Jin Skyward's Soliloquy
…
A few hours have passed since the invasion/war with the Khaos Order. I had gone around each faction and pantheon and helped them with repairing and rebuilding their towns and cities. Not all of them needed help since when I initially repaired the omniverse, they also were restored with it, but not everything in them—or people lied to me just to get me to repair some broken down portion of their home.
Regardless, I didn't care that much since I felt guilty for being late, and failing so many times on my trials. If I didn't, then I could have arrived much sooner and stopped all the destruction Lapis did. If I can help it, I'd like people NOT to die, you know? Just because I have the power to bring them back to life, doesn't mean it was traumatizing for them.
You'd have to be a complete shallow idiot and lack brain cells or empathy if you couldn't see that side of it.
Right now, I was in the Irish Pantheon, more specifically, the Faerie Kingdom. I hadn't been here in a while, but…they were also all killed during it. No one survived. I was near the Inn I stayed in before and helped repair and renovate it.
Oh, I also lost a lot of shadow soldiers, so I plan on making more in the future. I have more than a billion, or was it a trillion? Well, either way I lost a lot of them, and I wanted to at least quadruple that number soon.
In addition to this, and I feel bad about this, but I left the girls as soon as I came back again. I feel like an asshole for doing that, but as usual they understand and let me go. Ugh, I should go back, especially because quite a few of them died—especially Akeno. Although like the rest, she told me not to worry about it and she wanted to spend time with mom since Shuri was also forced to watch her and Baraqiel die.
However…I wasn't exactly alone. Two were stuck to my hip since I came back—both looked exhausted, especially Suzaku since I heard that the majority of the Himejima clan, including her parents were killed by Lapis' attack.
So I helped the residents in the Faerie Kingdom. Suzaku and Lavinia weren't too far from me as they helped with comforting the citizens here, as well as providing them with food I created using my powers. We already had been to several others before we came to the Irish Pantheon, and yeah…a lot of devastation was also there.
I feel like Hestia might have some kind of agenda against the Khaos Order now. She did lose three of her friends she was close to, and of course many other residents of her realm and other fellow gods.
She was angry with me, but at the same time—for some reason, didn't blame me. I wouldn't have minded it if she did. However, I guess Hestia was a lot more mature than I took her for, even after I apologized to her a couple of times. She just told me to shut up in the end.
"Thanks, Middleman! I think the others over there need help," said a Fae.
"Yeah. I'll get to it. If you need any more help don't hesitate to call me again," I told her and she agreed before flying off. I turned around to look at Suzaku and Lavinia. They were handing out boxes of food to anyone who came by for them.
It seems like we'll be here for a while. I walked back over to them and started helping out. I created two avatars to go help the rest of them out as I stayed with them. They kept glancing at me as I helped them out which confused me, but I didn't ask them about it.
When we first arrived here, a lot of the land was destroyed, like a few other pantheons we visited. However, it wasn't as severe as them, so I only needed to spend a few minutes fixing things. Once that was done, I went around renovating and helping these two with handing out provisions since I wanted to make sure they had enough to eat until their next shipment came.
Since all the Pantheons and factions are still recovering from the war that occurred, I decided to help them by giving provisions. Once we were done with this area, we moved on to the next one. It was mostly silent between us with both girls tightly hugging my arm as we walked through the areas.
"Oya? Jin-kun, I didn't think you'd come here so soon~" said Oberon to our right. He jumped down from the tree and greeted us. "Yo~! How's Mr. Dual Dragon Emperor of Super Power~?!"
Apparently, Shiva gave me some kind of new moniker that spread quite quickly even after I brought everyone back. I'm not entirely sure what it is since a few of them have told me it in a more teasing and playful way. I've tried asking the others, but they seemed too preoccupied with other things, so I didn't press it.
"Hello, Oberon. How are you feeling?" I asked while putting my hand up.
"Tip top shape! Ah, by the way, can you…do us a favor? We mentioned it during that meeting when those Satans attacked us, but a lot of things happened between that time and now, so…"
"I have some free time, so I don't mind," I told him. The two with me agreed, and Oberon was happy with my response.
"Great! …Ah, if you're going to ask where Titania is, she's helping the dark and high elves through something. Here's the request then!" he explained and handed me a piece of paper.
I looked through it and found three names of what I assumed were elemental spirits. Salamander, I would guess the fire spirit equal to sylph. Undine the water spirit and finally Gnome, the earth spirit. If they look anything like their Monster Girl Quest counterparts then I'll have a field day. A small smirk appeared on my face.
"We'll get to it then. I have a feeling they're spirits like Sylph, right?" I asked him.
"Correct! With that said, I'll get going, Jin-kun. Today I'm forced to act like a leader, so I need to look after my people, fufu~ away I go!" Oberon left us while skipping away.
As we began walking away, I decided to confront Gnome first. We got Sylph first, so I thought I might as well follow the 'script' of MGQ and go Gnome>Undine>Salamander. I had no reason for this, I just felt like it. After we walked for a few minutes, I decided to speak to Suzaku.
"…I was wondering, why haven't you returned to the clan? I know you're worried about your clan members and parents, so…"
"Atsutarou and Aunt Shuri said that they would check on them with Akeno and Uncle Baraqiel after they're done with checking their home. All of them are allowed back there now after all. Also, because of what just happened, Atsutarou Himejima is allowed a few days of leave from his cell. Apparently, he helped during the attack and saved many fallen angels' lives," explained Suzaku.
"I see. Well, we can check on them after we're done with my job. Sorry about this you two," I told them.
…
We arrived in a sort of swamp and desert-like area in the Faerie Kingdom. The note that Oberon gave me simply said help fix their environment. I saw it as an easy task so I accepted it. We walked around for a little bit as I repaired the area, but the entire time we felt like we were being watched.
After we were done with fixing everything, I turned around and said, "You can come out, Gnome. We're done, or are you too shy to come out?"
The ground around us shook a little before a small creature appeared in front of us. She had medium length brown hair, green eyes and wore a hat, also wore baggy clothes and boots.
"I look forward to seeing the fire spirit," said a voice from Suzaku's chest. A small ball floated from her chest to her shoulder and out came…Zhuque, in her small bird form. She perched on Suzaku's shoulder.
"Zhuque…?" Suzaku looked confused at her contracted beast.
"Am I not allowed to come out?" Zhuque asked and pecked Suzaku's cheek.
"No, you can, it's just I wasn't expecting you to so suddenly…" replied Suzaku. Zhuque nodded her head and stayed silent as we all watched Gnome who stared at us silently too.
She walked over to me and…handed me a doll made of clay. Unsure of what to do, I gave it some life, and it began to squirm in my hand and I dropped it. It energetically began doing sit-ups for some reason. It did about 15 before it hugged Gnome's leg before running off.
"Um, I'm here to do Oberon a request. I fixed your territory, so I'll move onto the last two spirits," I told her. She nodded and gestured for me to go down to her level, so I knelt down.
She leaned in close and whispered, "…Thank you…please…tell…Sylph…I…said…hi…"
"Sure thing, Gnome. I'll try to visit with Natsume in the future so you two can meet again," I told her and patted her head. She nodded before disappearing into the ground again. "We're done here…next up is Undine."
…
The place we arrived at wasn't too far from Gnome, all things considered. However, we expected to be in a large body of water, like a lake or river, but instead we had to trek down a narrow cliff and enter a cave with a small waterfall coming out of it. The cave itself wasn't large, it was quite small and had a lot of vines and other flora and plants growing out of it.
The deeper we journeyed, the more plant life we saw, the density of magic and life energy kept on getting stronger too, perhaps it also affected the growth rate of these plants?
"…I feel a lot of magic," said Lavinia. "Is it Undine?"
"It might be, Ice Queen. These four spirits seem to be the most powerful spirits in the realm, perhaps even the Irish Pantheon," replied Zhuque from Suzaku's shoulder.
Lavinia seemed happy being called Ice Queen as she hugged my arm even tighter after Zhuque called her that. Suzaku seemed troubled by something but said nothing about it. We kept walking for another few minutes all the while the magic around us kept getting stronger.
Finally, we arrived at an even more extensive section. However, all around us were a bunch of other spirits, a small lake in the middle, and small holes in the walls all over the place. It felt a bit like that place Sylph took Natsume and I during our date.
In the middle…was Undine. Her body seemed to be made of water and she had pale green eyes. She resembled a mermaid. She looked at us before she teleported in front of us. She seemed to be on guard, but also seemed to know me.
"Middleman, why have you come here?" Undine asked. I showed her the list and she nodded. "I see…thank you in advance. Please fix the homes of those spirits and the outside since they were destroyed by the recent war the alliance had."
I looked around again and found there were some holes in the wall that were worse for ware, so I brought my hand up and began to repair them. I summoned an avatar and sent it to repair the outside, they quickly did so and came back, we high-fived and he vanished. Once I was done with the repairs, the water to me seemed strange so I walked over to it.
"What happened to it?" I asked Undine. Suzaku and Lavinia joined me and both touched the water. Zhuque stared at it quite intently.
"Hmm. While this realm is far from humans, there seems to be some pollution in it. It's not much to call it poisonous, but it's enough to bother the creatures that live here, especially the spirits," Zhuque said after a few seconds.
I was surprised that she could analyze it that quickly. Although she is a bird—even if she's the Vermillion Bird, she's still a bir—
"You are thinking of something rude, are you not?" Zhuque asked me as she flew in front of me and pecked me several times on the forehead.
"A bird's a bird," I replied which made her peck me more on the head and I laughed before apologizing.
"However, I won't deny that my years of experience led me to that conclusion as it happened in multiple places in the supernatural at some point. Yes, that includes my home," she told us.
"So, it's safe to assume that this is happening all over the Faerie Kingdom?" I asked Undine and Zhuque.
Undine while hesitant, nodded her head. "Yes, this has only been a recent problem. However, I have spoken to Oberon and Titania and they have said that they would fix the problem soon…"
"I'll do it then, I'm still on the job after all," I told her and touched the water. 'It's better to make them pure forever, right?' I thought and proceeded to do just that—this water, the water in the Faerie Kingdom cannot be polluted by third party sources anymore.
The water briefly glowed before it turned back to its previous color, I would assume, as it had become so clear that any source of life reflected anything off of it. It was almost blinding. Undine, Zhuque and the rest of the spirits there stared at me with surprise.
"That should do it…though I may have gone overboard, so pollution of the waters here will never happen again," I told them, but didn't elaborate. "We can't stay for too long; I need to go to the last place—where Salamander stays at."
As we turned around, we heard her thank us.
"Middle—Jin, if anyone you know wishes to make a contract with a spirit…then I will not mind lending them my help," she told us.
"I'll keep that in mind, Undine. Thank you," I replied and waved goodbye to them. Lavinia had been playing with a little spirit the entire time and Suzaku had started speaking to Zhuque, wanting to get closer to her since she apparently had more knowledge to give her.
…
"Do you feel at home, Zhuque?" I asked.
"Are you insulting me?" she asked back.
In front of us was a valley of tall and rigid mountains, and around us were rivers of lava. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting something like this at all. However, since those four are of a certain element, I was expecting their territories to mirror their element.
Sylph was in a forest with a gentle breeze of wind and it felt a bit mysterious. Gnome dwelled in a swarm and Rocky Mountains and Undine lived in a cave with quite a lot of water. Now the last spirit, Salamander…she, I would assume is living in a volcano of all places since the place we're walking through has a lot of lava, even 'fire trees'— trees that look normal except their leaves are made of flames. It's quite strange, there is no water in sight since I assume most spirits and creatures here can live off flames alone.
"No, I'm genuinely asking," I replied. Well, I was teasing her a little, but I was also curious if she did, that question also extended to Suzaku although I believe I already knew the answer.
"I feel a faint bit of sarcasm, nevertheless I will answer. Yes and no. While I am the legendary Vermillion Bird, and my element is of flames, I do not just spend my time near flames. I do not bathe in flames nor do I eat them. I am just like any creature. I eat, breathe and do other things, Middleman," she said with a huff.
"Don't tease her too much, Aaron," Suzaku told me and rubbed Zhuque's chin and she let her.
As we spoke about mundane things to try to keep a bit of normalcy between each other after the shit they went through the past few days and especially the last few hours, I tried to lighten the mood. As I did this, we eventually went inside the volcano through a massive triangular-shaped entrance at the base of it.
Once inside, there were even more lava rivers, lakes, and even lavafalls. It was a massive area, that it almost felt like a different realm. However, we were immediately surrounded by a bunch of fire spirits and small red wyverns. As they stared at us curiously, one of the fire spirits came to us.
"Who are—ah, the Middleman. Why are you here?" she asked me. I showed her Oberon's piece of paper and she happily nodded. "I'll go inform Salamander! Hey, Blesse guide them to 'that' place!" she told her friend and flew away.
Another fire spirit called Blesse came over to us and told us to follow her. We obliged and began following her.
"Why aren't any of you hot or sweating? Most humans on the way here are usually already drenched in sweat," she asked.
"Skill issue," I replied.
I was lightly smacked by Lavinia on the head for answering like that, instead she gave a small explanation on the clothes that they wore and how it changes to accommodate for the change in temperature. What she didn't mention was that I gave them resistance to a lot of those over the years we spent together. However, I doubt she wanted the spirit to know that.
"That sounds neat," she replied. We continued on our journey as she told us a small bit of history about this place.
According to Blesse there were two fire spirits that could have taken the contender of 'The Fire Spirit' of the Faerie Kingdom, one of the was Salamander, and the other was a fire spirit called Rath, a male fire spirit. The spirits were divided on who should be called it, so with Oberon and Titania's blessings they fought for the title. In the end, Salamander won, and not much was heard about Rath after it.
As she finished her story, we arrived at what we assumed was the 'throne' room of Salamander. On both sides of this relatively narrow, but still large room were two lava rivers, and nearer to the throne were two holes that lavafalls poured down from. In the middle of the room was a large rock where a 'throne' was carved, or melted to form it.
On it was Salamander. She had brown skin and flames for hair and red eyes. She was essentially naked, but flames covered her nipples and lady parts. She stared at us when we came into the room.
"So you're the Middleman? …Looks can be deceiving, although you did revive all of us, so you have my thanks. I'd like to get started, so…" she summoned another piece of paper made of flame and made it fly to me. "This is doable, correct?" she asked.
I along with the two with me, plus Zhuque looked through the list. It had around ten places in total for me to repair, five in the inside of the volcano and five on the outside. While it was more than the others, I could get it done in no time, so I agreed to do it. After this, we'll head to The Land of Heaven Falls since I was informed about something and I wanted to go there as fast as I could.
"It's fine, so we'll get started," I told her and turned around.
"Hold it!" she said and I turned back around to look at her. "Sylph. She became contracted with one of your…lovers, correct? Are you doing this to make more contracts for them?" she asked.
"No, I'm just going around factions and pantheons to help with repairs. Undine so far has been the only one to tell me that she doesn't mind forming a contract in the future with someone. Does that satisfy your question?" I asked.
"Hmm." She nodded her head before gesturing for us to leave.
I shrugged and left the room. "I'll leave the outside for my avatar, let's focus on the inside. It shouldn't take long," I told them. But suddenly Zhuque got off Suzaku's shoulder.
"I will go explore, I'm interested in this place," she told us and flew off.
"Ah…" Suzaku put her hand out to try to stop her, but Zhuque flew away before she got her words out.
"Do you want to go with her?" I asked, but Suzaku shook her head.
"She'll be fine…and that's just a small avatar of hers. It won't do anything to her if it's killed…" she muttered and clung back to me.
I nodded and got to work. The various places she wrote down for me were rooms that were quite spacious. One of them was a place to store other ingredients they ate that wasn't just flames. It was damaged and she wanted me to repair it and also replace some of them. I scanned those items and were surprised to see the variants in them, like a flaming spicy potato.
Another room was essentially a fighting ring. We saw some pictures on the walls as well as when they won some kind of tournament here. It feels like the supernatural really likes their fighting tournaments…
The other rooms were normal and nothing noteworthy, some were more storage rooms, some were giant sleeping quarters for whom I assume are the fire spirits and Salamander's guard. I occasionally looked through my avatar's eyes and saw that it was the same outside. They had some locations where they resembled normal human places, like restaurants, a training course and hot springs…or do I call them lava springs?
Around seven minutes later, we were done and my avatar disappeared. I gained all his memories and we told Salamander this. She looked skeptical, but there was another fire spirit guard that followed us, so he confirmed it for her.
"I see. Thank you," she said and we were essentially dismissed after that. She felt a bit rude and cold, but I didn't really care at this point. I wanted to go somewhere else. However, we waited outside of the volcano for Zhuque who Suzaku contacted. After a few minutes she came out in her human form and had a frown on her face.
"Is something wrong, Zhuque?" Suzaku asked her.
"I do not like this place…it feels strange. However, it is not my place to intervene or say anything more, so I will leave it to Jin if he wishes to pursue it," she told us and changed back into her bird form and perched on Suzaku's shoulder.
What did she mean by that? All three of them looked at me and I stared at the volcano in front of us. "Is it a pressing issue?" I asked her.
"No, I believe you can deal with it at any time you please. However, the longer you wait, the more unhappy they will become," she told me.
I weighed my options. I could stay here longer and solve it. However, Salamander didn't look like she wanted me there, nor my help that much, but since it came from Oberon, she allowed it. At the same time Zhuque said it wasn't that pressing, but the longer I waited, the more unhappy the ones that live here become.
I sighed and summoned an avatar. "Keep an eye on this place. I'm still lacking shadow soldiers, so you'll need to take their place. Also, please change into something else to blend in, and keep me updated on the situation," I told my avatar.
He saluted me and turned into a small male fire spirit and flew away.
"I see, so that's what you're going to do? Very well. I will take my leave then. I will see you soon, Suzaku," said Zhuque as she vanished.
"We should—" As I begin to say that, a magic circle appeared beside both Lavinia and Suzaku. They were surprised, but answered them and then they both became disgruntled.
"…I don't want to leave your side…" complained Lavinia—real tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Suzaku shared the same sentiment as she clearly looked extremely depressed.
"Whatever you two were called for…they must be important, so…I suggest you go to them. I already said this to you two earlier when we were in the Egyptian realm, but I'll…make it up to all of you," I told them.
Both still looked uncomfortable and against it, but in the end, they agreed to go and left. Apparently, the Slash/Dog Team wanted Lavinia's help with something, and Suzaku was called back to the Himejima clan to deal with an array of problems that arose after the events of today.
In all honesty I expected Suzaku to agree to go right away, since she did lose her parents and a lot of the clan members, so I was surprised by her reluctance. I wonder why? Was it because I had been absent for so long? Another completely different reason that they haven't told me?
"…Well, I can ask them later. Time to go to—"
…
"Oof, sorry," I said and helped the person up. I had teleported directly into the realm and bumped into someone. I looked down and saw…that it was Padraig. "Oh, Padraig…sorry about that. Do you need help?" I asked.
"Ah, Jin. Yes, if you don't mind…a lot of things are happening right now and…a certain god is here again," he told me.
"Huh?" I was confused by what he said, so he elaborated.
"Manannán mac Lir was revived after he was killed. It seems like you revived some enemies too when you repaired the multiverse. Right now, he's fighting Danu, Áine and Cana…well, fighting is a stretch, more like Áine is…letting out her frustrations on the man. I didn't stay for too long, so…"
I nodded, created another avatar and told him to help Padraig. I then located their aura and ran towards it. It was further away from the town since it was below it and on one of the uninhabited islands of this realm. I quickly flew over there and passed the barrier that was set up around it.
In the middle was Áine…brutally beating a man who I assume was Manannán mac Lir. In front of me were both Danu and Cana. I heard from Cúntóir that both of them died during Lapis' attack, and that Danu was…one of the Fated Ones? I don't know why Cúntóir didn't tell me about her when I met her. I guess some strange requirement was needed…
I stepped forward and stepped on a twig which caused both Danu and Cana to turn around. I sighed and walked towards Danu before embracing her which surprised her. But she hugged me back too and we stayed like that for a little while—all the while we heard Áine's fists slamming into Manannán mac Lir's face and body.
"I'm sorry." Those were the first words out of my mouth to her. However, Danu tightened her embrace in response to it. Finally, we pulled away and I cupped her cheek. "Danu I—"
"…It's okay, I was the one that pushed Áine out of the way. I didn't want her to die. A parent always has to have the best interests in mind for their children, right?" she told me, and we heard a strange 'mom!!' from Áine as she kept pummeling away at the god beneath her.
"None of this would have happened if I didn't fail so many times when I did my trials." That was the undeniable truth…also me slacking off for a bit while reading books. I didn't think that was the best move on my part.
"…What's done is done. We can't undo what happened. Let's just move on from it, okay?" she said while holding my hand that's on her cheek.
"Yeah…"
"I wasn't the only one who perished, Aaron," she told me and I turned to Cana who awkwardly fidgeted around as she kept glancing at us. I nodded and stepped towards Cana who immediately started panicking.
"H-hey, Aaron! Glad you could join us! You know, I never thought I'd die and be brought back to life after all that hardcore training we did, ahahaha~!" she said while rubbing the back of her.
I smiled at her, and once I reached her, I brought her into a hug too. This made her yelp and make another strange sound. Again, she started to squirm a bit, but eventually settled and hugged me back.
"Cana, I'm sorry too, but how are you holding up?" I asked.
"T-tip top shape! I'm not that bothered by dying, I mean, I did the super awesome sacrifice thing, y-you know?" she told me. But the way that she was speaking sounding almost forced, as if she's trying to sound fine and upbeat.
"You don't need to keep up the act, you know? Death, even for a god is still quite scary, Cana. Even if gods can come back, death isn't easy and shouldn't be something that should be laughed at or looked down on," I told her.
It seems like what I told her made her freeze, as when I looked at her, her lips were pursed as if she was trying to stop herself from crying, but she eventually did.
"I didn't want to die. But I also didn't want Brigid to die either! I didn't and don't want any of my friends to die…I heard so many of them died when Lapis attacked…even Danu…I hate it…why can't death not exist…" she muttered as I hugged her again.
I can't really remove death since it's essential to life. Overpopulation and things like that, even so…not everyone came back when I revived everyone. All my friends and lovers came back, however, there were some comrades in Team [DxD], and some of their family and friends that didn't.
Reincarnation is weird. Sometimes they take thousands of years, while some take seconds. For those who didn't come back, they instantly reincarnated. This was true to the human population too. What was previously 7 billion is only 5 billion now, around 2 billion were instantly reincarnated. However, I suspect some of them to reincarnate into this world with no memories, but others may go to a different universe with no memories either.
"I can't remove death since it's needed, Cana. But I'll do my best from letting our friends die from unnatural deaths. How does that sound?" I asked.
"…It makes me fall for you even more," she muttered, surprising me. She looked up and then kissed me. It felt strange. I didn't expect a confession right now, but I accepted it and kissed her back.
"She took advantage of the situation to confess and kiss him!" Áine shouted and more hits of flesh was heard.
We separated and Cana said, "I'll keep on spreading my music, but this time I want it to be about hope, love, and happiness. With what happened, many should still be quite shaken up by it, so I plan on asking Saraswati to play together soon…may we have your help?"
"Do you want me to broadcast it all around the world? Including the human world, right?" I asked and she nodded. "Sure thing, I can do that."
I finally turned to face Áine and Manannán mac Lir. She was still busy pummeling his face with her fists. A lot of blood was already around them and Áine looked like a crazy woman. All she did was grunt each time she hit him. Manannán mac Lir himself didn't even fight back—or was he already dead? …No, he was still alive. I can feel it.
"Áine—"
"A few more minutes!! No, a few more centuries!! I haven't gotten enough yet!!" she screamed back at me and increased the speed and strength of her punches. "I've already ripped his dick and balls off earlier, he can't do anything with them anymore!!"
…Well, that was utterly horrifying to hear. I almost instinctively hid my own private parts from her. Knowing the girls' strength, they can easily do that too, so it's not impossible. I looked at Danu and Cana and they confirmed it with a nod.
"…Hmm? Does…he have multiple souls in him?" I asked. When I looked at Manannán mac Lir in more detail, he felt off.
"He does! This piece of shit has my two other husbands' souls in him too!! That's why…I need more time to beat the shit out of him!!" she yelled and kept on hitting him.
I sighed, walked over to her and put my hand on her back. "I'm going to give you the power to punch the two other souls inside of him, while also being able to beat the one in front of you too…so go ahead," I told her.
"Nice, Aaron! I love you!" she shouted and began to pummel him again, but at the same time—
"Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Oraaaaaaa!!!" screamed Áine.
[She turned into a JoJo character…! Áine…I have so much respect for you…!]
{…Maybe dying again really did give you brain damage,} said Albion.
[Screw you! I'm fine, and so what if I died? I pushed your sorry ass out of that pink line's way!]
{…I could have…gotten away from it, d-dumbass!}
Apparently, Ddraig pushed his rival out of the way and saved him, which meant he also died a few hours ago. But he wasn't worried since according to him, I'd come back and bring them back. I was a bit flabbergasted by his casual demeanor, but I guess not much fazes this dragon emperor.
All of us watch Áine beat the living shit out of Manannán mac Lir for the next few minutes, that was until she stopped and had a very satisfied look on her face. It almost looked like she had reached an orgasm or enlightenment with how peaceful and ecstatic it looked. However, he wasn't dead as he mumbled something through his badly beaten face full of blood. However, nothing coherent could be heard. Only bubbles from the blood around his mouth could be heard.
"What do you want to do with him?" I asked.
I myself wanted to end him, but I gave Áine the choice since he—or they had been haunting her for many years. I touched her shoulder and she quickly turned around to look at me. Her sharp eyes felt like they were trying to pierce through my soul. To my surprise, she grabbed my hand and held it as she started to shake, her hands were bloody, she didn't give me an answer right away.
"I don't want this—these assholes alive since they might try to ruin others lives. Kill them…until every single one of their alternate selves be exterminated from every timeline…!" she said. She then started to hyperventilate.
"…Alright," I replied and stroked her head while soothing her, which stopped her from hyperventilating. Having powers…is always convenient. I took that for granted and felt useless as hell when I took my trials.
I looked down at Manannán mac Lir. I expected his confrontation with Áine to be some monumental debacle that would involve all of the Irish Pantheon and maybe even Ireland. However, he picked the wrong time to do it, and got killed in the process by Lapis. However, if she didn't show up, then maybe it would have been something bigger.
However, as I know that's not how life works, quite a bit of my plans didn't go through since something or other happened. This remained the same for him. He planned poorly and this is how it turned out. With his permanent death. I can't do what Áine wanted yet, but maybe after I evolve, I'll try to eliminate those guys from as many timelines as I can. However, doing so might mess up those timelines in the long run…but we'll see.
"…I should have some kind of speech ready, but I don't. So I'll keep it simple. You tortured my Áine for too long, and I have wanted to do this for quite some time now. I hope to never see you again," I told Manannán mac Lir and smirked.
"[Hakai]." I aimed my hand at him and Manannán mac Lir began to turn into purple participles. However, he couldn't scream as he just lay there, and slowly disappeared. Turning my attention back to Áine, I said, "And that's that. He shouldn't be able to come back since that ability destroys souls…I think?"
"Why do you sound unsure?!" she snapped and punched me in the gut. She suddenly hugged me and added, "If you expect me to fall for you after all this, you've got another thing coming!"
I chuckled and said, "Well, I wasn't—" But to my surprise, she kissed me. Making both Cana and Danu giggle.
She stepped away from me, and while blushing at me, she said, "And who said I was yours? Don't get cocky, brat…" she then kissed me again. "You're 100 years too early to have me…"
"…And yet you keep on kissing me," I told her and smirked. She walked over to Danu as I removed the blood from her and hid behind her.
"He's bullying me…" she said behind her while squinting her eyes at me.
Are you 9 years old…?! What's with this…?
Danu simply giggled at Áine. "What do you want to do, Aaron?" Danu asked me as she brought Áine in front of her and hugged her. Cana also joined them as all three women looked at me.
"Ah…before I answer that, Danu—apparently, Cúntóir told me that you're the final 'Fated One'," I told her, bringing the entire area into silence. All of them stared at me before they looked at Danu who had turned completely red out of embarrassment.
"Ain't that great, huh, mom? You can get dicked down by the fated dick dragon," mumbled Áine, she sounded a bit annoyed after hearing that.
"You're already jealous, Áine," said Cana.
"Why would I be…?!" replied Áine as she huffed.
As I went to speak, I received a signal from…Antares from the Dimensional Gap. I checked it and it simply said, 'Other worldly gods, shall we exterminate them?'
[Antares, wait for me to get there, I want to see who it is,] I told him over the transceiver.
[Yes, of course, Aaron-sama,] he replied and I turned to face the women again.
"Something came up…but we can discuss this further, Danu. And Áine, let's get dating, alright? Same with you Cana," I told them.
"Hehe~ okay~" Cana said happily. Áine looked away and silently nodded. I guess she was still embarrassed by it all, or if she was still reluctant because of her past?
"…Okay, I'll see you at home…honey," said Danu. I smile at them one last time before I told my avatar to do the repairs in this realm since something came up.
…
Once I arrived at the Dimensional Gap, I saw that Kokushibo and Bellion were engaged in battle with two individuals. However, one of them wasn't really fighting and Bellion saw that, so he kept up the 'fake battle'. I flew over to them and floated beside Antares. Godzilla and Mothra were also here, so they flew over to me, changed into their small/chibi forms and landed on my shoulder.
[To think that there were powerful beings in this place other than the Great Red! Impressive, organic life form!] a robot said to Kokushibo.
When I used [Observe] on both of them, I saw that the one fighting Kokushibo was Regalzeva and the one Bellion was 'fighting' was Seraselbes. However, this Regalzeva was different from the one I read.
In the Light Novel, Regalzeva was a seven-meter-tall mechanical humanoid with five eyes in total; two on each side and one on his forehead that shined with gold. His body has a tint of black and purple with thick limbs.
However, in this reality, he was…taller than that at fifteen-meters-tall. His body was mostly mechanical and was colored black with wine-red and yellow accents. He had a gem in the middle of his chest that was yellow as well, and had black and yellow wings behind him. His eyes also glowed yellow as he looked like he was enjoying his battle with Kokushibo.
Meanwhile, Seraselbes had a lighter black body with gold and pink accents. She had robotic cat-like ears. Her left wing was like Vali's light wings except they were pink in color and they pointed up, while her right wings pointed down in a darker shade of pink. In her hands she carried a spear-like weapon and she had a tail and the end of it resembled a key. Much like Regalzeva her pink eyes glowed.
Further using [Observe] I saw that Regalzeva was a genuine mechanical god, however, Seraselbes was a different story. She was a former spirit, just like the Etoulde. Her current title was [The Wicked God], but another one which I presume was her previous one was [The Spirit of Tranquility of Strihustea]. I'll assume that was her previous home planet before being invaded.
So…she definitely was something like that before she was converted. Just like Ayelet. But I can't see her former name. If I had to guess, Seraselbes was just…some kind of surname? So does that mean [The Wicker God] Seraselbes, was from the universe of Fadir Ferdora like Ayelet?
The [Miko] of Fadir Ferdora that Ajuka had under his care, Sefaira Seraselbes…what the hell…
[Don't think too hard about it, Partner. Just take it one step at a time and deal with whatever is going on here,] Ddraig told me.
'Right…let's see what Seraselbes wants. It looks like she wants something different out of this,' I replied to him. "What have you found out about their goals for coming here?" I asked Antares.
"They have said nothing. Although from the body language of the one facing Bellion, she may want to speak to us. That's why he has been playing with her and she has been playing along in response," explained Antares.
"I see…"
[The outer god…I see, fufufu…kakakaka! A worthy opponent indeed. You were right, Seraselbes, there does seem to be a base here! And even better, the outer god is also here!!] shouted Regalzeva.
Thousands of missiles suddenly fired from Regalzeva's back, but Kokushibo effortlessly sliced them apart with one swing of his blade. Regalzeva smirked and materialized beside Kokushibo. He then changed his right arm into various blades and thrust it towards him. Kokushibo went to parry it with his sword, but to his surprise it passed through Regalzeva's arm, and he immediately backed away. Part of his Nagagi kimono was torn apart and he frowned.
The two of them danced around the sky, as Regalzeva showed various abilities and howled with joy as he attacked Kokushibo. Slowly but surely his kimono had been torn apart leaving Kokushibo essentially shirtless.
[Hmm. You did well. Most organic lifeforms would have already died from my assault, yet you still live. However, this is where playtime ends,] Regalzeva said menacingly, and the entire Dimensional Gap began to shake.
Suddenly he thrust his hand in front of him and Kokushibo appeared, but with his quickly reflexes, dodged it and slashed at Regalzeva. Who also avoided his attack, he tried various ways to attack Kokushibo, but in the end he nodded.
[I see, so you're immune to soul, reality, and time-based abilities. At most, I can will you to exist in front of me, but nothing more…kuku, to think my reality powers would be reduced to that. An outer god's powers are something else, aren't they?]
So he tried to warp reality here, huh? Is that why Kokushibo suddenly blink into existence right in front of him, and why he was so confident in that random attack earlier? If it was anyone else…or anyone below his level of power, which was…Universal – Ex…then they would definitely struggle to fight him.
If Regalzeva is already that powerful, then how about Melvazoa? He's the leader after all. I glanced back at Seraselbes also was Universal – Ex. The 'siblings' are powerful then, I can assume Melvazoa is at least Multiversal?
'I wonder if it's possible to turn him into an [Electa]…?' I thought, but a sudden voice surprised me.
<<…It is. I shall siphon it.>>
…That was Azathoth. I wasn't expecting that, also, siphon 'it'? Does she mean my future power? As I was about to ask her—a set of instructions appeared in my head and I couldn't help but chuckle at it…I had wondered if I could do it, but it seems like I was being prevented by her, so even if I did…it would have been useless, like my future sight.
'I guess…I'll try it then,' I replied to her and brought Kokushibo back much to his surprise. I floated towards Regalzeva and gestured with my finger to 'bring it on'. He smirked at me and charged towards me at an impressive speed, from the looks of it, it was just below the speed of light.
Nevertheless, I poked the spot in front of me with my hand. Just then, everything froze—no, it just stopped. Not time, not space, but…the entire story stopped. A power I was meant to have access to after my evolution—I was given a taste of it right now…at the cost of some of Azathoth's life force. I was going to bring her back, so I'll apologize then for being selfish.
The power I had access to right now was— [Plot Manipulation], stopping everything and anything—not even my [Electa] or anything else in the Omniverse was aware of what was about to happen.
I summoned a pen and poked the air in front of me again. Then I began writing in the air.
[All of Regalzeva's powers are to be sealed. All of his memories are to be altered. All of his history is to be changed. He will be a double agent for me. Melvazoa and anyone else won't know what happened. Regalzeva's powers will only work when he fights for me, or when he's acting as a double-agent and 'fighting' for Melvazoa and the Evie.]
I added more things that changed everything about him, and around two minutes later I was done. I let out a sight of relief and apologized to Azathoth. Once I was done, the pen vanished and everything returned to its normal state.
[Experience the taste of my power, outer god!!] Regalzeva shouted as his fist hit my chest. However, nothing happened.
I did a few things to him…one, his powers were immediately sealed, but many of the others will only activate once I kill him. Meaning, he'll become a double-agent for me, after I make him into an [Electa] just like how I did to Yanuyo.
[W-wha—] He was clearly shocked. He backed away and used various types of abilities on me and they bounced off me, or simply did no damage or didn't activate at all. […This is inconceivable! I, the Fierce God of Supreme Evil cannot do anything to you…?!]
He turned to look at Seraselbes and shouted, [Assist me—]
However, I casually appeared in front of him, and pierced his body with my hand before I grabbed his 'core' before squeezing it and destroying it. Immediately afterward the other changes I had made took effect. His body glowed brightly and something changed within the omniverse. I was the only one who felt it as everyone else did not—well, maybe Azathoth too, but that's all.
I landed on the ground and so did Regalzeva. He then knelt down with his broken body. I then created an identical body for him and moved his consciousness into it. The destroyed body of Regalzeva fell and disintegrated, then the new one silently got up and kneeled in front of me. If what I set early remained true, then all the other rules I set should still be in place.
From the corner of my eye, I glanced at her and asked, "Seraselbes, would you like to speak with me?". Bellion stopped his attacks and landed beside me, as did Kokushibo and Antares. She looked uneasy, but nodded and also landed beside the kneeling Regalzeva.
[What did you do…?] she asked while looking at Regalzeva.
"That's not of importance, tell me, what do you wish to discuss?" I asked her again and stared at her.
She looked up and said, "I—"
…
End of February. More than twenty days have passed since the war with the Khaos Order and peace has settled back into the world. However, there had been many rumors of a mass abduction from aliens since around 2 billion humans suddenly disappeared which caused a lot of discussions…for about a week and everyone moved on.
During those twenty days I, along with several avatars went around all the factions and pantheons to help them rebuild, and provide provisions for them. During that time, a lot of things happened, mainly me going to a few places to form some connections, and promising to visit them to join the Alliance, Michael, Azazel also helped me with it, so all that's left is to go there.
I told them that they could do it, but they insisted on me doing it since I'm the Middleman. Also, apparently, during that war, Tobio and Sae's kid perished along with many others in the daycare in Grigori. Again, I felt like I was responsible, and Tobio had to punch me to stop me from apologizing constantly. I guess mom was right about me constantly apologizing.
Apart from me just cleaning up after myself, and promising a bunch of factions and pantheons, we have made a lot of progress with the Rating Game World Tournament, or the International Rating Game. I think…today is going to be the announcement, so I'm looking forward to everyone's reaction, even if they already know about it.
I've also made around 10 decillion (33 zeros) of shadow soldiers. Apparently, once I evolve, I can make them at the power level of outer gods, so I need to update the ranking system, though that's just adding something new after Omniversal, but eh…it's not that big of a deal.
Also…Cana moved into my home. She never had a stable home as she was constantly on the move to spread her music. However, since she became one of my lovers, then she wanted to move in. Danu helped her pick a room.
The thing with Seraselbes too…she and Regalzeva 'escaped' from me, and also managed to 'kill' Great Red and Kokushibo. They brought their 'heads' to Melvazoa and apparently, he was quite ecstatic for a few days. All of it was obviously fake, so…I tricked their ruler. I'm getting updates from both of them and once I evolve, I'll also involve them and slowly destroy the Evie from within their universe without the need (hopefully) for me to leave mine.
"The balls in this man for monologuing during our private time," said a feminine voice.
"Fufu~ maybe he's gotten even more arrogant after coming back~?" asked another feminine voice.
"He's just happy that peace came back~" another added. There was also another sound, but most of it was slurping sounds.
I looked down to see four women with me. Akeno, Rias, Lavinia and Suzaku, and we had finished a long session of sex. Lavinia came over and cuddle beside me follow by Rias, Suzaku, who had offered to 'clean' my member, ended up just sucking me off again, Akeno joined her just now.
"Sorry, I just thought back on the last twenty days, and we'll be graduating soon so…and my restaurant is basically finished, so all that's left is to open it, and I'm holding back for a bit more time since I still need to install the name outside," I told them.
"You finished that around three days ago, right?" asked Rias. I nodded and pulled both her and Nia closer to me.
"Yeah. I just need that design that Valerie made. I offered to just create it but she insisted on getting it made normally, so I let her. I'm just waiting on her to get it back to me, and…well, I'll put it up on opening day," I replied to Rias. I suddenly felt like good down below and finished in someone's mouth.
"Hya~!" Due to that voice, I would guess that I finished in Suzaku's mouth and then she let it out causing Akeno to moan like that.
"Should we continue? Aaron Jr. is still pointing towards the sky after all…and both Himejima's down there are sticky again," asked Rias as we all looked at Akeno and Suzaku. Akeno was licking off my cum off her while Suzaku knelt there in a daze.
However, before I could respond, the door slammed open.
"Aaron-sama—! Ah…"
It was Ravel. She seemed quite serious until she saw the situation we were in and immediately blushed and stared at my still erect member.
"Ara? I think Ravel got distracted," Akeno said teasingly. She then got up and walked to the stunned Phenex daughter. She scooped up some of my cum with her finger and shoved that finger into Ravel's mouth!
Ravel finally recovered from her shock, only to be shocked again at what Akeno had done. She immediately jumped back, but still swallowed.
"I-I…ahem! It's big news!" she said still blushing. She brought out a tablet and showed us a video from it.
[And so, regarding the Rating Game World Tournament which has finally been announced. It appears that the discussion with each of the mythological forces has been settled and we received reports that preparations for the preliminary tournament are already underway in various locations. Therefore, the teams that will pass the preliminaries are—]
[All forces take action! The Rating Game World Tournament has finally been announced! And it's being hosted by none other than our world famous…! Dual Dragon Emperor and Oppai Dragon!]
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Rias asked as she got up. The rest of them did too.
"Yeah…I mean, apart from speaking to the various leaders of factions and pantheons during those twenty days, I also made them aware of the upcoming tournament. Anyone can join, and more of the rules will be announced soon, so keep an eye out," I told them and got out of bed.
However, Ravel froze. I looked down and forgot I was still buck naked. I chuckled, apologized and got myself dressed.
"…Pudding," she muttered. I tilted my head and she looked up at me and shouted, "Your semen tasted like pudding!" she then ran away after shouting that. That caused the girls to giggle at her.
"You shouldn't have done that, Akeno…" I told her, yet she just winked at me and made a sucking motion with her hand and mouth. "…We need to stop for now. Let's go join everyone else."
…
End of February, what awaited high school students here in Japan was…end of semester tests. However, today was the last of them so all of them should be done with them. I myself am near my restaurant which was fully built. I also received the sign that Valerie wanted to put up last night, and she was here with me today.
Akeno and Rias were in touring the college campus since I told them about Vanaria and Koharu, so they also invited them for a short tour. As I stood outside the restaurant with Valerie, four people approached us.
"Yo, awesome dragon-kun," said Kikijo.
"It's finally done, huh?" asked Higuro. Beside them were their girlfriends, Sakura and Yua. It took them a while to accept all that happened. I also helped them settle with it by using magic, but they've accepted me and everyone else that was part of the supernatural.
"Yep, I just needed Valerie here to give me the last part. After we graduate and at the start of college life, it'll officially open. I will have like a pre-opening thing where I invite various higher-ups from different factions and pantheons," I told them.
"Big shots like Gods and the…Four Great Satans and Angels, right? Jeez, I never thought Rias-san was the sister of the current Lucifer…" said Kikijo.
"Right? Same with Sona, she's the sister of the current Leviathan. No wonder they're sometimes intimidating as hell to talk to…" added Higuro. "Hmm? Who's this?" he asked and pointed at Valerie.
"She's…Valerie Tepes, a dhampir and one of my lovers," I told them. They were already aware of the state of the supernatural regarding relationships and other things, so…
"Haaa…I feel like any women we meet in the future will be 'ah, another lover', and we just move on," said Kikijo and the other three agreed with him.
Valerie giggled and said, "Well, shall I warn you that he's in a relationship with goddesses too?"
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck yoooooooooooooooou!!!"
"Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
Both my friends exploded with jealously. They began to berate me and curse me out, and some of the things they said were just unintelligible. However, they stopped when both Yua and Sakura put their hands on their respective boyfriends.
"Kii-kun…?"
"Gu-chan…"
Both women looked quite intimidating, and both guys flinched away from them. Before they could apologize, both of them grabbed their ears and dragged them away.
"Jin heeelp!!" they both screamed. I smiled and gave them a thumbs up. "Traiiitooooorrrr!!" they screeched and turned a corner.
"A job well done," I muttered. Although Valerie pinched my cheek after I said that.
"You should help your friends, Aaron."
"They already knew about my harem before they found out about the supernatural. Their own jealousy was their downfall. Also, apparently Kikijo asked Sakura if he could have a harem…you can probably guess how that ended," I told her and sighed. It ended badly for him. She didn't speak to him for a few days, and even now she's very…protective, I guess?
"She got angry, huh? Well…I wouldn't blame her, she was recently just a normal human after all," she said and pulled out her phone. "Did you see this?"
She showed me a picture of Ingvild doing a small performance in the Faerie Kingdom. She was accompanied by Shaula since she's also a fan of Ingvild's songs. I also asked her to keep an eye out in that place. My avatar reported a few things to me and it seems things are…heating up, no pun intended.
"Do you think they're—" As Valerie went to ask me something, three people approached us. I checked the time and it was already after school hours. I guess time does fly when you're busy.
"Aaron," called out Shirone. She was accompanied by Yumi and Gasper.
"Hey, no club activities today?" I asked.
"We do…we just wanted to ask you about something, you know…the thing," said Shirone.
"Oh, what you plan on calling Rias after she graduates, huh? I think it's fine. I mean you'd either have to call her that, or Rias-san or Rias-sama or something, but coming from you guys it just sounds weird," I replied.
I exaggeratedly sighed and added, "Graduation, huh? A year does fly by…also, I won't get called anything special after I graduate? The same with Akeno too."
"Akeno-senpai is Akeno-senpai," said Gasper. "W-well, I can call her Akeno-san too, so…"
"Mmm. Akeno-san is what I plan on calling her," said Shirone. Yumi agreed with her.
"Do you see this, Valerie? I'm the odd one out. Wait, what about Ingvild?" I asked them.
"Ingvild-san/Ingvild-nee-san," they said in unison. Gasper wanted to call her Nee-san, huh? Is it due to her close relationship with Valerie?
"…I really am the odd one out! B-blasphemy!" I shouted, pretending to be shocked. However, Shirone rolled her eyes.
We spoke a bit more to each other until two unexpected guests joined us.
"Hmm? Oh, Rias, Akeno, what's up?" I asked. The trio that came excused themselves and walked away. I guess they wanted to keep these two out of the loop.
"Ah, some guests are waiting for you. They're in the Spectre Dragon's room," Rias told me.
"They wish to see the Dual Dragon Emperor and ask him something," added Akeno and she winked at me.
Ah…it's about that time too…wait, guests? As in plural? I expected Tannin's son to come visit me, Bova his third son…I wonder who the rest are? I decided not to scan Kuoh and leave this as a surprise for myself.
…
Once we reached home with Rias, Akeno and Valerie with me, we arrived in front of the room. We walked into it and found…Crom Cruach with Ophis, Irene, and…a ten-meter-tall dragon. He looked almost like Tannin, it was almost uncanny.
The Dragon bowed his head and is pretty much lying flat on the ground when he saw me.
"This is the first time that we've met face-to-face, Middleman-dono! I am the third son of the [Blazing Meteor Dragon] Tannin! My name is Bova, and it is a pleasure to meet you!"
He then looked back up at me, and said, "I came here to request something from you! Dual Dragon Emperor of Unprecedented Sovereignty, I came here to eagerly become one of your subordinates!"
From the looks of it…he was quite serious. I don't mind more subordinates, but at the same time…he's not strong enough, so he should be put through the [Training Facility] if he becomes one of my subordinates, also…I think Aurelia was trying to negotiate with him to join her team for the world cup.
"Hohoho! Being youthful is certainly wonderful, isn't it?" asked a familiar voice, from the right corner came…Vasco Strada. "Good day to you, Jin. I've come to ask you the same thing," he told us.
This obviously shocked Rias and Akeno. I myself was quite shocked too. I didn't expect [The Limits of Humanity] to come to me and ask to be my subordinate. And finally, the last one to come out of the other corner…were two people.
"Hmm? Caeda and Hirokazu? I wasn't expecting both of you to come here." It was the Rank 8th of the Eradicators and Hirokazu, the one with the [Twice Critical] Sacred Gear that had its own Balance Breaker that resembled my [Boosted Gear] Scale Mail armor.
"It's been a while, Jin-dono. I also wish to become your subordinate—I would also like to spar with you again. I believe my team and I are ready to try again," he said with confidence.
I looked at Caeda and then to Hirokazu and raised an eyebrow. She in turn blushed and shyly nodded. I see, so that's how it is, huh? I can assume they got into a relationship then.
"So many people here and all are asking to be my subordinate. First…I don't mind, but I'd like to test both Bova and Hirokazu again. We can set up yours at a later date, Hiro since you'll need your team. But may I ask why you want to be my subordinate, Vasco Strada?"
"Yes, I would love to!" replied Bova.
"Alright, I can…how does in a few days sound, Jin-dono? It'll be before your graduation, and I'd like to be part of that too!" offered Hirokazu.
I chuckled and agreed. "Very well, we can do that then. Please try your best, I won't accept anything else."
"Yes!" he excitedly exclaimed before he left with Caeda.
Vasco Strada had a hand under his chin as he tried to find a way to convey his thoughts. Everyone else waited for him until he opened his eyes. "After the rebellion's defeat…and when I looked back at you that day, I saw the Lord."
Again, we were left speechless to this. I wasn't sure if Vasco Strada was aware of the God of the Bible's death or not, but…
"Me? The Lord? I'm flattered, but him and I aren't exactly alike…"
There were so many things that me and him did differently that it was night and day. While I do want to help people…I wouldn't say I love everyone unconditionally. The ones closest to me will get better treatment than strangers. However, I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and treat them normally even if they were a bit hostile to me. Circumstances and all that…
Vasco Strada laughed loudly. "I am aware of that, however, because of your recent actions over the single year, and my own…intuition that I have built over the years. I trust it, and I know it won't lie to me. What say you, Jin Skyward? Will you allow this old man to serve you for the remaining years of his life?" he asked and knelt down on one knee.
"Hey, Vasco, I want to ask you a question. Will you listen to it?" I asked him. He looked up at me and agreed. So…I told him, and his eyes became wide and he had a look of disbelief. "If you're unsure of your answer, then please get back to me. Ah, but don't take it the wrong way. Even if you refuse, I will still accept you as a subordinate."
"I will do that, Jin. This is a difficult decision for me. I will get back to you once I have made my decision," Vasco Strada said and left via a magic circle.
"Dragons sure do like you," said a feminine voice. From behind some boxes out came…Velgrynd. After I teleported people around that day, she decided to stick around. However, the first twenty days she spent touring this universe with Ophis and Irene as her guides.
Ah…Ddraig also challenged her…it ended in a draw. Now the [Welsh Dragon] wants another fight against her, but Velgrynd is a bit lazy and doesn't want to. However, the time she's stayed with me…she's been, I guess, strange?
"I was wondering when you'd come out. Where did you go today?" I asked her.
"Oh, just out and about…nothing to worry about. I'll be upstairs," she said and walked back up.
"W-who was she?" Bova asked as he shook a bit.
"Hmm? She's a True Dragon like the Great Red. You felt it, didn't you? Tannin did try to fight Great Red once, though she mostly ignored him," I told him.
"…I see, so that's why she felt familiar. I almost mistook her for Tiamat," he said and nodded sagely.
"Well, let's get to testing you, Bova. Regardless of whether you win or lose, I will accept you as a subordinate. However, after this you will need to train hard, do you understand?" I asked.
"Yes, sir!"
"Fufu, he's enthusiastic," Akeno said beside me.
"Yes, but I feel a lot of potential from him. He may surpass his father in the future. Did you know? He's quite well known in the Underworld as [Bova the Destroyer]. It's because of his bad attitude that almost resembles a delinquent," said Rias.
"I heard the rumors," I replied. "Anyway, let's get going."
Valerie seemed to be staring at the egg much like Ophis and Crom Cruach so she didn't say much. Even after I told her we were leaving, she stayed with them. People and dragon eggs…they're strange to say the least.
…
Third Person Point of View
…
Once they arrived at the [Training Facility] they saw that there were some people there. Many were angry at themselves for being useless when Lapis attacked them. However, at the same time they understood they could never reach that level of power, yet they were still determined to get stronger.
"There's a free spot, let's go over there," said Aaron. He led them over there, on the way to this place, Velgrynd also joined them since she changed her mind in whatever she planned on doing.
Once they got there Aaron and Bova walked away from each other and then turned around and faced each other.
"Show me your best, Bova so I can determine what kind of training regime I have to make for you," Aaron told him.
"Yes sir!" Bova replied while saluting him. Aaron chuckled and looked at Rias. She nodded and stepped forward.
"I'll be the arbiter then. A short sparring match between Jin Skyward and Bova Tannin. Are both of you ready?" she asked. Both nodded and she swung her hand down. "Begin!"
Bova immediately flew towards Aaron and threw a single straightforward punch. There was no tactic or any more thought put into it. Bova had a straightforward personality and it reflected in his fighting prowess. Aaron put his hand forward and caught it.
Bova smiled and began to throw a barrage of punches at Aaron who blocked them all with a single finger. Bova was both in shock and awe, while he didn't have the respect as his father and older brother, he still had considerable strength. However, he didn't expect his punches known for destroying large size rock with a single strike to be stopped with a mere finger.
Bova jumped away and then released a torrent of flames from his mouth. Aaron slapped the flames to the ground, extinguishing them.
"A-amazing, I expected it to be one-sided, but I didn't think it would be THIS one-sided," muttered Bova. "But…! This is what I enjoy! I'll grow stronger from this!"
Bova charged back at Aaron and jumped into the air and covered his leg with flames before he sent it down at Aaron who blocked it with his arm. Aaron pushed him off again. Bova did a backflip and fired another larger and more powerful breath attack at him. Aaron put his hand forward and 'devoured' it all. A black-white vortex swallowed it all.
Bova didn't stop as he charged back again and his entire body was covered with flames, and…he body tackled Aaron with it! Aaron stopped it with his hand and was surprised by his recklessness. He knew that he had a delinquent personality and challenged strong people to fight all the time, but…he didn't think he was this reckless. Aaron thought it was a good thing, and also a bad thing.
Bova suddenly grinned and a swirl of flames appeared all over his body. "I got youuuu!" he screamed before the area exploded. A small semi-circle of flames devoured that small area of the [Training Facility].
As this sparring match continued, more people came over to watch, and now a sizeable crowd had gathered.
"He's an idiot," commented Velgrynd.
"…Which one are you talking about?" Akeno asked while awkwardly smiling at the dragon beside her.
"The Bova guy," said Velgrynd. "He's reckless and while that may work with weaker opponents or opponents of the same power…anything or anyone else above you in power—it'll get you killed. Especially in a real fight."
Rias, Valerie, and the rest that had arrived to watch agreed with what Velgrynd said. Being reckless can be useful in certain situations, but one has to use tactics along with it, otherwise you're just recklessly charging in without a plan.
Once the flaming sphere disappeared, Aaron was left unscathed while Bova grinned from ear to ear.
"See? There was no effect on him at all," said Velgrynd as she pointed at Aaron.
"Kukuku! That's where you're wrong, lady!" shouted Bova which in turn annoyed Velgrynd. Bova then pointed at the marks on the ground. "I moved Jin Skyward-dono from where he was originally standing!" he told them and began laughing proudly to himself. "This is a major step!"
That was true, the entire short 'fight' Aaron hadn't moved a single step from where he stood.
Velgrynd put a hand on her forehead and rubbed it. "…Doesn't that just mean that he beat you up without taking a single step?" she asked Bova.
Bova grinned and began wobbling on the stop. He had clearly reached his limit but was still willing to keep on fighting his idol and future leader.
"That was impressive, Bova. Normally I'd say you pass but…you don't want it to end on that note, do you?" asked Aaron.
"That's right! I won't give up until I land a major hit on you!" announced Bova loudly.
Aaron sighed and smiled at Bova. Without another word, a white-black aura began to cover his body. "I thought you'd say that…alright, I won't hold back on you, Bova."
'What's this pressure…?!' thought the young dragon as the entire area began to shake.
"In order to walk the path you seek and reach its peak…there's something you lack." The power around Aaron exploded and a pillar of black-white aura covered the area around him. "Now you will learn that."
The power kept increasing and increasing, even the rest of Team [DxD] that were watching felt uneasy at the sight. They understand their leader. He's usually quite calm and happy-go-lucky with them, even when he's giving them advice when he's in the facility. They would only see this side of him when they're in meetings or something serious was happening, but not to this extent.
Bova stood there, his body covered in sweat. He was unsure if he should take a step forward and face this monster, or flee. His natural instincts told him to flee, yet…his mind did not. Bova began to scream and took a step forward, then her ran towards Aaron!
However, a single glare from him stopped him in his tracks. To Bova, who had stopped right in front of Aaron—when he looked up at the man, all he saw was his figure beyond the dense and powerful aura that surrounded the man. It was as if he was staring at an enormous monster.
Bova gritted his teeth and fell to his knees. His body began to shake as he stared at the ground. "I-I accept defeat…" he muttered quietly as Aaron stared at him and stopped unleashing his aura.
"Excellent. I will not disparage you for having the courage to stand up to me. However, exceptionally few have the courage to put away an unsheathed sword. There is nothing wrong with fear. To fear is to know your own weakness, and knowing your own weakness can make you stronger and kinder…that's a necessity for walking the path you chose, Bova."
Aaron walked towards Bova and arrived in front of him. He then put his hand out. "And now you have realized it. You pass." Bova looked up and accepted the hand in front of him. "But this isn't the end. I now know what else you need to work on, so you better be ready. I know you can do it."
Aaron pulled Bova up as he started to silently cry. "I'm saying this as a friend and not as your boss. It's not all about how strong you can get, but I can still appreciate the burning desire you have inside of you. Regardless of age or your fighting record…I'm the same as you. I don't want to lose since I have a lot of people to protect, not just as the Middleman, but as…me."
'Uuuuuoooooooooo!! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Jin-dono!!!' Bova screamed in his mind. "I'll accept any training from youuuuu!!" he shouted as Aaron walked away and laughed.
"Is that so? I'll draft it up then, but for now you can join the rest," he told him and left the area with the girls he came in with.
…
Jin Skyward's Soliloquy
…
A week has passed, and it's the weekend again. However, today…my entire household plus Team [DxD] decided to go on a break. I transported us to an uninhabited island in the human world and we relaxed here.
Of course…the girls were in bikinis; it was a sight for sore eyes.
"Alright you guys! I'll teach you how to properly fish!!!" Azazel shouted; a few other members of the team were eager to learn so they followed him. It looked like a mother duck being followed by its ducklings.
"Nyahahahaha!" Kuroka laughed happily as she played in the water with Shirone and a few others.
"Nee-sama, that's—s-stop!" Shirone complained as Kuroka kept splashing water at her, much to her annoyance.
"Don't wear yourselves out now," I told them as I worked on the grill. As everyone played and had fun, I made food for them. However, I wasn't the only one since I had Grayfia and Raiko's help. The Pleiades wanted to help, but I let them have the day off and they also had fun with everyone else.
"Are you sure you don't need my help, Jin?" asked Tobio.
"For the millionth time, Tobio, no. I invited your family out for the sole purpose of letting you guys have fun. Now shut up and enjoy it!" I told him and he awkwardly laughed.
"Hehe, just do it, Tobio," said Sae as she held their daughter in her arms.
"See? Even your wife agrees with me. I'm giving you more time and memories with your daughter and family, now shaddap and go!" I waved him off with my spatula and he finally left after thanking me again.
"Be nice, Aaron. He just wanted to help," said Shuri as she came over to us.
"Yes, yes, mom. Here's your portion, and dad's," I replied and gave her two plates. She was happy with that and left. Apart from Shuri and Baraqiel, Suzaku's parents also came. I tried to invite Shigune and Natsume's but…they were busy.
Mom was happy enough with that so she left to join dad. I turned to Grayfia and Raiko and asked, "You two can go join everyone else, you know? I can just use my avatars to help with cooking."
Both of them wore bikinis, obviously. Grayfia had a red and white one while Raiko wore a light purple one. They both looked good.
"You sent the Pleiades to enjoy the day, so we thought it would be better to join you. We also sent Inaie away to enjoy herself," said Grayfia.
"We also like cooking, Aaron. So please let us stay," said Raiko.
"Fufufu, I agree with Raiko-sama, Aaron-sama," said a voice. We turned our attention to it, but Grayfia snapped her head immediately at it.
"Sharon…"
"Grayfia-sama~"
Even though they've spent a lot of time together in my [Pocket Dimension], these two have a strange yet silent rivalry. It probably has something to do with being a maid or something, though I never really asked in detail.
Seeing a weird tension here, I stood behind Grayfia and with one hand, cupped a breast and squeezed it.
"A-Aaron…?" she asked shocked. As she looked at the situation, she seemed unsure of how to react.
"Ara, Grayfia-sama is being groped right in front of me~ are you telling me something, Aaron-sama~?" Sharon asked and smirked at Grayfia.
Normally, Grayfia would be a bit angry if I did this, but…she turned her head and blushed at me. "P-please, it's not the right time and place for this…l-later…" she told me.
"I was just teasing you, Grayfia. But sure, we can continue later," I told her and kissed her on the head. "Where's Yasaka and Kunou?" I asked Sharon.
"Kunou-sama is playing with Ophis-sama. Yasaka-sama is with Irene-sama, they're sunbathing," she said and walked over to me. She then grabbed my hand and placed it on her chest. "I would like to be spoiled too, Aaron-sama~"
Grayfia frowned and put her tongs down and grabbed my other free hand. "First and foremost, he is my husband, hence why he must attend to me first," said Grayfia while looking at Sharon.
It seems a cat fight was about to start. As I tried to move away, I felt two large pounds of flesh hit the back of my head.
"I-I also want his attention…!" Raiko said and pressed my head into her chest.
"…While I don't mind this, I also need to tend to our food, else they burn…" I told them and they immediately stopped. "Then Sharon, care to help? I'd like to give everyone their portion now."
"It would be my pleasure, Aaron-sama~"
I gave her plates with food and she began to serve it to everyone. Raiko and Grayfia helped with that, so I was left to do the cooking which I was fine with. This went off without any problems. I gave Shigune and Kuroka extra portions since I knew how gluttonous they were.
"Tch…get off me…!" Vali said in an irritated tone. I looked over to the spot and found the young Lucifer being clung to by Calantha. However, Vali didn't put much of a fight as he awkwardly looked away and sported a blush.
"Vaa-kun, you have to be kind to your lover, okay? Didn't Aaron teach you that?" Lavinia said to her little brother.
"W-who the hell said she was my—"
"I did~," said Calantha.
"Haaaa?! Don't go telling people that!" said Vali as he tried to get Calantha off him which just got some laughs from his team who were near him. Suddenly, Genbu Doumon went over to him and greeted Vali.
"Ah, it's second wife-chan," said Calantha and smugly stared at Genbu who puffed her cheeks and glared back at Vali.
"Ah…Vaa-kun is starting to get his own harem…I guess Aaron was an influence on him," Lavinia said proudly and wiped a tear from her eye.
Vali did not deny that and awkwardly walked away with Genbu, Calantha, Lavinia and his team following him.
"Jin-san!" a voice called out to me from behind and I glanced back.
"Ah, Nakiri, are you having fun? I asked Suzaku is she could invite some of the clan members of the clans to give them opportunities to get better relationships with people outside of it," I told him.
"Yes. Everything is proceeding well; everyone is amicable with everyone else and no fights have started!" he said with glee.
The fact that we have to celebrate no one trying to murder each other is just depressing. We have to set such a low bar, huh? True unity is still far then…although whatever was done four years ago did help, I mean if they didn't, they'd…I guess try to kill each other?
"I see. How about you? How's school life treating you? And your fiancé?" I asked him. He sheepishly scratched his head and chuckled.
"It's going well, the Student Council is interesting with President Xenovia leading us. She has a more hands-on approach if you understand what I mean. As for my f-fiancé, we're getting along well."
I've informed Ajuka that I knew where the last two Longinus were, [Innovate Clear] and [Telos Karma], so he didn't need to send Millarca Vordenburg and Ouryuu (Ryuuta) Nakiri to search for them. He didn't question it much and accepted my word for it, in his words it came from the Middleman, Leader of [DxD], [EXE] and the Dual Dragon. How can he not believe my words?
I was flattered by it but also questioning him on his future plans. He simply smiled at me and said that it would benefit me and [EXE] so I'll be informed in the future.
"And the other one from the Kushihashi clan?"
"We're also doing great!" he said happily.
Ouryuu as the next head, or current, I don't know the situation—is allowed up to 3 wives. He was already engaged to the one in the Kushihashi clan, but also fell in love with Millarca Vordenburg, so he plans on marrying her too. Now he just needs a third and bam, he's got his own harem. Saji has told me on a few occasions that he was jealous of Ryuuta's situation.
In the distance, both Millarca and who I assume was his other fiancé called for him.
"Don't keep them waiting, go ahead…oh and here's your food." I gave him two plates with large portions and he happily accepted them before going back to them.
"Are you sure about slaving away like this?" asked a feminine voice behind me.
"I'm doing it because I enjoy cooking, Vel. Also, I'm going to have a restaurant soon, so doing this is going to be common. Care for a taste?" I asked and brought up a skewer for her. She came over and took a bite, then took the entire thing from my hand.
I glanced at her and saw that she also wore the bikini we picked a day ago, a black one-piece. "You look great by the way."
She glanced at me, then looked away while sporting a small blush. "Compliments won't get you anywhere," she told me and kept eating.
"Is that so? Well, let's just enjoy this peaceful time since they don't always last forever."
…
A few hours had passed and everyone was still having fun. I had joined Azazel and the others in fishing. I had found a spot where Vali and a few others were. My group, which consisted of Lavinia, Suzaku, Danu, Velgrynd and Rossweisse. Four of the five were the 'Fated Ones' and they had assembled finally and Rose…well, she wanted to be the 'fifth'. I wasn't sure if it was possible, but…I didn't really say anything.
"Shirone! Birdie-chan! Gya-kun! Valerie! Inaie! Do your best! I'll eat any delicious fish you get and have Grayfia-chin and Raiko-chin cook 'em up!" shouted Kuroka while drooling.
"I'm surprised that cat is still hungry…" muttered Velgrynd.
"I'm surprised that you're not used to it yet. You've seen how much she eats along with Shigune," replied Lavinia.
We reached our spot and it was near Vali and his team.
"Yo, little brother-kun. How goes today's fishing trip?" I asked.
"Only small fish have been caught," replied Calantha and pointed to a bucket with a couple of small fish in it.
"V-Vali-san is concentrating hard…" replied Genbu.
Lavinia walked over behind Vali and then put a finger to his neck and…used some ice magic.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" screamed Vali as he pulled up his fishing rod and turned around to face Lavinia.
"A-ara? I didn't think Vaa-kun would react that strongly…hehe, I'm sorry," she told him.
"I-it's fine…" he mumbled before turning back. "Oh…you're here too, Aniki?"
"Yeah." I sat down and cast my line into the sea. Not too long after that, I felt something tug on it and with one powerful pull while also reinforcing the line with magic, I pulled out a large fish. "A seabass, huh? Pretty common."
"We've been here for the last hour and only managed to catch these, and not even a minute passes and your older brother gets a larger one? Vali…try harder," said Calantha as she smacked him with her chest.
"I am trying! Also don't hit me with your meat-sacks!" snapped Vali.
"You'll be sucking on these soon enough!" shouted Calantha making Vali turn away in embarrassment and disgust.
We sat in silence for a minute before the girls in our group began speaking to one another. The only outlier was Velgrynd who sat beside me and looked out at the sea. She had no interest in girls' talk. I wanted to ask her about various things, but hadn't found the time to do so. Rudra and her have spoken a few times, but it feels like things are tense.
Not in a bad way, but…they both know the inevitable is coming soon since she's managed to get here. Well, it was due to my help but still. Whenever we step foot into her universe, I feel like Rudra will soon follow, and it makes both of us uneasy.
"It's almost time for their high-class devil promotion ceremony's, right?" asked Vali.
"Yep. It's the day after tomorrow," I replied. After the war with the Khaos Order, many devils in the Underworld had been given promotions. Many low-class became middle-class, some middle-class became high-class.
The Gremory, Sitri and Bael peerages will all be promoted to high-class soon. Tomorrow, it will be all of their ceremonies. The last time they received a promotion was after the 'Demonic Beast Riots', and they became middle-class devils, but now…they'll finally become high-class with their own evil pieces.
I along with others were invited to see it. Of course, I accepted since I wanted to see my lovers and friends be promoted. Saji, when he heard about it burst into tears since he could make his own harem out of his peerage.
This meant…he would be trading Ruruko for a piece with Sona. The others haven't said anything about making their own yet, but they will still get their evil pieces. I know Kuisha would like to build her own in the future.
In other news, many of the higher-ups lost their positions as soon as the cheating scandal in the Rating Games were revealed. The Satans, especially Ajuka was the one who prosecuted their mistakes and had been capturing them since then and revealed even more of their crimes.
There were many in authority that lost their place and were forced to resign because of the Champions' actions. There is no doubt that it will have a significant impact on the political world, the business community, and many other departments of the Underworld, as well as the human world to some extent.
There were solutions prepared by them to minimize the impact that this scandal would cause. Like assigning reincarnated devils with potential and trustworthiness to each department.
They had the ability in those departments, but couldn't join because of the old devil boomers being assholes about it. Finally, the reincarnated devils both old and new will have their potential be released in this new era.
The Underworld is going to change, and it definitely needed it. The more we push out the old devils and their old ways, then the Underworld can finally move forward. I'm a third party and I have no say in it, but since I'm friends with many devils, I can still support it.
"The majority of us are going to take time off school for the promotion ceremony. It can't be helped since that was the only day that everyone could attend. So I've worked with Sona and Rias to get us a bunch of absences. Also, a lot of big shots are showing up," I told him.
Those three groups will have the spotlight on them. However, they're also being advertised as 'Trained by the Middleman! They went from Low-class to High-class in just a year!' or some weird title like that, though there is a small truth in it. But it wasn't just a year.
This…promotion ceremony has been the most anticipated in years since there were many of them happening in a single day and also being broadcast to the entire supernatural world. I'm also going to be asked some questions so…I don't look forward to that at all.
Vali chuckled and said, "That's only natural. You are the hero of not only the Underworld, but also to humanity and the supernatural as a whole. You saved the Underworld multiple times, and our world not too long ago. Everyone associated with you will have many eyes on them, and you obviously already know that everyone is also watching you."
Vali pulled out something and said, "I also received this not too long ago." He handed it to me and I smiled since I knew what it was already.
I opened the document he gave me and it said in devil symbols 'We shall appoint you, Vali Lucifer, as an Ultimate-class Devil'.
"You're naturally going to accept, right?" I asked and handed it back to him.
"Vaa-kun, good job~!" Lavinia said and hugged him. Vali grumbled and she got off him, and hugged me instead while cutely complaining about being rejected by him.
"I declined it once, but Azazel insisted on me accepting it. So did that Odin-geezer and…an anonymous source…" he said and looked at me. I again only smiled at him. "But I received this in secret, so I don't know why Ajuka Beelzebub wants me to be one though. Even if it does give a lot of benefits if I become active down there."
"Well, I think you should. As the last person of the Lucifer bloodline, and the strongest White Dragon Emperor, wouldn't it be good? You'll have a lot more freedom down there too. Not to mention supporters. You yourself are essentially going from High-class to Ultimate-class you know? You are a special existence after all."
Most devils born into noble families are automatically high-class at birth even if they don't have the demonic powers for it. By simply being born into the right family, you're already above most in the Underworld.
While Vali is a hybrid, he's still the last true Lucifer since Rizevim was dead and so was his father. Vali, in a way needs to past down his genes if they don't want the Lucifer clan to become extinct.
Vali scoffed and said, "Me? Special? I did say that once, didn't I? Then how about you, Jin Skyward? Or should I call you Aaron Toole?"
I stared at him and he continued.
"Let's go down a list. Jin Skyward randomly appeared one day last spring. Declaring that he's the Red Dragon Emperor, and that he will unite the Supernatural and make peace with everyone. He then beat Thor, the God of Thunder, killed both Kokabiel, Azrael and solved the Holy Sword incident."
"He witnessed the signing of the alliance between the Three Great Powers, and was the reason the Gaelic Alliance was born. He also got them to join, along with the Greek realm and various others. You helped defeat Loki, beat the strongest youth devil, defeated the Hero Faction, and added more pantheons to the 'DxD' Alliance."
"Defeated other worldly threats, defeated Qlippoth, saved the country of the vampires while also uniting them, stopped the abduction of the floating city of Agreas, stopped the assault on Heaven, stopped the rebellion."
"Finally, you killed Rizevim, and prevented the annihilation of our world by killing Lapis and Trihexa and ending the war with the Khaos Order and saving our universe. Now…you're sitting here, fishing. I won't go into detail in the things you did during those last twenty days either. And all of this happened in just one year."
He looked back at the ocean and added, "You probably won't find any other examples like this. So many history-changing events occurred in just one year. Everyone including you, your comrades, lovers and I are living in an incredible era. And the one to lead it? You."
He then laughed. "And you say I'm special? I myself wouldn't have gotten to where I was if you hadn't meddled in my life. While you're no devil, and you won't be getting a promotion like me or your friends. You're already respected world-wide because of your achievements."
Well, if he puts it like that, then I guess? I mean, this journey started because of my own selfish reasons. I didn't do it because I wanted peace at the start. The peace would have been just a byproduct of me wanting a harem. But that obviously changed over time.
The things I saw and experienced made me want to have peace. Both in the human and supernatural world, they all suffer too much. If I can give them that small amount of peace, then I think it's worth it. To be able to wake up the next day without having to worry about dying or being able to afford food.
"So?" I asked.
"…So?" repeated Vali, confused.
"You're going to participate right? In the Rating Game Tournament?" I asked him.
"…Hmm, who knows? Are you?" he asked me back.
"Isn't this your dream? God-class beings and Gods themselves are going to be participating in this tournament you know? It will be an excellent opportunity to fight them without you causing unnecessary trouble," I told him with a smirk.
Since this event is going to be larger than the usual Rating Game, the rules have been changed to accommodate it. Gods and God-class beings can participate in this too, so whoever's too weak...they won't last long.
Firstly, the maximum number of people in a team is 16. The teams consist of a [King], [Queen], two [Rooks], [Bishops], [Knights] and eight [Pawns]. No 'chest' pieces are required. It's all done digitally/online.
So you just need to register yourself as a [King]. Also, your teammates don't need to be part of your peerage if you're a devil. You don't need to be a devil, as long as you don't double register, you're fine.
You can have anyone on your team. A devil, angel, and human can be in one team. Also, even if someone is…let's say a reincarnated devil, and their piece is a [Bishop], in this tournament they can still register themselves as something else.
I'll use Asia as an example. She's a [Bishop] of Rias, but she can register as…let's say a [Knight] if she joins Aurelia's team. Because of these unique changes, many people around the supernatural world became interested. Especially gods like Indra.
"Well, if you say it like that, then it sounds like fun…I'm getting quite hyped," he said and had that manically grin on him. "But you didn't answer my question. Are you participating?"
I smiled and said, "No."
He frowned, but I added, "I will be…the grand prize at the end of the tournament."
"What do you mean?" he asked. This time, it was Lavinia who answered his question.
"Vaa-kun. Aaron will be an exhibition match after the two finalist fight in the tournament. Meaning, whoever wins will have any wish they want granted by Aaron. Also, the winner will also fight against his team in a final match, an exhibition match if you will."
Vali's eyes lit up and he grinned even wider.
"That's why if you want our 'fated battle' to become a reality, and in front of everyone…come and win the tournament, Vali Lucifer of the Morning Star," I told him and smirked too.
"There will be other teams too, you know? Aurelia and Cao Cao's team will join. I will pull them back from their mission in the Phantasma since I'll have other plans then…but so far, they're doing fine over there," I added.
"However, Vali. Keep this in mind. You won't be the only ones that want to fight me and my team. You'll have a lot of strong opponents in this. If you don't win against them…you won't get that fight you want," I told him seriously.
Sairaorg, Rias, Cao Cao, Aurelia, and many others like Dulio, Hirokazu, Tobio and others want to fight me seriously. Of course, I'll only use the powers of the Red Dragon Emperor and some others, but…yeah. He has a lot of competition in this.
"Hmm…so? Who's on your team?" he asked and looked at Lavinia.
"It's not decided yet. As of right now, the tournament for my [Queen] is still underway. It's quite fierce you know?"
"I will win," declared Lavinia. The other girls there stared at her, their own fighting spirit increasing.
I gently karate chopped her head. "Don't go provoking them." She puffed her cheek at me and lightly hit my back over and over again.
Vali got up and reeled in a big fish. With a grin on his face, he declared, "I'll be there to fight you in the end, Aniki. Just you wait!" he then put his fist forward. "You can associate this fist bump with a promise."
I also got up and laughed, bringing Lavinia up with me. "Is that so? Those are pretty big words, Vali. You better keep them then," I told him and bumped my fist with his.
…
As our day ended on this island, we had our dinner here as various people helped me cook it. Most were tired and were now enjoying the nighttime view that this place offered, and it was pretty amazing, I won't lie. The clear sky with all the stars above us with no cloud obscuring it? Picture perfect.
Once I finished cooking the food, I began distributing it to everyone. However, I found that Velgrynd was nowhere to be found, so I felt around for her aura and found it.
"I'll go give it to her," I told them and stored her food away. I found her and stood beside her. She was on one of the cliffs of the only large mountain on the island. The island itself was quite large, covered with dense trees the further inland you ventured.
"Hey. I've got dinner here. What are you doing being a loner here?" I asked.
"…I was thinking," she replied. "I've traveled through many worlds and universes, each one different, and they had various things in them…but being around people like this, and enjoying my time here, it makes views like this even better. I never understood that since I had followed Rudra for so long. Maybe my obsession clouded my judgement? I still…never mind…"
She finally turned to me and while looking at me seriously, declared, "I'll participate in the fight for your [Queen] position on your team. If I don't get it, then I'll fight for the other positions."
I was quite surprised by this, but accepted her decision. Velgrynd had been visited many places since she came to the Draconic Deus. She spoke with many people, and although she was initially reluctant, she became comfortable rather quickly because of everyone's accepting nature. Lavinia was the one to start followed by everyone else.
She put her hand out and I shook it.
"I look forward to it then, Scorch Dragon, Velgrynd."
"Hmph. Look forward to it, Aaron Toole."
We both smiled at each other. I was unsure of where our relationship stood, but at least it's in a positive direction now, right?
…
Check the chapter comments to see images of certain characters.