[They're after her because of me.]
He could already guess that Cleria was going to be interrogated for information about him. He didn't know what their methods would be, and he wasn't willing to wait and find out.
"Lina. Take Akeno and Asia home. I'll handle this."
Not caring for the slightly panicking girl, he vanished.
Su!
.
DxD
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Igor was immensely quick in his steps. None of Cleria's peerage had seen or even sensed him swiftly enter the compound and infiltrate Cleria's office at astounding speeds. When he appeared in the room, his eyes wandered around.
Cleria's office was pristine as always. It was a mix of old and modern with a lovely chandelier hanging from the ceiling. But, Igor wasn't focused on the aesthetics.
"..."
Standing where Cleria usually sat, he could see that her chair was pushed back abruptly, a possible indicator that she was taken by surprise and maybe kidnapped. A further testament to that fact was how her handwriting on one of her documents had suddenly become jagged.
But nothing was more prevalent than that very faint trace of magical energy. He could feel the very minute traces remaining in the air.
"That person most likely took her to the Underworld."
He was still apprehensive about returning there so soon, especially with how his new "problem" may try to control him again.
But…
'I'll-I'll be good. I promise I'll be good! I won't try to make you sleep. I won't make you a monster. Just…please don't leave. Please don't hate me!'
…that little girl was sincere. It was a naive thought, but he would trust her to keep her word. He still wasn't sure how to prevent her from influencing him, but the last thing he needed was another mess as he fought her for control over his body.
Still, he couldn't exactly handle his current issue alone, atleast not without wasting significant time.
"I'll need sister's help."
She was the smarter one and with how many spells and techniques she knew, he guessed she would be able to track Cleria, as well as keep him in control if the situation called for it.
FUUUSH!
It was brief, barely a split-split second, but he had raised his power to the threshold of his base state. By his understanding, no one in Kuoh would have the reactionary capabilities to pick up this sudden spike in power except for his sister.
Vwong
True on the mark, Aurelia appeared in the office just a few seconds later. He idly wondered why she was still dressed like some noble lady. Though, he would admit her attire suited her.
"Thank you for coming, sister."
"I am at your service, Lord Dimori."
"..."
It still put him off that she willingly chose to speak subserviently to him, but he had long since lost the drive to fight her on the topic.
"I need your help. A devil of the low-god class arrived here and may have possibly kidnapped Sister Cleria to extract information from her. Can you track her?"
Without a word, Aurelia set to work. Over a dozen magic circles formed all around the office, a few of them being different in colour. She closed her eyes as she silently analysed her findings before she opened them again.
"I have found her, my lord. But I have encountered a problem."
There was worry in her eyes, but she continued.
"Cleria-sama is in a room with all Four Satans."
"..."
Igor briefly considered the thought.
[Lucifer and Beelzebub are strong, very strong.]
How strong? He wasn't exactly sure. But he wouldn't be surprised if they were stronger than him. In fact, with how long they lived and how many techniques those two had, he was sure they were definitely stronger than him.
Still, that wasn't a reason to abandon Cleria.
"It does not matter. They have Sister Cleria there."
"That also presents us with another problem, Lord Dimori."
"What?"
Aurelia was quiet with slight nervousness showing on her face.
"Beelzebub-sama knows I'm watching."
"...what?"
He was stumped. He himself was particularly sensitive to spatial fluctuations due to his constant usage of the Instant Transmission. But even he could barely detect that Aurelia had opened up the smallest of spatial channels and used it to monitor the other side like a telescope.
His sister was skilled. But if Ajuka could casually find that she was surveilling them, then he was truly skilled. And this factor just opened up a new set of conundrums.
"Since he already knows, widen the hole enough for me to sense their energy."
He then placed two finger's on his forehead.
"I'm going in."
It was final and Aurelia knew there was no telling him anything else. Silently, she expanded the hole, but it was so small that even under the most powerful of microscopes invented in this century, it would not be seen.
"I can sense them."
In terms of energy alone, Sirzech's was more powerful, then followed by Ajuka. Then it was followed by two more individuals that he didn't know, but recognised one energy signature to be the one he sensed before.
And then lastly, he sensed Cleria.
"I'll leave first, sister."
He was about to vanish when Aurelia called out.
"Do you have a plan of action, my lord?"
"I'm not sure. For now, I'll grab Sister Cleria and bring her here. After that…"
He sighed at what he was about to say.
"...I'll talk to them and do all that political nonsense. I'll need your help then, sister."
Despite being unnerved by Ajuka's apparent awareness, Aurelia managed to smile.
"I trust you, my lord. I hope you will succeed and I shall assist you as-"
"No. I don't want you to come yet."
"..."
The scene devolved into a battle of stares. Igor stood unwavering in front of his sister's increasingly defiant gaze. But no matter what, he wouldn't let her follow him, not into what may become a scene of a deadly battle.
"If you're there, I'll be more on edge, sister. So I would rather you stay here with Sister Cleria and monitor the situation from here until everything is safe."
"..."
Listening to his reasons, Aurelia retracted her gaze and lowered her head.
"I apologise for crossing my boundaries, my lord."
"It's alright, sister. Now, I need to go."
With a small smile on his face, he vanished.
Tswii!
"..."
Aurelia slowly raised her head with a victorious smile on her face.
"I apologise for crossing my boundaries…in advance."
Her magic circles circled around before they all floated behind her.
"I will not let you stand alone, my lord. Not in a battle of tongues."
.
DxD
.
Cleria was in the biggest mess of her life. Or to be accurate, she couldn't process that she was in the biggest mess of her life. Everything had happened so quickly that her brain had frozen.
One minute, Serafall teleported to her office and said a name. No greeting, no pleasantries. Just one name.
'Igor von Dimori.'
As soon as those letters entered her ears and rearranged themselves in her brain, she was startled. Hearing his name was one thing. Hearing his name come from Serafall's mouth was a different thing entirely and her body reacted accordingly.
Her nervousness was more than enough for the former Sitri heir to know that she knew exactly who Igor was. Next thing she knew, she was grabbed by the shoulder and her view shifted to not a jail cell or a torture rack, but a sight far more terrifying.
"This here is Cleria Belial, the Overseer of Kuoh. She knows Igor on a personal level and will tell us everything we need to know about him."
"..."
She was in front of the Four Satans. Just one was terrifying enough. Meeting all four of them nearly sent her into a state of complete shock, especially since she definitely was not brought here to receive some kind of reward.
"I-I-I…"
She couldn't formulate any words. Suddenly meeting the leaders of her race was too much for her to process.
"Calm down, Cleria-san. We won't harm you. I can assure you of that."
Sirzechs, ever as charismatic, soothed her with his gentle voice. He couldn't agree with Serafall's method of suddenly bringing Cleria here, but he understood that since this matter was related to Aryans, there was not much gentleness left in her.
Case in point, Serafall raised her hand and a dossier appeared in her hand. Walking over to her seat, she placed the dossier on the table and began questioning the silverette.
"Was Igor von Dimori responsible for the Himejima massacre? Answer carefully, Cleria."
"..."
Serafall speaking without adding honorifics?
[This is certainly not good.]
Sirzechs could surmise as much. But he wouldn't lie and admit he wasn't curious. But with the way things are going, Cleria would not have a clear enough mind to reveal crucial information.
"Relax, Cleria-san. Answer with peace of mind. None of what you reveal will travel beyond these walls."
"..."
As much as Cleria would want to deny she had any knowledge, she was not stupid enough to do so in this situation. This was especially so when she saw how all four satans were focused on her with varying facial expressions.
"Y-yes. He was r-responsible for the massacre."
Serafall quickly scribbled something down on the dossier before asking again.
"Do you know the reason why he did so?"
Serafall hadn't even looked up from the paper when she asked the question. From Cleria's perspective, it was clear that she was filling in the blanks, and lying was not an option in the slightest.
"Yes. He…he killed the Himejima because…they had targeted Shuri Himejima and her daughter, Akeno Himejima."
Serafall's writing paused while Falbium raised an eyebrow. Deciding to pitch in, he asked a question that may, or may not pile up his workload.
"Who left or entered Kuoh?"
"T-The Himejima entered Kuoh. They were somehow able to infiltrate the barrier."
"..."
Holding himself from banging his head on the table, Falbium felt like dying. Many territories held by different overseers used a standard barrier to let them know who or what entered or left the town. Of course, significantly powerful entities could bypass that rather easily.
[So much work.]
The problem was that the Himejima were able to find a weakness and enter discreetly. If this proves to be an existing issue, then he would have to replace all the barriers, which meant more work.
Being in charge of military affairs meant also being charge of standardised defensive measures and sometimes, he hated his job.
[Please be incompetence.]
On the other hand, the gears in Serafall's mind were turning as she picked up the key parts of Cleria's statement.
[To be specific, they trespassed into our territory.]
She made sure to file that information away for later. It would be useful if she needed to deal with the Shinto Pantheon.
Raising her hand again, another dossier formed before she slid it towards Cleria.
"Read it."
The silverette wordlessly took the small stack of documents with shaky hands and read it. A minute or so passed and Cleria was halfway through when Serafall interrupted her.
"Am I correct in inferring that this Subject #1 is in fact, Igor von Dimori?"
"..."
Cleria was quiet, more-so out of shock than nervousness. On the page she was on, there was even a picture of Asia as well as the 'False-Alarm' incident that happened back then in 1996 when Igor first met Asia.
To know that he was being investigated for this long unnerved her greatl-
"Cleria Belial. Answer my questio-"
Serafall was about to force the issue when out of nowhere, a blonde man in semi-formal wear appeared right next to Cleria.
Tswii!
Not even half a second passed when he grabbed Cleria by the shoulder and vanished again with her in tow.
Tswii!
A very short while passed before once again, Igor appeared.
Tswii!
This time, the blonde was alone. Dressed in his semi-formal clothing, he was distinctly different from the rest of the male satans who dressed rather royally. Nonetheless, fashion wasn't on the agenda for today.
Hovering his gaze around each satan, his eyes eventually landed on Sirzechs.
"Gathering information on me so soon, Lucifer?"
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AN
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Personally, I'm hoping for a big brawl. Though I am curious as to how Serafall would react.
If you are interested in reading ahead, you can find more chapters in my patreon under the same username.
Until the next chapter.