Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Serena POV - August 12, 2008 DxD.
You know what's great about having tons of money? It's that I could buy anything I wanted, as fast as I wanted, just by throwing money in the right direction. And what I wanted right now was more territory.
Normally I would refuse to do it; after all, having more territory to manage was more work for me, Lucius, and Ravel. But unfortunately, it had been absolutely necessary.
I hadn't lied to Honest when I'd teased him about the increasing number of people coming from Lucifaad. The week I'd been gone on my honeymoon, we'd received tens of thousands of applications for permits to live in Pentagram City. Apparently, we were experiencing a 'Las Vegas effect.' Because of Distracted Globe, people wanted to start moving to the city.
I really hoped it wouldn't happen; that was why I had placed portals in different cities, and by allowing the teleportation of devils in a certain area of the city so they could come and go, I should have reduced the need to move near the city.
But apparently, money was like a magnet. Many of the applications also came with business proposals, political alliances, contacts, investments, and plenty of wealthy devils who simply wanted to stay close to what was now practically the entertainment center of the supernatural world.
After all, Distracted Globe did nothing but grow. It had only been almost two weeks since its opening, and we were trying to find a balance of people, but the number of people coming and going just kept increasing.
Especially after I created more Arenas for people to participate in.
I had considered placing large time bubbles inside the Arenas; after all, if the matches lasted only a few seconds, everyone could participate. But that would have been a bad idea.
The entertainment generated by broadcasting the fights in the Pentagram City Arenas was as important, if not more so, than the Arenas themselves. The amount of money exchanged due to betting was ridiculously high. It was more than obvious that the supernatural world truly revolved around strength, fighting, and violence.
It had taken a while to create all the Arenas; after all, I had to create at least 19 extra arenas for each type of Arena, for a total of 20 each, except for The Hollow and Zenith, which had 5 each. I wanted to maintain the exclusivity and importance of both. And then there was Wild Orbit, which, being the most popular, required me to create up to 50 damn Arenas just to accommodate the large number of people constantly joining.
Those 50 arenas in Wild Orbit meant that 1600 participants could fight simultaneously, and I was still underestimating. Damn fighting game addicts. There were tons of people joining again and again, participating in match after match, and that, combined with the huge number of people wanting to join, meant there was a ridiculously long, constant queue.
I would definitely have to create more, but that was a good start for now, especially since those Arenas took me a long time under time bubbles to create.
Especially since the Stands now had the same large-scale enchantments as the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. Having spent a couple of weeks at Hogwarts, I had definitely spent time in the Room of Requirement simply observing all the enchantments placed there so that I could replicate them anywhere.
And I had done it. It was a masterpiece of enchantment, I would admit, and definitely a very useful one. I had replicated this in most of the rooms of the mansion. Was it a complete waste? Oh, definitely. But remodeling the house had never been easier.
The rooms had a default appearance, which was the current one, but the rooms could change with a thought from any of us and only us.
And that also led me to place those enchantments in many other places. Especially in the Arenas. Before, it hadn't been necessary, since the Arenas, besides repairing themselves automatically, didn't need much else.
But now, if I wanted to make everything more entertaining and dynamic, placing these enchantments to adapt and change at any time was a huge relief, especially since I had needed to hire a large staff to manage all the Arenas.
If they could control that part more easily, it would alleviate the whole burden. So yes, I spend a lot of time under the bubbles.
Whereas, in normal times, it takes me about two hours to set everything up, a time when all the Arenas were closed.
People nearly went crazy, but faced with the threat of a lifetime ban on Distracted Globe, they remained silent, especially when they learned it was to add a large number of Arenas.
The worst part is that the news that I was creating more arenas spread almost immediately, and that only attracted more people who were waiting.
Then I had to adapt the entire system and rearrange several things at The Globe, adapting VIP lounges with the enchantments from the Room of Requirement. Since there was no longer a single arena at each location, the screens displaying them had to be adapted. I had to create individual points that displayed each arena, specifically more bars because alcohol was truly necessary while enjoying the gratuitous violence. And other things.
So, everything was growing and growing. It was complicated. Especially since the Arenas that needed monsters definitely couldn't be supplied by the monsters I stole from the Orario Dungeon.
Luckily, GLaDOS's robots were incredibly easy to create, and I also had to test the Nightmares made of Darkness faster than I expected, for use as disposable monsters. Fortunately, I had the memories that Bella, Riveria, and Ottar had given me to recreate Nightmares in the form of the dungeon monsters.
I had to create a The Darkness font that constantly spewed out thousands of Nightmares.
But putting all that aside, the Distracted Globe's immense popularity attracted a large number of people who wanted to stay in Pentagram City. This meant we needed more land to build around it.
And the money came in handy for buying up that territory around us. Then I spent my time building and expanding territories in Pentagram City. Because Lucius and Ravel simply told me to accept, and mainly because they said they would handle all the deals themselves.
So, obviously I left it to them.
Luckily, the giant pentagram that made up Pentagram City allowed me to perform alchemy on a large scale, and together with Alkahestria, I only needed to stay in the sky to expand the city and create hundreds of square meters of habitable space.
I had to create at least two more distilleries. Really, alcohol was going down like water at The Globe; we needed to increase our production.
Lastly, I had to create a place for the Xenos. It wasn't really difficult; there weren't many Xenos in Orario, so creating their homes was ridiculously quick—much quicker than creating everything else, at least.
The move would happen after Wiene, the Xeno that Bell knows, is born in the dungeon. And that would be after the Youth Devil Gathering.
Once I finished, I stretched lazily while gazing at the city high above the Distracted Globe. I could feel Cia playing with my hair as she sat on my shoulder. I smiled softly.
She had finally awakened, after completing the assimilation of Circle of Usurpation and becoming a Zanpakutou… or well, I suppose they couldn't really be called Zanpakutou. After all, their direct translation was Soul-Cutting Sword.
I was never really good with names, so… Soul Relics? That was the first thing that came to mind. Especially since both Cia and Aria had manifested within my Reality Marble, in my inner world, which meant my bond with them had truly solidified. I could feel their souls, their essence, within my Reality Marble, my inner world.
It was strange, but quite comforting. I smiled slightly.
Although I still didn't know how to release the Shikai of either of them. I mean, it's not like I expected to achieve it as soon as they awoke; I didn't even know if they could properly release. I had based my approach on the forging of a Zanpakutou, but I had no idea if I had done it correctly.
Besides, I already knew both their names. Even though I had named them, those names were etched into their souls, into their very essence; I could feel them. Arianell and Ciara were their true names; I did not doubt that.
But the commands for Shikai and Bakai certainly eluded me. I just shrugged as I petted Cia. The time would come.
Besides that, Cia had also eaten my Circle of Hemalurgy. Which… I really couldn't complain about. I no longer needed the Circle for the ritual; now I could perform it directly while holding Cia.
Although, after finishing with Aria and company, I no longer needed to use it. Well, I had offered to forge Zanpakutō for the others, much to Bella's annoyance at it consuming their souls, but none of them were truly interested. Enid, Lucius, Narcissa, and Horn didn't like to fight, so they mostly stayed out of it. Ravel already had Ryujin Jakka.
Bella already had her Radgridr in the form of Jackal and Casull. Rebecca was more than satisfied with the thousands of weapons in her arsenal, especially since she liked to change the weapons she used constantly. Ottar was getting used to his template and Kratos's starting weapons, so he didn't want anything more.
Lucy wasn't interested either, unless she could create an Aether Editing system capable of surpassing the limit like GLaDOS's. But GLaDOS's was simply ridiculous. Her Aether Editing Lv. 999 was still locked. The power of the Aeon Aha in the cartridge wasn't something she could control yet, so the template itself was blocking it until it reached the necessary limit. Therefore, she hadn't been able to see or investigate it, and likewise, she didn't even expect to be able to begin replicating it.
Even so, it wasn't completely ruled out.
And finally, Riveria was the other one slightly interested, specifically in a Staff, although at the moment, she didn't see it as truly necessary. Riveria had been using her Magna Alfs and the Staff that came with the Merlin Prototype template, especially since the latter was actually a Workshop, which enhanced her own magic and allowed her to create magical items.
And then, I helped her create something stronger. I had analyzed her Territory Creation, so I was able to recreate her Staff of Merlin, and I was able to adapt it with Magna Alfs and improve it using the base of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown to create something much stronger. It wasn't as strong as the original Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown or as Cia, obviously, but it was definitely much better than the previous Staff she had used by a wide margin.
So, for the time being, I haven't felt the need to create more Asauchi. Can I give them to other people? I'm sure there were devils in Pentagram City who could use them properly. Or maybe a member of Loki and Freya's familiar?
It would be a good idea to see how far my creations can evolve. However, I would need to acquire more souls. Bella wasn't at all happy that I consumed almost a thousand souls creating Cia and Aria.
But putting that aside, we still had to decide what to do with Thanatos. Unlike Pandora, I wasn't interested in all that fair play stuff. She thought that Champions who defeated Heretic Gods weakened by others should gain authority for it, but that wasn't necessary. Regardless of the Heretic God's cause of death, the usurpation ritual could be performed, and their authority granted to anyone.
Simply because Pandora was the only one who could use the Circle of Usurpation, she was in charge of setting whatever rules she wanted.
So, in theory, she could have simply killed Thanatos while he slept, but Bella obviously wanted to fight Thanatos head-on. I didn't even know if this Thanatos was capable of fighting. I just sighed at that; we had to postpone that fight until after the party, too.
Finally, I checked the time on my watch before creating a portal and crossing through it.
"It's here! You're here!" Enid squealed happily.
"I said I'd come," I told Enid. She just smiled brightly as she took my hand. "Everyone's here!" Enid said before dragging me along. We moved through long hallways and rooms; I could see people moving back and forth until we reached a huge room with a wide door.
Once we opened it up, the room was radically transformed into something resembling a recording studio. Today, we began recording K-pop Demon Hunter properly.
Well, first there were the rehearsals, then the recording. Although this room was special, I had also placed the enchantments from the Room of Requirement.
There was no need to create props or fake sets by hand when a simple thought could have the entire scene ready to film at any moment. It was a fantastic solution.
Was I abusing the Room of Requirement for every little thing? Once again, definitely yes. And I didn't regret it in the slightest. The Room of Requirement was that useful. Having only one or two rooms was a complete waste, especially when it also took me time to place the necessary enchantments.
"You're here!" Serafall finally squealed when she saw me. She jumped up and came running towards me. "Now that you're here, we can finally start recording! We need to get everything ready so we can start recording right away!" Serafall said excitedly. I chuckled and nodded.
"Of course. Enid already gave me the necessary scripts, and I've already memorized them. A couple of rehearsals and we'll start recording?" I asked playfully. Serafall nodded excitedly before running off in another direction.
I chuckled before glancing at the others, then stopped, confused. I could feel it, and actually see it. Like Michael and Vali, they were staring at me, like… very intently, without blinking, as if they wanted to see right through me.
"Hello?" I asked, confused. Michael jumped before smiling brightly.
"Hello, Fa -Lady Prince," Michael said with a wide smile. I blinked in confusion, especially when Azazel and Sirzechs sighed wearily and facepalmed in unison.
"Ignore him, Serena. Michael is very excited to act and sing," Sirzechs said with a crooked smile. I looked at him and shrugged.
"If you say so," I said easily. "I suppose everyone's ready?" I asked gently.
"Yes! I'm ready to be a demon!" Michael said with a bright, enthusiastic smile. I looked at him strangely.
"Okay, I like the enthusiasm, but just... remember to be intimidating when necessary." I reminded Michael, and he just nodded animatedly.
"I will be! I'll be very intimidating!" Michael said, with the purest smile he could muster. Almost as if he wanted to please me? I looked at him intently but simply nodded. I wasn't really so sure at this point that I'd brought an Angel to act like a demon.
I mean, when the Saja Boys were pretending to be human, they weren't intimidating at all. In fact, they were quite friendly and charismatic with the public as a facade. Michael would be perfect. But they also had a dark, intimidating side. And all I could see was Michael's bright smile right now. I just sighed, hoping this would turn out alright.
"And you, Vali? Are you ready? I really didn't expect to see you so soon," Azazel said mockingly. Vali just grunted without looking at him.
"I'm only here because they promised to let me fight Prince," Vali blurted out, and that seemed to catch the leaders' attention.
"Oh? Will you fight, Lady Prince?" Azazel asked, suddenly curious. I shrugged.
"It'll be good exercise," I said, shrugging. "Though I'll only do it if you do a good job," I told Vali mockingly. He just grunted before clicking his tongue.
"Will you use The Light?" Michael asked immediately, staring at me intently. I looked at him, confused, then raised my hand and summoned a little The Light between my fingers before closing my fist and making it disappear.
"Maybe," I said easily. I could see everyone staring at my raised hand. I gave them a strange look. "What's up with you— "
"Aaah! No more talking! It's time to record!" Serafall interrupted, dragging Verosika along, who seemed very intimidated by Serafall. Riser was also following behind them. "It's time to start recording K-Pop Demon Hunters!!" Serafall exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes!" Enid exclaimed happily, then looked at me excitedly. I smiled gently.
"Let's do it," I said playfully. And with that, we all started moving and began recording.
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