Loki POV
How droll.
"For a super secret meeting between the nastiest in the world, this really is subpar accommodations. Truly, these Devils have no flair and completely disregard any semblance of ambiance."
"Hmph."
I eyed the person calmly walking next to me. Not many would be brave enough to do so, and he barely spared me a second glance.
If I were prone to anger easily, I may have already stabbed him.
Whether it would have struck was another matter entirely.
"I'm surprised you came. You rarely leave the underworld, Hades."
The figure in the guise of a Skeleton glanced at me with obvious annoyance. Oh I so did love to rile these silent types up.
"I would not had someone not broken into Tartarus when I was away. And the only group that was aware of my absence ahead of time happens to be among those that will be present."
"Oh my, and you think someone here did such a horrid thing!?"
"I am in a foul mood, God of Lies, I have no patience for your jests. I am already reconsidering my continued place in this partnership."
"I will swear on my divine name, Lord of the Underworld, that I had no hand in what you claim." My eyes flashed brilliantly. My Divinity soaked into my words, giving them presence that gave credence to their validity.
Hades' own eyes flared up as he evaluated my words.
He harrumphed again but seemed to take them as truth.
I wondered if anyone would ever believe me if I said that I don't actually tell lies? Men, Gods, and Demons alike, they all just never want to hear the truth and assume I'm lying~.
But we most certainly did jailbreak his old man and that other Titans.
I just didn't have any hand in it.
And that second attempt was all them as well. No one expected them to succeed a second time, but it forced the Olympians away from…..another important target for a good amount of time.
I wondered how long it would take for them to notice that the Pandora's Box they have right now was a fake.
And the Titans….. they were oh so happy to lend us their aid in thanks. Especially if it meant they would be able to throw down with Zeus and his lot again.
And I had a hand in none of it.
Completely sinless.
Though I may have fed Laufey, the Frost Giant King, some information about Asgard's patrols. And he may or may not have launched an attack, grabbing their complete attention. And I may or may not have had time to free my wonderful Son – Fenrir.
Dear old Dad and I seemed to share some sentiments regarding Asgard right now.
And wouldn't you know it, I was present for the entire battle, helping Asgard defend against the nefarious Giants.
Who could possibly blame me if such a monstrous beast like Fenrir just so happened to escape during the attack?
I hummed to myself as I weaved an illusion over both myself and the grumpy Skeleton next to me. He grunted again, easily noticing my magic, not that I tried to hide it. We approached the hideout of our Devil allies and I was curious to see what they got up to while they were alone.
I normally would not give these lowly beings any second thoughts, but they had proved rather useful when it came to disposable pieces.
Maybe they had a few worthwhile minds amongst their numbers. I supposed there was someone with a miniscule amount of intelligence, enough to suggest building their forces up in the Dimensional Gap. So many are frightened of the Dragon of Dreams, enough so that they wouldn't dare venture here. But it's very simple to avoid the beast if you cared to.
And Devils were nothing if not bugs that are good at hiding in their holes.
The guards outside didn't notice us.
The Magical Wards protecting this place simply splashed against us harmlessly as we passed through.
If I couldn't go undetected to Wards of this level, I would be ashamed to have Magic as one of my domains.
I knew we were getting close, because the room we approached practically radiated pompous and unearned ego.
And what a surprise, the peacocks strutting around didn't notice us.
Well, except one.
Rizevim Lucifer, son of the original Fallen Angel.
He leaned back in his chair lazily, merely opened an eye as we walked in, staring right at us. He closed it again, not even bothering to say anything to his companions.
"And I'm saying we can't let them get away with it!" A woman slammed her hands on the table everyone was gathered at. "That Bastard of a Fake Satan has messed up our plans how many times now!?"
"Well, what can we do, Katerea? With Euclid captured, we lost a good chunk of our Magicians. If we were to launch an attack, we would have to use our forces. And right now, those are pretty much decimated when the fake Lucifer and his ilk went on a rampage after we kidnapped his son and mother." Another said, the descendant of Beelzebub, perhaps?
"You don't think I know that, Shalba!? But we can't sit here so...powerless. And they're just a bunch of humans, what's the big deal?" The descendant of the Leviathan responded.
"The big deal, Katerea, is that they were specifically trained for these kinds of strategies. They would strike hard, fast, and then retreat. Bluster all you want, but we can't match the Fake Satans head on, it's suicide."
And I think that one was the descendant of Asmodeus.
Funnily enough, even with the screeching this Leviathan descendant was doing, it still made her less annoying that her namesake.
"I didn't take you for a coward, Creuserey."
Oh boy, I'm glad I came now. I didn't think it would be worth it, just to check up on a few things, but I always did enjoy a free show.
"You're bold for someone who still can't properly move their arm, Katarea." The Asmodeus Descendant shot back.
"That Traitorous bitch got lucky! The next time I see that Maid, I'll rip her throat out!" She snarled.
"Get over yourself, Katerea, you lost. Stop throwing a tantrum, train and get stronger."
"I didn't lose, I just –"
"You were empowered by Ophis' Snake, and you were beaten." The one known as Shalba Beelzebub interjected, shutting her off.
"Oh, you're already taking in the Dragon God's power, hmm? I didn't know the testing made it far enough for you to use it on yourself." I broke the illusion, leaning back in my chair.
The fools practically jumped from where they were standing, wide eyed as they gazed at both myself and Hades.
Ophis's power was an interesting thing. I'd seen it be used on a few others and I would admit to being a little curious. However, I didn't feel myself compatible with it, thus I had ignored it until now. But for weak creatures like them, it must be like a fountain of power, too enticing to pass up.
Of course they just went from being bugs to slightly larger bugs.
"And where are the others?" Hades gruff voice broke the awkward silence.
"Not here." Rizevim said casually.
"A wasted trip then." He grunted.
Of course it was by my intention that they were not present. It wasn't....a secret that Hades was upset with certain unknown individuals. It was for the best that we didn't let them interact for now.
The Greek God didn't quite share our true goals.
He would have never allowed us to free the Titans willingly.
However, he was important to our plans.
Angra Mainyu and Aka Manah fulfilled their roles quite wonderfully.
"Let's get to the purpose of this gathering then? We all know about the Peace Conference coming up." I looked around the room, Rizevim finally opened his eyes.
Hmm, something piqued his interesting.
Curious.
"We were planning our avenue of attack." Katerea replied, looking rather arrogant about herself. "We—"
"Will do nothing." I finished for her.
"W-what?"
"Did I stutter?" I narrowed my eyes. "You will not involve yourselves, you will not make an appearance, you will do nothing."
They all exchanged glances with one another and I was growing irritated that they didn't speak up so I could tell them how stupid their plans were.
"Lord Loki….." The Beelzebub descendant finally found the courage and spoke up. "I thought you were against a Peace Treaty?"
"I am." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "But you lot seem incapable of looking beyond the immediate future and gratification. Odin will be appearing, representing the Norse Gods." I felt myself clench my fists thinking about it. "Not only that, but my spies have told me that Lugh will be attending next to the Angels. And after the little incident in Kyoto, I've heard they're trying to rope in the Youkai as well."
"Then this is the perfect chance!" Katerea exclaimed. "With everyone gathered, we can stop this disgusting treaty from happening!"
"Oh, you're going to battle against the All-Father? Perhaps you want to trade blows with Lugh? You know what, let's ignore them. I would love to hear about how you'll deal with the current Lucifer, the one who has you changing your pants whenever he makes a move?"
"But – "
"Actually, let's not speak about him either." I tapped my finger in annoyance. "How about the youngest spawn of your literal God forsaken race, and how he apparently is capable of fighting my kind? Do you have a decent plan for any of that? A single worthwhile plan?" I shook my head, letting out a sigh. "And that's not even if he brings any of his companions with him. One I can say for sure you would not be capable of dealing with it."
"Like the human who beat you?" The Leviathan descendant scoffed with indignation.
The room suddenly got a lot colder.
"Careful how you speak child. Not even your Ancestor would have open their mouth as flippantly as you in my presence. The only reason you yet live is because I'm waiting for the correct moment so I can watch you flail helplessly to your death."
I raised my hand up ever so slightly as ice began covering her throat. She grasped at it, but it filled her air pathways, choking her.
"And let me make something abundantly clear. The one I fought was no simple human. She was the Witch of Dun Scaith, a name that is exalted so far beyond yours that you are not capable of touching her feet."
"So the rumors are true?" Hades asked with a mild amount of interest in his tone.
"As strange as it is, it appears so." I confirmed.
And I have yet to uncover how that woman had seemingly come back from True Death.
"No wonder Ares has been so excited." Hades let out a sigh.
Hmm, I had forgotten about that. The Olympian War God was infatuated with the God Slayer.
Perhaps I could point him towards her?
It would be amusing, if nothing else.
The thought was truly amusing, and I may do it just for the laugh it will bring. Though my smile quickly faded once I remembered who was standing nearby, making the most annoying choking sounds.
I waved my hand, dismissing my magic, letting the annoying devil breath again. She dropped to the floor, gasping for air.
"Since you lot seem incapable of forward thought, I shall enlighten you. Yes, I abhor the thought of this peace conference succeeding, but stopping it is nearly impossible unless you wish, or rather able, to wage open war. There are too many different forces being brought together, too many different ideals and needs that are going to be voicing their wants. A simple gathering is difficult, but they're going to be negotiating, I don't think I need to speak about what that's going to entail. But whatever agreements they come to, it will be tenuous at best. But you lot seem to have the bright idea to storm in and lend credence to the idea that they need to ally themselves together. To give them a damn common enemy that so blatantly throws themselves at their feet to rally their own people behind."
I really do hate working with imbeciles.
Maybe I should open a school? Train up my own subordinates, my own sacrificial pawns. I'm sure I could make a list of things not to do and they would be a hundred times more efficient than this lot right here.
"So let me reiterate, you will do nothing." My voice carried my divinity with it, shaking the room around us so my point came across. "We will let whatever happens, happen. Because afterwards, their agreements will be...unsubstantiated. Meaning, they can, no will unravel with the correct pressure. A single string pulled at the right place, and we're right back to where we were previously."
"Agreeable." Rizevim stated, making the other devils jerk in surprise.
If it were almost any other devil I would be annoyed at his attitude. But this was one of the few who had the right to act this way. He was, as begrudging I was to admit it, a peer.
"Why were you helping that crow?" Hades asked. "You were one of the causes that set this in motion."
"I only lent a hand. That Fallen planned this far before I got involved, I just made sure it went along without a hitch."
Hades let out a snort. "Without a hitch?"
"I'm not omnipotent, I can't plan for every ridiculous variable." I rolled my eyes at his insinuations. "It was minimal effort and it made for a good distraction for other things."
"Like attacking Tartarus." Hades grunted.
"An unfortunate coincidence." I replied without missing a beat. "If he succeeded, the world would have been pulled into war by the Three Factions, so by extension, our desires would have been met."
"It did reveal some interesting information." The Greek God seemed to agree.
Some interesting information indeed.
Who knew that the Youkai had such substantial forces available to them? I certainly didn't know their full extent, even if I was aware of those rumors and the happenings of that Half-Devil brat out there.
It's unfortunate that the Fae seemed to have retreated for now. And the Youkai couldn't exactly follow them back to launch a counterattack. Otherwise, I would have focused more on that conflict to blow it up even further.
"Hmm." Rizevim hummed, still barely paying attention. "There are some projects left behind by Euclid. If you have time, I would like if you took a look."
Though it sounded like a request, it carried the hint of a command.
The Devil looked at me as I considered his request as I ignored the tone he used with his lessers. "I'm already here, I can spare a few more minutes." I shrugged.
It couldn't hurt to see what they were up to.
"But first, I have need of the Infinite Dragon God. Where did that stupid thing go to?" I looked around.
Such a terrifying being wrapped up in the social skills of a toddler.
"Um…well...we don't know." I snapped my head towards the Asmodeus' descendant.
"You don't know?"
"We...lost her."
"How in the hells did you lose a Dragon God!?"
[***]
Another one of those that got too long so i split it into an interlude. Good news, I think this is the last one before the Peace conference, which i Just wrapped up over on p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m. And sorry about the dleay, the past few chapters over there had been like 3 times the nromal length so they've taken awhile to finish up. Now, i'm back to writing the normal length.
Anyways, if you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
And Happy new years!