After the tiring experience, Abaddon started gently scratching Sona's back. She hummed in glee with each stroke before falling asleep on top of him.
Just as Abaddon was about to fall asleep too, he felt the presence of two other devils in the house. Rias and Akeno had returned.
"How'd everything go?" Abaddon asked them as they entered his room.
"Tired…" Rias groaned and quickly got rid of her clothes before slipping into the bed. Abaddon extended his arm and Rias slipped beside him, using it as a pillow. Akeno came on the other side and took his other arm as her pillow.
"Everything okay?" He asked, running his fingers through both Rias and Akeno's luscious hair.
"No." Rias said with a tired yet solemn tone, "We might soon see another war at our hands."
"Wait, really?" Abaddon widened his eyes with surprise, "How?" He asked emphatically.
"It's all because of you, actually." Rias looked at him with an almost impressed look.
"Me?!" He was confused, "What did I do? I don't think having thoughts of defiling Gabriel counts," He said.
Rias ignored his words and continued, "What you did with the Boosted Gear … It had more consequences than you realize. It messed up the system that was left after the death of God." She said with a sigh.
"Ahh…" Abaddon understood, "Michael is pissed…" He said.
"Yeah. He wants you to return the Boosted Gear to the system so that it can go to the next inheritor." Rias said.
"And what's Sirzechs' stance?" Abaddon asked with narrowed eyes.
"It's not clear." Rias said with another sigh, "Ultimately, I'm just the owner of the territory where the meeting is being hosted, not one of the Satans. So I wasn't involved in the discussions," Rias said.
"Will Beelzebub and Asmodeus be involved?" Abaddon asked, unlike Serafall and Sirzechs, those two weren't much for diplomatic relations.
"Unclear. We'll know tomorrow, that's why I and Akeno have to go meet Sirzechs again tomorrow." She said, snuggling her face into his neck. Her hand crept toward his thigh to reach his member.
"I see…" Abaddon seemed deep in thought and ignored Rias' hand that was creeping along his thigh.
She suddenly encountered Sona instead and looked up with annoyance. She was met with Sona's peaceful sleeping face, she was tempted to pinch her waist and violently wake her up.
"Don't…" Abaddon patted Rias' head, "Ler her sleep. Your thoughts are easily visible on your face."
She was embarrassed and snuggled her face into his neck, "You're so biased…" She said unreasonably.
"Shh…" Abaddon didn't entertain her and continued patting her head, "Sleep, you're probably tired…"
"Me too…" Abaddon heard from the side, "Pat my head too…" Akeno asked him.
He smiled and stopped caressing Akeno's luscious hair. He brought his hand to her head and patted her too, "You both have a lot to do tomorrow. Sleep." He told them both.
"Mm… We'll need Aika and Xenovia's help tomorrow too." Akeno mumbled comfortably.
"Speaking of… They are pretty late," Abaddon mentioned.
"They were just wrapping things up. We checked up on them before coming here. Those two should be here any moment." Akeno told him.
Soon enough, Aika and Xenovia were back and scooched into the bed, making Abaddon think, 'What'll happen if I bring someone else into the mix… The space is already insufficient…' He lamented. It wasn't that the bed wasn't enough, it was that the girls all wanted to be stuck to him.
…
The next day, Abaddon lent Aika and Xenovia to Rias to let them help with Gasper's training.
He, on the other hand, took another trip to the underworld, to talk with someone about a recent pressing concern of his.
"You're finally here…" Zekram looked up from his desk at Abaddon.
"Yes," Abaddon nodded and took a seat.
"Are you finally feeling it's approach?" Zekram asked with a glint in his eyes.
"What? Consequences for violating the heavenly system?" Abaddon asked with a derisive smile.
"Getting quippy with me now, huh?" Zekram grabbed at at air and Abaddon felt his ear being painfully twisted.
"Ow, fuck, you old fart…" He cradled his ear.
"I'm not talking about inconsequential pigeon problems. The Angels were never a threat after their leader died." Zekram said nonchalantly.
"I know." Abaddon nodded with a serious expression, "It's what they represent that matters and that's the only reason that they haven't been wiped out yet." He said as if it was rehearsed, "You've already taught me this stuff."
"Do you feel the trial approaching?" Zekram asked solemnly, "That's why you're here, I presume."
Abaddon nodded with a wry smile, "It's not every day that an entire clan of devils is sacrificed from reality itself including their history — to the point that not a single soul other than the caster and the recipient of the sacrifice remembers their existence." He shook his head, "All that work, merely to name the heir…"
Zekram said with pride in his tone, "This is an ancient tradition of our clan from the time of the progenitor. If you can overcome the encroaching will of their specters, you will emerge as the next true leader of our clan after me. Sadly, you were a little unlucky, and only one of the extra clans could be sacrificed due to there being so few of the original 72 clans remaining after the war."
"What a stingy dude… My father probably got the full experience." Abaddon felt like he had been cheated out of a better enhancement than what he would've gotten otherwise.
"Don't be so quick to dismiss the Abaddon clan. They have a very rich history for you to benefit from. Also even if I had sacrificed one of the 72 pillars, it would've been one of the replaced ones." Zagan explained, "The ritual is more than just a mere sacrifice. It is a replacement ceremony that makes a lower clan ascend to the status of one of the 72 pillars. But this information comes later. For now, you have to focus on getting through this successfully." He said.
"I really want to know how this ritual works…" Abaddon said curiously, "There seem to be so many things that happen with the naming ceremony. I want to understand what's going on behind the scenes.
"Pass the trial. And you'll naturally be given the information. If you fail, you can only be like your father, below average." Zekram threw shade on Zagan for no reason.
"I guess then you'll stop busting my ass about getting stronger once I finally go through that enhancement," Abaddon joked as Zekram's expression darkened.
"If only I could do something about your lazy streak, you could be comparable to Akuja or Serafall at the very least by now…" Zekram lamented, "Post enhancement, you would've been able to at least stand as an equal in front of Sirzechs…"
"Hey, I'm not lazy, I just have ADHD and get distracted easily." Abaddon defended himself, "I've also made many innovations in magic…"
"You could've done that after reaching the necessary power level to keep yourself and everything you care about safe." Zekram admonished, "Akuja is the biggest example. He's rarely seen out of his lab and is crazy about his research, but the title of Beelzebub still belongs to him and nobody can contest it."
"I have you for the protection part." Abaddon shrugged.
"That's the other main problem. Your mentality relies way too much on me and your family." Zekram shook his head with disappointment, "You could've been much more if you were more focused and exploited your talent and potential to their fullest extent."
Abaddon was speechless but knew that Zekram's words weren't wrong, "Fine, whatever. Tell me what I have to do to deal with those spirits or whatever that I have to fight during the trial. I'm probably going to be hit with it a week after the summit. Maybe a few days after it. I'm not sure."
"It's simple really." Zekram said, "I will teleport you to myself the moment it starts and send you to a special dimension. Everything is already set up there and you will be confronted by the spirits of each and every member of the clan that has ever existed from the start of time. Millions of pure-blooded devils." Zekram's words sent a shiver down Abaddon's spine.
"Dude, I have limits, I can't kill millions of devils even if they are all low-class, let alone the leaders, who would most likely all be ultimates." He quickly said.
"That's on you to deal with. But you don't have to worry too much. It won't be a brawl but more of a ceremony where you absorb the spirits of your defeated foes. The more you defeat, the more benefits you receive and the stronger you get. And you don't even have to defeat all of them," He said.
"If that's the case, when am I considered to have passed the trial?" Abaddon asked.
"When you get their hereditary trait," Zekram said, "When you are able to proficiently deploy and use their Hole power, you can be considered to have passed your trial."
"Cool…" Abaddon said, "Tell me about their history and notable people. You're the only one who can do that after all."
Abaddon and Zekram got into a discussion about Abaddon's potential foes for the next few hours.
(A/N: Finally! Y'all can stop busting my ass about naming the MC Abaddon...)
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