Chapter 32: Vampire Hunt (2)
Azrail Astaroth Pov:
"Greetings, Lord Astaroth, Lord Azrail. May I ask what brings you here today?"
Regardless of how she felt about me being here, Diodora's [Queen] couldn't say anything disrespectful towards me even if Lord Astaroth wasn't accompanying me.
"We're here to see Diodora, so lead the way."
It seemed like Lord Astaroth wasn't in the mood to chitchat, not after seeing what Diodora was doing while ignoring his summons.
"Lord Diodora is..."
"He is what?"
Lord Astaroth narrowed his eyes, and the [Queen] bowed.
"Nothing. Please follow me."
It was very convenient to have Lord Astaroth around; otherwise, I planned on beating a few people before taking the prototype for Ajuka's [Kankara Formula], but this was way more efficient.
With that, Diodora's [Queen] guided us inside the Heir's Castle.
Unsurprisingly, this place wasn't lacking in anything compared to the Astaroth Clan's Castle, regardless of how much someone looked at it.
However, there was one thing I noticed.
The security system here was fairly outdated, which should be Diodora's fault since he was the one who decided everything in this place with little to no interference from the Astaroth Clan's side, making him completely independent. That certainly didn't turn out well, looking at his personality and actions.
After walking for a few minutes, we arrived at a room reserved for guests, and Diodora's [Queen] bowed towards us.
"Please wait here for a minute; I will go and bring Lord Diodora."
"Very well."
With that, she left.
To pass some time, I started playing rock paper and scissors with Great Sage, and although the game was interesting enough, it was hard to tell when Great Sage was cheating by reading my thoughts.
[…]
The fact that there was no reply confirmed she was cheating.
"By the way, Azrail, when will you resume your duty as the Overseer of Bucharest?"
"In a day or two."
Elmenhilde should've already completed the preparation for Great Sage's large-scale experiment, so all I needed to do was return to the Darkness Magic Research Lab.
[Notice. All the preparations have already been completed.]
'I see, and what's Elmenhilde up to?'
[Answer. She is continuing her research for ways to temporarily decrease a Vampire's Magic Power.]
Is that so?
"Is that so?"
Hearing Lord Astaroth's 'Is that so?', I blinked.
Did he just read my internal monologue?
[Answer. That is not possible, Master. Your thoughts are always protected by an outer layer of thousands of jumbled thoughts. If anyone were capable of reading Master's mind, all they'd hear are high-pitched, unrecognisable voices.]
Great Sage, I wasn't being serious about Lord Astaroth reading my mind.
[...]
Ignoring Great Sage's silence, I asked.
"Right. Lord Astaroth, what place was Ajuka talking about?"
"It won't take long, so why not have a little patience?"
Patience wasn't one of my strong points, not unless it was about an experiment, but since there was only so much I could do right now, I quietly leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes.
With that, a few minutes passed until the door finally opened, and Diodora walked inside the room, followed by his [Queen].
He looked at me with a frown, clearly not appreciating my presence, and he barked.
"Get lost."
'Well, it's Diodora; what did I even expect?'
And since that was his attitude, I decided to be blunt.
"There's something I want inside the Heir's Castle's store room, so hand it over. I'll leave without causing trouble."
Diodora looked disgusted at my authoritative tone, causing him to growl a little.
"Get the fuck out before I kick you out myself."
'Does this guy still believe that he's stronger than me?'
There was no doubt that Diodora was stronger than me four years ago, but now, he wasn't even a challenge. However, it looked like he was still living in the past.
Honestly, he was severely misunderstanding the situation, but then again, it was what a person would expect from a delusional narcissist like him.
The reason I hadn't become the Astaroth Clan's heir wasn't that I couldn't beat Diodora in a one-on-one or if the higher-ups of the clan were against me, but my wish of not becoming the heir.
"Ah, well. At least I tried to be nice."
Getting up from my seat, I walked towards Diodora, only for his [Queen] to stand in front of me.
"Lord Azrail, please understand—!"
"Move."
With the back of my right palm, I lightly tapped on the side of her arm and...
BOOM!*
Diodora's [Queen] crashed into the nearby wall, demolishing it in the process.
"A [Queen] does represent her [King] well, even if it's in weakness and incompetence, huh?"
Diodora's [Queen] was way weaker than Latia, as the latter could've subconsciously cancelled the [Gravity Magic] I used, even if it were a surprise attack.
Well, Diodora's [Queen] could defend herself in any other scenario, but she probably never expected me to be unreasonable enough to attack her out of the blue.
"You bastard!"
Diodora looked disgusted at my words, not because of what happened to his [Queen], but because I compared him to her, someone he considered to be nothing more than a slave.
'He's too easy…'
Several dozens of Magic Circles appeared around me, followed by a barrier that manifested in front of Diodora.
No matter how he behaved, Diodora was talented in magic, and he was very good at it for his age, but that was all.
If it weren't for his nasty personality, I might have even considered recruiting him as a [Bishop] and trained him myself.
"This much won't do…"
Without much consideration, I snapped my fingers, and moments later—
"What—?!"
"Hm?"
The Magic Circles started disappearing one by one, surprising both Lord Astaroth and Diodora. Within moments, the only thing that remained was the barrier, which also disappeared as I approached Diodora.
"I hate to break it to you, but no Devil under the Ultimate Class can beat me in magic."
My Demonic Power Reserves still hadn't recovered, but that didn't matter if I could disrupt my opponent's spell formations with only a small amount of power.
"Shit!"
In a desperate attempt, Diodora clenched his fists, attempting to punch me in the face.
From the way his body moved, it was easy to tell that never once did he train in any sort of physical combat, similar to most Pure Blooded Devils.
"Hey now…" I effortlessly dodged Diodora's attack, leaning towards my left and punching him in the stomach instead. "Just because your face isn't good doesn't mean you can ruin mine."
"Blegh…!"
Diodora fell to his knees, his face distorted in pain.
The satisfaction this moment brought me was unmatched, although Diodora's non-existent pain resistance did surprise me a little.
To make it even more enjoyable, I looked down at Diodora with a mocking smile.
"At least make it mildly entertaining for me. How about struggling a bit more before getting on your knees and apologising?"
Hearing my dismissive tone, Diodora's eyes started turning red in anger, and he tried to attack me again, but—
"You fuc—!!!!"
BOOM!*
Before he could even move, I pushed his face on the ground with my foot. The impact was enough to create a small crater under us.
"Gaaaaahh….!!!!!"
Diodora gritted his teeth in pain and anger, blood flowing out of his mouth and nose. It was a truly pitiful display, but did I care?
Not really.
'Let's see how far I can take this farce...'
The force behind my leg slowly increased, planning to completely crush Diodora's jaw, but I stopped when Lord Astaroth's hand landed on my shoulder.
"That's enough, Azrail… Even if it's for you, I can't simply let the Astaroth Clan's Heir be humiliated like this any further, as this is not an official dual."
'So he'd let me do anything if it were an official duel. Sure enough…'
That was no different from indirectly offering his son to me as a punching bag in exchange for becoming the heir.
"I can see why everyone said you are the perfect person for the clan head's position, Lord Astaroth…"
With a small smile, I removed my foot from Diodora's face, causing the latter to groan in pain, with his face slowly turning purple.
After looking at me for a second, Lord Astaroth turned towards his son, who was still on the ground.
"Get up. It's just a small bruise."
I wouldn't be so sure about that, old man.
"But, father, Azrail attacked my [Queen] and..."
"I didn't ask whose fault it was; I ordered you to get up, Diodora. Don't make me any more disappointed in you than I already am, or I might rip your head off myself."
Wow.
I was sure that if not for me being present here, Lord Astaroth would've given Diodora a very well-deserved beating, both as his father and the Astaroth Clan's Head.
"Y-Yes."
Diodora shivered under Lord Astaroth's gaze, affirming my guess that it was the first time he had ever been scolded by his father. He slowly got up while gritting his teeth to suppress the pain he felt.
If I conducted myself like Diodora in front of family members, my parents would've disowned me later and beaten the crap out of me first, followed by the silent treatment for another month or so.
That was also one of the reasons why I was avoiding my parents after the banquet ended.
Although Ajuka said it didn't matter, I doubted that anything between me and my parents would ever be normal again.
"If I had known you'd become such a pathetic individual, I wouldn't have given you all the freedom like that."
"... I'm sorry, father."
"Forget it; I'll deal with you later. For now, hand over the Heir's Key to Azrail."
At Lord Astaroth's order, Diodora's eyes widened slightly, but before he could reply, I intervened in their conversation.
"Wait, when did I become the Heir?"
"It's only until you get what you want from the storage, and we can't visit 'that' place without the Heir's Key."
"I see… The key?"
I turned towards Diodora with a smile, only to get a grunt from the latter, but he still raised his hand, and soon, the Astartoth Clan's Magic Circle appeared above his palm, dropping off a metallic card.
From within the card, I could feel faint traces of Ajuka's Demonic Power, confirming that he was the one who created it.
Diodora handed the Heir's Key over to me, and while Great Sage inspected it, Lord Astaroth continued, glaring at Diodora.
"Guide us to the storage room."
"Yes, Father."
Diodora gave me one last glare before he started walking outside the room, where the rest of his peerage stood, and looking at them, I commanded.
"Take Diodora's [Queen] to the Medical Ward."
"Y-Yes, Lord Azrail."
Diodora's [Queen] wasn't any of my concern, but I wanted to annoy him by ordering his servants around right in front of his eyes, something that was working a bit too well, as Diodora's eyes were turning red from anger. Everyone here knew that I couldn't simply kill someone from his peerage without any reason, not publically, at least.
While his peerage dashed inside the room, Diodora started guiding us towards the storage room of the Heir's Castle.
As we walked deeper into the castle, the security system kept improving.
Although the security system here was old, it was, by no means, easy to break through, with the Heir's Key being the only reason why we could walk around so casually.
'Considering that Ajuka hasn't used this castle in a very long time, what was he trying to hide that made him install such a security system here?'
Thinking about that, my curiosity about 'that' place increased a bit more, which caused me to subconsciously hasten my steps, and without even noticing it, the three of us arrived in front of the storage room.
"Alright, Azrail."
At Lord Astaroth's call, I placed the metallic card on the door, pouring some of my Demonic Power into it.
The door opened, revealing a decently sized room that didn't seem all that special, with hundreds of wooden shelves neatly arranged everywhere, but what some of those shelves contained surprised me a bit.
"Diodora, what the hell..."
"It's been a while since I came here, but Ajuka kept this place a lot cleaner."
Both Lord Astaroth and I had similar reactions after seeing the storage room. For obvious reasons, the front shelves were filled with all kinds of sex toys, with S&M toys and bondage gear being the most in quantity.
"Seriously, are you incapable of thinking about something other than sex?"
I walked past the shelves that contained nothing but sex toys, checking out the shelves that had books and notes inside them, and sure enough, my eyes fell on a box that had a label saying [Kankara Formula].
'Wait, if it's out in the open like that...'
I turned towards Diodora, who seemed like he had no interest in this place.
"Hey, didn't you try to read things about the [Kankara Formula]?"
"Of course I did, but everything written in those documents is encrypted. Even after trying for a few months, I couldn't understand a single thing. But since they once belonged to Lord Beelzebub, I couldn't just destroy them out of annoyance, in case he might ask for them later."
Well, that made sense.
The box had several dozens of documents neatly placed inside, along with some graphs and notes.
'Wait, this is…'
Picking up a random note, I started skimming through it, making Lord Astaroth do the same, and after reading for a minute or so, he commented.
"I can't understand it either. With encryption like this, there's no doubt that Ajuka left the prototype for [Kankara Formula] in a place like this."
'No, that's not it…'
These notes weren't encrypted, not at all. They were simply written in something that wasn't a readable language by our standards, like how an average person couldn't comprehend something written in binary code.
'The wavelengths of Demonic Power from various clans, Fallen Angel's Light Power, Angel's Holy Power, Youkai's Senjutsu and Yojutsu, a Vampire's Magic Power, and even wavelengths I don't recognise…'
Ajuka mashed parts of all those recorded wavelengths into a system of representing information that no one but him would understand. For people who had no idea what these were, decoding them as if they were a language was impossible.
Even I could only understand a part of it since most of these wavelengths were unknown to me.
My brother must've left them here while knowing that no one but he could understand them.
'I can already hear Ajuka laughing at those who tried to read this without his permission… But this will do.'
I placed the notes back inside the box and stored them inside my Dimensional Storage.
"Where is the thing that you wanted to show me?"
"Ah, right, give me the Heir's Key."
Lord Astaroth grabbed the metallic card and walked towards the nearest wall, revealing a hidden elevator.
With how surprised Diodora looked, it was safe to assume that he wasn't aware of this elevator's existence.
It was understandable, though.
Even I couldn't sense anything special inside the storage room, much less a hidden elevator.
"Let's go."
I followed Lord Astaroth, stepping inside the elevator, and moments later, it started descending with the two of us, leaving Diodora behind.
"Azrail, do you know what scared me the most in my entire life?"
That was a random question, but I still thought about it for a good few seconds.
Lord Astaroth was the same age as my father, so he had witnessed the Great War with his own eyes, and as much as I'd love to see that, it wasn't an event that most people could handle.
Billions of Devils had died during the Great War, and if that wasn't enough, the thing that followed after was the Devil Civil War, one of the biggest events that happened in the history of our species.
"The Great War?"
Lord Astaroth looked at me for a second and shook his head.
"No… The things we saw made the Great War look more like child's play, or at least, that's how your parents described it."
While I was wondering about what Lord Astaroth was talking about, he asked another question.
"Azrail, the people you abducted from the various races, how much would they number up to? A few thousand? Ten thousand?"
I didn't reply to his question, but my silence was a good enough answer for him.
"Imagine the scene of tens of thousands of people being used as lab rats… They all belonged to different species, ranging from Gods and Buddhas to Devils and Dragons. Think of a situation where no species was spared, being killed in batches while their souls got experimented on, suffering from unimaginable pain and never passing on."
It was a scene I'd love to see. And if everything went well, that was exactly how my laboratories would look after a few decades.
"I don't understand where you're getting at with this, Lord Astaroth."
That was a lie.
I had a general idea of what was going on here, and what 'that' place was, but I still decided to play ignorant.
"Then, let me rephrase it for you. Aren't you curious why no one within the Astaroth Clan seems to mind about you almost starting a conflict with the whole underworld, especially the Satans and your parents?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes." Lord Astaroth smiled, and the elevator stopped, indicating that we had reached our destination. "That's because you're not the first one to do something like that."
The gates opened, and we gazed at what seemed to be a laboratory similar to the ones I'd been using, but it was at least a hundred times bigger than all four of my labs combined.
"This is the place Ajuka used for his experiments before inheriting the title of Beelzebub. The place where he created two of his greatest inventions, the [Kankara Formula] and the [Evil Pieces]."
"Damn, the space here is artificially stretching to extend the area of this room..."
That was the first thing I noticed.
Despite my accomplishments in magic, I couldn't yet manipulate time and space using magic on my own, not without using [Life Force Conversion] to channel another's inherited ability in that regard. But even then, something like this was beyond my current self's capabilities.
"Indeed. When I first came to this place, I was surprised that such a big facility could be hidden under the Heir's Castle, but in reality, this room is just a small underground room that Ajuka randomly selected to make his laboratory in."
"But this place doesn't look as horrifying as you previously described..."
Well, that was probably because it had already been cleaned off, as the tens of thousands of glass containers were empty, and there were no signs of anyone being here for a very long time.
"Back then, this place looked so horrifying that it made even a Devil's skin crawl, with the sounds of screams being so loud that it was impossible to even talk without creating a barrier..."
"I can imagine that…"
"But despite that, the nonchalant way your brother talked about that situation was the scariest part. To him, it was but a task he had to do, with no remorse or acknowledgement for the lives he took, as if those who died weren't people, but objects." Lord Astaroth's voice still contained traces of fear as he continued. "Sirzechs Lucifer might be the strongest devil when it comes to sheer strength with his [Power of Destruction], but Ajuka is by far the most terrifying creature I have ever encountered."
[Notice. He is Master's brother indeed.]
I know, right?
"So the reason he said that nothing will change between my parents and me is..."
Lord Astaroth finished my words.
"... Because they've already seen things far worse than that, but that didn't change the fact that Ajuka was their son, and neither will it change anything about you."
{Not to mention, if your life went downhill like that, everyone would be sad, including our parents, and I don't want to see that; I've already given them a fair share of troubles.}
Ajuka's words came to mind, and I understood what he wanted to say.
"Azrail, you're lucky that it was your brother who found out about your secret. If that weren't the case, even I wouldn't have had the capabilities to resolve this mess."
"I know."
Although I would've preferred if Ajuka approached the situation a little better than almost ruining my life, there was nothing I could do about something that had already happened, could I?
"Let's see… What do we have here?"
I walked over to the nearby control panel and placed my hand above it.
'Great Sage, take control of this facility.'
[Answer. Understood.]
Great Sage was the greatest hacker in the Underworld, and she could take over any facility as long as I was physically present there.
Not to mention, Great Sage was also why the legendary 'NoobGamer69' survived for so long on the DeviNet, even after almost sending Serafall into depression.
The only reason Sebas knew about my identity as the infamous NoobGamer69 was that I once forgot to lock my smartphone, but being the nice guy he was, my brother kept it a secret.
After the username 'NoobGamer69' was officially banned from DeviNet, with it being revolutionized by thousands of bots to maintain peace and calm within different communities, I once again rose from the bottom, creating the new legend, 'BobUchiha'.
[Notice. The facility has been successfully taken over.]
'Copy all the data stored here; it doesn't matter what it is, and sort it out according to the information gained.'
[Answer. Understood.]
'Is the equipment here worth using?'
[Answer. Most of it is fairly outdated, especially compared to the one Master uses, but after a few upgrades, it should be able to help with large-scale experiments that require a lot of test subjects.]
'I see. Then, make sure not to leave anything that could help Ajuka track my laboratories.'
[Answer. Understood.]
No one had any idea about where my labs were, and I'd like to keep it that way.
"What did you do?"
Lord Astaroth seemed surprised when the laboratory started powering up after I placed my hand over the control panel.
"Forget about that; can I use this place?"
Lord Astaroth smiled at my words. "Only if you become the Heir."
I must say, that was a very nice bait.
With the barriers surrounding this laboratory, it was hard for anyone to teleport here without the Heir's Key, but that didn't apply to me.
No barriers could stop me from teleporting to places I had marked with my Demonic Power unless they 'distorted' the space inside, so even if I didn't become the Heir, I could come and go through this laboratory as I pleased.
"That's a shame."
[Notice. The data has been successfully copied.]
'Deny access to the laboratory to even those who have the Heir's Key.'
[Answer. Done.]
With that, I removed my hand from the control panel, turning towards Lord Astaroth.
"Let's go back."
"Already?"
"Yeah."
After hearing about Ajuka's story, I felt a little more confident about facing my parents, knowing that it was impossible to avoid them forever.
Soon after, we left Ajuka's laboratory, making our way to the Heir's Castle.
Since Lord Astaroth said that he wanted to have a 'conversation' with Diodora, I was the first one to take my leave, heading back to the Astaroth Clan's Castle, but something there surprised me.
'... Is that a barrier to block sounds?'
For some reason, there was a barrier surrounding my parents' room, and within the barrier was Alice, standing outside the door while browsing through her phone.
"Alice, what's up with the barrier?"
"I'm just trying to protect My Lord's image throughout the Underworld."
"What does that—"
Boom!*
Before I could complete my question, the answer came from inside the room.
"How could you do that to your little brother?! Did you think we didn't know he was up to no good?! What if he got traumatized for life?!"
Boom!*
"It was a prank, Mother; stop doing that! I'm the Beelzebub!"
"Does it look like I care, you damned brat?!"
Boom!*
Yeah, my mother and Ajuka were having a very peaceful conversation on the other side—a conversation I had no intention of participating in.
Understanding what fate had in store for me, I started walking away from the room.
"I'll see you later, Alice—Hey, don't do that! Let me go!"
Alice picked me up by my collar, and I wiggled around in a futile attempt to escape, but alas, she was too strong. She even cancelled out my attempts to cast magic instantly.
"There are things you can't run away from, Azrail. Learn to face difficult things like this head-on."
With those strangely wise words, Alice opened the door, tossed me inside like a bag, and closed it again.
---
'This is... quite the scene.'
Inside the room, Satan Beelzebub, one of the two strongest devils in existence and someone Lord Astaroth considered to be the most terrifying existence, was being tossed around like a ragdoll while being held by his ear.
Yeah, now I understood why Alice was standing guard outside.
It'd be embarrassing if this were somehow made public.
While tossing around Ajuka, my mother's eyes landed on me, and she smiled so sweetly that it sent shivers down my spine, making me avoid eye contact with her.
"My Azrail sure knows how to follow in his older brother's footsteps, right?"
"Well, I..."
Mother walked over to me, leaving Ajuka behind. Honestly, I was expecting a slap to the face, but...
"Don't scare me like that…" She fell to her knees in front of me and hugged me tightly. "I don't care what you do outside of home; I don't care how or what you do to strangers… All I know is I don't want to lose my son, no matter what."
Even after living with them for over a decade, it seemed like I couldn't understand my family properly.
At the end of the day, they weren't humans, despite the many similarities they shared with them.
"... I'm sorry, Mother."
The emotional moment with my mother didn't last much longer as I noticed something strange.
Her hug kept getting tighter, and at one point, it was getting hard to breathe, causing me to start struggling a bit.
"M-Mother!"
Standing at the far end of the room, Ajuka gave me a sympathetic look. It was almost as if he was wishing me luck for survival.
Yeah, I had a well-deserved beating incoming.
'Maybe I'll see Manager Kim again, in case I can reincarnate a second time.'
"Now it's time for your punishment."
Mother picked me up and sat on the nearby chair, placing my body face down on her lap.
My pants slid down from behind me.
"Hold on…"
A cool breeze hit my bare cheeks, and my mother's right hand rested on them.
"Wait! I changed my mind! Throw me in Cocytus instead! I'll confess my sins and repent—!"
I started throwing my limbs around in a desperate attempt to escape.
Spanking wasn't fun when I was the one receiving it.
'Huh? What the—?'
But suddenly, the strength in my body started to disappear as my mother released her aura.
How did she manage to suppress me with only her aura?
"What's with that reaction?" Ajuka looked at me with a smile. It wasn't hard to tell that he was holding back a laugh. "You didn't think our talents came out of nowhere, right?"
"Wait a minute…"
"Not many people know of this, but do you know who's the current strongest devil in our clan?"
Naturally, the first person that came to mind was Ajuka himself. However, he was no longer a part of the Astaroth Clan.
"Her Demonic Power Control is so good that even I couldn't tell how strong she was until my twenties…"
That means… Was Celis only pretending to be hurt when I accidentally launched an attack spell at her a while ago?
"There's no need to hold back, mother…" My brother grinned at me as a Phoenix Tear appeared in his hand. "I have a lot of them just in case, so…"
"Wait… I'll apologise…"
Mother only smiled at my words, and I felt her aura condense around her right hand.
I was done for.
---
Words: 4,790
A/N:
Question. Can someone tell me the history or some facts about the Khaos Brigade (their factions and which teams joined them externally) that aren't mentioned in the wiki or anime?
They'll be introduced to Mc soon, so I wanted to research them a bit.
Nine-Headed Hydra, too. What are its origins, and was it ever mentioned after the familiar catching scene? There isn't much on the Familiar Forest wiki page.
And, where's Ingvild Leviathan right now, like the defined place, if it was ever mentioned?
Also, the thing about the 'new' Longinus. Did they suddenly reach the level of Longinus out of nowhere or were they always at that level?
As a thank you: 496706. Probably the most dedicated character I've ever read about.