Letting out a breath and wiping some of the sweat that had collected on his brow onto the t-shirt he was wearing, Raylix turned left once he reached the end of the road he was walking down. He could see his destination towering above the smaller residences that he was surrounded by. Stone and brick on the outside, a quaint little building compared to some of the structures he'd been witness to down in Hell, with a certain symbol up at the very top of the steeple seemingly framed by the human world's sun directly behind it, at this time in the day.
If there was anywhere in this little nothing-village- not even ten miles from the border between Italy and France- that his most recent potential lead towards the Sephiroth Graal had led him to that the Holy Relic could possibly be, then it would surely be in there. Though if he was being realistic, it probably wasn't... but if he didn't at least give it some kind of look, then he'd never know.
And wouldn't it be stupid if the one place he didn't look turned out to be THE place the Grail happened to be?
A couple of older-looking humans, probably locals to the village, passed Raylix as he turned left again. Though a normal human wouldn't have picked up on it, Raylix heard the two of them whispering to each other in their own human tongue, in slight wonder and disbelief at the young man that had passed them. Though as soon as he realised what they were saying about him, and how... insignificant, it really was, he tuned it out.
Honestly, in a place like this, he was probably the most interesting thing they'd seen in... what, a couple of decades? Maybe more?
Whatever, Raylix thought, as he continued down the street, making it closer and closer to the Church with every step. He could feel its Holy presence, both around and inside him, as with every time he came anywhere close to similar buildings around the world. Naturally, as a Devil, he didn't exactly like the presence in question, but it wasn't like he feared it. He'd lived a long time, he'd been enveloped in stronger Holy presences than what he was feeling now, this was more than enough for him to handle. The presence of a certain weapon that had recently come into his possession was probably helping him stay used to the presence, too.
The sound of footfalls against the pavement drew Raylix's attention away from the church he was looking up at, and back directly in front of him, where he quickly found he wasn't the only one on this street. Directly in front of him, seemingly coming directly towards him, were a trio of young humans... well, Raylix THOUGHT young, but if one were to even look at the youngest of the three in front of him, with zero knowledge of who he really was, they'd easily think him at least ten years older than Raylix himself. A mop of black hair atop his head with slight tints of grey... he'd probably had a hard life, if the steely look on his face was anything to go by.
The other two didn't look that much better, either. Both looking like they were somewhere in their mid-forties, with the leftmost one even sporting a short chinbeard that- when Raylix's eyes flicked to it- couldn't help but remind him of the beard he remembered his father sporting. The one on the right, a dark-skinned middle-aged man that was well on his way to being entirely bald, with there not being many hairs left on his shiny head. And to complete the look that the three men seemed to be going for... they were all dressed in priest vestments.
'Well, where there's smoke...' Raylix thought to himself, taking a breath as he continued on his way down the street, shifting to the side as he passed the priests. 'Or a church in this case, I guess.'
"A bit far from home, aren't you?" the dark-skinned priest called out, once Raylix was a fair distance away from him and his companions. "How's Bersezio treating you?"
Raylix stopped, not turning around immediately. He heard the footfalls of the three priests he'd just passed coming to a halt, indicating that they'd stopped as well.
"Fine, I guess." the former Clan Heir replied. "Quiet little place, out of the way of the world's business... seems like the kind of place I'd want to live. Weather's nice, too."
"Yeah, nice and warm." The same priest remarked, as Raylix turned around to face them. "Though I guess you're used to something a little warmer, aren't you... Devil?"
Raylix resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This couldn't have been that guy's first encounter with a Devil, surely he could come up with something a LITTLE better?
"I guess." he remarked. "Maybe you'll get to find out for yourselves, who knows?"
A growl escaped the middle priest at Raylix's insinuation that they- the dedicated instruments of their God's divine plan for the world- had led anything but the ideal life, and he reached into his robes. His older comrades made to stop him, but the younger priest was too quick for either of them, stepping forward and pulling what looked like a whip.
"How about I send you back there, Hellspawn?!" the priest cried, pulling back his arm before flinging it forward, sending the end of the probably-consecrated weapon in Raylix's direction. The Devil didn't reply to the remark, simply watching the business end of the whip come flying towards him. It was aimed pretty well, he had to admit: if he made literally no move of any kind to avoid it, and just stood there like a deer in headlights, the whip would strike him right in the head. Maybe a little bit to the left of dead-centre, but still... not bad.
Oh, right. Avoid. He'd almost forgot.
Just as the business-end of the whip came flying and flicking towards Raylix's head, he neatly sidestepped the whip and reached out with his free left hand, grabbing it and giving the weapon a sharp tug. The younger priest still holding the whip, who clearly hadn't expected THIS to be how their most recent encounter with a Devil would go, let out a "Wu-uuh!" as they suddenly found themselves flying through the air, a passenger along with the whip that Raylix had taken hold of.
It turned out to be the LAST sound they'd ever let out, however, as as they passed Raylix, the Devil brought down his right hand on the priest's exposed neck in a casual karate-chop... and tore straight through it like a hot knife through butter. Head separated from body almost immediately, with the body dropping down limply to the ground at Raylix's feet. Blood pooled out from where the priest's neck used to be, but the head continued travelling for another dozen feet or so before smacking into the wall of what was probably a house. It dropped straight down to the ground after that, blood also oozing from what Raylix had done.
Looking from the priest's disembodied head a dozen or so feet away, to his body at his feet, to his own hand that Raylix had executed him with, he looked back up at the two priests, who were staring at him in mixed shock, horror and rage at the sight of their fallen comrade.
"Well, shit. Sorry." he remarked, raising his hands. "Only meant to knock him out, I swear on... uh, Lilith's thong?"
"You... piece of filth!" the dark-skinned priest yelled out, reaching into his robes and pulling out a shotgun, which he immediately cocked and aimed at Raylix. "I'll teach you to mock the way we give strength to our Lord!"
Raylix didn't even bother dignifying that remark with a response, casually raising his hand and summoning a barrier to block the fast-moving shots of light that were fired from the shotgun with a loud bang that seemed to rattle even the other priest standing right next to him. Even as the shot collided with Raylix's barrier, each holy fragment sending sparks off the demonic wall between Raylix and the priest, the priest continued to fire the shotgun, letting out a scream of rage as he looked down at the body of the comrade that Raylix had beheaded.
'Does Lilith even wear thongs...?' Raylix thought, resisting the urge to yawn as more and more holy pellets collided fruitlessly with his shield. 'Eh, not worth thinking about. Not like I've got a snowball's chance of-'
The former Clan Heir's absentminded thought was interrupted as another Holy presence, this one MUCH stronger than the three- well, two now- priests, and even the Church they were fighting (if this could even be called a fight) outside, made itself known right behind him. Turning around, Raylix was forced to whip out Gaeneron as a wave of Holy energy, the size of Raylix himself, flew at speed towards him.
He swung his ancestor's prized demonic blade, carving open an Amalgamation-hole for the wave of Holy energy to harmlessly fly into, which when combined with a healthy dose of his own Power of Destruction, he fired out behind him through the barrier that was still up. And judging by the sudden screams of the two remaining priests at Raylix's sudden attack, which faded away just as quickly as they'd come... he had a feeling that the only ones left alive on this street were him, and whoever had sent that Holy wave his way. The latter of which, he was just now getting a good look at.
He was an old man, much older than any of the priests that Raylix had just killed. His face was wrinkly: just judging by that alone, he had to be at least sixty, maybe even over seventy, years old. Yet judging by the rest of him... a thick neck, thicker chest, arms more muscular than any single Devil Raylix had ever met in his life, legs even stronger-looking than that. He was tall, too, MUCH taller than Raylix himself. He had to be at least six feet, closer to six and a half... maybe more!
He definitely didn't look, or seem anything even close to, any of the priests that Raylix had killed. Hell, he didn't look, or seem, like any of the priests that Raylix had come across in his entire life, period!
The... Exorcist, in front of Raylix didn't seem to notice, or even pay attention to him at first. He seemed to be more occupied with reaching out his hand to the body of the priest that Raylix had decapitated, and summoning it closer to the head through a transportation-circle. Once that was done, he bent down and shifted the body closer to the head, almost to the point that it didn't look like a decapitated corpse.
Apart from, of course, the massive wound that Raylix had dealt to the priest with his hand.
"These unfortunate souls that gave their lines in duty to you." the huge Exorcist spoke, putting his hands together. "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace, Amen. May almighty God bless us with his peace and strength, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
Raylix couldn't, this time, resist the urge to roll his eyes as the Exorcist straightened up and turned to face him. A powerful Holy aura, stronger than what Raylix was feeling coming off of him before, emanated from him.
"Cute prayer." Raylix remarked, looking the huge man up and down while tightening his grip on Gaeneron. "Come up with that while gardening this morning, nonny?"
The Exorcist didn't reply immediately, instead pausing for a second before reaching into what looked like a golden magic-circle with one of his enormous arms, and then pulling out what looked like a large sword. Potentially the largest sword that Raylix had ever seen wielded by a human, or at least any being with a human-like appearance, considering it looked like it was only a few inches shorter than he was tall. The sword had a long, broad blade that was mostly coloured blue, though the edge was gold. On one side of the handle, the sword had a semi-circular guard that extended to around the bottom, just above the pommel, with the smallest of extensions on the right side of the handle.
As soon as the sword came out of the magic-circle, Raylix felt the amount of Holy aura exuding in his direction going up dramatically. Doubling, at the VERY least... even with his experience and raw power, and even with his new sword in his possession, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't beginning to sweat a little. He didn't think he'd felt THIS much Holy aura coming his way since his days in the Great War.
"I might have done a long time ago, young Devil." the Exorcist replied, levelling the sword in Raylix's direction with just one hand. "But when you lose enough, it just becomes second-nature. But even so..."
Raylix noticed the arm holding the large Holy Sword tensing up, along with the Exorcist's entire body. He tensed up himself, adjusting his grip on Gaeneron with his left hand. He supposed, as soon as whoever this was turned up, that something like this was inevitable.
"I couldn't call myself a warrior under God if I didn't fight for the memory of my comrades." the Exorcist finished, before suddenly leaping at Raylix with FAR more speed than he expected a human of his physical age to really be capable of. He was barely able to raise Gaeneron in time to meet the Holy Sword that was being swung in his direction. Human and Devil struggled against each other for a moment, powerful Holy and Demonic auras seeping from their blades.
Raylix was the first to jump backwards from the clash, landing a dozen feet apart from himself and the Exorcist while reaching out with his free right hand. Several bolts of his Power of Destruction flew from said hand in the Exorcist's direction, the first two of which he simply dodged out of the way of and the third he swung his sword at. When Exorcist's blade met demonic energy-bolt, the bolt that Raylix had fired out seemed to dissipate out of existence against the Holy Sword.
Had to be some sword, Raylix thought, as he noticed the two destructive bolts that the Exorcist had dodged kept on going, eventually striking around the same area of wall that the first Exorcist's decapitated head had smacked against. The entire wall was essentially destroyed by the two bolts, and came crashing down with a tremendous noise that only grew even louder as the rest of the residence that wall belonged to came down a few seconds later. A great amount of dust was kicked up by the collapsing building, that spread out to the point that the Exorcist right in front of Raylix was becoming a bit difficult to see.
Keeping his right hand ready by his side, Raylix raised Gaeneron with his left hand, his eyes narrowed and focused on the silhouette in front of him that was the Exorcist that had attacked him. A second later, said silhouette suddenly became a lot clearer, until the Exorcist burst out of the kicked-up dust, sword raised above his head in clear preparation for a swing. Raylix quickly raised Gaeneron as well, swinging it upwards at the Exorcist's sword and pouring some of his own energy into the swing.
The Exorcist seemed to have had the same idea: when Holy and Demon swords collided once again, the outpouring of opposing energies was far more potent than the first time, to the point that both he and Raylix had to jump backwards. Though the blowback from the holy and demonic energies colliding with each other was enough to send the dust that had been kicked up from the building being destroyed away, leaving Raylix and his opponent able to see each other. Though that same blowback was also enough to both visibly and audibly rattle all the other buildings surrounding Raylix and the Exorcist.
Not that either of them noticed the rattling going on around them as the Exorcist swung, again, down at Raylix, who sidestepped the attack and retaliated with a swing aimed at the Exorcist's lower chest. A swing that the Exorcist simply had to raise his sword and not put in any visible effort into blocking, though there was just as much Holy and demonic energy-blowback as the other times he and Raylix had clashed with each other.
As Raylix jumped back again, he raised his right hand and fired off another bolt of his Power of Destruction, aimed right at the Exorcist's head from point-blank range. As soon as he saw the bolt coming out, the Exorcist casually tilted his head to dodge it and retaliated in kind, throwing a punch at Raylix from point-blank range that the Devil had to put both hands into a barrier to block, dispelling Gaeneron in the process. And even then, with both hands pouring as much energy as possible within fractions of a second into a barrier to block such a punch, said barrier shattered and dissipated the INSTANT the Exorcist's fist made contact with it.
Raylix let out a cry of surprise as he was blown back by the force behind the Exorcist's punch, and his brain could barely formulate the thought of 'Who the hell is this guy?!' before his body smacked into a wall. The Devil could feel the wall cracking behind him as he dropped to the ground, quickly picking himself back up to dodge the wave of Holy energy that the Exorcist sent his way from his sword.
"You sure you're not hiding some wings back there?" Raylix asked, holding out his left hand to summon Gaeneron into it. He wasn't able to fully do so, however, as the Exorcist closed the distance between himself and Raylix immediately, swinging again with his sword and forcing Raylix to dodge out of the way again. More swings came, each coming closer and closer to nicking the former Gremory Heir, despite his constant dodges. "What the hell are you?"
"Human." The Exorcist replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "As human as the Lord made me."
"Well, human or not..." Raylix remarked, jumping back again to put just that little bit more distance between himself and the Exorcist, reaching out with his left hand. "Hope you don't mind me having to end this quickly."
Rather than the crimson blade that he'd fought with so far, it was an obsidian-black sword that the Exorcist saw forming in Raylix's hand. Longer and thinner than the other sword this Devil had been holding throughout their entire fight, and slightly curved on top of that, it radiated an aura that went beyond Demonic and straight into the territory of pure, unadulterated... EVIL.
Vasco Strada, a VERY notable contender for the title of 'Strongest Exorcist in History', and ABSOLUTELY the strongest one that wasn't lucky enough to be born with a Sacred Gear, steeled himself and Durandal as the Devil in front of him dashed forward, his Demon Sword raised and positively dripping with evil power. Charging Durandal up with as much of his own Holy aura as he could in the second or two he had free to do so, Vasco swung back at Raylix.
The two swords clashed with each other, but neither Raylix nor Vasco heard the initial clashing sound of metal on metal. Their ears were more occupied with processing the immense BOOM that sounded off at the incredibly intense Holy and Evil auras clashing with each other, accompanying the explosion that came as a result. With both Raylix and Vasco so close to the point that the explosion occurred, and with the explosion being so powerful, neither Devil nor Human could stop themselves from being blown backwards, far more violently than before.
More carried by instinct than anything else, Vasco covered his face with his free arm as he was blown through the air, allowing himself to roll over and over as soon as he hit the hard stone ground. His body, refined as it was, screamed out in protest and ached with the pain of being slammed against the ground, rolled around and around over it for a few seconds until he came to a stop. Blinking a couple of times, Vasco removed his free arm from his face and looked up, pulling himself to his feet. Though he almost went right back down again as he took in the sight that met his eyes, for it was truly... horrifying.
The village... there was no village left. The most recent clash between him and the Devil, with that sword, had caused such a strong blowback of the opposing Holy and Demonic energies from their respective weapons... it had reduced this quaint little Italian village to smoking ruins. In an instant!
There was no chance that any of the regular humans, those in the dark about the other worlds that operated around them right under their noses, had survived. They'd be lucky if there was anything left in the aftermath of his and the Devil's clash to fit in a matchbox. Wait... that Devil!
Even as pain shot through every muscle and nerve in Vasco's body, he forced himself to move forward, through the wreck that remained of the village as he looked around, trying to find the Devil he'd clashed with a moment ago. Maybe he'd been blown to smithereens as well by his attack...? Unlikely- EXTREMELY unlikely. No Devil, not even the craziest ones he'd come across in his over-seventy years on this Earth, would pull such a blatantly suicidal attack against him if it wasn't- at the very least- very, very likely that said Devil would be able to come out of it alive.
Vasco's suspicions were confirmed soon enough, as he looked over to where the village church used to be, and noticed a lone silhouette standing in the middle of what remained of the structure. Letting out a grunt as his old bones continued to scream out in protest, he redoubled his efforts to approach the Devil- it had to be him- that had the majority part to play in the wiping-out of this place. And yet however, just as he passed where the doors to the church used to be, the Devil cast a transportation-circle beneath his feet, and vanished in a flash of crimson light before Vasco could get anywhere near him.
The wielder of Durandal reached up to his face, wiping the sweat from his brow as the silence of the destroyed village stretched out around him, doing his best to force back the tears that threatened to flow in response to the needless death that had just occurred on this day.
Meanwhile, not a million miles away, a certain former Heir of the Gremory Clan warped onto the porch of Lilith's villa, letting out a breath as the transportation-circle dissipated around him. Hethen let out a groan as the pain from being surrounded by that Holy energy from that old exorcist's sword. Experienced and powerful Devil he might be, but that sword he'd fought against... just like the exorcist wielding it, he'd never faced anything like THAT before, and he didn't think he wanted to ever again.
Pushing open the door and entering the main hall of Lilith's villa after removing his shoes, Raylix dispelled his sword and shut the door behind him, immediately making for the stairs. Though he paused slightly as he heard someone coming down them, seeing them a second later.
"Morning, Raylix." Esdeath remarked, a small smile crossing her face as she descended. "You been out? Following up on that lead you uncovered a couple of days ago?"
Raylix hummed, nodding, stretching and moving aside as Esdeath reached the bottom of the stairs, giving her space to move past him.
"Find anything?" the bluenette asked, pausing as she looked the auburn-haired Devil up and down. "You okay?"
"Nothing but a nothing-village reduced to ashes and rubble." Raylix replied. "And I'm fine. Just a fight with an Exorcist that got a little… out of hand."
"Must've been some Exorcist." Esdeath remarked, making her way past Raylix and heading for the kitchen, while Raylix made his way up the stairs. Doing something somewhat rare for this time in the day and bypassing the door to the first-floor hallway that led to the training hall, the former noble Devil went up another floor, making his way to the second-floor hallway that housed his, Hikari's, Kurumi's and Lilith's bedrooms, as well as Lilith's office and personal library just past that. Making his way to the door and quietly pushing it open, Raylix stepped into the library that, until Lilith had gifted him with the sword that she had last week, he hadn't really bothered with heading into.
Lining every bit of every wall around the moderately-sized room were pristine walnut bookshelves, the shelves of which sagged slightly under the weight of so many books of so many subjects, all neatly organised by genre and sorted in alphabetical order. There were also a number of shelves in the middle of the room, arranged to create decently-sized lanes that allowed for more books to be stored.
Large, comfortable armchairs and couches were dotted around the room: some near to large windows that bathed the room in the French morning sunlight, some further away and closer to specific shelves, or the door that Raylix had just come through. All were upholstered in soft red fabric, to go along with the black carpet beneath Raylix's feet.
Also dotted around the library, generally close to the chairs and couches, were small side-tables that looked just perfect to rest a book or a drink on. Immediately turning left from the door he just came through, Raylix made his way over to a specific section of the library that he'd found himself frequenting rather recently, and spread his wings for a couple of seconds to fly up to a certain book that he wouldn't be able to reach normally. After sliding it out of its place on the shelf and dropping back down to the ground, Raylix moved over to the nearest couch and sat down on it, snapping the fingers of his free hand to summon the nearest table to a position right in front of him. Setting the book, entitled 'The Known History, Life And Glory Of Satan Lucifer, Volume VI (First Edition) down on the desk, Raylix flipped it open to a page that he'd bookmarked: within a chapter about Lucifer's creations.
Particularly, about the sword that Lilith had gifted him just under a week ago. Given the name Rubilacxe to further emphasize the sword's status as Hell's (or more specifically, Lucifer's) counterpart to the Holy Sword Excalibur, and imbibed with a fraction of the Morning Star's own raw demonic power: it was the ultimate weapon against any opponent to Hell's mission, easily the strongest Demon Sword in existence on raw power alone by some margain. The only slight advantage the Fafnir-killing Gram had over Rubilacxe was that Gram possessed latent Dragon-slaying traits whereas Rubilacxe did not… but the lack of Dragon-slaying attribute almost didn't matter with all the other abilities Rubilacxe DID possess, a dark reflection of Excalibur's incredible versatility, each given brief explanations in the book:
-Corruptive Void: Commands a primal abyss that corrupts and devours all in its path, leaving nothing but twisted desolation in its wake.
-Malevolent Transformation: Morphs into any form the wielder desires
-Mighty Devastation: Grants enhanced strength to the wielder by directly infusing their muscles with the sword's latent demonic power.
-Horrific Illusion: Taps into the fears and nightmares of the wielder's opponents, and directly infect their mind with illusions.
-Infernal Invisibility: Cloaks the wielder in shadows, making them invisible through their connection with the darkness of Hell.
-Curse and Desecration: Relates to the wielder's belief to further Hell's evil cause, and to carry it out for as long as Hell exists.
-Demonic Domination: Dominates the will of sentient beings, compelling them to submit to the wielder's desires.
Shifting himself slightly on the couch that he was perched on, Raylix reached over to the old book, sliding a newer and folded piece of paper that he'd placed there as a bookmark off of the book entirely and, after pushing the book away a little bit to give himself some space, unfolded the newer piece of paper while summoning a pen with a snap of his fingers. His brow furrowed slightly as he scanned the notes he'd written down about potential uses for each of Rubilacxe's seven powers:
General:
- Could enhance all powers of Rubilacxe with personal demonic power
- Conversely, could channel Rubilacxe's latent power to enhance personal abilities like PoD and Amalgamation/Absorption.
C.V:
- Consume any attacks that I'm unable to Amalgamate/Absorb
- Maybe also devour enemies with that 'primal abyss'? Sounds like it'd get rid of anyone that can't be killed normally… or who I just don't feel like expending the effort for.
M.D:
Raylix hadn't written anything for M.D.
M.T:
- Could transform Rubilacxe into other weapons, switch up fighting style on the fly (Spear? Stabbing stuff sounds easier to do while flying than slashing at stuff)
H.I:
- Simple method of distracting an opponent by tapping into whatever fears they might have. Maybe for only a second, but that could make all the difference.
I.I:
- Easy escape during fights in the dark. Could essentially disappear.
- Possible travel via shadows and darkness? Could make for good short-range teleportation during a fight (Test further when have time)
CaD:
- Further Hell's evil cause???
D.D:
- Erode the free will of any troublesome captives I'm stronger than (LAST RESORT)
Letting out a breath, Raylix rested the tip of the pen he'd summoned at the M.D. bullet-point, which he hadn't written anything down for, wracking his brain for any possible uses for Rubilacxe's Mighty Devastation, but he just… couldn't think of any. If the book was to be believed, it just sounded like strength-enhancement, with nothing else massively unique to it. Yeah, it was useful, but there weren't any majorly unique uses for such a strength-enhancement that came to mind, that were worth noting down in the same vein as potential weapons to transform Rubilacxe into, or potentially travelling short distances through shadows, or… figuring out what the hell 'furthering Hell's evil cause' meant in terms of things Rubilacxe could specifically do.
Speaking of that middle thing, Raylix knew he had the free time to do so. He'd been so swamped with trying to find more leads to the location of the Holy Grail or its wielder, heading out into the world to follow up on any leads he happened to come across, or just regular training, that he hadn't had time over the last week to dedicate to figuring that power out.
It sounded like the kind of thing he'd be all for sinking his teeth into, but for whatever reason… he just wasn't feeling it all that much. Maybe it was the fight he'd had with that Exorcist earlier that had taken a bit more out of him than he initially thought, maybe he was just hungry, or maybe the couch he was sitting on was just REALLY comfortable.
Yeah… yeah, it was probably that. Maybe he'd just relax on the couch for a while, go figure out that shadows stuff later…
…
"Hm hmm hm-hmm… Hm hmm hm-hmm…"
When the first thing Raylix heard was light humming, coming from right above him, he immediately jolted awake and jumped to his feet. Or at least he WOULD have, had he not smacked one side of his head against something. Something hard, that seemed to be in the way of that side of his head as he brought it up. Immediately bringing his head back down, away from whatever he'd smacked it into, Raylix let out a groan of mixed surprise and slight pain, before the other side of his head came into contact with something else. Something rather softer than whatever he'd smacked his body against seconds earlier.
"Kihihihihiii… oh dear~"
It was at that moment that Raylix finally opened his eyes (he hadn't even registered that they were closed in the first place, and opened them. Blinking a couple of times, he realised he was lying on his side, on the same couch in Lilith's library he seemed to have fallen asleep on. His head was several inches below the bottom of the table that he'd pulled up to the couch earlier, and the softer thing that it was resting on right now… well, it turned out that there were actually two of them. Side by side. Almost like legs… and the voice that had called down to him that moment… that laugh… huh.
Slower than he'd tried to before, Raylix pulled himself away from the pair of thighs that his head had been resting on, and shifted himself into a slightly more dignified-looking sitting position, cracking his neck a couple of times before looking over at Kurumi, who looked over at him with a small grin on her face.
"You're just like Hikari," Kurumi remarked. "Slightest thing happens when she's relaxed, she's up and ready to kick ass… just as cute when you sleep, too."
The dark-haired human girl let out another giggle, resting a hand on her cheek as Raylix had seen her do before. Raylix didn't immediately react, both not wanting to give her any more fuel for whatever teasing words she was probably cooking up in her mind for him at that moment, and just out of wanting to process the situation he'd woken up to.
"How long was I out?" he asked, shifting himself to the other side of the couch from which Kurumi was sat, and getting to his feet once he could squeeze out from between couch and table.
Kurumi shrugged.
"Well, I don't know how long you were in here before I came in, but I've been here just under an hour." She answered. "You were just lying there, all conked out. You do know your bedroom's just down the hall, right?"
A grin came over the girl's face as she shifted a bit closer to where Raylix was standing, leaning forward slightly as well.
"And so's mine." She continued, her voice slightly softer than when she normally spoke. "I definitely wouldn't say no to sleeping next to a cute guy like you~"
Raylix let out a scoff, turning half-away from Kurumi, not even bothering to try and dignify her teasing remark with any kind of response.
"Whaaaat?" Kurumi remarked, drawing out the word with a grin on her face. "Don't act like you don't know you're cute as hell, Raylix. You think Irene, Cinder and the rest have stuck around this long just because they want to find the Sephiroth Graal as much as you do? Or is it because they think you're cuuuuuuute~?"
Raylix looked back at Kurumi, unable to stop a slight blush from tainting his cheeks. Though as soon as he felt it surfacing, he turned away again, muttering something under his breath, but the damage was done. Kurumi's giggles were replaced with full-on triumphant laughter as she got to her feet.
"So you CAN feel something!" she cried, a grin splitting across her face. "I actually thought for a while you really were all just-" she then switched to a purposefully-deeper tone, an obvious (and poor, in his opinion) attempt to imitate Raylix's voice "I must search for the Sephiroth Graal, and when I'm not searching for the Sephiroth Graal I must be getting stronger, because strength and power are all I have to fill the empty void that is my life!" she switched back to her normal voice, giggling to herself some more.
Though the giggles came to an end when she noticed the look on Raylix's face, as well as the raw demonic power flare-ups that originated from him.
"Touched a nerve?" She asked, blinking and raising her hands before taking a couple of steps back. "Okay, my mistake, sorry. But seriously, I saw you all leaned back, head over the back of the couch?"
Kurumi tilted her neck as far back as it could easily go, as if to demonstrate the state she'd found Raylix in.
"I've fallen asleep on that couch like that loads of times, Raylix, it happens to all of us. But it hurts like HELL when you wake up, so I thought, you know, my lap would be more comfortable until you woke up?"
The demonic power seeping from Raylix seemed to fade, as he visibly calmed down. Or at least he looked like he was calming down, Kurumi actually wasn't a hundred percent sure WHAT Raylix was feeling right now, judging by the look on his face. But he didn't look ready to blast off at her at a second's notice, so that was a good sign… she figured.
"Thanks." Raylix remarked, his tone a bit more even. "And sorry for- you know-"
Kurumi shrugged.
"Don't worry about it." She replied, before a smile came over her face again. "So, about my bed-"
Before she'd even gotten half of her proposition out, Raylix was on his way out of the library, pulling open the door with his back to Kurumi.
"See you around, Kurumi." Raylix remarked, subconsciously reaching around to scratch an itchy spot on his back as he left the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Kurumi alone… as she lowered the flintlock pistol that she'd just silently shot Raylix in the back with.
Mentally thanking Lilith for teaching her how to magically silence the shots from her Sacred Gear with magic, Kurumi's eyes widened as some of Raylix's memories transferred straight from the bullet of her own life-force straight into her mind.
----- ----- -----
"Mmph~! Mmph~! Mmph~! Mmmmph mmmmmph, mmmph mmph mmmmph~!"
The third scion of Rika and Renzo Phenex pulled back, letting out a short chuckle as the muffled words of his servant met his ears. Sliding one of his hands- both of them currently clasped around her toned waist- up to her bouncing breasts and giving it a rough squeeze, rubbing his thumb over her nipple to draw out another, slightly louder but no less muffled, moan from his naked Rook.
In turn, thanks to said Rook's mouth being right beneath the pussy of another of his peerage members, said second peerage member let out a loud moan of her own, throwing her head back in pleasure, her pale-blue hair seeming to glow in the Underworld sun pouring through Riser's bedroom window.
"Ohh, that's good!" Shuriya squealed, squeezing her thighs together around the Rook's face and reaching down to her other tit. "Oh, Satan… Isabela, I love it when you… ahh~!"
Shuriya let out a loud gasp of intense pleasure, her whole body seeming to sieze up in reaction to whatever Isabela was doing down there to her pussy. Riser smirked at two of his peerage-members enjoying his sexual prowess, readjusting his grip and redoubling his thrusts into Isabela's pussy. With every time his hips slammed against his Rook's hips, the slapping sound echoed throughout the young noble's extravagant bedroom. Moans of his own escaped him with every thrust he made, thoroughly enjoying the pleasure coursing through his entire body.
Pleasure he felt he had the right to seek out and enjoy. Being third in line to the title of Marquis Phoenix, with his parents seemingly not ready to pass on the title to Ruvella for several centuries at the very LEAST, and Ruvella herself more likely than not to hold the title of Marchioness once she got hold of it for thousands of more years, Rarzeth next in the line of succession, and the possibility of Ruvella having children that she'd have every right to pass the title onto rather than her siblings… safe to say the chances of Riser being Head, never mind Heir, of the Phenex Clan- and having to deal with the responsibility that came with such titles- was pretty much nil, so he might as well find something enjoyable to pass the time with, right?
When the sound of knocking rang through Riser's bedroom, Shuriya looked up, a blush immediately coming over her gorgeous tanned face. Isabela let out a muffled "Mmph?" from below, but didn't do anything else. Riser himself paid the knocking no mind beyond calling out "Come in!", not even turning to face the door that was being knocked on.
The door was pushed open, and a small snort- more a sharp exhalation through the nose than anything else- escaped the new person in the room at the sight of what his second son was doing. Leaning up against the open doorframe, Renzo Phenex's eyes met Riser's as the latter looked around.
"Glad to see you're enjoying the company of your newest retainer, Riser." Renzo remarked, by way of greeting. "And I hate to interrupt, but I have news of great importance. That concerns you, actually."
"Really?" Riser let out a chuckle, mixed with a moan as he continued thrusting into Isabela. "That's rare… can it wait, Father?"
A similar chuckle escaped Renzo this time, as he shook his head.
"I'm afraid not." The Marquis replied. "This news has just come in, and I'll probably end up forgetting to tell you if I don't do it now. And you know how your mother gets when I forget to tell you stuff…"
Riser let out a sigh, slowly pulling back. The sound of his cock sliding out of Isabela's snatch made a slight squelching sound, followed by a light (and muffled) gasp from Isabela, who continued to shudder lightly while reaching down to her pussy with one of her hands.
"Wait here." Riser ordered both his Rook and Pawn. "This hopefully won't take long… shit, where are my… there we are."
After extricating his pants from the pile of clothes that had been formed on one side of his bed, pulling them on and not even bothering to zip up the fly, just doing the button at the top and leaving it at that, Riser made his way away from the bed and followed his father out of his bedroom, with Renzo shutting the door behind the pair of them. Folding his arms and leaning against the door, Riser looked over at Renzo, his naked upper half glistening slightly with sweat from the lights of the hallway that he and his father were now standing in.
"So what's this 'news of great importance' that concerns me, Father?"
"Well, Riser," Renzo replied, leaning against a nearby wall. "Do you remember that unfortunate business a few years ago with the Gremory Clan? Where Ruvella was meant to marry their Heir for the purposes of a merger between our business ventures, but-"
"I remember." Riser nodded. "We shelled out so many Souls for all those outfits, and Mother went halves with those guys on the wedding preparations… all for nothing, too! Had to miss out on the auction for that Austrian's 312T2B, too…"
"So that's a yes, then." Renzo remarked, letting out a breath. "Good. Anyway, your mother and I have been talking with Duke Zeoticus and Duchess Venelana recently, as new information's recently come to light that might allow us to proceed with a similar merger to what was initially planned half a decade ago."
"Oh?" Riser raised his eyebrows. "And how does this new information involve me?"
"I'm getting to that." Renzo replied, letting out another breath. "Zeoticus and Venelana have recently sired a third child: the new Heiress of their Clan, Rias Gremory, who I believe they plan to debut soon."
Before Riser could reply, Renzo raised a hand to his temple, holding it there for a couple of seconds before waving it between himself and Riser, showing his memory of the meeting he and his wife had had with the Duke and Duchess Gremory not that long ago. Riser saw, seemingly through his father's eyes, the three-year-old Rias Gremory introducing herself to them, and talking with them about her studies as the Gremory Heiress. As the memory dispelled, Riser looked up at Renzo, a single blond eyebrow raised.
"You want me to marry a toddler?"
"What?!" Renzo replied, letting out a loud snort in response. "No way, Riser, your mother and I would never force THAT on you. We're waiting for Rias to reach maturity, then you'll be married. It'll only be a decade and a half, so you've got time to prepare for it."
"Mmhmm." Riser hummed, nodding. "Okay."
"As well as think about what your bride will look like, yeah?" Renzo asked, smirking. "By the time you and Rias have tied the knot, and you're the future Duke Gremory, she'll probably be looking like her mother, remember her? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up looking even better… and you and I both know how hot she is."
Riser let out a chuckle, allowing himself a perverted grin at the thought of a woman with Venelana's figure, sat before him on a bed, wearing a gorgeous sex of bridal lingerie, awaiting to consummate their marriage…
"Oh, yeah." Riser replied. "Thanks for this, Father. Will that be all?"
"That'll be all, Riser." Renzo replied, reaching over and laying his hand on Riser's shoulder for a moment and nodding. "You can go back to your attendants, now."
Riser didn't need to be told twice. As soon as Renzo dismissed him, he already had his hand on the door and was pushing it open, making his way back into his chambers before shutting the door behind him. Waving a hand to turn on some of the lights in his bedroom, he looked over at his bed to see Shuriya and Isabela, both of whom were lying on his bed completely naked (sans for the plain-white mask that covered half of Isabela's face), sweating and panting with flushed cheeks and satisfied expressions on their faces, with one of their hands looking rather slicked-up. Both Pawn and Rook looked up at the sight of the bedroom door opening and shutting behind them, blinking as Riser approached, not even bothering with taking his pants off and just letting out a pulse of fire-magic that instantly burned the pants to ashes, leaving him completely naked and at full-mast.
A cheerful grin on his face, he made his way back onto his bed, lying down on it and looking over at the two servants on the bed with him.
"So is one of you gonna help me take care of this, or do I have to finish myself?"
----- ----- -----
"More manageable rate, huh...?" Raylix muttered to himself, shifting his grip on the staff that Irene had gifted him just under a week ago in one hand. A small bell- one of a box of many that he'd had Cinder buy in a hobby store in Marseille- was in the other. Pointing its gem-embedded tip at the bell he was holding by its handle in his other hand, he took a breath as a certain spell occupied his mind, one that he planned to embed into the bell.
It was, again, something small that he was planning to enchant about the bell, something that Irene herself had suggested for him to give a go: making the bell ring louder when he shook it. He'd managed to get it right a few times with previous bells (which he'd immediately gotten rid of via the Power of Destruction), but it wasn't something he could do without thinking about it, or without the staff. Not yet, at least.
Taking another breath, Raylix continued to focus, staff pointed at the bell. He could feel latent demonic energy flowing through his body, into the staff he was holding, and out of it at a far slower, far more reduced rate than he usually felt it flowing out of him without using the staff. He knew that that was literally the staff's intended purpose, he remembered Irene telling him exactly that when she'd first handed the staff over to him, but it was still a decent shock to him when he'd came to first use the staff to attempt an Enchantment, and felt his outgoing energy reduced THAT significantly.
Maybe it was just something that came with having been born with as much demonic power as he had been, what with Venelana as his mother and Zeoticus as his father and all. Raylix briefly wondered how Sirzechs coped with the vast amounts MORE power he had been naturally born with, thanks to... he actually didn't know.
Shoving the thought down, and briefly admonishing himself for even thinking about a part of himself that was years-long gone, Raylix redoubled his focus on Enchanting the bell in his hand. Like with the sticks outside, he noticed the bell glowing.
Gently putting the staff down and cutting off the flow of his energy to the bell, Raylix took another breath and adjusted his grip on the glowing item, holding it between his thumb and index finger. Bending down, he picked up one of the un-Enchanted bells left in the box that Cinder had bought for him with his free left hand, shook it in his hand and allowed it to ring. The bell was small, so didn't make much impression on Raylix's ears volume-wise, but the sound of its ringing still echoed throughout the training hall for a few seconds before fading out completely, leaving silence behind.
With the sound of a control of sorts, something to compare what he was about to do to, Raylix dropped the bell he'd just rung back into the box and, after a second's hesitation, rang the still-glowing, Enchanted bell that he was still holding. Like the un-Enchanted bell a moment before, it rang, but just like Raylix was hoping for, it was noticeably louder, with the sound of its ringing echoing throughout the training hall for far longer than the un-Enchanted bell. Satisfied that he'd pulled off another successful Enchantment, even if it was only with the help of the staff Irene had lent him, Raylix crushed the Enchanted bell in his hand, applying his Power of Destruction to said hand to reduce what was left of the bell to dust, before wiping said dust on his pants and looking up when he heard the door to the training hall being pushed open. He initially tensed up, for a fraction of a second, but that tension disappeared immediately when he saw Esdeath poking her head through the doors, and then shifting her entire body inside.
"Hey." Raylix remarked, nodding to Esdeath as she took a couple of steps inside. "You need something, Esdeath?"
"Oh, no." Esdeath replied. "Was just... passing, and wondering what that ringing was just now."
By way of reply, Raylix nudged the box with one of his feet, allowing the bells inside to ring slightly.
"Just practicing Enchantments again, Esdeath." he explained. "Nothing insane, no need to worry about it."
"Right, okay." Esdeath replied. "Sorry to interrupt, I was just... curious." she finished, her eyes shifting around a bit.
"Yeah, it's fine." Raylix replied, shifting around a bit. "I get it. Anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"Uhh... yeah, actually." Esdeath remarked, taking another couple of steps into the training hall. "I was thinking, or have been for a while, really. You know when we sparred with each other a few weeks ago? And you mentioned something about smarts over strength?"
"Vaguely." Raylix replied, warping the box of bells away with a quick flick of his hand. "Yeah, I think I remember. That stuck with you a bit, did it?"
Esdeath nodded, fiddling with the bottom hem of her skirt with one of her hands a little bit.
"Kind of." the bluenette replied. "Ever since I was young, I was taught that the strong lived, the weak died, and that was just the natural order of things. I don't know why, but what you were saying about smarts over strength just came back into my mind lately, and I was... thinking about it a bit."
Raylix hummed, nodding as he shifted his eight from one foot to the other.
"Uh-huh, right." he remarked. "Didn't you mention something about the tribe of nomads you lived with, or something like that?"
Esdeath nodded.
"The Partas Clan." she replied. "Monster hunters, Stray Devil hunters, that's what we did. Not in service to any one noble family, we just... wandered around Hell, occasional excursions into the Human world, going wherever the next fight- the next job- was. Probably not as fancy a life as certain other people get to live-"
"No offence." Raylix murmured, a bemused smirk crossing his face for a fraction of a second.
"-But it was a nice life." Esdeath continued. "Tracking down monsters or Stray Devils that nobles paid us to target and eliminate. Finding and killing beasts for food to feed the Clan. Moving around from place to place, figuring out the best locations to set up camp at. Defending ourselves from attacks from beasts that thought we'd make for an easy meal, or just other hunter-Clans that wanted to get rid of rivals. That whole life... I liked it. I was good at it. This time I've had with you, it's been great, don't get the wrong idea, but before it happened, I just felt so..."
"Alive?" Raylix suggested. When Esdeath nodded, he let out a sigh. "Yeah, got a lot of that feeling during the War. Nothing like it."
"Yeah." Esdeath remarked. "Honestly, if nothing had happened, and my whole life had been just the Clan, I wouldn't have regretted a thing."
Raylix let out a hum, nodding. Esdeath obviously didn't know, but he could relate to what she'd said. More than she- or really anyone- probably knew.
"But something did happen, didn't it?" he asked. "Something always does."
"It did." Esdeath replied. "I remember it like it was yesterday."
She took a breath, stepping back and leaning against the wall of the training hall and looking down at the ground.
"Was just a regular day, I'd finished off a hunt for some Stray Devil. Some shapeshifting, spider-looking girl, could spit acid. Ended up getting my hand burnt when it melted through an ice-barrier I threw up." she lifted up her right hand, staring at her palm for a couple of seconds before lowering her hand again. "I'd made my way back to camp with her head- to confirm that I'd killed her and all- but I came back to our camp... overrun, from beast and rival hunter-Clan alike."
Raylix didn't immediately reply. He knew he could probably infer the rest of Esdeath's story from just what she'd told him so far alone, but a part of him didn't want to be rude and interrupt her in order to tell her that. That, and he was pretty sure she was too focused on talking to even hear him if he did speak.
"Gaggle of giant Byrds, pack of even bigger Wulves, and rival hunters... so many of them." Esdeath continued. "The Partas Clan, every single member, eaten alive or brought down. Everyone except me."
"Shit." Raylix sighed, reaching around and scratching a random itch that formed around his ass. "I'm sorry, Esdeath."
"Don't be." Esdeath replied, shrugging. "You didn't have anything to do with it, what are you apologizing for?" she let out a breath, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she did so. "But something about that day, it doesn't quite add up."
"Oh yeah?" Raylix raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Even without me there..." Esdeath replied, "I don't see why the Clan wouldn't have been able to deal with even that number of beasts, even without me there with, you know-" she gestured to the tattoo on her chest before continuing. "And never mind the hunters, they DEFINITELY should've been able to handle them. Not even counting me, there were several other people I knew that are- or were- strong, admirably so. And on top of that, I remember us having more strength in numbers. So it just leaves me wondering if they really were just weak?"
"Maybe." Raylix replied. "Or maybe something else could have happened. I mean, I can think of loads of ways that conventionally weaker opponents have come out on top against stronger opponents that, looking back, they really had no real right to."
Esdeath didn't reply immediately, just looked back at Raylix with an unreadable expression on her face. Taking that as an invitation to continue, Raylix did just that.
"I remember one time during the Civil War," he began. "I was part of a contingent of Anti-Royals sent to help out another that had been pinned down by a group of Royals. I, my brother Sirzechs and a couple of lieutenants of mine managed to make it to the personal base of the son of one of the Royals' leaders, a son of Asmodeus. Sirzechs got occupied with fighting one of the other leaders of the Royals, and I left my lieutenants to investigate the base myself. Looking back, I honestly shouldn't have: I should've waited for my lieutenants to come back- they were transporting a prisoner at the time."
"Uh-huh." Esdeath nodded. "Go on."
"Anyway, one thing led to another, and I, my two lieutenants, and Serafall Sitri herself got stuck fighting Damai... something, the son of Asmodeus himself." Raylix continued. "Even though we outnumbered him four to one... I'm not gonna lie, all of us at the time probably weren't shit against him power-wise. He was one of those Transcendent-Class Devils, or God-Class, whatever they call them now. Enough latent power to wreck an entire region of the Underworld without even trying, that kind of thing. If the strong always survived and the weak always died, I don't think we'd be having this conversation right now."
Esdeath hummed, nodding again as Raylix allowed himself a small chuckle, before continuing.
"But that kind of power isn't shit, if you can't hit anyone with it." he replied. "And that was pretty much the main tactic during the fight. Distract him with attacks from all angles, keep him switching his focus from one of us to the next; hit him with effective combinations of our strength where possible, make sure that he doesn't just shrug off any individual hits; and make sure he'd always be trying to hit a moving target instead of a static one."
"I see." Esdeath replied. "I never fought in either of the wars, I wasn't born until about a century and a half after the Civil War wrapped up. But I've heard stories... must have been intense."
"Oh, yeah." Raylix nodded, stretching. "That, and use his own strength against him." he added, as an afterthought while holding up his hand, opening an Amalgamation-circle for a couple of seconds and looking at it, before closing it again. "Certainly didn't hurt that I'd chosen that particular battle to give a new technique I'd been working on a professional debut... probably not the best idea, looking back. Should've probably given Absorption its first shot in a lower-stakes environment."
"Hey, you're alive, aren't you?" Esdeath remarked, to which Raylix nodded, shrugging.
"Thankfully." he replied. "Point is, Esdeath, I and my allies were able to win the day, despite our combined power being lower than our opponent's. Our tactics, our smarts if you will, were enough to beat our opponent, kill him, and live to fight another day. Maybe the rival Hunters lured the Byrds and Wulves over to where your Clan were at, and used them to weaken them before moving in to finish the job? Hey, it's only a possible explanation." He remarked, as Esdeath shot him a hard look. "I don't think we're likely to ever know, what with your entire Clan being... well, dead and all."
"I know." Esdeath sighed, pushing herself off the wall she was leaning against. "It just... came back to my mind, I don't know why."
"Hmm." Raylix hummed, shrugging. "That's fair, stuff just has a habit of coming back into your mind for whatever reason. Lilith knows I've got a few things that keep coming back, going and coming back again."
"Does she?"
Raylix didn't reply, instead just making his way back over to the doors to the training arena and pulling one of them open, momentarily pausing as he passed Esdeath.
"I guess Esdeath, if you look at it a certain way," Raylix remarked. "Smarts can be a kind of strength, too."
Without another word, he retreated from the training hall, leaving Esdeath alone in there as he made his way upstairs, making for his bedroom, more specifically the shower.
He could use one right now.