Chapter 33: The story of the past

"Sona, what's wrong with you?"

Rias asked as she stared at her best friend steal glances at Lucias with blushing cheeks while sitting down on the sofa next to him.

"N-Nothing"

"... Really?"

Rias suspiciously asked before gazing at Lucias who was grinning at them with an amused expression on his face.

"What?"

Lucias asked before patting the nekoshou sitting between his lap while staring directly at her crimson coloured eyes.

"What did you do to her?"

She asked while crossing her arms on her chest, frowning at Lucias who was casually sitting on the sofa along with Koneko and Sona.

"Let's just say... That's none of your business, Rias Gremory"

Lucias said with a dangerous glint in his eyes which have gone unnoticed by the devils around him including her.

"You..."

Rias muttered while clenching her fist in anger as she glared at Lucias, causing Akeno who was standing by her side to sigh in exhaustion.

"Also Rias, when do you plan on removing the seal that you placed on Issei's body?"

Lucias asked as he gazed at Issei who was nervously gritting his teeth at the corner of the room.

"... I was planning to during the match..."

Rias answered in a sheepish voice, fully knowing how Lucias will react from hearing her plan.

"... Rias... Nevermind, do what you wish"

Lucias sighed in a tired voice as a large magic circle suddenly appeared inside the room, causing all of them to look at the direction of the magic circle.

"Is everyone ready? It's ten minutes before the match"

Grayfia asked as soon as she arrived inside the room causing all of the devils to stand up from their seats.

"When it becomes the time to start the battle, you will be teleported to the battlefield through this magic-circle. The location of the place is in a different dimension used for battles. You may fight with all your power. It's a disposable space so feel free to fight to your satisfaction"

Grayfia explained causing Sona to nod her head before making her way towards the door out of the clubroom.

"Lucias... Do you want to watch the match with us?"

Sona asked as she looked back at Lucias who was casually sitting on the sofa.

"Sorry, but I can't since I have something to do after I see them off"

Lucias explained as he waved his hand at her with an apologetic expression on his face.

"... Is that so..."

Sona nodded her head while hiding her sadness beneath her expressionless face before walking out of the room, to watch the match inside the student council's room.

"I'll make it up to you in the future so don't be sad, Sona"

Lucias said causing Sona to stop in her tracks before glaring at his direction with an embarrassed yet joyful expression on her face.

"W-Who's sad!? L-Let's go"

Sona ordered as she pulled her peerage out of the room with a slight tinge of pink visible on her cheeks before slamming the door behind her.

"Pfft- how cute"

Lucias whispered to himself with a light grin on his face, staring at the wooden door in amusement.

"Hey, Buchou?"

Issei suddenly asked as he walked closer to his King.

"What is it?"

"Buchou, you also have a [Bishop], right? Where is that person?"

Issei asked out of curiosity as he looked around the room to find their bishop. 

"... Oh yeah... Why isn't your bishop participating in this match?"

Lucias asked, remembering the reports given to him by Sephie about Koneko, Akeno... and Gasper before they entered the city.

"... I couldn't get the chance to explain it to you, but my [Bishop] can't participate due to... certain circumstances, I'll explain it to the of you in the future"

Rias said as she averted her eyes from the two of them causing Issei to ponder about her words.

'Gasper Vladi... The dhampir sealed by her master due to her master's lack of ability to control him... Well I can't blame her since the person himself can't properly control his own sacred gear but... there are no rewards without taking a few risk'

Lucias thought with a light frown on his face while staring at her direction with neutral expression on his face.

'Hmm... should I help her a bit?'

Lucias thought before gazing at Grayfia who was explaining the situation to the devils inside the room.

"This "Rating Game" battle will also be viewed by members of both households from a different location through broadcast"

Grayfia suddenly explained causing Issei to look at her in surprise.

"Maou Lucifer-sama will also be viewing this battle. Please do not forget about it"

"M-Maou!?"

Issei muttered in shock while staring at Grayfia's direction with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

'Issei... You met more powerful beings in the past few days... Well it's not like you know about it anyway'

Lucias thought while hiding the fact that Issei, in the past few days met extremely powerful beings while they were still staying at island one of which is him, a True Primordial Dragon God and the Dragon Empress who ruled both Ophis and Great Red with her words.

"Onii-sama is? …I see, so Onii-sama is also going to view this battle"

Rias muttered causing Issei to look at her in confusion before raising his arm to ask her for confirmation.

"U-Umm, Buchou, you just called Maou-sama "Onii-sama"…? Did I hear wrong?"

"No, Buchou's brother is indeed the Maou-sama"

Kiba answered in her place causing Issei to stare at his King in shock.

"M-Maoooooou!!? Buchou's Onii-sama is Maou-sama!?"

"Yes"

Rias immediately confirmed without hesitation before gazing at Lucias, hoping to see even a bit of expression on his face, but much to her dismay Lucias only yawned in boredom, unfazed by her sudden revelation.

"Are you confused because Buchou's family name is different to the names of Maou-samas'?"

Kiba asked causing Issei to scratch his head from being read far too easily by Kiba.

"Yeah, that's it."

Issei nodded in confirmation causing Lucias to clap his hands while gazing at Issei with a light smile on his face.

"Should I explain it?"

Lucias asked as he adjusted into a more comfortable position while waiting for his response.

"Do you know about it, Lucias-sama?"

Issei asked out of curiosity causing Lucias to nod his head in confirmation.

"Have you heard about The Great War, Issei?"

Issei immediately nodded his head in response.

"Then this will make things much easier to explain everything to you"

Lucias said before snapping his fingers to place all of them down on the sofa.

"Since you already know the great war then I don't have to explain it in detail. The only thing you need to know is that in the Great War, the original Maous died"

Lucias explained as he leaned at the backrest of the sofa while Issei stared at him with pure curiosity written in his eyes.

"And while the war is happening, the devils of the underworld turned against each other to overthrow one another. The entire devil faction was split into two sides, one despises the 4 Maous and one supports them"

Lucias explained ignoring the shock looks that Grayfia was giving him while he explained the revolution that happened during the war.

"In the end, the former won against the latter and became the new rulers of the underworld, and because the faction cannot run without anyone standing on top and take responsibility, the former instead chose the strongest 4 devils in their league to rule the faction"

Lucias explained in great detail while leaving some parts hidden since it would only anger Grayfia who was attentively listening by the side.

'Hmm... It's kind of sad that I can't tell him about one of the key players behind the revolution... Since Grayfia is here'

Lucias thought while remembering the figure of Iris holding her spear while standing above thousands of corpses of her enemies and fallen comrades a like. The girl who lead an entire army to ward off the devils who attacked their main camp. The girl who paved the way for Sirzechs to stand in his current position.

"W-Wow... So that's what happened in the past..."

Issei muttered in amazement while staring at Lucias who was patting the head of the white haired nekoshou in his embrace.

"Out of the three factions of the God, the Fallen Angels and the Devils, the Devils have the least power. We are actually in a tight spot but we are still safe because the current Maou-samas has a power equal to the previous Maou-samas"

Kiba who was listening by the side added causing Issei to nod his head in understanding.

'Indeed... They are far too weak right now and crushing them will be easy for my faction but... it's better to kill them slowly from the inside and leave some of the devils that were not on our blacklist'

Lucias thought with a complicated expression on his face.

'... I wonder how would Sona look at me once she knows about my plan'

"So Buchou's brother was chosen to be a Maou from the Ultimate-class Devils then?"

Both Lucias and Kiba nodded in response from his question.

"Sirzechs Lucifer—who is also known as the "Crimson Satan". He is Buchou's brother and the most powerful Maou-sama"

Kiba added causing Lucias to ponder from his words.

'... I forgot that Lucifer is the past Demon Queen that ruled the ancient demons... I wonder how will she react once she heard those words?'

Lucias thought while scratching the back of his head before gazing at Grayfia who was waiting for them to finish their conversation.

"It's about time. Everyone, please head to the magic-circle"

Grayfia stated as a massive magic circle appeared below Rias and her peerage causing Issei to tense up from his seat.

"Also, once you get transported, you cannot use the magic-circle until the game ends"

She reminded as all of them were teleported towards the place used for their rating game.

"Lucias... We're here at the train station, should we wait for you here?"

The 'creator' suddenly asked inside his mind causing Lucias to tense up, trying to formulate a plan inside his mind as fast as he could to introduce her daughters to his fiancées.

'At most I'll die from exhaustion by tonight.... I should prepare myself for the worst'

Lucias thought as he stood up from his seat, preparing to teleport towards the nearby toy store to buy a few gifts for Kunou and Hanna before he goes to the train station to pick them up.

'Just wait for me to pick you up, I'll be there in 10 minutes'

"We'll be waiting"

The 'creator' said before cutting the connection between them as a massive magic circle appeared on the ground, below Lucias.

"Lucias-sama, Sirzechs-sama has invited you to join him to watch the rating game together with the other Maous"

Grayfia said as she walked towards Lucias who was preparing to teleport towards a nearby toy store in their neighbourhood.

"No thanks, I have an important appointment right now. I'll meet him when I get the chance in the near future"

Lucias rejected causing Grayfia to bow her head in disappointment before preparing to teleport back to the underworld.

"That's a shame then"

Grayfia said with disappointment before he disappeared from the clubroom, leaving Grayfia alone inside by herself. 

"... A human who has no records of his existence... quite... suspicious... I'll have to investigate further for his identity"

Grayfia muttered to herself before teleporting out of the clubroom.