The Emiya Residence.
While I hummed to myself and sipped the coffee Rea-chan had given me, Azazel, sitting opposite me, glared at me irritably, because we hadn't started discussing the situation.
- "What are we waiting for?" he finally asked.
- "Relax, we won't miss anything important," I waved my hand. "Well, what are we waiting for? Them, of course."
In the next moment, Sirzechs, Grayfia, and two others whom Azazel did not expect to see here arrived in a scarlet flash of a magic circle.
- "I understand the presence of Sirzechs and Grayfia, since they kidnapped Rias and her entourage, but what are Seraphim and her sister doing here?" he raised an eyebrow.
- "Hello, Azazel," Sirzechs greeted him and sat down on the sofa, Grayfia stood behind him, and Sona bowed and took a seat to the side, like her sister.
- "Oh, you're not happy to see me? Bad Azazel-kun, bad!" Serafall pouted indignantly and winked at me. "Ro-tan called Sona and me here. Why, by the way?"
- "You could say I'm giving you a chance, but more on that later," I smiled, causing Serafall and Sona to pause for a moment, but judging by their surprised looks, they began to guess what I meant. "You see, Issei's house, along with Rias and the others inside, has been kidnapped by the Chaos Brigade. Also among the kidnapped are Vali's team and one small infinity dragon. Nothing important, in short."
- "Rias-chan was kidnapped?!" Serafall exclaimed along with Sona, then she glanced at the suspiciously calm Sirzechs. "So this was your idea, wasn't it, Azazel-kun?"
- "Yeah, otherwise he wouldn't have put Ophis in Issei's house with Vali. If it were my house, they wouldn't have had the balls to pull a stunt like that," I nodded for them as I began cleaning my ear with my pinky, which they took calmly, even considering the mention of Vali, about whom the Fallen One had not said a word. "But here's the question, why did you, Azazel, turn to me for help, huh?"
- "I found out that there's a split brewing in the Chaos Brigade," Azazel began after a short silence. "They want to use the poison of Samael, who was freed from Cocytus, to steal Ophis's power."
- "Azazel and I saw this as an opportunity to get rid of, if not all, then at least half of the Chaos Brigade," continued Sirzechs. "And you are right, Romani-san. If this were your home, they would not have dared to act, and that is why a decoy was necessary."
Of course, these words resonated, because they were spoken by Sirzechs himself, who was a defeated sis-con. Even I was surprised, not to mention Sonya, Serafall, and Rea-chan.
- "Oya? You used your sister as bait? Are you really Sirzechs?" I chuckled. "And I still haven't heard an answer to my question. Although, wait a minute, I think I'm starting to understand where I fit into this equation. A backup, isn't it?"
- "You're right again, Romani-san," Sirzechs nodded. "And it was Rias's wish."
- "Can you elaborate?" I asked with interest.
- "Rias volunteered to be the bait herself," Azazel began. "She somehow managed to overhear our conversation with Sirzechs, and after discussing it with Issei and the others, she came to us and declared her desire to participate in all of this."
- "At first, I was categorically against it, but Rias-chan kept insisting, no matter how many times she was refused, saying that she wanted to experience the fruits of her training in real combat, and... I gave in," Sirzechs sighed, and Grayfia shook her head. "In the end, we agreed that you would be our backup if anything got out of hand, Romani-san."
- "And you decided that for me, based on the fact that I do care about them, huh?" I grinned, and they nodded briefly. "All right, I'm curious myself to see what they've accomplished with Mo-chan and Merlin."
So, now we can summarize the changes from the canon. As far as I remember, there were quite a few events during the confinement in the space created by Georg, but only three things stood out: the theft of Ophis's power, the help of Pluto, the grim reaper sent by Hades, and the death of Issei from poisoning by Samael, the strongest poison against dragons, which Shalba used.
The case with Ophis can be ignored, as everything will go at least roughly the same as in the canon, although her relationship with Issei and the others was far from canonical, but what about the rest? Heh. There were some minor problems with that.
First, with Rias and the others, there is no Azazel to fight Pluto. Second, will Pluto even be there if I messed up Olympus? Third, there's no Shalba, who Rizevim got rid of when he was held captive by Sirzechs.
With these points, I should have at least partially intervened or partially observed what was happening, but that's not all.
Fourth, although Rias's entourage has become stronger through training with the Servants, it is still unknown how things will turn out. Fifth, there is no 'Breast Dragon Emperor', a significant power boost, since I drew all the attention of the Underworld to myself. Sixth, I had no idea what stage the relationship between Issei and the others was at, which again determined the power in this world. And lastly, will Issei die at all?
I rubbed my temples, turning over the seemingly endless possibilities.
Since I had been forcibly inserted into the plot of this arc, everything should be fine, but to what extent should I intervene? I guess I'll have to act personally with a couple of Servants so as not to miss any details.
- "What about us, Ro-tan?" Serafall interrupted my thoughts.
- "We have one unfinished business, don't we?" I asked, and Serafall lowered her head in embarrassment, while Sona looked at me intently. "Finding Issei's house, wherever it is, is no problem for me, and the reason you're here... I want So-tan to take part in this, and alone."
- "Good..." Sona almost agreed, but I interrupted her.
- "But in your case, there will be no insurance," I finished, as everyone, even Rea-chan, stared at me in shock, especially Serafall. "In return, I will grant you any request you make."
Anything, even if you ask me to replace Goetia in the Underworld or Michael in Heaven with you.
- "No! That won't work!" Serafall jumped up. "If you want us to participate in this, why not send me?! I can do it, and then..."
- "In that case, the entire plan of Sirzechs and Azazel will be meaningless, because the Chaos Brigade can attack whenever it wants."
- "But she could die!" She clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her skin, and blood flowed from her palms. "I won't allow it!"
I smiled, and in the next second, my magic circle lit up beneath Serafall. Golden chains immediately tore him out of it and bound Serafall, preventing him from moving or speaking.
- "Romani-san, you..." Sirzechs wanted to condemn me, but stopped when he met my short glance.
- "I am the de facto ruler of the Underworld, not Goetia, since I have the power to give him orders, don't I, Sirzechs-kun?" I said to him and looked at Sona while Serafall thrashed from side to side, moaning loudly and almost crying. "Only you, So-tan, and no one else makes the decisions. And no, I won't give you another chance to prove yourself."
The only sound was Serafall trying to break the chains that were sucking the demonic power out of her, thanks to the small changes I had made. The others just stared at Sona and waited for her answer as she took a deep, thoughtful pose.
Did I do it because I wanted to add another bride to my wedding? Heh. No, I never planned anything like that. My feelings for her are different from those I had for Tie and Morgan, or even Yasaka and Gabriel.
It's not love or romance, but rather admiration and adoration. She's not a lover, but someone who would be a friend, someone I enjoy spending time with.
And in order to reveal her true self and free her from her own shackles, I needed something relatively radical. Something like this.
Now I could practically see the gears turning in her head, pushing against an imaginary wall as she weighed the pros and cons of a potential answer to my question. With every passing second, I could clearly hear the wall cracking and giving way, because every carefully considered decision came up against her one and only flaw, which was the wall itself, until, at some point, there was a click.
- "I..." Sona began, apparently having come to a decision, and looked me firmly in the eyes. "I refuse."
Serafall immediately stopped resisting, and the others looked at her in surprise.
- "Oh? And why is that? Because your sister wants you to?"
- "No," Sona replied calmly, removing her glasses. "The reward you offer is indeed tempting, but it's not worth the risks I'll face. If I succeed, I'll return a hero, and even the Great Ancestor will acknowledge it, but if I don't? The consequences will be catastrophic."
- "And? You stand to lose quite a lot and are putting yourself, your sister, and your clan in danger, you know. After all, Goetia chose not to change the fundamental principles of your society. Snobbery, arrogance, and vanity are still the foundation of demons."
- "I don't care," she replied curtly, causing those present, especially Serafall, to widen their eyes, while a broad grin appeared on my face. "I don't care what people think of me or what the consequences of my refusal will be. I know that my sister, my clan, and those I care about will support me, and that's all that matters to me. The rest? Let them do what they want, I'll outlive them all without regretting my refusal today. After all, you're not among the latter, are you, Sensei?"
- "So that's how it is?" I chuckled, looking at Sona's confident smirk. "You passed."
- "Huh?" Sona didn't understand.
- "Now everyone get out. I need to prepare for the sortie," I said, and my magic circles and a few other things appeared under the feet of the demons, except for Rea-chan.
- "What did you mean...?" Sona was about to ask when they were all teleported to the Underworld, and I, still grinning widely, took a sip of coffee.
Well, not bad, So-tan. Very, very not bad, and you deserve a reward for that. Now it's time to get down to business. Aha-aha.
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