A Marvelous Devil.
Chapter 23: How to Tempt a Satan.
Dante Andromalius.
The Underworld.
There was one thing one didn't realize when you were a truly powerful being, and one that honestly took me longer to notice, even while I was weaker.
The truly strong didn't know how to fight as a normal mortal did.
There were some, obviously, but it wasn't the norm.
We just did. And that was the end of it.
Someone like Mephisto, me, The Living Tribunal, and the other concepts didn't learn 'martial arts'. There was simply no point in doing that.
But being weaker forced me to do so. Oh, sure, I knew some things; I had seen them for eons, and some surprised me enough to learn, just in case, but it was rare that I used them.
It was fun. Being weak.
I disliked it immensely; something deep inside me abhorred the thought of my weaknesses, yet I kept finding it fascinating.
Especially magic, which was always my go-to weapon most of the time.
After millennia of telling the world to do something and reality listening, the sheer power that made you feel was something I simply adored.
But I never learned how I was doing it.
And learning it now? Oh, it was precious.
As I said, some beings truly understood what they were doing and were in the same weight class as I used to be.
Odin was the prime example. He knew it all, and he could threaten one of us if he wanted.
But he was the weird one, so whatever.
The dominion over this dimension was something I still hadn't tried; there was… some kind of warning deep inside my head that I shouldn't poke that nest until I was stronger, but funneling the dimensional power through my new tattoos was working just fine.
For now.
I was surprised at the bonuses, even though I didn't expect all of them.
The tattoo was not something I expected, but after seeing Red's draconic ones, I wasn't complaining.
They looked sick.
I looked at my palm, where the brand turned red after injecting it with a wisp of my own demonic power, and my senses expanded.
I could see demonic power funneling from the environment towards the chains, and I could will it to form spells without the need of magical circles like I used to. It was a lot like the Ashen Court's, almost instinctive.
Not that I could do the same as back then, but it worked similarly.
A mere thought is all I needed to shock Mother's spell into nothingness, the fireball on her hand disintegrating as the spell lost cohesion.
The only reason I could do this was that she was weaker than me and knew less about magic in general, but the point still mattered. Even if it wouldn't work the same way against stronger devils, interfering with their spells would make them lose focus or have to overpower my own hold with their reserves.
Celestine looked up at me with a fierce pout, making me turn my head away.
Couldn't this woman act her age?
"What do you think?" I looked down at my hands in interest.
She didn't answer, running against me at top speed to deliver a haymaker that missed me by a hair.
We were sparring, as Celestine wanted to be sure I was as ready as I claimed to be.
She had grown stronger since I left, significantly so, but she couldn't land a single hit, no matter how hard she tried.
"This is unfair," she huffed and retreated after I waved behind her strikes, poking her stomach.
I wouldn't get anything out of this, but pointing out her weaknesses would only make her stronger.
Yes, I was driving electricity into her skin. No, I wasn't being cruel; it was just the only way she'd learn.
The red marks around all of her abdomen made her wince, but I ignored her pouts.
"That's life," I chuckled, palming another punch and sending her back towards a tree bark that splintered on impact.
The dark force obeyed my command as a wisp of fog opened near my palm, my hand passing through the portal and appearing next to her feet.
Celestine jumped high, her wings flapping to get as high as she could and away from the dark force.
She was still scared of it.
But it was for naught; the tattoo came to life as it extended past my hand toward the general flow left by Mother's escape, a literal demonic-power guided missile following despite her every turn and speed.
The chains latched onto her, and her demonic power just… locked inside.
Her wings retreated beneath her, her expression scared and astonished as a focused frown grew on her face as her very power refused to activate.
"Danteeeeee!" she shrieked in fright as she began to drop to the ground.
For a second, I thought of letting her splat.
But after sighing and shaking my head, I teleported just where she was going to drop.
"Me and my bleeding heart," I murmured, amused despite myself.
The demonic power thickened around Celestine's body as a gentle gust of wind decreased her speed, which was almost reaching terminal velocity.
Catching my mother's body, I felt her breath against my chest, looking hilarious with her hair all messed up.
Then she began raining punches against my arms and whining until I dropped her.
"I can't believe you did that to your own mother, young man!" she poked my chest harder than necessary, "What would Tandy think of you?!"
"I would let her fall," I deadpanned, "Pain is the best motivation there is, mother. For God's sake, you fought in a war, and you should know that."
Celestine winced in pain and glared in my direction, but I just smirked darkly, daring her to continue complaining.
Calling His name to mess with my mother was becoming my new favorite pastime.
She knew better than that and finally calmed her breathing and stood up.
"You are ready," she sighed.
"Just like I told you," I nodded unconcernedly, "I already filled in the paperwork."
She poked my cheek over ten times before pinching it and pulling it.
I looked down at her hand, then at her unimpressed stare.
"Making poor Sona do it for you was not kind, Dante," she pulled harder, confusing me. "That's not how I taught you to treat a lady."
Bah, as if I needed her help in how to seduce someone.
Also, wasn't making other people do your work the kind of things we did? That's like a demon's bread and butter.
Before I could get that through her skull, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
I waved my hand and silenced her words without letting her notice, my lips quirking as she kept lecturing me like a disappointed mother.
So what if I made her do all the work? She knew better than I, and I knew she loved feeling useful in her own way.
It had been a couple of days since I told Sona of my return, and I knew she almost dropped everything to visit me. She was adorable, trying to act calm around me, but I didn't miss the way her breath hitched when she received my call.
I had to promise a meeting just for her to avoid showing that I was back in the underworld, but it was worth it.
The text was simple, only saying that the paperwork had been submitted and that I had to be there by 3:30 p.m.
And making me promise not to be late, because I was recommended by two high-class scions, her and Rias.
I loved seeing plans come to fruition. I hadn't even asked for that, but the two innocent devils offered without asking for anything in return.
I should prepare something for them… let it not be said that I wasn't fair.
I finally showed my mother the screen, noticing that she was glaring angrily at me and tapping her foot impatiently.
"See? That's efficiency, my dear mother."
Celestine's eyebrow twitched, and I finally dropped the muffling spell.
She let out an explosive sigh, her eyes showing two sentiments fighting for dominance.
Fear and hope.
"I love you, Dante. And I'm proud of you… show the underworld what the Andromalius are made of, yes?" She kissed my cheek softly, her hand mussing up my hair.
Despite the irritation at her ruining my pristine hair, I smiled.
"You know I will," I kissed her brow as I turned around, the Dark Force opening a portal in front of me towards the Agares territory.
The last thing I heard was Celestine's muttering, "And baby? Don't hold back."
My expression grew twisted for a second before I calmed down.
I smirked, hoping that Mother would enjoy the show when they were posted on the devil net.
Agreas, Government Office.
"What do you mean, my adorable little So-tan recommended some boy?" Serafall Leviathan barged into the crowded room of Ajuka Beelzebub Lab like a woman possessed.
Crowded, because to the Beelzebub, three was already a crowd, especially in these circumstances.
The green-haired devil dragged his hand through his face, already regretting the decision to inform the two idiots of what his systems flagged.
"You still haven't answered my question, Ajuka!" The overpowered red-haired devil and the second super devil in the underworld almost barked at Ajuka's face, spit almost flying out of his mouth if it wasn't thanks to Ajuka's other hand blocking it.
"I should have kept it to myself," Ajuka groaned, "I don't know why I expected better from both of you."
"Weren't you supposed to be in a meeting with Yasaka, Serafall?"
"That's not as important as this!" she exclaimed as she read through the papers, with Sirzechs pouting since she took them from his hands.
Ajuka barely fought against rolling his eyes, grinning despite himself.
It wasn't as often that they reunited like this. The only one missing was Falbium, but Ajuka understood his lazy friend the most.
Either way, it brought him memories of better times... before the war changed them all.
And he also trusted them enough to know they wouldn't drop something too important for something like this. Yasaka's meeting was probably a wasted effort... again.
The Yokai weren't happy with the devils, and the Kitsune made sure to bleed them dry at every opportunity.
And it's not like they could deal with the other Yokais instead, because they didn't have much to offer compared to Yasaka's people.
Amusingly enough, even if Serafall was acting like a child, she stopped as she finished the paperwork, rereading it more slowly.
"I know that name," she muttered against her finger.
Sirzechs snorted, an irritated look growing on his face, "At least you didn't have to deal with their mess yourself. I barely slept for a week after Hadrian Andromalius' video came to light."
Ajuka winced, knowing that mess was an understatement. The whole underworld was affected by it, and it hadn't been easy to let it go; even now, there were still some people talking about it behind closed doors.
Ajuka didn't envy his closest friend's position as the Satan of internal affairs.
"Did you end up learning what happened?" Serafall also shared a look of understanding, "Last I heard, we just dragged it under everything else while you investigated."
A sneer grew on Sirzechs's face, a wisp of his power threatening to come out.
Ajuka lifted his eyebrows. That wasn't good.
"The investigation is closed due to lack of evidence," he spat in disgust, "The last thing I found out was that the Phenex's servant was responsible for the beating, but I still doubt they intended for this to happen."
"You think someone else made it bigger than it should have?" Serafall looked serious.
"Would it surprise you? Even if it was bothersome, we know who ended up winning after the council met." Ajuka rolled his eyes.
It was an example of why he disliked politics. He could freely admit that being shown their failings stung a bit, but he wasn't proud enough to not realize them by himself.
They had failed as Satans because, despite everything, not much had changed since they rose through the ranks.
Things were still as bad, probably worse for many devils, whether pureblood or reincarnated.
And everyone knew who was responsible.
"The Great King Faction," Serafall slumped into an empty seat. "Remind me again, why did we allow that?"
A moment of silence passed through the friends, one that didn't grow uncomfortably long because they all knew their answer.
They didn't want more bloodshed; the devil kind wouldn't have survived another war, and despite their overwhelming power compared to the other two factions, they were on the back foot.
Because they didn't want to be like their predecessors.
"This is the brat from Sona's party, right? The one that seduced my beautiful Rias?" Sirzechs brought the topic to something lighter, even going as far as grimacing at the reminder.
It had been hilarious, Ajuka remembered how his best friend arrived, almost crying petulant tears that someone had stolen his Rias from him, and making him investigate the devil in question just because he was seen walking between Rias's and her Queen's breasts.
If Ajuka didn't know his better, he would almost believe the act Sirzechs had.
He still wasn't sure about Serafall's infatuation with her sister, but he knew Sirzechs just played it out for fun. Serafall was the better actress of the two.
And he did it to make everyone forget the kind of monster he really was.
"That's the one," Serafall snapped her fingers, like she was just remembering where they had seen him.
Ajuka himself already knew about it; he rarely forgot about things that caught his attention, and the revival of a clan trait was one of those things.
The Andromalius clan and the Erasure.
The reason why they were hunted to death by the angels during the great war, and probably why the devils that remained finished the house during the civil war.
They were too dangerous to be left alone; the thought of one forgetting who their enemies were could be frightening for some people. The fact that they could even hide from the one above's sight was also impressive enough. Ajuka understood why God and his angels needed them gone.
"Hmm," Sirzechs nodded, "What do you think, Ajuka?"
"That's he's only here thanks to your sisters," Ajuka snorted amusedly, knowing that he wasn't blocked before the paperwork could reach him thanks to the recommendations. "You know what I'm talking about."
Sirzechs nodded darkly, "So…?"
Ajuka sighed, snapping his fingers almost lazily as a projection formed between them showing the exam avenue. Around twenty young and old devils trying to pass the exam to get their evil pieces.
Some of them were writing as if nothing were wrong in the world, like Dante himself; others were rubbing their heads in desperation.
Ajuka had already failed those even without checking the exam; if they were affected just by questions about the underworld, they didn't deserve to be there.
He had made sure that all the information needed to pass was on the devil net, with bots uploading multiple copies as long as some Lords kept trying to delete them.
It wasn't as if the new Satans weren't trying their best to balance the odds despite their tied hands, but if even that didn't help them, they didn't deserve the spot.
The exam, for all intents and purposes, was going the same as it always did, with some failing almost instantly while others looking like they were barely trying, but the longer it went on, the more Ajuka realized something was wrong.
Dante Andromalius looked up, directly at the projection.
And winked.
Then, like a mirage, his body disappeared from the camera.
Sirzechs and Serafall were no longer fighting over which sister was better, both sitting straight as they observed the projection with their utmost attention.
Ajuka felt his eyebrows rise.
"That…?" Sirzechs mumbled, looking at Ajuka.
The green-haired devil nodded, impressed.
"That's Erasure," he mumbled under his breath, "I can see why they were hunted down."
"To be able to hide himself from you?" Serafall snorted.
"It's the spell I'm using," Ajuka rolled his eyes, looking almost offended at the Satan's insinuation.
Ajuka changed the spell almost lazily, over ten different times, but the young devil wasn't present in any of them.
Each attempt made him grow even more impressed, as none of the methods he could use worked against the devil's trait.
Sensing the seriousness of the green-haired Satan, Sirzechs and Serafall stayed in silence until Ajuka's power swelled, a magic circle appearing in his hands as hundreds, if not thousands, of mathematical formulas flew by as he analyzed the demonic power in the room.
Sirzechs and Serafall's eyes grew wide, with Serafall muttering, "Really, Ajuka?"
Ajuka didn't answer; his focus was on the formulas as he deciphered what had changed.
Then he let a soft laugh, shaking his head as he adjusted the projection spell.
Slowly, the figure of Dante Andromalius showed on the scene, just… not where he was supposed to be.
The devil sat next to the examiner, looking at the exams from other attendees and either laughing or nodding approvingly.
Even the figure looked blurred, the spell not matching the exact frequency in such a short time.
It was impressive. And scary. The three Satans couldn't help but realize all the uses someone like him could have.
Then Dante's shoulders stiffened, looking up again and nodding approvingly. The competitive smirk on the blonde's face sparked something in Ajuka that he hadn't felt in a long while.
He was sipping on some mug, a golden liquid sloshing almost peacefully.
"What is that?" Ajuka narrowed his eyes.
As if the young devil could hear it, he smirked and sipped on the mug, tilting his head just slightly, as if considering something.
The smug devil tore apart a random exam and wrote something, then a wisp of black fog appeared on his hand.
And the examiner didn't notice anything wrong.
The same fog that appeared in his very secure laboratory just the next moment.
And a container dropped out of nowhere, along with a note.
"The ball is in your court. You know where to find me," Serafall muttered disbelievingly.
The black fog disappeared before Ajuka could analyze it, and no matter how hard he focused on the wards around the lab, he could not find where exactly the weakness was.
A wave of his hand isolated the container, floating it towards him.
"You won't check it for poisons?" Sirzechs asked confusedly.
Ajuka looked at him like he was an idiot. No, he already knew the answer. Sirzechs could be an idiot.
"Already finished," Ajuka mumbled, opening the container in curiosity.
This had been such an interesting day for the green-haired super devil.
The aroma of tea made his nose itch, but he didn't care about the smell.
He cared about the properties of this impossible drink.
The gold liquid was the same Dante continued seeping on the projection, smirking to himself as he rested his head on the proctor's shoulder, looking like he was falling asleep.
Ajuka wanted to alert Maria, just to erase the smug smile on the brat's face.
But he'd probably find it amusing.
Serafall's eyes locked onto the tea like it was made of gold… but this was worth so much more.
"It's life force," Ajuka murmured, his eyes growing wide, "The leaves are Da Hong Pao… from the human world. Completely mundane, if rare."
"What do you mean by life force? But to infuse them so much… how many people are we talking about?" Serafall tilted her head, looking disturbed.
"It's not like that," Ajuka shook his head firmly, "It's similar to Touki, but I don't understand exactly how. I need to make some experiments."
Before Ajuka could hide it in his personal dimension, Serafall grabbed the container and drank big gulps of the liquid under Ajuka's disbelieving eyes.
Serafall moaned in appreciation, the sound lewder than anything that Ajuka had heard coming from her in all their centuries knowing each other. She put the container down, then looked like she was going for more.
Until Sirzechs stole it from her hands, gulping greedily as his eyes too widened.
"Oh, this is good," Sirzechs murmured happily, "I can feel energy flowing into my body."
Less than a third of the tea was left, much to Ajuka's consternation.
"It is a test by Andromalius," he grumbled as he grabbed the container, "And you just wasted my experiment, so you owe me more."
Then Ajuka gulped what remained until not a single drop was left and sighed in contentment.
The tea provided a modest boost in energy regeneration, but from the small test, Ajuka could see it was somewhat diminished.
And if it was diminished? It meant that it was even better, in some way.
"I don't care if I have to be the one that deals with him, I want more," Ajuka grunted, "but I know both of you want to see him closer, so I'll just say one thing."
The two other Satans leaned in, their eyes ignoring Ajuka and focusing on the container. But they still paid attention.
"I don't care what he wants. We need him on our side. We can't allow any other side to grab him before us, and he already showed that he wants to see what we do, don't mess it up."
Because Ajuka's experience told him something... that this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the young devil.
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