Omniscient POV
Underworld,
Serafall couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. She wasn't paid enough to deal with this—damn it!
She had just finished an emergency meeting with Michael, and it had brought nothing but trouble.
At first, she had been surprised that Heaven suddenly requested a direct meeting, but now she was left with more problems than before.
Without wasting time, she immediately called for the other three Maous.
"So, what happened that Heaven suddenly reached out to us?" Sirzechs asked, not expecting any good news—especially after seeing Serafall's unusually grim expression.
Even Falbium, who was almost always asleep during these kinds of meetings, was now wide awake, sensing that something was wrong.
In response to Sirzechs' question, Serafall quickly pulled out some documents.
"Michael gave this to me. Read it and you'll understand," Sera said with a resigned tone.
Only she knew how much trouble she had gone through to stop Michael from starting a new conflict during the meeting.
She had only been allowed to leave after promising to look into the matter with utmost importance and get back to him soon.
"This is—" Ajuka muttered, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the mess someone from his own clan had caused.
After becoming a Maou, he had never offered his clan any special support or involved himself in the affairs of the Astaroth clan. But this time, the issue was too significant for him to ignore.
"What's in those documents?" asked Grayfia, who stood behind Sirzechs, noticing the look on everyone's faces.
Sirzechs handed her the papers and said, "See for yourself," and sure enough, she had the exact same reaction.
It contained detailed reports and evidence of how Diodora Astaroth had kidnapped not one or two, but twelve holy maidens and nuns of the Church.
All of them were registered as Diodora's peerage members in the Underworld's database.
The documents provided by Heaven included everything—names, backgrounds, and even photographic evidence.
There was even a special mention of one girl who was the sister of the Church exorcist assigned to the case, and how he had seen her in Diodora's peerage in Argentina last time.
Now, they couldn't simply kill or hide the girls to cover up the matter. Diodora had acquired all these holy maidens or nuns as peerage members, one by one, without anyone questioning how he did it at all.
But devils rarely cared about such things. As long as it harmed the Church, most devils wouldn't bat an eye. In fact, many would even celebrate it.
But that was only the general noble devils. The Maous—the current leaders of the Underworld—were the ones who had to step in and mediate these issues to avoid another great war.
Over the last few years, the three factions had been trying to reach a more stable and definitive truce.
But it wasn't easy, especially with the deep-rooted enmity among the people of each faction.
Incidents like this only made things worse for the faction leaders, threatening everything they had worked for.
sigh
"Let's interrogate Diodora first. Then we can decide what to do," said Falbium.
"Right. But what would we even charge him with? Technically, it's not a crime to deceive Church members into joining your peerage," Serafall added, though she herself was tired of always being the one to mediate after the young noble heirs caused trouble by kidnapping and forcibly converting people from other factions into devils/slaves.
"Isn't Lord Astaroth planning to revoke Diodora's status as heir?" Grayfia asked, reminding everyone of a recent scandal.
Diodora Astaroth had once been seen cross-dressing in public, humiliating the entire clan.
He had become a laughingstock in the Underworld. Since then, he hadn't publicly shown his face, and Lord Astaroth had confined him to the clan's estate.
Rumors said Diodora couldn't remove any of the female clothing, no matter what he tried, and his behavior had been gradually changing to resemble that of a woman.
No one knew how it happened, but news like that spread fast in noble circles, despite the Astaroth clan's attempts to suppress it.
Now, Lord Astaroth had no choice but to revoke Diodora's heir status and choose a new successor, as Diodora had become a disgrace to the entire clan.
"We still can't just ask Lord Astaroth to hand over Diodora. Officially, we can't charge him with anything, even if he really did this," said Sirzechs.
They all understood. That was how the devil society worked. If the Old Devil Faction or the Great King Faction caught wind of them punishing Diodora over this, they would use it as ammunition to undermine the current Maous' authority.
"Leave it to me. I'll take care of it myself," Ajuka said. No one objected. He really was the best person to handle this.
[A/N: I feel like Sera is the one working the hardest. You cannot even imagine what kind of bullshits those young devils can pull out of their ass.]
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On the outskirts of one of Kyoto's forests, Satanael and Baraqiel stood facing each other. Satanael wore a sinister smirk, while Baraqiel frowned in irritation.
They had deliberately chosen a more secluded area, far from the main battlefield, where others wouldn't interrupt them—though the distant sounds of explosions and ongoing battle still reached their ears.
Baraqiel was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Satanael to follow him here so easily and without resistance.
Even Satanael would admit he was no match for Baraqiel in a direct fight. After all, Satanael always prided himself as a scientist and inventor, not a front-line brute like Baraqiel.
That said, Baraqiel wasn't just a brawler either—his experience and the refined techniques he'd honed over the years on the battlefield made him a more formidable opponent.
"I understand you doing all this, but to involve Ophis of all people—have you gone mad?!" Baraqiel asked, his voice sharp with disbelief.
He was genuinely surprised that anyone would dare provoke such a being. This wasn't just poking a hornet's nest—this was provoking a Dragon God, one that no one in their right mind would ever think of messing with.
Not even the ten strongest beings on the planet dared to cross them. So, who was a mere fallen to play games with a being like that?
"Heh. I had to. I had been abandoned before. So I couldn't hope on you guys, especially Azazel, to let me finish my research.
All my research data was lost and even Arondight—I couldn't bet it all on chance again!" replies Satanael with pure disdain, which was rare to see on this always calm fallen's face.
Baraqiel knew he was upset because of the previous incident with Akatsuki. They hadn't provided him support when he needed it.
And the current Grigori under Azazel wouldn't allow him to conduct his research in ways that could potentially provoke a war. So it was no surprise that Satanael felt that way.
There was also the fact that he had always felt inferior to Azazel and wanted to accomplish something even Azazel hadn't managed to do, and he had finally completed it. Baraqiel understood all of this clearly. But that didn't mean he supported it.
Sigh
"Azazel asked you to return to Grigori. It would be better for you to return without resistance," said Baraqiel as he readied himself for a fight—and any sneak attacks, tricks, or reinforcements Satanael might have hidden up his sleeve.
"Heh. Don't make me laugh. You think I would obediently return after all this?" says Satanael.
"Yeah. He wouldn't go out without a fight, you know. And this matter wouldn't be resolved so easily even if you guys take him back to Grigori. He's crossed way too many lines.
Now the Five Principal Clans and even the Shinto want him dead—or you risk the Shinto joining in on this fight too," says a voice from below, drawing their attention as both of them were flying in the air.
They were surprised, having failed to detect him even after getting this close. They looked down to see a handsome blonde boy. It was Kouske. He had arrived without them, even realizing it.
"You are?" asks Satanael.
"I'm Kouske Miyamura, heir of Sabnock. Nice to meet you," replies Kouske frivolously.
'So he's the Sabnock heir who's with Akatsuki? But what's he doing here?' thinks Baraqiel.
As Baraqiel was lost in thought, the usually calm Satanael had a different reaction. He could clearly see Kouske playing around with his Arondight so casually in his (Kouske's) hands—the very one he had lost to Akatsuki.
"You! Where did you get my sword?" barks Satanael.
Seeing that sword brought up unpleasant memories. That day, not only did he lose his prized sword, but that evil dragon had dared to destroy the fruits of his lifetime of work so easily, even after Satanael had paid him not to.
Akatsuki could have given it back, but no—after stealing his research data, that bastard destroyed it all, even the backups.
For that reason alone, he had to stoop so low as to steal Azazel's research data, something Satanael could never forget the humiliation of.
So nothing could quite describe the feeling he had right now, seeing that sword in that boy's hand.
"Your sword? Arondight belongs to Akatsuki, you know. And he loaned it to me to deal with you. Isn't he nice, would you say?" says Kouske with a smile as he casually strikes a few swings in the air just to spite Satanael.
Kouske was doing all this intentionally to provoke and make him suffer. This guy had ruined so many lives. Don't expect an easy death as an easy way out of him.
"Impertinent brat! You think you can mock me when your master isn't even here?" barked Satanael as he rushed at Kouske.
To him, Kouske was just a young devil—someone not even worth his time. So, lost in rage, he attacked.
Satanael was normally a calm and calculative person, unlike Kokabiel, who was just an arrogant fool.
If Satanael had been in his right state of mind, he would have noticed the oddity of how Kouske had snuck right past their defenses without them even realizing it.
It went to show just how deeply Akatsuki's destruction of his life's work had affected his mentality.
Baraqiel also rushed to stop Satanael and protect Kouske, since even if Kouske was a devil, Akatsuki and Grigori were currently in a cooperative relationship—not to mention their potion trade, item exchanges, and joint research projects.
But Kouske himself stopped Baraqiel with a simple gesture, seemingly confident in his own strength.
Satanael created multiple spears of light around him, aiming to pierce Kouske's heart at once.
Sometimes, Kouske really wonders—angels and fallen have such an amazing ability like Light Manipulation, yet almost all of them ever do is make spears. Where did all the imagination go?! What a total waste of opportunity and power.
Sigh
In response, Kouske took a stance with Arondight and summoned an equal number of holy-demonic light spears using the sword's unique ability.
He pushed them forward, effortlessly blocking and destroying all of Satanael's spears.
Both Satanael and Baraqiel were surprised to see a devil using that ability, but they could accept it, knowing it was a power granted by the sword.
Satanael had come too close to Kouske when his attack was intercepted, giving him no time to react.
In that moment of surprise and confusion, Kouske didn't hold back—he punched Satanael directly in the face, crushing it as Satanael went flying toward the ground.
Whoosh
He crashed through several trees before finally stopping, vomiting blood, his face and nose in a horrible state. He had even lost a few teeth—all from just a single punch.
Kouske was a bona fide Satan-class devil now. His physical prowess alone was overwhelming, not even considering the fact that he was also a dragon, which could boost his strength even further if he wished.
In comparison, Satanael's physical power was nothing. He was among the weaker Cadres of Grigori, relying solely on magic—unlike Baraqiel, who was strong in both magic and raw strength.
Both Baraqiel and Satanael stood stunned. Satanael's brain hadn't even fully processed what had just happened—or if it had, he simply couldn't accept it.
Losing this easily... wasn't it even more humiliating than the last time he fought Nakagami and Akatsuki?
With a gobsmacked expression, Satanael watched as Kouske slowly walked toward him, a smile playing on his face, still casually spinning Arondight in his hand.
[A/N: How was the chapter? Don't forget to leave a comment! I had to cut it short here, but the next one will be up soon.
By the way, has anyone checked out my original novel? It only has six chapters so far, but I hope you'll read it, share your thoughts, and support it! Don't forget to leave behind your comments, reviews or power stones. And add that novel to your collection, too. After all, reader responses are the best motivation for an author! I really do hope you all will give it a chance. Its name is 'Advent of the Demon King'. If you like brutal anti-hero demon king protagonists, then this one's for you. The main genres are fantasy, action, academy, romance, harem, and politics.
https://www.patreon.com/c/Sol_Pendragon
https://discord.com/invite/TpZWKss5bj ]