- Shin -
"WHAT, YOU CAN'T DO THAT. DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT BOY." somehow I didn't need observe to say who the fuck this idiot exactly was. Lord Phenex looked like someone just threatened to fuck him with a cactus. I can understand why he would do that. Apart from his House's Phenex tears, he was relying greatly on this engagement with the little sister of the Satan Lucifer and the Heiress of the House of Gremory which would in the future make Riser the Head of the House of Gremory and thus give him control over two houses with a considerable amount of influence.
And I just snooped in, beat his son like a decade old punching bag and ripped his dreams of having control of the House of Gremory right before his eyes.
"I can't? I thought I could ask 'anything from House Phenex' or are you saying that" and here my voice turned completely cold "the words of House Phenex and a contract made in front of the Satans mean nothing but hot air to you." yup, make the fucker a public enemy. The most important thing to do in this case is to not give him any chance to speak before I rake up as much favour as I can. The fucker is a politician and I and a kid. I am not ashamed to accept that if I give him any chance, he will at least make me look bad in this whole fiasco even if Zekram and Sirzechs cover my ass after it. I'd rather not have more favours from those two and become reliant on them more than I can avoid.
"Rias is my friend and a close one at that. I as someone who doesn't really associate with people closely, I make it a point to take care with those that I do get close to. Can you even blame me for doing this after what YOUR SON just said in front of the entire underworld? Claiming that he will 'break' Rias and force her to do what he wants. That's not how marriages work Lord Phenex. That's basically slavery. Are you trying to assist YOUR SON in enslaving Rias?" my voice grow colder with every word I speak.
I have to say the ashen look on the face of Lord Phenex at the implications is worth doing all this drama.
"Y-y-you don't speak nonsense boy. You have no idea what this marriage means for the devil race. The power of Destruction of the Gremory and the Immortality of the Phenex will make devils beyond anything the world has ever seen before. The very future of the underworld and the entire devil race depends on this marriage. Don't go ruing it with your selfishness. It is for the greater good, not something that the likes of you can comprehend." The fucker made two mistakes in his whole idiotic speech. I have been merging with Harry's memories and have been affected to a certain degree to his likes and dislikes too. Not too much, only his most intense emotions having some effects on my thought at best. That game told me that it is the aftereffects of the merging and will pass on soon allowing me to recover.
And this idiot just stepped on two of the biggest landmines from those emotions. The first one being that the Harry in this world hated being called 'boy'. Remember all those times when Dumb-and-dork called him Harry, my boy. This Harry was not dumb and he hated being looked down on. I kind of get why I was given this body. He thinks like me in a way. Secondly, 'greater good' should never be used in front of him. It is basically the source of all his pain. The moron in front of me used both of these. I could see Serafall wince slightly at that, wonder what her deal is. Did she have trouble with greater good troupes in the underworld too?
As if responding to my emotions, my Demonic power soars to its full power. Suppression be dammed. This fucker needed to be shown his place. I start releasing the power of destruction around me as the floor around me starts corroding with just my presence.
"Are you saying that the future of the whole devil race depends on a spoiled manwhore having his way with innocent girls?" ignoring the look of rage on his face, I release even more of my demonic power which is believe it or not nearing the level of a Satan Class, even if I don't have the best damage output or speed, the sheer amount I have is amazing. I continue without stopping. "Are you saying that the Satans and the other 33 Pillars mean nothing? Are you really that stupid as to believe in the filth you just spewed out of you mind that you ignore the entire devil races existence on this farce. If the devil race has really fallen so low that it needs to rely on the whims of a spoiled manchild, then it is better that we all go extinct. My pride as a devil won't allow me to be the part of a race as weak as the one you paint it to be. Also last I remember The Power of Destruction was a trait of House Bael. Now answer question, Is the House of Phenex going back on their words."
The fucker was hardly a 6-Winged Devil and standing in presence of someone who has demonic power nearing the level of a 12-Winged Devil, with all the red and black lightning of the Power of Destruction crackling around me must have made me look damn badass. The green eyes bring out the cold indifferent look out brilliantly. He was literally a shivering mess.
"H-How can y-you use the PoD? Why didn't you use it in the Rating Game?" was this idiot thinking that I was just picked up by Zekram without any countermeasures for the future. Even Siaraorg could have picked up the fight and broken up Rias' contract with Riser if Zekram really wanted it. I was more of a symbol because I had the PoD.
"Why would I use a cannon to kill an insect? Now stop dallying and give me your answer Lord Phenex. What will it be? Will you go back on the contract?"
"Very well put Shin. Even I would choose the same ending if our race even fell as much as Lord Phenex here portrays it to be. As for the immortality, we say very well how easily it was taken care of. You did sign a contract Lord Phenex. Are you going to back down on it, in that case I will be forced to appeal to the Satans as well as invoke the subsidiary countermeasures which were mentioned in the contract." yup Zekram you are the best.
"Shin is not only a user of the PoD, his control over his power is second only to what I have seen Sirzechs being capable of using. If it is about having proper descendants, then I think any children Rias and Shin have will have great amount of control over the PoD. Who knows, they may even be even a Super Devil?" Serafall speaks up for the first time since I entered this room.
What the hell Serafall, I don't think I have that level of control.
Actually you do host. Unlike the other devils who use The Power of Destruction using magic circles and waste their mana, you use it from a skill given by the game. Thus there is no wastage of energy at all. Your invocation speed and damage will improve with the rise in your own strength but your control will always be perfect.
So what does she mean, second only to Sirzechs.
Sirzechs Lucifer uses an upgraded form of The Power of Destruction. Even he cannot control it to the best of his abilities as he loses all control and rampages while using it in his true form. You will need to be at least level 300 to take an upgrade quest for the PoD. He does more damage with less mana and that makes people think that he is better at efficiently using the PoD.
Fuck, here I thought that I was the only one who could upgrade my skills.
You forgot that many people have attained Balance Breakers with their sacred gears, many people have different magic strengths when using the same type of magic.
The user of Canis Lykaon can use Shadow at the Mythical grade when using his Abyss Side Balance Breaker.
Hot damn, my Shadow Magic is only at Expert Rank. I need 5 more levels before I reach the Master Rank. And he is Mythical Rank. That's like 100+% multipliers on his skills.
Longinus are real cheats. And that one is considered to be weaker than the Boosted Gear. Goes to show how much power I need to cover up to become their equal in the future and how much more to truly surpass them.
Anyways returning back to the topic at hand. Lord Phenex is driven into a corner. And he has only one way to get out of this.
"I accept. We will fulfill the terms of the contract." Ah, the misery in his tone is so satisfying. It makes it so worth all the acting.
"I am glad that we could conclude this contract. Thank you very much." finally rubbing the fact on his face and essentially asking him to fuck off, I turn towards the other people present in the room.
Rias looks shocked. Why? Sona is completely stone faced but I can see the beads of sweat rolling on her forehead. The other peerage members are incredibly tensed as well. Why though? The only one who is downright savagely grinning at me is Siaraorg.
Ah, yea I stopped suppressing my demonic power. I slowly reign in my mana as switch the bracelet on covering it all under the barrier of my magic.
My presence goes back to that of a high class devil.
"I have other matters to attend to. I will be taking my leave then." says the fucker and scrams out of the waiting room. Good he knows how to take hints.
"You can use the PoD? How?" Rias asks me with a look of disbelief clearly written on her face.
"You didn't know? I thought the people at my High Class Devil promotion exams must have told you." this is something I did not expect.
"No, I didn't. I truly didn't. Why didn't you use it in the Rating Game then?" she asks me truly curious.
"I was actually afraid that I will end up killing him to be honest. I don't really know how well I can use my power of destruction. During my High Class Devil promotion exam, I was one step away from accidentally disintegrating the examiner because I got too fascinated by the power itself than the exam. It felt instinctive as if I wanted and it just happened. So until I get complete idea about how much damage I can do with it, I will put it on hold." This was actually true. I had a buttload of mana. I could send an attack which can do more than 500k damage and I had no idea about the intricacies of Phenex regeneration. Will he regenerate if I erased him completely? Not something I wanted to test out in a live Rating Game.
"So, you can't control your power properly?" asks Sirzechs, his brows furrowing a bit.
"I won't say I can't control my power. It is more like I have no idea how hard I can hit. I never really had anyone to test my power out against and this one is not something I can use in a friendly spar. My control over my power is quite good. I just don't know how much damage the other party can take." I prove my point by making a ball of PoD above the palm of my hand.
As I keep on adding more power into it, the colour changes to a more blackish shade while it starts to radiate a dangerous aura around it. After around 20k mana I stop before giving them a look at it.
"I estimate that this could kill Riser two times over if he couldn't regenerate. I just didn't know if he could regenerate after being erased completely."
"Amazing. And without a magic circle too. It looks so beautiful." mutters Rias completely enraptured by my performance.
"No he wouldn't have regenerated after being erased completely. Even a Phenex House member needs at least a trace of them left over to regenerate and that attack could easily erase him." answers Sirzechs with a serious voice.
Glad I dodged that bullet.
"He never had a chance to win the Rating Game did he?" asks Sona who finally couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.
"He did. I had surrendered or had been disqualified, then he might have won. As for defeating me in a straight fight. I will hold my opinions on that." I answer not really giving anything away.
Siaraorg snorts at my statement. "As if he had a chance to begin with. You held back so much, it was painful to watch. None of your signature magic used. Barely anything of your martial arts capabilities. It was like punching a fragile glass like it would break if more force was used. I don't know why he was shouting that much to be really honest."
"He was shouting because I had enhanced his senses to a painful degree. A simple snap of fingers beside his ears would have sounded like a nuclear bomb exploding to him. I had enhanced his pain sensitivity to ten times the normal too and I kept him bound the entire time while casting magic that would weaken his bones to a painful degree as well as reduce his strength and endurance till the spells are released by me. Even a bugbite would have hurt like a bullet." I explain my reasons in an even tone all the while enjoying the horrified looks of the young devils.
"Phenex House's regeneration is strong but it does not heal mental anguish. Pain is still felt." I complete my explanation.
"Though before the end of the Rating Game you entirely stopped his regeneration." Seekvaira asks me.
"I was slightly…okay quite pissed off by what he said so that spell kind of slipped my mind when I was beating him up." I say with a sheepish look on my face as the others give me a deadpan expression.
"I think you young ones should go back for now. We have a party in the evening to celebrate Shin's victory in this Rating Game. We will take care of some political issues till then." Sirzechs says waving us off.
I did take a notice of Grayfia staring at me…or rather behind me at Sakuya.
Did she really think that Sakuya was a relative of hers?
"So where exactly are we going." I ask Rias who is holding onto my arm. Observe shows that her Affection reached 55 points during the Rating game. Good progress.
"Bael Castle first. I have a feeling that you shouldn't be roaming around the underworld today or at least the matters calm down." says Siaraorg in a serious tone of voice.
"Let's go, I have a few things I was working on too. It is almost done so maybe we could play with it." I turn to the others before addressing them. "Why don't you all join us too? I haven't had the chance to associate with others in the underworld and would really like to get to know others around my age."
"Sure, why not." Sona says pushing up her glasses. I don't really need glasses. I just like the new frame I got during my shopping in London.
"Why not. Making new connections never really hurts." Seekvaira gives in her two cents too.
"Then let's all get going. We should leave this place quickly. Reporters will be really annoying if they try to latch on to you." with that said Siaraorg summons a magic circle which teleports to the Bael castle.
- Sirzechs Lucifer –
Sirzechs watches as the group of youngsters leave the premises of the Rating Game arena in a magic circle. The events of this day has been a lot more hectic than he had expected it to be. The fact that his sister's fate depended on this Rating Game did not help easing his mind either.
He hadn't seen enough of this Shin Kageyami to tell if his sister was going to be saved or was just going from the frying pan and into the fire. Thus he had been looking forward to this Rating game to get an opinion about him
The first thing that he came to understand is that the guy is not good for his heart's proper functioning. The peerage that he collected was a surprise beyond anything he could have expected. That maid was the one who almost made his eyes pop out of it's sockets. He had to check twice to see if Grayfia was really by his side, then confirmed with Ajuka that she was not a clone made from Garyfia's dna. He never once blamed the other peerage's girls when they freaked out at her appearance. He was Grayfia Lucifuge's husband and he was shocked. He could only feel sorry about them.
Then there was the fact about his planning and strategies. It was again something he did not expect. It was like looking at his best friend Ajuka at work back all over again. Though nowhere near Ajuka's level, he was not close to Ajuka's age either. There was always a room to grow.
And then there were the other things concerning him, his strength, his cunning mind and his creative genius. It seems like this new brother-in-law of his is more than he could have expected. But considering what was in that letter, he already had his doubts that it would turn out to be something similar. Now that all of this fiasco is over, maybe he can take his take out some time to get to know all about Shin Kageyami finally.
- Meeting of the Kings –
In a room are five figures sitting around a table.
"Zekram really did a number on Lord Phenex, didn't he?" Serafall speaks up.
"The one who really did it was the boy. I am pretty sure Riser Phenex will suffer from a severe mental trauma for a long time. Not that I care anyway." replies the voice of Falbium Asmodeus.
"He deserved every bit of what was done to him. I am actually quite disappointed that he didn't kill him off." Sirzechs' voice was still as cold as during the match. "What do you think about it Ajuka?" he asks turning to his long time friend.
"Shin was playing them all off since even the Rating Game began. Every step he took, starting from that anime where the hero declared that he was the strongest. Showing such a thing while he was representing Zekram was quite symbolic. Then he showed his tactic and information gathering abilities and everything was done perfectly." Ajuka starts analyzing the match from earlier.
"However unlike what most people believe, I think even his last outburst was actually planned. Not completely but surely most of it. He is still not capable to completely control his emotions as I saw that he really got enraged when his peerage and Rias were insulted. I didn't know they were so close. And finally the outburst with Lord Phenex, it might make people think that he is an impulsive kid who would easily fall for baits and thus give him an opportunity to completely destroy them. A well thought-out plan. He is setting up fake weaknesses for himself as a counter to his strong points for others to exploit."
"The outburst with Lord Phenex might not have been completely planned. However his speech was certainly something which would have dragged Lord Phenex down through the mud had he used it in front of an audience. If I hadn't know about him better, I would have thought that Zekram was raising a mini-me all this while in secret in the human world." Serafall speaks up.
Now this got the attention of everyone in the room. Serafall knew about Shin.
"What do you know about him Serafall? Is there something to be worried about? Is the boy really…..not dangerous?" asked Sirzechs. His curiosity well deserved as the guy in question was going to be his brother-in-law.
His sweet sister was going to get married to a brat who popped out of nowhere. They were going to have kids. Ria-tan's kids will be cute too. But for having kids they will have to do…..that. No. that cannot happen. Ria-tan was still young. She needs at least 20 no 200 years more before something like that happens. He would have arranged an assassination for Riser Phenex if he had insisted on pushing the marriage anymore but Shin was not someone who could be assassinated. Riser had two brothers and one sister and while his death would have caused minor waves in the underworld, any attack on Shin will be a catastrophe. He was broken out of his thoughts by Serafall speaking.
"Here is the file I got on him. I cleared all the background details that could be tracked back to him completely. No one can track him to his origins anymore except Zekram and me. However something tells me that he will return there himself and I for one am actually looking forward to it." Serafall adds in a tone of anticipation and a clearly suppressed rage.
The others read the documents provided by the only female Satan with a critical eye, looking through any and all details that may decide if the said boy was someone who could prove to be a danger to their society. As time passes by, even the laziest of the Satans, the Asmodeus has a rare serious look on his face, which conceals his thinly veiled anger.
"Is everything written inside the file true Serafall?" Ajuka asks not revealing any shred of emotion that will give away his thoughts to the others present in the room.
"I visited the places myself and made sure of all the facts. He was screwed over by almost everyone he knew. Knowingly or unknowingly. And the mastermind was sitting in a school, eating ridiculously flavoured candies and acting like the savior of the world. A few mind control spells and he spoke everything like a parrot. He was actually trying to steal his sacred gear through a stupid ritual which wouldn't have worked in the first place. The details of the process and his actions are all inside the file. The fact that Shin is actually a part of a prophesy is a surprise but I don't think it is anything to be worried about."
"Do you think they could be a problem if any of our enemies find out about then and use them to influence Shin." questioned Sirzechs which elicited a laugh from Serafall Leviathan.
"Do you know what he did when he was disowned by his father? Yes, someone was stupid enough to disown him. Don't get me started on the idiot. I had half a mind to freeze him into a statue the first time I saw him. Well, what Shin did is, he went to the bank. Took all the Lordships that he was eligible for. Removed everyone else from those houses by disowning them, cleared the bank of all their stuff and left. He even went through a magical ritual to get his name changed to something that no one would ever bother to even take a guess, thus preventing any way to use magical rituals to find him or force him to come back. This had actually happened around two years ago so it is not paranoia on his part. So, No. He won't be influenced by anyone of them."
"It does not matter. Wizards have not been summoning devils for a long time now. Especially since after the Civil Wars and after we stopped taking sacrifices for payments to our services. Whatever happens to them is none of our concern. As for Shin, he is smart enough to not cause problems for himself. I am quite sure that he will manage just fine." finishes Ajuka before bringing up the current topic of distress. "What do you think Lord Phenex will do now?"
"Probably cry about stopping Phenex Tears supply or try to sway the council against Shin but with Zekram there, that will not happen. I think that Sirzechs should declare the engagement between Rias and Shin in tonight's party." Serafall gives his opinion.
"What do you think Grayfia?...Grayfia?" Sirzechs looks towards his wife who seemed lost in her own thoughts. "Are you still thinking about Shin's Kinght?"
"My apologies. Yes. I think that the new engagement should be announced in the evening's party. Shin is a man of talents. The fact that he found such strong peerage members in such a short time tells me that he has ways to detect at least sacred gears or powerful people. Such technology was only available to the Grigori and Heavens. If we could get it on our side, it will be a great boost to our power. Binding Shin Kageyami to our race is also necessary. He is only close to a few people right now and even his engagement with Lady Rias is just because of a contract. We have to find ways to solidify it. I thin….." her words were stopped by the sudden opening of the door.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? Don't you know how to knock on the door? What's the matter? Why are you looking so tensed?" shouted Serafall.
"There is something in the Skies over the Bael Castle. We don't know what it is and it could be a danger." said the new arrival. "It looks like a weapon of some kind but we are not sure."
"Show me the video feed of the area." Ordered Ajuka while he himself uses his magic to get a feed from the skies around the Bael castle.
As the five people take in a closer look at the video, a strange look appears on their faces and after a while Serafall Leviathan squeals.
"IS THAT A GUNDAM?"
_x_x_
Author's Note : So we finally completed the Rating Game. Phew. Did I go dark in there? I personally think I did what the chicken shit deserved. A brutal pummeling that would result in severe mental trauma.
However, this is not the last we will see of Riser Phenex. Cockroaches are stubborn and tend to stick around until they are properly taken care of.
I will leave the rest of the reactions for the party. I have a few plans for it actually. Now I know many people wanted Shin to use PoD and FGS magic in the game. Believe me, I have my reasons for not doing so. You will see soon in a few chapters. Trust me on this one.
I have not forgotten about the Wizarding world. We will be getting some information about it till we go there for wrecking shit up.
The reason why the Satans are concerned was because someone could capture a member of Shin's family and try to blackmail him.
They need to mind the background of major powers in the underworld and Shin is turning out to be someone like that.
As for his magic reserves being near Satan class. That's because of the perks.
Shin does not have the best damage output. It means that he does less damage with the same amount of mana. Others can do more damage but he will get there. I gave everyone a comparision with the Canis Lykaon because that one was the closest thing I could think of.
I am still thinking about the Mirror Alice Balance Breaker.
It won't be broken as shit but will be strong.
It still has the limit of not being able to reflect attacks above (INT+WIS)*20.
So no it is not op.
There are loopholes that can be used to get around it even after he achieves the balance breaker.
Thank you for your support.
Good Day. Peace Out.