{Present, Gremory Estate}
In this short period, I've achieved a lot, more than most would in their lifetime.
But the thing is…
It isn't enough. Considering the enemies are capable of killing Satan Class beings with a sneeze, me being Ultimate Class means nothing.
I have to be at least Satan Class to have enough sway, whether physically or politically.
Not to mention the ability to use the powers of my peerage members once I reach Satan Class. And I don't even know what the Asura Heart will offer once I break into Satan Class. The current abilities are already extremely strong.
That being said… how's my status screen looking?
[Name: Faiser Valefar-Barbatos]
[Age: 18* (518)]
[Rank: Pure Blood Devil]
[Class: Ultimate Class]
[Bloodline: Valefar, Barbatos]
[Valefar Abilities: Bind, Disperse, Temporal, Absorb]
[Barbatos Abilities: Blink, Traverse, Transit, Severe]
[Asura Abilities: Mind of Asura, Asura Body, Eyes of Asura, Mark of Asura]
[Items: Bracelet of Shapes, Ring of Wealthy Luck]
[Treasury(+)]
[Peerage: Ingvild Levaithan (Queen)(+)]
That's a pretty decent status screen, and it's neat. Selecting the plus sign next to Ingvild expands her status screen, which is another plus—I can monitor her growth.
And until now, I didn't even know the Peerage category existed.
[Relevant categories will be added as you discover them.]
So there will be more categories in the future? Good to know.
"So, you do know this will complicate things more, don't you, Faiser?" Falbium, sitting to my left, sighed as he went through a few documents. "The Baels are already making it difficult to help you, and now, this makes it even harder to assist you directly."
Bael this, Bael that… I'm starting to get annoyed with the Bael pillar.
"Well, I don't see them saving Ingvild," I said, irritated. "If they have something to say, they should at least be capable of helping her. Forget that—they didn't even know Ingvild existed."
Falbium went silent for a bit. After all, it wasn't only directed at the Baels. The Satans themselves were unaware of Ingvild's existence before now.
"It does complicate things," Ajuka said, sitting next to Falbium. "But when the Evil Pieces were made, we also created the rule that as long as the master of the peerage and the person joining are in agreement, third parties cannot interfere."
"Unless it involves core devil politics," Sirzechs added, flipping through a bunch of documents—possibly trying to find a legal solution. "And her being a Leviathan does make this core devil politics."
That's when Serafall spoke up. "Ingvild Leviathan stated she would give up her name before giving up being Faiser's queen. This doesn't help the elders or the Lords. They cannot force someone to take responsibility for a pillar if that person is unwilling."
She then looked at me. "The thing is, her keeping the Leviathan name is helpful to you. So, if possible, we'd like to create a situation where you keep her as your queen, and she keeps her Leviathan name."
To this day, I still can't figure out why the Satans were so helpful toward me. They went out of their way to make things work, and I just don't know why.
What exactly did my parents do for them?
"Don't worry about it," Ajuka waved dismissively. "We'll find a solution. You help her adjust. In more than one way, we've failed her, and we can't continue doing so."
"Indeed," Falbium sighed. "She trusts you, so it's best that you help her adjust. After all, you and her are in the same situation. You've been adjusting well, so it makes sense for you to be the one with her."
That was the plan. As for the meeting with the elders… I think I have a way around it.
"Anyhow, we'll deal with this issue, so don't worry too much," Sirzechs reassured once again. "That being said, I do have something that will interest you."
Now this definitely caught my interest. Something that Sirzechs has? Of course, I would be interested.
"You remember that to be the Lord of the two pillars, you were asked to rebuild the Barbatos and Valefar estates, right?" he asked. I nodded.
"I do remember." So, where was he going with this?
"Well, you will still have to build the rest of the estates. But to get the Lord title, building the mansions of the two houses in their respective lands would be enough." He looked at the other Satans. "So, I was thinking of helping you with it. I'll bear the cost, as well as the construction. I already have the builders and architects ready. So, if you want, I can start with your mansions."
This… this was definitely a surprise, but a welcome one.
"You didn't tell us about it," Ajuka frowned. "We could have helped too."
"He's right," Falbium added. "It shouldn't be only you helping him."
"We'll help too," Serafall exclaimed, raising her hand.
Sirzechs scratched his head. "Well, I've already asked my architects to design the mansions and have enough builders for the job. As for the funds, it's not a big deal."
Just how rich are the Satans? They have to be richer than the pillars, right?
"Then…" Ajuka looked at me. "Since he's already planned the mansions, how about we help with the rest of the estate? We can't do everything, but we can at least build the essential foundations. And every pillar has a certain force under them, so Falbium can help a little with the army issue?"
"I don't see a reason not to," Falbium grinned. "If Sirzechs has gone out of his way to help, we can too."
"Then I'll work on things that can make your estate more welcoming to others, make it more accessible," Serafall said. "Ajuka can handle the technical aspects."
"That was my plan as well," Beelzebub said. "So, what do you say, Faiser?"
Say? Say what? It was already a yes.
"Well… that's a lot, especially a lot of money," I said, still playing hesitant. "Are you sure it's alright?"
"The fact that your estate is in ruins is partly our fault, so it's only right we help reconstruct it," Sirzechs said. "Don't worry much about it. Focus on building your peerage—that's the other part of the condition to get the title of Lord."
"Yeah!" Serafall said excitedly. "Leave it to us!"
Mother, Father… I don't know what you did for them, but I'm grateful. No, thank you for giving birth to Faiser. I'm forever in debt!
"Then…" I gave a respectful smile, putting on my most grateful expression. "Thank you. I'll leave this issue in your care."
I love these Satans.
* * *
{A While Later, Gremory Training Ground}
—Sona Sitri—
Sona had one of the longest and most tiresome days yesterday. She had never been more exhausted, mentally or physically.
She was so tired that she fell unconscious for over twelve hours, sleeping longer than ever before.
Even now, though her body had recovered, her psyche had yet to fully heal.
"You look like you're about to collapse," she heard Rias chuckle. "Being around Faiser can be exhausting, though in a good way."
She really wasn't sure if this was what they meant by good.
"I guess," she said, because beyond that, she didn't even know what to think.
"We can postpone the practice session to another day if you want," Rias offered. "It's not like we won't get another chance to train."
"No, it's fine." Seeing Faiser, technically the same age as her but already at Ultimate Class, made her feel like a failure. She knew that if she kept postponing her training, she'd never grow.
"Is your peerage ready?" Rias asked, looking toward her own team.
Sona could see Kiba and Koneko warming up, throwing punches. Akeno was reading a book, and her bishop was missing, as usual.
As for her, she saw Tsubaki, Momo, Tomoe, and the rest of the peerage gathered in a corner, talking. She would have preferred them to be warming up, but them being willing to join the practice session was good enough for a start.
However, just as they were about to begin, they heard Faiser.
"I didn't expect to see both peerages together in the training hall."
In truth, it was she who hadn't expected to see him. He was an Ultimate Class devil, with an Ultimate Class queen, and still didn't have a complete peerage.
There wasn't much reason for him to visit the training grounds—not like there were many people he could train against.
"Faiser!" Rias greeted him with surprising enthusiasm. Sona thought about it for a moment, then remembered that he had been living with the Gremorys for a while now.
Not to mention he was good-looking. As much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't.
"Would you like to watch?" Rias asked. "We're about to start training."
Beside him was Ingvild, who most of the crew had mostly ignored. But as the boy looked at his queen, they all became aware of her presence.
'It's like she vanishes if you don't pay attention to her.' Sona couldn't understand why, despite being an Ultimate Class, people seemingly forgot she was around.
"Sure," he said. "And it would be great to learn a bit more about peerage coordination," he smiled at his queen. "After all, I'm building my peerage as well."
"Is that her?" Rias asked excitedly. "Your queen?"
Sona wasn't sure if Rias knew exactly who his queen was. There had been some rumors, but she didn't know if anyone had confirmed that Ingvild was a Levaithan.
Even Rias' father was actively ignoring Faiser so he could feign ignorance about the issue at the upcoming meeting.
"This is her," Faiser confirmed, walking toward them with Ingvild beside him.
"Her demonic power…" Tsubaki whispered from behind. "It's very concentrated."
The stronger a devil, the more concentrated their demonic power. Most of them could roughly estimate that Ingvild was nearly the same level as Faiser.
Though they didn't know that, in terms of raw power, she was actually stronger than him.
"Won't you introduce us?" Rias asked, gathering her peerage behind her.
"I was surprised to hear you already have a queen, Faiser," Akeno teased. "Quite the efficient man."
"I'm lucky," he shrugged. "Anyhow, Ingvild, this is Rias Gremory," he went according to hierarchy. "Next to her is her queen, Akeno, followed by her Rook Koneko and Knight Kiba."
He then introduced his queen. "And this is Ingvild, my queen. She's quite strong, just so you all know."
'Keeping her being a Levaithan hidden, huh?' Sona was amused. 'It makes sense. It would only create a ruckus. Best kept a secret until the meeting.'
"And this is Sona, as you already know," he said, looking at her. "As for her peerage, even I haven't met them all."
Now it was her cue to introduce her peerage.
"Sorry," Sona said, putting on a smile. "I should have gone first. But this is my queen, Tsubaki," she said, pointing to her side. "Then my two bishops, Momo and Reya, followed by my Knight Tomoe and Took Tsubasa. A few of my peerage members had to complete contracts, but this is most of them."
She wasn't worried about the training, as Rias herself didn't have a complete peerage.
"Great," Faiser said, looking at all of them, possibly gauging their demonic power levels. "Go ahead and start your training. Don't mind me."
Sona was ready, but Rias had different plans.
"Well, would you like to join?" she asked. "You wanted to train your sword skills with Kiba. And since you have a queen now, we can all train together."
"That does sound good," Kiba said, surprisingly enthusiastic. "I can sense you've grown stronger, so how about we test it out?"
'Do they… do they not see that he's an Ultimate Class?' Sona thought, baffled. 'Sure, both he and his queen are masking their energies, but they've said they've fought him before. So they seriously want to fight an Ultimate Class?'
"I might have grown a bit stronger than you expect," Faiser said with an awkward chuckle. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea."
"We know you're an Ultimate Class devil—you're stronger than us. But if you don't use that one skill that makes us unable to move, we might give you a hard time," Akeno said confidently. "And now that you have a queen with you, it might be an even matchup."
'Wait, wait, wait…' Sona was speechless. 'They think they can take on an Ultimate Class?'
"I might have grown a bit stronger than that," he laughed awkwardly. "Do you still want to fight?"
"Of course!" Rias said. "We grow by training."
"Well then," he said, looking at Rias and then at Sona. "Since you want me to fight, and I've grown stronger… and since you also want my queen to be part of the training session, it wouldn't be fair for you all. So… do you want to join, Sona?"
She hadn't expected to be called out so randomly. But if they wanted to make the Ultimate Class sweat even once, it would take all their combined strength—and even then, she wasn't sure if it would be enough.
"Isn't that overkill?" Kiba asked, while Koneko frowned in the back. "We get that you've grown stronger, but we've been training too. And you said you won't be using that binding skill, so wouldn't you be at a disadvantage?"
Faiser looked at his queen. "I still think you should team up. My queen is even stronger than me."
That shocked even Sona. She had expected Ingvild to be close to Faiser's level, but stronger than him? The two peerages were bound to struggle.
"But—"
"He's right," Sona sighed, taking a step forward. "If we want even the slightest chance, we have to fight together. I've seen him use his skills recently, and he's… a bit too strong for us to handle alone."
Rias' peerage wasn't fully convinced, but when both Sona and Faiser were willing, they couldn't keep denying it.
"Well… if you're confident," Rias said, still a little hesitant. "But don't regret it—we've grown quite strong too."
Faiser nodded. "We'll see about that, won't we?"
His laugh made Sona uneasy.
'We'll be fine, won't we?'
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{A/N:A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters.
Ingvild alone can wipe out all of them but she is training as a support/cover for MC right now.}