Taking a seat in their meeting room, I got both Eri's setup with snacks and something to do while we talked. As my parents were away on business and my grandparents were on holiday, I made sure to keep them nearby. I was fairly certain that the enemy knew where my priorities were so keeping my family nearby was important to me. Once they were settled in, I took a seat at the table and noticed that a certain someone was staring at them. Eri (Little Sister) was ignoring it, since she knew I wouldn't let anyone hurt her, but Eri (Rescued) was shaking in her seat out of fear.
"Sanemi...I suggest you stop letting off killing intent at them. It will short your lifespan to only a moment...", I growled.
"You brought Demon-"
As if hit by a tidal wave, all of the Demon Slayers felt my anger crash over them in an instant. Trying to pull their blades out they felt like they were made of concrete.
"Do not ever refer to my sister and daughter as Demons.", I said in an ominous tone, "You even think it, and I will cast you into Hell. Do I make myself clear?"
Meekly nodding his head, I withdrew my pressure allowing all of them to gasp for breath. Staring at him like he was an idiot, his comrades told him now wasn't the time to piss someone off.
"We are currently barely holding on against the Demons, and you go starting yet another conflict.", Shinobu scolded, "Right now we need allies, not more enemies. He was powerful enough to transport all of them here, and you try to anger him...I think you need reeducated."
"No...I am fine...", he apologized.
"Both of them are human, the world we came from has people with powers called Quirks and...", I stated explaining the situation to them.
Going over who we were, why we came, and what our end goal was I wanted to make it clear we need to have peace talks. The Demon Slayers, and Meliodas' group were both stuck here because their worlds were taken over. From what my scouts had determined Mongul had come in after Joker to gather combatants for War World...and had completely eradicated all life on the worlds doing so. Informing them of this, they all looked saddened to hear they couldn't go home.
"So our worst fear was correct...", Mitsuri said with a sniffle, "Our brethren and families are gone."
"I am sorry to be the one to tell you that.", I stated.
"It's okay, we needed to find out one way or another.", Kayaga replied, "It would have lingered in our minds till death."
Wanting clarification on what I was hoping to achieve, I stated that they needed to make peace with the inhabitants. The Angels and Fallen were currently staying relatively neutral, but would occasionally help the human's out of a sense of guilt from the Great War...and because they needed the humans to fill their numbers. All sides lost a great number of people so they need to rebuild their numbers, or face possible extinction.
"The Angels and Fallen are one thing...", Giyu spoke up, "The Devils and Demons are another matter, both of them feed on-"
"Only the Demon's do, the Devils make contracts. Let's not make it sound like they force humans to, the humans are the ones reaching out to them.", I corrected him.
"...fine, the Demon's are devouring human souls.", he submitted, "Making piece with them is playing with fire."
"Agreed, the only one that can keep them in line is their leader Meliodas. I am not asking you to make peace, I am simply asking you to sit at a table to try to sue for peace.", I stated, "The Angels, Fallen, and Devils should be receptive to it...the Demons are the ones that will likely fight back. That said, it is only fair they get the opportunity to make peace. They lost just as much as you did."
"I assume you will play the neutral party?", Kagaya questioned.
"Yes, I am the only person that can claim to be neutral. On top of that...I am the only person here right now that can wipe out anyone stupid enough to violate the non-aggression agreement common with Peace Talks.", I told him, "I give my word that all parties will have no issues during the meeting, and squabbles will be dealt with in a swift manner."
"If that is the case, we will accept the arrangement.", he agreed, "As we all know, we are only a few weeks away from collapse as it stands. We haven't had the opportunity for a proper rest, and our equipment is falling into disrepair."
Appearing behind him, Michael and Azazel showed up with a look of excitement. Informing me that Serafall and Ajuka were currently gathering the remaining pillars to discuss how they would proceed, they immediately said they would take part in the talks. Both admitted that they weren't in the best position at the moment, and also needed peace to win out. If nothing was done soon the warmongers in both groups would breach the shaky peace and another Great War would ensue. In the event that happened...there would be no planet left.
"Another war would basically make us go extinct.", Azazel admitted, "Most of our people understand that, but the warmongers are gaining traction saying now was the time to wipe everyone else off the map. Honestly...they only want to fight, not have peace."
"If they want a fight to the death...I can scratch that itch.", Kenpachi cackled, "I would love to take some rust off my sword here."
Knowing that he wasn't kidding, the two men quickly said they would prefer not too. Laughing at them, Yoruichi smacked him upside the head and told him to can it.
"We are here as representatives...don't cause anymore problems...", she spat.
"It seems like I am not the only one that has to keep the boys in line.", Shinobu giggled with smile.
"Boys will be boys.", Yoruichi agreed with a smirk.
"Don't compare me to that little kid!", Kenpachi argued.
"I am nowhere near as bad as that old man!", Sanemi spat.
Turning to each other they both glared at one another.
"I know you ain't talking about me!", they shouted.
"Shut up!", Shinobu and Yoruichi yelled smacking them upside the head, "Now isn't the time to compare manhood sizes!! People are dying, stop acting like children!"
Glaring at one another they grumbled, and said they would sort this out later. Sighing, I apologized to them and said I would make sure he learned his lesson.
"Anyways, you think you can get the Demons to the table?", Azazel asked with a smirk, "Last time I tried, they damn near killed me."
"Same here.", Michael stated, "Rias Gremory tried as well, and they burnt her terribly. It was part of the reason Sirzechs went to fight them..."
"You need to understand something, Meliodas and his brother Zeldris run the group in place of their father...the Demon King. Both of them inherited his overwhelming power, and in combat you are sorely outmatched. Meliodas has the ability to reflect all magics used against him, magic is what most of you use so he is a terrible enemy to fight. Zeldris has an ability call God which allows him to negate magic, again another terrible enemy to face. On top of that, the people serving under them have special abilities and powers that can easily overwhelm you. The biggest thing is when they devour souls they regain some of their magic and stamina so it can tip a battle of attrition in their favor...especially since souls still linger in this world.", I told them.
"Yeah...that would have been good to know several weeks ago.", Azazel sighed.
Going over what each person's power and trump card, I explained that fighting them individually would be difficult but if there was more than one they needed to retreat. The only person they couldn't retreat from was Zeldris as they would fall to the Commandment of Piety, and become his servant.
"You know an awful lot about them...", Mitsuri giggled, "You really are a higher being."
Wanda was going to say something, but I shot her a look and shook my head. Now wasn't the time for her antics, if she wanted to say something later that was fine but right now we had people to save. Going over the bigger picture on this world with them, Azazel got a called from Serafall. As the conversation went on Azazel's face hardened, and he looked to me for assistance.
"Serafall says two of the Commandments you informed me of just showed up outside one of the Devil City's in Hell. They need assistance now, they aren't going to hold out for long.", he said.
"Which ones?", I asked.
"Drole and Zeldris.", he replied, "Ajuke and Grayfia aren't going to hold Drole back for much longer, and Serafall is-"
"You don't need to say anything else, we are going now.", I stated.
"Do you need me too-"
Opening a portal to Hell with a snap of my fingers, we immediately headed out to assist the Devils.
---Hell, DxD World---
Finding the battle already raging, the Devils were barely holding back Drole and Zeldris who were seemingly toying with them. Both of them could have used their Purgatory Flames to kill the enemy, but they were casually chipping away at the frontlines. Watching them devour the souls of the fallen Devils, they were treating this like it was a game. Not about to let that slide, our group assist the troops in turning the tide. While they went to fight, I took both Eri's with me to find Serafall.
Finding her in a pool of her own blood she gave me a weak smile trying to hide her pain. Tugging on my arms, the two Eri's looked at me with pleading stares to help her which I already intended to do. Healing her wounds, she winced as she felt them close up.
"Thank you...normally I'd be more cheery, but...I don't have time right now.", she weakly stated as she tried to stand, "I need to-"
Falling forward I caught her, and told her to stop messing around.
"You were on the verge of death when I got here. I can't believe you didn't call for aide sooner.", I sighed.
"Azazel and Michael only called a little while ago.", she complained, "Who else were we gonna call?"
"You could have called Clark!", Eri (Little Sister) boasted with a big smile, "He would have come, and saved all of you!! He scares away the bad people, and makes everyone happy!!"
Staring at her for moment, Serafall reached out to grab her.
"You are so adorable!!", she shrieked.
Realizing that her kindness backfired, Eri hid behind me. She really didn't want to be hugged by someone covered in blood, but she didn't want to say it out loud as she thought it would hurt Serafall's feelings. Telling her to relax, I asked Serafall how evacuations were progressing.
"Evacuations?", she asked, "Where are we supposed to go? We have only a few strongholds left, and this is the largest one."
"I didn't realize things were that bad.", I stated.
"They are...Sirzechs was the pillar holding up the resistance, and after his sister was injured he lost all sense and charged out to fight. That bro-con took many people with him, all of them are dead...they through their bodies at us...", Serafall said with a hallow look.
"I understand, after this I would like to see Rias to heal her injuries as well as anyone else that needs care.", I told her.
"We would appreciate it.", she winced.
Setting her down, I summoned Eradicator and Vision to watch the two Eri's while I went off to assist. Telling me to be careful, the two of them waved at me as I flew off. Flying out over the wall I could see that my group had managed to help start to turn the tide, but Drole and Zeldris weren't letting go so easily. No one was able to get close to them so the group were launching ranged attacks against them.
Having had enough of it they were slowly marching towards the frontlines, and causing quite a stir. Yu had grown to her max size to try and fight Drole, but Drole was too strong for her alone. Backing her up, Jean his her power to start pushing the Demons back physically giving the Devils time to pull back their wounded. Running up Yu's back, Sonico and Iris launched themselves at Drole to clock him with an Infinite Mass Punch. Smashing into his face, Drole was knock senseless and was sent sliding backwards into his allies.
Catching them, Yu set them down and ran forward towards Drole. While she wrestled with him, Diana, Kara, Fury, and Hela were busy with Zeldris who was using Ominous Nebula to keep them back. In terms of speed they were about evenly matched, though Kara could have easily won out. The issue was his blade was enchanted so if she wasn't careful he could serious injure her as she didn't have my magic resistance. Noticing the stalemate, Storm dropped a massive bolt of lightning on him which caused him to dodge.
Having sensed that it wasn't of magic origin, he knew his God ability wouldn't save him from the attack. During that moment, Kara and Diana slammed their fists into his gut and sent him shooting across the battlefield. Crashing into Drole, the two of them got pissed off about the change in the battle. Calling in more reinforcements, the other Commandents were quick to come to their aide.
"Thank you for the quick response.", Zeldris said dusting himself off.
"I can't believe you needed assistance dealing with these weakling.", Meliodas stated.
"I wouldn't need too if unexpected people didn't show up.", Zeldris responded.
Turning to the group of combatants in front of them, Meliodas acknowledge it did appear that the group did look more troublesome. Helping him up, the brothers faced their opponents while their troops got organized. Once the Commandments were ready they charged forward towards their enemies ready to lay waste to everything in sight. Not long after they took off running, I slammed into the ground sending a tidal wave of earth towards them.
Trying to use us control over the earth to stop the tidal wave, Drole found the ground no longer followed his commands. Announcing that to Zeldris, he used his ability to negate magic only to have the same thing happen to him as well. Trying to use physical force resulted in them being slammed into the wall, and buried in the dirt.
"So they were hiding their strongest fighter.", Meliodas said getting back up, "He is able to block our abilities. This might just be interesting."
"Are you considering going all out?", Monspeet asked.
"It's about time I show these weaklings we Higher Demons aren't to be messed with.", he replied.
Launching himself forward, with Zeldris right behind him, the two of them decided it was a smart idea to attack me together. Going to attack me, they was confused when I vanished from their eyes and appeared behind them holding them by their necks.
"Both of you need to take a chill pill, and talk things out with the natives of this world. You either negotiate in a peaceful manner, or all of you get wiped out by me. The choice is yours.", I stated.
"You think just because you pull a cheap trick you are-"
"Cheap trick?", Spectre laughed appearing in front of him, "Don't tell me that your pride has blinded your senses. Your father is dead, and you face Death itself...I don't think you quite understand your circumstances."
"Haha, let them try it.", Ghost Rider laughed appearing in front of Zeldris, "They can repent when they are dead."
"Ominous Nebula!", Zeldris said trying to attack Ghost Rider only to watch his blade melt away.
"That wasn't a wise decision, boy.", Ghost Rider told him, "Do you know who I am?"
"Should I?", he retorted.
Letting him go from my grip, Ghost Rider grabbed him by the throat.
"Look into my eyes!", Ghost Rider commanded.
Looking into them think it was a magical attack, he used God to try to cancel it but it didn't work. Hearing the torment screams of the people he slaughtered Zeldris started shaking and foam from the mouth.
"You have a lot of souls to burn...", Ghost Rider mocked, "Let's go one...by...one, we won't make it to two before I have you on your knees."
"Zeldris, look away!", Meliodas shouted punching me in the gut.
Shattering the bones in his hand, Meliodas glared at me full of rage.
"Tell them to stand down, or they all die.", I said raising my left hand, "It will only a snap of my fingers...I have pity for you having lost your world. Don't take your anger out on innocent people. Is that what she would have wanted?"
"Don't you talk about her!", he howled.
"I can bring her back to you, but you must agree to peace talks. If you can't negotiate peace she is free to leave with you, I only want to have you meet with them...peacefully.", I stated.
"She is dead, she was on that world when-"
With a snap of my fingers I made her body appear, completely incased in ice. Telling him that my scouts found her floating in suspended animations, I promised to free her if he agreed to my wish. Gritting his teeth he ordered his troops to stand down.
"You can't be serious!! All over a stupid-"
With a snap of my finger Fraudrin fell to the ground, and never moved again. Looking at their comrade in horror, they realized I could kill with a snap of my fingers which immediately quelled any complaints from them. Snapping my finger again, he came back to life screaming as if he has seen a nightmare.
"Don't cause anymore problems, or you will stay there next time.", I told him.
"I...I...I understand...", he shivered.
"Where did he send you?", the Commands asked.
"I...I don't know...all I saw was other Demons being torn apart by a person in black!! He was covered in Demon blood, and just his stare sent froze my soul!!", Fraudrin gasped.
"His name is Spawn, and he has a particular hatred for Demons. Sending you to his Hell is where you will go if you break this agreement. Till the talks are complete you will not cause any issues. Step out of line, and death will be a blessing...that won't ever come for you.", I told them, "Same goes for all parties at the table."
"I agree to the meeting.", Meliodas said, "Now save her."
Thawing her out, I brought her back from the brink. Waking up in a daze she looked at Meliodas who immediately started to calm down. Breaking Gelda out of her seal, I told Zeldris to also calm down so this could be discussed reasonably.
"Take your men back for the day, and discuss things among yourselves. We will meet first thing in the morning, I am sure you'd rather catch up with your lovers anyways.", I told them as I let Meliodas go.
Taking Elizabeth's hand, he left with his brother and his lady as well. Begrudgingly retreating for now, the Devils let off a sigh of relief watching the Demons retire. Watching from the wall, Serafall fell on her butt as she sighed with relief.
"Looks like we get to live to see another sunrise.", she laughed with a tear in her eyes.
"You should have called him, see!", Eri (Little Sister) boasted.
"You are still so cute!!", Serafall shouted.
"Stay away, you are stinky!!", both Eri's shouted.
Hearing those words, Serafall fell on her face as she took a critical hit to the heart. Eri's words hit her hard, as a woman that was one of the last things she wanted to hear. Laying there now in a puddle of her own tears, I flew over and saw her there crying. Shouting that it wasn't her fault she smelled, or that she wanted to smell bad...all I could was sigh and pat her head.
"Good work out there.", Ajuke chuckled as he flew over, "Thank you for arranging peace talks. As one of the two remaining Satan's, I accepted the proposal for peace."
"I am glad to hear it, now then...show us where the injured are and we can start healing people.", I stated.
"You wanna see Little Rias, right?", Serafall whimpered, "I will take you over to her, and my sister."
Making me carry her, I used my telekinesis to float her while both Eri's sat on my shoulders. Waving to the Devil children as we walked by. They returned the wave, and said that I looked really cool in my armor. Giving them a smile, I made sure to give them a few pieces of candy each to help calm their nerves. Arriving at what appeared to be a summer home for the Bael family, Rias' relatives.
"Anyone from this household survive?", I asked.
"None I am afraid, if Rias doesn't pull through that will be it.", Serafall said.
"I see, well then let's take a look.", I stated.
Walking into the house, I saw her sister Sona sitting on the couch surrounded by her peerage. Seeing me with her sister, the first thing she asked was what did her sister do now.
"That is rude Little Sona-chan!!", Serafall shouted.
"Must I continue to tell you that isn't my name.", Sona sighed, "Sona, just call me that or sister...either would be sufficient."
"I don't wanna!", Serafall pouted.
"You are acting worse then when I don't let Eri have dessert.", I laughed.
Puffing their cheeks, neither Eri really liked missing dessert. It was pretty much the only way they ate normal food. If I didn't balance their diets it would be sugar, soda, candy, and snacks all day long.
"Sona, could you take me to Rias? Serafall stated that she is in quite a bad shape.", I stated.
"A bad state is a kind way of putting it.", Sona replied with a downcast look, "We barely managed to put out the fire that was burning her. If not for the Phoenix Tears she would have died already."
"I understand, I will do what is needed to heal her.", I said.
Nodding her head she got up, and along with Tsubaki, showed me to Rias' room. Walking inside with them, Akeno and Koneko were sitting near Rias waiting for her to ask for anything she needed. Being able to see how bad she looked in the dark, I set both Eri's down and told them to wait with Sona and Tsubaki till I was done. Approaching the bed Akeno and Koneko both glared at me thinking that I was another suitor taking advantage of the situation.
"Serafall wasn't lying...this is quite bad.", I said looking at her body, "This was definitely Purgatory Flames...you did well putting them out. Under normal circumstance the flames can't be put out."
"Are you here to force her hand in marriage?", they asked.
"He is a guest of my sister.", Sona stated, "He is the one that ended the fighting outside the city gates."
Even though they were aware I stopped the fighting, neither of them would stop staring daggers at me. I admired their dedication to Rias, it showed she really did treat her peerage well. Using the White Lantern Ring to restore her body, Rias felt a calming warmth envelop her body. Stirring from her unconscious state the first words were "Mother...father...don't leave me alone..." which was very touching. When the process was done, she slowly opened her eyes and sat up.
Ignoring the jiggling going on under the robe she wore, I turned to Serafall and Sona. Informing them that she was healed, all three women ran over to investigate. Kicking me out of the room to thoroughly investigate, I heard Serafall make some inappropriate comments followed by a loud smack, presumably from Sona. Putting some tea on, as I could hear my family coming towards us, I got snacks ready as I was sure a few of them were going to ask for something to eat. Having done a great job fighting the enemy, I pulled out a variety of cakes to eat.
"We are eating cake!!", both Eri's shouted bouncing around, "Cake! Cake! Cake!"
"Haha I can tell both of you approve.", I chuckled, "I have your favorite cake, strawberry shortcake."
"Yeah!!", they shouted louder.
As if they heard the dinner bell, Rumi and company burst into the house.
"You brought carrot cake, right?", Rumi asked, "If you didn't bring any I-"
"I have some, I made it with your mother's recipe.", I told her.
Listing off the other cakes that everyone liked, I smiled and said I had what everyone wanted. Taking a seat around the large dining room table, I served everyone a slice while the Devils came down to see what was going on. Seeing all the women at the table having cake, Serafall blitzed past her sister and demanded to know why I didn't mention I had cake.
Grabbing Serafall's left ear, Sona pulled back and said that it was unbecoming of a Satan to act this way. Apologizing to me, I could see she was staring the strawberry shortcake as well. Offering them some cake, they all took a seat in a few seconds.
"Maybe you should use the cake more often to keep the peace.", Wanda stated.
"We aren't animals that need training...", Hela replied.
"If you say that again I will turn you into a frog for a week.", Aurora said, "We appreciate his cooking, so shut up."
"Fine...", Wanda sighed.
Sitting down to have some coffee, I sat in silently as the women started discussing the fight from earlier. Pointing out each others strengths and weaknesses, I was happy that no one was taking it offensively. After finishing her cake, Rias asked a very important question.
"Where is my brother?", she asked.
"Rias...", Akeno said with a sad tone, "We need to catch you up on everything."
"What do you mean everything? How long was I out?", she inquired.
"You have been out for a few weeks.", Sona stated, "Let us explain how things look right now..."
With that Rias sat there, and listened to the sad story of how things turned out. Realizing that she only had Grayfia left, Rias was saddened to hear her brother died trying to take out the person responsible for her injuries. As they got her up to speed, she hung her head in shame. She felt that she had caused more problems than she solved, and felt directly responsible for her brother's death.
"It had nothing to you, your brother made the decision to go.", Harley told her going into psychiatrist mode.
"He wouldn't have gone if I hadn't done something so foolish.", Rias whimpered, "He-"
"You can't blame yourself for his own decisions. Your brother made the decision on his own, and died. The blame doesn't fall on your shoulders for that. All you did was try to help the situation, no one can blame you for that.", Harley said.
"Wow Harley, you really can give good advice.", Ivy teased.
"Ahem, I don't got time for yah games right now!", Harley remarked before returning to Rias, "Continue please."
"...are all of you family?", Rias asked us.
"We are all his wives to be.", the women said pointing at me.
"Oh!", Serafall gasped, "I didn't realize that was the case, are you one of those weird harem guys?"
"I will have you know it isn't weird.", Wanda stated, "If you want weird how about we-"
"Wanda...don't you do it...", I warned her.
"What's the problem? They are-"
"Let's not have that conversation right now.", Natasha said covering her mouth, "That is a conversation for a happier time."
"You mean like when you tell him that you are pregnant.", Wanda stated causing me to spit out my coffee.
"Say what now!?", I coughed.
"...we talked about this...", Natasha growled, "You were supposed to keep your mouth shut."
"Natasha, is that true?", I asked.
"...well there went the surprise, thanks Wanda.", Natasha sighed, "Yes, yes it is true."
"If that is the case then the other day...", I started to say putting the pieces together.
"We wanted to celebrate.", Selena added, "All of us were working on a cute way to tell you, but big mouth opened her trap."
Grabbing her hammer Harley raised it up, and bashed Wanda with it. Rubbing my forehead I sighed, then looked up to the five women. Giving them a smile I told them to come over here so I could hug them. Giving them a big hug, Selena said that I had really tied the knot now and that there was no going back now. Chuckling I said I wouldn't have it any other way before giving her a kiss.
"Ara ara, aren't you a kinda guy.", Akeno said with a teasing smile.
"Ara ara, you know he is quite strong too.", Serafall told her with a smirk, "He-"
"Sister, Akeno was only teasing him...", Sona told her pulling on her cheeks.
"Stop it, it hurts!!", Serafall cried, "I am sowwie!!"
"You must be one of my people...", Wanda said half buried in the floor.
'I am thankful that I was able to save Rias.', I thought, 'Her and Sona deserve a happy life, free from being servants to the Demons. I will make sure I get to see those same smiles I saw along with everyone else.'
Once everyone was settled back in, we called the remaining houses over so they could discuss things for the meeting the next day.