"You still haven't told me why you want this artefact," Azazel kicked a giant cross-shaped table. "I understand that you're looking for power and all that," he waved his hand in the air. "But your calculations," he glanced at one of the sheets scattered around, "seem a little strange."
"What don't you like?" he asked, wiping ink from his cheeks, as he had fallen asleep right over the drawing of another mind-boggling formula.
"Not many have tried to tear the longinus from their souls, and even fewer have succeeded. You've been studying artefactology for only three years, you're thirteen, kid, where are you rushing to?" The fallen man raised his hands in a dramatic gesture.
"I have to finish the ritual before I'm seventeen, ideally before I'm sixteen. I'm looking at my teacher." "You didn't think I was going to go and steal something like that at the tender age of thirteen, did you? I don't think I gave you any reason to think I'm an idiot. Crazy, yes, unbalanced, yes, but not stupid.
"Is this related to the names you gave me?" I switched to a business tone. "How did you even find out they had mechanisms?"
"Consider me a prophet, providence has sent knowledge to my empty head. And knowledge must be turned into something useful. And I want to get that something useful with the help of a ritual."Hmm?" The fallen angel raised an eyebrow. "A prophet?
"The ways of the Lord are inscrutable. So, what did you find?
"Cao Cao," Az sat down in the chair, "He possesses the True Longinus, just as you said. He's already under Indra's protection. It's impossible to kidnap him.
"It's a pity, he may, no, will cause problems in the future. There are no options here." He rubbed his temples, wanting to get rid of the headache that had been plaguing him since he started practising artefact crafting.
"Next. Dulio Jezualdo, owner of Burizeni. He's already been taken in by the church, he's too pious. He's under Mikhail's protection. It's impossible to kidnap him.
"Tsk, they picked the most useless toys.
"You know you're weird, right? Seriously, even I don't treat divine artefacts like sh... toys." My uncle looked at me strangely.
"I know, but that's why you love me," I smiled broadly, making Azazel's face contort.
"Don't smile like that, it's annoying.
"Have you seen yourself?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Touché," the cheerful fallen angel nodded again. "By the way, how are your sparring sessions with Valy? I haven't followed them for a while."
"Well, what can I say... He's getting stronger every day. I'm even getting jealous.
"Unlike you, he's only developing his longinus," the fallen one raises his finger instructively, "But you're developing not only the power of your spear, but also the power of lightning, light, and artefactics with ordinary magic. It's natural that with such a dispersion of attention, you're developing more slowly.
"I need more power!" I stood in a dramatic pose, clenching my fist in front of me.
"What?" My uncle didn't understand what had ruined this beautiful moment.
"Come on, you don't know the classics." I waved my hand at the man and sat back down to my calculations. "And yes, I need to order a coat like his." I muttered under my breath.
*****
"Virgil," Val stood up when I appeared, finishing his smoke break. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," I nodded and started warming up. "By the way, what were you up to? They say you've been everywhere."
"I decided to assemble my team. You remember Biko, right? The descendant of the first Sun Wukong." I nodded. He continued, "So, this guy decided to join me.
"And how did you manage to lure him in?
"He was bored, I promised him adventure and frequent fights." The descendant of Lucifer shrugged.
The answer was the sound of my hand hitting his face.
"You're always talking about fighting. Is that all you're interested in?" It was an extremely important question, as it determined whether I would watch his back.
"What are you implying with that expression on your face?" the half-demon tensed up.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha," came a loud laugh from the glove that appeared on Vali's hand. Although it sounded more like hysterics. "I think I know," said the glove, catching its breath.
"Enlighten me, please," the guy insisted.
"Remember that waitress who left you her number?" "Nod." "And that fallen woman who was flirting with you?" The blonde. Nod." "Didn't you feel anything when you saw her? You know, a rush of blood, hormones, naughty thoughts?" The last words were spoken with undisguised hope.
"No, why are you asking?" A heavy sigh full of universal anguish came from the glove. "Albion? Can you just answer?" Vali began to get annoyed.
"Are you going to tell him, or should I?" the dragon asked me.
"You go ahead, he can't hurt you, and I'm not warmed up yet." I waved him off, continuing to watch the events unfold.
"Vali. Partner. I'm not afraid of that word — friend..." the dragon began, but was interrupted.
"You sound like you're remembering a dead man or sending him off on his last journey. White, don't make me angry..."
"Okay, okay, you're boring. You only have one thing on your mind." A snort came from the glove. "In short, you're frigid. I don't know if it will pass or not, but so far there are no changes. I even monitored your body's condition on purpose. Although it's more like asexuality. But that doesn't change the essence. Guy, get yourself a girlfriend! Urgently! You'll burn out.
"I don't need that...
"You're sixteen and you've never even touched a girl, never kissed anyone, how is that possible?
"I repeat, I don't need it. I'll get my revenge, you'll see.
"Come on... — judging by the sounds, the dragon curled up into a ball and doesn't want to talk anymore.
"Well, Lucifer, shall we go?" I ask, standing at the other end of the training ground.
"Aren't you tired of mangling my name? Have some decency!" The guy flew into a rage, summoning a mechanism that he had almost developed into a balance breaker. "Divine separation!"
"I'll stop. If it stops annoying you." I extend my arm to the side, concentrating. "Spear of the Dragon Slayer!" Of course, I could say it silently, but that's not as cool. It has to be dramatic, so everyone will remember it. "Well, White, are you ready?" I asked, getting into position.
"Since birth." The demon and the dragon replied simultaneously. They're also fans of grandstanding.
Vali closed the distance with a single leap, swinging his arm, wanting to knock me out with one blow. I moved in jerks, leaving a trail of lightning behind me, moving in a broken line, sometimes retreating, sometimes getting too close.
This was one of my favourite tactics: moving chaotically to confuse my opponent and striking when he lost sight of me. Now, moving behind the demon's right shoulder, I was about to pierce his side, but my opponent's reaction was too good. He tried to dodge, and he almost succeeded, the blade only making a centimetre-deep cut instead of the expected hole.
"S-s-s-kh, rgh," Vali growled or groaned, increasing the distance between us. "I still can't get used to the pain from your spear.
"The pain is worse than from a similar wound left by Ascalon," Albion remarks indifferently. Well, yeah, he doesn't care, all the blame falls on the carrier. "And the pain is because you underwent partial draconisation."
"You're not helping," Lucifer Jr. snapped. "Ugh, my muscles are cramping up too.
"Did you think they called him the DRAGON SLAYER's spear for nothing?" I ran my hand over the blade, causing discharges to run along it, a gesture more for concentration than anything else. "Enough talk, attack," I swing my weapon and lightning materialises above the demon's head, striking him and forcing him to act.
"Since you insist," he grins and moves towards me at full speed, wanting to touch me. And he succeeds, a string of fireballs he launched prevents me from dodging, reducing my room for manoeuvre. "Got it. Divide!" White roars.
And I felt half of my reserves evaporate, along with half of my stamina.
"Cheater," I growled, sending spears of sunlight at my enemy.
"Look at yourself!" Vali mirrored me, sending spears of demonic energy.
Our attacks collided, creating an explosion and a cloud of magical smoke that filled the space. It was already impossible to see anything through it, and now the mage's vision was also impaired. But Vali, sensing the space around him, somehow found me and delivered a powerful blow to my jaw. Blow after blow, I'm starting to feel dizzy, but at the last moment I manage to block his attack and push him aside, counterattacking the demon. With a swing, I get hit in the eye, and Vali pierces my side with his spear.
We lay there, moaning in pain. Lucifer's blows, reinforced by demonic energy, left an unpleasant sensation. And the state of my spear was obvious.
"Ara, ara, they've destroyed the entire training ground again," sings Akeno as she approaches. "Let me help you." Her eyes sparkle.
It seems that my sister is becoming more and more like my mother. Brr, she's scary when she's angry. I remember once when my father did something wrong, and Shuri decided to "punish" him... Let's just say that I didn't dare argue with her over trifles anymore. Why did they forget to put up an insulating barrier then! Not only did I hear it, but Akeno also walked around with such a red nose that my mother had to give her a lecture. After that, my sister became more... sadistic, God forgive me.
"No, don't," Lucifer Jr. tried to crawl away, "Albion will cure everything. Right, partner?" Heh, the memories of his "treatment" were still fresh.
"Don't bother the old dragon," smiled his sister and sent a flock of shikigami after the quickly retreating demon, which she had learned to do perfectly after so many years of lessons from her mother.
"A-a-argh," Vali groaned, feeling all the joys of flesh being torn apart without anaesthetic.
"Hang in there, partner," Albion replied weakly.
"And now my favourite brother," she whispered into my lips, pulling away, completely unconcerned about Vali lying next to us, who, by the way, had other things on his mind. "Get ready..."
A wave of bliss and pleasant chill ran through my body. Oh yes, I love it when she treats me. It's not even a tenth as pleasant when I do it myself. My breathing even faltered slightly.
"Do you like it? I've been practising for a long time," my sister said with a smile, placing my head on her lap.
Strangely enough, she's not a sadist with her family. On the contrary, she's sweet and never bossy. She does whatever my mum or dad asks her to do. Only my mum never managed to wean her off sleeping with me. After I fell asleep with her following my coma from core overload, this little minx demanded in no uncertain terms that I stop putting her back in her own bed. I don't know what clicked in her, but I don't mind.
"Come on, I've made tea and freshly baked muffins," my sister said, pulling me out of my reverie and stroking my head.
"With chocolate chips?" I asked, stretching lazily.
"Just the way you like it," she replied, wrapping her hand around mine.
"Um, how long will it take to... ahem, treat it?" I'm distracted by the demon after his latest loud groan.
"Well," she said, putting her finger to her chin, "five or ten minutes." And she gave me such a sweet smile.
"Rgh-h-h..." is all Lucifer says, leaning against the wall, trying to leave the room. "Don't treat me anymore. Only if I'm on the verge of life and death..." After a pause, he adds, "Please." And he disappears into the next corridor.
"Oh, what a pity," Akeno put her hand on her cheek and shook her head dramatically.
"Let's go," I grunted, "the cupcakes are getting cold."
*****
"So, what did you find out about the Fokalors?" Barakiel asked Shamheza as he entered the room.
"Not much. Just their place of residence, the number of members, and, oddly enough, a bunch of enemies.
"What's strange about that?" Lightning raised an eyebrow.
"They're a quiet group, loyal to the old rulers. Most likely, they decided to capture your family so that you would fly into a rage, attack them, and provoke a war. If you ask me, it's a stupid plan.
"Why?" Azazel snorted, pouring whisky into the glasses.
"Your people would have killed them all, and you yourself," analyst Grigory nodded towards Barakiel, "And Sazex doesn't want a war, he would have just hushed the matter up. And he himself would never have gone along with such a blatantly stupid and obvious plan. And if you say that he would have done it because of the stupidity of the plan, to divert suspicion, then no. It's not in his interest. Not before a possible peace agreement.
"You're right about that," Azazel took a sip of the golden drink.
"So presumably, this is the initiative of a bunch of senile old fools who want blood," Shamhezeir shrugged, tossing the report onto the table and taking a sip. "Mmm, delicious."
"Of course! Two hundred years of ageing," Az smiled.
"So what do we do? Time has passed, everyone has calmed down. We can take them." Shamheza decided to continue.
"Agreed," nodded the "mad scientist." "What will the 'father of the year' say?"
"I'll take Kokabiel and his fighters," said Barakiel, leaning back in his chair. "The Angel of War is best suited to destroy the pillar.
"What shall we do with Sazex?" asked the analyst.
"It's in his best interest to turn a blind eye. There aren't many demons, but their population is growing faster than ours. And new demons serve new masters, not old ones. It's better for him to undermine their influence by shifting the blame for the attack onto the terrorists. They will weaken, he will strengthen his position by handing over evidence of the elimination of the fake attackers to the public. Everyone wins. Azazel has done this many times before, this time will be no different.
"Since we've all decided," said the "father of the year," clapping his hands, "I'll go to Kokabiel. We'll settle some old scores." The fallen angel laughed ominously at the end.
"Oh," groaned Azazel, "keep an eye on them, these war-crazed fools might get carried away, and we don't need any more victims or witnesses."
"All right," said Shamhezeir, finishing his drink, and left. He had a lot of work to do.
***
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