Old this place definitely was, but you couldn't say the place was rundown, not even a little bit.
Characteristic of a home built by one of the Satan Clans, the few houses that were well and truly royal, or as they'd probably put it, the only royal house, underneath all the dim lighting was opulence, every way you looked.
A deep royal blue pervaded the walls and floors; where one might find a gray sheet of stone bricks for a wall, there were instead layers of pristine, shining silver.
Gold fixtures on the ceiling and walls lined the halls, and servants, other devils far weaker than the silver-haired man I was following, walked fast with their eyes kept low, but pace stable and constant.
Every other wall, there were royal blue banners emblazoned with the sigil of Lucifer, and in between those were massive, ornate glass frescos, each one depicting either the same or a similar figure.
A devil, clearly, what with his long silver hair stretching down his back, twelve leathery wings at his back, and what looked like a dark star "glowing" above his head.
As we passed them by, I made a note of a few I found interesting in my mind. In one, he looks like he's holding a book as he stands before a pit of fire, and dozens of hands are reaching out toward the devil from the flames.
In another, he's joined by the figure of a woman with pitch-black hair at his side, as he points across a wasteland. In the sky of the image, little winged figures resembling devils seem to be flying in the direction he points, toward a light in the sky.
Pretty much everything else I saw resembled those two scenes. The devil is standing over something with a book, and the devil is pointing at something and sending other devils toward it.
I held back a snort. I've been calling him "the devil" in my mind this entire time, but it's pretty easy to figure out who this is supposed to be, no?
It's Lucifer. The original one, the one whose name the entire clan derives from.
All in all, the place is pretty well maintained, and considering who it was likely built by, it's no shock there's so much stuff glorifying him every which way.
What is a shock, though?
"Why do I feel like I'm in a basement even though we haven't gone down a single flight of stairs?" I abruptly ask aloud.
Euclid damn near trips over himself, halting, but manages to recover quickly and continue his advance with barely a lapse in time.
Without even gazing back at me, he answers, "It's the Lord's personal preference."
This time, I couldn't help the snort.
Living in a basement? Heh. Fitting for the weakest super devil, considering everything I know about the guy.
Of course, I know Euclid doesn't mean it that way; he's talking about the lack of good lighting around here.
It's funny, devils actually have night vision, if I recall correctly. Theoretically, they don't need lights of any kind at all.
Yet from everything I've seen of devil architecture, which admittedly isn't a lot, but still, lights are included somewhere.
Reincarnated Devils can't even be used as an excuse here, as they gain the same night vision anyway!
Ah, whatever.
Silence reigns from then on, with only the light patter of our footsteps, with the occasional additions of those from servants walking past.
To be frank, I didn't exactly have any other questions. Sure, I could've asked how the place has remained so clean, but considering who Euclid's sister is, I feel like the answer is pretty obvious there.
Also, what the hell else could the servants be for?
Besides, I know how this is likely going to end anyway.
I'm just going to end up tearing everything I need to know directly from his head.
As we walked, further and further inward, the sounds of additional footsteps adding on top of ours waned until eventually they remained a background echo.
At the same time, the hall we walked into began to open up. The glass frescos on either side grew longer and more elaborate. Now, it was Lucifer and the other Satans, doing a bunch of royal things.
But Lucifer was always above them. This figure is bigger, taller, and held above the other three. They looked where he pointed, did as he told, clearly.
At least, that's what the glass was decorated to say, anyhow.
Thankfully, it didn't take long until we arrived at a set of large royal blue doors, a large Lucifer sigil imprinted over the top of them, and it would be cut in half once the doors opened.
Finally, it's here where Euclid stops and tilts his head back toward me.
"Remember," he begins, formal, yet the undertone of a threat was clear, "you are a visitor in this house. Act like it."
I simply gave him a thumbs up and goofy ass smile.
It only grew wider once I saw the jumped-up butler's eyebrow twitch.
Without another word, he turns his gaze forward and pushes the doors open.
I had a pretty good idea what was on the other side of these doors, most likely a throne room of some kind.
Yet somehow, when the doors swung fully open, I was greeted by more shadows, more darkness. It was so dark now that the walls became hard to see, with only one thing really standing out now.
Euclid stood at the side as I entered, his back straight. From the hall, straight down the room, an ornate gold embroidered royal blue carpet or rug seemed to lead straight toward a slightly raised platform, with a few steps leading up to it.
A throne. A throne of deep royal blue, silver, and black. To be honest, it didn't look even slightly comfortable, made seemingly out of all metal and stone.
The person sitting on it looked about as comfortable as you'd expect sitting on such a thing.
Slouched back, with a goblet in his hand that he twirled around lazily, wearing that same stupid attire Sirzechs had, extremely large shoulder armor and all, but with silver cloth, was the second devil I was looking for today.
Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
He looked depressed.
No, seriously, the dude looked like he was nursing a hangover for a hangover. He barely looked at me as I stepped forward, his hazel eyes as dull as the shadows in the corners of the room.
I couldn't tell if his hair and chin beard were dark silver, truly, or just looked like that because all the light had been bleached out, and it was starting to get to his hair.
He looked like a middle-aged man going through a midlife crisis. Or, considering he looked a lot like Vali but older, maybe it's more apt to say he looked like Vali without ramen for two weeks?
Huh. Speaking of, but a thought occurs.
Vali is going to be so pissed I killed his gramps without him, isn't he?
Eh. Call it payback for jumping me in the first place.
"So," Rizevim abruptly began, his voice was light, almost childish, and sounded nonchalant, but behind it all, I could feel the sheer tiredness in it, "a pagan god, all the way out here, eh~?" He raises the goblet to his lips, and takes a swig, bringing it down with a sigh, not even a relieved one, "I've got to ask, pagan god-kun," I winced at his butchering of honorifics, "were you looking for little ol' me? This object, capable of base thinking?" He chuckles sarcastically, as though he just told the greatest joke, "I hope you weren't expecting much…"
The fuck happened to this guy?
Ah, wait, no, this is how he's supposed to be before finding out about Trihexa and such, isn't it?
Unmotivated, depressed, nihilistic, all that jazz.
I almost feel bad for the guy.
The keyword there is almost.
"Sorry to burst your bubble," I wave him off, "not exactly here for you. Just your fancy butler over there." I pointed my thumb back toward Euclid.
At that, Rizevim whined, audible like a child about to cry.
"Euuuccliiddd…" He cries out lowly, causing said butler to approach the throne from the side.
"Yes, my Lord?"
"I thought I told you, do whatever the hell you want, but don't let it lead right back to us here, ya know~..." he partly cried, partly chastised him.
"My apologies, my Lord." Euclid put a hand to his chest and bowed to the Son of Lucifer lightly, "Although I'll be frank, I'm not sure how this pagan god found out about my activities…" Slowly, his gaze shifted to me, as though asking.
"I just do." I shrug, and that's all I give him.
"He just does!" Rizevim echoes with an almost manic laugh, "Aw, well, whatever~!" He huffed, slumping back into his throne, his goblet falling out of his hand and to the floor with a light clang.
Thankfully, it was empty of whatever was inside it at this point.
Though now that I'm closer, and can see this part of the floor more closely…
There appear to be several dark stains around the area where his goblet fell. Huh, that's impressive, considering a devil's demonic powers and magic and such.
"Getting involved with those Fallen, the Khaos Brigade, all that junk, I knew it wouldn't lead to anything fun." Rizevim seethes with intense, needy desire at the last word, "It's all just been so, so…boring! Nothing happened!" He crosses his arms and lets out a long, huffy sigh. "Alright, pagan-kun, whatever you want from Euclid-kun here, go ahead."
Really? That easy?
Even Euclid looks shocked, his eyes going wide as he looks back at his master.
Although he doesn't verbally say it, he quickly schools his facial expression and simply nods at Rizevim.
"If it's your will, my Lord."
"Meh." Rizevim waves him off, before putting his hand on his face, covering his forehead and eyes.
Then he just sits there. Unmoving.
It takes a second.
"...zzz."
But then a soft snoring sound emanates from him.
You're fucking with me.
He fell asleep!? Are you serious!? Murphy, you dick, are you fight cucking me!?
I can't help but just stare at this scene before me, letting it all sink in for a second.
"I'm not going to lie," I finally spoke up, causing Euclid to turn to me, "I expected this to go very differently."
Euclid shrugged, "A shame, that." He said with very fake pity.
With a deep, tired sigh, I turn to the butler fully. "Everything on the Khaos Brigade, now."
He cleared his throat, "To be frank, there isn't much left to tell." He begins, "If you already know about my organization, then surely you know about the others." He raises a hand, rubbing his chin, "Most of the others have fallen apart by now, and its leader has no awareness of what's going on, truly."
Ah, so Ophis is still just there.
Still not doing anything, though, I see.
He continues with a shake of his head, "Nilrem won't be around for much longer, I'm afraid. If my Lord finds it of no interest, then I'll terminate the group. No point in wasting time and resources there. That leaves the Old Satan Faction, who are crumbling as we speak after their attempt to bring and support the Fallen Uprising went exactly as expected," Euclid gave a roll of his eyes, "and finally, the Hero Faction. Or rather, the Emperor's Hero Faction."
There we go.
"The Emperor's Hero Faction?" I raised an eyebrow in clear interest.
"Yes," Euclid huffed in distaste, "the descendant of Charlemagne, who took up her ancestor's name in this era. Her goal isn't clear; all I noted was she kept out of Cao Cao's way and sight, and was basically using the cover of the Hero Faction as a whole to collect particular Sacred Gear wielders."
Fucking Charlemagne!?
Okay, I guess I can see, but still!
A frown slowly began to appear on my face, "What kind of Sacred Gears is she after?"
"Old ones." Euclid answered swiftly, "I believe the old Grigori called the particular kind she sought as 'Ancient' Sacred Gear, specifically, those that host beings or powers that are older than I, and even my Lord." He paused a moment before adding, "Although that doesn't make them particularly powerful. Most of them are hindered in some way, in fact. Broken, missing parts, unfinished. That sort of thing."
I couldn't help but tilt my head at that.
Ancient Sacred Gears?
Huh, the Tower of Babel gear the girls mentioned definitely fits that. So would Zekka's, considering who's locked up inside of it.
The fact that both are also currently incomplete is a point there, too.
At the same time, though. What could Charlemagne want with these Ancient Sacred Gears?
…And is it a coincidence or not that both of the presumed Ancient Sacred Gears so far are related to Him?
Hah, of course not.
I'll need to find out more about these particularly sacred gears.
"I'm guessing you don't know anything else about these Ancient Sacred Gears?" I decide to follow up with.
"If you mean in general, that'd be right." He swiftly shuts me down by confirming, "My Lord was never interested in powers he could shut down with a wave of his hand. I only noted their existence for document's sake."
Fuck.
"Then do you know of any other Ancient Sacred Gears this girl has in her possession?" I naturally go on to ask.
"Yes, one." He holds up a single finger, "Noah's Ark."
Ahah. Okay, yeah, that definitely bodes well.
This sect of the Hero Faction is one hundred percent related to Him, ain't it? In some form or way, maybe not put in place by him, but related, although I'm not sure how.
Far too many coincidences for it to be anything else.
I almost groaned on the spot, but I did drag my hand down my face.
My gaze turns back to Rizevim, just lying there, still.
During our conversation, the man had begun slowly sliding off his throne in a bundle of clothing, metal, and wild silver hair.
At this point, he was already halfway off.
I felt my eye twitch.
Seriously. I came here at least somewhat expecting he'd try to goad me into a fight, or I'd goad him into one.
Instead, he's passed out, and was likely drunk when I got here.
It's just so unbelievably sad, man.
Is he even worth fighting like this?
Killing, yes, oh yes, if he gets out of that chair with any sort of motivation, who's telling who exactly is fucked, but someone will be.
But a fight? With him, when he's like this?
No. No, not really.
I don't even know if he would defend himself if I attacked right now.
Euclid would, and sure, he's stronger than your average devil, way stronger in fact.
But, uh, I wasn't trying against Serafall, and I had her on my lap, spanking her ass in no time at all.
I'd have Euclid's head in seconds if I really wanted to go all out. It wouldn't even get my blood pumping.
Well, shit. If fighting Rizevim won't be satisfying, and killing Euclid especially won't be satisfying, what would be then?
I could just tell Sirzechs and the other New Satans where Rizevim is hiding out. Then maybe they can come deal with them?
Eh, I doubt this is the only palace these guys have. It's likely once I leave, they'll teleport to another building, or outright teleport the whole complex somewhere else entirely.
Aw, damn. That means I have to do it myself.
"Is that all you have to ask of me?" Euclid spoke up all of a sudden, breaking me from my train of thought.
"Unfortuantely so…" I answer with a bit of a sad sigh, "Now, I have to do this."
"Hmmt-"
My blade appears in my hand with a flash of golden light.
In about the time it takes for Euclid to widen his eyes, I've already moved.
And with one motion, two Descendants of Lucifer became one.
~ A New Sun ~
Sirzechs sat down in his office, pleased, both as Satan Lucifer and as an older brother could be.
Not only did the talk with Noriaki go well, in his opinion, but his Ria-tan won her Rating Game!
It was a really close thing, though, but now with her entire Peerage backing her up, she managed to pull through.
He's got to say, he was surprised when his little sister came to him a while ago, shyly asking for advice on how to better utilize her Power of Destruction.
The sting to her pride that must have been, yet to put that aside for the sake of her team, to help score the win?
Well, as Satan Lucifer, he couldn't help but. That'd be unfair. But, as a father, well, it was expected he would train his son in the use of his powers, no?
And if his little sister, his son's aunt, just so happened to be around also helping, well, who could blame him?
Hah, Grayfia. Grayfia could blame him.
To his right, his lovely wife and Queen stood, a sickly sweet smile on her face as she looked down upon him.
He felt his brow crease with a small amount of sweat, for some inexplicable reason.
Well, there goes hoping she wouldn't notice Rias using the technique he'd helped her work out.
It's not even that bad! It's not like that technique won her the game or anything! It just helped her lock down Sairaorg Bael's Pawn, the lion! That's all!
All of a sudden, a stack of paperwork piling over his head was laid before his desk with an unusually weighty thunk.
"...Ah." Was all Sirzechs could manage after a moment, before slumping in his chair.
Grayfia didn't even say anything to him; she merely gave him a low hum.
They both know what this is for, after all.
Still, Sirzechs would say this was all worth it, in the end.
His door burst open.
Grayfia immediately stood at attention and prepared to move, only to stall and freeze completely, her eyes widening and her breath hitching.
Sirzechs, for his part, couldn't see over the stack of paperwork, so he was about to stand and see what all the fuss was about-
The paperwork was abruptly removed from his view, and a body was flopped down on top of it all.
No. Not a body. They were alive, Sirzechs could see that they were breathing, so a person.
But, the silver hair, the pure white and silver suit, and this demonic power, he can feel it…
Euclid Lucifuge.
He shouldn't be alive, should he? During the war, he went missing, and everyone thought he had died.
Well, beyond the fact that he looks about on death's door already. His suit was burned off and black in several places, portions of his skin were an angry red, and his demonic power was low, both in quantity and quality.
Sirzechs finally raised his gaze to find the one responsible.
He was only further completely thrown off guard to see Noriaki standing there, looking morose, for some reason?
He didn't even get the chance to open his mouth, as Noriaki simply stated, "A gift for you." Before promptly turning and walking out of his office.
He saw a flash of light outside the door, and with that, he was gone.
Just like that.
Huh.
Sirzechs turned back toward Grayfia, only to find his Queen still frozen in shock.
Well. At least she isn't mad at him now, right?