Devil’s Whisper (11)
Chapter 61: Devil's Whisper (11)
[Underworld: The Naberius Clan's Research Facility.]
"Kuroka, Shirone, I'll be back in a few months, so until then, don't cause trouble for anyone here."
Kuroka and Shirone stared at their mother, Fujimai, watching as the latter crouched down and held their hands with a gentle smile.
"Is that fine?"
The two sisters nodded at their Fujimai's words, and she turned towards Kuroka.
"Can you please take care of Shirone for me, Kuroka?"
"Yes…"
Fujimai released Kuroka's hand and patted her head, soon turning towards Shirone.
"Shirone, listen to your big sister, okay?"
"Mmh…"
Shirone nodded a little, and Fujimai patted her head in return.
"After our experiment ends, your father and I will take you back."
As Fujimai stood up and was about to leave, Shirone followed her and grabbed her kimono with teary eyes. "Mama…"
Fujimai's expression softened, and she crouched, gently hugging her daughter.
"Don't cry, Shirone. Mama will come back soon…" After her daughter calmed down, Fujimai unclipped her two cat-shaped hairpins. "Give me your hand…"
Shirone raised her hand, and her mother placed the two hairpins in her tiny palm.
"These hairpins are extremely precious to me, so keep them with you until I come back…"
Fujimai gently closed Shirone's palm, and the latter brightened up slightly.
Shirone tried to wear the hairpins, but when she failed and caused them to fall on the ground twice, Kuroka helped her wear them properly.
After hugging her daughters again, Fujmai politely bowed towards the devil who stood beside them. "Thank you for taking care of my daughters."
"Yes." The devil nodded, turning towards Kuroka and Shirone. "Follow me."
Fujimai waved at her daughters as they walked inside the Naberius Clan's research facility, soon disappearing from her sight.
'The entrance disappeared…'
Fujimai knew this was a secret research facility, so she wasn't surprised when the entrance suddenly disappeared.
'After this experiment ends, let's spend a lot of time together, Kuroka, Shirone…'
After a few seconds, Fujimai activated [Transportation Magic] and left for the Human World.
---
Azrail Astaroth Pov:
[Underworld: The Gremory Castle.]
"Your attacks are predictable…"
I leisurely walked backwards, dodging numerous [Power of Destruction] coated punches from Rias.
"Gahh…"
Rias groaned in annoyance, sending her fist straight to my face.
"Control your breathing…"
With the back of my palm, I tapped Rias' forearm and changed the direction of her punch, carefully avoiding the [Power of Destruction] around her fist.
A few strands of my hair that came in contact with her punch disappeared on the spot.
At the same time, several threads made from [Power of Destruction] emerged from the ground, wrapping tightly around my body and immobilising me.
'Heh… Rias' control has developed enough to immobilise me without destroying my clothes…'
The [Power of Destruction]'s 'destruction' could be controlled, and threads made out of it were incredible to immobilise people without killing them.
Not to mention, the threads were extremely lethal if used at maximum 'destruction output' with the intent to kill.
The moment her threads immobilised me, Rias smirked and shouted. "Akeno, now!"
Akeno had been flying high in the sky and supporting her [Queen] through long-range spells, and at this moment, she raised her hands towards me.
Instantly, a magic circle twice her size appeared next to her palms.
'Akeno doesn't have the skills necessary to create such a large magic circle instantly; not yet, at least…'
She must have prepared that magic circle while spamming long-range elemental attacks as a disguise.
'Their plan isn't bad, but she's putting too much Demonic Power into the Magic Circle. It won't work…'
Too much was as bad as too little; the power imbalance would hinder the spell's casting rather than enhance its strength.
What Akeno wanted to do was called a [Charge Magic Spell]. As the name suggested, the user needed to charge it for some time before they could release it.
[Charge Magic Spell] allowed people to temporarily store power in Magic Circles and surpass their natural Demonic Power Output.
However, there was a catch.
Akeno had no idea what [Charge Magic Spells] were and how to create them, but I couldn't blame her.
After all, that was the syllabus for next month.
Crackle!*
Sparks of lightning appeared around Akeno's Magic Circle, and Rias moved away from me as the binding around my body tightened.
However, unlike what I expected—
"Ah…!"
Akeno's Magic Circle didn't shatter. Instead, she lost control of it, causing it to launch numerous bolts of [Holy Lightning] in all directions.
"Wha—?!"
As with any predictable development, one of those lightning bolts aimed straight for Rias' face.
Even though Rias had improved significantly, she was still a child. Her reaction time and speed weren't enough to dodge such an unexpected and fast attack.
All she could do was watch in horror as the [Holy Lightning] moved towards her.
'8.3 meters. Rias is out of my current spell-casting range…'
The closer a spell was to the user's body, the easier it'd be to cast.
Casting range was the maximum distance someone could use a spell from with full efficiency.
The farther a spell was from the caster's range, the more inefficient it became.
My original spell-casting range was around seventy meters — far beyond most devils, but this body only had 10% of my soul.
'Ah, well…'
Noticing that the bolt of [Holy Lightning] was only a foot away from Rias' face, I activated [Way of the Wind] and appeared beside her.
BOOM!*
The [Holy Lightning] hit the back of my palm, leaving a wound deep enough to show my bones.
'Not bad. If it were a month ago, my wrist would've disappeared completely…'
While training Akeno and Rias, my body slowly gained resistance against both [Holy Lightning] and [Power of Destruction].
'My innate weakness against [Light Power] has decreased a lot, too…'
It was a slow process since they couldn't damage me much, but it didn't matter.
After all, if my body gained resistance against my racial weakness too quickly, my soul wouldn't be able to keep up.
Thud!*
Thanks to the small explosion, Rias fell backwards and landed on the ground, staring at my bleeding arm with wide eyes.
"A-Azrail…!"
"I am sorry! Are you alright?"
Akeno hurriedly landed beside me with a horrified expression.
"Does this look alright to you?"
I started waving my injured wrist around, causing blood to splatter all over the place — including the three of us.
"Stop that!" Rias got up and grabbed my hand. "You're hurting yourself more!"
"It's fine. I can heal myself."
"Even then, a wound like this must still hurt!"
"That's right! You could have just moved Rias out of the way or used [Barrier Magic]. Why block the attack with your body?"
Rias and Akeno were correct; I could have resolved the situation without harming myself, but that meant no more adaptation.
"Too much work…"
"Are you a masochist?!"
Rias glared at me in anger, and I chuckled lightly. "Did you forget? I have a spell that disables my sense of pain."
That was a lie.
It was possible to nullify pain with [Anatomy Control], but I didn't do that.
The sense of pain was integral in battles.
Not to mention, I was the same person who burned himself inside out to escape Lyra's [Shadow Mark] without a second thought.
A small wound like this was nothing.
"Ah, right…" After hearing those words, Rias calmed down and released my arm. "I forgot..."
I smiled and surged my Demonic Power as a Magic Circle manifested above my injured wrist.
Instantly, the injury started to heal rapidly and disappeared within a few seconds.
"Even after seeing it many times, it's still fascinating…"
Akeno stared at my healed wrist in bewilderment, and Rias giggled.
"I can't wait to see how everyone will react when they learn you recreated the ancient [Regeneration Magic]…"
"It won't matter much since this version isn't complete. It can only heal me — not others."
Naturally, the "[Regeneration Magic]" in question was a lie to cover up for my [Immortality].
A few people within the Astaroth and Gremory Clan knew about Regeneration Magic.
On the other hand, only Alice, Ajuka, Hydra, and Lyra knew about my [Immortality].
As for my [Adaptation], no one besides Elmenhilde knew about its existence.
"You're underestimating yourself. The [Devil Magic Research Institute] has been trying to recreate [Regeneration Magic] for almost five centuries with no progress. People will go bonkers over your 'incomplete' spell…"
As Rias spoke, a wave of [Power of Destruction] emerged from her body, enveloping all three of us.
The wave destroyed all the blood and dirt on our bodies, cleaning them immediately.
'To think she copied Alice's [Clean] spell in such a manner…'
I had to admit — that was very creative of her.
After a year of training with me, Rias' mastery and output of [Power of Destruction] had risen considerably.
She also learned hand-to-hand combat, long-range spells, and [Aura Enhancement].
I tried teaching her weapons, too, but we soon gave up because most weapons weren't compatible with [Power of Destruction].
Instead, it'd be easier for Rias to create weapons from [Power of Destruction] after she became strong enough.
"Well, I have no plans of sharing [Regeneration Magic]'s spell formation, so their reaction doesn't matter…"
After all, there was no spell formation for me to reveal.
"It isn't like they can force you, either…" Rias smiled at my words and turned towards her [Queen]. "Anyway, your last spell was incredible, Akeno! I couldn't react at all. Had it not failed, it might've even landed a clean hit on Azrail…"
I wouldn't be so sure about that, Rias.
Even though Rias and Akeno had improved a lot, I could still defeat them with [Anatomy Control] alone.
Their current abilities weren't enough to overcome the sheer difference in our physical stats.
Akeno perked up at Rias' words. "I'll make sure to succeed next time."
"No, you won't…" I raised my index finger towards Akeno and continued. "Until I teach you about [Charge Magic Spells], don't try that again. It's dangerous…"
In the worst-case scenario, the Magic Circle could self-destruct and harm the user.
Even though my tone was authoritative, Akeno didn't mind. Instead, she smiled brightly and nodded. "If that's what you want, Azrail."
Whether it was her mentality or abilities, Akeno had grown a lot during the last year.
It took some time and effort from my side, but she had already started to recover from her trauma regarding her mother's death.
Last month, Akeno willingly decided to learn how to utilise her Fallen Angel powers — she accepted that her powers didn't belong to her father but to herself.
She wanted to use those powers to help her [King] and best friend, who saved her life.
Of course, overcoming such intense trauma wasn't easy for a child, but this was a good beginning.
Akeno also showed us the memories of her mother's death and how she lived after that, and Rias hugged her after realising everything she had been through.
Before that moment, Rias only knew bits and pieces of Akeno's past.
It was a very emotional moment.
Naturally, I recorded it all to embarrass them in the future.
"But even then, being able to do that much without learning any [Charge Magic Spell] is incredible..."
I patted Akeno's head, and she smiled happily. "Thank you."
Honestly, I was more of a father figure to Akeno than Baraqiel, with her asking for my approval and opinion on everything she did.
'That's why you are my current favourite, Akeno…'
She was extremely well-behaved and obedient, unlike Rias and Latia, who were in their rebellious phases.
"Hmm…."
Rias crossed her arms and glared at me from the side.
I knew she wanted me to praise her, too, but I still asked, "What?"
"Nothing…" She pouted and hurriedly turned her head away from me, but soon, her expression changed as she waved towards the Gremory Castle. "Brother!"
On the castle's balcony, Sirzechs stood and stared at the three of us before waving back with a smile.
When our eyes met, I bowed lightly to greet him, and he nodded in return.
Strangely enough, Sirzechs and I never talked to each other beyond a few words ever since the banquet ended.
I expected him to approach me someday, but he didn't.
It was awkward, especially since I spent most of my time at his house.
At this point, we were competing to see who was more thick-skinned.
"Hey, Azrail…"
"Yeah?"
Rias turned towards me. "Did something happen between you and my brother?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I haven't seen together lately. Even during dinner, you two rarely talk with each other…"
I smiled at her. "Have you ever seen us talk before outside of a group discussion?"
Rias opened her mouth to reply, but after pondering for a few seconds, she held her chin. "You're right…"
Sirzechs and I were never particularly close, even before the banquet.
On the other hand, my relationship with Serafall didn't change much.
After I avoided her for a few months, she suddenly barged into my room and warned me that she'd kidnap me if I tried avoiding her again because of 'silly reasons.'
She was genuinely frustrated because I thought the banquet would affect our relationship.
Honestly, I never knew Serafall was so emotionally attached to me.
Regardless of her childish and friendly exterior, I knew how intelligent and perceptive she was.
"Azu-chan, you know… You look at most people as if you're looking at an object of interest, and your eyes almost resemble Ajuka-chan's, although I doubt you realise it yourself right now."
That was what Serafall said to me when I was four.
Since then, I thought her cheerful and bubbly exterior personality was for show — always being on guard against her.
However, after what happened, I realised that I never understood Serafall.
While she was perspective and sharp, she wasn't a two-faced liar like me.
'But one thing is certain — the satans are quietly observing the changes in my behaviour. Sirzechs in the Gremory Castle, Ajuka in the Astaroth Castle, and Serafall in Bucharest…'
In their eyes, I had 'changed' a lot after the incident at the banquet, always being around my family and not doing anything suspicious.
Not to mention, the disappearances in the underworld had also stopped.
'The monitoring from the other clans and devil government doesn't matter, but it's hard to deceive the Four Great Satans…'
From their perspective, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I had started to turn over a new leaf.
But I could never be careless with my movements.
After all, a minor mistake fucked me over last time.
'If it weren't for my three bodies, progressing my research would've been impossible in the current situation…'
Although this body only had 10% of my soul, its form was the same as my original soul, so unless someone killed me and examined my soul from within, finding me was impossible.
Even Lyra, whom I had a [Soul Corridor] with, couldn't sense my other bodies despite our connection.
"By the way, Azrail. What about our training next week?"
"Since your physical abilities have improved significantly, I'll teach you how to use your limbs properly…"
Rias tilted her head. "But I can already punch, kick, and defend properly. You said that was all I needed to learn…"
"Hand-to-hand combat isn't just that. Those are the basic movements…" After a few seconds of silence, I asked, "Do you know which part of my body is the strongest in close combat?"
Rias shook her head, and I rested my left hand on my right elbow. "It's this."
"Your elbows?"
"Yes."
For example, an elbow from me was enough to easily break Alice's forearm when we sparred without any enhancements.
Despite her appearance, Alice had monstrous physical attributes even without [Aura Enhancement].
However, after steadily increasing my base strength with [Anatomy Control] for over a year, I was physically stronger than Alice. [1]
At first, such a fast increase in base strength was hard to control, but it became possible after sparring with Alice and Lyra regularly.
"But Azrail, what about your Demonic Power Nature? How's it progressing?"
Akeno's question made Rias turn towards me, staring at me curiously.
I smiled at them and placed my index finger on my lips. "That's a secret."
"Not fair! You didn't tell us what it is, so at least tell us how it's coming along!"
"You'll find out when I complete it, Rias."
My Demonic Power Nature was progressing smoothly, but I had no intention of revealing it to others yet.
"You act as if you are creating a tactical nuke!"
Little did Rias know, I already had a tactical nuke.
It was called [Gravity Collapse].
"No matter how much you glare at me, I won't tell you…"
"Tch…"
Rias clicked her tongue in annoyance, and I was about to frustrate her even more, but before I could—
{I found them.}
Lyra's telepathic message rang inside my head.
{Who?}
I had asked her to find over a dozen people, so I had no idea whom she stumbled upon this time.
{The Nekoshou sisters related to the Naberius Clan — I found them.}
Lyra briefed me on the situation of the Nekoshou sisters and their relationship with the Naberius Clan.
'If I am not wrong, their parents will most likely die, leaving the two sisters orphaned and at the Naberius Clan's mercy…' With those thoughts in mind, I asked, {What are their names?}
{Kuroka and Shirone.}
'What basic naming sense…'
[You named Sirzechs and Grayfia's son Bucciarati, Master.]
'Silence, Great Sage. I won't accept any slander against my naming skills…'
Since the name Bucciarati didn't suit a devil from the Gremory Clan, Sirzechs' son was later renamed Millicas.
Rias and I tried our best, but sadly, we couldn't win, and Bucciarati became Millicas' pet name.
{You said the Nekoshou sisters are inside the Naberius Clan's secret research facility. Where is it?}
Through our telepathic link, Lyra transferred the information straight to my mind, and I frowned slightly.
'That's not too far from where Latia and I went hunting…'
Tiamat regularly sent Latia to hunt magical beasts in the name of training, and I often tagged along with her to pass some time.
Coincidentally, Latia's current hunting area was near the Naberius Clan's secret research facility.
{I also looked into the Naberius Clan.}
Before Lyra could continue, I spoke, {Forget it. I already lost interest in them.}
I looked into the Naberius Clan some time ago, but their research wasn't what I wanted right now.
{Is that so? And here I thought you'd be interested in what I found.}
Lyra's tone was strangely playful, which piqued my interest. {What is it?}
{The actual historical records of the Devil Civil War and the existence of Malebranche.}
{Malebranche?}
{Twelve living weapons created by the Original Four Great Satans. From what I know, one of them forced Sirzechs Gremory to use his true powers during the war.}
I blinked at that information. {A weapon that can force a Super Devil to use his true powers?}
That was a bit hard to believe.
{Yes. The Four Great Satans used Sacred Gears as a reference to create the Malebranche, but I don't know how accurate this information is.}
{Can't you find something more?}
{Not without leaving behind traces.}
'A weapon that made Sirzechs use his true powers…'
My index finger twitched at that thought.
The reason I never went after the Naberius Clan's research was simple.
It didn't help with my current goal of increasing my strength.
However, the Malebranche were different.
If I could study them, I might find some methods to increase my strength rapidly.
'No, calm down. Those weapons aren't something I can currently mess with…'
If this information was even remotely accurate, any of those twelve weapons could kill me with relative ease.
'But knowing about their existence is enough. I can look into them in the future...'
Whether it was developing my Demonic Power Nature, healing my lifespan, nurturing the Karnstein Household's Vampires, or research — I had a lot to do right now.
'Not to mention, there's also the possibility of Lyra concealing important information. It won't hurt to be extra prepared…'
{Never mind, then. Don't look into this any further.}
As numerous thoughts passed through my head, Lyra spoke. {There's one more thing. The Nekoshou sisters — their parents and the Naberius Clan are involved in a rather interesting experiment.}
{What experiment?}
Noticing the intrigue in my voice, Lyra continued with a light chuckle. {To create artificial Super Devils — an experiment started by Zaorama Nebiros after he witnessed Sirzechs Lucifer's power.}
The Nebiros Clan was an Extra Demon Clan and one of the Six Houses of Lucifer.
'Super Devil research…'
No matter how hard I tried, my research regarding Super Devils made little progress in the last year.
All the clues and theories I had only led to dead ends.
But that was within my expectations.
Without prior knowledge about Super Devils or their actual abilities, my trial-and-error approach was no different from shooting arrows in the dark.
The success rate wasn't even 1%.
'I doubt their research has anything too significant, but it doesn't matter...'
All I needed was one hint — a direction to shoot arrows in.
After thinking about it for a brief moment, I continued, {That's enough. For now, don't look into this any further.}
{You gave up faster than I expected.}
{Please. I already fucked up once by biting more than I could chew.}
Although, that didn't mean I had no intentions of obtaining the Naberius Clan's research.
'The Phenex Clan, the Naberius Clan, the Bael Clan, the Agares Clan, the [King] Piece, and Khaos Brigade…'
Thanks to Lyra's hard work, I already knew Zekram Bael commissioned her to capture me, along with how it was Lord Agares' request.
However, I didn't make a move against them.
If I wanted to kill them whenever I wanted, but that wouldn't be enough to satisfy me.
'Three years at best…'
My lips curled up into a small smile.
That was how much time I needed to finish developing the base of my Demonic Power Nature.
After that, it'd be enough for me to run amok without trouble.
"Azrail…" Noticing my expression, Rias glared at me with a frown. "Your smile tells me you are up to no good…"
"No…" Her words made me chuckle. "I'm just happy as to how things turned out…"
Rias tilted her head in confusion, but before she could ask anything, I continued, "Also, my mother invited you for dinner tomorrow."
"Mother did?"
After our engagement, Rias started calling Celis and Sebastian as mother and father.
I, on the other hand, still called Zeoticus and Venelana as Lord and Lady Gremory.
"Yeah. Latia's also coming."
Ever since her training with Tiamat started, Latia rarely visited the Astaroth Clan, so whenever she did, my parents would summon me, too.
"Then, will you go back to Bucharest after tomorrow?"
"No…" I smiled at my dear fiancee. "I feel like going on a hunt…"
It was time to recruit some new people.
.
.
.
Third Person Pov:
[The Astaroth Castle.]
"Wait. Azrail still hasn't used his [Queen] Piece on you?"
"Yes. We plan on doing it when we both are fifteen. Alice said it's best to wait until we are decently strong to maximise the [Queen] Piece's effects…"
Rias and Latia randomly walked through the Astaroth Castle, and soon, the former asked. "What about your peerage, then?"
"I haven't recruited anyone after Arthur, Le Fay, and Selina. What about you? Did you recruit anyone?"
Rias shook her head at Latia's question. "I wanted to find and recruit someone, but the time never came since I started training with Azrail…"
"I see…"
After waking for a few minutes, they ran into Alice.
"You two…" Alice looked at Rias' empty hands and asked, "Where's Millicas?"
That question piqued Latia's interest. "You brought Millicas here?"
"Mmh." Rias nodded. "I wanted him to see the Astaroth Castle!"
"And where is he right now?"
"I left him with Azrail."
Rias' words made Alice and Latia flinch.
"You… did what?"
"Rias, repeat what you said, but slower…"
Rias frowned and held her chin.
'I left Millicas with Azrail…'
'The same Azrail who watched me getting chased by camels for three hours straight…'
'The same Azrail who bullied Sona in chess so hard she cried…'
'The same Azrail who buried Latia in a mountain of books…'
'The same Azrail who kicked Sairaorg off a cliff…'
'The same Azrail who forced Seekvaira to watch mecha porn…'
'The same Azrail who released 3,000 cockroaches on a kindergarten...'
As Rias' life flashed before her eyes, her face paled.
'No, no, no, no, no. I only have one nephew. I don't wanna wait for half a millennia for brother to make another one!'
She used [Demonic Power Enhancement] and dashed towards Azrail's room.
It only took Rias a moment to arrive at Azrail's room, and the moment she did—
"Waaahhhh…!!!"
Wroom!* Wroom!*
"WAAAHHHHHHH…!!!"
WROOM!* WROOM!*
Millicas crawled around the room at over twenty miles per hour as Azrail ran behind him with a vacuum cleaner in his hands.
The little guy was so scared he forgot how to walk, bawling his eyes out while crawling for his life.
"…"
Rias was so dumbfounded she forgot to yell at Azrail, staring at the scene with her mouth agape.
---
1: This statement is about Azrail and Alice in their base — no [Aura Enhancement] or [Anatomy Control] physical buffs.
A/N:
No author note this time. Sigh, I have no excuses.
A/N (x2):
Fuck WN. I can't even add bold or italics to lines properly on my phone now, and neither can I copy paste properly from my notes app because, for some reason, there's five line gap between each paragraph after pasting.
Have to use the site instead, which has its on problems on mobile.