"This went out of control…" Sirzechs muttered under his breath, twirling a chess piece on his fingers as he leaned back on his office chair.
He just received a report from Sherlock, who came back running with his tail tucked behind him. The perpetrators of the Naberius clan incident were none other than the new Yokai Queen herself, Yasaka, along with someone whom they don't recognize. His feats made even Sirzechs himself feel a slight chill on his spine.
Casually obliterating someone from existence was not unheard of. In fact, he can also do the same with his Power of Destruction but it requires precise focus and absolute mastery over the trait.
According to Sherlock, this man simply snapped his fingers, and the two strongest fighters within the Detective Agency disappeared.
Now, Sirzechs could simply just rush it out as a simple spatial transfer spell of some sort but Sherlock is well-versed in Demonic Spells and he can tell the difference between every spell he comes across. Sherlock implicitly denied that the spell used was a Spatial Spell. Which leaves to Sirzechs that this man is indeed capable of vanishing other people from existence in a mere snap of a finger.
After a minute of contemplating to himself, Sirzechs came to a crucial decision and relayed it to Sherlock in front of him, "If their targets are truly just the Naberius clan facilities, then leave them be for now. In the meantime, investigate what the true purpose of the Queen of Yokai being in coalition with someone to cause havoc here in the Underworld…"
Although surprised, Sherlock's sharp mind immediately caught on to the reason behind Sirzechs's decision.
His little sister, Rias's birthday is coming up this week and the man can't afford to deal with any problems regarding the Underworld matters. In layman's terms, Sirzechs is putting his little sister's priority higher than the Underworld itself.
"Aye." Sherlock silently rolled his eyes at his master's superfluous addiction to his little sister. Unfortunately, he knew better than to ask questions and simply lazily saluted Sirzechs and left his office to do exactly what he just told him.
Sirzechs's eyes didn't linger that long on Sherlock's back as he instantly pulled his drawer and took out a whole bundle of his little sister, Rias's cute photos starting from when she was just a baby up to the latest photo he secretly took when she was busy munching on some ice cream last week.
"Sigh…" He dreamily sighed while caressing the photo with his fingers. Thankfully, he's alone in his office, or else, the entire universe would know about his obsession with his little Rias.
———
"That was the last one, wasn't it?" Kenshin patted his hands, finding a new way to play with his Void Manipulation—the technique Ophis taught him yesterday.
Yasaka nodded her head and said, "I still don't believe that the devil government here didn't notice the malicious research facilities that the Naberius clan is conducting. No doubt they're either involved or turning a blind eye to it in exchange for what else but something that will serve their interest."
She turned her head to Kenshin and asked, "Zekram Bael. For every facility we ravage through, it always has that man's name. Does it ring a bell to you?"
Her questioning him is valid. After all, they both know that he absorbed a devil's thousands of years' worth of memories, as long as he rummages enough, he'll tend to stumble upon it, "Give me a sec…" Kenshin said as he closed his eyes and used his mind magic manipulation to pry open the Pandora's box and slowly swim through the devil's memories.
There's a reason why he didn't fully integrate the devil's memories as doing such a thing comes with its own risks such as an influence over his personality, conflicts with his personal memory, and might even cause him headaches as his Mind stats aren't high enough to defend against the aforementioned dangers.
So he decided to keep the devil's memories in a mental box that he can just pry open anytime he wants without risking affecting his personal one.
Though that doesn't make it easier, as a matter of fact, searching the devil's memories through this method is harder than you might think. Think of it as watching a movie on Netflix but instead of just a simple few hours, it's a centuries-long film that even fast-forwarding through it would take a matter of days and even months.
Thankfully, he's already an expert at this and it didn't take him long to find the familiar name of Zekram Bael during the time when the devil was chatting with his fellow ones.
"Found it… Apparently, we're colliding with a powerhouse this time. This Zekram Bael is recognized as the current Great King of the Devils aside from the Four Maou's despite being two separate factions." Kenshin explained to her while rubbing his chin, adding more details and information the more he swam through the almost endless river of memories.
By the end of it, Yasaka was silent, deep in her contemplation. If what Kenshin just told her is true, then there's a high chance that the higher-ups and those elders in the elder council are also involved.
All except for the Four Maou's who are clearly in bad blood against Zekram Bael albeit hidden behind a masked veil of cooperation between two separate factions.
Seeing her conflicted expression, Kenshin stepped up to lend a hand, "If I were you, I'd do this the long but easy way. Want to hear it?"
She instantly perked up at those words. In her mind, as long as Kenshin had a plan, it would always tend to work in success no matter what.
The man chuckled seeing her eager face but before revealing it to her, Kenshin gave her a warning, "First, I want to remind you that the result won't be instant as the process might take months and even years if something out of the equation happens."
Yasaka nodded her head like a pecking chicken before Kenshin finally leaked the plan to her.
———
BAMMM!
Sirzechs was in the middle of worshipping the photos of her Rias-tan when suddenly, the door to her office was slammed open—causing him to accidentally spill the glass of milk on the table, "Zechy-chan! What's with these complaints I'm receiving from the Naberius clan that you're trying to force your detective team into their territory, hmm?" Serafall's familiar voice rang across the room as she entered and her gaze instantly fell on the toppled glass of milk.
"Oops, did I slam the door too hard? Sorry about that. Anyways! That's not why I'm here, so don't change the subject!" Serafall clicked her tongue and scolded him.
I didn't even say anything yet! Sirzechs cried out in his mind, every time he got his rare time alone without the presence of his subordinates or his wife, Serafall would always find the perfect time to barge in without knocking.
Sirzechs tried to gather his composure and cleared his throat, "W-What do you need from me?"
Serafall huffed and took out a paper containing the Naberius clan's file of complaint against the Satan Lucifer, "Read this. The Naberius clan doesn't want your presence tainting their sacred territory. And do you know what's worst?"
Sirzechs shook his head, not bothering to read the file of complaints, he could already guess what was written on it.
"Those stubborn old men sitting on their lousy chairs seemed to catch the wind of it and are trying to warn you not to overstep your bounds as a Satan. You have no right to parade your investigation team in other pillars' personal territories, or so what they're trying to say. So, mind telling what this is all about, hmm? I just finished wrapping up Sona-tan's birthday and the first thing I come across after getting back to the office is this?" Serafall's machine-gun-like mouth kept barraging him with questions and scoldings like bullets.
Sirzechs could only sigh in defeat and rub his forehead—not knowing what to say to defend himself.
He has been too eager to solve everything so he could have some free time before Rias's birthday but who knew this matter would spiral out of control? He first assumed it must've been some kind of petty revenge against the Naberius clan, after all they're not exactly known to be friendly to others—especially their clan head who seemed to be born as a kleptomaniac, greedy for what other people possessed.
"Just leave them be and besides, I already pulled them out didn't I? I'll just submit an apology letter after Rias's birthday." Sirzechs replied with a soft massage on his temples.
Serafall gave him a deep look, as if trying to decipher his thoughts, "Just don't do anything reckless, okay? We both don't want to see Rias-tan being sad, do you? She's expecting you at her birthday party." With a huff, Serafall turned around to leave.
Sirzechs just stared at her departing back before releasing a deep sigh and leaning back on his chair.
———
The two Satans weren't the only ones who were reacting to this. Zekram Bael himself, the main character of Yasaka and Kenshin's worries was sitting majestically on his throne, chin resting on his knuckles as he fiddled with the silver ring with a signature Bael clan symbol engraved in the middle.
"I should be expecting visitors soon, shouldn't I?" The man muttered to himself with a smirk, his boring lifestyle finally gaining traction. And he'll damn make sure to use the most of it.
———
"Naberius clan, huh? So someone is about to finally keep those fools in check. Good for them." Shalba Beelzebub snorted to himself, ripping the report paper into pieces before proceeding to pick up another one.
That's when his eyes widened in surprise.
"What's this? A human child with the name of Ophis? Kuroki Ophis?" Shalba squinted his eyes at the familiar name. It's not like the name of the Infinity Dragon is unknown. Her millions of years of living and traversing from the Dimensional Gap to the living world tend to have her interact with quite a few beings. Especially those who wish to challenge her undisputed authority and place as the Strongest.
Out of the thousands who challenged her, only one lived to tell the tale, Odin himself. It was during his time of reckless conquest and hot-blooded nature that made him challenged Ophis to make her his pet and the guardian of the Yggdrasil.
What happened next instantly doused his fiery ambition, as the Infinity Dragon made him hang upside down for thousands of years after a long boring battle that even caused him to lose an eye.
That's right, the history lied. It was fabricated by Odin himself to save himself from the embarrassment.
And so, the name of the Infinity Dragon also spread around the world.
Ophis. A name that carries some sort of weird function. It's the only name in the entire universe. No other beings, be it devils, humans or angels possess the name Ophis. It's as if the Infinity Dragon made her name unique only to herself.
That's why imagine his surprise when he saw the name Kuroki Ophis in one of the databases on Japan.
No doubt, this Kuroki Ophis is the very same Infinity Dragon that he's spent almost a thousand years searching for.
Without further delay, he quickly relayed the blood-curdling order to his subordinates, "Find her for me and kill anyone who stands in your way."
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[Next Chapter: Ch. 91 - A familiar finger in the Underworld]