DXD SI : Chapter 11 : Ajuka Astorath - Inventor Extraordinaire and antisocial...

New Lilith

–Magdaran Bael–

He didn't know what he was expecting, but a stereotypical lobby, just with the much darker undertones, as was the norm in the Underworld, was not it. The long hallway, the seats for waiting, and a table at the end of the hallway with a pretty Devil manning it.

Even the computers were the same, it was just that they were of the magical variety, with holographic screens instead of real monitors and gesture based control instead of keyboard and mice. Okay, they were not the same as the computers, but the underlying concept was similar.

He ignored the feeling of being scanned by strong wards as he was used to them from his time in the Bael Compound, not to mention his own experience with casting wards around the places he wanted to keep safe. 

The receptionist looked up and recognised him immediately, “Ah! Bael-sama. You are here for your appointment for Belzebub-sama, right?” 

He noted the way the man spoke without an ounce of fear, despite being only High Class, a stark contrast from what he was used to in the Bael House. It must be nice to have bosses who could be trusted to look after your back.

“Yes.” He confirmed, looking as the man crouched a bit, presumably to look into the screen in front of him. As the man clicked on something, likely a confirmation and alert system, he got out of the space reserved for the Receptionist and gestured to follow him.

Even before he reached the elevator, he saw yet another devil approaching the reception with practiced ease, as if this was routine for them. The astonishing part was that they looked exactly the same. 

He turned to his receptionist, as the man looked at him with a knowing smile, “That is my twin, sir. This way, it helps maintain regularity for any devils coming in.” the man explains, which did not make much sense to him, as Satan Belzebub had far better ways to make people feel safe in the building, but he did not question it all too much. He just chalked it off to another one of the many oddities that the New Statans were known for.

It was impossible to know which direction the Elevator was headed in, likely because of magic. Since these things were actively despised by the Pillar Devils, they represented accessibility for Low Class devils without access to a magic circle that would allow them the efficiency required to cast the teleportation spell. It was a crutch for the weaklings, as he had heard many times in the Bael Compound.

One would think that it was only the main line that would be xenophobic to the reincarnated devils, but no, even the staff in that place shared those views. It was as if that was a requirement to be hired. It also did not help that most of the staff in that place was absorbed by the many Vassal Houses of the Bael House, which gave his House access to a much smaller talent pool, and it wouldn;t take a genius to realise that the Vassal Houses of Bael House shared the same thoughts and even if they didn’t, made sure to keep that in private because Zekram did not suffer traitors, unless they were Super Devils or mothers of Super Devils.

That could also be part of Zekram’s plan, for all he knew, but the man wouldn’t have let Sirzechs out of his sight if he actually knew what the man was going to grow into. Zekram most definitely did not share the New Satan government's ideals but realised that they were the best shot Devils currently had at lasting peace and more importantly, continued existence.

Ajuka might have solved the fertility problem, or rather, pushed it forward, but the solution was not without issues. If they were implemented properly, the issue might not have been as widespread, but since the Devil Senate had to butt their heads in, now on top of the growing resentment from the Reincarnated Devils, there were also the many other supernatural factions that would love nothing more than to see the Devil faction's strength curtailed, including the other Abrahamic factions, Fallens and the Angels

The only reason the world was not actively at war with the Devils was because of the existence of Sirzechs and Ajuka, which come to think of it, might have been in the calculations of Ajuka.

Shaking his head, he tried not to think of the master plans of old fucks like Zekram or superintelligent people like Ajuka. It would just lead him in circles and paralyse him in indecision. He did not have the mental chops to compete with either of them, so the best he could do was  work to increase his strength which might also be in one of their many, many convoluted plans that–

He stopped that line of thinking just in time for the elevator to ding and the doors to open to reveal yet another hallway with a door at the end of it.

“This is as far as I take you. Belzebub-sama is on the other side of the door.”

He nodded and stopped right next to the door, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open, expecting something like a mad scientist’s lab, with nonsensical props everywhere, and stray arcs of energy moving about the lab, plunging the entire area into a dark, eerie atmosphere.

But no, it was just an office. A huge, admittedly sparse, but huge office. Sitting on the other end of the table was Satan Belzebub, Ajuka Astaroth, a Super Devil, deep in thought while looking at his magic circle on his wrist.

His gaze sharpened as he looked at the magic circle and realised what it was. The vaunted Kankara Formula, a way for Ajuka to do localised reality warping with many other features that were hidden from everyone else, or so was theorised by his teachers. It was one of the few things that was spoken with the appropriate amount of fear, even inside House Bael.

After all, it was one thing to be destroyed by the PoD by Sirzechs; hell, most members would welcome it, taking the glorious end for what it was, but it was a whole other thing to die because someone took control of your Demonic Energy and killed you by destabilising the Demonic Energy either within your body or by destabilising a spell.

As the spare heir of House Bael, he was given the bare minimum training, and in that training were several information packages, and one of the biggest ones was about Ajuka. Unlike Sirzechs, his fights were not properly documented by anyone, and since most did not survive their fights with him, there was very little in terms of concrete information regarding his capability.

If the devils surrendered, Sirzechs spared them but for every fight that Ajuka fought, there had been exactly zero survivors. He left no one alive, and that was one the many reasons why he was so feared within the house. After all, while it might be publicly acknowledged that Sirzechs was the more powerful of the duo, it was a common understanding within the Pillar houses that if Ajuka wanted to, he could do far more damage to the devilkind all on his own.

A brilliant mind combined with devastating power was usually not the combo you wanted to be against, and he was here, in said mind’s personal office, as the heir of the house that was simultaneously its number one supporter and number one detractor. Zekram supported their government but opposed their ideals.

“Heir Bael, welcome. Please take a seat,” Ajuka said flatly, his gaze never straying from the magic circle, which some might have taken as an insult, but frankly, who was going to correct Ajuka? There was a reason he was never let out of the lab by Sirzechs and Serafall. He did not have the...people skills required to meet Old Devils and not eviscerate them on the spot.

Nevertheless, he took his seat as Ajuka finally dispelled the magic spell and looked at him. Despite there being exactly zero Demonic Energy in play, he could feel it. The difference between them. It was even more intimidating than meeting Sirzechs in his own House’s compound.

So, this was Satan Belzebub.

….

…

..

“Here,” The pressure had kept on ramping up and up, with no signs of stopping, to the point that he had sweat on his back, only for the pressure to disappear abruptly as Ajuka manifested something in his hand and threw it on the desk in front of him. It had taken much of the self control he had cultivated during multiple sessions of pain, to not flop like a fish as the pressure was released, but the abrupt transition made his face and eye twitch a bit.

For something as important as getting their Evil Pieces, wasn’t this too informal? Or was he missing something?

___xx___

-Serafall Sitri–

She slapped her head as she watched Ajuka make the boy squirm with his flat stare, as he waited for the wards in the building to finish their job, constructing a complete scan of the boy, only to throw the token to get the Evil Pieces on the table as if it were a common trinket instead of one of the cornerstones of the modern Devil Society.

She knew she should have been the one to do it, but she thought it would have been too suspicious for her to be there, as this was supposed to be Ajuka’s realm.

Groaning, she rubbed her eyes as she looked at the twitching face of Magdaran-kun, an 18-year-old Satan Class Devil(That part couldn't be overstated), and realised with a sigh that this too she had to do on her own.

With a snap of her fingers, she donned her Levi-Tan uniform and disappeared from the observatory and appeared inside Ajuka’s office, the wards hindering her for a split second before Ajuka let her in.

“Ajuka-chan! Magical Girl Levi-Tan is here”

Ugh. Men. She had to do everything around here. And this wasn’t even part of her many, many duties!

IDIOTS!