Chapter 8 : Shaken Worldviews

Disclaimer : I own nothing.

Chapter 8 : Shaken Worldviews.

- Damien –

"Sorry about that Damien but we can only allow you to take two Ultimate Class Devils with you apart from Gretel. Other bases have been attacked as well and until we can fortify those, we need more people with us." Shalba said the first thing after looking at the list of names I gave him. "Anyways, any reason to choose these three? I can understand Gregory Bune as he was your teacher but Octavius Paimon? I don't think you have had any meetings with him unless I am mistaken?"

"Lord Paimon is my Mind Magic Teacher Ophelia Paimon's father. The Paimon's Trait of the 'Bewitching Voice' is very useful in calming people in distressing situations which is something I might need in case of attacks. He also has experience as a frontline general and can take command of the defending troops in case I am engaged in a fight. Gregory Bune, by his own claim, while a good fighter, is not a capable general. That said I am more familiar with his working habit and can work well with both Gretel and him as a team." Too bad I can't get the third person in the list. He would have been a great addition to my side according to whatever plans Ophelia had for him but well, next time.

As for Octavius Paimon, he needs to either join my side or die in this attack. Ophelia expressly requested it. He has been a constant terror on Ophelia. It was because of him that Ophelia was tied to the Old Satan Faction and cannot leave at will. She wants him away from her brother Ace and I think I can work it out quite easily.

"Hmm….a well thought out choice. Very well, you can take the people and teleport to our base in Russia. I will leave the rest to you." he patted my shoulder and left.

I gave the list to Shalba's assistant who was left behind and went ahead to make the required contracts.

A two month posting.

Right around the time for my one year goal.

- Scene Change –

Russia is….cold.

The base was obviously in an alternate dimension under heavy wards but the outer regions of Russia were generally avoided by the Church and the Fallen alike. It was known as the place where Devils held an upper hand during the Great War and it had successfully repelled many attempts to take over the area.

This area was currently under the Houses who support the Old Satan Faction….namely the supporters of the previous Beelzebub.

The Dimension was warded quite well against detection but not that well against attacks. I might not have an expertise in Warding but Gretel has a comprehensive knowledge about any and all techniques on the matter from the Dantalion's Libraries. The Space Affinity made the House Dantalion a pioneer in Warding, especially the ones which involved alternate dimensions.

In fact, the current Rating Game's arenas were also based on the same spells….just a dumbed down version of it considering the people who do normally are not Dantalions. The matches between the top level Rating Games are always held in Dimensions made by the Dantalion Devils because normal ones wouldn't be able to withstand the power.

"Cleria."

"Yes, My Lord."

"Report….what is the status of the ones you are preparing to send here?"

"We only have four Ultimate Class Devils right now and all of them are my peerage members. Two other Ultimate Class Devils are from the ones who we turned into us in the attacks. They are both Low Ultimate Class. We have Peak High Class Devils but even if we push them, the most we can do is make them Low Ultimate Class in a month and a half at best. We can arrange eight Ultimate Class devils that way but they will be of no use against you if you want to show a strong fight but even that would be pushing it. We just don't have enough resources and the Old Satan Faction have started to investigate us fervently. We can't hunt more Stray Devils freely to collect more power."

"Hmm….I would prefer if things go according to my plan but still make sure that the ones who come here are prepared to die. As for the strength of the attacking force, get the two to Mid Ultimate Class if possible, and use the Dimension Lost on the expendable one after making them sign the Suicide Contract. We need a strong opposition to truly put some pressure on the people. If possible use the Annihilation Maker on the other and give them a few doses of Chaos Drive drug. I want them to use Balance Breaker in the fight. Make sure the whole area is isolated when I tell you to."

"The Longinuses? My Lord, are you sure?" she asked suddenly in an incredulous tone.

"The Suicide Contract will make sure we don't lose it. Just do what I say. I don't want to take any chances here. This might be the last play I make here before I leave the Old Satan Faction."

"….Yes My Lord."

A month and a half until the attack.

I checked the room for any surveillance and put up a few barriers of my own and then turned towards my sole companion in the room.

"Gretel."

"Yes Master."

"Ward the place. I want it so that no one can send any information from or to this place without my notice. I will get the books and information about the subject to hide your knowledge about the Dantalion Wards. I want every room, every corner of this dimension mapped."

"Yes Master."

There is a high chance that this place will be rigged by the lackeys of Rizevim who were sent along with the group.

Now though, I have a reason to simply torture and kill them if I find them sending information behind my back on the guise of them being spies.

Vienna is sleeping in the other room and resting.

Razevan has left us alone since my little outburst at Aria's funeral.

He made no efforts to contact Vienna, directly or through any servant but most of the time he has been wandering to places that I have no idea about. I had no way to investigate him without causing problems for myself and I have more than enough on my plate as it is.

I finally got the chance I was looking for for over a year now.

The chance to roam around free without being tracked and I had more than a few things I had to take care of.

The first being….choosing a weapon of my choice.

- Scene Change –

I walked down the dirt road towards the corner of the forest. My goal is the house there or more precisely the girl in the house.

The entire forest is calm and has an extremely peaceful environment. Despite the whole plot….or a majority of the plot of the series being in Japan, this is my first time in this place.

I am accompanied by Antonio Amy, one of the two Ultimate Class Devils we had managed to turn to our side. He was the one chosen to use the Dimension Lost in the fight that I was organizing. There was a certain amount of time provided for him to get used to the Sacred Gear before the attack in a month.

I brought him with me to simply shield this area and prevent unwanted distractions.

"Young Lord, this is the place. The girl you have been enquiring about is inside there."

I nodded my head and walked inside.

Almost as soon as I knocked on the door, I felt something lock on to me. My Observation Haki couldn't detect anything. No detection spells gave me any indication about what this was. It was completely instinctual. The Observation Haki makes people's instincts extremely sharp. It was only due to my knowledge about who or rather what I was facing made me push Rizevim's Sacred Gear Canceller Skill to use. The feeling disappeared as soon as I used it.

So this was the reason she was isolated from everyone. It was understandable to some extent. Sad….but still understandable.

What was not understandable was their attitude towards this girl who had nothing to do with it in the first place. She was born with it without any choice in the matter, so it was not fair to hate her.

The door opened and I saw a girl around the same age as Gretel, looking at me. She was petite, slightly smaller than her own age. Her eyes had slight dark circles around them, an indication of her current health.

"Are....you.. here to try to kill me too?" came a soft but feeble voice from inside.

Despite knowing the whole story, I couldn't help but feel a twinge in my heart.

There are sad stories everywhere. I need to harden my heart and deal with it. This was not time for getting lost in such thoughts. If everything goes as I want to, then this girl might have a better life after today.

"No. I am here to offer you a chance to live." I spoke softly, trying not to scare the girl away, although I don't think she would be scared so easily. She was too depressed for that currently. After all, what kind of person opens the door to a would-be assassin?

She looked up, her eyes showing too much pain. Who knows how many times she has been told the same words….only to meet with a disappointing result at the end. It was understandable why she didn't have even a glimmer of hope at my words….sad but yet understandable.

"Many have said the same and tried. If you feel like you can do something, I will not reject it."

"I will not try anything….I WILL do it. What I am not sure is if you will be able to pay for it?"

"If you can make this….this stop, I can ask Ryota Onii-sama to pay for it. Beyond that I cannot say anything." There was a hint of determination in her voice and the assurance that her brother would pay for it went a long way to show her confidence in the person.

Ryota Nakiri was the current heir of the Nakiri Clan of the Five Principal Clans and the first in line to inherit the Divine Spirit of the Oryuu.

He was also very close to his cousin and was extremely distressed when the Clan decided to isolate her and has been trying to find a way to help the girl since then.

"I don't need anything from your brother. What I need is the same thing you want to get rid of, along with a promise that your Clan will not try to come after me or mine."

Her eyes widened for a moment before she collected herself, "Are you sure? Can you remove it safely?"

"I am. Don't you see that you cannot use it right now." I pointed out to her.

It was quite easy to stop the Sacred Gear from being used after all.

My Observation Haki sensed her increased heart rate and for a moment I saw a ray of hope glimmer in her eyes. "Do it. I agree."

Although I knew about it, I still couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure you want to give it up? People all over the world, both humans or supernatural, would kill for this power. Would you just give it up and not even take a chance to be able to control it in the future?"

"Would you agree to it if I said that I won't follow you. I won't join your peerage. Will you still help me with it?" she asked looking directly into my eyes, no hint of anger or disgust shown in her face or even in her emotions.

"No."

"Then what is there to talk about?"

True.

I kinda like this girl. Wish she could have joined me.

"Well in that case, here," I gave her a contract, "Read this and see if you can agree to this. Sign it and we have a deal."

She went through the contract without any more words.

"My life will belong to you in case someone from my clan tried to attack you or yours with the purpose of taking revenge for this." She raised an eyebrow towards me.

"I would like to keep my assurances. Don't worry. I have no interest in making you my slave or anything like that. What I need is your Sacred Gear. This contract is only so that my identity and powers remain a secret. The rest is just an assurance for my close ones. As for your Clan, I am not trying to brag or anything….but….even if your Oryuu were to fight me at its peak, I can still assure myself of a way to win. I am not worried. That said, if my loved ones are hurt, I will retaliate in the most brutal way possible….so let's spare the bloodshed with a simple measure."

"What will you do if you are attacked even after my clan warns its people about it? After all we can only say but cannot control the minds of all the members."

"A fair question. Hmm….let's say, I will negotiate for that person's life with your brother in return for yours. He is going to be the Oryuu's host after all."

She looked at me for a moment before taking a deep breath, cutting her finger and signing the contract with blood.

My mouth opened a bit.

"I had a pen."

….

Her mouth hung open as well.

My Observation Haki told me that she probably thinks that I cannot read the room in the atmosphere.

I could….but that was so….so unnecessary and….so unsanitary.

The contract however didn't care about the sanitation and was completed.

I had the Telos Karma stored inside the contract and her memories regarding my identity and powers locked away permanently.

Yes.

The one I was after was Telos Karma. The one aspect of everything that I needed on my side….is Luck.

The Ultimate Karma.

The power to control Luck to such an extent that it even allows humans to kill Gods. The power that can make Ajuka Beelzebub, that absolute beast of calculative perfection's spells go awry.

I don't have ridiculous plot armor like the protagonists of anime but that doesn't mean that I can't take my own measures regarding it.

Luck is one aspect that can change the course of a whole battle in a single instant….and I need that instant on MY side.

This is the power that might give me the edge. One moment to get an attack in and I can turn the whole fight into my palm.

Technically Boosted Gear is a wonderful power and could help me immensely. But I have the Essence of the Archmage and I could very well copy the Boost Magic. It would become easier to use as my soul grows stronger. I know I can use Divide if I work on it.

Annihilation Maker is another great choice that can give me the edge in a fight. Matched with my ever growing Demonic Power, it can be a nightmare for almost anyone to handle.

But manipulating Probability is extremely difficult to learn. Mastering it to the level of Telos Karma is even more difficult and just as time consuming.

That said….there was never a rule that said I could only have one Sacred Gear now was there?

"Then with this finished, I declare you free….Momiji Nakiri. Rejoice in your freedom."

With my words said, I left the place in a flash.

I have to return back soon.

- Scene Change –

It has been one week since the incident. I finally have in hand the best Sacred Gear for me.

The warding of this base has been completed in a way that Gretel can drop the entire warding scheme in a matter of moments if she wanted.

Finally things are looking a bit good. Now I just need to wait for Cleria to get ready for the attack.

"Dummy, come with me. I have something to show you." a very excited gremlin jumped on me and dragged me from my couch towards….somewhere.

"What is it, Vi? I need to inspect the place and see if the work is going well."

"This is very important. It won't take much time." she insisted and I went along with her.

We came outside Gretel's room and I looked weirdly at the one dragging me.

"Now close your eyes. Oh and no peeking….or using Observation Haki either."

….

"Okay."

I closed my eyes and she pulled me by my hand to the room.

"Now open your eyes."

I did and what greeted me was a brightly decorated room with a cake with twelve candles in between.

Ah….I had forgotten my own birthday.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUMMY!"

"Happy Birthday Master."

Vi and Gretel greet me together.

"Come on, cut the cake already, Dummy. I'm hungry."

"Lady Vi."

"B-but…."

I was dragged towards the cake. It looked just like the cakes Aria made on our birthdays. For all three of us.

I looked towards Gretel. She has been working extra hard since Aria passed away, just to maintain a sense of normality in our lives.

I had completely immersed myself in my plans and studies to bring us out of that place and had in a way neglected our time together. I didn't spend as much time with Vi and Gretel but the two never complained. For an adult, this would be understandable but Vi is not even ten years old right now and Gretel is barely fourteen and yet they are so understanding and supporting.

Now I feel like an idiot all of a sudden.

"How is the cake, Dummy? Awesome right. Gretel made it but I am the one who decorated it. Now come on blow the candles and cut the cake. Fast."

I smiled and nodded towards her before embracing her. With my other hand I took Gretel's hand and brought the surprised girl in the hug too.

Yeah, this feels much better.

"Master?"

I put a finger on her lips and she quieted down. Vi's grip tightened on us and slowly Gretel also relaxed herself in my embrace. None of us spoke anything and stayed like that for a while.

A while later I cut the cake and fed the gremlin, my cute maid and enjoyed a peaceful time among us.

- Scene Change –

I heard the knock on the room and looked at the door.

My Observation Haki already having identified the person.

Gretel looked up from the side of the bed wanting to get up while Vi was asleep. I had dragged her to sleep with us because Vi wanted to spend some time together. I wanted it too.

I waved her to rest with Vienna while I myself got up to the door.

It was the maid.

"Young Lord, I-Its Lord Razevan. He wishes to talk with you and is requesting your presence." She stuttered a bit.

My fingers twitched slightly. The maid was afraid, no doubt already aware of my relationship with the person and was worried that I would nuke her too.

"Okay. Lead him to the guest room. I will be there in a moment."

"Yes My Lord." She bowed immediately and almost ran from the place.

I closed the door, many thoughts running through my mind.

"Master, should I?" Gretel called out from behind me.

I looked back at her and shook my head. "No. Stay here with Vienna. If I give an order, take her and escape. Go to Alicia's base."

She looked a little reluctant but agreed nonetheless.

I changed into my formal clothes and left the room.

Why would Razevan come here and why now of all times?

Is he here by himself or is Rizevim pulling the strings?

I soon reached the guest room. The maid was standing outside the room. On seeing me arrive, she bowed to me and opened the room.

I entered the room and closed it behind myself.

Inside the room Razevan was sitting on the couch with an unnaturally serious face. Not the usual cowardly one but a serious face with similar emotions that were verified by my Observation Haki.

He looked around the room and then began setting privacy barriers. "Set up any barrier that you can. I believe that these discussions will be a little noisy."

I watched quietly. Setting barriers? Does he want to assassinate me?

"Gretel, be on full guard. Something is not right here. Keep checking the surrounding areas for barriers and as soon as you get a hit of one being put around the location, run. Do not wait for me. I leave Vi's safety to you." I called out in my mind.

"Yes Master."

I went on and set up a few barriers with some concealed traps inside.

With everything done, he took a seat on the couch back once more and then signaled me to take a seat as well.

And that's when the first attack came.

"I want you to do whatever you did to Katerea and Ophelia, to me as well so that you will believe whatever I say."

I stilled for a moment, my Occlumency working overtime to maintain my expressions.

"That trick only works when the other party is not an Empath. Frankly speaking, it is more suspicious if you show no emotions than if you had an outburst. Your tricks to hide your emotions are good but there are a lot of holes in it. Did you really think that Devils, especially ones from top of the Underworld are that much of a fool? Even without empathy, your muscle movements, breathing and even heartbeats are enough for a trained person to see through your guise. You are suppressing your emotion or distracting yourself from it. That however doesn't erase the emotions all together.

Those emotions are still there." He went on a rant while my head was running through the implications of those words.

Occlumency is a skill that I have more or less self-created. It is something that I later refined with Mind Magic from Ophelia but that wasn't until I was eight years old that I started working on it. I made barely any progress until the age of nine years give or take six months after I had devised the Shadow Clones who bombarded me with Legilimency probes that I had to defend against.

I still had almost seven to seven and a half years in the place with barely passable defenses. Could it be that my mind was read?

No.

I would have at least felt anything wrong with it.

Even if I didn't, they wouldn't have let me act that freely if they had any idea about 'any' of my skills.

Empathy however is not something I was expecting. It was not even in the list of things I was considering.

Occlumency was not a skill from my Essences. It is something that I have created myself and thus there could be problems in it.

Whether he truly knew what was wrong or was just shooting in the dark was to be seen though.

He took a gulp of his drink and then looked at me for a reply.

"Did you come here simply to give me this speech?"

"No. I have work to do, that's why I want you to do whatever you did to Katerea and Ophelia to me so that you can trust what I am going to say next."

I merely looked at him impassively though.

He sighed and then continued, "I could sense the change in emotions of Ophelia Piamon towards you after the first day she met you. I had some idea about what Rizevim had sent her to you for. Her emotions were also in line with that goal. You were also wary of her because I could sense your unease throughout the time since you were informed about the Mind Magic lessons. But as soon as she met you, there was a complete change in her emotions to downright worship towards you. It is obvious that you did something because you were suddenly extremely comfortable in her presence too. The same was the case with Katerea. She, while didn't worship you, was extremely afraid of you. It was like you held her life in your palms or something even more. As far as I know Katerea Leviathan, she would rather die than suffer a defeat so you must have done something to forcibly control her. Blackmail won't work. She is too stubborn and prideful for that. So the only option I can think of is Mind Control somehow. I want you to use whatever you can to assure that I am not lying or there is no way you will believe me."

I stared at the man completely slack-jawed.

That a simple Empathy skill could fuck my plans so bad is not something I had imagined. All of his words were true according to my Observation Haki. I couldn't even imagine what consequences this would have to our escape plan or if this was all a play for Rizevim or him maybe.

"Why are you even talking about all this? If you can read my emotions so easily then you should have known that I would kill you the first chance I can get away with, so what is even the point of all this?" I asked a little confused.

I am prepared to kill him right now but I still want to know why.

"Are you thinking about killing?" He simply raised an eyebrow before continuing. "Sure. I don't mind that. Still I want you to hear what I have to say first. As for killing me." A massive burst of power exploded out from him and before I realized it, I was in the corner of the room, several barriers in between us and the Flames of Asmodeus ready to attack at the moment's notice.

My heartbeat picked by as I saw his power increase from High Ultimate Class to High Satan Class in a single instant. No. It was slightly more than High Satan Class and was approaching Peak Satan Class.

That is around five times stronger than me in terms of sheer Demonic Power. That was almost as strong as Serafall Leviathan from what I have heard.

"Members of House Lucifer have on average four times more Demonic Power than other Devils. Almost all Satan House members achieve Low Satan Class Demonic Powers by the time they are two hundred years old, without any kind of training. That is one of the reasons why they are considered the strongest bloodlines around. I am talking about bloodlines, not stronger devils. Super Devils are exceptions. If Shalba, Katerea or Creuserey had trained themselves, they could have easily achieved Peak Satan Class without any problems. Their elder siblings were such devils. They however were too hung up on their ancestor's glory to bother with any training. That said, even they have talents in many other fields. We don't just waste hundreds of years doing nothing. Every devil of the Satan Clans is born with enough potential to reach Peak Satan Class….minimum."

This time I was paying too much attention to his words as one after one my assumptions of this world were being broken down. Observation Haki was my most used skill along with Occlumency. It was the first skill I had developed and have been working on even now.

For it to be fooled so easily, was a major blow to my confidence.

"There is more than one way to fool a sensory skill. Don't rely on just one. If you see someone's power, always prepare for at least four times more strength. That way even if they were hiding, you will have a chance to escape. Anyways, are you ready? I don't have much time. My disappearance and appearance in this place will be noticed very quickly. I want to make sure the talks end before that."

"How? How did you do that?"

He sighed again but explained nonetheless.

"The House Trait of Lucifer is varied. Every member normally has a different Trait and it is almost impossible to guess who has what Trait that said I have discovered that there is one common fact for all these powers. They are all things for which Lucifer was famous for."

"Wasn't his power to reject the Miracles of the Divine?"

"No. That was 'one' of his powers. 'The Denial of Divine' is the power that Lucifer was most well-known for because he could render almost any divine attack useless. That is how Lucifer and the other Satans fought his Father to a standstill despite the other party being vastly stronger than them. It is why he is known as the one who rebelled despite there being numerous Fallen Angels who had done the same. What Rizevim has is a severely watered down version of that power. Lucifer on the other hand had many other powers and legends associated with him as well. He is after all the second most famous individual in the Abrahamic religion second only to his father. I too have a Trait similar to one of his titles. I call it 'The Prince of Lies'."

"Huh?"

He sighed once more and indicated to me to sit. I looked at him for a moment but decided to do the same. There was no point. If we fight, I would have to self-destruct to be able to take him down with me. Let's see what he has planned first.

"Lucifer was called 'The Father of Lies'. He had the power to look through everyone's inner feelings while hiding himself in his lies. My power comes from that. I can see anyone's inner feelings while lying without being caught. My power that was visible was actually a Lie from me. I can hide the truth behind my lie. The concept behind a lie can be stretched quite a lot. Devils have the power to train their Traits to slightly manipulate the concepts. Like the Bael's Trait of 'The Power of Destruction' if trained and powered enough can erase anything. I have trained my Trait to lie to the world around me. I don't have enough power to go beyond this right now."

It was as if my whole being shivered when I heard this Trait.

What the actual fuck?

Is that even normal?

I mean even 'The Power of Destruction' is just a joke in front of this.

Conceptual Erasure requires extremely large powers. The only such being in this world is Shiva, The God of Destruction of the Hindu Pantheon, One of the Trimurti. Even Sirzechs can only use just a fraction of that power in his true form at the cost of all his sanity and control during his transformation.

What even is the limit of this Trait?

Can it lie to the world itself to an extent like the Izanagi?

He did say that he was lying to the world to show his power as a High Ultimate Class instead of his true power.

"Why though? Why hide it? Your…."

"I will answer everything if you are sure that you can believe me."

There is no way that I am letting him leave this place alive right now.

"Gretel, take Vienna and leave somewhere safe for now. Do not alert anyone of your disappearance. Do not go to Ophelia or Katerea however."

"Master, is everything alright?"

"I don't know Gretel….I really don't know. I will be safe. You take care of Vienna till I return."

"Master…."

"Gretel please….just….please."

"I will agree to listen to you if you agree to speak only the truth while in this room, no half-truths, no twisted facts, just the plain truth, do we have a deal?" I asked him in a normal tone.

He looked at me for a moment before a look of realization came over him but before I could do anything, he agreed.

I am using my Essence's powers directly instead of using any skills I have learned or created. His Trait might be able to lie to others but my Essences cannot be broken that simply. The Broker Essence even more so.

"Fascinating. It is like a binding on my very soul. Is you're your Trait? A Deal with the Devil? Very Lucifer indeed." He didn't look stressed in any way and was talking casually. "I have bl-silver hair. Oh! So I can't lie even with my Trait. I can see why Katerea would be so terrified of you. This does change a lot of things. Anyways, are you sure this method can make me speak the truth?"

"If this doesn't do it, then I have no idea what will. I don't really have many options with me though."

He looked closely at me and sighed again. "You are prepared to go suicidal and take me down here. Are Vienna and Gretel both in this place?"

I didn't reply at all.

"Doesn't matter. I need to talk to you. That is the most important thing. First things first. I did not kill Aria."

My heart almost stopped for a second before I noticed a hole in the statement. He must have read it from my emotions so he clarified it. "She actually committed suicide."

….

My head went blank for a moment and I couldn't reply at all.

He continued, "I have never once hit Aria in my whole life with an intent to harm her."

At this point, I was beginning to worry if my Essence was even working.

"Wait. One more deal before the next statement."

He raised an eyebrow at me but nodded nonetheless.

"From now and till the time you leave the room, your Trait of House Lucifer will be mine along with any other supernatural powers that you can use to lie, directly or indirectly and in return I will listen to your words. Deal?"

His mouth opened slightly. "That is….how even…." His eyes widened but he agreed nonetheless.

I felt the gush of power inside me as my Archmage Essence started to scan every part of the power and understand it.

I saw his hands shaking a little as he looked at himself, staring at his hand.

"DO NOT, I MEAN ABSOLUTELY DO NOT REVEAL THIS POWER TO ANYONE. IF YOU DO, MAKE SURE THEY CANNOT EVER REVEAL IT. This whole world will be after you out for blood if this is revealed."

"I know. I am still prepared to kill you if your words do not convince me. I don't have anyone I care about in a hundred miles around this area. I am prepared to disintegrate this whole place if I have to. Now talk."

He looked at me closely for a moment before continuing.

"I have never once hit Aria without her permission or with the intention to hurt her, nor have I ever made anyone do it for me. I did not kill her. She committed suicide."

The words were the same but this time I could feel that he was speaking the truth.

"Why?" I asked, my hands clenched tightly.

"It goes back a long way. You will have to listen to the whole story to understand everything. But first answer a question for me. Who killed first Lucifer?"

"The Biblical God." I answered as I felt a slight tinge in my head.

"No. The Biblical God killed the Beelzebub, Asmodeus and left the Leviathan on the verge of death but Lucifer was still alive if only exhausted….yet he would have survived. The one who killed him was….his own son Rizevim. Leviathan was also killed by Rizevim."

….huh.

"Rizevim is a madman who desires nothing but chaos and wants to see the world burn. He knew that as the Biblical God had died along with three of the Satans, the factions would call for the end of the war. The Fallen Angels had already dropped out of the war and there was barely anything anyone could do. It would have been relatively peaceful….so he killed Lucifer because he knew that the descendants of the Original Satans would want to continue the war. Lucifer, prideful as he might have been, would have stopped the war. After all, it wasn't him who had started the war. The Biblical God had been the one to do so. He was injured while sealing 'The Beast of Apocalypse' and was dying. He wanted to take down the Original Satans before that so that they wouldn't gain an upper hand and take over Heaven before that. He made sure that all three sides were culled so much that no one would cause a war without risking extinction. A brutal but clever move if you ask me."

The Archangels wouldn't have done well if their father had passed away and the Satans and the Fallen had started the war then. It is understandable. Also knowing Rizevim, he is someone who would do such things without a doubt.

"Anyways, Rizevim was cursed by Lucifer to die at the hands of another Lucifer for his betrayal."

….what? A prophecy, curse? Are you shitting me?

Then again Rizevim in canon also died at the hands of Vali even after being hit with an overloaded Booster Gear and Fafnir's dream attacks.

In a way this actually happened.

He however unaware of this continued, "It is unknown how much of the curse is real and how much is fake but Rizevim since then has made it a point to torture every Lucifer and break them just to mock his Father's last words. The Lucifer Magic Circle given to the main house members all have a kill switch bound to the soul. I was marked at the age of six."

"No it does not. I checked. There is only a tracker and I can remove it easily. There are no soul marks."

"There was a mark in your Magic circle as well but….who do you think gave you the crest?"

….It wasn't Rizevim who gave me the mark. It was actually Razevan.

"So Vienna?"

"This is why I didn't want Vienna to learn magic because it would have required her to be marked as well."

"No wait. Kill Switches and such magic are always connected to the Master and I can't see Rizevim giving the leash to you. If the Kill Switch hadn't been applied, he would have known."

"Who says it wasn't applied?" He raised his hand and the Lucifer Crest appeared on it.

I pushed a little magic inside it and scanned the Crest. I had enough experience to know what it looked like by studying my own. This one however had marks that were bound to the soul itself….three of them.

I stared at the man.

No lies.

….

"Aria?"

"Aria is someone I met after my second wife was killed or rather as reported to me….met an unfortunate accident while I was away. The first one had died in a similar manner. Both of them were killed by the kill switch in the Lucifer Magic Circle. In frustration, I left for the human world. There I met Aria and had saved her from being sold by her own family. She stuck to me since then. I had no intention of being in a relationship with her but that changed…. when she got pregnant. Vienna is my first and only child in all my six hundred years of life. I wanted to make sure that she stayed as far away from me as possible but Rizevim's people who followed and kept an eye on me found out about it. Aria was marked before I could hide them somewhere."

The energy levels around him rose as he kept speaking further. Taking a deep breath before the energy levels were calmed again, he continued.

"We were brought here and both of us were trapped here with a knife to our necks. We didn't want to lose the child. She was adamant to keep sticking to me and give birth while I wanted to have a child as well. Rizevim's sick twisted thinking helped for once when he allowed Aria to give birth to a Half-Devil Lucifer despite being opposed by the entire Old Satan Faction. It was also your birth that took their attention away from Aria and Vienna because they were too busy planning everything about you. Aria and I both were already prepared to die since we were bound. What we simply wanted was for our daughter to survive and spend as much time as we could with her. I had been planning her escape for years."

My head was already starting to hurt from this ridiculous story so I interrupted him.

"If you knew all this, then why didn't you talk to me before?"

"Why didn't you do the same?" he returned back.

"I didn't trust you. You say you didn't hit Aria but there were bruises on her body. Was she inflicting self-harm?"

"No. It is a simple trick with Demonic Power. Demonic power, while good for Devils, is corrosive to humans. Simply concentrating demonic power at a spot for a moment can cause a bruise. It doesn't hurt and is only cosmetic. Most Devils here don't know of it because they never take interest in humans and the only time they use demonic power on them is to kill. It was to keep others from discovering us. Rizevim wanted to see me suffer and I showed him just that. As for why I didn't talk to you, it is the same….I didn't trust you."

"You didn't trust a child that was raised in your own house, in front of your own eyes?" I gritted out the words out of my mouth barely controlling my anger.

He seemed completely unphased by the question and replied just as calmly.

"I could trust a child….but you are not a child, are you?"

And for another moment, my heart stopped.

"It seems that you forgot that I am an Empath….well was. No two year old child that has been shut in an Observation Pod since birth can have that many and such precise emotions. The only possibility was….a reincarnation."

A cold chill ran through my spine as he looked towards me with a casual expression.

"Reincarnation is not unheard of in this world. Souls of the famous Heroes are reborn now and then. There are various types of reincarnations as well. Some with only the special soul, some with their instincts and general memory, some come back and regain their entire memories over time by adulthood. I wasn't sure whose reincarnation you are and what kind. I couldn't trust you if you were, say….the reincarnation of a Christian Hero. Aria however trusted you. She was very adamant about protecting you, so I decided to observe. If there were indications that you intended to harm anyone of the two, I would have found a way for you to have an accident as well. I would have thrown you to Rizevim the first moment I could. Even if I hide my Trait from everyone, I have more than one way to expose you. It was not needed thankfully. I saw that you were genuinely protective of Aria and Vienna as well. Then you became close to Gretel and tried to help her. Although your general unawareness about many things makes me think that you only have a very basic knowledge of the world with some of your instincts. It is not a perfect reincarnation. That said, you can understand why I was wary of you."

I watched the man while things kept falling in place one by one.

Why Aria had rejected every time? Why she refused to leave him?

There were never any fights between them. The pain in her eyes was not about her bruises….but that she was forced to hide everything.

She knew that she was going to die anyway. She didn't know that I could remove the kill switch from her soul.

There was no chance for her according to her.

I know I had hidden about my powers from her and I didn't have any right to question anything but still a traitorous part of my head was screaming just one thing repeatedly.

"She could have told me." I whispered very slowly to myself.

Razevan however heard this and replied, "Do you really think Aria is the type of person who would burden a nine year old child that she considers her own with something like this? Put yourself in her place and tell me if you would do that. No matter how strong you are or how talented you are, would a mother really willingly put her prepubescent child in danger, especially in such a case. You were too busy thinking about yourself that you never considered her point of view. It was already killing her to pretend and hide things from you and yet she kept it all inside so that you don't do anything reckless and get hurt. Also, would she really leave Vienna?"

My hands clenched tighter….because I knew that she wouldn't….I wouldn't.

"You say that you didn't talk to me because you didn't trust me but why didn't you talk to her?"

"I was worried that you would read her mind. I couldn't risk others finding out."

He nodded his head, "A wise decision. Too bad you snapped at the wrong time."

My head almost whipped in his direction.

"The day you had the argument and little outburst with Aria, did you check your surroundings continuously?"

I recalled it. I hadn't. I was too upset to check. My mind was immediately flooded with several dangerous possibilities.

"Your outburst was felt by a servant outside the room and while he didn't find out the topic discussed, this was reported to Rizevim. I was called and asked to bring Aria later so that he could have a 'talk' with her. We were very near the time for Vienna and you to escape and thus couldn't afford to make any mistakes. She didn't want to take any chances so Aria committed suicide. I pretended that it was me. The normal plan was to send Vienna, you and Gretel to a friend of mine. He would have kept you safe from the Devils and given you three asylum in his own faction if Aria somehow died. That however was delayed because you would have attacked me if I had tried to talk to you any sooner."

My mind was blank right now. His words were being heard but I was not sure I was processing everything though.

"Who? Who was the servant?"

He stopped for a moment and then answered, "It was the one you burned that day."

….

Not even his soul was left so I can't resurrect him back to life anymore to interrogate or even torture.

I pulled out of my thoughts and asked the next question.

"What changed? Why now?"

"If I am not wrong then someone among the people here is going to try to assassinate Vienna during an attack here. They are planning to sic you on the current government by claiming that they were behind the attack. I couldn't take this risk so I rushed my plans forward."

My Conqueror's threatened to burst out as my eyes became colder "Do you have a name?"

He unfortunately shook his head. "No. I only got the gist of the plan. It was decided among Euclid, Rizevim, Shalba and Creuserey. They didn't invite Katerea for this because of your previously close relationship though."

I didn't say anything. My mind running at full power to process everything.

The Trait which I received from Razevan was telling me that it was true. My Observation Haki was telling me that it was true. Even my Essence was telling me that it was true.

This utter bastard whom I had zealously hated for all these years was actually the one trying to protect everyone while I was the one who fucked up and caused Aria's death.

I rested my face in my palms while rubbing my forehead.

"What is your plan? Who is this friend of yours?" I asked in a low voice.

I will obviously stay in the bases that my people have prepared but it still doesn't hurt to hear his plan.

"The Governor General of the Fallen Angels, Azazel." He spoke just as softly.

I looked up incredulously from between my palms.

"Yes. I know it seems very strange but I have been in contact with Azazel for over four hundred years since I had saved his life once. It was a chance to pull one over Rizevim and stop a second Great War from starting. We have stayed in touch after it although barely. I again reached out to him a few years after Vienna was born. She was detected to have a Longinus Class Sacred Gear. Azazel is known to collect and study Sacred Gear users. Her having a Sacred Gear would give him an excuse to shelter her despite any protests under the guise of studying the Longinus. I would have pretended to attack you all and chase you to the boundaries of the Fallen Angel territories where he would have saved you and taken you in. It would have convinced Vienna and Gretel and you could have managed the rest." He went on babbling while I was thinking about something else.

It all started to make sense now.

How could a seven year old Vali escape from this….this hellhole all by himself and be miraculously found by Azazel?

Sure it could have been luck but then again there were several incidents just like this all over the world for all of this to be a coincidence.

No way could a normal servant have taken Vali away.

Azazel being connected to Razevan made sense. Also after that there was no real mention of Razevan Lucifer….most probably because Razevan….had died.

I pushed it to the back of my mind to ask something else for now.

"Azazel would keep Vienna, sure. But what about Gretel and me? We don't have Sacred Gears and I don't think the Fallen Angels would welcome a Satan Class Lucifer-Asmodeus spawn with open arms."

He shook his head. "Unlike what you would believe, some Fallen Angels have a close relationship with Devils. The Vice Governor General of the Fallen Angels, Shemhazai is in a relationship with a devil in secret. There are many such cases. If anything, quite a few of the Fallen Angels would want someone as strong as you and Gretel on their side. That said, I have already prepared for such an event. It is why this plan took this long. I had to find the last pieces for it to complete. Aria was adamant about not leaving the two of you behind and you would have caused too much trouble if I had tried to forcibly take Vienna away from you."

He opened a hole in space and brought out two bright orbs from inside it.

"These two are for You and Gretel."

I looked at the orbs with an open mouth. I knew what it was. I was collecting these for a while.

"Which ones are these?"

"Innovate Clear and a Vritra Type Sacred Gear- Delete Field. I have already sent two more Vritra Type Sacred Gears to Azazel as a payment to take the two of you in."

Innovate Clear?

What the fuck?

"How? Where did you even find this?"

This was one of the things I had been searching non-stop for a while and no methods I had thought of or we had used could get to it. How did he even?

"It was a lucky hit. I borrowed the Sacred Gear Extractor from Azazel and extracted these. Unfortunately Sacred Gears, while very strong for the rest of the world, are almost useless against Rizevim. Although it's not that I would get a chance to use it anyways. Don't be foolish and try to fight him with a Sacred Gear. I have sent previous wielders of Longinuses towards him in hope to know of this fact."

I know. I know that already.

Still Innovate Clear.

"I had been hunting for the Sephiroth Graal for a long time and even more so since Aria was marked but the previous wielder had actually died recently and that meant it would probably be reborn in a newborn. That was the only Sacred Gear I could think that could be used to free me. But it seems that I was out of luck. The previous wielders have often tried to kill the spawn of the Devil when I contacted them. They were all killed by me without any exception. Azazel had recently invented the extractor and I was looking forward to finding out the wielder of this generation but I am out of Luck. Aria is no more. Vienna will be safer without me around her and….and I am too tired."

I couldn't help but whisper out.

"I can remove the mark."

H's eyes widened a bit before a bitter smile came over his face which was followed by a self-depreciating, quiet laugh.

"I can still save you if you want."

He shook his head.

"No. The Fallen Angels would not accept me. It would indicate them siding with the Old Satan Faction. My face is too well known. They wouldn't have taken Aria in either. If Azazel was taking a child, he had to show that they would not be influenced by any adult. Aria And I were out. They wouldn't trust an adult with prior connections with the Old Satan Faction. Moreover Aria's position as my wife would have led to severe political repercussions. The Fallens would have blamed her to be a spy while the Old Satan Faction would have blamed the Fallen to seduce the wife of a Lucifer. Trust me, I had already thought of all the possibilities." I tried to open my mouth and was stopped. "I have assigned Azazel as the guardian of Vienna. As for you and Gretel, I had documents snuck in and signed which would indicate you being disowned from the House of Lucifer and Gretel as the Head of the Lucifuge. It was before her mother had died. They have no legal claim over you all. It is also a reason that I have to die. They will never let me off when this is discovered."

"I have places where you can hide." I countered. He has been helping us for all this time, bearing all this by himself. His experience and strength would help me a lot.

He however shook his head. "It wouldn't. It would only give people more reasons to target you using me as an excuse. If you have a place to hide, then you should hide there. Train and become strong. With the tools and potential you three have, you can all become Super Devils for sure. At such a time, any faction would think twice before attacking you….well except the Hindu Pantheon. I have no more patience nor mental fortitude to take it any longer. Six Hundred Years of servitude is more than enough."

"But what about Vienna? You can live with her. You can be a parent. I will even bring back Aria as soon as I can. There are ways to bring back the dead after all."

His eyes fluctuated for a moment before he closed them. "No. It wouldn't work."

"Why?" I asked, getting a little angry now.

"Vienna should never find out the truth." He looked up at me and said very seriously. "I should always remain a villain in front of her."

"Why do all this? There is no need."

"There is. Vienna has the Divine Dividing Sacred Gear. If she finds this out, there is a high chance that she will snap. Juggernaut Drive is not something I want my daughter to experience, much less an uncontrollable one. Dragon Type Sacred Gears are extremely dangerous to their hosts. I cannot and will not take the risk. If you want Aria to be revived, do it after all three of you are strong enough. Make your place in this world. If you want anything from me, I can support you, even my life but I will not place my daughter in any danger."

We both stared at each other for a few moments and although I understood it, it was still hard not to hate this bastard, just slightly.

"So what will you do now?" I asked, keeping this conversation in the back of my head. I will resurrect this asshat whenever I want, along with Aria. As soon as I am strong enough.

He does plan anything for me.

"I will most likely be killed soon enough as soon as they discover everything. I will keep in hiding for a while and then kill as many as I can before I am killed. You all however need to run."

"I will remove your Kill Switch."

I couldn't bind him because he was far stronger than me but using Broker was good enough.

I brought out two contracts. One was for not betraying me. The other was for transferring the Kill Switch to the ones who sign it.

I thought of something and brought out a third one. This was a modified Suicide Contract which would send all the abilities and power back to the contract if the one who signs it dies. I can then transfer that power to someone at a later date.

"Read these. You will know what you have to do." I said and he was already on to the contracts.

After reading the first one, he looked towards me. "I can see why Katerea was so afraid of you now. There must be some conditions to this power as well. If I had to guess, then the one signing it must be aware of the terms of the contract and willingly sign it or I can see you slipping one of these in every office of the Old Satan Faction."

I nodded my head. This fucker is a genius. He already figured out a vital part of the contract.

"It is still a fearful power. Anyways, change the first contract to, I will not betray you as long as you don't betray or harm Vienna. I don't want to trade myself from one master to another, especially one who can even control my mind."

I added the changes along with a penalty and removed the mind control effect.

He nodded and read the other document.

The second one had him open his mouth in astonishment but it was the last one which totally blew his mind.

"You….this….just what kind of a monster have they made?" he all but whispered.

"The kind that shouldn't be messed with."

"If this works, this I want you to give all this power to Vienna." He replied stoically.

"She is not strong enough to assimilate all this power that said, I promise that I will give all your powers along with the Lucifer Trait that I have gained from you to her as soon as she can handle it."

"Make another contract."

I shook my head at the man. This bastard trusts me with his daughter but not with the power?

"Don't mind me. Power makes people blind. I want you to make a contract that you will not betray Vienna and give my powers to her when she is capable of handling it. I have left enough leeway in the contract as a show of trust towards you. I have lived too long in a place with no trust. This is already more than I could afford to."

Is this the result of living in a place where one couldn't trust anyone? Would I have turned out like this too?

I modified the contracts while he added his comments and signed when the two of us were completely satisfied with it.

I passed back his trait to him. I had already seen it work and personally experienced it as well.

The Archmage has already made an outline of this magic.

He passed me the time and meeting place with Azazel.

"Wait till the fifteenth of this month. You will hear about the news of an attack on this place. If you want to attack someone, do it after that."

His eyes widened and he spoke or rather scolded me, "You…."

"I have already sent Vienna away with Gretel, the moment you revealed your power. They will stay there. I will arrange a way to cover for them but I want to leave a nice surprise for Rizevim, one that will keep him indisposed for a long time if possible. Don't worry about it. I will talk to Azazel myself. But before going there I am going to personally tear apart the one who wanted to kill Vienna."

"Don't let your personal emotions cloud your judgement. There is still risk. You can get killed in the attack."

"No chance. After all….why would my own people kill me?" I smiled this time.

This bastard was pulling one nuke after another on me. It is just so satisfying to make the last hit myself.

His eyes widened comically, almost threatening to pop out and then….then he burst out into a laugh.

A laugh that contained joy, humor, pain, satisfaction and even a bit of hope but the most prominent emotion no doubt was his vengeance.

I saw tears in the corner of his eyes.

"….ha hahaha….yes. This is the best. Turns out that Lucifer was right after all. This is the best result I could have asked for."

He laughed a little more and then left the place in a flash of magic circle.

I sat back down on my own seat. In front of me was a letter.

A letter from Aria.

I took a deep breath and opened it.

That night there would be a dreaded quiet on the outside while a storm of emotions raged inside my mind.

____________________________________________

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