AN: Hello, my fellow readers, how are you all doing?

  First, I'm sorry for the dey in posting this chapter. For some reason, I couldn’t log in QQ yesterday, so even if the chapter was ready, I wasn’t able to post it.

  Now, I have some quite good news. I finally got all the achievements for Space Marine 2, and I am pretty happy about it. It took me since I got my new PC, pying it from time to time, and I just finished it yesterday. It was very fun, and I totally recommend the game.

  Now, the Question of the week:

  Which is your favorite css of D&D?(Homebrew counts, just don’t overdo it.)

  ~Serafall Leviathan~

  -Outside World-

  A week after the Kashino Batting Center Event.

  Serafall was tired, exceptionally so. After an entire week of negotiations, they were barely halfway done. And that damn pink Kitsune keep trying to talk her in loops –and she was succeeding.

  Plopping down onto a very comfortable leather sofa in the underworld, the Leviathan looked at her fellow Satan and longtime friend from the corner of her eye. “Your brother is as much of a headache as you are, Zechs.”

  The Crimson Satan chuckled awkwardly. “In my defense, he has only gotten like this recently. Before he was…” Sirzechs stopped, unwilling to use that type of nguage to describe his brother, no matter how accurate it was.

  “Yeah, yeah, everyone knows how the Little Crimson was.” Serafall dismissed the worried brother's reluctance. “~Why couldn’t he have become a dreamer at a better time?” she whined petuntly, letting up a little bit of her Magical Girl’s persona shine through. “~Do you have any idea how annoying it is to negotiate with a Kitsune?” She whined even harder. “~A nine-tailed Divine one to boot?”

  Sirzechs deadpanned. “I am perfectly aware, Sera.” He massaged his temples, and some very frustrating memories came to the surface. “I was the one who helped you with the initial treaty, remember?”

  Serafall stopped her mini trantrum in teh sofa. “Oh, yeah. You were there…” she mumbled absently. “I only remembered calling my big, angry, red stick… not you.”

  The strongest Devil massaged his temples; “Serafall, just because my contact is saved on your cellphone as Big-Angry-Red-Stick, that doesn’t mean– you know what, I give up. You win this one, Sera.” Sirzechs slumped, exhaustion from his training in the Dimensional gap, and watching over his sleeping brother started getting to him.

  “~Hehehehe, it took you long enough to recognize my magnificence.” The Magical Girl puffed up her chest proudly.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night.” Sirzechs dismissed the smugness radiating from his friend.

  “~Ne, Zechs. How is–” Before Serafall could continue, she was interrupted by two teleportation circles coming to life in the room. Both Satans briefly sent a gnce towards said circles, but knowing only four people in the entire underworld had the key to the wards that protected this pce, they were not worried.

  A tired Falbium and a frowning Ajuka entered the room. Falbium instantly plopped down on a couch, his tired countenance that much more prominent than normal. While Ajuka just sighed and sat on a chair in the corner, his mind focused elsewhere.

  “Nice! Everyone is finally here~” Serafall celebrated in a sing-song tone.

  Ajuka briefly looked at the Satan leviathan and decided to go directly to the point. “What’s the matter, Sera? Why did you call all of us here?” Falbium just released a tired grunt of agreement, while Sirzechs simply observed.

  “ ~Awwwnnn, not even one; ‘How are you doing, my beautiful Magical Girl?’ or maybe even a ‘Your beauty is so Yuri-yuri today? Did you and Sona-tan finally-”

  “Serafall, please.” Falbium interrupted, his voice having a very characteristic, zy, and tired drag. “We are very busy people. Don’t start.”

  Serafall pouted. “~Fineeee. If you all want to be boring, then…” She sighed and waved her hands, summoning a small teleportation circle that briefly shone before depositing a small metallic container on the table in the middle of the room.

  Ajuka’s eyes instantly zeroed in on the container, his eyes shining with the telltale of an uncountable number of scanning spells. Surprised, he turned towards Serafall. “Did you…”

  Serafall's smirk turned completely smug, and she lifted her chest proudly. “Of course I did. Who do you think I am?”

  Ajuka nodded at his fellow Satan seriously before waving his hand and bringing the container before him. The container then briefly shone in a green light before opening at the top. From inside, Ajuka removed a gss vial containing a single drop of blood.

  At first gnce, the blood seemed completely ordinary. But Ajuka knew it was far from being so.

  “Marvelous. To think humans would develop a crystal completely capable of sealing such an absurdly strong Dragon Aura.” Mumbled the scientist, a little lost in his own world.

  Sirzechs raised his eyebrows towards Serafall. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Serafall's smugness grew by a few factors. “Yup.”

  Frowning a little, Falbium looked at his friends, confused. “Am I missing something?”

  Serafall widened her eyes in realization. “~Oh, yeah. You were busy in talks with Tiamat at the time, so you didn’t get Juka’s expnation.”

  Falbium raised his eyebrows at the scientist, who seemed to still be lost in his own world, examining the drop of blood. “Did you guys at least share the document on our network?”

  Serafall deadpanned at her bald friend. “Fabi, since when do you read the shared documents?”

  “I do every 15 days or so.” Falbium scratched his head, still lying on the couch. “I was going to do it tomorrow…”

  Serafall nodded slowly. “So let me save you a few hundred pages of bullshit.” The Leviathan cleared her throat. “Basically, Juka here has been quite curious about the Yakuza’s new shittick.”

  “The Humanoid Dragon stuff?” Asked Falbium, more for the sake of progressing the conversation, as both already knew the answer.

  “Yup. We all know just how obsessed he was with it.” Serafall hummed. “And not for nothing, as the Evil Pieces were the only artefact in the world capable of changing someone’s species until the Yakuza devised this operation of theirs.”

  “Yeah, I remember he always wanted to meet the genius behind the project.” Falbium nodded. “Wanted to recruit him in his peerage even, but never in a million years would the Yakuza and Yokai allow such a person to get out of their grasp.” Ajuka continued ignoring everything, his focus fully on the drop of blood.

  “If I am not mistaken, he theorized the Yakuza came in contact-”

  “They found the remains of a Dragon God, somehow.” Ajuka interrupted Falbium sharply. “I don’t know any precise details, but roughly around 50 years ago, give or take a decade or two after the end of World War 2, the Yakuza—much like the Japan of that time—was in full recovery mode from the war. There was also the Economic booms, technology boom, etc, etc, etc.”

  “With such boons backing them, they started to expand, including towards the Asian Tigers surrounding them.” Ajuka waved his hand and created a projection of Japan from 50 years ago and its many expeditions. “In an expedition towards South Korea—founded by the Yakuza, of course—the captain felt a bad premonition, so he decided to go through another route.”

  “In this new route, the expedition ended up finding a strange isnd.” Ajuka closed his eyes and sighed; the projection summoned by him dispyed an ERROR 404 message. “Sadly, I know little, if anything, about said isnd. All that I know is that since finding that isnd, the Yakuza has never been the same.” Ajuka waved his hand and dissipated his projection. “What was before a mostly mundane organization, with little to no contact with the supernatural, bar Ki Circution Techniques, turned into a powerhouse capable of competing against some top organizations of the Moonlit World.”

  Sirzechs frowned. “But how come you couldn’t find such an isnd? Did you go personally to check?”

  Ajuka nodded. “I did.” He sighed in frustration. “I’ve investigated the whole area as thoughtfully as possible, even scanning the bottom of the ocean, tectonic ptes, space, literally everything. And found absolutely nothing. For all intents and purposes, such an isnd has never existed…”

  “But that has to do with this drop of blood there.” Falbium pointed at the metallic container. “And how does it connect with the Humanoid Dragons?”

  “Once again,” Ajuka sighed in frustration. “I am not 100% sure,” he then briefly closed his eyes. “But I strongly believe what the Yakuza found on that mysterious isnd was the remains of an incredibly powerful dragon, a Dragon I suspect was a Dragon God.” Everyone in the room drew a sharp breath. Serafall and Sirzechs may already know this info, but that didn’t make it any less shocking, no matter how many times they’ve heard it.

  “Then Doctor Ryujin appeared.” Ajuka sighed loudly. “He is the man I’ve been trying to get in contact with for the st decades.” The green-haired Demon massaged his temples. “But I’ve never gotten an answer, I don’t know how. But he managed to achieve the same thing as me, convert someone completely unreted into another species.”

  “I specute that by studying the blood and the remains of a Dragon God, Dr. Ryujin developed the Humanoid Dragon Operation.” Ajuka rexed on his couch, a small, satisfied smile on his face. “And since I couldn’t enter into contact with him, I decided to get the next best thing.” Ajuka pointed at the blood sample.

  Falbium nodded his head slowly and pointed at the sample. “So that is the blood of a Dragon God, huh…” The Demon shuddered. “I wonder what could have killed it…”

  Everyone felt an absurd chill go down their spines. That’s a question with a very scary answer, an answer no one wanted to find out in their lifetime.

  Seeing the heavy air that took over their talk, Sirzechs decided to break the ice. “So, are you trying to replicate the Yakuza Humanoid Dragon Operation, ajuka?”

  The green-haired Demon made a so-so gesture with his hand. “Not exactly,” he combed his hair back with his hand. “But I wouldn’t say no to such a discovery. Albeit, my main objective is to see if I can improve the Devil’s potential as a species by introducing a few traits from this sample.”

  Sirzechs deadpanned. “Simple stuff then?” Ajuka nodded.

  “Albeit I want to improve Devils, not give them a Dragon Factor.” The scientist shook his head. “In a way, our species already has a potential on par with Dragons, so the improvements would be mostly for the sake of flexibility… I think.”

  “Juka, you know not everyone can become a Demon…” Serafall pointed out softly.

  “Incorrect. Every Devil has the potential to evolve into a Demon. They just require enough commitment and luck.” Correct the Demon robotically. Serafall just sighed before her expression did a 180. “~Where are my thanks, Juka-Tan?” she asked in a very annoying sing-song voice.

  Ajuka mechanically turned towards his friend and raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t the reason you were able to extort the Yakuza into giving this sample thanks to the Gremory Heir?”

  Serafall pouted. “No fair! All little Lucifer did was get beaten up. The negotiation was up to me.~” She then turned to Sirzechs and smiled evilly. “Hey Zechs, could you pester your little bro to get beaten up more? Pretty Please?” She smiled cutely. “You have no idea how many concessions and advantages I was able to get just because-”

  “Stop. Stop.” Sirzechs karate-chopped the Leviathan on the forehead, receiving a cute ‘awawawa’ in response from her. “No way.” Sirzechs frowned. “I won’t have my family members get beaten up for some small advantages.”

  “Wait.” Ajuka stopped the two, a strangely greedy light in his eyes. “She may be out of line, but she is right.” He nodded sagely. “Heir Gremory getting beaten up gave us a Drop of-”

  “No.”

  Sirzechs’ voice echoed, shaking the very foundations of the room, his tone one of firmness and finality. The air was suddenly filled with a strange bck and crimson static, as if it was already being pre-destroyed without the man even commanding it so. The only reason the room didn’t instantly colpse into pulverized atoms was Falbium’s quick action of filling the entire structure with his Trait and protecting it.

  Ajuka and Serafall stopped, the Leviathan already raising her hands apologetically. “Rex, Zechs, it was a joke.” She awkwardly returned to her seat. “Just a joke, Red.” She then sighed, her countenance turning visibly more serious. “No matter how someone looks at it, we can’t be constantly slighted and not retaliate reasonably.”

  She looked at the ceiling, a little lost in thought. “If I didn’t demand something as absurd as a drop of Dragon God’s Blood during my negotiations, the Moonlit World would start to think of us as doormats. Easy to trample and step on.” Serafall's gaze acquired a very dangerous sharpness. “I would kill myself before I let a Duke Heir of the Ars Goetia be treated that way.”

  Differently from Serafall, Ajuka was looking at Sirzechs with an analytical gaze. “For you to lose control of your Destruction like this…” he mumbled deep in thought. “Did you finally?”

  Sirzechs looked at his friends and just smirked knowingly. Before sheepishly scratching his head, “Sorry about the Destruction, Falbium.”

  The Bald Demon snorted. “Don’t be, you are Destruction as much as Serafall is Water, and I am Defense.” Falbium rexed for a bit, retracting his Absolute Defense. “Destroying stuff is your nature. Principally, now that you have finally finished evolving.” Sirzechs just smiled and went back to his chair.

  Feeling a change of subjects was in order, the Crimson Demon turned towards Serafall. “What about the Artificial Angel Project investigation, Sera? Any Leads?”

  Serafall perked up at Sirzech’s question. “It is going surprisingly well,” she hummed. “I managed to talk with Pope Strada a few days ago, and both the Church and Heaven are giving their full support to the investigation.”

  Sirzechs raised his eyebrow. “That’s quite surprising. I expected it to only get Michael’s attention, considering the extent he went to stop it the first time. But the church as well…”

  “You’ve gotta admit the Violence of Heaven is really something,” mumbled Falbium from the side. “I’ve heard that since he rose to the seat, the Church has been cleaning house, and there is a lot of stuff to clean.”

  “Oh, they absolutely are.” The leviathan hummed. “Three Archbishops were excommunicated and promptly executed just st week.” Added Serafall almost like an afterthought.

  Falbium raised his eyebrow. “Really? Who?”

  “Albatross Von Hohenheim, Geralt Garbaddan Luxeburgridd, and Francisco Rocha da Silva.” Serafall concluded while looking intently at Sirzechs, who instantly perked up at hearing the st name.

  Seeing the redhead's reaction, Serafall nodded seriously at him. “As you can already guess, Pope Strada made sure to interrogate them all before the execution.” The Leviathan sighed. “Albeit he didn’t get anything useful from most of them.” Serafall massaged her temples. “The moment they were about to blurt anything remotely useful, their hearts would stop, and their brains would suffer an aneurysm.”

  Sirzechs frowned. “That name, Francisco Rocha da Silva… Antares mentioned him when he reported his contract to me.” Sirzechs summoned a stack of papers with the detailed retelling of his little brother’s mission. “Well, he didn’t exactly know his surname. But he said one of the locals mentioned a Bishop called Francisco arrived at the city and ‘took care of things’,” Srizechs made quotation marks with his hands. “Before letting the perpetrator escape.”

  “A perpetrator, I suspect, is not simply an Artificial Angel, but an Artificial Nephalem instead.” Added Ajuka, earning a sharp breath from everyone else present. It has to be said that Nephalems in the Abrahamic pantheon are almost, if not completely, unheard of.

  Liking it or not, Angels and Devils are way too diametrically opposed for them to generate offspring. An Angel’s natural Light Attribute permeates their whole body; said attribute would instantly vaporize any Devil’s genetic material. For such diametrically opposed species to procreate, a miracle of the highest order would be needed, something as big as creating an entire new Longinus from zero.

  Seirzech's frown deepened. “Do you think they–”

  “No, of course not. If that Artificial Angel had been a Nephalem…” Ajuka paused and sighed. “Antares would be dead.” Sirzechs closed his eyes and exhaled. He already knew that, but that didn’t mean he liked to hear it.

  “Did Pope Strada really not get anything from the interrogation, sera?” Asked Sirzechs with a very hopeful tone.

  “Well, there was one thing…” Serafall pursed her lips. “The st guy, Francisco, he had a way stronger body than the other two.” Serafall summoned a dossie and tossed it towards Sirzechs. “His body was just like one of those Super Soldiers from WW2. I suspect he was a subject of an earlier version of Project Sigurd called Project Heracles.”

  “Not Perseus, Achilles or Theseus?” Asked Ajuka with a frown of his own. Serafall shook her head, making the green-haired Demon get lost in his own thoughts.

  “Project Heracles is bad news... Wasn’t all of its subjects consumed by Heracles’ Divine Curse of Madness?” Falbium was now frowning as well. He remembered when the Seraphim forcefully stopped the project in the middle of WW2, and the subjects of Project Heracles were deemed simply too dangerous to be kept alive. So all of its survivors were either put down –if they had already lost their minds, or simply send of a remote monastery were they could live the rest of the short lives in peace, for one of them to have escaped the radar like this… it reeked of corruption to Falbium; ‘No wonder Vasco is taking so much time to clean up the church, things were bad.’

  “Not only that, Fab,” Serafall sighed. “Remember how much the real Heracles, the Ascended Greek God of Strenght, got pissed at the church for that one? Heck, I bet he is still pissed at them to this day, if this document leaks…”

  “War,” Falbium said solemnly. Serafall nodded grimly.

  “That name, Albatross Von Hohenheim, I know him.” Ajuka, who finally got out of his funk, said. “If I am not mistaken, he is the direct descendant of Paracelsus Von Hohenheim.” The scientist dusted his clothes. “A genius scientist, almost on par with his ancestor himself. To think he would involve himself with this project… What was he thinking? He was a master of Alchemy that the world hadn’t seen in centuries. Why do this? Why kill himself with this madness?”

  Sirzechs, who finished reading Serafall’s document, turned towards Ajuka. “Was he your friend?”

  The Green Satan shook his head. “No. But we were acquaintances and rivals in the Mosiotropic Arch-Alchemic Materials and Astro-Magical Philosophical Alchemy subjects. We kept trying to one-up each other in the Semestral Alchemy Magazine; it is a pity he is dead. He was one of the few who could keep up with me on the field.”

  “Extremely talented, then,” Sirzechs concluded. “For the church to execute someone with such potential like this… There must be undeniable evidence he was involved in the project.”

  “Now, going back to Francisco, Sera.” Sirzechs massaged his temples.

  “Ah, yeah.” Serafall nodded, almost absently. “Due to his stronger body, Francisco was able to withstand way more from the backsh of whatever security method was impnted on him. It wasn’t enough for much, mind you, as he only got one word out before completely colpsing.”

  “One word?” Falbium mumbled.

  “Yeah, Pope Strada said it was one of the most impressive things he has ever seen. The sheer will for vengeance and spiteness in his tone sent chills down the spine of the Violence of Heaven.”

  “What did he say then?” Asked Sirzechs.

  “Nothing much, really, just the name of a Fairy Tale created by ancient Devils.” Shrugged Serafall with a teasing smirk.

  Sirzechs sighed in annoyance. “Not now, Sera.” He reproached in a graver tone. “What did he say?”

  “Sheesh, no need to get destructive on me, Big Red~” She teased, only to receive an annoyed gre from Sirzechs in return. Rolling her eyes, Serafall's smile widened a bit. “He just said–”

  “Qliphoth.”

  .

  .

  .

  ~ Zekram Bael ~

  ~ A week after Antares entered The Tower~

  In the middle of the great Bael territory y an impressive castle. Ancient stone spires older than many empires, enchantments capable of halting an Ultimate Being’s barrage of spells, walls as thick as they are strong, and riches beyond even the wildest mortal’s imagination.

  The castle was vast, incredibly so. So vast, in fact, that it eclipsed many castles ever built by mortals and many immortals' hands. It showed such opulence and luxury that it caused envy even in the strongest waste from the Jade Court. It was fancy, it was expensive, and it was mighty –a pce truly worthy of one of the Kings of Hell.

  At the center of this grandiose castle, inside one of the tallest and rgest towers, there was an office. This office was simply a cut above the rest. If the other rooms inside the castle could be considered the height of luxury and opulence, this office was even more so.

  Supernatural metals made the frames of the chairs, legendary wood was used as building material for simple furniture, mystical jewels, lost art pieces, weapons, and the list goes on, a decoration so expensive it wouldn’t be wrong to say this office alone could buy an entire nation.

  At the back of the office, there was a rather big table. On top of this table, an array of the most delicious human snacks –breaded shrimp, mozzarel sticks, chili fries, buttered popcorn, nuggets, burritos, tacos, pizza rolls, nachos, hamburgers, donuts, poki, ice cream, milkshakes, candy, chocote, pancakes, waffles, bacon and many other foods that could give your average human a heart attack just by looking.

  Behind this table, there was a figure sitting on a presidential chair made of dragon leather and a plethora of other equally extremely expensive materials. This Devil was rather lean, albeit his stylish suit did little to hide the compact muscles; his hair was short and very well done, its color as bck as Nyx's eyes. He had a pair of violet purple eyes that, if Antares were here, he would find extremely familiar. But what was the most impressive about this Devil was his aura –an aura so intense, regal, and powerful, not to dissimir from that of a prehistoric beast of legend.

  The purple-eyed Devil was old, ancient even, and while his body didn’t look to have aged a single day past his prime, his eyes told a very different story –they were weary, tired, and dull, as if the indomitable passage of time had long since robbed them of their inner shine.

  The man picked a handful of chili fries and ate them, closing his eyes and savoring their overwhelming taste for a moment.

  “You see, Stevan, if there is one thing those humans–” the man’s tone turned outright mocking when saying the word. “Definitely know, it is how to cook.”

  A male Devil, his features strangely pin, his eyes the color of stale honey, and his hair a disheveled mop, knelt on the ground, the suit that he wore visibly crinkling with the movement. Hearing the good mood in his lord’s tone, Stevan decided to just stay silent and let the older Devil talk.

  “While we Devils kept searching for better and better ingredients,” the man gestured with his arms to the walls, where there was a veritable collection of heads of many different supernatural creatures. “Trying to find the things that could contain the biggest and highest quality amount of mana. Humans–” The man paused briefly once more. “Humans kept improving their cooking skills, trying over and over again to use the same ingredients in many impressive and inventive ways.”

  The man then picked up a donut covered in what appeared to be chocote. “See Nutel, for example, if it wasn’t for some extremely specific conditions caused by World War 2 and a very inventive man, the world would have never discovered something so delicious.” The man took a bite of the Nutel donut.

  “So while their difficult lives, coupled with a ck of access to mana, gave birth to many interesting things,” the man snarled, rage visibly marring his countenance. “We, Devils, the inarguably superior Species, stagnated.”

  Still scowling, the man’s gaze focused on his servant. “Now, expin to me, Stevan. Where is our creativity? Where are our Alexander Gran Bells? Our Henry Fords? Our Walt Disneys? Our Steve Jobs? Our Da Vinci’s?”

  “Answer me, Stevan.” The man started releasing a formless pressure, which started to visibly strain the furniture around him. “Why are we, Devils, dependent on Humans, of all things, to create, to invent for us?”

  “I do not know, sire.” Answered the kneeling man curtly.

  Ignoring the man, the ancient Devil continued. “Some of my brothers and sisters said it was because of the numbers.” He chuckled. “There are simply way more humans than us, so they should have an advantage in that regard.” The man scowled harder. “But aren’t we all ageless? Don’t every single member of our species have an infinite amount of time to learn, discover, and invent at their leisure? That should’ve allowed us to win by a mile.” He clenched his fists. “But we don’t.”

  “We have Lord Beelzebub, Sire.” Pointed out Stevan. “He is an unparalleled genius.”

  The bck haired man hummed. “You are not wrong.” He nodded. “But little Astaroth is just one, while the humans have them by the hundreds.” Eating another handful of chili fries, the stronger Devil chuckled and chuckled, almost bursting out ughing. “Now I understand him, now I know why he called them his masterpiece, why good old Luci felt so much envy towards them. It all makes sense now.”

  Stevan frowned slightly. “Are you talking about–“

  “Of course it is Yahweh.”

  The moment such a name exited the ancient Devil’s mouth, it was like the Holy Light of heaven itself permeated the room for a moment. Stevan screamed, a shrill, agonizing cry of pain –his ears bled, and his eyes cried rivers of blood. The servant convulsed on the ground as if he were having a stroke, a seizure, and an epileptic attack simultaneously.

  Meanwhile, the ancient Devil just rolled his eyes at his Servant’s reaction. He also felt the jolts of pain, the taste of rotten ash in his mouth, but after many millennia of experience and accumuted strength, it was easy for him to rein himself in and resist.

  Ignoring his servant agonizing on the ground, the bck haired Devil picked a handful of buttered popcorn and started drinking a rge soda. His eyes scanned the buffet before him, searching for the next snack he was going to attack –he went for chili fries again; it was his favorite.

  After a few moments of absolutely agonizing pain and torture, Stevan could finally breathe again. Part of him wanted to rage; his Wrath and Pride basically demanded he jumped at the neck of the Devil before him, but his reason, his rationale, stopped him. He knew he would be instantly vaporized if he were to move even a single muscle with hostile intent.

  “Hoh, you recovered a little bit faster this time.” The ancient Devil smiled dully. “Continue like this, and you may soon be able to handle speaking his name. Perhaps even saying it in the Ancient Hebrew tongue as well.”

  Gritting his teeth, Stevan got up and reassumed his kneeling position. Still reeling from the pain from a few moments ago, he couldn’t help but ask. “Why?”

  The older Devil raised an eyebrow, he knew his servant wasn’t questioning him, as he trained him much better than that. “Expin.” He demanded curtly.

  Stevan instantly paled, knowing how his question could be misinterpreted, so he quickly expined himself. “I am profoundly sorry, Lord Bael. This won’t–“

  “Get on with it.” Zekram cut and urged the shivering Devil.

  Stevan took a deep breath. “Why does it hurt so much?” he lowered his head even further. “Why does it hurt so much even when he is dead? Shouldn’t the power of a God fade after he passed on?”

  “You underestimate Gods too much, Stevan.” Zekram ughed. “Gods are special. Higher Dimensional Lifeforms capable of creating miracles with but a thought, concepts given form and shape. They are truly immortal. Gods cannot die.”

  “But I know plenty of Gods who have faded and disappeared from the world.” Stevan frowned and pointed out.

  “Oh, that is a very different matter, Stevan.” Zekram ate another handful of chili fires. “You most likely think this is about faith, right?” Stevan nodded, Zekram smirked, and continued. “Don’t get me wrong, while faith can indeed be responsible for a great part of a God’s strength, it does not sustain them. A god doesn’t fade when they are killed, lose all their believers, or are sealed away under a mountain.” The ancient Devil cleaned his throat and ate a donut. “They fade when they do not want to live anymore.”

  “When a God loses their will to live, their will to manifest and command their Domain –it's when they Fade.” The first Bael sighed. “So as long as they hold their will strong, they will forever walk the earth and the heavens. And yes, if a God fades or dies—if you use a more crude nguage—their creations fade together with them.”

  “But, sire, what about him? He has been gone for such a long time; why hadn’t his creations faded?”

  “That is something I have never understood.” Zekram smiled knowingly. “Since when did people become so idiotic that they lost their ability to think?” he shook his head. “Neither Chronos nor Uranus has died, even with their much worse conditions. So what makes you believe, him, who is many leagues above them, is?”

  “I… but h-he never appeared after the great war? Both the Seraphs, the Devil survivors, and the Grigory confirm they saw him die.” Excimed Stevan in disbelief.

  “Since when did death stop a God?” Zekram ughed. “Much less the Strongest God?”

  “If he is alive… why didn’t he intervene? Why he did nothing when—”

  “That has quite a simple answer, actually,” cut Zekram, still amused. “What is one of the core tenets of his teachings? Freedom. If he intervened in everything that went wrong, he would quickly become a simple dictator. Something he absolutely abhors, as that will kill the Freedom of choice he likes so much.” The Ancient Devil ate another handful of chili fires. “Besides… which father doesn’t want to see his children grow?”

  Blinking owlishly, Stevan looked at his lord. “Children? Wasn’t Jesus—” Stevan flinched. “His only son?”

  Zekram looked at Stevan as if the tter had just insisted that the Earth is ft. “You haven’t studied his work, I take it?”

  Stevan frowned. “Why would I?”

  The ancient Devil now looked at him as if he affirmed the earth is ft, hollow, and the center of the universe. “Know thy enemy?” Zekram probed. “Does that ring you any bells?”

  Stevan wanted to retort, but then he remembered who he was talking with and just nodded in response. Zekram sighed and decided to simply move on.

  “In a way, he considers all of his creations his children. Including humans, who are his masterpiece.” He then turned towards one of the windows and looked outside, an air of nostalgia taking hold of his face. “And what father doesn’t want to see his children standing on their own two feet? To see them spread their wings and fly. And to see that, he needs to get out of the picture for a bit, to let his children face their own problems, regardless of the bumps they may face along the way.”

  “Sire… are you insinuating that he is alive?” Asked Stevan with some trepidation.

  “But he is.” Affirmed Zekram without a shred of hesitation. Stevan stopped, his countenance visibly paling. He completely froze, not knowing how to answer.

  Looking at his paralyzed servant, Zekram sighed, picked a handful of fried shrimp, and ate them, slowly chewing on the delicacy while enjoying its strong fvor.

  Tired of the silence, Zekram cleared his throat, shaking Stevan out of his confusion. “It seems we have gotten into a tangent.” The ancient Devil affirmed. “You came here to give me a report, no?”

  “Ah, yes.” Stevan stammered. “I apologize, sire.” He took a deep breath. “I was able to confirm that Venana’s son did indeed contract the Sleeping Disease.”

  “Oh?” Zekram raised an eyebrow, completely unworried.

  “Do you remember the Kashino Batting Center incident from a week ago?” Asked Stevan politely.

  “Of course,” Zekram nodded while eating a mozzarel stick. “It was, and still is, the talk of the Senate.”

  “Heir Gremory contracted the disease a few hours ter.” Stevan pursed his lips. “He has not shown signs of awakening since.”

  “That’s expected. The Sleeping Disease is a mystery that remains unsolved.” Zekram sipped on his Coke. “I am just surprised my descendant managed to hide the information for so long…”

  “The information wasn’t hidden by Lord Lucifer’s orders, sire,” Stevan informed pinly. “Lord Beelzebub was the one to suppress it, but not actively.”

  “Not suppressing the news of his own brother… I don’t believe it, Stevan.” Zekram turned a zy gaze towards the table, searching for his next snack. “Do we know why?”

  “One of the Maids training under Lady Lucifuge overheard something about ‘Training’, but nothing more.”

  “Training… that’s a surprise coming from fake Lucifer.” Zekram hummed, his mind going through many scenarios. “Any news about the Familiar Forest incident?”

  “I am afraid there is none, sire.” Stevan lowered his head.

  “Hmmm… Either those upstarts got really good at hiding information, which I sincerely doubt, considering how extensive our network is, or there is really nothing new about it.” The Great King tapped his fingers rhythmically. “Fg it as Orange 3-Star priority, and move on.”

  “Understood, sire.” Stevan nodded.

  “What about The Brazil Contract?” Asked Zekram curtly.

  “Nothing concrete yet, sire.” Stevan lowered his head even more. “The most recent news is about Lady Leviathan entering into talks with Pope Strada for colboration, but nothing more after that. There was some movement in the Church, but any more information was suppressed tightly.”

  “Hmmm… I told Naberius it would be a really bad idea to go with it, but that idiot rarely listens to me anyway. Now, look at what happened. He only legitimized fake Lucifer's power even more, that idiot.” Zekram mumbled, a small smile on his face. He may have a very strong dislike of the new Satans, but he could still feel proud of just how much his descendant had achieved. “Fg it as Gold 4 Stars, but bump it to Rainbow if it involves something unprecedented.”

  “What about Rizevim and his merry band?” Asked the bck haired Devil absently.

  “Since the Infinity has become more proactive, they’ve been maintaining a low profile, sire.”

  “Good. Fg it as Rainbow 3-Stars, but maintain a strong vigince on them.”

  Stevan froze once more, his eyes gzing over. Knowing his servant was receiving news at this moment, Zekram calmly awaited the process to finish.

  His eyes refocusing, Stevan instantly turned towards his lord. “Sire, I’ve just been informed by one of our agents in the Shimano cn. The Ptinum Dragon of the Yakuza has just fallen with the Sleeping Disease.”

  “Hoh? There is an opportunity right there... Hmm…” Zekram pondered for a moment before deciding. “Contact Futoshi Shimano, say that I accept his offer.”

  “At once, sire.” Stevan agreed and got up, ready to follow his orders. But before exiting the room, he turned back towards his lord. “Before I go, there is some concerning news about Revya Phenex.”

  Zekram stayed silent and signaled for his servant to talk.

  “She has adapted well to the King Piece, and her strength is on the way to reaching the Peak of the Ultimate Css,” Stevan stated pinly. “Her arrogance, however, has grown tremendously, and her campaign to cim her fiancé has gotten even more intense.”

  “How frivolous and idiotic.” Zekram scoffed. “And even after I personally advised her to y low.”

  “Tell Patricia and Gelberd I will be busy this afternoon.” Said Zekram before getting up as well.

  “But what about your meeting with Lord Naberius?” asked Stevan, already moving to open the door for his lord.

  “You can cancel it.” He shook his head. “If that old fossil is smart enough to make his petty schemes against my family, he should be smart enough to clean up his messes as well.”

  “Understood, sire.” Stevan half bowed. “Should I prepare a vehicle?”

  “No, I will simply teleport there.” Zekram hummed and extended his arm, prompting Stevan to summon an overcoat and carefully help his lord don it.

  “Well, it has been quite a while since I visited my Granddaughter and my great-grandkids,” Zekram mumbled while teleporting away.

  .

  .

  .

  AN: Another Chapter comes to an end.

  In this chapter, I mostly focused on what is happening outside.

  I did my best to represent my version fo the Stans and Zekram. With the satans, I tried my best to show a group of very long-time friends.

  Zekram is one of my first attempts at a much more complex character. He is old—extremely old, perhaps even older than a few gods—and very few things truly motivate or excite him at this point.

  Now, the talk about the gods. Something that always gripped me in these stories we have around is just how weak the gods are. Like… you give a couple of beings the title of god, and thethers their entire existence to humans and faith? It always sounded… incomplete? Lacking? to me. So I decided to go with this approach, gods, as described in the myths, are immortal, faith only strengthens/empowers them, not dictate if they exist or not.

  There are many other revetions to talk about in this chapter, but I bet no one is here to read me yap. So I will end things here.

  Answer:

  My Favorite Css is definitely wizard, bar none.

  But Sorcerer, Padin, and Barbarian also hold a special pce in my heart. Don’t know about many homebrew csses tho, but I always had this personal headcannon that when a Wizard gets powerful enough, they should also be sorcerers as well, like… You immersed yourself in magic your whole life, and after a while, it changed your body to be part magic as well. Don’t know if that exists in a way, but I always thought this sounded cool.

  ~ClearSkySage