It took a couple more hours for Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael to convince Uriel that James and his group were no threats to Heaven. In fact, after that rather long discussion, Uriel was interested in having Scathach help train Heaven's military forces. Say that they would consider it, James and the others finally decided that it was time to go home.
Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
Arriving in their living room after teleporting out of Heaven, James and the others arrived in an empty house. Making a few calls, James heard from Sona that they were informed that all the residents, including the vampires and excluding Genkai and Yusuke, who were training in the mountains since Scathach was gone for the day, were in the Underworld.
"So, why did they all leave?" Leona asked as she flopped down in her favorite spot.
"From what I gathered, Sairaorg's father made a coup." James replied, taking his own seat on the sofa. "He was upset that old man Zekram was replacing him as the head of the Bael Clan with Sairaorg."
"Oh, that's gotta sting." Leona said with a smile. "He's always looked down on Sairaorg. Ever since it was found out that Sairaorg couldn't use the [Power of Destruction]."
"Yeah, he always thought that he was the chosen one." James replied with a shrug. "If it wasn't for the outdated customs of male supremacy, he would have never become the head of the Clan in the first place."
"Yeah, from what I remember, Auntie Venelana was much more talented and powerful than her younger brother." Mizore said, having spent a few years in the Underworld when she was younger, she had learned quite a bit about the Pillar Houses' situations.
"Either way, it seems like they're not having any issues." James said with a shrug. "And if they need our help, we're only a phone call away."
Underworld, Bael Territory, Bael Castle.
A few hours ago, Cassiel, Rias, and Sona led the other residents living in the Alaverus Estate to aid the members of the Bael Clan in resisting the Coup attempt by Sairaorg's father, Larenius Bael. When they arrived, they were standing in the Bael Castle's courtyard while members of both factions were engaged in combat.
"Mio, raise the gravity in the courtyard." Rias ordered as she surveyed the situation.
"Got it." Mio said as her demonic energy began to swell.
Immediately after raising the gravity with her [Gravity Manipulation] bloodline ability, all the devils below high-rank stopped moving or fell to the ground if they were not strong enough to resist. In the end, the number of enemies and allies alike were reduced drastically.
"Make sure you don't kill them." Sona said. "We're not completely sure who's on our side."
"I'll be careful." Mio said while concentrating.
"I'm actually surprised you're here., Uncle Cassiel." Akeno said as she began charging [Holy Lightning] on her fingertips.
"Well, even though I'm not really happy about receiving orders from Sirzechs right now." Cassiel said as he materialized a bastard sword in his hand. "I'm still his [Bishop]. And while you all were hearing the situation from Kuisha, Sirzechs asked me to assist."
"I see." Akeno said, firing a bolt of [Holy Lightning] at a high-rank devil who attacked the group.
When they first arrived, the members of the three peerages were unsure who to attack, as most of the soldiers on both sides wore the same armor. However, once the gravity was adjusted by Mio, everyone looked at them. When the soldiers saw them, some of them looked relieved after seeing them. While the others looked at them with hostility.
"Akeno, I think we should let the high-rank members do most of the fighting." Sona said after seeing Akeno's display. "Reya, can you mark the hostiles."
"Will do." Reya said.
After that, Reya cast a magic circle that covered the entire courtyard. When it vanished, all those who showed hostility were covered in a red aura that was clear to everyone.
"Okay, I'm done." Reya said as she wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "Marking this many people isn't all that hard, but checking everyone in that brief moment of recognition was taxing on my mind."
"You can take a quick break to recompose." Sona said. After that, I need you to jump into battle as well."
"Understood." Reya replied.
After that, all the high-ranked residents of the Alaverus Estate rushed into the crowd and engaged in battle with the members of the rebel faction. Meanwhile, everyone at ultimate-rank or above watched to make sure that no one's life was at risk. Occasionally, they would also be drawn into battle when another ultimate-rank devil would appear on the scene.
"Why did I even come here?" Evangeline wondered aloud. "There's no one strong enough to make me take action. I could have been enjoying the last few minutes of sun light at home."
"I hope your attitude changes when Master Scathach returns." Akua said.
"Hmph!" Evangeline snorted. "I have no intention of slacking off. But this fight is too low level for me. The only one in this castle who could be a match for me is that old man just watching from the top of the castle."
After Evangeline's words, the group of ultimate-rank or above beings looked up at the castle's roof top. There, they saw Zekram Bael watching the battle in the courtyard while occasionally taking a sip of wine.
"Seriously?" Cassiel asked in disbelief. "Doesn't he care about his forces weakening?"
"Probably not." Rias said while watching her peerage fight. "According to Mother, he only cares about strength. He'd probably be happy to clear out the weaker devils and command the strong ones who remain."
"He's definitely a devil from the old days." Cassiel said while shaking his head. "Anyway, where is Sairaorg?"
As soon as Cassiel's question fell, a large hole was blown through one of the walls of the castle. When they looked closely, they could see Larenius Bael flying through the air before crashing into the outer wall of the castle. The impact causing the wall to crater.
"*Cough!* You ungrateful..." Larenius said as he pulled himself from the crater in the wall.
"Ungrateful?" Sairaorg roared. "After what you've done to my mother and I for years, you call me ungrateful?"
Not listening to what Sairaorg had to say, Larenius created a ball of the [Power of Destruction] in each hand. Then, he fired a volley of attacks at Sairaorg, not caring that there were several soldiers from both sides between him and his son.
"This guy is a piece of garbage." Evangeline said, snapping her fingers and creating a barrier to save the unsuspecting targets.
Seeing the barrier stop his attacks, Larenius looked towards the group of ultimate-rank beings who came from the Human World with anger. However, after recognizing Cassiel, his face paled.
"Why are you here?" Larenius barked. "An abomination like you shouldn't be here."
"*Sigh* It's nice to see you too, Larenius." Cassiel said in a tired tone. "Sirzechs ordered me to come here to see what I could do to stop this coup."
"Then you should go and kill that ingrate." Larenius shouted while pointing at Sairaorg.
Hearing that, everyone looked at Larenius like he just grew a second head.
"He does know that he's the one who started the coup, right?" Akeno whispered to Tsubaki.
"I'm not sure at this point." Tsubaki replied. "He probably feels like Sairaorg stole his rightful position."
While Akeno and Tsubaki discussed the situation, Cassiel began rubbing his temples. Then, he looked at Sairaorg.
"Can you just hurry up and kick his ass?" Cassiel asked. "I forgot how much I hate dealing with this guy. He has a knack for twisting right into wrong and vice versa."
"Gladly." Sairaorg said.
Before Sairaorg could continue his fight with his father, however, he swung his left hand, covered in [Touki], behind him and swatted away a ball of the [Power of Destruction].
"Stay out of this Magdaran." Sairaorg said, not even looking back. "I don't want to hurt you, if I don't have to."
Magdaran, Sairaorg's younger half-brother, was a young man whose looks had a strong resemblance to Sairaorg, with black hair and purple eyes. However, he was significantly less bulky, as he relies almost exclusively on his [Power of Destruction], completely neglecting his body.
"Don't speak to me as though you were my better!" Magdaran shouted in anger. "A disgrace of the Bael Clan like you stole what should have been mine by birth right. I should have been the head of the clan after father."
"Hey, Tsubaki, did he forget that Sairaorg was the first son?" Akeno asked curiously.
"He probably did." Tsubaki said while adjusting her glasses.
"They really are father and son, huh?" Akeno said while watching the drama unfold.
"*Sigh* You leave me no choice." Sairaorg said before disappearing from where he stood.
*Bang!*
*Boom!*
"Gah~~!" Magdaran grunted after being blown into a wall.
Where Magdaran stood, now only Sairaorg was there with his fist extended to where Magdaran's stomach should have been.
Meanwhile, while Sairaorg's back was turned, Larenius fired off another volley of the [Power of Destruction] at Sairaorg, not caring that if Sairaorg dodged, Magdaran would be hit instead.
Feeling the incoming projectiles, Sairaorg turned around and began batting the attacks away. To everyone's surprise, all the batted away attacks landed on an opposing ultimate-ranked devil.
"Oh, that boy is good." Evangeline said.
"Yeah, that was impressive." Cassiel said.
Issa only nodded in agreement as he watched the battle progress.
"Father, this was not my decision." Sairaorg said while continuing to defend against the [Power of Destruction]. "If you had such a problem with this, why didn't you take it up with Ancestor Zekram."
"Silence, you know nothing!" Larenius shouted. "I'm just doing what I should have done years ago when you were found to be useless."
Shaking his head at his father's outrage, Sairaorg covered his whole body in [Touki], then he began walking toward his father, not even defending against the [Power of Destruction].
"Regulus!" Sairaorg shouted. "Let's show him a bit of our true power."
"Very well, my [King]." Regulus said as he appeared next to Sairaorg.
"[Balance Break]." Sairaorg and Regulus said in unison.
The next moment, both Sairaorg and Regulus began to glow in a bright golden light. A moment later, when the light dimmed, Regulus was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Sairaorg stood alone wearing a golden plate armor with a lion motif, a golden main coming out of the back of the helm, and a lion's face on the chest.
"[Balance Breaker: Regulus Rey Leather Rex]." Sairaorg said with Regulus' voice speaking the same words, in unison.
"Oh, so that boy was the Regulus Nemea." Issa said, watching Sairaorg's new form with interest. "In that state, he would be able to give most minor god-ranked beings a run for their money."
While the others discussed Sairaorg's transformation, Sairaorg disappeared from his position and reappeared in front of his father with his hand wrapped around Larenius' neck.
"Do you realize what you've done, Father?" Sairaorg asked calmly. "because of this coup, many of the Clan's warriors have fallen and weakened the clan."
"So, what?" larenius asked, struggling to speak with Sairaorg's hand on his neck. "I was only getting rid of those who were not loyal to me. I would have been able to make the clan strong again in time."
"That's the issue." Sairaorg said while shaking his head. "The clan's warriors should be loyal to the clan, not the clan head."
Deciding there was no point in wasting any more words with him, Sairaorg tightened his grip on Larenius' neck. Then, until Larenius passed out due to lack of oxygen, Sairaorg simply held his grip. When Larenius passed out, Sairaorg dropped him to the ground.
"That was kinda boring." Evangeline said in a disappointed tone. "He could have done that without transforming. What a waste of effort."
"Actually, I was supposed to use this form in the fight with James a while ago." Sairaorg said a bit bashfully. "But I lost too fast to use it, so I just kinda used it here."
"You should have at least used it to beat him up a little." Rias said, also shaking her head in disappointment.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sairaorg said as he and Regulus separated. "Anyway, thanks for coming. Without your assistance, the number of casualties would definitely be higher."
With Larenius' defeat, much of the fighting in the courtyard stopped immediately. With their leader defeated, there wasn't much point in continuing the rebellion. Instead, it was better to surrender in hopes of a lighter punishment.
"Well, since it looks like everything has calmed down, we should get going." Sona said. "James called not too long ago and said that they were back home."
"Alright." Sairaorg said with a smile. "Tell James I'll be by to challenge him to another spar soon."
"Sure..." Rias said in a tired tone. "Do you like losing, or something?"
After that, all the residents of the Alaverus Estate gathered. Then, Evangeline invoked a teleportation circle, and they were all teleported back to the Human world.