"Sirzechs, did you say this is just a normal lake?" Kousuke asked, staring into the water with a peculiar expression, as if he'd tasted something unexpectedly sour. Crimson Satan noticed his strange reaction but thought nothing of it at first.
After everyone had tried his capsules, Kousuke decided to put them back into his inventory despite the chorus of boos. He had a feeling the tour would never happen if he let everyone play. Even Crimson Satan had enjoyed the game as much as Serafall, probably because they shared the same mentality: their strength made ordinary life difficult, but in the game they could be anyone and do things they couldn't in reality. Hell, he could even go on a date with Grayfia inside the virtual world without attracting attention. That was the turning point that made the two Satans very interested in investing on his project. Kousuke wasn't the type to refuse free money so he accepted it before giving them the number of his manager(Mei) and told them to give her a call later.
Morgan already mapped the surface layer of the Underworld so she skipped the tour. She thought it would be wiser watching over the Old Satans Faction and see if she could find more info about their motives. Akeno was still tired from their lovemaking, so she unfortunately had to skip it as well to rest. So right now, Kousuke was accompanied with Sirzechs and Serafall.
"Yes," Sirzechs explained. "The lake was built by the Satans who came before us, long before Lilith City was constructed. They tried to make the Underworld more like the mortal realm, that's why we have a fake sun and sky you see today." At least that was what the history books said; he hadn't been alive before the Great War. In his view, the Underworld had always looked like this. Though he had visited the bottom layers of Underworld before, so he have the general image of what the surface layer used to looks like.
"Then did the previous Satans leave any record about secret bases under the lake?" Kousuke asked casually.
Sirzechs frowned and used his magic sight to peer into the lake. For some reason, he couldn't pierce through the ground beneath the lake, which was unusual in of itself. Something is blocking his vision. "That's… strange. Give it a try, Serafall. Can you sense anything?"
"Nope! I remembered flying past here occasionally and never noticing anything anything strange. How did you do it?" Serafall replied in surprise. Both Satans turned to Kousuke, he'd done something they couldn't so they wondered what he saw.
"You can't see it?" Kousuke asked, pointing beneath the surface. Both shook their heads. "Well, how do I put this? Someone is locked down there."
At first, he sensed a man-made structure beneath the lake hidden by several layers of hardened soil and rock while he was admiring some rare aquatic creatures. He thought it might be a prison or a seal created by Satans. But both Satans' ignorance implied it could be a secret base, possibly of the Old Satan Faction. Peering deeper, he found an unexpected person.
A young girl was trapped in a windowless room. She looked about Gasper's age, her eyes dead and resigned, as if she'd given up hope of rescue. More importantly, her presence reminded him of the introverted dhampir. From what Gasper had once told him, his childhood friend had been killed right before his eyes after they were caught for plotting the escape. Kousuke couldn't help but had a foreboding suspicion that this could be related.
"Someone's locked up in an underground base under the lake?" Sirzechs's brows tightened. The lake sat only a few kilometers from Lilith City and was within his domain, so he should've known if any devils had built something there. If it was another Satan's territory, he might have been less concerned, but this suggested someone was undermining his authority.
"Wow, Sirzechs-chan looks really grumpy, though I can understand that," Serafall said with a smile. "Wonder what kind of bastard would do something this blatant? It's gotta be them, right?"
"Rizevim," Sirzechs muttered, the name a knife in his tone. "That bastard denied involvement in Rias's kidnapping, yet when it came time to punish the Heir of Astaroth, he intervened and merely slapped them by the waist. If not for my position, I would've punished them severely. I'm sure Ajuka would agree with my decision." His eyes glittered. As Lucifer's only biological son, Rizevim had long been a thorn in Sirzechs's side. He pretended not to care about politics, but his presence was always where trouble stirred. Lately, he'd been unnaturally active even, something the four Satans had noticed.
"So scary~ Then you two won't mind if I go rescue them, right?" Kousuke asked.
Both Satans shook their heads, that was enough for Kousuke. In a blink an eye, he changed into shorts and dove into the lake. Sirzechs and Serafall exchanged looks and followed, enveloped in protective bubbles that allowed them to breathe. When they reached the bottom, Kousuke pressed something into the lakebed; a hole opened and sucked them into it.
Before long, they were thrown onto dry ground after coming out of a whirlpool and immediately surveyed their surroundings. A long hallway stretched before them, flanked by sturdy walls. The lakewater that had accompanied them was drained by some magical mechanism; the hole above sealed itself as if it had served its purpose.
"This way," Kousuke said, walking ahead as if he knew the path. The two followed quietly until the corridor split in two. Without consulting them, he turned left.
"Do you have some way to sense them?" Serafall asked. She had expected they would be forced to split and search back then, so his confidence intrigued her.
"Rather than sensing them, I already mapped the layout the moment I found this hideout," Kousuke replied. As an Enchanter, his eyes could pierce through everything; it was how he'd reverse-engineered the summoning spell that brought him back to Earth. "I already know where they're locked. Lucky for us, the big daddy isn't around."
Soon they arrived before a giant door wrapped in enchanted chains and seals, designed to stop anyone from forcing it open. There was only one sensible way inside, bring the mastermind who put these protections in place. Cracking the seals wasn't out of the way, but it would be a time-consuming task.
"Let me see if my Destruction works," Sirzechs suggested. Serafall also considered smashing them by freezing and then shattering them, it might sounds reckless but she thought her plan was solid. However before they could proceed with their ideas, Kousuke intervened.
"Do you want to alert the big guy?" He asked calmly. Then, in one motion, he ripped the chains and seals free as if pulling at threads, the metal shattered and the seals burned away under his overwhelming force. It might have looked like brute strength, but he'd already found the loophole the moment he examined them.
"Now then," he said, his hands rest onto the heavy door and slowly pushed it open. Despite already seeing them before getting here, he continues. "Shall we see who the poor soul is behind this door?"