DXD SI : Chapter 13.1 : Ruminations over the 18 year old Satan Class Devil....
Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.
New Lilith
–Serafall Sitri–
As soon as the elevator doors closed on her, she sighed, her personality shifting from Magical Girl to exhausted Satan of Foreign Affairs who was also apparently responsible for dealing with Internal Affairs, because none of the people she worked with had the required charisma and were not biased from the start.
Despite some pretty heavy handed suggestions from her fellow Satans and even some from herself, she had refrained from doing anything overt and had actively refrained from saying anything that might have spooked the young heir. After all, just the fact that he was in Ajuka’s office and with Ajuka for an extended period of time should be more than enough for them to uncover most of his secrets.
Any more than that, they would need to talk directly with the boy, but as things stood, Ajuka’s readings should shed some light on the mysterious story of their youngest ever Satan Class devil. Shaking her head, she watched through the cameras posted on every street of New Lilith as the man walked to the food district.
She smiled as she saw the detour he took before coming here, as the boy feasted on mostly human food. Hopefully, that meant he did not share the views of the Old Satan faction. That part, admittedly, was a slim possibility sine Zekram was known to disdain both the New Satan and the Old Satan Faction. He was pragmatic enough to recognise that another Great War, something that the Old Satan faction wished to happen, would just wipe off devils entirely, but he stubbornly refused any of their efforts to bring about true equality in the Underworld.
In a way, he was the lesser of two evils, which is why they interacted with the man and his faction regularly to get concessions in place. Because even though they might have the strongest devils on their side, Zekram himself was no slouch, but more importantly, he had all the Pillars on his side. Well, not all but a majority of them and not one of them would step out of line without Zekram’s say so.
In a way, inside the government they had built from the ashes of the previous ruling structure which was just he said do that and everyone did it, Zekram’s word had more sway than Sirzechs, the literal embodiment of the Power of Destruction.
An unthinkable concept for the Devils of the old but it is what it is, and they had to work within that framework, which is why she knew that while Magdaran-kun might not share their ideals, he might also not be the personification of evil in his quest to reach his goals, like Sirzechs implied in their earlier meeting.
Sighing, she finally felt like entering the meeting, as a magic circle manifested beneath her feet and whisked her away to the meeting room where the rest were gathered. It truly was that important for all of them to gather just so they could take measure of Magdaraun-kun. After all, no one else had ever shown the potential to become yet another Super Devil.
When the light faded, she just plopped her ass down on the chair, and then watched as Ajuka appeared in the room a second later, sensing that she had arrived for their meeting. It was just like Ajuka, to use even the small window of time between him leaving his office and her arriving here to do whatever he was prone to do.
Honestly, all of them had very little idea of exactly what Ajuka did down in his labs and she was of the opinion that it was very good. Because even what little she knew of was enough to send her into a tizzy. If even the little that Ajuka had shown them was ever made public then they might just have half of the supernatural world actively at war with them and the rest clamoring for their heads, but just without any active action against them.
Once again, she found herself thanking the universe for sending in Sirzechs and Ajuka. Both of them were necessary to fend off the vultures. Sirzechs was imp-orrtant for internal stability and Ajuka was important as a deterrent to the rest of the world. The absence of either one of them would have led to either internal collapse or the devil race being whittled down due to constant wars.
Especially since Ajuka had shown her of the artefact he liked to call the Eraser, and what it could do to anyone on Earth or if they knew the exact coordinates, any pocket dimension. She shuddered after seeing the simulations and was brought out of bad thoughts as Ajuka began speaking.
“His growth is not artificial,” Ajuka began his analysis with that statement, something that resulted in all of them either tensing up, groaning or softly exhaling as the implications set in.
His growth being natural was in fact, a bad thing. That meant that Zekram had not used the King Piece to stimulate the growth of his heir, as bad as the decision might have been and hence, less likely. Zekram was not stupid enough to make such elementary mistakes. Using the King Piece, he might have boosted his heir’s strength but also permanently sealed his potential. Now, having the power of a Satan Class devil was great, the pinnacle of what could normally be achieved, even if he was in the earlier stages and way too inexperienced to be of any threat to the centuries old Satan Class devils but the potential?
Potential was far more imro-ptant to people who thought long term, just like Zekram did.
The reason it was bad for them specifically was because it meant that the boy still retained his potential to become a Super Devil in the future. A Satan Class devil was easily handleable. It was not like she did not regularly interact with beings of that calibre as part of her job, but the prospect of dealing with one who might one day grow strong enough to erase her with ease? That was daunting.
Especially since his growth patterns suggested that it would not be long before that possibility became a reality.“So, it’s official, then,” Falbium spoke, his body tone screaming sleepy but his gaze alert as he looked at Ajuka, “We might get another one of you guys.”
The tone was dry, but the statement would have sounded like a thunderclap to anyone outside this meeting room.“Yes, he does possess the potential to reach our level. By far, he has the highest chances to become a Super Devil.”“But just the chance, right? His growth, natural as it might be, is still young. It might not be borrowed but he must need some time before he can grow even further. Plus, he has no battle experience to speak of,” She snatched the chance and made the case in Magdaran-kun’s favour.
It might turn out to be a humungous mistake but she would really love a third stick that she could swing around in all of her negotiations with other factions. Sure, she wouldn’t bully them, well maybe just a little, but almost a third of her problems would get solved by themselves if the world knew that they had a third Super Devil.
Or, the world could decide that the existence of Sirzechs and Ajuka was not a fluke, like they had made everyone believe, and the Devil race could pop out a Super Devil every millennia, and decide to end the race once and for all.
A chill ran down her spine at the possibility of it.
Sirzechs gave her a look at that as Ajuka continued, “Yes, based on the scans I could take. His Demonic Energy and Demonic Energy output matches with natural growth. But it is unrefined. Unlike what we can see from veteran Devils.”“That is understandable, since he is a kid.” Sirzechs spoke up, as Ajuke continued, “based on my calculations, he is using some method to continuously hurt and heal himself.”What?
“His body is abnormally tough for his age and bloodline. His body alone can be compared to the more brawler type Devil bloodlines we have. It is likely that he exploited the rapid growth that came during the early years of being a Devil and trained extensively.”
“A cycle of rapid damage and healing can certainly explain his elevated reserves, but the question remains. How?” Sirzechs interjected with an inquisitive look on his face, and she was sure she must have been sporting the same expression.
After all, it was well known that healing that worked on Devils was either inefficient or vanishingly rare. It was the entire reason the House of Phenex was as wealthy as it was. Supernatural healing itself was in short supply but what was available, most of it was holy or divine in nature. Both factions that would much rather charge them an arm and leg for a one time healing session instead of actively helping a Devil train to grow stronger.
In absence of those other methods, the only oyster method that worked foolproof for all devils was the Phenex Tear and the cost of that was eye watering, even for someone as rich as the Bael House, and even if they were ready to pay the cost, the kind of training required tor each such levels would mean that the their supply of the House of Phenex would need to be monopolized for the training of someone who wasn’t even heir up until a few days ago.
No, that was not possible. The only other way it worked was if..“They have a healer on hand, a highly effective one.” Falbium summarised her thoughts promptly, as Ajuka nodded, “It is likely and yet, I can’t find anything or anyone that could help them do so. No mention of any Sacred Gear. No new addition to their peerages.”
Then, in the middle of all that gloomy atmosphere, she clapped her hands and spoke in a jolly tone, “It’s great then I just secured yet another meeting under the guise of a event, then.”Everyone turned to her, her abrupt change of countenance cluing them in that she had done something unusual. Sirzechs was the first one to figure it out, his eyes widening as he spoke with certainty.
“You invited him to the Coming of Age ceremony.”She nodded, unrepentant, “Yes.”Sirzechs sighed, rubbing his head, “Serafall, we agreed that close friends and family, only.”
She nodded, “Yes, but this is too important, Sirzechs. You know that. You should inform Grayfia about the change and send out a few hundred hasty invitations.”“Why do I have to be the one to tell her?”“Beacuse she’s your wife!”
“But you messed up. Why do I have to be the one yelled at?”“YOUR. WIFE.”
Sirzechs’ head flopped on the table, the prospect of telling his wife that the small, intimate ceremony they planned for the heirs of the Sitri and Gremory Clans, was now going to be a large fest that mirrored the dozens that happened each month where Devils were either there to pay lip service, looking to flaunt something or curry favour with the Satans and their families.
The exact scenario they wanted to avoid.