VIII. Ignis
I couldn't even imagine that a simple diagnostic item - which isn't even a real System from those gamer fanfics, if anything! - will make my head crackle and sparkle from the amount of - extremely dubiously - necessary information. And since I had no way to save all this somewhere other than my own memory, I still tried hard to digest it all! I'm not stupid enough to ignore the possibility of not arousing suspicion with my ignorance, am I ?!
I really wanted to get away from this hell, to be honest.
Well, not from THE Hell, as in the Underworld, but quite a local hell in the form of a huge reception in honor of Rias' birthday. I won't see most of those present until the next such gathering, and if anything, I wasn't allowed to attend all of those... That is, not me, it was Rias, but because of the attempts to deal with her memories, it sometimes overwhelmed me.
The devils were generally extremely human-like in their ways, which was quite annoying. I was forced to dress up, and it was very good that mother reminded me about this event in advance. I was able to push for a more modest suit and not dress up in any actual dress, and fortunately for me, demonic seamstresses could create anything in the shortest possible time thanks to magic. Because I started doing it right away and didn't put it off, it was perceived as a kind of quirk and a kind of phase, because no one had to redo anything. Still, I felt much more comfortable in pants. And to be honest, the more tightly I'm dressed, the better I feel. The more clothes obscure the burgeoning beauty of this body, the better!
On the one hand, I was even kind of glad that at least I wasn't being controlled in my clothing choices, but on the other hand, I was sure that when I did appear in front of my mother in all my anti-girly glory, I would at least be mentally spanked, and at most verbally crucified.
This lady congratulated me on my birthday, obviously, before I had a chance to try on a suit, that is why, so far, I have culturally shocked only the queen, that is, the visier piece of my dear brother, also his wife. I can't imagine marrying, in fact, the slave, but fuck knows, these role-playing games. In all seriousness though, since I knew exactly what these Evil Pieces were doing to those who absorbed them in, it was difficult for me not to show my attitude in any way. I tried not to jump to conclusions, but still, I was reasonably boiling about it.
For some reason that was unclear to me, her name was half a mystery to me, that is, in the "name" column there was not only "Grayfia Lucifuge", but also some kind of gibberish in two other alphabet systems, which I absolutely could not read, because I haven't studied these kinds of perversions in any of my lives as of yet. She wasn't the only devil with such gibberish in the diagnostic window, and I made a note to rewrite these symbols and Google them in the future.
From the side of this gorgeous white-haired woman - just like me in a previous life! - when I just got dressed and answered her knock on the door, I received only a raised eyebrow and a polite offer to braid my hair if I wish so.
According to the strange feelings of this demonic bod, for some reason I didn't want to turn my back on her, so I politely declined.
I definitely didn't have that feeling with Serafall, even though I'm supposed to have the same ass-feeling all the time. Strange.
Grayfia nevertheless escorted me to a huge hall where everyone was gathered, and together we entered one of the doors.
There was no sign of any, let's say, Prince-of-Darkness-y ball here, and I was definitely not the star of the show, even though it was my birthday. Well, I definitely don't have to shake hands with everyone - my mother is doing it somewhere on the side of the room, and yes, that side would be the last place I go.
My father, who was very noticeable because of his red hair, kept gesturing obscenely with a dashing grin at his old friends, and I hurried to quickly glance somewhere else. Otherwise, he'll feel the attention on him, notice me and call for me, that's for sure! That fucking fiance's papa was probably there as well - pops wouldn't negotiate with someone he didn't know well, I had no doubt about that.
But everything would have been fine if it hadn't been for the unexpected purposeful movement in my direction, by one rather large man, who caused me primal fear instead of any congenial good feelings. And no, it wasn't that eccentric piece of cherry jelly named Sirzechs, who was definitely full of lies, some good intentions, and also some dumb ideas about shoving Evil Pieces into little helpless girls, but he would never in his life have caused his little sister such fear. Even though I was aware of his absolute power and the awe with which other devils treated him.
The man stopped right next to me, took a look at Grayfia, who had been following me for the last five minutes of my stay in this hall and was in no hurry to dissociate herself, and then he looked indifferently into my face.
The diagnostics gave me something that I could identify as Hebrew, but I definitely couldn't read it.
בעַל זכרכורם
Thank you fucking Austin! Thank you fucking bracelet! It didn't really help to deal with fear, to be honest! I would have seen something interesting, but all the bracelet gave me was an inscription in Hebrew.
But I didn't need a diagnosis to identify this man as Zekram Bael, my mother's father, and the likely creator of my problems with the engagement contract.
I've been reading a lot about the Gremory pillar lately, when I realized what kind of a fucked up situation awaits me if I don't do anything and let everything take its course. Well, as a result of searching for answers, I stopped understanding anything at all.
Why would I suddenly be affected by this game in the form of mandatory marriage due to the small number of pureblood devils of the Underworld? And why would I be included in such an engagement agreement, when neither my father, nor my grandmother, nor, moreover, Runeas Gremory herself did such things at all. My brother actually married his former civil war enemy, and he constantly boasted that he was very lucky to find love in the most unexpected circumstances.
It was strange to think that Lilith - and there was no doubt about Lilith's existence in this world - was my not-so-distant ancestor. Lilith - Runeas - Grandmother - Father - Gabrias. And that's on Gremory's side. Zekram Bael is the grandfather and, in fact, Runeas' brother. It would be more unusual if he did not, in fact, scare me with his mere presence. From his face, and from his general habit of bearing himself, it was clear that his power went to his head way back when the original Lucifer was still alive.
Well, now Serafall's comments about Rabu-rabu and Sona-chan didn't seem as... out of nowhere and humorous. It just went very terrifying very fast.
If suddenly Sirzechs suffers from something like that, I will castrate him.
But that's for later. Now, my thoughts have swerved somewhere, because I missed the beginning of Zekram's probably extremely important speech, and therefore the light in my head turned on somewhere in the middle of his monologue. Not that he needed my reaction, other than polite nods and silence.
"... And I hope to see you in the future in this game that young people value so much nowadays, Rias. Watching them can sometimes be boring due to the lack of edge and real danger," the man chuckled disdainfully and looked into my eyes, "but I was informed that you, like many others from your generation, have plans to participate in this rating. You have a lot to learn, and that's what my gift to you on this day is about."
"I... appreciate it." I swallowed and frowned, choosing my words. "Hrm... Lord Bael, I haven't seen the gifts of our esteemed guests yet, but I can confidently say that any gift that can help me strengthen myself in the future would be priceless."
***
Little Ravel was a great conversationalist, despite her young age and her idiot brother. She was a couple of years younger than me, but judging by Rias's memories, we'd only met a handful of times before.
No, this is completely unacceptable!
In the half‑hour since my talk with Zekram Bael, I'd met — or rather, re‑met, depending on how you look at it — a whole bunch of my peers. There were, of course, old friends: Sona-chan, my bestie, and Sairaorg Bael, my maternal cousin, who was a bit older; at some point, their already infrequent contact had nearly dried up. Then there was Sigvaira Agares, with whom little Rias shared a hobby of collecting anime figurines. While Rias genuinely got along with Sona-chan, conversations with Sigvaira mostly revolved around their shared interest.
But why did Rias barely know the rest of them? Well, their personalities sort of answered that question, if I'm honest.
Diodora Astaroth was, of course, a two‑faced bastard — you could smell the phoniness from his smug face a mile away — but at least he kept a polite, neutral demeanor, unlike that jerk from the Glasya‑Labolas pillar, who even at such a young age already looked at women around him like pieces of meat. On the other hand, that Glasya‑Labolas jerk had an older sister with the dangerously beautiful musculature of a warrior amazon — and I wouldn't mind making that acquaintance. It was sort of the same with Raiser: he was a total jerk, and nearly a decade older than me, no argument there — but his sister?
I played the part of an excellent listener, carefully soaking up everything she blurted out. My attentive silence and encouraging gaze practically made her bloom and spill even more info. We barely avoided the idiot brother, but his idiocy oddly calmed me. An idiot with no brains is easier to wipe the floor with, am I right?
Who in their right mind would show up to their supposed fiancée's birthday party arm‑in‑arm with their mistress? No, this was a top‑tier idiot — no marks left to brand him with.
Was this some kind of provocation from his ancestors, an attempt to test the waters, or just plain apathy? To be honest, it didn't matter much to me — I had no beef with the jerk, at least not yet. As long as he doesn't come at me with those tight embraces he had his girl in, I'm cool. I even caught myself admiring her cleavage and almost gave Raiser two thumbs up — but then I remembered this was supposed to be my enemy, thanks to that contract between our parents. So I just studied her assets a couple seconds too long and opened my mouth to mutter something polite and neutral, but Ravel read the situation wrong and quickly pulled me into her orbit.
"So anyway, after that almost‑successful kidnapping attempt, my brother proposed I become his Bishop, and I'm thinking of accepting!" she finished her tale of recent adventures and set down her empty tea cup — only for dear Sakura‑chan to refill it with her magical tea. "Yubi thinks it'll protect me too, and my brother will be able to find me no matter what, thanks to the connection with the pieces!"
Looks like I'll have to join this chatter after all, not just listen and quietly sip my tea. Because if she's spouting this kind of nonsense, she probably hasn't discussed it with her parents. No normal parent would let their underage daughter take on a slave contract with a guy already building a harem. Though wait — these are old‑school demons; maybe even incest is A‑OK with them.
"I don't know who this Yubi is, but I think you should focus more on individual development. Your brother didn't become a piece for any of his older brothers, right? And females are just as strong as male devils, especially in magic. It's based on imagination, not physical limits, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah," Ravel frowned and muttered. "But I'm the youngest in the family, so they want to protect me…"
"Then their protection shouldn't involve you taking a slave brand onto your neck, Ravel," I scoffed and took another sip of tea, trying to keep my hands busy. "You've got all the makings of a high‑class demon. You've got the same powers as your brother, and in a couple years you'll gather a retinue that can protect you when you can't do it yourself."
"But it's my brother! What difference does it make? I'll still be a pure‑blooded devil of the Phenex clan even if I take on what you call… And it's not really slavery, Rias!"
"Oh, it absolutely is," I frowned and looked her in the eye. "Those pieces are packed with all sorts of stuff, but they force obedience to the owner of the set — otherwise they wouldn't only be given to high‑class demons. You could just chisel off chunks of that magic stone, stuff them with a demonization matrix, and shove them into any creature to demonize them on the spot. But that would lead to…"
"Chaos and potential problems from overpopulation," Ravel chimed in, her eyebrows shooting up — clearly she hadn't considered this angle of her brother's proposal. "So even if I don't reincarnate as a demon like others do, but just accept the Bishop piece's enhancement, I'd still become… a slave? And my brother knew about this?!"
"I honestly don't know," I shrugged and went back to my tea. "He might not know about these implications, but I kinda doubt it… He's an idiot, sure, but this feels like basic knowledge…"
"Rias! Don't talk about my brother like that! He's not an idiot! Why are you so…" Ravel protested, but I cut her off with a perfectly reasonable remark.
"He's literally drowning in his girlfriend's boobs at his supposed fiancée's birthday, Ravel," my tone dripped sarcasm. "Can you imagine a reasonable person with a working brain acting like that?"
"Well… my brother's changed a lot since he started watching anime…" Ravel mumbled thoughtfully, but a few seconds later perked up slightly. "But Jubelluna wouldn't interfere with my brother getting married — she's his Queen, and she hasn't even reached high‑class demon status yet, so they wouldn't let him marry her! So you don't have to worry, Rias!"
I really wanted to call out to the Lord, but I restrained myself — with great effort.
"Ra‑vel…" I drawled, setting down my cup, feeling the familiar surge of magic around my eyes. I couldn't release the power of destruction outward, but I really wanted to.
This wasn't the first time since my actions against those idiotic Shintoists that instead of releasing destruction mist and dark lightning outward, I channeled the energy inward — resulting in golden‑glowing eyes instead of my usual green‑blue ones that shifted hue with the lighting. It felt a lot like what happened in my first world when I was just learning to control energy — except there it was due to lack of full control, while here it was because of an absolutely ridiculous amount of energy.
"Rias…?" the girl said in confusion, glancing at my eyes, nearly inhaling her tea along with the cup. "Oh! My! Satan! What is that?! Wow‑wow‑wow!"
I thought she might be scared, but no! This girl proved her kinship with the idiot Raiser — instead of recoiling from the clearly pissed‑off me, she leaned even closer, practically nose‑to‑nose, and began enthusiastically examining my eyes.
"Wow‑wow‑wow!" she repeated, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "How do you do that? I want to, as well!"
"Ravel," I repeated, calmer now, after ten seconds of nasal breathing. "I won't be your brother's wife. So I don't need to worry about him having a girlfriend. What pisses me off is his blatant disregard for etiquette, not the pretty girl in his arms. He's deliberately trying to provoke a reaction or humiliate me, and that's just stupid and low."
"Rias, but…" Ravel stammered, clearly at a loss. "Our parents decided…"
"This is just the elder Bael generation's attempt to make me into something other than the Devil of Sloth, Ravel," I said, setting my cup down and crossing one leg over the other so I could rest my chin on my palm more comfortably. "All Gremory, starting with our progenitor Runeas, carry a fundamental vice — and that vice is Sloth. The only exception is my brother Sirzechs, and look what he's managed to achieve simply by not having that limitation and putting ambition at the forefront. They've deliberately set things up so that Laziness would be disadvantageous for me. And since we're in a time of peace, putting me in an artificially created conflict is quite clever — albeit manipulative."
"That's not true! You're just trying to justify…" Ravel began, but I cut her off with an irritated grunt.
"Zekram Bael gave me a teleportation bracelet, accompanied by the wish that I learn something new."
"And… what does that mean?" Ravel asked, clearly puzzled, her expression radiating confusion.
"It means he doesn't see me as just a walking breeding vessel. He wants me, and I quote, to learn something new and win in rating games, dear Ravel," I replied with a sardonic edge, which brought a blush of mingled embarrassment and fury to the little Phenex girl's cheeks.
I had no intention of telling her that I planned to teleport into the depths of this local hellhole, slay monsters there, and teleport back the moment I sensed that continuing the adventure would be suicidal. This was a method that had worked during my training in the world of Grimm monsters, and now I'd been given a little trinket that could simplify that method tenfold — if only because this teleportation bracelet wasn't based on a Pillar Mark, unlike the usual demonic methods of transportation. Yes, if I understood correctly, it only worked one way and couldn't be activated too frequently. But precisely this simplicity led me to believe that old man Bael was merely setting up tests and obstacles for me — not actual problems.
This gift — and Bael's accompanying words, which absolutely did not include any wish for me to hurry up and get married, but rather added layers to his attempt to pressure me — made me more autonomous. It gave me the opportunity to escape danger and make my training as close to real‑world conditions as possible.
The original Rias probably wouldn't have rushed off to open a gift from her malevolent grandfather — the one she feared so much it even sent a shiver down my spine — right in the middle of her own celebration. And she likely would have tuned his words out completely.
Instead, I offloaded Grayfia onto her husband and child — gave Milicas a pat on his chubby cheeks in an unexpected surge of warmth, dodged Sirzech's embrace, and successfully made my escape toward the gift room.
Zekram Bael's attitude seemed to stand in contrast — almost apart — even if Rias's mother, Venelana Bael, was pushing for that abominable contract (which had no precedent in the Gremory Pillar) precisely at his instigation.
Yes, this manipulation was seriously getting to me, and I was certain it wasn't the only intrigue concerning Rias's upbringing and preparation. After all, Zekram, with his parting words about learning, was unlikely to sabotage that very training.
"Still, I think you're wrong about my brother!" the little Phenex declared resolutely, jumping up from her chair. "But I'll think about it."
"If you want to train, give me a shout," I shrugged, leaning back and regarding the flushed girl with equal parts amusement and fondness. "You've got fire in you, Ravel. No less than your brother. And you can learn to protect yourself — without slavery."
"Without slavery…" Ravel echoed, gave me one last look, and then darted off somewhere.
I glanced sideways at Sakura and lifted my cup.
Without a word, she poured me… hmm. Genmaicha? Interesting, but not really my thing.
I continued sipping and thinking about the good and eternal — namely, about training on the edge of losing limbs if I failed. Training that awaited me, eagerly or not, all thanks to Mr. Zekram and his infuriating intrigues. Oh, how I wished I could just be the Devil of Sloth and forget about all this…