Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters appearing in High School DXD or the Anime or the manga whatsoever.
House Gremory
–Magdaran Bael–
He arrived at the designated teleportation point, his eyes immediately moving to the tasteful yet very expensive decoration all around him. All around him, Devils of all sizes and shapes walked out of the teleportation circle, and were greeted by the retainers of the House of Gregory and Sitri.
Sighing, he began walking ahead, towards the giant door that could comfortably house almost a dozen devils going through it at once. As he walked forward, he acknowledged the gaze of the two Devils who stood on both sides of the door, welcoming the guests.
On one end, there stood Grayfia Lucife, the only known member of the Lucifuge house alive, and on the other end, there stood Behemoth, a biblical monster. Both of them were members of the Satan Peerages and, as such, were treated with extreme respect.
He nodded at Behemoth as he passed the two extremely strong devils, likely just as strong as Serafall, and entered the big ballroom decorated to the ceiling, full of the Devil nobility. Taking a look around, he spotted his dear old father chatting with some of the other nobility and made a beeline to a corner, snagging a drink from one of the many waiters in this place.
He’d teleported out of the Main House as soon as he was done being measured for the dress, and due to the miracle that was Demonic Energy, heh, it took only a scant few hours for the Dress to be perfectly tailored to his measurements. Sure, he’d have loved to see the face of Zephyr when he realised that his heir was not coming with him to one of the most important parties of the year, but the man, probably convinced by his secretary, did not raise much of a fuss or even approach him back in his garden.
So, instead of Zephyr approaching him, he had his Secretary send him the dress to the garden, since she knew he was not going to live in the Main House, in the room just below Zephyr, the designated heir room, as it was. Since he had his own invitation, he didn’t have to rely on anyone to get the teleportation coordinates or a gateway to pass through the no doubt impressive wards this place had. They were probably lowered to account for the guests, but even then, it was impressive.
Ajuka’s work, or atleast inspired by his work, no doubt.
As his gaze roved over the entire room, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone, just in case, he thought of the two girls here, the main characters of the canon timeline that he had killed so thoroughly.
Sure, if he was dropped here maybe a year or two before canon began and in the human world, he could have maybe minimised the impact of his existence on the future and tried to keep things as steady as possible so he could have the most advantage, but in his situation? Canon was almost a decade away, more or less, based on the high school age requirement. Sairaorg did not have an older brother who’d become heir but a younger one, making that public humiliation all the more impactful. The New Satans did not have to contend with a potential Super Devil from the Great King faction and many more things that he probably wasn’t even aware of.
So, despite not wanting to come, he’d come today for two or maybe three main reasons. One, was to see and get the measure of two 7 year old girls. That sounded very wrong, and he was a Devil. Two, to honor the invitation he received from Satan, Lucifer. And the third reason was just to see if he could handle the sheer pressure that came from handling such events, especially now that he was the heir of the biggest house in the Underworld.
The top of the pyramid when it came to the Senate and politics. After all, Zekram controlled almost half the votes in the Senate and could grind everything down to a halt if he needed to. He had done it many times before, when the New Satans just would not back down for some stuff, only it was portrayed as being brave in the tests written that were available in the Bael Library.
He still hadn’t been to the Main library, though, so maybe that place kept untampered and unbiased records of reality. As always, DevilNet was not a reliable source of information, as was expected by the combination of the internet and the anonymous user accounts created by Devils. Atleast, the chaotic gremlin energy of Devils was channeled to something else instead of wreaking havoc in the human world.
Though, speaking of the human world, he was due for a trip to the human world. At least this time, he will have the Evil Pieces with him. He might have to look into whether he could snag some of the more obvious and accessible humans who could become members of his Peerage. Willingly, though. He didn’t want the added headache of having to deal with devils who were obviously looking for an out.
He already didn’t trust anyone, for that matter. It would certainly help if he had devils who were magically and somewhat contractually obligated to trust him.
Shaking his head, he focused on the event around him, thankful that no one had come to–
His thoughts stuttered to a halt as he felt someone approach him. Turning to greet them, as was polite, he waited for her to come, a thin smile plastered on her face. She seemed a little nervous, but none of that showed on her face. Coming to stand next to him, she then turned towards the crowd, “Not a fan of crowds, I assume, Heir Bael?”
He blinked, off kilter as he expected some manner of introduction and a speech of some sort. Not this casual ice breaker. Though, it was much better than someone coming to talk to him and congratulate him on becoming the heir, as he was the much better choice.
Following his gaze, he turned to the crowd as well, he hummed, “Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“Well get used to it, Mr.Bael Heir. That position is not something I envy. If not for my habit of searching for such spots to hide myself during these events, I wouldn’t have noticed you hogging it.”
He smiled at that, a real one. Her aura was just that bubbly, and somehow, he could tell that it was all genuine. She truly didn’t care much about his status as heir Bael, and that was refreshing. Probably, the only one who’d treated him this way. Everyone else either treated him like a political landmine, a political goldmine, a way to make money by hitching to his coattails during any of his Pit Hunts, or just plain apathy as a person they were supposed to serve.
He snorted internally at the sad thought before focusing back on the conversation. It wouldn’t do to be distracted during his first genuine Devil conversation with someone who seemed genuine. Turning to her, “Well, I am sorry for hogging this prime hiding real estate, Miss…”
He led on, and he could visibly see the gears turn in her head as her eyes began to widen, the faux pass that was not introducing themselves becoming clear in her mind.
“Oh! How rude of me! Heir Bael, I am Cleria Belial, a branch member of the Belial House, the first overseer of Devil territory in Japan.”
Oh. Ohhh.
His thoughts turned to her death, and why she was killed, but externally, he smiled and introduced himself, “Though it seems redundant at this point, I am Magdaran Bael.”
“Nice to meet you, Magdaran-kun,”
“The pleasure’s all mine,” He said as she shook her hand, and they both got a refill and went back to the sightseeing equivalent for noble parties in the Underworld, trying to see if he could recognise most of them. Since it was going to be part of his life going forward, he might as well do the groundwork for it.
“So, Heir Bael, why don’t you tell me why someone like you is hiding under a perception spell? Despite this being your first major appearance after becoming heir.” She spoke so comfortably, and for a moment, he had to wonder where her confidence came from, and then it clicked for him.
She was the first overseer of the first ever Devil territory claimed outside of the Underworld. Sure, the Devils had properties all around the world, even in some foreign pantheons, though they must be largely unusable, but the one in Kuoh was different.
A small announcement made last year had resulted in a large splash, not just in the Underworld but in the rest of the world as well. Kuoh Town in Japan was not just a property of the Underworld. No, it was the domain of the underworld. On paper, it was a direct extension of the Underworld in the human world.
A Devil will be the one who rules over that town, and any supernatural phenomena or entity passing through or residing in that town would fall directly under the control of the Overseer of the territory and, through them, the New Satan government.
He had no idea just what led to this deal, since it was all beneficial for the Devils, but it was true. It was most likely a diplomatic experiment, to show the rest of the world that Devils were not all bloodthirsty monsters, or at least they could keep those tendencies in control. For that purpose, they needed someone mellow, someone not zealous.
And Cleria here fit the bill perfectly, atleast from what he could glean from such a short meeting.
His excitement and joy at finally meeting someone who could make a proper conversation and had friend potential dimmed slightly at the prospect of this being a manufactured meeting from Serafall Leviathan.
“I guess, I am just not used to all this.”
She simply nodded, finishing her drink, before she snapped her fingers, manifesting a card in her hand, “My parents told me to give this to you. Feel free to destroy it using your power the moment I leave, but just in case you accept, that is a standing invitation to visit my territory, in my official capacity as the overseer of Kuoh Territory.”
He took the card, turning it over to see their house logo stitched on it. The House of Belial, with a very potent Blodoline trait as well.
Putting it in his pocket, he smiled at her, “I will keep it in mind.”
She nodded, “This was nice, Heir Bael. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to rejoin my cousin, and you are about to be swarmed by a number of rather hungry devils.”
She gave him a pitying smile as she left, “Good luck.”
His eyes widened as he realised the perceptional spell had failed, her presence attracting enough attention for many people to have noticed him and seeing the first round of devils approaching him with those slimy smiles on their faces, he sighed and drained the rest of his drink in one gulp.