C 141
—In the Underworld—
Azazel was sitting on a luxurious couch in the office of the Maous. His number two, Penemue, was standing behind him, looking as professional as always.
Sitting across from him on another luxurious couch were two of the four Maous. Neither of them looked happy with him. That usually meant he would be forced to acquiesce to whatever demands they made, lest they threaten the Great War to start again. Now, though, Azazel couldn't care less. He'd gotten some high quality materials from Asgard that had allowed him to complete his second ever Sacred Gear. Having a family member engaged to the place's Queen did have its perks.
He had already fused this new Gear to himself, and it drastically upgraded his combat capabilities. No one except Penemue or Kokabiel knew just how strong he was now after they sparred with him. Azazel didn't know if he could win directly against Sirzechs Lucifer now, but he knew it would be very close.
"You two look mad. Did something happen?" Azazel asked, playing dumb. He obviously knew what they were mad about. It involved a certain dimension-hopping little sister of his.
Sirzechs's usual fake smile was nowhere to be seen as he spoke. "My little sister, Rias, was attacked in the territory that she owns. She and her peerage were injured, and she lost her Queen. Akeno's evil piece was found at the scene! It had been removed from her! This cannot be allowed to stand." Sirzechs was pissed off but also a bit afraid. If their other slaves… er… reincarnated servants found out that the evil pieces could be safely removed, then many would jump ship from the Devil Faction. It could destabilize the underworld!
"Yeah, and you put a bounty on the perpetrators for all that. So what's the problem?" Azazel asked casually.
Serafall frowned harder at Azazel. "A bounty that we know will not be enforced anywhere outside of Devil territory! We know you're sheltering this 'Layla' along with her companion and Akeno. We want all three of them turned over to us immediately!" Serafall demanded. Her cute magical girl act was nowhere to be seen currently.
Azazel's casual smile disappeared. "No," he said bluntly.
Sirzechs and Serafall's eyes widened. "No?" Serafall questioned. "You're refusing to hand them over to us for punishment?" She elaborated.
"That's the gist of it. Not only am I not currently sheltering Layla, but even if I was, I wouldn't be handing her over to you." Azazel boldly declared. He felt both of the Maous' magic power start to seep out of them as they glared.
"Oh? Is this 'Layla' really worth restarting the Great War for?" Serafall asked. This was the trump card she always pulled to get Azazel to cave to their demands. It was sure to work this time as well–
"Yes," Azazel spoke again, and Serafall's thoughts halted.
Serafall was stupefied. "What?"
"Yes." Azazel said again. "If you go after Layla outside of Devil territory, then the Great War is back on."
Serafall and Sirzechs both looked at him in disbelief! They couldn't believe what they were hearing. It was madness! Azazel would really restart the great war just to protect a single Fallen Angel!?
Penemue spoke up. "This isn't just Lord Azazel's whims either. All Fallen Angels will stand behind his decision here. No longer will we allow your faction to do as it pleases with regards to our own. If you want a fight, we will give it to you!" Penemue declared as she allowed her wings to spill out behind her. No longer did she have the ten that she had been stuck with for millennia. She now had twelve black wings behind her! Sparring against Azazel, who was now as powerful as the Red-Haired Destroyer in front of them, had finally allowed her to break her own limits and ascend!
Both Maou's eyes widened when they saw that the Fallen Angels had gained another terrifyingly strong being. This closed the gap between their two factions by a huge amount.
Sirzechs grit his teeth. "Very good. You two can leave now. Just know that if Layla shows up again in Devil territory, her life is forfeit. The peace treaty will also not be set back because of this..." He added with another grimace. The peace treaty was far too important for his faction to let go of. Acquiring evil pieces was becoming harder and harder as more races were becoming more wary of the Devils. The peace treaty was a way to ensure that Devils could freely roam the human world above and acquire all the pieces they wanted without repercussion!
"That's fine." Azazel said as he went back to his casual smile. "Come on, Penemue." He said before he vanished into motes of black light. Penemue vanished right after him.
"Fuck!" Serafall shouted as she watched them go. "Another Super Angel! That's just what we needed! You know that now makes us even more outnumbered if our spies' reports turn out to be true!" Serafall said to Sirzechs.
Sirzechs nodded somberly. "To think the Angels and Fallen Angels have truly put aside their differences and formed their own peace treaty before us… This could be troublesome.
"Troublesome!? Let's do the math. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Metatron, Azazel, Baraqiel, and now Penemue! That's basically 7 Super Angels to our 4 Super Devils! Plus, we don't know if she was the only secret 12 winged Angel they've been hiding. If the Great War restarts… we're going to lose! It will be extremely close, but we will lose!" She added again. Sirzechs and Ajuka were strong enough to take on two 12 winged angels at the same time. Now, even with that advantage, they would be outnumbered!
"It's worse than that." Sirzechs said. "Azazel… he's gotten stronger. Far stronger than he was the last time we met. My instincts were warning me against fighting him. That's never happened before. Usually, I only feel that way around Michael."
"What are we going to do?" Serafall asked. She refused to let their race be beaten back down after they had finally climbed their way to the top!
"I'm not sure yet…" Sirzechs said. "I can feel something coming. A big change that will shake the foundations of our world." He had been feeling this way for a while. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had learned from centuries of battle to never ignore these feelings.
"Then whatever it is, we'll take advantage of that change and get ourselves back to the top! No matter what!" Serafall declared, and Sirzechs agreed.
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