{Late Night, Four Satan Estate}
—Serafall Leviathan—
Serafall thankfully found Faiser just as he fainted. Because of that, there was no worry of him being attacked while he was incapable of defending himself.
Immediately, she took him to the Sitri Manor and had the maids and butlers tend to his injuries, which were mostly scratches. And they too, by some miracle, were already starting to heal at a ridiculous rate.
"Does it make sense?" Falbium asked, astonished by what Serafall had just explained. "No matter how many years it has been, since he was kept frozen in time, his biological age is around eighteen. It doesn't make sense for him to take down a higher tier Ultimate-class devil at that age."
Serafall stood silently, staring as Ajuka cut open the corpse before him.
She was left speechless and unable to think. What was she even supposed to think?
Faiser had taken down one of the devils who had always been aiming for the Leviathan throne. She knew Katerea could be killed by her—maybe without much effort—but the Leviathan descendant had never shown herself in a situation where they could openly fight.
So, Faiser taking her down was a great help to her.
"This is definitely Katerea Leviathan," Ajuka confirmed as he sliced open her face, revealing her skull. "The demonic signature is an accurate match."
"Does it make sense to you, Sirzechs?" Falbium asked the Satan standing in the corner of the room, staring at the corpse. "Tell me, were you capable of this at the age of eighteen?"
Sirzechs was a monster himself, a freak of nature as many called him. He had been killing countless high-class devils at a very young age.
By the time he was sixty, he was fighting in the civil war and winning. But at eighteen? He didn't know if he could do what Faiser did.
Maybe he could, but definitely not as easily.
"That is Temporal," he finally said. "It is the Valefar ability of manipulating time of something they take hold of."
He looked at the dead woman, torn open in the name of a forensic autopsy. She had been aged thousands of years, and that wasn't a small feat.
"I know what Temporal is, Sirzechs," Falbium replied, clearly unhappy with the simple explanation. "I've seen Isolde and her brothers use it. But even for a Valefar, they cannot just do what Faiser did without difficulty. One has to be at a ridiculous level to pull it off."
"That is true," Sirzechs admitted, making Serafall finally pay attention. "It isn't normal for him to be able to take down a peak Ultimate Class with such ease. He was barely a step into the lower tier of the Ultimate Class when I measured his strength. Even if we consider it an effect of the experiments performed on him, it's still hard to explain. Not to mention that Katerea Leviathan has been an Ultimate for years."
Finally, Serafall spoke up. "He has both Isolde and Faustus' blood. He is a Barbatos and a Valefar. That alone is a miracle—being able to use the abilities of both families. It was only a matter of time before he reached this level. And no matter how quickly he reached Ultimate Class or adapted to it, I will not let you experiment on him or force him to live under constant surveillance." She said firmly, glaring at her fellow Satans. "He has suffered enough. Let him rest and do what he wants."
"The Old Satan Faction won't let him just live," Sirzechs reminded her, earning a sharp scowl from Serafall.
"And we are here to protect him," she shot back. "The Old Satan Faction and their branch factions are our responsibility to deal with, and we will."
With how firm Serafall was, unwilling to hear another opinion, the others had no choice but to stay quiet.
"We owe it to his parents. Remember that."
Her words made them lower their heads, guilt filling their hearts.
"I will protect him," she declared. "Even if you don't want to, I still will."
With that, she walked out of the room, leaving them to discuss among themselves. But instead of arguing, they just stood in silence, weighed down by memories that made them somber.
'I failed her once,' Serafall told herself. 'I will not fail her twice. I will protect Faiser.'
* * *
{Present, Sitri Mansion}
Fuck, this feels like shit!
[Exhaustion cannot be cured by Asura Body, only the injuries can.]
Yeah, yeah, I know. The fact that I had pushed myself so far, drained every last drop of demonic power to fight Katerea, nearly tore my insides apart.
And now that I am nearly not as exhausted as before and am thinking straight, I realize how big of an idiot I am.
I had so many devils that I could have used the Absorb ability on and could have recovered a lot of demonic power. But guess what? I was too tired and too excited about trying out Temporal that I forgot about Absorb.
In terms of being Ultimate Class, I was nothing more than a baby chicken, maybe a little stronger than that. Thankfully, the Barbatos and Valefar skills are completely broken. No matter what tier of Ultimate Class my opponent is, I can bind them without issue.
The problem is the energy cost. It's insane. If there had been even one more Ultimate Class devil, I wouldn't have made it out alive after using Temporal. Maybe even Absorb wouldn't have saved me as by no means would the energy from those Low-Class devils would have been enough for two Temporal uses.
I pushed myself against the bedframe and pulled up my system.
[Scanning the contents of the Barbatos Treasury: 73%]
[Scanning the contents of the Valefar Treasury: 65%]
That's ridiculously slow!
[Scanning had to be pushed as a second priority to work on your healing through Asura Body.]
Annoying, but fair. Otherwise, both would have hit 100% by now.
Still, this little trip turned out better than expected. From finding the treasury, to securing political leverage, and even getting rid of an Old Satan Faction member.
But damn, I felt like I was dying. My body wasn't even listening to me. And no matter how much people would call me an idiot, I just couldn't stay in bed.
I couldn't sleep. I was so tired it killed the sleepiness.
So, like an idiot, I dragged my body out of bed like I was forcing a corpse to move. I grabbed the glass from the table and downed it in one go.
This wasn't the Gremory mansion. The style, the walls, the colors—different.
Sitri, huh? Where else would Serafall bring me?
It would've been better to ask someone to guide me around, but no one was around. Probably thought I'd stay knocked out longer and went off to do their own work.
Whatever. I just needed fresh air.
Stepping out, I found myself in a massive corridor. Typical of the rich. Huge houses, endless corridors. Felt like walking inside a damn maze.
Wait.
I froze, remembering something.
I still had to build a mansion for both my pillars. Which meant I'd end up living in places with the same kind of never-ending corridors. Standard devil nobility nonsense.
Oh, just kill me now.
"One would think you're a zombie," a familiar voice called out. "Fai!"
Fai…?
"Really?" I muttered, turning toward the smiling devil. "A nickname?"
"Using nicknames means we're close!" she said with a comical grin. "And we are close. I even brought you to my place."
I sighed. "You play too much, Serafall."
She could vaporize me with a flick of her wrist, but somehow, I still felt more comfortable talking to her than the other Satans.
She was naturally sociable.
And thankfully, she did act a bit better after that, going into a calmer state.
"So, how are you?" She still had the bubbly look and smile, but her words felt a bit more natural.
"Tired," I couldn't really lie. "As if I had been running for days, and every part of my body feels weak."
All my fault, should have used Absorb.
"I can understand." She smiled, and this time it was a very pretty smile. Pretty enough to almost make me stare in awe.
"Though it has been a while since I last felt that, maybe a few hundred years." She walked closer. "During the warring period, that was an everyday phenomenon."
To be very honest, I don't know much about Serafall. I know she's best friends with Sirzechs, Sona's sister, bubbly in personality, and very strong. I also have a few memories of hanging out, but it was mostly to maintain Pillar relations.
[Race: Pure Blood Devil]
[Rank: Satan-Class]
Ridiculously strong.
But other than that, I didn't know anything.
"So, do you want to rest, or are you hungry?" she suddenly asked. But the answer to both questions was no.
Seeing me shake my head, she crossed her arms behind her head. "Care for a walk then?"
And this, I didn't decline.
"Alright."
Serafall Leviathan was someone best kept as an ally. I'm not stupid enough to make her angry.
Besides, I needed the fresh air too.
The walk was through the front garden, which was huge, the same size as the Gremorys. Which made sense—both families raised Satans, so it was only right they got some benefits out of it.
"Have you met Sona yet?" she asked, and I had to shake my head again.
"Ah, makes sense. She hasn't been home for a while, my little princess."
She almost sounded hurt at Sona being away, which made me curious.
"She isn't home?"
This time, it was Serafall shaking her head. "She went to study the ancient ruins, specifically the Leviathan grounds."
"The area that belonged to the original Leviathan and their descendants?" That was interesting. I just might end up butting heads with the Sitri heiress.
"Yes." She nodded. "The land had been under the management of the true descendants, but since there is no truly pure-blooded Leviathan descendant now, it's mostly being tossed around."
She paused her steps and looked down with a curious smile. "And since Katerea, the last Leviathan descendant, is dead, I might have to look into that place."
So, I did her a favor without even knowing.
"I have you to thank for it." She smiled, and I gave a shrug.
"Was simply trying to keep myself alive."
It wasn't a lie—that was the goal back then.
"We haven't revealed her death to the pillars yet. There will be a meeting required to explain the whole deal, and you may be needed there." She looked at me curiously, expecting a frown. And well, she got one.
"The Baels would try to twist it," I said, knowing well enough that they hated me. "They'll change the narrative to turn me into some instigator of war."
She didn't deny it, just nodded as she walked beside me. To be fair, we had been walking for a while, and the garden still hadn't ended.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't get dragged into anything." She assured me with her usual bubbly look. "And it might all turn in your favour."
"What do you mean?"
I had been forgetting this whole time that she was a devil, a Satan. And one doesn't reach that position by being naive and overly kind.
One needs to be smart, strong, and shrewd.
"You are an Ultimate Class, but strength and social class are different. To be registered as an official Ultimate Class, you need achievements alongside strength. And while they could have blamed your ridiculous growth on the Old Satan Faction or claimed you were affiliated with them, Katerea's death by your hand clears all of that.
And since you managed to kill a known member of the Old Satan Faction—one of their higher-ranking members—you should be rewarded instead. Katerea was an Ultimate Class terrorist. Killing her gives you a solid achievement. Not to mention, you lived through the civil war, which can be used as leverage to push your social ranking into the Ultimate Class as well."
She finished, turning to me and grabbing my arm. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get everything you deserve."
Serafall has been really kind, and I was truly enjoying that. Really though, I'm glad she's on my side.
"Thank you," I said. "But it won't be easy, will it?"
"Of course not!" She frowned. "You need at least a few members in your peerage, and you'll have to win one or two Rating Games. Only then can I bring it up."
Peerage members, huh?
Well… maybe it's finally time I get myself one.
"Serafall," I took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes. "Would you mind accompanying me to the Leviathan territory?"
That caught her off guard.
"I—uh, why?" she asked. "I mean, I'm busy, but I can make some time if it's important."
"It is," I said confidently. "But I can't tell you about it yet. So, would you come with me?"
She seemed thoughtful, and that wasn't good enough for me.
"I promise it'll be worth your time. You can trust me."
That made her look at me again. "Well… I want to see my lovely sister, so maybe this is the best opportunity?"
A smile bloomed on her face, and for the second time, her smile made my cheeks feel warm.
"So, why not! Let's do this!"
It took me a moment to calm myself and put on my usual expression. Her cuteness was breaking through the rigidness of this body.
And maybe… that wasn't all bad.
But for now, I had something else to focus on.
It was time… to go get my queen.
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{A/N:A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters.}