Sona nervously looked at the mirror. This was it! Her hard work finally paid off! She knew better than anyone that she was being observed by
Sona nervously looked at the mirror. This was it! Her hard work finally paid off! She knew better than anyone that she was being observed by Marcus for the past year and so.
The Diamond Core Heart is simply far too great of an item to be left behind without any precaution.
And over time she has tried to study it, from a distance of course, but she has found... almost nothing! The thing was so complex that it barely made any sense to her.
One thing she learned though, is that her magic control has fairly increased since trying to study the runes on the diamond.
It was quite astounding that her magic control could improve like that, just by studying an item. She can only imagine how good Marcus' magic control is, if he spends days in and days out around such items.
Nonetheless, this was not about the Diamond Core Heart but her sister calling her all of sudden. With an extremely happy voice. She has already forgotten the feeling of such a thing; her older sister being this happy. Not to mention Serafall's random calls stopped a long time ago.
Apparently, Marcus wants to meet her and her whole peerage. And from the excited tone of her sister, it's big, very big for Sona and her peerage.
Big, because they will all be receiving Sacred Gears. The very same Sacred Gears that were created by Marcus himself. Not the Pseudo Gears her sister used to talk about, but proper gears…
This means that the man can finally create true Sacred Gears. Which is absurd no matter how you try and look at it.
"Right! Let's do this!" Sona pumped herself up in front of the mirror before walking out of her bedroom and towards the main living room, where her peerage should be gathering at the moment.
~~~
Sona's whole peerage was looking at the approaching Sitri Heiress. The black-haired devil is visibly nervous and her peerage is quite clueless about what was going on.
They were called out of nowhere in the middle of the night to gather at her estate.
"Is everything alright? What happened?" Sona's Queen asked with a concerned look.
"It's...good news… very good news… our hard work has paid off!" Sona answered in a nervous yet happy tone. Earning herself several strange looks.
"Umm? What are you talking about? Sitri-san?" The newest addition to the peerage, Genshiro Saji, asked confused.
"You are new so you don't know, but more than a year ago my sister was able to get a contract for me and Rias with this century's greatest inventor."
By this point, most of the peerage's members had a realising look. They instantly got nervous and also somewhat excited. They have all heard the rumours and saw the Diamond Core Heart, several times.
So, they know it's big, especially if it's, in some way, related to one of the Satans.
"Marcus Goldman was and is always monitoring us through the Barrier system he has established in Kuoh," Sona said very seriously but also looking extremely happy at the same time.
"Now, after more than a year, he notified my sister and said that we have improved by more than 40% since the installation of the Diamond Core Heart."
Most of the peerage members smiled hearing that. It's always nice knowing they improved, Especially when they got a proper percentage number like this.
"And for this, he has decided to give us all, Sacred Gears. As for those who already have a Gear he will help you go through some maintenance and upgrade some things."
"...Maintenance? Do they need maintenance?" Saji asked with a slightly pale look. He did not expect the gear to need that!
"They are artefacts created by the Biblical God close to 4 thousand years ago. Sister informed me about them in great detail. You have no idea how much information Marcus Goldman has on them." Sona explained with a proud face. She got some intel from her older sister. Serafall doesn't mind sharing some non-classified information.
As Sona explained to the group she also omitted the fact that Marcus looks down on most of the original Sacred Gears. From what she has heard, he also calls them relics of the old generation.
Although it is hard to believe, Sona can see it from his point of view… sort of… she isn't that smart, as hard as it is to admit. Though she would love to have a chess match against him but… Well, Serafall didn't allow it.
"Upon the host's death, the Sacred Gear returns to Heaven where it should go through maintenance. But, for some reason, it hasn't done that for the past 2 thousand years. So, it hasn't been taken care of properly for that long." The Sitri Heiress said with a casual shrug.
Both gear users in her peerage paled after hearing that. They realised that the gears are old artefacts so they might break… but, they are created by the big God, no? Then they should not break! Right!?
"Don't worry you two. The stronger the gear is, the higher the chance it might malfunction. According to my sister, after each cycle, some bits of souls stay with the gear. This is especially visible with Longinus gears like Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing. Those gears have an ability called Juggernaut Drive.
Such an ability, according to my sister, is a bug in the system that should not exist.
While nothing of such will happen to you two, it would be better if those gears go through maintenance and we can have some deeper understanding over it." Sona finished her explanation to the pair.
Both of them sighed in relief. Neither Genshiro Saji nor Tsubaki Shinra wanted to have a ticking time bomb. No matter how little chance there was of it actually going off…
"So...mhmm...Sitri-san...how much do you know about Marcus Goldman? You said he is a genius inventor? I have heard you mention him before as well." Tomoe, Sona's Knight, asked curiously. She has heard about him a couple of times in the past from her King. Only a few members of the peerage knew more about him.
"Right… where should I begin… Around 5 years ago, my sister was summoned to form a contract with an extremely talented 12-year-old. Mind you… summoning my sister for anyone apart from the Nation leaders or the extremely wealthy is quite simply impossible.
Normal people can't summon the Satans."
A few of her recent additions to the peerage squeaked after hearing that.
"Yes. My sister is one of the four Satans and she has been safeguarding this contract she formed with him more than anything else." Sona sharply said while thinking about something else.
'For obvious reasons, she has been head over heels with him for years now. Recently she told me that he has been doing something big… and she was more than a little bit excited…'
"So… somehow… a twelve-year-old summoned one of the Satans? H-How good is he?" Momo, one of Sona's Bishops, asked with disbelief. As someone who practises magic, she knows quite a bit on how summoning works.
"He is very, very good. We will be meeting him soon. He lives in Europe. It's going to be morning there soon. He is inviting us to his house. So we will be at our utmost best behaviours. You don't want to make my sister angry." The Sitri Heiress said with an icy tone. For a second her eyes glowed. Like hell, she was going to risk all her hard work just because of some misunderstanding!
All of her peerage members quickly nodded with a terrified look. There is no way in hell they were going to cross one of the Satans! And their King of course.
"Good to see that they are disciplined~~~So-tan!"
With a burst of a blue circle, Serafall appeared in the room, and she quickly ended up hugging Sona. The younger sibling of the Satan could see that her older sister is very much happy about this event.
The peerage members who have not seen her before were slightly terrified and interested in this new arrival. They immediately could see some familiar looks between those two. Assuming that this was the older sibling of their King.
"Sister… not in front of my peerage…" Sona said with an embarrassed look.
Serafall just grinned like an excited kid. Nonetheless, she did stop hugging her little sister.
"Well, since So-tan warned you all…" The Leviathan instantly got serious which made everyone feel a chill going down their spine. How can someone flip their character just like that!?
"I will warn you as well~~~ Don't annoy my darling~~~ the last person to annoy him was the Greek Goddess, Artemis, who got humiliated to the point where she had to ask for forgiveness," Serafall said with a giggle earning a couple of gasps.
While Sona paled for a couple of reasons. One was that her older sister didn't even try to hide the fact that she was in love with a human and second, did a human really humiliate Artemis herself!?
"Sister, is it wise to tell this to anyone!?" The younger Sitri asked with a concerned look.
"It doesn't matter to anyone. It's an open secret by this point. The Underworld is abuzz about me as it is. They want to see who the 'mysterious lover' of the Leviathan is.
While I can't say anything I can tell you guys since you are all part of Sona's peerage. So if anyone outside learn who my is boyfriend then I would know that someone from Sona's peerage has snitched me out~"
When they heard that everyone gulped down except for Sona who already knew that it's much more than just a girlfriend/boyfriend thing. Yes, she saw how deep their relationship was a year ago. And assuming it has escalated further…
Sigh "Don't worry sister, no one from my peerage is going to talk about this. We currently live in the human world, so there are no other de
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Sigh
"Don't worry sister, no one from my peerage is going to talk about this. We currently live in the human world, so there are no other devils apart from Rias' group to talk about such things with." The Sitri Heiress said while fixing her glasses.
"That reminds me. What about Rias Peerage?" The younger Sibling asked her sister.
Serafall just shrugged her shoulders.
"Rias only achieved half of what you did, So-tan. While my Marcus was not disappointed, he was not impressed either. So, at this moment only your peerage, including you, are getting Sacred Gears handcrafted by him."
Sona's eyes widened for a second before having a thoughtful look. She could see how this was going…
"I see… incentive…"
"Heh? You already saw through it!? Very good So-tan!" Serafall quickly hugged her little sister.
"I see. So we will get the gears which in turn will make Gremory-can work harder. Quite a smart idea to make her work harder since our King will also be benefiting and getting a Sacred Gear."
"Yes-Yes-Yes! Now let's move!" The current Leviathan raised her hands as a large circle appeared under everyone's foot. Moments later everyone was teleported away.
~~~~~~Marcus New Base~~~~~~
One moment they were in Sitri estate, and in the next, the whole peerage was transported into an empty-looking room.
"Let's go! Marcus is waiting in the testing room!" Serafall said as she motioned for them to follow along.
Sona nodded at her while looking around the room. It looked quite barren… or so she thought.
The moment they left the room, they saw a corridor. But what got their attention was the corridor walls, it reminded them of some sci-fi alien ship. Patterns with a bunch of different shapes were carved out in the walls, emitting light. Instead of chandeliers or lamps, these patterns were emitting the light that lit up the room. The room isn't that brightly lit as they were not too bright. But it was enough as they continued following the black-haired Satan and ended up in the living room.
What got their attention immediately was the massive TV hogging most of the single wall and…
"Are those human-sized Gundams? So...cool…" Saji said to himself but the rest of the group heard him.
"They are replicas of Marcus' personal Scale mail. They can turn on in case there are some intruders, and to make it clear, I won't stand a chance against even one. Not to mention the four in this room." Serafall words made everyone, even Sona, pale.
"You must be joking… sister you are a Satan…"
"And we are in the centre of his power base. Unlike other pantheons, his power here is unmatched. You saw yourself what the Diamond Core Heart can do. Marcus has many more installed throughout his entire home and workshop."
The younger Sitri nearly lost her glasses, they were close to falling off… but she controlled herself.
"I see… silly of me to believe we could do something…"
Snort
"Glad you understand."
"Ummm… not to interrupt, but… is that an aquarium on the ceiling?"
"Not quite, we are under a river at the moment." Serafall happily clarified, earning several weird and shocked looks.
"We are underground?"
"Marcus has a thing for underground bases." The Leviathan said with a shrug.
"I am getting supervillain vibes here..." Saji said to himself but everyone heard him, again, thanks to their augmented hearing.
"Sorta. If there were higher mountains in this country he would have built it inside one."
"Why not just build a skyscraper or something? Don't inventors like him, like that?" Momo asked the Satan as she remembered the Fantastic Four and Tony Stark both having skyscrapers.
"He could. But then again, you will have limited ground to expand. But with going underground, he doesn't need to worry about land and owning the land on the surface."
Serafall explained what Marcus had told her.
"...Sister, are you telling me that this was built on someone else's land!?" Sona asked with a slightly raised voice.
Her older sister simply rolled her eyes and put her finger on her younger sibling's lips.
"Don't be so dramatic, the ownership exchange is a work in progress." The older devil said with not quite an assured tone.
And to be perfectly honest, she has no idea if the legal side of things is alright…
Most likely not… Marcus doesn't really care what the government thinks in the first place…
"...right…" Sona sighed, before removing Serafall's finger on her lips. The group continued walking after checking out the living room. They reached another corridor which had a lift installed in it.
The doors automatically opened. And once they were inside, they realised that the lift had no buttons…
"Aurora takes us to the workshop floor."
[One moment…]
"Whoa? Who said that?" Saji nearly jumped out of his shoes hearing a feminine voice coming out of the walls.
"An assistant A.I built by Marcus. It runs everything." Serafall said with a slightly bitter tone. Bitter? Because she has this feeling that this A.I is going to be annoying. She can't put her finger on it. But her instincts are telling her that the artificial female is going to be a problem.
Sona of course saw her sister's displeased look. She can tell there is a tale in this, but she was not going to pry. While the rest of her peerage was simply awed by the fact that there is a proper A.I like from those sci-fi movies. And it was similar to how Tony Stark has his Jarvis in the recent Marvel movie they watched a few weeks ago.
The lift took a few moments to arrive. It was only going down so the rest of the group figured they were going quite deep.
[Workshop floor.]
As soon as the female voice announced, the doors opened and they saw a room. It just looked like another living room but more sparse than the one upstairs. It barely had anything, only a few sofas and a large tv.
"This is the resting room, follow me." Serafall clarified as she led them through one of the two doors…
"Whoa!"
"Damn…"
"Wow"