The moment she laid eyes upon the dark-robed man, Medea knew she never should have answered the challenge. There was no way someone like her could ever miss it, she who spent her entire life dancing to the tune of a vain and cruel god, she who wielded but a fraction of the authority belonging to another.
That is a God.
Every inch of her body knew that instinctively.
Not a demigod encroaching upon the territory of the divine like Heracles, but a genuine Deity, living and breathing.
Her mind quickly wandered, trying to rationalise it.
The servant containers the Grail prepared were simply not capable of summoning a God. By all means, his vessel should have been bursting at the seams from even the attempt. If not that then, the corrective force of the world would have reacted immediately. Divine Spirits weren't meant to exist on this plane of reality anymore.
Unless...
A God so immense that the laws of the world were made simply irrelevant.
In any case, this was not someone the likes of her could ever hope to challenge. No human was meant to stand up to the Gods. All her magic and all the power she wielded was for naught.
His burning gaze remained on her.
She was standing on the same level as him.
Medea lowered her head, then thought to step off the side of the building just so he wouldn't take offense.
"I am not one to grow displeased for a mere gaze."
Calm words interrupted her.
"Surely you would not think to insult me by turning your head."
The hesitant words left her lips before she could think, "N...No."
"Then you have nothing to fear from me, Medea of Colchis." He returned his gaze to vast city below, "I await another."
She breathed a sigh of relief, but did not dare to move.
Gods were the most fickle of beings. She wasn't willing to risk insulting him unknowingly, not when she ran the risk of losing everything all over again for it. For Kuzuki, she was willing to bear whatever humiliation came her way.
Her eyes flickered to the dark-haired girl standing behind him. A magus, no doubt, and a fearsome one if she was the master of something like that. For a moment, Medea considered trying to acquire the command seals that bound him to the world.
...She quickly discarded that idea.
The consequences of failure weren't worth it.
"Will you not speak at all?"
Medea looked up at him.
He hummed, closing his eyes, "Yes, that should do. I am the Lord of Flies, Beelzebub."
An unfamiliar name.
"I am He who is as Satan. Eternal adversary of the One. You witch, who were wronged by the gods, answer me this."
-
How boring.
Beelzebub was on the verge of a yawn.
He expected people to react and come over immediately when he challenged all the city at once. Instead, he only got a witch that was so terrified of him she was yet to even budge from her initial spot.
These were heroes and legends, where did they get off hiding away?
So, he did the only reasonable thing. That was to, entertain himself with the boundless larp that defined his new existence.
Three days.
The Beelzebub he was, was not the one spoken of in scripture. There was no Hell. He commanded no legions of demons, and he was not some fallen angel. Beelzebub was a god, plain and simple, entirely different from Satan, who in turn was also a god, far greater than Beelzebub himself, to the point where it took all of the other gods combined to only seal him with the other three Primordials.
Satan acted through Beelzebub, taking a hold of his body when certain conditions were met.
The question that occurred to him then was a simple one.
How exactly did that translate here in another world entirely?
"If I am Beelzebub, but I am also Satan, and a third at the same time." He spoke thus, and the world trembled around him, "Then, tell me. Who am I truly? What is this excitement welling up within my heart? Tell me this, and I will grant you your desire."
He believed that excitement was one he believed any would feel in his place.
Medea remained quiet for a long while, beads of sweat rolling down her face and neck. Her cloak snapped in the wind so high up.
"The gods are multifaceted." She said with some uncertainty, "Zeus came to be worshipped as Jupiter. It might be that your container can only handle one face. And, if you didn't leave this side of the world by choice then..."
Beelzebub hummed.
That stood to reason.
He was Ba'al. He was Baal-Zebul. He was Beelzebub. He was Satan. He was Lucifer.
"It might be that you find joy in your return."
That also meant he wasn't fully manifested yet.
When that realisation struck, a grin crossed his face.
How powerful will I be when complete, I wonder?
He wanted to linger in this world long past the Holy Grail War. Forever, if possible. It appeared that the corrupted Grail could serve a purpose.
-
Satan wants to walk the earth again.
Rin's face paled when she saw Beelzebub grin. It was an ugly grin entirely unsuited to his gloomy and inexpressive face, like someone standing in front of a mirror and stretching their force abnormally in the attempt.
"Am I about to kickstart the end times trying to win?" Rin blurted out.
Beelzebub inclined his head her way.
"You need not worry, master. I was once an angel."
"Yeah, an angel that convinced one-third of hell to somehow wage war against the Almighty." Rin fired back, clenching her fists, "All because you wanted a pretty seat!"
"Would you believe me if I said I was a Devil changed?"
Rin stared at him blandly.
The silk draped over his shoulders fluttered as pressed a hand over his chest, offering a slight bow.
"If I had known that someone as desirable as you would come from Adam, I would have knelt and kissed his feet instead of tempting his wife."
All the possibilities running through her head came to a grinding halt. For a while, she didn't even register his words properly. Then, an intense heat rushed to her cheeks.
I-It really wasn't her fault! He was Satan! His face was tailor-made to be tempting!
"All I have met, and will meet, react as her to my name. None possess the heart, or the wit, to duel I with words."
He pointed an accusatory finger at Medea. The already mortified Caster shrunk further.
The air cried sharply. Beelzebub crossed the distance between them before she even turned, and a protective hand was wrapping around her shoulders to pull her back into his shadowy embrace. She looked up, heart drumming against her chest.
"Attentive now, my adorable master."
Why did he call her master when he was clearly the most prideful of them all?
It really wasn't good for heart to be called that by him.
Wait... w-was this temptation too?!
The incessant hum of a million beating wings corroded her embarrassment entirely. The air began to shift and tremble all around the extended skull of his staff. Then, a dozen spears and swords, all laid with precious stones and gold and ivory, struck the distortion. The force behind them dissipated entirely.
Beelzebub removed his hand as the blades impotently clambered to the ground. He moved forward with heavy footsteps that drowned out all other sound until he stood on the edge of the rooftop.
"I awaited your arrival heartily, O' King of Heroes."
"Your presence befouls this King's mood, you loathsome creature."
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Please do comment.