This story is back! I kind of hit a wall with it a while back, but I've come to a new resolution. I was having trouble telling a decent story while trying to cram smut into almost every chapter, so I'm going to scale back the sex scenes a little bit. Fox to Phenex has proven that there's an audience for that. This'll probably be smuttier than Fox to Phenex but less than this story was in the beginning.
In a dimly lit room that wasn’t short of lavish, a handsome man with green hair clapped.
Along with him, there were three other people in the room, and one was sleeping. Slowly, his best friend joined him in clapping, doing so less enthusiastically.
“What a fascinating rating game!” Ajuka said. “I’ve never seen one quite like it!”
“It was a vicious method of doing things,” Sirzechs said mildly.
“Yet ingenious,” Ajuka said. “I wonder what that technique was. Not mind control. Diodora’s peerage is still conscious, they just turned on him. I did sense something strange about them when they were searching for Harry.”
“Searching for him while he enjoyed the company peerage on a live broadcast,” Sirzechs said.
“Yes. It’s just like what you told me about the ball,” Ajuka said. “He’s sending a message. We’ve yet to see the limits of what he can do. I knew this already, but that man is no human magician. I’m not even certain he’s a man. Within that handsome vessel, there is SOMETHING…”
“Dangerous?” Sirzechs asked.
“Very. Just ask Serafall. But he’s clearly not some mindless beast that would lash out at random.”
Sirzechs didn’t answer, looking at the seat next to him. The beautiful young woman with black hair in twin tails was watching the screen intently. Sirzechs let out a relieved breath when he realized she wasn’t going to throw a tantrum. She didn’t even seem like she’d heard what Ajuka said.
“Serafall?” Sirzechs said. Although it was good that she wasn’t acting out, she was watching the screen a little bit too intently. “Are you alright?”
She stood up, grabbing her wand. Quickly, Serafall went to the teleportation circle at the back of the room and disappeared.
“Did she just—” Sirzechs said.
“She isn’t traveling to the arena,” Ajuka said. “I crafted this one personally. Without my permission, no one can get into this part of the dimensional gap. Only the participating Kings and their peerages are occupying the space. Well, I guess that’s just one King, now.”
Ajuka chuckled.
Sirzechs did not share his mirth right now. He put a hand on his forehead and leaned back in his seat. The position that he took was reminiscent of Falbium Asmodeus, the fourth Satan who was snoring in the last chair.
“This is going to be an enormous mess,” Sirzechs said.
“Diodora’s peerage are not the only ones Harry messed with,” Ajuka said. “Somehow, his spells were able to disrupt the systems we have in place to alert us when there’s mortal danger. To manage to kill a rating game participant in a way that didn’t involve a single overwhelming strike. Obviously, your power of destruction could make a weak devil vanish before they understood what was happening. It’s much more difficult, even unprecedented, to manage to kill someone in a slow way, such as a multitude of stabs.”
“You sound way too excited.” Sirzechs glared. “You know WE are going to be the ones dealing with the fallout for this, right? A precious devil of the 72 pillars just died in front of us to a reincarnated devil, within the rating game system we established. The Astaroth Family are going to want concessions.”
“Perhaps they will.” Ajuka was staring at the members of Diodora’s peerage. “However, they were once my family. My word still carries a lot of weight in their ears.”
“You don’t seem very upset by Diodora’s death.”
“I’ve met Harry,” Ajuka said. “As you know, I understand things very easily. While I cannot tell you WHAT he is, I have a firm grasp of WHO he is. He’s the kind of man who’s fond of retribution. He acts decisively… But he isn’t cruel. I’m certain there was a reason for what we just watched. I even think I know where to start looking.”
He was focused on Diodora’s peerage. After killing their master with their own hands, they had frozen. Some of them were down on their knees. A few were laying flat on their backs. Most of them were staring at their own hands in a way. Gradually, all of them had begun to cry. Harry stayed with them, offering a comforting hand on the shoulder of each of them, one at a time. The harsh face he had been making while confronting Diodora Astaroth was gone.
“The Astaroth Family aren’t the main problem,” Sirzechs said.
“No, they aren’t,” Ajuka said.
“He’s not going to stay still after this.”
“I agree with you. That crafty old bastard has always been sharp when the time comes,” Ajuka said. “Ever since the war, that’s been the case. However, from your tone, it seems you’re thinking of this wrong.”
Sirzechs sat up in his chair. “Oh? How so?”
“It seems you think the Bael Clan will want Harry destroyed,” Ajuka said. “That does make sense. He killed a precious devil, one who was already under their devil. He’s a reincarnated devil. Worse, he is a reincarnated devil with a menacing amount of power. That goes against many of the things they have spent decades preaching. And yet… Do you really think Zekram Bael will want someone like that destroyed?”
“No,” Sirzechs said after a long moment looking at the screen. “He’ll want to control that power.”
They were both silent for a bit.
“That doesn’t worry me any less,” Sirzechs said.
“On that, I can’t settle your nerves,” Ajuka said. “I agree completely. But I trust that Harry will make things difficult for the coot.”
LINE BREAK
When they left the rating game arena, all who had participated appeared in a grassy field within the underworld. Harry’s peerage members were dressed again. Waiting for them were Rias, Akeno, and a crowd of devils who seemed to be medical staff, all of whom immediately rushed to Diodora’s peerage.
Rias threw herself at Harry and hugged him. “You! You! You’re impossible!”
“My ‘Arry does like to be ‘ard to predict,” Fleur said.
“Well I certainly enjoyed this show,” Akeno said. “I enjoyed it very much.” She licked her lips.
“I told you all that there was no reason to worry,” Harry said.
“If this was your plan, why even bother with a training camp!? Rias said, looking up with her arms still wrapped around him.
“It’s always good to get stronger,” Harry said, stating the obvious. “It could help next time. Doing it this way gave everyone plenty of motivation.”
While the girls continued to talk, Harry turned to watch as Diodora’s peerage members were led away. He scanned his surroundings and spotted two new arrivals.
Actually, he noticed them before his eyes landed on them. As soon as they showed up, their heavy presences were pretty hard to miss.
Ajuka and Sirzechs were unaccompanied for now. This seemed to be a restricted area. Wherever the crowd had been watching from was close enough that Harry could distantly hear the noise they were producing. He stepped out of Rias’s grasp and apparated to Sirzechs and Ajuka to save time.
His immediate appearance made Sirzechs lift an eyebrow. Ajuka started muttering to himself, his eyes alight, trying to understand the exact nature of the magic he just witnessed.
“Those girls need healing that I’m not sure medics are equipped to give,” Harry said.
“How so?” Sirzechs asked.
Harry relayed what he had learned about Diodora’s activities. He told them everything from the girls’ pasts as members of the church to the various ways that Diodora broke them. He explained how Diodora appeared on his radar and the intent the devil had toward Daphne.
By the time that Harry finished, Sirzechs and Ajuka both looked serious.
“He crossed the line,” Sirzechs said. “While we’ve had to make concessions to the old factions and given the pillars more leeway than we would have liked, Diodora is beyond what can be allowed.
“Was,” Harry said.
“Yes, he’s gone now. Although the problem might not be fully rectified,” Ajuka said. “Now, Harry, what I want to know is how you convinced his peerage to turn on him. Magics of the mind are notoriously troublesome to deal with.”
Harry sighed. He slid a hand through his hair. It wouldn’t be long before more people joined them and he wanted to wrap this conversation up before that happened. “I didn’t fix their minds, if that was what you’re wondering. I used two spells. The first one is called a cheering charm. It doesn’t create true happiness, it just creates a facsimile of the emotion. Still, for those women, it was an unfamiliar feeling. The other spell was a compulsion charm. You can think of that one as a spell to weaken self control.”
“It makes people act on what they want to do,” Ajuka said, rubbing his chin. “Whereas, without the spell, they might be too nervous, afraid, or shy to act on their impulses. Is that correct?”
“Exactly,” Harry said. He took a moment to look warily at Ajuka. “You understand things way too fast, did you know that? I feel like soon, you’ll know everything about me.”
Ajuka chuckled. “You’ve held onto your secrets for much longer than most do, actually!”
That didn’t make him any less scary, no matter how friendly his smile was.
Nearby, Grayfia appeared. She wasn’t alone, either. In fact, there was a whole group with her. One of them wore a kimono and Harry had seen him before. He was part of Sirzechs’ peerage; a Knight, unless Harry was mistaken.
The others were a less familiar sight, even though Harry didn’t recognize the majority of them. It was clear who they were just because of who was walking in front of them. Zekram Bael had his hands behind his back and wore a deceptively relaxed smile. He could almost pass for an ordinary old man. His purple eyes did a lot to ruin that impression.
He walked up to Harry and two Satans with characteristic calm.
“I admit, things took an unexpected direction today,” Zekram said. “You had something behind your confidence!”
Some of the devils behind Zekram had hate in their eyes. Oh, they did their best to hide it. They were in the presence of their leaders, after all. Harry just saw it anyway. These must have been the leaders of other clans, those particularly closely aligned with Zekram and the Bael Clan. In other words, the leaders of the conservative faction.
“I told you I would prove myself,” Harry said.
“You proved your power, certainly,” Zekram said. “Was there a need to take it so far against such a young boy?”
Harry hadn’t spotted anyone amongst Zekram’s entourage that shared Diodora’s features, nor was there anyone who looked particularly angry compared to the rest, so Harry was relatively confident that Lord Astaroth wasn’t present.
“Diodora Astaroth was guilty of severe crimes,” Ajuka said. “Although they’ve come to light recently, he took things too far. He can hardly have complaints about how things turned out.”
“What crimes merit such an execution?” demanded a devil with grey hair and smooth skin.
“Execution, Lord Barbatos?” Ajuka said. “You’re mistaken. That was a rating game. They can be dangerous, no matter how many protections we put in place. Sometimes, things turn out like this. If Diodora had been wiser, he would have watched his words and actions while trapped in such a space with a far more powerful being.”
“More powerful?” Lord Barbatos said. “He didn’t do a thing!”
Ajuka sighed. Zekram looked over his shoulder, staring at Lord Barbatos. The devil immediately shut up. The fact that Harry had overwhelmed rating game protections to accomplish what he had was recognized by anyone who was thinking rationally. Even if Harry didn’t attack anyone himself, he facilitated the entire situation, a feat that was MORE impressive than if he had simply blasted Diodora into unconsciousness.
“I do wonder,” Zekram said. “Should you be talking this way, Lord Beelzebub? Even if you have cast the name away, Diodora belonged to the family you once did. The two of you shared blood.”
“And his foolish way of living caused his to end up spilled,” Ajuka said casually. “He used blood and tears to make his peerage. That was his crime, you know? Seducing, twisting, and torturing women of the church until they were in the image he wished. Further investigation will be required to see how high up within the church his servants once were. His actions could even have risked reigniting the Great War, though I imagine that’s not the case. He would have been overwhelmed had he targeted anyone truly important.”
“Is it such a crime to target foolish nuns?” Zekram said. “They ARE our enemies, if you remember.”
“The crime I care about is that he threatened my Bishop,” Harry said. “I think that his last words were telling me to bring my wife out and hand her over for his amusement, along with the rest of my peerage. Ah, wait! That’s wrong.” Harry grimmed. “His last words were, ‘I retire! I retire! I retire!’”
Harry’s shadow rippled slightly, something that only Zekram and Ajuka noticed. Sirzechs was definitely aware of the phenomenon too, he just stepped in to resolve the situation.
With a friendly (if political) smile, Sirzechs interjected between Zekram and Harry.
“I think we’ve said all we can for the moment, don’t you think? Only time will give us the full picture. What’s known is that rating games aren’t just sporting events. Anyone who enters one knows there’s a possibility of death. Behavior is important as well. Words used carelessly can have a great effect. Ajuka will meet with Lord Astaroth and deal with his clan personally. He’s always been an intelligent and reasonable man.”
“A fair resolution,” Zekram said. “I’ve just one more thing to do, then.”
He moved directly between the two Satans, a move that was right on the verge of being disrespectful. Sirzechs tracked his movements with his eyes; Ajuka did the same in a lazier manner. However, there was no threat. Zekram Bael was offering Harry a handshake.
“It is good to have a devil of your caliber in the Underworld,” Zekram said.
Harry took the devil’s hand. The grip was crushing. Physical strength had never been Harry’s forte, so he just did his best to resist. He couldn’t help wincing slightly.
“I can’t wait to make an impact,” Harry said.
“Yes,” Zekram said. “I’m sure that you’ll be busy.”
That might have been a threat, if you squinted.
But then, Harry’s words were in the same boat.
What was certain was that the Underworld would soon be shaken up.
And, unbeknownst to either of them, a certain Scottish castle was in very much the same boat.