"..."
The hallway fell into absolute, stunned silence.
Sairaorg lay face-down in the crater he had just created, completely dumbfounded. He hadn't expected it to be this effortless.
Technically, it wasn't a total defeat. Sairaorg wasn't knocked out; he could still stand up. But when he compared this brief exchange to how Finn used to fight, the difference was staggering. Finn previously relied on raw demonic brawling, but this counter was entirely different. It was controlled, elegant, and completely unfathomable. Sairaorg, despite his combat genius, couldn't even process how Finn had nullified his supersonic rush so flawlessly without using a single drop of demonic energy.
"Don't just launch yourself at people like a wild animal," Finn sighed, staring down at the bruised meathead.
Sairaorg Bael. He possessed zero talent for magic, lacked the Power of Destruction, and his only innate Bael ability was essentially just 'lion taming,' which came from his mother, who was a devil from the Vapula House. Despite being the firstborn son of the Bael Pillar, the aristocratic society viewed him as a defective cripple.
Yet, Sairaorg never gave up. He trained his physical body to absolute, terrifying extremes to prove he wasn't useless and to claim his birthright as the heir to the Bael House. Finn respected the work ethic, but logically? Finn knew that no matter how physically strong Sairaorg became, it was politically impossible for him to become the true Great King of the Bael Faction.
Why? Because Sairaorg wasn't the main protagonist.
Furthermore, Finn remembered specific canon plot points regarding Sairaorg's desperate attempts to cure his comatose mother—methods that heavily relied on Issei's perverted 'oppai' energy. Just thinking about the logistics of it made Finn wince internally. Anyway, let's just move on.
"Did you grow stronger again?" Sairaorg asked, finally pushing himself up from the shattered marble.
"You noticed?"
"I did," Sairaorg admitted, his expression looking conflicted for a second before hardening into absolute determination. "But I won't give up!"
"Do your best, then," Finn smiled politely.
"....."
While Sairaorg desperately wanted to prove his supremacy, he knew deep down that in terms of pure physical potential, Finn held an insurmountable advantage. It wasn't just that Finn trained as hard as he did; Finn actually possessed a massive Demonic Power reserve, and his innate Balam traits were Super Strength and High Magic Resistance.
While Sairaorg had to violently force his body past its mortal limits just to compete, Finn was genetically designed to be an indestructible juggernaut. Furthermore, Finn could artificially multiply his already ridiculous baseline strength using Demonic Power.
If Sairaorg was a heavily armored tank, Finn was a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
Sairaorg relied entirely on overwhelming, straightforward punches. Finn, despite being a physical powerhouse, had cross-universal martial arts, absolute kinetic calculation, and terrifyingly delicate technique. It left Sairaorg at a complete tactical loss.
But... I still have a secret... Sairaorg thought, glancing toward a shadowy corner of the hallway.
A young man wearing a mask stood quietly in the shadows. He gave Sairaorg a subtle nod.
Sairaorg clenched his fists, ready to unleash his true, hidden might—but Finn was already walking away.
"...Where are you going?" Sairaorg blinked, his battle aura fizzling out.
"I'm going to find your little brother," Finn replied without looking back. "Aren't you supposed to be attending Rias Gremory's engagement party tonight? Go change. You look like a mess."
"...You really are something else," Sairaorg sighed, his fighting spirit completely evaporating.
Finn was right. The high-society engagement party between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex was scheduled for tonight. Sairaorg looked down at his tailored suit—it was completely shredded and covered in marble dust from the crater. He definitely needed to change.
"What exactly do you want with my little brother?" Sairaorg asked curiously as he followed Finn down the hall. "Are you getting flowers for your Queen?"
If there was one specific reason Finn frequently visited Magdaran Bael, it was because Magdaran was an absolute genius in the field of botany. Magdaran had practically single-handedly revolutionized the Underworld's agriculture. He had successfully revived extinct flora, cultivated highly magical crops, and even engineered a rare, incredibly delicious breed of Bael apples that earned him massive commendations across Devil society.
Yet, despite his genius, Magdaran was frequently looked down upon by his father for lacking combat prowess. Sairaorg, however, fiercely loved and protected his little half-brother. In fact, Sairaorg viewed all members of the Bael Clan as his family, despite how horribly they treated him.
Finn, however, operated on a completely different frequency. Finn didn't care about the traditional Devil mindset of arrogance and pride. He viewed the vast majority of the aristocratic Bael family as spoiled, incompetent children who would eventually get themselves killed by their own hubris.
Sairaorg actually found Finn's blunt, pragmatic nature incredibly refreshing. Even though Sairaorg wasn't a political mastermind, he knew that Finn held a terrifyingly high position in the eyes of their ancient ancestor, Zekram.
"I need his professional help," Finn said, turning a corner and spotting a younger, softer-looking Devil tending to a row of glowing, magical crops in an indoor greenhouse. "Magdaran!"
"Eh? Finn-niisan?"
Magdaran jumped, startled by the sudden call. He looked at Finn with deep respect, then glanced nervously at Sairaorg.
The dynamic between the brothers was complicated. While Sairaorg was treated like trash by their parents, Magdaran was pushed to be the heir. To officially secure the position, the two half-brothers were forced to duel. The result was absolute: Magdaran was completely crushed by Sairaorg's sheer physical force.
Finn couldn't care less about their tragic family drama. If the Bael family destroyed itself from the inside, Finn would simply buy the real estate. Frankly, Finn didn't have much strategic interest in Sairaorg either. Sairaorg was too similar to standard shōnen protagonists—a battle-crazed meathead who charged blindly forward based on 'guts' and 'heart,' completely ignoring political logistics, so he because of that, he thought of Sairaorg as a rare friend that he had.
"I need you to cultivate something for me, Magdaran," Finn said, walking into the greenhouse.
"What do you need, Finn-niisan?" Magdaran asked eagerly.
Unlike the tense rivalry with Sairaorg, Magdaran was incredibly relaxed around Finn. Finn recognized the immense corporate value of Magdaran's botanical genius and frequently funded his research, turning his crop yields into highly lucrative patents. Finn made Magdaran feel genuinely valued.
"I need you to germinate and cultivate these," Finn said, pulling a small, heavily enchanted silk pouch from his pocket and dropping a handful of large, glowing seeds into Magdaran's gloved hands.
"These are...?" Magdaran's eyes widened in shock as he felt the sheer, overwhelming density of the life force radiating from the pits.
"Seeds from the Peaches of Immortality," Finn stated casually.
"..." Magdaran and Sairaorg both froze.
"You mean... the legendary peaches from the Journey to the West?" Sairaorg gasped. Even though he wasn't a scholar, the legend of the Monkey King was universally famous.
If only they knew exactly how Finn had managed to extort them from the Hindu and Chinese Pantheons...
"Can you grow them in the Underworld's soil?" Finn asked, completely ignoring Sairaorg's shock and focusing entirely on Magdaran's expertise.
"I... I can certainly try!" Magdaran nodded, his eyes burning with absolute, frantic determination. The opportunity to study and cultivate legendary divine flora was a botanist's ultimate dream.
"Excellent. Keep me updated on the germination process. I have to go now," Finn said, turning on his heel.
"Understood!" Magdaran yelled, already sprinting toward his highest-grade magical soil composters.
With his corporate agricultural project securely handed off to the best expert in the Underworld, Finn headed toward his private quarters. He needed to change into formal attire for the upcoming engagement party.
Or was it the official wedding party? He honestly couldn't remember, nor did he care. He knew perfectly well from his meta-knowledge that the event was going to be violently crashed by a certain Red Dragon Emperor anyway. Finn was mostly just attending for the catering and the front-row seat to the impending political disaster.
As for Zekram's strict order to find a suitable wife among the heiresses? Finn wasn't worried. Many of the most powerful, influential Devils in history remained single for centuries. Why should he rush?
However, what Finn didn't realize was that his mere presence at the party was about to trigger a massive butterfly effect that absolutely no one could have predicted.