Irina and the other members of the church and their admiration for his work.

After having spent hundreds of years forging swords and other equipment only to have his master mention all the flaws in it, it felt nice to have other people admire his work.

"I just completed this baby downstairs, I named it Aria Goddess of Light."

The three looked in wonder at the beauty of the blade before snapping out of it as Mirana blinked twice and took out a sword from behind her.

"It is a very beautiful blade, but we have this here that Gabriel-sama told us to deliver to you." She then presented him with the sword and Soma took it out of its sheath.

The sword resembles a European sword with a golden guard that curves forward. The base of the blade curves inward. It also has a green plant stem with leaf petals design engraved along the blade to make the sword feel as if it is a part of nature.

This was Excalibur Blessing, a sword made from one of the shards of Excalibur and has the ability to augment any christian holy rituals considerably, both for healing, exorcism, weakening of devils and vampires, and empowerment of Exorcists. It was not as offensively capable as some of the other Excalibur Fragments, but its utility in the hands of the right user could and would enhance the person's ability considerably.

But, when put side by side with Aria, it looked shabby and weak. That was not simply because of their power difference, but because of crafting quality itself.

The Excalibur Fragments were all made into swords by combining the fragments of Excalibur with other metals and making the combination into the form of a sword using pure alchemy. Even if the materials are good, how could a sword made by such a method compare with one that was properly forged using the best forging skills and enchantments possible?

Feeling the difference in the two swords side by side the three from the church looked a bit sheepish. They had heard many times people mentioning the importance of these Fragments, but having one such fragment be considered second class by an outsider was a bit of a troubling feeling for them.

Soma ignored them though and just kept eating his pizza. He had bought a stuffed pizza and wanted to enjoy it as a reward for a job well done.

After everyone was done for the day the church girls were led to the gates and the closer they got to it the more disheartened they felt. Soma, wanting to make a good impression on this cash co... new allies, spoke 'kindly'.

"What makes you all feel so down?" Ha asked them. The three looked from one side to the other before answering.

"Well, the truth is-" Mirana said before explaining the whole situation.

After hearing them out Soma thought for a bit before an idea struck him.

"Then, would you like some help?" He said as he sent out a pulse of energy from the ground to inside Dimension Lost. While setting it up Soma made sure that, as long as he was inside his house, he could communicate with the inside of Dimension Lost as easily as if he was right beside it, so it was that easy to send a command to one of his golems.

After a few moments, a golem came out of the gate of the house, it was about two meters tall and looked very sturdy.

"You can use this guy here to help fix the church if you want. It can fuse with the ground to a degree so it could help fix the walls and you can also have it bury the trash far away and kill any pests around. You just need to give it directions really." Soma said as he patted the golem that slowly started merging with the soil until one could no longer see it.

On one hand, he was giving away a small advantage he had, but, on the other hand, he wanted to advertise his golems anyway as the more people knew about them the more people would want to buy them for their utility.

That they all could report back to him anything done around them and would work as spies that could and would stab their 'owners' in the back with a single command was just a small bonus. Getting people to give him money for something to spy on them, now that is the type of deal Soma liked very much.

The girls looked impressed and accepted the help, going back to the church with a golem that would clean and fix the place for them, all three of them thought about the mission report they would be sending to the higher-ups and what they would write on it.

Overall, they were quite happy as they felt much more at home in town now and would not need to spend a long time cleaning the church themselves, and Soma was happy as he now had an Excalibur Fragment in his hands and had established positive relations with the Church which should restrain the devils somewhat.

///---///

Days passed like that, classes went on like normal and a sense of normality spread through the supernatural community in Kuoh.

Soma visited the Yakuza of town two times during these days to buy some rare herbs for medicine creation, he wanted to accelerate his body training further so this was a necessity. During these visits, Soma would exchange with them a few Holy and Demonic swords he produced using the metals he got from the devils and angels. These were just alchemy-made weapons and far from his best, but their ultimate quality was well above the ones found in most other places and Soma got a lot of cash from this exchange and he used said cash to buy the herbs.

During these days he also studied the Holy Sword Project research results and figured out the method that was used to extract a person's 'talent' for wielding a holy sword. It was honestly quite a brilliant thing and Soma came to admire Valper Galilei for his results.

Sure, he did not appreciate the killing of children, but the research itself was brilliant and the man accidentally managed to do something highly interesting. He managed to target and extract a small fragment of a soul, the one responsible to allow a person to use Holy Swords, and use said fragments to stimulate the target's soul into increasing naturally their own affinity.

An analogy would be that he made a 'vaccine', he extracted from a person their affinity, processed said aspect, and injected it in someone to stimulate the target's own soul into having more affinity.

As Soma understood it he truly could only sing praises to the man who managed to make something like that, a genius for sure.

After understanding it, Soma proceeded to, every night, stealthy enter the houses of the citizens of Kuoh one after the other and steal the civilian's affinity for holy swords. Most have a very little affinity, individually not much, but Soma didn't mind as he managed to steal them of so many of the regular civilians one after the other. The process to steal someone's affinity only took about ninety seconds, and he spent several hours every night to stealing so he obtained an astounding amount of the affinity for Holy Swords.

He had no shame in doing so since this was an aspect of a person that mostly no one would ever use, taking it away would not damage these civilians whatsoever, so he went crazy with it.

During this time he also met up with Gentle Criminal and his side-kick/girlfriend Manami Aiba, he did so to see how they were doing after the whole incident regarding Sacred Gears and to speak about Gentle's lost limb. Having lost his arm during the fighting Soma offered to heal Gentle as a way to help establish a good relationship with the older male.

He did so mostly because he wanted to establish good relationships with the people in town and, to be honest, making a new arm for someone cost next to nothing for Soma. At most, it would be a twenty minutes project he could make, and, in exchange, he got the gratitude of a couple that had powerful and useful gears, one able to turn anything elastic, and the other able to empower those she cares about. This connection might never come in handy, but it could be useful later on and it was a low-risk investment.

At this moment in time, Soma was training his body. Under a bounded field that increased the gravity by 15 times, he was using his training equipment that would force his body to the absolute limit while training as he kept practicing his katas for his martial arts. Having properly remastered Jacob Limbs to the point he could activate it as easily as breathing there would be no benefit from practicing it like before, he would only need to keep activating it until he could keep it active and no longer feel the difference. As such, he now had the time and, most importantly, the physical conditioning to start practicing his own martial arts.

With the help of a brainstorm of Chiron, Yan Qin, Li Shuen, and several other martial artists who managed to reach the Throne, Soma had learned a rather unique martial art. It had extremely high requirements for the body, but its power was undeniable. Merlin, after observing it in action, suggested that, if it was in a Servant in a Holy Grail war, it just might reach A++++ Rank or even Ex Rank as a Noble Phantasm since it was the epitome of martial arts that masters of all sorts of fields worked together to make.

This was a martial art that was not done for competition though, it was made for pure life or death combat. There were several 'unfair' strikes mixed in, from pulling hair, to finger aimed at the eye, to kneeing the nuts, stomping the opposition, biting, using the knees or elbows, truly any combination imaginable of moves that could kill or cripple an enemy. Truly, this was a martial art that aimed at, at least, disabling an opponent in a semi-permanent fashion with most moves aiming to kill.

He was only practicing it now because he was counting that someone would be coming after him sooner or later and he had to be ready... and because training it was a great workout routine, especially under high gravity and he used the training equipment that made his body need to strain to the limit to move anything. That he could keep moving under these conditions and executing the katas, it was nothing short of a miracle.

As he was feeling his muscles stretching and pulling to the limit Soma was not thinking about anything, all his focus on his movements as he continued his movements.

After around two hours of this, as he collapsed on the ground, Soma was taking deep breaths of air. He was extremely tired by this workout, but a frown could be seen on his face. He has been training like crazy for several weeks now, taking several medicines and modifying his body while doing so. His growth was going as well as he expected, but he was feeling like he had reached a barrier of some sort just now. A bottleneck that would need him some time to break through, and he did not like that at all.

"Whatever barrier stands in my way, I will just smash it." Soma muttered as his resolve solidified once again.

He used his fingers to pull his body towards a small pool on the side, his limbs too tired to let him move by himself but he just pushed himself until said pool. Dropping inside he sighed in relief, this pool was filled with a precious medicinal herb bath following the recipes developed by several cultures to achieve the highest resolve.

After twenty minutes inside Soma stood back up, ready to push himself again to see if he could break through this recently found bottleneck.

Just as he was about to start training again there was a signal that someone came to talk to him. As he was not in an intensive research moment he did not put the sign to not disturb him, so he was relatively fast to hear about it and go see what is going on.

Since he was going out of his workshop Soma took out the training equipment and felt his body become light like a feather right away. He was now only wearing a tank top and cargo pants as he walked out of his workshop to see what was happening for the others to call him out.

As he got out he could instantly see what was going on and why he was called. Riser was there, all dressed up, with a tuxedo in hand as he looked Soma up and down with a frown.

"... Did you lose track of time?"

"Weren't we meant to meet in the afternoon?" Soma questioned as he was quite sure what time it was.

"Yes, that is now. You really need to stop spending so much time in your lab?" Riser said to his friend.

Soma Had lost track of time training since he fell into a rhythm while training. He had planned to take it easy today as it was his friend's engagement party. He even prepared a gift after hearing from Riser about the engagement after it was brought up during their double date with Soma taking Rossweisse. Thinking back to the date it brought back some nice memories to Soma, he and Rossweisse were playing a bit too much with their hands beneath the table, and as such he wasn't really paying attention to what Riser was saying, and he was sure that Riser was doing the same with his Queen. Though he did remember mentioning that he would provide formal dress wear for him.

Seeing Soma's sheepish expression due to losing track of time Riser shook his head and gave him the tuxedo.

"Here, wear this and get ready, the party is in about an hour or so." Riser said. "As it will be in the Underworld I will be taking us there, and don't worry I promise that I will take you back to your house.'

Soma just looked at this and squinted his eyes.

"Is it safe for humans in the Underworld? Isn't the air poisonous, rivers of lava, and other such irritating annoyances are all around."

"No, nothing of the sort. It is quite similar to Earth, even if the air is much less polluted and the atmosphere is nicer, I think you will enjoy it." Riser said.

"... This is the weirdest way of telling someone to 'go to hell, you will fit right in' I have ever heard." Soma deadpanned and Riser laughed at it.

"Fine, fine, now go get dressed." Riser said and Soma nodded, but before leaving he questioned.

"Can I take a guest?"

"Of course, and I assure you that any guest you take will be looked after by my house without failure." Riser said and Soma nodded.

He was thinking of taking Aya with him, mostly because he felt that the girl needed to open up a bit more as she was starting to find refuge in the house and was avoiding going out more and more. Going out to a party to socialize would shock her system a bit and should be good for her. He would not take Mami, as she was still rather unstable and going to the Underworld wouldn't be the best of ideas, Mittelt, because she was a fallen and was theoricaly in 'war' with the devils, or Rintaro, he was a pervert and Soma did not want to deal with him trying to get in the pants of a big titted married woman or, even worse, a virgin noble.

Going to look for Aya he knocked on the door of her room.

After some shuffle she opened the door, a shy expression when she saw that it was Soma who came knocking and her room was a mess, or at least it was what she thought (it was normal, but she was quite conscious about it).

"Aya-chan, would you like to go to a party with me tonight?" He asked her and she widened her eyes before smiling.

"Yes, I would love to." She said and Soma noted how her smiles were becoming more and more natural on her face. As she got used to smiling more and was gaining confidence (as well as a decent meal and proper care) she was able to leave behind the worst of her past and was becoming better. Soma liked this and patted her head gently.

"Good, it is a bit of a formal party, but don't worry too much about it. Just remember, if someone says anything bad to you then you just need to tell me." 'And I will slice that person in half' was a second part he did not mention since she might not appreciate it much.

Aya just pouted slightly.

"Soma-kun, I have been training and can take care of myself now." She said as she summoned her Sacred Gear, Soma just put his hands as if in a sign of surrender.

"Sorry, sorry, I am not underestimating you. Just, if something happens please tell me even if you deal with it yourself. Please?"

Aya just nodded her head, her face held high as her confidence grew a bit from Soma's reaction even if she could tell it was just some theatrics.

She was just wondering how this party was going to be exactly and hoped everything would be alright.


Chương 31: Chapter 30

As Soma finished dressing up in front of the mirror he looked himself over and nodded, he would be visiting hell for the first time (if one doesn't count how his usual training is and was like) and, as such, he had already equipped himself well.

Underneath this formal wear Soma had on his combat attire (deactivated as to not accidentally burn someone to smoldering ashes), it was also fitting since it was very comfortable so it was more than fine to use in this party. He also had his gun, the multiple accessories filled with magic energy, his sword was hidden inside his body just in case as well and several Black Keys he forged using the energy from Excalibur Blessing.

Soma's desire for that sword was precisely for this, to enhance the power of Black Keys he was forging using the best of materials and techniques. If he was to compare them, each of these Black Keys of Soma would be equal to a D Rank Noble Phantasm. Quite weak individually, but they can have many uses if the user knew how to manipulate them right. Truly, this Excalibur being able to amplify the powers of catholic rituals helped him in the production of his actual weapons, that the sword was also useful in strengthening his house's bounded field against devils was a nice caviat.

It might be a bit excessive and wasteful, but Soma did not mind that his house now probably could kill Satan class devils that stepped inside if Soma so much as thought about it.

Concentrating on his hair, Soma decided to go with a different look to match more this get up, making his hair be a bit longer and putting it in a ponytail. He felt it looked a bit too much, but it looked elegant enough. He also put away several needles filled with the poison of Albion in said hair. It was something he learned as a small trick just in case it was needed, a hidden weapon that no one would see coming in most cases since no one would look amidst his hair and considering that the needles were no thicker than his hair, it was all too easy for no one to notice them until it was too late.

Looking himself in the mirror Soma and frowned.

"Fuuuhhh, it is time for being overly formal and shit. Dam I hate to do it, but needs must I guess." Soma muttered as he straightened his posture, the whole air around him changing subtly but perceptibly.

He was trained in proper etiquette by several people, from nobles and royalty, to tyrants and spies. He honestly hated all this stiff stuff, but this party was not about him but about his friend Riser. Tonight it was about him and he would not make a fool of himself and his friend just because he would need to act like that.

He could act like a perfect gentleman or a knight if he wanted, he just preferred to act like a barbarian and a punk most times since it felt extremely more natural to him than trying to act like some snooty noble or a white knight of justice.

Having everything set he went to Aya's room, knocking on the door.

"J-Just a moment!" She shouted from inside and there was the sound of her hurrying inside there. He even heard a thump and her releasing a yelp of pain he could tell came from her tripping on her feet, something she did sometimes.

How could someone this clumsy be that great a dancer, he could never know.

After a few moments, the door opened and from inside Aya appeared before him. She had a short black dress with white highlights and a cute but elegant jacket over it. It looked pretty nice on her and it was clear she put on some make-up, but it was quite obvious that she had no experience doing it.

"H-How do I look?" She questioned and Soma gave a gentle smile.

"Your dress and shoes look great, but your make-up could use some work."

"I, I see." She said, a bit depressed. She was not used to dressing up or using make-up and this was all very last minute for her, she did what she could but it was not quite as nice as she wanted.

Soma, seeing this, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want me to fix it up?" he said and she looked with wide eyes at him.

"You know how to do make-up?" She questioned and he chuckled.

"A bit, now come on. There is not much time and we have to hurry up." Soma said.

Of course, he knew how to use make-up. How could he not when using it was one of the skills he was taught while learning to disguise himself with the Hassans? Being able to blend in and change his looks was an essential skill if he wanted to be a good killer, and Soma was good enough to be a Hassan as long as he managed one kill great enough to warrant the name as, skill wise, he was no lesser than any of them (except the Old man, but he was BS anyway and shouldn't count).

After around fifteen minutes Soma was done. He could have done it faster, but he wanted this night to be special for Aya and to make her feel great about herself so he went all out with it. Not only her make-up, but he also prepared her hair and nails.

If anyone were to look at her now, they wouldn't see an abused little girl that was the target of the scorn of her classmates, but a beautiful young teenager that could make heads turn as she passed. She looked at the mirror with wide eyes when she saw the results.

"This, this is me?"

"Yep." Soma said.

"But, I am not this pretty." she said, touching her face as if not believing the person in the mirror is her.

Soma put a hand carefully on her head, not disturbing her hair, and spoke.

"Aya-chan, not all people are born with the same natural beauty. There are some that are born with a better natural look, but that doesn't mean others can't be even more attractive. It is all about effort and knowing how to do it, and I assure you that you will be one of the prettiest girls at the party. I might just need to take a stick to beat up the guys that come sniffing, haha!" he said at the end with his usual boisterous tone, and she smiled at this. It was as if Soma was a big brother, friend, and somehow father figure for her sometimes, and she loved it all.

With the brightest smile to date, she turned to him and said.

"Let's take a picture before we go. I want to remember this night forever."

Soma nodded and pulled his phone. Using his hair he pulled the phone an appropriate distance away and was about to take a picture when a loud 'meow' was heard and Aya giggled.

"It seems like Mya wants to be in the picture too." Aya said and Soma shrugged, he had been taking care of this cat before but Aya had all but adopted the cat as soon as she started living here.

With gentle hands, the cat was picked by Aya, but it proceeded to scale to Aya's shoulder and settle there as if it was proud of being there.

She just smiled and Soma coughed to hide a smile at Aya's actions and that of Mya the cat.

After they got in proper position again Soma used his hair and took the picture, the two youngsters smiling softly while holding hands.

It was a beautiful picture that Aya would treasure for the rest of her life.

As they were leaving Soma took out what looked like a brooch with a star on the center and spoke seriously to Aya.

"Aya-chan, this is something I made a while back that can help keep you safe. I already set it up for it to work for you, you just need to say a few words to activate it, I am sure that with this you will be safe." Soma said and Aya blushed at the care he was showing her.

He then proceeded to tell her the 'magic words' to activate the item and, after she memorized them, it was time to leave.

///---///

Going to the Underworld was a rather unique experience. Riser explained that there were usually certain procedures one had to go through, but the ultimate power of existence (money) took care of it to make the ones that could make a fuzz calm down and look the other way.

Getting in the Underworld Soma could feel how the air around him was 'wrong'. It felt wrong, like if the whole place didn't feel like Earth whatsoever. The air felt much richer with mana, but it was of a corrupted and dark type no matter how bright the place might look.

"So, what do you think? Incredible, wouldn't you say?" Riser said proudly, feeling more at home here than in the human world.

"It is... unique." Soma said and Riser laughed brightly.

"I knew you would love it as well, bro." Riser said and Soma decided not to correct Riser on that one.

He wouldn't mind visiting, but he wouldn't make it a point to be in this dimension for long periods of time. He felt like being here would interfere with the modifications of his body and training Heaven's Feel here was completely out of option. One must have their souls extremely pure to be able to learn, much less master, the Third Magic here. And training in such an environment would only complicate things as he had a plan for his body development and if he mixed the negative energy in the air while modifying his body he couldn't know what effects it would cause. It would most likely be very negative and affect his whole body modification plans, not worth it in the end.

Going along with Riser's direction Soma was soon standing at a great ball feast, there were many people all around, devils of all kinds. From human-looking, to those who look like they are balls of fur, pointy ears, no ears or nose, normal skin, pink skin, scales, it was a festival of uniqueness and it was only due to years in the Throne and the uniqueness of the place that made Soma able to handle such a showing.

Aya was overwhelmed soon enough, but Ravel quickly came to her and took her to show Aya to her 'friends'. Well, not really friends, more those she knows in high society that is closer to her age, but at least Aya had someone close by that she could be glad about.

Soma was the very picture of nobility, with a different hairstyle, clothes, temperament, and manners befitting of true nobility. Currently, he was talking with an older devil that had heard of how Soma had defeated Dimaria and was trying to ask what would be the conditions he would want to join his peerage.

'No fucking way, you asshole.'

"It is a very tempting offer, Lord Andromalius. However, I have to politely decline at the moment." Soma said with a slight and adequate smile.

"Is there really nothing I could offer to make you consider my offer? I can even offer to help you to quickly rise to a High Ranking devil so you could obtain your own Peerage. You would have greater powers, maintain a youthful appearance for centuries to come, and live in luxury!" The old lord said with a slightly pleading tone. He REALLY wanted a powerhouse in his peerage since his current one was quite weak having been selected more for their appearances.

Who would know that women chosen only by their looks and thick ass could not be strong if they never trained once in their lives?

"I sincerely apologize, but despite what many may think I do appreciate the race I was born at and wouldn't like to change it as of the moment. But, perhaps we could discuss some trade for later my lord, I am quite proficient in the production of several types of mystic items that could be of some interest to you, for a fair price of course." Soma said with a pleasant smile that seemed extremely genuine no matter how one looked at it.

Inside however...

'Go and fuck off, stupid asshole! I won't be turning into some devil slave just because you want to offer me a chance to make more slaves, if I wanted a slave I wouldn't need your shitty system anyway. Besides, I can live for centuries if I damn want without needing to become anyone's slave or change my race. So here, I am offering you some simple trinkets, so shut up and give me money.'

"That is rather disappointing, my young friend. But, I believe we can discuss more about trade at a later date, my family do have a large herd of bicorns and several hellhounds, I am sure some agreements might be able to be formed." The Lord said, trying to impress some of the things he can offer if the items Soma can make are good.

"Of course, I would highly desire to form friendly relationships with you." 'Bicorns? Interesting, it would be worth studying it and some other breeds of magical horses to see to making myself a good mount, I suppose.' Soma thought internally.

He would have talked some more when someone came to him.

"Hello, are you Mr. Hanakai that lord Riser is speaking about?"

Turning Soma saw a gentle-looking, handsome young man with dark green hair and quite squinted eyes, he was also wearing expensive-looking clothes including a cape of all things.

"That is correct, my name is Soma Hanakai. I fear we haven't been introduced yet, who might you be, my lord?" Soma questioned.

"I am Diodora Astaroph, heir to the house Astaroph and younger brother of Satan Beelzebub." Diodora said, hoping Soma would show more deterrence for him due to his position.

He didn't.

A devil heir ultimately didn't mean much in Soma's eyes, devils lived for thousands of years so a devil could potentially stay as 'heir' for hundreds, thousands of years even, and in that period they could meet all sorts of unfortunate ends.

No, Soma cared more about the actual lords, not the heirs who held no true power.

Of course, this didn't mean he wouldn't be polite, he just wouldn't care overly much about them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, heir Astaroph. Unfortunately, I was still talking with lord Andromalius so if you wouldn't mind I would like to continue my current talks before engaging in conversation with you. I do believe someone from your station would deserve the proper attention that I wouldn't be able to provide if my focus was in my current conversation." Soma explained with a slightly apologetic face.

Translation:

'Fuck off, idiot. I am talking with this cash cow, I don't have time to play nice with some useless idiot when I can be making money instead!'

Diodora looked slightly troubled until Lord Andromalius laughed.

"That is quite alright, young Mr. Hanakai. I still have some other matters to attend to and I have seen a friend just arrived, we can continue this conversation later. Now go on, I will let the youngsters have their talks without us old fossils getting on the way." he said and left, Soma almost showing a frown of irritation.

He was just about to get several fantasmal species specimens for what amounted to perhaps two or three hours of work, and this moss head idiot ruined it.

But, this was a noble party and Soma's manners have been hammered down on his head several times over until he could act as if he was the perfect nobleman that could appear in any royal court and fit right in. Cursing someone for their actions in a party was not something a 'proper noble' would do at a party like this, no matter how tempting.

"What would you say of us having a talk by the balcony? I have some matters I would like to discuss with you." Diodora said and Soma nodded his head.

As they went there Soma made sure to stay vigilant as he and Diodora went to that location.

The air outside felt as distasteful for Soma as the air inside the banquet hall, the Underworld not agreeing with him in the end. Not that Diodora noticed, taking a deep breath as if this felt great for him.

"You know, I have heard quite a lot about you these last few days." Diodora said, making Soma raise a brow.

"Is that so?" Soma said noncommittally.

"But of course, it is not every day we hear of someone who managed to fight in equal terms with lady Dimaria. She is quite famous here in the Underworld, after all. It makes one wonder, what you think of the world as it is. If you are satisfied with this peaceful world we live in." Diodora said and Soma just looked at him for a bit before answering.

"Honestly? I would rather this world not be too peaceful. It is in the chaos that the greater opportunities appear and heroes can truly rise, peace is necessary of course but an eternal peace... that would be rather boring." Soma said.

This was his honest opinion, surprisingly enough. Soma did not want giant and constant wars that would spill to the normal civilians, but if the world was to be an eternal utopia of peace then what would be the point of all his efforts in improving himself? How would he be able to prove himself as worthy of being a hero?

Sure, he wouldn't go out of his way to create wars, nor would he let them be formed if there was a chance of them escalating too much, but he was no pacifist who dreamed of eternal peace.

Diodora looked at him for a moment longer and then chuckled.

"You are a rather interesting human."

"I will take that as a compliment." Soma said with a smile.

Diodora just shook his head in amusement.

"And you well should, it was a compliment after all." Diodora said before changing gears. "I heard you showed some interest in research, if you wish I could introduce you to my brother on a later date."

"That would be most gracious of you, heir Astaroph." Soma said in fake honesty. He had no true desire to get closer to a man that made the monstrosity that was the Evil Piece system.

A man that so callously made an enslavement system and gifted it to every self-entitled noble of his race that wanted it, this sort of person would hardly be much better in Soma's eyes than Valper. The only difference is that Valper is directly responsible for the deaths of around 40 kids, Ajuka is indirectly responsible for the enslavement and deaths of at least a few tens of thousands considering the lowest estimates, and if you count all stray devils born from his fail-safe in case a slave runs away. Sure, Beelzebub had a better objective, but so did all the scientists that made the atomic bomb to end all wars.

Diodora, not knowing Soma's true thoughts behind his mask of cordiality and nobility, nodded and wanted to speak some more when Riser opened the doors to the balcony.

"This is where you are, bro. Come, come, I want you to help me with something." Riser said, dragging away Soma without giving Diodora a second glance.

As the Astaroth heir was left behind he turned a ring of his, a bubble of magic surging around him creating an illusion for anyone looking from the outside of him drinking some wine. Inside this bubble, no sound could escape, and with his bases well guarded Diodora took out a small phone, dialing a number in it.

"Report." The voice from the phone spoke.

"I got in contact with the human of interest, I would say that his desires for war could align with ours under the right circumstances. From what I see he would fit as either forming his own group or joining the Lucifer brat's team." Diodora said.

"Interesting. We appreciate your information and will report to lady Ophis in time of the possible recruit, your contribution has been noted." The person on the other side then turned off the phone and Diodora put his phone in his pocket again before moving along.

For him to even associate with a human, he could really go the extra mile for his current allies in the Chaos Brigade, though he had to admit that Soma at least was no stupid human and knew his manners. Diodora wondered if he knew some cute nun, he was always looking for new additions to his collection after little Asia passed away.

It is a shame what happened, Diodora had been waiting back at his home for the signal that Raynaere would send him to when he could go get his prize, he did pay them a hefty sum for it. Unfortunately she passed away and when Diodora went to take a look the cops were already there and Asia had died for a long time already.

'Oh well, I lost one nun, I still have several I can get to.' Diodora thought, deactivating his ring as he drank the last of the wine in his cup and got moving in search of anything interesting in this party.

///---///

"So, you want me to play a bit?" Soma asked to clarify.

"Yes, I have told some of my drinking companions about your playing and they don't believe it. They claimed our video was a fake! I couldn't accept the insult so I decided to ask you to show that you can do it since it wouldn't look good if I were to perform here. So, can you do it?" Riser asked, he was called a liar when he said how his new bro was a great musician and Riser didn't like that.

He was speaking the truth and he hated to be called a liar.

Soma looked at Riser and sighed.

"Fine, but I am only doing this because today is supposed to be your day, and only one music. I want to go check on Aya and I want to see if Momo is around as well." Soma said and Riser waved his worries off.

"Don't worry, Aya is with Ravel right now and Momo should be coming with Sona who should arrive together with me 'beloved' Rias." Riser said with clear distaste and Soma just sighed.

"It seems like my gift will be even more useful than I thought." He muttered and Riser got a bit curious about what sort of gift that Soma had prepared for him. "Anyway, when can I start?"

"Wait just a bit, I will set things for you to begin." He said and ran off, leaving Soma to prepare the guitar for the song.

After a minute or so the music was cut short as Riser appeared on stage.

"Friends, family, my fellow lords, today my bestman decided to grace us with a song. I would like if you all could stop for a moment and listen for this song he is dedicating for this great gathering." Riser said pompously, making Soma grumble inside at how grand he made something simple look like.

He was just playing a song, not anything huge!

Clamping down on such emotions, Soma started to play the guitar.

Soon, music started, and this one deeply resonated with the devils all around.

[OST: Nanatsu no Taizai Season 4 opening 1 'Hikari Are']

As if our intertwining paths are a mischief of the gods

The time spent with you will now become my sin

Wandering through this rebirth, all I kept count of

Were your smiles and pain, in this endless night

I'll scream it all out so I'll never forget that there is a tomorrow for you

Let there be a faint light, light that will shine brightly in the darkness

Don't let go of my hand ever again

I'll cry it out just this once and embrace the sin

Even with my view blurred, I'm still looking for someone

For you, who saw the day beyond this darkness

It's as if we are a pendulum meeting and separating forever and ever

I suffered and loved you as the moon rose once again

When you start singing, don't lose your heart

Let me feel the pain as I swim in the ocean of my sin with sorrow

If you are living this moment, don't forget

Cry it out and open the gate to the dawn beyond the skies

We're still yearning, We're still yearning

Yearning for the light that shines at dawn

I'm waiting for the light, I'm waiting for the light

Waiting for the day that it reaches your eyes

I'll scream it all out so I'll never forget your tomorrow self

Let there be a faint light, light that will shine brightly upon the darkness

Don't let go of my hand ever again

I'll cry it out just this once and embrace the sin

We're still yearning, we're still yearning

Yearning for the light that shines at dawn

I'm waiting for the light, I'm waiting for the light

Waiting for the day that it may reach your eyes

We're waiting for the light, We're waiting for the light

We're still yearning for the light

We're yearning for the light that shines at dawn, we're yearning

Yearning for the day that it reaches your eyes

[Ost end]

As Soma finished his song he could see many people with tears glittering in their eyes. For devils are beings of sin, many had gone through intense romances but their very natures sometimes got in the way, their lives almost as if controlled by sin despite what they might want.

But this song seemed custom-made for them as, despite the exciting melody, it touched deeply the souls of many couples that had long since forgotten their love for one another. They embraced once more their almost forgotten light of love they forgot due to their very nature, and many pairs embraced as the song played.

This was the power of music, touching people's souls and connecting the audience. Soma was actually asked for an encore, but it was at this moment that the guests of honor arrived, namely-

The bride and her entourage entered the room.


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