Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Grayfia Pov.
"Thank you both for staying awake for this." Sirzechs said as he looked at the holograms of Rias and Sona.
"It's not a problem, Lord Lucifer." Sona said as she bowed slightly.
"Then let's start from the beginning. We've already heard Serena's group's version, at least from her pawn's perspective. Please tell us everything you remember," Sirzechs began seriously.
We were in a meeting room, in which three of the four Satans were present. Sirzechs, Ajuka, and Serafall; Falbium still had urgent matters to attend to. I was behind Sirzechs. In front of them, on top of the table, were the small holograms of Rias and Sona through which we communicated.
"Yes, Lord Lucifer." "Yes, Onii-sama," Sona and Rias said at the same time. The pair quickly began their explanation in as much detail as they could.
There wasn't much on Sona's side during the Kokabiel confrontation; she had kept an active barrier to prevent the damage from spreading to the rest of Kuoh.
"All in all, the fight against Kokabiel lasted a little over half an hour from the time we entered the barrier until the arrival of the White Dragon broke it." Rias said, finishing her story.
"15 minutes." Sona interrupted, and Rias looked at her, confused. "They were inside for 15 minutes," Sona said confidently. Rias blinked.
"No, I'm sure it was around 30 minutes, Akeno agrees with me." Rias said, also sounding entirely sure.
"Time bubble." Ajuka interrupted, humming. "Do you have your phones? You could see the time difference," he said simply. Both heiresses took out their phones. Rias's face scrunched up.
"My phone's time is more than 15 minutes ahead," Rias said with a grimace. Ajuka nodded.
"I guess she really wanted to face Kokabiel alone; it's safer to say she felt the White Dragon coming and didn't want to be interrupted," Ajuka said simply.
"Wait, so that means the White Dragon was watching everything that was happening? It must have been close enough if Serena sensed it." Sirzechs said with a frown.
"Not necessarily? One of her metals allows her to detect magic, I'm sure the signal of a Longinus, especially like the Vanishing Dragon's, would be easy to notice. Last time we calculated her range, it could easily cover all of Kuoh, maybe more." Ajuka said with a shrug.
"Great, so she just wanted revenge, and she succeeded." Sirzechs said while massaging his temple.
"It was her right," Serafall pointed out, not seeming sad about the death of a Cadre, perhaps a little upset only because of the problems it had caused and that she would have to take care of them.
" Yes, yes, yes. Please continue, girls." Sirzechs said, waving his hand angrily.
Rias and Sona nodded and continued. Everything was going well, until the barrier broke, and that's when they were dragged into a pocket dimension— or an inner dimension, as they called it— where Lady Prince faced the white dragon emporer of this generation.
"An inner world, you say," Lord Ajuka said, sounding genuinely interested. "I'll have to ask Serena about it," he said enthusiastically.
"Balmung and Excalibur. Two other truly famous swords, and she was able to use them to defeat the Vanishing Dragon with ease if your words are true." Sirzechs said, massaging his temple as a growing headache took hold.
"I mean... now we know that they aren't real versions of those weapons? But simply creations by Lady Prince? " Serafall tried to say with a grimace.
"Those are the weapons," Ajuka said directly. "Names have their own power, just like myths and legends. If Serena used those things to build them, they could very well be the originals, no matter what form they take."
"Without names and without legends, they could very well just be pieces of magical metals, nothing impressive," Ajuka said simply. The two Satans grimaced.
"Putting aside the weapons, let's focus on the right problem. Serena killed Kokabiel. No matter how justified the action was, I'm sure the fallen angels won't stay silent."
"Even more so since she now has the white dragon, who works for Azazel, as a hostage." Sirzechs said with a sigh. "Serafall, please contact the Fallen Angels, Azazel if possible, and tell him what happened before someone else finds out and the Fallen Angels do something stupid." Serafall groaned in frustration.
"Extra work? I'm sure Lady Prince is off having sex with her fiancées while we're working to sort out this whole PR mess. It's not fair," Serafall complained with a pout.
"Just… tell Azazel to get ready by noon tomorrow, Serena should be… ready by then." Sirzechs said with a grimace. Serafall nodded tiredly.
"Don't forget the church." Ajuka said simply. Sirzechs and Serafall groaned even louder.
"Don't remind me. Luckily, that exorcist is making a full recovery, and the Excalibur fragments were safely returned to the church, but they'll still have too many questions." Sirzechs groaned, running a hand over his face. "Serafall—"
" Yes, yes, I'll take care of it." Serafall said frustratedly. "After this, I'm taking a vacation! I have to visit Serena to talk about magical girls! She even texted me saying she has an idea for a new magical girl series and wants me to act in it! I'm sure it'll be amazing!" Serafall said excitedly, almost bouncing in her seat.
The room fell silent before Sirzechs and Ajuka ignored her and followed.
"Is it true?" Rias suddenly interrupted. We all looked at her in confusion. "God... he's dead? Is it true? " Rias asked cautiously. The three Satans' gazes hardened.
"It is." Sirzechs said directly. Rias and Sona didn't seem surprised; in fact, they almost expected confirmation from the looks of it. "The Biblical God died alongside the old four great Satans in the great war."
"We don't need to tell you that this is a secret, right?" Serafall sighed. Both teens nodded immediately, but remained silent.
"Very well, leaving that aside. Now, for the next topic, the attack on Lady Prince's Peerage." Sirzechs said tiredly.
"So that bastard Honest finally made a move against Prince," Serafall said mockingly. "Can we finally kill him? He's becoming a nuisance," she added before pouting. "Plus, he attacked a magical girl fanatic ally. That's unacceptable."
"Someone else attacked Lady Prince?" Rias asked in surprise. Sirzechs shook his head.
"Not her, one of her pawns was kidnapped, Narcissa Black, let's just say the Impaler Queen didn't like her sister being kidnapped, and she didn't even wait until Serena came back before slaughtering hundreds of devils." Sirzechs said while massaging his temple.
"Apparently, someone recorded it and everything is online," Ajuka said, waving a small magic circle around her hand. A screen appeared in front of us as the video began to play. Sona and Rias frowned before staring at a spot invisible to us. Apparently, the video of the Prince skirmish had also started to play in front of them.
Whoever filmed them had a good camera with an outstanding zoom. It was a shame they couldn't film from the start; even so, they weren't altogether fighting yet.
Although it was far from the confrontation area, the camera captured everyone involved easily, and they were all easily recognizable.
It's not as if Bellatrix Black, with her all-white outfit and long, wavy black hair, wasn't easy to spot; she looked as regal as ever, even while flying lazily in the air.
At her side, Ravel Phenex was equally recognizable, her blonde hair in twin pigtails and large curls. Her violet dress mimicked a phoenix, and her fiery wings were also easy to spot.
Behind them was Narcissa Black, completely liberated and at ease, as if she were taking a walk in the park. Next to her was a blonde woman whom I didn't recognize from anywhere, but she appreciated acting as a bodyguard for Narcissa.
On the other hand, Honest's son, Syura, was standing in front of them, talking. At first glance, it didn't even look like a kidnapping or an attack, just a group of devils talking. Unfortunately, we couldn't hear what they were saying, but suddenly everything seemed to go to hell when Lady Prince's Impaler Queen grabbed the air.
How, literally, she seemed to grab the air; it warped as if the air was being pulled, and appeared at her fingertips. They stretched and grew violently, dozens of meters before the sky itself shattered with a glass-like crack that was heard even from a considerable distance.
Then the earthquakes began. The camera seemed to shake even at such a distance, even in the sky. There was a bit of panic as the camera moved, adjusted, zoomed out, and began to focus on the entire castle and its surrounding grounds.
A ground that began to shatter. Bellatrix Black was known to be capable of creating localized vibrations; she hadn't been afraid to use them during the Rating Games. She'd used them to attack and break through the defenses of some devils, but vibrations were one thing, earthquakes were another.
And she had been able to create an earthquake. This earthquake tore the earth apart, causing the world itself to turn over and be destroyed upon itself until it was completely unrecognizable.
The surrounding terrain, mostly flat with a few exceptions, had changed completely. Vast rubble, mountains, and peaks of earth rose everywhere, among them the ruins of a former castle that had once impressed with its majestic antiquity. Now, nothing remained but stone, rubble, and dust.
And all within a few seconds.
It wasn't necessarily the strongest display of power I'd ever seen, not in the least. Still, Bellatrix Black had never displayed that level of power, never been pushed to this extent, and from what little could be seen of the video, she didn't look tired in the slightest, not a single hair out of place.
As if causing earthquakes at that level were child's play, requiring minimal effort on their part.
Then, there were a few tense moments; the devils that had been in the castle had come out, hundreds of them, to confront only the small group of Princes.
When it seemed like they were finally going to talk no more, half of Honest's son's devils fainted almost out of nowhere, then Bellatrix pounced. And the laughter began, the completely unhinged, sadistic, crazed laughter of the Impaler Queen that could be heard and echoed throughout the place, and it made me shudder.
She was a vampire; there was no doubt; they never hid it. With her Kazikli Bey, and her abilities, it was almost apparent that she was a reincarnation or heir of the soul of Vlad Tepes III, the original Dracula.
But the way she slaughtered her enemies, one more brutal than the other, while absorbing the blood of her victims with a huge smile on her face and a constant, deranged laugh, was chilling, even for me, who had fought in a war.
The devils had no chance; it was a massacre, and the impaler queen, the vampire queen, feasted on the blood of her victims without any shame, enjoying the whole moment with great pleasure.
On the other hand, Ravel had also attacked. The flames gathered at her feet in a way she'd never shown before. Ravel had attended several Rating Games over the past few months, first as Riser's piece, and then a few as Serena's piece, but she'd never displayed this way of utilizing her mastery with fire.
The fire at her feet seemed to act as a propellant, increasing Ravel's speed fast enough that the devils couldn't defend against her attacks. And then there was her sword, a katana, a katana she used with great mastery.
The completely fluid and highly masterful movements were truly remarkable. Movements that would take years, decades, to learn, movements no one knew she had mastered. She had never used a sword, or even whispered of it.
Needless to say, she completely dominated her opponents and showed no mercy in swiftly slaughtering them. At least she was more impassive, clean, and direct in her approach to killing devils than the Impaler Queen.
And then the second half of the fight began. Ravel once again displayed impressive mastery over her flames, which seemed to gather and burst forth from her sword. She enveloped herself and her opponents in a cage of fire, preventing the rest of the fight from being seen.
On the other hand, the most disconcerting thing was the queen of the Princes. She somehow summoned an army of monsters to face her opponent's mutant army. Belle's army was truly varied, creatures they'd never seen before: a leopard capable of spitting venom? A three-headed snake?
Even the dragons were completely unfamiliar, unlike any kind of dragon I had ever met.
And then there were the humanoids, devils, exorcists, wizards, and more. What kind of ability would allow her to create such an army completely out of thin air? And most importantly, immortals.
The fight was a crushing victory for the Impaler Queen's army. Regardless of the opposing army's actions, the Impaler Queen's army continued to move forward, and their wounds healed as if nothing had happened.
Ultimate class devil, made an appearance, and Lord Ajuka appeared.
" Annihilation Maker ?!" Rias asked out loud in disbelief.
"No," Ajuka said directly. "Necromancy," Ajuka said directly. My eyes widened slightly, and we all looked at him directly. Ajuka didn't say anything. He quickly manipulated the video, splitting it in two to show two images at the same time.
The first was a zoomed-in image of Miss Black snapping a devil's neck, the devil's face fully visible, its features easily discernible. And the second image had Belle summoning her army before zooming in on one of the figures, the same previously dead devil appearing as part of the Prince's queen's army.
"I can't say for sure, but it's almost certain to say that she's capable of reviving any living being she feeds on until it's dead. Which... makes sense. Vampires are capable of absorbing life energy, and it's even said that they can absorb the souls of their victims."
"If Miss Black is really capable of performing such an action and then summoning them at her pleasure to fight on her side, then it would make sense," Ajuka said almost boredly, as if what he had just said wasn't completely ridiculous.
"What?! Does that mean all those 'summons' are souls trapped inside the Prince's queen?" Rias asked, even through the hologram she seemed to pale.
"The Impaler Queen is the main force of order within Lady Prince's territory, both Pentagram City and Wallachia. She has never been shy about preying on and killing those who intend to harm the people within both territories. If she simply adds anyone who murders to her army…" Sona said with a frown.
"Yes, it's imposing and dangerous. I don't know what its limit is, if it has any, neither in quantity nor the strength of the souls it can summon," Ajuka said, sounding more curious than anything else.
"And she's not the only one who showed to be at the level of a High-Class Devil, whatever Ravel used, leaves her close to that level, or directly at that level." Sirzechs said.
"The sword?" Serafall said with a frown.
"The sword," Ajuka confirmed. "The Phenex definitely don't have anything like that, and there's no katana-shaped, fire-based Sacred Gear, so there's no doubt it's Serena's creation."
"We couldn't hear the name through the video, and I arrived late enough to the scene to not hear it, so I have no idea what kind of weapon it will be. Serena has shown the ability to change the shape of her weapons, so we can't be sure that it's a katana to say that it's part of Japanese mythology."
"And fire swords? There must be several dozen of them in all existing mythologies, so it's impossible to narrow down the search," Ajuka said with a snort.
"We can always ask her. It's not like Serena hides much. Most of the time, she answers questions." Sirzechs said with a frown. Ajuka nodded.
" I had already planned to do it. From what we saw in the video, both Queen Serena and Ravel sent the Sacred Gears bearers towards Miss Black. She took the Sacred Gears from them, stored them, and then got rid of the devils."
"I wanted to have the opportunity to study the Sacred Gear that she acquired. It is rare to see Sacred Gears taken from their hosts. Perhaps you can tell us how Honest and his people managed to take them from their hosts." Ajuka said simply.
"Speaking of which, are those devils alive?" Sirzechs asked, wrinkling his nose.
"No, they're dead," Ajuka said, completely certain. "While Serena and her Peerage have defenses that prevent the scans from working properly, the rest of their mansion doesn't. I couldn't sense them in there."
"Miss Black seemed to send them somewhere, where? I have no idea, but it wasn't to Pentagram City. Still, Serena definitely won't let them go. So they're as good as dead. We'll either never see them again, or we'll see them as part of their Queen's army." Ajuka said with a shrug, not caring at all.
"Finally, there was what Serena's pawn said, apparently, that Lucius Malfoy has the ability to monitor situations from afar."
"And possibly communicate," Ajuka interrupted, humming. "There have always been some inconsistencies with Serena. She's hard to analyze properly. She has an excellent poker face, enough so that when this serious, she could rival some devils with millennia of experience."
"But there are times when she lets her guard down, and her expressions are easier to read. There are… times when, for a few moments, it seems as if she doesn't know what we're talking about before gaining an understanding of the situation or a particular topic."
"Serena's mind is really sharp, especially when it comes to potions and magic, and other research, but in those cases, I always thought she needed a few moments to focus on the topics that didn't really matter to her."
"But if it really turns out that there is someone, her pawn, constantly whispering information to her, then it would make a lot more sense," Ajuka said, smiling slightly.
"Wait, telepathy? Is that possible? Besides, given Mr. Malfoy's statement, he was always inside the Prince's mansion in Pentagram City, yet he managed to stay connected to a group hundreds of kilometers away and to Serena in the human world without any problem? " Sirzechs asked incredulously. Ajuka nodded.
"At first glance, on paper, it would seem that Mr. Malfoy and his fiancée, Bellatrix Black's sister, were reincarnated as a package deal, so that the latter would agree to be Serena's queen. Now I can't help thinking that there's much more to them than I thought." Ajuka smiled.
"Wait, doesn't that mean she's been cheating in the Rating Game? If her pawn can monitor everything from the outside and mentally transfer it…" Serafall tried. Sirzechs groaned.
"Even if that's true, it's not like we can show it. It definitely doesn't use magic; otherwise, Ajuka would have noticed sooner. Whatever they're using seems to be some sort of ever-present passive bond," Sirzechs said, Ajuka nodding in confirmation.
"Truly remarkable, I think I'll have to keep an eye on the rest of Serena's Peerage," Ajuka said amusedly.
Devilnet forums, the comments are getting out of control." Rias said as she looked at her phone.
"Rias is right, normally it wouldn't be a problem. But it seems the succubi started telling what happened with Kokabiel, and the people of Pentagram City really aren't happy." Sona added, looking at her own phone. "It seems like they're going to start a riot."
Sirzechs and Serafall groaned loudly.
"Grayfia-chan, please have some coffee. It's going to be a long night at work." Sirzechs said with suffering. I sighed and nodded.
"Right away Lord Lucifer." I said as I bowed and began to move.
"Serafall, help me write a damn official statement. We have to stop this before it gets out of hand, or at least until tomorrow when Serena can calm them down." Sirzechs growled. There was a lot of work to do.
I couldn't help but feel a pang of annoyance and envy at the thought of what Lady Prince was doing right now while we were working, and I could see from the Satans' faces that they felt the same. I sighed before continuing to move.