章節 81: Chapter 81: Turns out your home became leaning tower
"Secure the area- Move."
The calm, almost lazy drawl of Asmodeus seemed to echo among the rank-and-file who had gathered around the Dragon Mountains.
The normally-sleepy and lazy Maou had specialized himself as a specialist of open warfare during the war between three factions, and had become the grand general of Underworld during the civil war in the Underworld. He had hoped that the civil war would be the last war where he needed to take up the role of a general, but it seemed that fate was not that kind.
Nonetheless Asmodeous didn't let his dread show up on the surface as he yawned, nearly dozed off and then seemingly woke up as Sirzechs made a biting retort from the side as the three Maous and a Queen, Sirzechs, Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Grayfia, were having a tactical briefing in a hastily-made staging area just a few miles off the Dragon Mountain.
The messenger-devil nodded his heels together, materialized his wings and took off to distribute the orders to the shock-troops who had gathered- Peerages of worth, young devils who had power, and veterans of the civil war who had been mixed into units that would hopefully combine the power and eagerness of youth with the caution and experience of the veterans.
Of course Asmodeous had held no illusions that the proud devils of old and young ones, much less human-made devils, would be able to fight side-by-side without drama, but he figured that the mish-mashed squads would find a common purpose after their trial by fire as a group.
In a way, the sight of the burning mountains gave hope for Asmodeus- After all, the young devils would have three of the four Maous on their side which meant that the trial by fire would be lower-risk than that of a first contact in a full-blown war-front.
Assuming, of course, that the Supreme Being and its lackeys hadn't come in at full force in the mountains in an attempt to make it their base of operations. Asmodeus knew the worth of the mountains, both as source of strategic resource for the dragon populus of the Underworld and as a defensive bastion that would be next to impossible to breach due to its natural defences... Unless the defenders were attacked from within.
Asmodeus had voiced as much to Sirzechs, but it seemed that the Maou had been quite distressed by the possible death of his Knight, Souji Okita, if the returning of the two Knight pieces the man had held was any indication.
Sirzechs had explained to Asmodeus that Souji had been in a mission to the Dragon Mountains in order to coerce Tannin to travel to the Interdimensional Gap and attempt to convince the Great Red to yield its secrets regarding its alledged creation- Momon.
"...Yet, for an enemy to attack the mountains exactly when Tannin would have been away… Quite the coincidence?" Asmodeus noted to Sirzechs who paced back and forth in a state that was somewhere between deep worry, rage, and nervousness. "The scouts returned just now. There are undead dragons prowling the gates to the mountains."
"Indeed. Then there is no doubt the Supreme Being has its claws in this." Sirzechs kept pacing, finally forcing both Beelzebub and Asmodeus to put their hands on the Maou's shoulder and push him down into a chair while Grayfia produced a thermos flask and poured some tea for the Maou.
"Thank you…" Sirzechs sighed into the tea. "Haa- But for Souji to fall so easily… This does not bode well."
"Have you heard back from Mathers?" Beelzebub asked. "He was supposed to be in the Dragon Mountains to guard Phenix's two sons."
"No… I hope Mathers got away and is hiding or fighting. His Pieces should have retuned to me." Sirzechs looked quite worried, which concerned Asmodeus somewhat.
After all, Sirzechs was Gremory, even if his surname had changed to 'Lucifer' after taking the role of a Maou, and Gremory clan was renown for their close ties with their Peerages and almost family-like approach the Kings would take- To Sirzechs it was likely as if his own son or brother had died, and other was in grave danger.
"Still… Souji's presumed death signals that the Supreme Being… Or perhaps even Hemight be here in some capacity." Beelzebub sounded quite worried. "I sent a spy to the Phenix grounds, and they confirmed that Momon-san was there. Apparently he was taking a walk in a garden with Lady Phenix… and also noted that Lady Phenix looked quite pale. The possibility of Momon having a hand in these events had crossed my mind as it would be quite convenient for him if Tannin disappeared before he could tell us what the Great Red did… I suppose this gives Momon an alibi."
"Hm…" Sirzechs nodded while draining the teacup. "Well then. Asmodeus? Are your squads ready?"
"They've been given an order to advance and prod the enemy… As I recall saying to the scout, when you were next to me." Asmodeus gently reminded the Maou to focus on the current rather than worry about what might have happened. "However, the fact Souji has perished means the enemy must have strong fighters, and it would be needlessly dangerous for the rank-and-file to engage recklessly. Thusly the squads will not commit to an engagement unless we're around. We should even consider the possibility of the Supreme Being, uh, being present."
That got a reaction from Sirzechs, which was the Maou winding down into a state that was externally calm but Asmodeus knew that it was just a cover for a blade-like determination within. "You're right, Asmodeus. We are needed at the front… So let us lead from the front. All three of us together."
"Yet, not four?" Asmodeus pointed out as Serafall was nowhere to be seen.
"There are… complications." Beelzebub noted, causing Asmodeus to nod in a sleepy manner while his mind wheeled like a winding clock internally.
'Hm, so Beelzebub doesn't trust Serafall for some reason… Like Sirzechs, since he didn't object…' The sleepy Maou dozed off and woke up being princess-carried by a pissed-off looking Grayfia through a dark forest which led to the Dragon Mountains. 'Eh, I suppose this works from a logistics point of view…'
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"Charge! Fight in my name!" A devil pointed at a group of undead dragons that let out terrifying roars in turn.
Diodora Astaroth's call for charge was halted by a devil with a huge, unsightly scar across his face. "Don't! We're not supposed to commit to an engagement! Plus, do you really think we can take on an entire group of dragons?!"
"Hm… No, I suppose not." The blue-haired young devil King waved his Peerage back. The group of girls who had once been holy maidens and nuns seemed to sigh in relief as the suicidal order was rescinded, yet the fear and the reminder of their expandability remained.
"True god protect us, please… Please, please please…" One of the women prayed quietly, drawing an annoyed twitch of an eyebrow from Diodora.
The woman seemed to realize that her master heard her words so she immediately bowed to him and muttered an apology in a broken voice.
"Ah, you're forgiven. Of course." Diodora smiled pleasantly, causing the woman to shiver from head to toe.
The veteran rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. It was clear that the noble took 'liberties' with his Peerage, but that was neither here nor there as far as the veteran of the civil war was concerned- Although it annoyed him somewhat that Diodora had deliberately ordered the engagement just for frightening the women as he must have known that the veteran would stop him.
"Anyway, we have gathered sufficient information about the enemy, no?" Diodora motioned towards the dragons who clearly saw the group of devils but held back, seemingly not taking the bait of exiting the safety of the mountains.
"I guess." The veteran shrugged. Although the dragon's reluctance was no great strategic information.
After all, the tight corridors formed by the fang-like mountains and rocky formations would make deadly channels for dragonfire and the sky would turn to death-trap of dragons rising from the cover of the peaks in order to perform aerial ambushes before retreating back under the cover before a retaliation could arrive. But outside that cover the large bodies of dragons made easy targets to ambush and gang up on.
"Although, are you sure these dragons can still breath fire?" The on-the-surface pleasant devil King motioned towards the beasts. "You. Get close enough for its breath-attack and bait it out."
The woman who had prayed to the True God flinched at the words, likely knowing that task was a punishment for her insubordination, and for a moment almost hesitated to carry out the order… But went towards the dragon nonetheless, flanked by the miserable stares of her 'comrades' in the Peerage.
"True god, Protect me, True God, protect me…" The woman seemed to bring out a small golden figure on a chain that caused Diodora to roll his eyes. He had not given the woman the small statue depicting a gross man-like creature with skull for a face and feathered wings coiling around his body, and so walked past the old veteran to snatch it from the woman.
The woman let a cry of despair as the item was removed from her, so Diodora put his finger under her chin. "Don't worry. I'll just safekeep this until you return. You wouldn't want to drop and lose this when you make your getaway, no?"
The woman shivered at the threat weaved within the words, but nonetheless nodded as much as the finger allowed her, and turned to face the dragons once more.
The old veteran just rolled his eyes. "You know, if you wanted to get rid of one of your Peerage then you could just exile her… Or get your uncle to kick her out for you. Strays can be executed without mercy or paperwork, no?"
"Oh, I could do that. But I wouldn't want to do something as cruel as that to one my beloved Peerage, hm?" Diodora's perpetually pleasant expression didn't match his actions as he motioned towards the group of ex-holy women who looked outright whipped. "After all, I love them and they know how much I love them."
"Save it for someone who cares or is hundred years younger and can be fooled by that." The veteran just shrugged. "Not my business. But getting my ass alive through this war is- And if you get your 'Peerage' killed against the very first enemy then I can kiss my life goodbye."
The woman who had been sent towards the dragons let a miserable scream as one of the beasts raised itself on both hind legs and a dark miasma gathered around its maw.
"Hm, so they can breathe some sort of… substance?" Diodora noted as the dragon breathed out… Only for a black beam of energy to come from behind the devils and impact the dragon, blowing it to pieces.
The two dragons beside the disintegrated one tried to fall back, to get out of sight and behind the rocky formations of the Dragon Mountains, but the beams repeated and caused the one to the left to burst into black flames and perish, while the other was splattered all over the mountainside and disintegrated into dust.
"We're just in time, it seems." A relieved voice belonging to the Maou of the Underworld, Sirzechs Lucifer, reached the group of devils.
"It is quite alright. Thank you for saving my Peerage, my lord." Diodora bowed slightly towards Sirzechs while the woman who had narrowly avoided death fell to her knees in feverish prayer. "The dragons have turned undead and can breath fire that corrupts."
"...It's like that time. Back in the Rating Game grounds…" Sirzechs seemed to age a hundred years in a blink of an eye while Beelzebub seemed to have materialized beside the 'remains' of the dragons. Or rather, the dust that remained.
"Interesting. The ones that were vanquished back then left nothing behind… Yet these ones leave dust." Beelzebub poked at the dust with a lock stick. "We observed the same phenomenon with the undead at the swamp… It seems that the undead are becoming stronger. I advise caution."
"You did good." Asmodeus seemed to wake up after stumbling like a zombie after the two other Maous, flanked by a pissed-off looking woman that carried the rank of 'Strongest Queen'. "I had hoped that the trial by fire would not result in too many casualties… My condolences. But this is war, so steel your hearts."
Diodora bowed slightly towards the Maou, ignoring how the Maou had directed his words both at Diodora, as protocol dictated, but also towards the women in his Peerage who looked quite wretched with exception of the one who had been narrowly saved and was in a state of panic-induced rambling.
"We lost one, so we'll need to get reinforcements. That one won't be doing any fighting anytime soon." The old veteran reported the situation in a matter-of-fact voice while pointing at the babbling woman. "Old folks, preferably."
"Hm, I'll send another advisor." Asmodeus's almost lazy voice caused Diodora's pleasant expression to crack the minutest bit as the reallocation effectively told Diodora that Asmodeus didn't find the young devil's inefficient use of his Peerage, or rather, 'combat resources'. to be praiseworthy.
'Ah well. All in due time. Your time will come soon, old beard…' Diodora masked his feeling under the pleasant mask and squinted eyes once more and followed in the Maou's footsteps as the four strong devils made their way through the breach in the Dragon Mountain's defences.
He let the golden idol slip from his fingers and stepped on it, burying the offending item to the soil where it belonged.
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The battle that resulted in the charge of the Maous was fairly one-sided as the three Maous more or less bulldozed through the undead that were surprisingly few in number.
Grayfia had fallen back and was helping the young devils and the squads that had poured through the breach, while the Maous delivered the wrecking blow. While the mountains provided good defence against conventional devils in conventional warfare, it didn't do much against beings who could erase the mountains to get to their targets- In literal sense of the word, as Sirzechs's [Power of Destruction] more or less blew his targets away, while Beelzebub and Asmodeus focused their attention on whatever survived the onslaught, letting the young devils finish off what remained.
Thus the offense carried through the Dragon Mountains until it reached near its core which would be a forest-basin growing dragonfruit, except for the thick smoke rising from its direction that indicated the whole forest either had burnt down or was in the process of doing so.
Sirzechs lifted his hand as Beelzebub focused his attention to the side and made a small motion, causing the battle-force to pause. "Something ahead…"
"Remote sensing?" Beelzebub nodded to Sirzechs's words.
"Something moving… I think." Beelzebub voiced. "Careful. It might be a trap."
Sirzechs nodded and Asmodeus folded out of sight and sound, turning as invisible as the devil could.
"Cough... " A wet cough came from behind a large rock and Sirzechs teleported on the other side of it so that he'd be face-to-face with whoever it was, pointing his finger cloaked in [Power of Destruction]... And then froze.
"Y-you?" Sirzechs let his hand fall to the side, but didn't let the power within to fade. "What are you doing here?"
"Haa… Have you come to finish me off, then?" The wounded form of Lord Phenix coughed blood while he seemingly failed to recognize who stood before him. "...Ha… So… If you came after me, then you've already lost… My children would have escaped already…"
"Lord Phenix." Beelzebub appeared beside Sirzechs, causing the wounded lord to jolt to the side.
"You… wait… Sirzechs-sama? Beelzebub-sama? What- how… Oh… Souji or Mathers must have… managed to send a message..." Lord Phenix's surprised gasp for air turned into a rasp and cough. "Damn wound… Ha..."
Sirzechs narrowed his eyes at the wounds on the phoenix. "How are you wounded?"
"...It's bad. If you're here, I wasn't able to… Distract him..." Lord Phenix leaned against the rock while sliding down. "He is here. The Supreme Being."
Sirzechs was instantly on high alert. "Speak."
"Ha… I find this ironic… we had this same exact conversation a while back, no?" Lord Phenix coughed out past a smirk. "I recall being on a dissection table, though… Beelzebub-sama might have one at hand if we want to recreate that scene… I'd like to be rescued this time, though..."
"Focus." Beelzebub sighed. "Sirzechs-sama, perhaps I should administer him a stimulant?"
"No need. A mere jest." Lord Phenix eyed the long injection needle Beelzebub had produced with a wary look. "I came here to see... my children. But when I arrived… His servant attacked the gathering. I survived while Souji and Mathers fought to buy time, and we escaped… But He had planned it all along, and came after us… We split apart and I tried to get his attention, like I had done before… but it seems that He is smarter than whatever creature he put into the corpse of R- my Riser."
"That doesn't quite explain why you're wounded, though?" Beelzebub noted.
"...The corruption spreads through touch. It extinguished the flame in me, as surely as a bucket of water would put out a candle. He is a warrior, a close-range combatant… Souji wouldn't have stood a chance, but luckily it went after me… It doesn't have much ranged capability. He was just playing with me, as if I was just a puppet on strings to be used for his amusement… So I played my part, hoping my children could get away during the time He took to kill me…" The lord masked his expression with a cough and wipe of his face, but Sirzechs could guess the despair the lord was in, even if his words were quite stoic and even calm. "If you are here… He must have grown bored of tormenting me, and gone after my children. Lord Sirzechs- I have no right to ask, but…"
"I'll save them if I can. Diodora and the others can escort you out- you're too weakened to fight." Sirzechs's tone thawed a bit- After all, the tragedy that had fallen Lord Phenix's family eclipsed the one that had fallen over Sirzechs's Peerage, and Lord Phenix was clearly in shock as he seemed almost emotionless compared to how he likely would have felt, had he been clear of head. "Mathers, Souji. Where were they the last time you saw them?"
"Fighting… In the courtyard." Lord Phenix waved towards the direction. "If… If they still live, give them my thanks…"
"You can give them your thanks yourself. Now, get up." Sirzechs didn't tell the wounded lord of Souji's death, as the Phenix patriarch had too much on his plate already.
"...I give my sincerest thanks, Sirzechs-sama…" Lord Phenix accepted Sirzechs's offered hand and lifted himself back on his feet.
Sirzechs felt an odd tingling on his palm after the touch, but chalked it up to the lord's condition. 'Hm- If it's something like that ink then it would affect me through him… I'm surprised that he's still sane. Would his Phenix blood help keep the madness at bay?'
He shook his head as the battlefield was no place for study, albeit it looked like Beelzebub was curious as well as he had pat the Lord's back.
"...We should keep moving. With hope Tannin will be back from the Interdimensional Gap and we can sync our attacks from both sides- Him from within and us from the outside." Asmodeus re-folded into sight and began a brief strategy meeting. "...Sirzechs. I think Grayfia should escort Lord Phenix as well."
Sirzechs paused, as did Beelzebub.
The three Maous looked at eachother with grave expressions in their faces.
"She won't like that."
Beelzebub sighed, took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. "...I suppose. But can you live with yourself if she dies in battle, like how Souji would have died? Momon might have resurrected Lord Phenix, but you know that he paid a high price for it. Can you afford the same?"
"We've all gotten used to peace, yet know war. And you've lost one of your Peerage already…" Asmodeus closed his eyes. "You know Grayfia, Sirzechs. But do you know yourself? If she dies… Will you be lost to us as surely as if a blade had run you through?"
Sirzechs sighed. "...I'll send her with him."
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Grayfia was not happy, to say the least.
Lord Phenix seemed to ignore her mood, however, and kept walking on despite his injuries.
"I can heal you, if you stay still." Grayfia's suggestion was more like order, and Lord Phenix ignored it with grace.
"I have no doubt you can. However, I'll live… Yet, if we are ambushed then your healing might make the difference for life and death of these mag- honorable devils." The nobleman gestured towards Diodora who nodded gratefully while his eyes were drawn to ever-present slits.
"I am honored by your grace, generosity and resilience, my lord." Diodora's voice was pleasant as the group back-tracked through the road the three Maous had cleared in the Dragon Mountains.
One of the girls in Diodora's Peerage shivered and wracked her body so Grayfia placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Cheer up. You'll live. This war won't last long… If what we learned is correct then the enemy's leader is here and we can decapitate him, and then go back to our normal lives. Have faith in the Maous."
Grayfia ignored the ominous air that came from Lord Phenix's direction when decapitating the supreme being came up, as the lord would have a personal beef to pick with the enemy. Yet, the girl in Diodora's Peerage shivered even harder as the topic of 'faith' came up.
"He reached out to us, protected us, sent his agents to save us in our hour of need…" A woman whispered in almost maniacal tones that caused Grayfia quite a bit of worry.
"...You were saved by Sirzechs, and two other Maous." Grayfia reminded the woman, but was met with a wide-eyed stare that was like that of a flagellant.
"The who? We prayed to the True God, and he showered us with his blessings, providing us aid in our darkest hour through agents who served his will without knowing..." The woman didn't seem to recognize the names Grayfia had voiced, which would have prompted a biting retort from the grey-haired maid, if not for...
"Ah, it seems that some of my Peerage have fallen into despair after the fight. Please excuse them, Grayfia-sama." Diodora turned his face towards Grayfia with the ever-present fake pleasant expression plastered all over it. "I'll have a talk with them afterwards."
"Hm? The True God has saved you?" Lord Phenix's ominous aura seemed to disappear. "How so?"
"H-he protects us…" The girl who answered shivered harder as Diodora turned his eyes on the girl. "He- he saved us…"
"Hm, hm. And what have you done in exchange?" The lord asked. "I hope you haven't just taken his goodwill and taken it for granted?"
"I… Have faith… And she has faith too…" The girl placed her hand on the shoulder of the woman with crazy eyes.
"Haa… You know, the church of the True God is built quite literally in my backyard. I couldn't not have overheard the seremons, but I hear you must make an offering to the True God in order to gain his blessing… Have you given something of worth to him?" The lord dismissed the girl's words. "Would you expect him to protect you again if you can't even give of yourself to him? I hope that you aren't lumping himwith some human deities..."
Grayfia blinked as she remembered the… obscene… happenings in the church she had visited just briefly. Yet, more importantly, the words seemed to cause the girls to fall to depths of despair. "Lord Phenix… I feel that your words are needlessly cruel."
"I hear your words… And dismiss them." Lord Phenix didn't bother to look behind him as he walked in the front of the group with Diodora, who seemed to have gained quite bit of adoration towards the cruel lord, whereas Grayfia and Diodora's Peerage followed in the second row and Diodora's group's veteran-devil stalked behind them as rearguard. "However, girl, if you seek the True God's blessings then I feel you should approach him directly or through his servant in the church… But other than that, feel free to wail and moan all you want in darkness when he forsakes you for being greedy."
The girl holding her fellow Peerage member's shoulder seemed to fall quiet afterwards, although Diodora's expression had grown somewhat complicated.
"My lord, if I may be so bold… Are you one of the followers of the True God?" Diodora asked. "I have heard of this new religion, and seen the rating game in which the alleged manifestation of this new god fought…"
"Then you must know that he is your only hope. Those that do not find their way under his shield will fall under the blade of the Supreme Being… As I did." The lord placed his hand on his chest, almost as if he was a bit uncertain but was seeking words. "I fell in battle, and rose as an undead horror, yet I was brought back when my… wife paid the price to the True God for my return."
"I heard. Such a steep price to pay… For such a perverted god." Diodora bowed his head minutely. "I meant no offense, of course. I'm certain she would have rejoiced at the fact you were back, even considering what would follow… Gods are such fickle and tyrannical beings, no?"
"To use a plural when speaking of him offends me… but yes, he is a tyrant on a golden throne. And all will be under his rule..." Lord Phenix seemed to catch himself. "I apologize. It seems that I have begun rambling. Truth to be told, even as the recent events have cast such a dark shadow over the rest of my family, the fact I can legally call his manifestation in this world my 'son' brings me no end of joy."
"And profit, I'm sure." Diodora nodded jovially. "I have heard the churchgoers have started to give bountiful… offerings. Of many sorts."
"You're well informed, young lord." Lord Phenix noted.
"I like to keep my ear to the wall… Besides, your son has something I'd like to trade for." Diodora noted joyfully. "Seeing what he appreciated, I'm certain he'd like the offer I'm willing to make for it."
"I see… Well then, speak."
"Ahem." Grayfia voiced her concern. "We are still in enemy-occupied territory. Focus on the present and stop haggling, please."
"Quite true." Lord Phenix nodded slightly. "Well then, if you feel that you have an offer worthy of the True God then feel free to visit his church… They offer resurrections at a price."
The crying girl's sobbing seemed to wane. "R-really?"
"I'll consider financing the resurrection of my lost Peerage members. After all, there has been... Unfortunate circumstances which have led to the death and disposal of some of my older toys, ahem, Peerage members. However, with the preparation for war taking so many resources…" Diodora's words were quite pleasant, although they had an underlying sting that caused the girls within his Peerage to fall to despair once more.
"Oh? You struggle with finance, yet you seek to trade with my m- son?" Lord Phenix's words turned derisive, causing Diodora to blink and then shake his head, as if the young devil was a kid who had reached for a forbidden fruit but became aware that his father was watching him and judging him as he did it.
"Of course not, my lord. I merely jested." Diodora nodded once more. "Indeed… I should seek this church out. I'm certain that a small investment to the refreshment fund would grant me a meeting with the… manifestation of 'True God', hm?"
"Do not be so arrogant as to believe that you can just buy into his good favors, or mine." Lord Phenix admonished. "But if you wish to pay an offering and receive a blessing in turn, then feel free to do so."
"Oh, and this is a largely academic question, but does the church of the True God happen to have holy maidens?" Diodora asked, albeit his expression slipped just for a tiniest moment to that of a truly despicable being.
"Multiple, or so I have heard." Lord Phenix replied. "I heard that the angel called them 'mothers of the coming age', or some such."
Diodora's smile widened while his Peerage shivered in fear.
Grayfia narrowed her eyes at the interaction, but since the condition of the Peerages was not her matter, nor would she have much to say on how nobles of different houses treated their Peerages, she chose to keep quiet and to report everything she saw to Sirzechs. '...Lord Phenix wasn't this cruel in the past… Manipulative, maybe, but not cruel…'
Grayfia sighed deeply, remembering Souji and the two Knight Pieces that had appeared on the Maou's table. 'Sirzechs… Come back to me safely… Mathes… I hope you're safe...'
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Sirzechs and Beelzebub creeped closer to the center of the Dragon Mountains, and the blazing forest while Asmodeus provided rearguard.
"That… Is that Souji-san?" Beelzebub paused as he looked at the vaguely samurai-like youkai-form in the courtyard of the stone-made vaguely eastern-styled mansion that Tannin called his home.
"His true form… But there is something wrong with him. It's… almost if he's a zombie of sorts- It's safe to assume that he would have perished and had been raised…" Sirzechs's heart ached as he made the connection, but nonetheless knew that he had to do his duty. "Momon… If I asked Momon to resurrect Souji…"
"Remember what Odin told us." Beelzebub noted from the side. "That trade… Might not be wise. If you decide to approach him I'd advise being careful of what you ask and what you trade in exchange. Remember what prize Lord Phenix paid for his resurrection..."
"...Right. In any case, I'll be the bait. Stay here and attack once the enemy shows itself." Sirzechs took the duty of destroying his wayward knight upon himself and moved into view of the creature.
The samurai-no-longer pulled his katana from his belt in a stance that was painfully familiar to Sirzechs.
"Souji." Sirzech's words provoked no response from the yokai-like man. "...You're truly gone, huh…"
He lifted his hand at Souji's puppeted corpse. "Forgive me."
The samurai charged at speed which would have been like lightning to a regular human, but for a Maou it was a shambling, sluggish charge that displayed none of the finesse the man had displayed in life.
[Power of Destruction] circled around Sirzech's fingers and shot at the samurai, hitting him square in the chest and causing him to collapse into a heap…
And the courtyard's sand divided to show a massive maw snapping right at Sirzechs from below.
The creature's appearance was a surprise, and as Sirzechs had sent a bolt at Souji's corpse he couldn't immediately counter the creature- However, Beelzebub was not idle.
The massive creature was knocked to the side as Beelzebub sent a bolt of energy at it, causing it to topple over and come to a skiddling halt.
"HUROAAAAHH! RAA- khhhhh..." The corrupted, ravaged body of Tannin let a hollow, emotionless roar. And then adjusted its head back into position after it had almost come loose of the stitchings that held the head to its body.
"What- No!" Sirzechs felt despair as he looked into the corrupted, miserable and broken body of the dragon he had called his friend. "Tannin… Not you too…"
"Hm… Do not let your guard down. The enemy's leader might be here as well." Beelzebub whispered in a way that carried over Tannin's unnatural roars.
Sirzechs nodded, drawing a javelin from the [Power of Destruction] and throwing it at Tannin, causing the dragon to lose an arm.
"...What?" Sirzechs paused as the undead form of the dragon was much, much weaker than he had thought. '...I've sparred against Tannin in the past. Yet, they are so weak as undead…'
A second javelin caused Tannin's remaining arm to disintegrate and the dragon let out a roar of black, corrupted mist that seemed to devour everything it touched.
"...This must be a trap." Sirzechs concluded as he dodged the slow-moving attack. "Beelzebub!"
"Grayfia, got it." Beelzebub disappeared into a teleportation circle, allowing Sirzechs to fight to the fullest while ensuring that the enemy wasn't trying to bait-and-switch. 'Lord Phenix told that the Supreme being was hunting him but was nowhere to be seen when we arrived- Which means it must have sensed us first and hid itself, and just allowed us to pass before returning to the hunt- Please be safe, Grayfia…'
"Out of my way!" Sirzechs sent a ball of black energy at Tannin's corpse, causing it to explode into chunks and then disappear into dust as the energy spread throughout the corrupted body.
A blade stabbed from the sand, almost catching Sirzechs off-guard but he sent a wave of energy into the sand, causing both the sand and the death knight within to turn to fine dust.
The Maou materialized a pair of devil-wings and took to the air, but a trio of fireballs forced him to make a series of high-speed dodges- And then groan in despair once more as he saw who was sending the attacks.
"Mathers… Not you too…" Sirzechs pointed his hand at the black-cloaked figure with a long string of parchment floating around its body. "Dammit! Not you too!"
Sirzechs knew better than to take chances with the undead magic-caster that bore striking similarity to Riser, except that it had been raised to the corpse of Mathers- And the similarity also explained why the Bishop's Pieces hadn't returned to Sirzechs. 'Riser's Piece fell off as well… And became inert. Did the same happen to Mathers as well? He looks just like how Riser did, when he turned on us... But how… Issei, or Momon was in the Rating Game when Riser died, but this time Momon was in Phenix territory, so that can't be it… Did the Supreme Being intercept Riser in the space between the Rating Game pocket-dimension and the Interdimensional Gap proper? Just how much power and reach does he hold?!'
A thought struck Sirzechs as he sent a lance of flaming black energy at Mathers's corpse, causing it to disintegrate as well. "Mathers… I'm sorry. I failed you, my friend..."
Sirzechs fell to his knees in front of the dust that remained of his two Peerage members. "I… I'll avenge you… I swear this... Even if it kills me…"
A fireball hit Sirzechs's back, causing the Maou to freeze.
He turned slowly towards the attacker, feeling his annoyance turn to rage… And then turn to cold dread once more. "Not… Not you two…"
The two undead sons of Phenix house had merged into some sort of undead monstrosity.
Stitches connected the younger son to the back of the older, almost as if the young son was a controller and the older was a puppet, and the duo sent uncaring, inhumane screeches as they sent balls of black fire at the Maou after hobbling out of Tannin's home.
'...What is this strategy? Drip-feeding me enemies one at a time? I sent Beelzebub out already… Is the enemy trying to prolong the fight? Or just trying to demoralize me?!' Sirzechs felt his fear for Grayfia's safety grow like a tumor, while the loss he felt after failing the Phenix house so spectacularly and losing two of his Peerage simultaneously in the process grew to a shame and rage so hot and burning that he felt as if he'd break apart. '...Is that what you're doing, oh monster? Winning without fighting?'
The Maou clenched his hand into a trembling fist- But if it was trembling from despair or rage, he could no longer tell.
The fist flew directly into the chest of undead Ruval, causing a massive discharge of dark energy of [Power of Destruction], a power that Sirzechs could manipulate and fine-tune to the point he could perform heart surgery with it…
...Yet, this time it discharged in an uncontrollable, expanding conical blast that carved a canyon through the entire Dragon Mountains zone, toppling entire mountains and turning the rock into glass.
"RRRAAAAAAGH!" Sirzech's roar of anger echoed through the entire mountain range, or what remained of it, while all that remained around the Maou was the corpses that marked his failure...
.
.
The Overlord Wiseman considered the operation 'In and out' to be a great success as he walked out of the Dragon Mountains, alongside a potential new asset for its master.
'Hm, this Diodora is somewhat dim, but shows a degree of potential… I remember that he was a son of nobility as well… Hm… What did the Sup- My Lord mean by sending him to this excursion? The fact the girls that follow Diodora had been 'saved' by 'True God' means that Master must have plans for them...' The disguised undead felt as its low-tier puppets far behind him were defeated one by one- Namely, the corpses of Lord Phenix's sons, Souji, Mathers and Tannin. 'While I grieve for parting with such useful ingredients, I need to cover my tracks and since I am almost out of powerful summons for this day, I just [Stitch]ed those corpses together, raised them as zombies and as one as a lesser Lich… Well, they did their job of distracting the Maous. I'm not a 'general' class so the number of undead I can summon is severely limited, but that too must be part of the S- My Lord's plan...'
The undead summon of the Supreme Being considered its cover. 'Hm… I may have overdone it with the wounding of this body after I had used the healing potion to restore it to 'life', but it was necessary to keep my cover… While I would have loved to trap some flies into this trap, I absolutely cannot take on multiple Maous and expect to survive... And Master has decreed me to be the caretaker of Phenix house so I can't just suicide myself into the enemy, so I had to improvise… '
In truth, there was a degree of wariness in the Overlord Wiseman's mind. '...Was I correct? Is the name of 'Supreme Being' a fabrication that is supposed to claim the responsibility for the attacks your servants make against the Underworld, my lord? Is that why you decreed that I must not call my lord with that name, even in private? Did I go against your orders when I lied about 'your' presence here?'
[Emotion Suppression] activated to carry out the worry before it could reveal 'Lord Phenix's true nature- After all, the Grayfia-woman was staring holes into the back of the disguised undead creature's head. '...Well, one of my missions is complete. Now, I should see about managing the money flow to the Church of the True God from Phenix family. The main church has been built, so next step should be funding more churches and consolidating the influence of the True God…'
The Overlord Wiseman sighed as the group reached the edge of the Dragon Mountains and re-entered the forest surrounding it, and eventually reached the 'staging area' of the devil task-force.
Afterwards 'Lord Phenix' was teleported back to the Phenix grounds by Grayfia, who would return to the battlefield alongside Diodora and his Peerage.
'If only that Dominion Authority was less of a scatterbrain when it comes to money… At least it can preach…' The masquerading undead creature sighed as he reappeared into the familiar courtyard. Nonetheless it shook his head, as he knew his task and would carry out the task its Lord had given for it to the letter. 'Glory to you, my lord… And to your coming reign over all worlds…'
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