66- Lord Bael

What were Sirzechs and Ajuka up to during these months?

Someone is clearly controlling the Devil race's economy through the rating game, and based on the information they have, they are influential.

And Oh boy, that's trouble.

And the political kind, honestly, I'd rather have someone attacking us than this.

Politics, in general, means that you lost the moment you used brute force, which is annoying.

Sirzechs, fortunately, has the support of Diehouser Belial, the person who became the Rating Games champion despite the cheaters, and the person who is the closest to becoming one of the future Satan's due to his talent and strength.

Diehauser has been waiting for an opportunity to land a bow on the Bael clan after nearly killing his cousin Cleria Belial with their plots.

And it's not like Sirzech don't have his own dissatisfaction against the Bael clan due to Rias and Sirzech himself because having the heir of another Clan awaken the power of your own caused some… dissatisfaction between both clans

Sirzech is such a Sis-con that a simple glare at Rias would be enough to get you on his list.

They are known as Sirzech and Rias Gremory and that just made both Redheads a walking insult to the Bael clan, so some bad eyes pointed at them was to be expected

Making matters worse, Sairaorg, the most well-known young Devil of the Bael clan, did not inherit the power of Destruction.

This is ideal for the great Sis-con, who will not tolerate anyone showing hostility to his sister; the political punch was an added bonus.

On the other hand this can also cause the opposite effect, after learning how pleased Rias was with the little Vampire and her visits to my Mindscape, he is quite friendly with us.

Anyway, going back to the problems

Shishou eventually agreed to lock space, but she didn't stop messages from being sent, which caused some problems.

Lord Bael appears before us after receiving an emergency message, and he is one of the issues on the Devil's side that must be dealt with before anything else if they want to progress.

Well, Lord Bael is not the problem but Zekram Bael, He is old and too set on a specific belief that he shares with his allies

Their traditionalist aristocratic mindset is problematic to the point of being a hindrance to a potential peace treaty, which the Peace Seeking Satans are well aware of.

How do you deal with someone whose political power rivals that of the Four Great Satans?

One of the few options for dealing with someone like them is through reputation, which we thoroughly discussed with Sirzechs, Ajuka, and Serafall.

Nobody would believe that 8 of the top ten ranked players in the Rating Games would be given such power without a reason, it's clear that this is a great part of where the influence of Zekram Bael Faction's influence comes from.

We must deal with the clan Bael, not Lord Bael, who is merely a puppet, but with Zekram Bael, the progenitor of Bael and the Leader in the shadow of the underworld.

…

That's why Serafall, Ajuka, and Sirzech bother to talk to him while the girls, Scathach, who is being followed by Roygun, and I just stand there and watch the show.

Roygun seems relieved to learn that she will not face harsh punishment... At the very least, she'll be able to keep playing the rating games and accepted the 'increased difficulty' of being weakened due to the lack of King Pieces as a challenge.

What an interesting woman, I see why Shishou took a liking to her.

For the time being, let's just watch the show.

"What's the meaning of this, Sirzech? " Lord Bael became enraged when he received word that one of his subordinates was being attacked by none other than three of the four Satans, to the point of referring to the current Lucifer without his title.

Nine of the ten have already been apprehended, leaving this guy under Lord Bael protection as the only one left, but not for long if Sirzech plays his cards correctly.

Even the unlucky guy who faced Sirzech was saved by Phoenix tears, but his Piece was destroyed by the power of Destruction, so there weren't any casualties.

Strong Devils are more useful alive.

It shouldn't be difficult for us to win this when we have Sirzech at us side; there's a reason why everyone loves and recognizes the current Lucifer's rule, from civilians to faction leaders like Odin, Michael, and even Zekram Bael himself.

Strength. 

And not just the political kind.

"Please, stay away from this Lord Bael. We have proof to arrest him " Sirzech kept his peaceful and polite tone but didn't budge one bit, stepping forward and keeping his Demonic Power at display, showing that he is arresting him one way or another.

"I'm curious what the rest of the Clan Leaders would think if they were to learn that the current Lucifer is attacking one of them without reason... " But Lord Bael didn't back down either, threatening with the only thing he could think of, which unfortunately won't work this time.

"I have been in this position for a long time, Lord Bael. I Will take responsibility for my actions, like always. So please step aside, if he is innocent then I will give an apology " Sirzech words were without hesitation, even promising an apology cutting most of the ways out for Lord Bael, especially with two other Satans being here.

Lord Bael, on the other hand, could not back down; losing such an important part of their power is not something he wishes to do...

Seeing that this could go for a while going around in circles, I decided to step in, but not before giving Sirzech a signal with my hand to ask for permission, this was an issue of the Devil's after all.

Especially since even if the matter is discovered, Lord Bael can still invoke the great universal law of 'It's legal as long as it's not illegal'

Doesn't that sound stupid? However, using King Pieces to boost yourself is not prohibited by the rules because it has never happened before, so it is not prohibited.

Well, that wouldn't be good for Lord Bagel either given that he would admit manipulating the center of the Devil's Economy and all that..

With Sirzechs approval, I decided to make a comment.

"You shouldn't be giving your protection to this poor devil, b-" But it was cut short by Lord Bael's angry voice, which caused Sirzech and Ajuka to smile, albeit unnoticeably.

As one would expect from someone who values old traditions so highly.

"This is not the place for an outsider to step in." He tried to put pressure on me by staring at me and using his Power of Destruction to intimidate me, pleased that no one was assisting me.

Although my comment seemed useless, it setted the conversation towards a particular path.

"And here I was trying to save your reputation… " I told him lazily as I hitted my chest with my hand and soon my entire aura changed to that of a Devil, plus a tail and some horns to go along with it. His aura was simply being ignored right now as if it didn't even exist, learning a curious and interested look from Ajuka who was trying to also see through my illusion.

"What does he mean? " Seeing how the three Satans reacted to my comment made the old man realize that something wasn't right about my casual comment

This time Sirzech decided to put an end to this giving him only two choices "Greetings, Lord Bael. Because this investigation involves the Rating Games, we decided to make it public in order to prevent those behind the scenes from tampering with the evidence. " Are you the behind-the-scenes manipulator or not? That was the unspoken question to which Lord Bael had now to respond.

After hearing the words 'Rating Games' and 'Manipulation,' he understood quite well. He either renounces his biggest card or admits to being the one controlling the Rating Games, which is a choice he can't make, which means... he needs to ask that person.

"The matter has already been made public, and people are waiting for Sirzech's speech on the subject..." Ajuka decided to rub salt in the wound by telling him, 'It's already done, and there's nothing you can do about it.'

Finally, he had no choice but to resign and let us take the Devil away, putting an end to the first part of this game.

And I have to say... I'm really pleased with everything because we gained a lot from it, not just in terms of money, but also in terms of knowledge and experience.

Peace made it difficult for us to fight strong opponents, and this night raid did just that; Jeanne and Jalter had a real fight against multiple enemies, even if they had a little of my help, benefiting greatly from all this

Mudrock simply did her thing; with her domain spanning nearly the entirety of Japan, she is used to fighting on occasion.

The most significant difference is that Ajuka and Shishou began to discuss their research on Sacred Gears and Magical Items in general, which Shishou is barely starting with 

She did change the Spirit Origin on some servants in a FGO Event so they could become summer servants but that's as far as her knowledge goes.

In short, Scathach is interested in his research and Ajuka is interested in the use of runes, so now they have a common ground for their exchange.

I also have my gains learning and observing, seeing the three Satans in action gave me many ideas for the future.

Seeing Ajuka Beelzebub walk into the enemy while canceling all spells, I can see why he is ranked among the top ten strongest beings with his ability to nullify almost all the things he can comprehend.

Take Devils for example; their reliance on their Bloodlines makes him a nightmare for most of them, even if they reach his level of strength

Sirzech Lucifer demonstrated 'a great offense is the best defense' by simply using the Power of Destruction to overwhelm any attempt that the enemy had by simply going through their spells as if they weren't even there, The Destruction Energy around his body being an impenetrable defense in case any spells managed to reach him

There is simply no way to run or hide from him either since Shields, barriers, and any other structure between him and his target are rendered pointless unless they are on par with his Power of Destruction.

Finally, Serafall, the Living Blizzard, transformed the entire terrain into an ice world, slowing even the Demonic Energy used by the enemy for spells as ice surrounded and captured every Devil in the mansion, with no way for them to escape due to how difficult it is to break with physical strength, effectively sealing them as long as she wanted.

Even if some of them are the exception and have trained their bodies... She can simply add more mana to repair or strengthen the ice.

Even watching Raygun helped me a lot because her ability [Tear] is compatible with mine; boosting people's wounds is a great way for me to deal with my enemies and opens up a lot of possibilities for me to use my abilities.

Even the girls will benefit from this once I pass them the memory.

And gaining the trust, support and favor of a couple Satans of course is a great plus.

Serafall has also discovered the joy of making people drown in paperwork, as it is now entirely Sirzech and Ajuka's responsibility to deal with this.

She is,after all, in charge of EXTERNAL affairs and she surely reminded the two Satan's of it as she went to deal with some 'pressing work'. 

The only problem she has with me now is that she is now mad at me for making her Sou-tan want to be an ice dancing and singing princess rather than a magical girl after I released that movie last month...