(A.N. FUCKING FINALLY I AM BACK!!!!!!!!! Looks like webnovel finally fixed their shit so I can use the app and post again! That being said here's what I wrote while I was gone.)
Cattleya sighed as she closed and set down the book she had been reading alongside the others that went with it. It was something called a "textbook", and it detailed adept level magic formulas from this world called Earth. The woman called Le Fey gave several such books to her after she stopped refusing what they were trying to tell her.
It had taken months, but Cattleya had come to realize that there was simply no point in resisting the change that these people intended to bring to their world. The only options they had was to submit to their whims, or die. At first Cattleya thought this proved how tyrannical they were, but as she became more compliant during the rare times they came to refill her food stores they started granting her various things like books to ease her boredom, things that continued proving how wrong her original impression of them was. She learned that similarly to her own world, this place called Asora was home to various races that had warred with each other throughout history due to similar reasons for her own people's war, because of the will of God and the four beings they called Satan. Things changed once the God and these Satan died, and the people who called themselves Devils, Angels, and fallen angels were able to fight together for a lasting peace instead for their people. Once they had achieved peace, unprecedented advancements in technology and magic started taking place as the experts of each race started cooperating for the first time ever. She was starting to see the reasoning behind their seemingly extreme method of gaining her cooperation, if the demon race would refuse peace and insist on war they would simply be continuing the endless cycle of slaughter and stagnation, as such it would be better to simply remove such a factor since there was nothing positive about their continued existence. Though it was horrible way of thinking, Cattleya had already realized there was no point in criticizing their way of doing things since her people were the ones supporting endless and useless slaughter at the whims of something that didn't even care about them.
The other thing she had come to terms with was the truth behind her God, and the seemingly complete disregard he had for their lives. This had been difficult to accept at first, but she eventually started wondering if any of what they said was true since they were going so far to undo everything that God supposedly had done. This thought was strengthened when she found out that they were planning to leave their world soon, and weren't simply trying to uproot them then in order to rule them or something. After Cattleya started coming to terms with what she was being told, the treatment towards her became considerably better. Though she was still never allowed to leave her cell, when they did the monthly food deliveries new people would come with them, the little human girl called Le Fey, and a silver haired woman called Rossweisse. They had mostly asked her questions about magic, but were also curious about the demon race as well. Cattleya was at first suspicious that they wanted military information from her, but was surprised when instead they asked her questions about the daily lives of the demon race itself. After learning various things about the magic used in Tortus, they then gave her various texts about magic from their world that used magic circles and formulas. Though the idea of using magic circles wasn't anything new to her, Cattleya was stupefied to see Le Fey create a magic circle made of nothing but light in front of her and use magic through it, meanwhile the magic circles used in Tortus had to be prepared beforehand on weapons or scrolls in order to function in spells. Seeing the feats performed in the projections she was forced to watch, as well as what Le Fey and Rossweisse demonstrated to her, Cattleya immersed herself into her studying as she tried to learn as much about earths magic as possible. In all the only real complaints she had about her time imprisoned was that she would only get company once a month, and that it had been so long since she had seen her beloved, Mikhail.
"Working hard?" A voice suddenly called out, breaking Cattleya from her recollection as she jumped up. She turned in surprise to see the same person who defeated her so decidedly and who haunted her dreams if he turned against the demon race, Alex. There was also a woman with blue eyes and burnt silver hair standing behind him, her expression a cool mask. Cattleya turned all of her attention towards Alex and asked,
"What are you doing here?! You haven't come in the nearly two years since you threw me in here, though from what I was told it's only been a couple weeks from your point of view." Alex smirked at her reaction and replied,
"You almost sound like a woman who I didn't call after a one night stand. I came to talk you you and see if you can be rational, and if so we can discuss the future of the demon race." Cattleya's body tensed as she heard the expected words come from Alex, before she sighed and sat down on the couch once more. Alex helped himself to the couch across from her, while the silver haired woman sat beside him after he glanced at her. Though Cattleya was concerned about the identity of the new woman, she was more concerned about her people and demanded,
"So what is it you exactly want? I've come to realize there may be some truth to what you people say, but it's next to impossible that my people will be so cooperative as well." Alex nodded at Cattleya's declaration and answered,
"I understand, which is why I wanted to have a person from the demon race speak for us as well. You've undergone the brainwashing and mass manipulation that is used on the mortal races of this world, and are now mostly free from its thinking, so I want you to act as the go between as we try to eliminate the drive for war." There was a small intake of breath as Cattleya heard what Alex wanted from her, before she said,
"Before I agree to anything, I want proof that what you've said is true. Show me that we have been manipulated to go to war and I will full heartedly try and support you in the demon race territories." Cattleya's devotion to her people was stronger than her faith, so if they had been sent to an endless slaughtered for no reason then she'd happily try and put a stop to it, but she'd need proof of it first. Alex nodded in understanding and simply turned towards the woman with silver hair next to him. Seeing Cattleya's confusion he explained,
"This is Noint, a former devoted servant of Ehito who used hypnosis to manipulate the factions of the world on his behalf." Cattleya's mind blanked as she tried to process what Alex just told her, while Noint continued looking at her expressionlessly, before crying out,
"That can't be possible! I mean if what you've said is true then wouldn't she be under more control than the people of the world? How is it that she is now following you?!" Alex smiled at Cattleya response and explained what had happened earlier that night, from Noint being sent to manipulate the summoned Hero's to use against him, to him in turn using Noint to reveal the truth to the majority of the human world, as well as the battle that had taken place afterwards between the apostles and the Angels. When he got to the part where he used his slavery magic to remove Ehito's influence however, Cattleya sucked in her breath as Noint herself recounted the dream she had of Ehito abandoning her, then Alex's magic making her devoted to him before he released them from his control as well. After hearing everything Cattleya slumped back into the couch as disbelief filled her, before she hesitantly asked Noint,
"Even if his control over you is gone, don't you even feel the least bit loyal towards Ehito still? I mean you said he created you so, even if the mind control is gone, wouldn't you still want to follow him?" Noint looked as if she was contemplating Cattleya's words for a moment before saying,
"Even if I wanted to continue serving him, Ehito threw me away. To me this is simply the end, he won't take me back and is more than likely already preparing a replacement. Alex then told us about free will, a concept we believed never existed but he insisted it did. So, using our newfound free will, myself and the other apostles that were defeated decided to try and stay with Alex in order to experience it ourselves." Cattleya was silent as she contemplated what Noint said, before Alex continued as he put something on the table,
"I'm thinking of sending you back to the demon race soon to begin the peace talks. This is a recording of my fight with Noint where she stated Ehito's intentions, and I'll arrange it so that you won't be traveling home alone. I'll also talk to Ravel about you getting to spend some time outside the next few days before leaving."
***
Alex sighed in mild relief as he exited Cattleya's room, glad that she accepted what he wanted so easily. It helped that after studying some of their version of magic, as well as being shown the recordings of the rating game tournament fights, she learned that resistance would simply lead to her people's demise. Though Alex didn't like the idea, he wouldn't hesitate to remove the demon race if they persisted in following Ehito's way of doing things, just like they did originally. As he was thinking of this he arrived at the next cell he needed to go to, and turned to face Noint who was still following him.
"You can go and find Gabriel now, I'll deal with this one alone." Noint bowed slightly in response, and turned on her heel to leave as he instructed. Alex then took a deep breath before opening the door to the cell, only for a chair to suddenly crash into the wall next to it.
"What do you want?" Eri's venomous voice spat at him as Alex casually entered the room. He then used Regeneration magic on the chair she threw to fix it, before righting it and taking a seat for himself as if nothing was wrong. Alex then calmly said,
"I'm here to determine why to do with you." Eri smirked at what he said and sneered back,
"What, can't you just kill me or something? Oh, did you perhaps fall for me? How disgusting!" Alex sighed at her jests and replied,
"I could snap your neck right here and now and not give a shit, but the problem I see in doing so is that you'd even welcome death if you can't get what you'd want, though you'd probably try and take as many people with you as possible. Besides the threat of killing doesn't really work on someone who nearly tried to kill herself before." Though Eri was just sneering at Alex as he spoke, when he mentioned her previous intention of suicide she snapped back with a gleam of insanity in her eyes,
"What do you know!? You don't have the faintest idea of what I've been through, or the life I've lived!!!" Alex's expression hardened as he took a deep breath and stated clearly,
"So then if I said that your father died in a car accident trying to keep you safe I'd be wrong? Or if I mentioned the fact that your mother blamed you for his death? Perhaps I'll also be wrong if I said that she never even loved you, just the fact that you were his daughter? I suppose I'd also be mistaken if I brought up how she blamed her new boyfriends attempt to Rape you on yourself seducing him?" Eri's expression blanked as the finer details of her life that not even Suzu, her "best friend" knew were thrown in her face. Eri's face then morphed into one of complete and utter hatred as she said,
"Don't speak of that bitch! The only regret I'd have in completing my plan, is that I never would've been able to give her what she deserves!" Alex just narrowed his eyes as he replied,
"Even when you learned so much from her? I mean you're practically a carbon copy of that "bitch"." Eri's face paled at Alex's words before she shrieked,
"SHUT UP!!!! I'M NOTHING LIKE HER!"
"Yet you placed all of your will to live on a single boy. To you he was everything in life, just like your mother. To you everyone else was essentially an extra, just like her."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" By this point Eri was Crimson faced as tears started pouring from her eyes, as she aimed a hand at Alex before saying a quick chant, firing a blast of dark magic towards him. Alex just sat there unflinchingly as the attack approached him, before it suddenly vanished right before it could hit him. In her current state Eri couldn't process what happened, before she was suddenly wracked by intense pain and fell to the ground screaming due to her slave mark. As she spasmed in pain Alex just watched silently before saying,
"That mark on your hand isn't just for show, it's a brand that marks you as my slave. As long as that's there you cannot attack or lie to me, any attempt to do so will be met with extreme pain like what you just experienced. You will also experience a compulsion every time I give you an order, and no matter how strongly you try to resist it you will carry out whatever I told you to do, or face the same pain you just experienced." As the pain subsided Eri looked up at Alex with hatred and defeat in her eyes, even though what she was experiencing was exactly what she intended to inflict on her own classmates.
"Kill me..." She said dejectedly while turning her gaze away from him. Alex frowned and thought for a moment before saying,
"Ok." Eri looked up in surprise at his sudden agreement, only for one of Alex's hands to wrap itself around her throat and lift her into the air. Even though Eri wanted to die, her body struggled in response to the sudden strangulation as it fought for air. Her nails were trying to dig into his flesh, her face turned progressively bluer, and she was gasping as she desperately tried to intake air. Then with a simple flick of his wrist, there was a sickening crack and Eri's lifeless body fell to the ground once he released it. She seemed to be staring at him as Alex watched the life slowly fade from her eyes. Once the slave mark vanished from her hand it was painfully obvious that Eri was dead, Alex said to no one in particular,
"Ok, now let's try this out." He then knelt down in front of her corpse and started his work.
Eri felt like she was floating after she died. It felt as if the weight of everything she ever did, everything she ever suffered had been lifted. As she floated Eri started wondering how the afterlife would be, and was suddenly excited that she might get to meet her father once more. Suddenly she felt as if something was tugging at her before she was suddenly pulled back and the floating feeling faded. She suddenly felt the cold stone beneath her as her eyes shot open and she took a deep breath.
"Haaaaaaa! What-haaaa happened-haaaa?!" She demanded while looking at the only other person around, Alex. He was sitting calmly in his chair once more as he simply explained,
"I killed you like you asked, then I brought you back to life." Eri's mind blanked when she heard his answer, before she started trying to find reasons to discredit what he just said. Resurrection was impossible. Though the most powerful forms of healing magic were said to even bring back those who had recently died, it was only when they had just lost consciousness and with healing was more of a form resuscitation similar to an extreme form of cpr, or using an electric shock to jump start ones heart. Even for herself as a necromancer, all she was capable of was reanimating a dead body and at most she could program it to act similar to the person before they died, but it was vastly different from true resurrection. Seeing the confusion on her face Alex explained,
"One type of magic I possess allows me to reverse time itself on something, which I used to fix the damage I had done to your body including the neck, before restarting your heart. Then another form of magic that I actually just acquired is called Spirit magic, which allows me to interfere with spiritual existences. I grabbed your spirit before it could pass on, and forced it back into your newly repaired body. Poof, instant resurrection!" Eri was dumbfounded as Alex shared what he had done with her, before she muttered,
"So... You will not even let me die..." Alex nodded and said,
"Of course. As I said, for you it would be a blessing to die and run from your crimes. From the moment you tried to commit suicide in the past, you threw away any attachment you have towards the world of the living, except for Kouki. That's why I've now decided, you will continue living as my slave and will have no control over your own life. I will refuse to allow you the escape of death, and you will never be able to obtain what you want more than anything."
Eri looked up numbly at the one who now ruled her life, and froze for a moment involuntarily. She suddenly recalled the day she was about to commit suicide, and was stopped by a certain someone. She mentally compared the figure of the former with the man in front of her, and couldn't help but be astonished. Both had prevented her death when she desired it most, but other than that they were completely opposite of each other. One was a boy who was idealistic to the point that he was considered by some to be delusional, who hollowly promised that he would help her be "happy" while knowing nothing about her. The other was a man who was cold and ruthless to those who crossed him, who had taken almost every bit of freedom in her life to force her to repent, and did so while seemingly knowing everything about her. Even though Eri devoted everything she had to getting closer to Kouki he still never seemed to notice her, she was just another person he spent a moment to try and help to boost his hero complex; meanwhile Alex had gone out of his way to tailor his response to her actions to suit what would torment her the most, even going as far as psychologically attacking her with her mother. As the figure of Kouki started disappearing from her mind, Eri adopted a smile as she curtsied towards Alex and said with both a touch of sweetness and insanity in her voice,
"I understand, from now on I will do everything I can to wholeheartedly serve you my lor- no, my master~ heehee." Alex was a little unnerved at Eri's sudden turn but, since he reapplied the slave mark while she was recovering, he knew she wasn't lying about wholeheartedly serving him, or considering him her master. Though he was confused at Eri's sudden change, Alex didn't let it show on his face as he gave her a series of orders to prevent her from acting out, with her readily agreeing to everything he said. He then told her that a girl called Ravel would come to retrieve her in the morning, and left her cell while locking it just in case.
He then sent a message to Ravel about the situation, but wasn't surprised when she didn't reply since it was well after midnight by this point. Alex left the prison and started heading towards Misty Manor, though he had one more place he had to stop at along the way. Since he was actually starting to get a little sleepy he couldn't wait to get this matter over with, especially since Alex was confident that a certain sexy little angel was waiting in his room for him, but he also kept his focus as this next matter was one of great importance. Alex approached a manor that was completely dark except for a single window, and casually walked through the front door as if it was nothing. He then made his way up the stairs towards the only currently occupied room in the house, since the rest of the residents had gone out to challenge the Gruen Great Labyrinth the day before. When he opened the door to the room it creaked a little, alerting the woman dressed in a nurse outfit who was reading by the side of the occupied bed. She jumped up from being startled and when she realized who was there she paled almost instantly before bowing and saying,
"Please forgive my lack of manners sir!" She felt embarrassed because she felt as if she was caught slacking on the job, even though there was nothing wrong with her reading when her patient didn't require taking care of during her shift. Alex waved away the woman's panic and said,
"I came to see her, so you can be excused until I call you back in." The nurse bowed again before practically fleeing the room from embarrassment, leaving Alex alone with Sairaorg's mother, Misla Bael(Vapula). He had promised from day one that he would help Sairaorg find a cure for her, and believed he might have just done that with his newly acquired Spirit magic. Since Issei managed to reawaken Sairaorg's mother using his boob talking power to stimulate her consciousness, Alex assumed he could replicate it with his spirit magic. With Lauren supporting the idea he decided to try it before Sairaorg returned from Gruen with Seekvaira and the others. Alex pulled up a chair and sat at the bed side, and took the woman's hand in his own before activating his Spirit magic.