A certain Castle – somewhere in the Belphegor Domain, Underworld
When Lilith refused to submit to Adam, particularly regarding the dynamics of their relationship, and subsequently left Eden, rejecting both Adam and her creator, 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', aka Big G, decided to create Eve to be Adam's companion. However, Big G was concerned that Adam might reject Eve, thus, he created three additional potential mates: Naamah, Igrat (Agrat Bat Mahlat), and Eisheth Zenunim, giving Adam options to choose from should Eve fail to satisfy him.
Adam, being the first man of culture, proposed to all four, but only Eve accepted his advances, while the other three sisters—Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim—huffed and rolled their eyes at his naivety. They scoffed at him for his delusions of wanting all four of them and rejected him. The three sisters then departed, leaving innocent and ignorant Adam and Eve to their own endeavors, and were escorted out of the Garden by Archangel Michael.
Over the following eons, the three sisters—Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim—joined their eldest sister Lilith and lived indulgently, each pursuing her own path of debauchery, sensuality, orgies, and spreading chaos across the land.
Eventually, after the War in Heaven incited by Lucifer and the Fall of Man caused by Samael, the three sisters, along with their eldest sibling Lilith, embraced the darkness in response to Lucifer's call and joined the Devils in the Underworld. Lilith became Lucifer's first consort, ascending to the position of Queen of Hell. Meanwhile, Naamah was drawn to Beelzebub, who was captivated by her beauty; Igrat chose to join Asmodeus; and Eisheth Zenunim allied herself with Belphegor, helping him once again 'relieve' the burdens of his endless troubles as she used to do even before his fall.
"Hmm? So, I'm a descendant of the first-generation Belphegor and the Succubus Eisheth Zenunim. Does that mean the descendants of the original Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Asmodeus are my distant relatives too? That seems to be the case considering Lilith, Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim are sister creations of Big G."
"Huh? Wait a minute... if Naamah mated with Beelzebub, resulting in the birth of the House of Beelzebub, and Igrat chose Asmodeus, creating the House of Asmodeus, while Eisheth Zenunim helped Belphegor with the House of Belphegor... then how did the House of Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim come into existence?"
Doubtful, Seir began to read further into the ancient Zohar documentation, and he soon got his answers.
According to Zohar, after Cain killed Abel, Adam separated from Eve for 130 years, during which the first Naamah visited Adam and bore his children. The children born were demonic in nature, and these demonic children who were known as Nashiym, and weren't actually the children of the first Beelzebub make up today's Extra Demon Household Naamah.
The origin of the House of Igrat and the House of Eisheth Zenunim have similar tales, as the House of Igrat was formed from the union of the first-generation Igrat and King David, meanwhile, the House of Eisheth Zenunim, it consists of the children born from the union of the first-generation Eisheth Zenunim and the now-deceased fallen angel Sathariel.
"Interesting, I didn't know any of this…"
In fact, aside from Lilith, Seir knew practically nothing about Naamah, Igrat, or Eisheth Zenunim.
Lilith is, of course, the mother of Devils, which makes sense since the pillar houses majorly make up today's Devil society, and the Devils of the pillar's houses were all created from her flesh. But Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim also played a role in shaping today's Devil society, even if it's only through the creation of one or two Devil Households.
The original Maou Households, along with some of the extra Devil households, trace their origins back to Naamah, Igrat, and Eisheth Zenunim.
"But then… what about Mammon, Leviathan, and Abaddon? Where do these three Households originate? And what about the Six Houses of Lucifer?" Seir pondered aloud.
The response to Seir's question didn't come from the ancient documents in his hands. Instead, it came from Sheila, who calmly sipped her tea before speaking. "The origin of Mammon, Abaddon, and the Six Households of Lucifer is the same," she began. "They were all Angels who fell from Heaven after the War in Heaven and answered the first Lucifer's call."
"Hmm… I see, that makes sense," murmured Seir, nodding thoughtfully. Then he hesitated before asking, "But… what about Leviathan? You didn't mention Leviathan…"
Sheila set her teacup down gently and replied, "The origin of the first Leviathan is a bit different in comparison to the first few Devils. Unlike Lucifer and his Angel rebels, she wasn't an Angel who rebelled against you-know-who. However, she did fall into the Underworld. In fact, the first Leviathan was 'born' during the climax of the War in Heaven and descended into the Abyss—what we now call the Underworld—alongside the Angels who fell into darkness and rejected the Big G."
Hearing this, Seir set down the documents he was holding, giving Sheila his full attention. She chuckled and shook her head. "I see you're quite interested in learning the complete origin of Leviathan, but let's save that for another time. It's not our highest priority right now, so let's get back to the main topic."
"Right…" Seir nodded.
Sheila smiled in return. "Yes," she agreed, then continued her lesson. "Now, returning to the matter of the Extra Demon Faction—can you name all the major Houses that are currently part of it?"
Seir nodded and began listing them: "Belphegor, Mammon, Abaddon, Naamah, Igrat, Eisheth-Zenunim… and also Fleurety, Sargatanas, Nebiros, Satanachia, and Agaliarept from the Lucifer Six that later joined."
Sheila nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed, these are some of the major Devil Households that belong to the Extra Demon Faction, of course, there are several smaller Households such as Acteus, Oriens, Amaymon, Egyn, Merihem, Carreau, and so on also part of the Extra Demon Faction…" she said, then added, "But that's not everything. There is another group within our faction as prominent as one of the other Households… Don't forget them…"
"Another group that is as prominent as a major Household? Is it one of the Maou Household?" Seir asked, resting his chin on his hand.
Sheila shook her head. "No. While we do maintain a good relationship with the Old Maou Households, they aren't part of the Extra Demon Faction," she explained. "I'm talking about the Dragons led by the former Dragon King, Tannin. Tannin serves as Mephisto Pheles's [Queen], and Mephisto Pheles is a member of the Extra Demon Faction. Therefore, Tannin, by extension, is also part of it and oversees the domain under Mephisto Pheles."
"Ah… right… I almost forgot about Dragon King Tannin and Mephisto Pheles," Seir said with a nod.
Indeed, Mephisto Pheles—one of the oldest Devils still alive—is also a member of the Extra Demon Faction.
In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that Mephisto Pheles was one of its founding members.
Following the demise of the original Maous in the Great War among the three major factions, the Underworld was thrown into disarray. It had lost its leaders, and no one knew what awaited Devilkind next.
In the resulting power vacuum, no suitable candidates emerged to fill the leadership void immediately, leading to the emergence of two major factions. The first faction was naturally led by the descendants of the original Maous and the Six Houses of Lucifer who aimed to take their fathers' place and follow in their footsteps to wage war against the Heaven and Grigori. The second faction was led by the House of Great King, which refused to serve the Maous' descendants in their objective of World Dominance, believing that doing so would only bring about the extinction of Devilkind.
Although these two factions did not openly battle each other, they remained wary.
Of course, the Maou Faction barely regarded the 72 Pillars as a threat and expected them to submit, but the Anti Maou Faction stayed highly vigilant, looking for the perfect opportunity to start an uprising in order to overthrow the rule of the Maou Faction.
In that tense atmosphere, with an undercurrent of civil war slowly building, the major Devil Houses and those who had not joined either faction were under immense pressure. They faced a stark choice: join one side and fight for it, or risk annihilation.
Mephisto Pheles, although not the head of a House but still a formidable figure, also found himself cornered by this dilemma. He was expected to either submit to the Maou Faction and wage war against the entire world, or join the Anti Maou Faction and support their uprising.
However, Mephisto Pheles, who had no interest in wars or conflicts, was reluctant to choose either side. Both factions, growing impatient with his neutrality, left him with little time to decide.
But even under all that pressure, Mephisto Pheles chose not to ally with either faction, rather chose to establish an entirely new faction alongside other prominent Houses with similar mindsets and intentions of not wanting to submit to either of the two factions—thus, the major Households like the Belphegors, Abaddons, Mammons, Naamahs, Igrats, and Eisheth-Zenunims alongside Mephisto Pheles and several minor Households not of the 72 pillars joined hands to form the Extra Demon Faction.
"So, the Extra Demon Faction was founded by Mephisto Pheles and six other Devil Households?" asked Seir.
Sheila explained, "That's correct, and he played a significant part in the founding of the Extra Demon Faction," further adding, "Both the Maou faction and the Anti Maou Faction were takenaback by the sudden emergence of a third faction, thus, the power balance shifted, and the surging undercurrent also slowed down for a while."
"Hmm… I see… both the Maou Faction and the Anti Maou Faction were vigilant of the Extra Demon Faction as they were unsure of their intentions, so they had to slow down and confirm the intentions of the Extra Demon Faction…" mumbled Seir thoughtfully.
"While the Maou Faction didn't care much about the Anti Maou Faction, they had to treat the Extra Demon Faction as a serious threat," Sheila went on. After all, the Devils belonging to the Houses that joined the Extra Demon Faction possess power comparable to the Maou Households and the Six Houses of Lucifer. Individually, they might not pose much of a threat to either the Maou Faction or the 72 Pillars, but working together, they become a force that cannot be taken lightly.
"For a time, both factions tried to gauge the Extra Demon Faction's intentions and attitude, hoping we would join them," Sheila continued. "But since we didn't waver in our neutrality, they eventually left us alone."
The risk in pressuring the Extra Demon Faction too much was that it could drive them to ally with the opposing side—a possibility neither faction wanted to face. As a result, they chose to leave the Extra Demon Faction alone.
"Eventually, the civil war broke out between the Maou Faction and the Anti Maou Faction," Sheila explained. "However, the Households allied with the Extra Demon Faction remained mostly unaffected, as they were able to preserve their way of life in isolation while maintaining enough power and authority to avoid being overtaken by the other major factions."
"I see…" Seir murmured thoughtfully understanding how the Extra Demon Faction came to be and the impact it had on the Underworld. "Then what about the Lucifer Six? The remnants of the Six Houses of Lucifer joined the Extra Demon Faction after the Civil War?"
Taking a sip of her tea, Sheila nodded. "That's correct. Except for the House of Lucifuge—which had only one surviving member after the Civil War—the other five Houses (Satanachia, Agaliarept, Fleurety, Sargatanas, and Nebiros) joined the Extra Demon Faction following the disappearance of the heir of the House of Lucifer."
The Heads of the Lucifer Six faced a dilemma even before the Civil War began. Although they had sworn eternal loyalty to Lucifer, they knew that even if the Maou Faction emerged victorious, their prince—Rizevim Livan Lucifer—would never ascend to the Maou throne. This meant they would be forced to serve the other three Maou Houses, something they found unacceptable. Conversely, if the Maou Faction lost, they risked losing their domains, being banished, or even executed as war criminals. It was a predicament with no apparent solution—and matters only went downhill from there for the Lucifer Six.
During the conflict, the Lords of Fleurety and Agaliarept were taken prisoner, while the head of Lucifuge perished alongside the rest of that House. Meanwhile, the Lord of Nebiros disappeared into some unknown corner of the Underworld in pursuit of his research, leaving behind only the Lords of Sargatanas and Satanachia. Their worst fears came true when the Maou Faction ultimately lost the Civil War.
In that situation, the remaining five Houses would have disappeared just like Lucifuge, if not for the intervention of the older Devils in the Extra Demon Faction.
"The older Devils from the Extra Demon Faction intervened? But why?" Seir asked in surprise. He hadn't expected the Extra Demons to get involved despite their isolationist tendencies, not to mention to Six Houses of Lucifer.
"There were multiple reasons," Sheila explained, "but one of the main ones was to maintain a balance against the Anti-Maou Faction—which later broke into the New Maou Faction—and the Great King Faction." She then urged Seir to think it through. "Consider this: while the Maou Faction was on the brink of losing the civil war and most of its power, essentially getting pushed to the edges of the Underworld. On the other hand, the Anti-Maou Faction was on the verge of taking control. Although we remained neutral and adhered to our isolationist policies, the fact that we were not loyal to the Anti-Maou Faction remains unchanged… Even if there is no direct conflict, some bad feelings will remain. And now that the Anti-Maou faction was coming to power, naturally, they wouldn't be able to tolerate our non-interference and isolationism. True, they'd have no legitimate grounds to target us, we would still be a thorn in their side. In that scenario, it would return to a two-faction system—the New Maou Faction pitted against the Extra Demon Faction—and further conflict would be inevitable. We didn't want that…"
"I see," Seir murmured, grasping Sheila's explanation. "So by making sure the entire Maou Faction wasn't wiped out, a system of checks and balances was established to protect the Extra Demon Faction."
Sheila nodded. "Exactly. During the final negotiations between the Maou Faction and the Anti-Maou Faction at the end of the Devil Civil War, we acted as a neutral party. We accepted the terms of the Anti-Maou Faction and recognized the four wartime heroes of the Civil War as the second-generation Maous. In return for granting that recognition, we ensured the survival of the remaining members of the Maou Faction—including the remnants of the Maou Households and the last five Houses of Lucifer. We also extended an invitation for those remnants to join the Extra Demon Faction."
"To the Maou Households as well?" asked Seir curiously.
She gave a slight shrug, nodding, "Well, the Houses of Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus refused our offer, but the five remaining Houses of Lucifer accepted and joined the Extra Demon Faction."
"The prince of Lucifer had vanished from the Underworld, the House of Lucifuge was destroyed, and the only remaining Lucifuge had betrayed the Maou Faction by joining the Anti-Maou Faction and becoming a maid of the House of Gremory. At the same time, most of their leaders were either dead or missing. In that situation, if they continued aligning themselves with the Maou Faction, they would have no choice but to continue to serve Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus—something that would have been unacceptable to them. On top of that, they would also end up losing their domains and being pushed to the outskirts of the Underworld alongside the Beelzebub, Leviathan, and Asmodeus," Seir murmured thoughtfully. "By joining the Extra Demon Faction, they could avoid those problems. So, I guess the choice was easy for them."
In fact, from the very beginning, because of Rizevim's uninterest, the Lucifer-Six, save for the House of Lucifuge, did not put their everything into the Civil War so they hadn't lost everything despite their defeat and it was possible for them to continue their existence.
"It helped greatly that the four War Heroes of the Anti-Maou Faction were pacifists and supported our terms, aiming to prevent unnecessary bloodshed and end the Civil War as quickly as possible," Sheila added. "Meanwhile, the House of the Great King and the Arch Duke were worried about the threats posed by the Fallen Angels and Angels, and they needed to restore order and governance to the Underworld as soon as possible. As a result, there wasn't much resistance when we presented our terms, and they readily accepted them in order to form a new government body, with the four War Heroes ascending as the new Maou."
"I see…" Seir nodded. While he knew about the causes of the Civil War, how it played out, and what happened afterward—albeit from a different viewpoint—he was now hearing the story from an Extra Demon's perspective, which was quite enlightening.
Learning how the Extra Demon Faction formed, the impact it had on the Underworld, and how it evolved into its current state intrigued Seir. Despite their isolationist and non-interference stance and the fact that they did not directly participate in the Civil War, the Extra Demons still played a considerable role in shaping the events that followed.
Over the years, the politics of the Underworld has become far more complicated than it was before, with many more factions emerging here and there some lobbying for the rights of the Reincarnated Devils, some wanting to support the Low Class and Middle-Class Devils, some wanting for the descendants of the Original Maous to return to the throne of Maou meanwhile others simply looking out for themselves, but even among all these factions, the Extra Demon Faction, with more than two dozen major and minor Devil Households part of it, stands as one of the three major factions in the Underworld alongside the New Maou Faction—now simply known as the Maou Faction—and the Great King Faction.
While it's true that the Extra Demons still prefer to keep to themselves and maintain distance from the new government, it would be wrong to say they lack political power or military. After all, figures such as Roygun Belphegor, Bedeze Abaddon, Rudiger Rosenkreutz, and the Blaze Meteor Dragon King Tannin—all of whom rank in the Top 10 of the Rating Games—have demonstrated remarkable prowess, further cementing the faction's influence in the hearts of the populace.
'Wasn't it stated somewhere that members of the Extra Demon Households must sever ties with their families if they wish to participate in the Rating Games? Yet these major figures—all of whom are prominent Rating Game players—are still considered part of the Extra Demon Faction… Why is that? Perhaps there's more to this cut-ties issue than I'm aware of.'
With that thought, Seir murmured to himself, "I guess I'll have to think more about this…"
After all, he has no intention of cutting ties with his Household, and despite that, he wishes to participate in the Rating Games to have some fun, therefore, he does need to investigate this matter a little more thoroughly.
As Seir made his decision, Sheila drew back his attention, "Now let's talk about each of the households that are part of the Extra Demon Faction along with their traits… starting with Abaddon… it's…"
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Nightshade Garden, Belphegor Castle – somewhere in the Belphegor Domain, Underworld
Malakarion and Sephie were enjoying their daily ritual of having yet another cup of tea when Belmont, carrying a tray, suddenly approached the gazebo and greeted them with a respectful bow. "My Lord… My Lady…"
Malakarion looked up at him curiously. "What is it, Belmont?"
Sephie also turned her attention to the butler, absently twirling her teaspoon in her tea.
Belmont set the tray on the square table, took two letters from it, and handed them to Malakarion. "We received these two letters from the House of Abaddon," he said. "One is addressed to the Head of the Belphegor Household, and the other is addressed to you, my Lord."
"Hm? To me?" Malakarion murmured in surprise, taking the letters from Belmont's hand. Each letter had a different envelope, and as he glanced at the one addressed to the Head of the Belphegor Household, he noted, "This one must be the invitation to the Extra Demon Gathering…"
Since the House of Abaddon was responsible for organizing this year's Extra Demon Gathering, Malakarion was certain that the letter was an invitation. However, the other letter, the one addressed to him, piqued his curiosity. "I wonder why Moros Abaddon would send me a letter…"
After all, Malakarion was no longer the Head of the Belphegor Household, so receiving correspondence from the current Head of the Abaddon House felt rather unexpected.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Malakarion said with a shrug as he set aside the invitation letter and decided to open the one addressed to him.
Opening the envelope, he removed the letter and began to unfold it. As he unfolded it, a piece of parchment slipped out and fell onto the table.
Sephie picked it up, frowning. "This is…" She realized it was a portrait of a little girl with blonde hair and green eyes. Glancing at it in confusion, she asked, "Why would Lord Abaddon send a child's portrait?" Of course, she had considered a possibility, but she wasn't entirely sure about it, "Is it for…"
"I see… so this is his intention," Malakarion murmured, scanning the letter.
"What does the letter say?" Sephie asked, curious.
"Better you read it for yourself," Malakarion replied, handing her the letter. "It concerns Seir."
"Concerns Seir?" Sephie repeated, taken aback. She hurriedly read through the letter before her eyes widened, "This is indeed…" She turned her gaze back to the portrait of the little girl with blonde hair and green eyes, whispering, "A marriage proposal…"
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Author's Note:
That's it for this Chapter. Enjoy reading it.
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