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The Gamer's Guide to Freedom by The Dark Wolf Shiro
Anime X-overs & High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D Xover Rated: M, English, Supernatural & Fantasy, Words: 191k+, Favs: 5k+, Follows: 5k+, Published: Aug 19, 2020 Updated: Oct 2, 2021
2,363Chapter 2: Early Game Struggles
Disclaimer: I own nothing
The Gamers Guide to Freedom
Chapter 02: Early Game Struggles
There are many things I want to be doing first thing in the morning.
Going back to sleep mostly or having a nice big breakfast... I'd even take working on my Fleshcrafting some more... instead, I am doing this.
"You have my thanks for agreeing to this meeting, Lord Dantalion, it's an honour to see the infamous Dantalion castle in person." Serafall Leviathan, a woman who could sneeze in my direction and disintegrate me, say with a small smile as she sits opposite me in the meeting room my castle has... for some reason?
It's not like we ever let anyone in, but I suppose as Lord Dantalion it is up to me who can enter my castle now, and I don't want to leave the safety of my wards until I am stronger.
"The pleasure is mine, Lady Leviathan." I say politely, giving her a respectful nod. I am not part of the Seventy-Two Pillars, so I don't need to be utterly respectful... but let us not insult the scarily strong woman, alright?
+5 Affection with Serafall Leviathan for setting a good first impression [05/100]
The fuck is that? Wait, I need to focus.
If there is one thing that caught me off guard, it is how... professionally she is dressed. The admittedly incredibly beautiful black haired woman is dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt and a very modest black skirt going down past her knees, showing very little colour as her pink eyes stare into mine, her hair tied into twin tails.
I've seen pictures of her on the Devilnet created by Ajuka Beelzebub, and she usually wears bright pink outfits that barely cover anything. If you type Serafall into the search bar, the first auto-correct result is 'Serafall Leviathan Panty Shot'.
The second is 'Serafall Leviathan Wardrobe Malfunction'.
There are... a lot of results.
Not that she likely cares considering how many photoshoots she has released, usually gravure softcore stuff, with skimpy magical girl outfits or bikinis. She's the most popular Satan for a reason, and honestly? Kudos for taking advantage of Devil-kinds affinity for lust.
She hasn't done outright porn, or even released any full nudes, but she certainly has a massive following. It was hard finding anything about her that was useful since it was buried beneath countless thirsty articles about her modelling.
Who cares that she has made a trade deal with the Queen Carmilla, of the Carmilla Vampiric Faction when she has posted a video of her taking a shower in a bikini three sizes too small?
Fucking Devils.
...it was a good video though.
"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way... first of all, allow me to give you my deepest condolences for the loss of your parents. I didn't know your parents that well, but their loss is a tragedy. Allow me to assure you that we will not rest until we have found their killers. My fellow Satan, Lord Asmodeus, is leading the investigation personally. I invited them to the Capital myself, and this attack was an insult to my office, one that I assure you someone will pay dearly for." Serafall promises, the room dropping in temperature for just a moment before she reins in her magic.
"My thanks, Lady Leviathan. Do you have any idea who attacked them? Or their motivations?" I ask after a moment. "My family have very few enemies, after all."
"Call me Serafall, and True..." Serafall starts before hesitating, giving me a long look before she continues. "I believe this attack was committed by my own enemies, not anyone aiming for your family." she admits, a brief look of shame on her face. "I don't have names, not yet... but I assure you, the perpetrator will pay for this."
- Serafall -
Admitting that was a risk, but the former Lord Dantalion was a genius, and she had a feeling his son was very much that same. Lying or trying to hide the truth would backfire deeply when the culprit was revealed, so it was better to get it out of the way now.
It was utterly humiliating, to have the nobles she was on the brink of getting to rejoin the Pillars killed under her own watch, but she was pulled away to deal with a problem with a Noble Devil kidnapping a Youkai for his Peerage, and before she had finished calming the understandably furious Lady Yasaka, the Dantalion's were dead.
"I see... someone wanted to damage your reputation, and assassinating someone in the middle of the capital, who you invited, would do that." Kuro said after a moment, a myriad of emotions flickering across his face, a pair of surprisingly expressive deep pink eyes staring at her, one of them barely hidden by his short black hair as it hung over his face.
He was a bit older than Sona-tan, and while Devils aged weirdly, she'd place him in his late teens or early twenties in Human terms, unlike Sona and Rias who were sixteen.
Kuro was hard to read, almost emotionless as he stared her down, with only the slightest hints of what he was feeling crossing his face. Oddly enough, grief wasn't one of those emotions.
Anger, yes... as brief as it was, but very little sorrow.
She had read a report that Kuro Dantalion was a borderline sociopath from the brief times he left the safety of the frankly terrifying wards surrounding this castle, but even his parent's deaths seemed to have barely shaken him.
"That's correct, we have confirmed that they were killed by Devil Magic, but for now I have nothing else I can tell you about the attack." Serafall admitted making him tilt his head slightly.
This wasn't the first time her plans had been destroyed by an outside force, and it was one that always seemed to be able to vanish right afterwards, leaving her looking weak and foolish.
She had her suspicions, but she couldn't accuse the Old Satan faction without proof. The Old Satan faction made up almost a quarter of the Houses in the Seventy-Two pillars, and she couldn't afford to alienate them even if they were almost certainly plotting against them.
The Devils were in the strongest position at the moment, but if they ended up in another Civil War? The Fallen would likely surpass them in power. Every single House was needed, especially with so many having gone extinct.
There was not one, but two civil wars brewing amongst the Devils. If the Old Satans and the New Government didn't end up fighting, then the Pureblood Devils and the Reincarnated ones would.
The Pureblood Houses were starting to get intimidated by how many Reincarnated Devils there were, and the Reincarnated Devils were starting to grow unruly under the control of the Pureblood Devils who held all the power.
The Purebloods needed to be calmed before anyone did something stupid, which was why she was trying so hard to get the Dantalion's to return to the fold. Another Noble Pillar family returning to the Pillars would make them happy, even if it was a family of one. Happy enough to stop pushing for laws or reforms that would push the Reincarnated Devils into open rebellion.
The Reincarnated Devils wouldn't win, of course, the Purebloods had almost all the Ultimate Class Devils and the most powerful Peerages, but they needed the numbers. They were at war and even as she and the other Satans worked with Michael and Azazel to keep them in a cold war, every side had factions wanting the bloodshed to start again.
There were Angels and Fallen who would push for an attack if the Devils showed weakness, and Michael and Azazel could only do so much.
"I see." Kuro said after a moment, remarkably calm. "Which means if I continue these negotiations with you... they might attack me." he pointed out as she nodded, not bothering to lie about that.
"They might try, but I have spoken with my fellow Satans, and we have made a plan, if you are amiable to continuing negotiations. Firstly, how much do you know about the agreement your father and myself was working on?" she asked, watching him pause.
"Not much, admittedly. My father was a meticulous note-taker... but he left little about his negotiations with you." Kuro admitted though she had no idea how truthful that was. It could be an attempt to test her truthfulness, or perhaps the former Lord Dantalion had kept his son in the dark.
"Then allow me to bring you up-to-date. On your family's side, the agreement would have the Dantalion's rejoin the Pillars in their old position as a Duchy, the highest-ranking a House can be, and allow the Satans to purchase wards from your family." Serafall admitted. Falbium wanted pretty much every military location secured by Dantalion wards, and there were other locations they wanted protecting.
"That would be a slight issue... I'm little more than an Apprentice in my family magic." Kuro admitted as she smiled gently at him.
"Understandable, your father mentioned as much. His plan was for you to join him in warding to gain more experience. We can change that part of the agreement easily enough." Serafall assured him, making him shake his head.
"I have the family Grimoire, and everything I need to further my family's art... but it will take time to get up to the level where I would be comfortable selling them to the Satans." Kuro said after a moment. "If I agree, we would simply have to change the timescale. If I agree." he repeated.
"I'll keep that in mind. Another part of the agreement included these..." Serafall continued, placing the case she had brought with her on the table, opening it up to show him the Chess Pieces inside. "It was originally two sets of Evil Pieces, one for you and one for your father." she admitted as he looked them over, his eyes narrowing slightly. "The final part agreed upon was for you to gain a town on earth to rule, in the same way, that both my own little sister and Lord Lucifer's sister are doing."
"Tell me... what would be expected of me if I agreed?" Kuro said, looking away from the pieces after a moment.
In truth, she didn't like dealing with someone she knew so little about. His file was very, very small, with barely any details other than rumours of his sociopathy and apathy.
Even his Devilnet activity didn't tell her that much, and as a Satan, she could see everything anyone using it was doing. All Kuro did recently was research her, looking over articles on her actions, both recent and ancient. Then he spent even longer looking over the various photoshoots and videos she had put out.
It was an easy way to gain popularity, and she liked the attention. It was just some bikini or magical girl sets anyway, and there was nothing shameful about being seen in a bikini... even if she was posing provocatively, making alluring sounds as she did.
Even being a softcore model who ran around dressed as a magical girl, she was still one of the more normal Satans.
It did tell her that Kuro was Lustful, she was fairly worried that he might be a Slothful Devil like Falbium in which case getting him to agree to anything would be almost impossible.
Purely Slothful Devils were the worst to deal with, since they never wanted to do anything.
"The two main things are simple. As a member of the Pillars you would be expected to follow the laws set down by the Government, and in the event of the war becoming... hot again, you would be required to join, though I can already say you wouldn't be on the front lines, warding is too powerful for us to risk losing you in battle."
- Kuro -
...That's it?
I've looked over the laws, and there are so many loopholes that Pureblood Devils, especially ones in the higher positions... like for instance a Duke could take advantage of. I don't mind following the laws they have set at the moment, and it takes years for new laws to get set in place... Devils are slow to change, and I can use that to my advantage. I'd have years to grow strong enough to break free of the Pillars if they start making rules I don't like.
Most of the rules only cover other Devils, there are no laws dealing with humans or other races since the more... traditional Devils resist them violently.
As for the war thing? Does war ever break out again? I vaguely remember there being a peace conference that the Old Satans or someone else attacks, but the three factions don't fight again in Canon...
None of the leaders wants to fight again, so I don't need to worry that much about that either. Even if it does... she has a point. As a Warder, especially if I get better with them, I'd be too important to be made fight on the front lines.
The only real problem is one of my own making...
"You said you and your fellow Satans had a plan to prevent me from joining my parents if I was willing to continue negotiations?" I ask after a moment, if I can be ensured safety... I might not mind rejoining the Pillars (for as much as I can get out of the Satans).
"We do. Originally, we had a town in China picked out for you to 'rule' after an agreement with the Chinese Pantheon, however... Lord Lucifer brought up a decent point. In Kuoh, there are already two Devil Heiresses in one place. Kuoh is a town where it wouldn't draw too much attention for there to be additional security, and it is a place that both myself and Lord Lucifer visit regularly." Serafall explained as I resisted the urge to facepalm. "As such, you moving there... even only part-time if you would prefer, would make it easy to protect you, put you in a position to interact with your fellow younger Devils and let us continue negotiations. Consider it a... trial period, one which you can simply call off and return to your castle and isolation whenever you desire. Being in the mortal realm should help you build your Peerage as well, as you are unlikely to find many promising recruits in this desolate corner of the Underworld." Serafall points out with a teasing smile as I pause.
Why am I not surprised that she wants me to go to Kuoh?
That being said... is it really that bad?
I looked into Rias and Riser's marriage... and it hasn't happened yet, nor has their been a Rating Game announced, so I think I'm pre-season one since it's late summer, so school should be starting soon.
Which means... right now there are two free Sacred Gears in weak humans in Kuoh. Issei obviously has the Boosted Gear... but the one Sona recruits has... Absorption Line?
This Kuro looked into Sacred Gears when he was researching his powers, so I got a bit of a knowledge dump over them.
Actually... Asia will be showing up soon if I got my timing right, and that means there are three Sacred Gears up for grabs...
I want them.
What were the early threats in DxD? How dangerous is Kuoh really?
Riser? Not my problem, I have no reason to help Rias and even if I get involved... they want me in the Pillars too badly for him to seriously hurt me. It'd be embarrassing to lose to him, but not the end of the world.
Raynare? She was kinda trash tier if I remember, so was the other Fallen. If I can train to be strong enough to handle her (or have strong enough minions), I can take Asia without an issue.
Freed? Crazy, could probably just avoid him by not taking contracts. If nothing else I can throw abominations at him and run back to my lair.
As long as I am gone before Kokabiel shows up, I should be fine, even if the Exorcists might be a problem... since I kinda have one of their swords in my trophy room.
Hell, I could even trade it back as part of the Peace Agreement for easy approval from the Satans and Heaven. I can't use it, after all.
So, Kuoh isn't exactly the worst place I could go to. I have future knowledge, I know where three powerful tools are going to be, and I can avoid most of the dangers...
It really isn't the worst place I could end up. It might even be safer than anywhere except my own castle, my foreknowledge keeping me safer than I would be anywhere else.
"To be clear... if I accept, I can return to my lands whenever I want?" I ask after a moment, watching her smile. Realistically, I have no chance of out negotiating Serafall, she's the head of Foreign Relations for Devil kind, after all, she has centuries of practice negotiating with people far better at this than me, and often comes out on top.
Letting this get drawn out would be a mistake.
"Of course, you are Lord Dantalion after all, even us Satans can't order one of the Pillar Lords to remain in one place without very good reasons." Serafall assures me easily.
...I really want the Sacred Gears I know are just sitting in Kuoh.
I realise this is my kleptomania speaking, but I want them.
"Very well... I will accept, for now at least. If I find Kuoh, not to my liking then I will return home and call it off, I lose nothing by giving it a try." I say after a moment, making her beam at me.
+10 Affection with Serafall Leviathan for being far more reasonable than she expected [25/100]
But there is one thing I can say for certain... I am not going to fucking Kuoh at level one.
- Later -
Serafall is a busy woman, so I wasn't really surprised that she didn't stick around long after getting me to agree, only getting me to look over and sign some paperwork which was just a written version of what she had already said.
...She did give me something else along with my now attuned Evil Pieces though.
Reaching into my inventory, I pull out the small photo with a deadpan stare, looking down at the signed photo of Serafall posing with a sultry smile, wearing nothing but a tiny black bikini bottom, her hair wet as it hangs down, covering her breasts slightly.
She said it was a gift for a fan... but it is basically an admittance that she knows I spent a lot of time looking her up last night. Why admit they looked into my search history? I expected they would, Ajuka invented the Devilnet (with some rumoured help from Azazel), so of course they can spy on people using it, but why outright tell me she knew?
I can't tell if it was a gift or if this is some power play.
Super Rare Serafall Leviathan Topless Photo added to inventory.
If she was acting seductive when she passed it over, I could understand it as her using her charms to try and keep me following her plan, but she basically just went 'Here, I saw you liked my pictures so you can have this unreleased one.'
Handing over topless pics of herself as casually as she would discuss the weather.
Well, I knew what I was getting in for when I joined the Devils.
Taking a deep breath, I push forwards and enter the dungeon portal, my three ghouls following behind as we enter a stereotypical fantasy crypt, far less extravagant than my own family crypt.
I need to level, and right now this is the only dungeon I know the location of.
As the coffins around the room burst open, skeletons climb out of them, glowing blue eyes glaring at me even as my ghouls move in front of me, Gadget sitting in my pocket to make sure I don't get stuck with the Edge of Oblivion double damage.
Charging at me, one of the skeletons grips a rusty mace in its bony grip... right up until my first ghoul simply grabs its skull and tears it from the body, tossing it aside with a grunt while the body collapses, the magic animating it failing.
Smirking to myself, I mentally give the order for my ghouls to jump into action, keeping the largest, the father, by my side just in case.
Ghouls are apparently better than skeletons... heh, this should be easy.
- Shortly After -
Watching my second ghoul fall as its body rots, I quickly revise my earlier opinion.
The skeletons were easy, even when the stronger armoured variant showed up they were only a minor threat to my ghouls, especially with me using [Warping Mend Wound] to heal any wounds they took... it's basically all I was good for since the skeletons don't take damage from my necrotic spell, nor can they be cursed.
Right now I feel like I took Charmander back in Gen 1 all over again, and Brock is beating my underleveled ass. It's not that I'm weak or my spells aren't effective... but this is just a terrible match up for me.
My perks give me great strength when I am on the defensive, but weaken me when I have to go on the offensive... like right now.
Still, we were doing fine... the Ghouls have surprisingly good regeneration, and even when one major weakness in my current forces made itself clear, skeletal archers raining arrows down on us as we were left unable to return fire, we managed to pull through, simply by having two of the ghouls charge them wildly, uncaring of the arrows piercing them...
But then this shit happened.
Ghost (Tier One Spirit Undead)
Glaring at the hovering blue spirit, I acknowledge to myself that I'm out of options.
Fucking Kuro Dantalion never studied the normal Devil magic, which means I don't have that available... and Ghosts are immune to physical and necrotic damage. Nothing I have on hand can even hurt these bastards.
Their own necrotic magic isn't that strong, but it counters my healing and my ghoul's regeneration, so it is simply a case of death by a thousand paper cuts.
One of my ghouls has fallen already, and I can't do anything to bring it back... and the ghosts aren't eager to let me run either.
So with a growl of annoyance, I give the order for another ghoul to throw itself at the spirits, it can't do anything to them... but it can delay them as I retreat, my last ghoul following behind.
This sucks.
As I flee, a ghostly ball of energy flies towards me, clipping my arm before I can make it out of the dungeon, but the sting of pain is nothing I can't deal with.
-50 HP
-1 HP per second
HP regen stopped
Deciding that pride is less important than survival, I have my ghoul simply pick me up in a princess carry, its far greater speed allowing us to blow through the rooms we have already cleared, bones crushed to dust beneath his heavy feet.
The rot setting into my arm, eating away at my flesh is... unpleasant to say the least, but we get out of the dungeon quickly enough.
Congratulations on your first victory, Master
Heh, I'm not feeling victorious right about now, Isis.
Why not? You fought, rooms of undead were cleared, and you survived with most of your HP. I'd say that was a victory, Master! Any battle you walk away from is one you won!
I... heh, I guess you're right. It's not like I can't replace the two ghouls I lost... and we did tear a path through a horde of skeletons before I even got a scratch.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
Mickey and Minnie reform at my feet, returning from when an armoured skeleton smashed them earlier, but Gadget is still safe in my pocket.
The moment the after battle report kicks in, my wound heals rapidly as I smile to myself. Sure, I didn't do anywhere near as well as I wanted... but the simple fact is that I was fighting at a disadvantage.
I need to find a different dungeon to practice at until I have more spells and abominations to deal with the undead. Ghosts and creatures immune to physical and necrotic are going to be my bane until I find a counter for them.
But that's fine.
You don't go to fight Misty with just a Fire Type, you go and catch a Pikachu and fuck her up. I'm a Gamer, working around the mechanics is just part of the Game.
Kuro Dantalion, the Lord of House Dantalion
Race – Devil
Level – 4 (34%)
Alignment – Neutral Evil
Mentor – None
Apprentice – None
HP – 500 [100 regen per five minutes]
MP – 2000 [400 regen per minute]
SP – 500 [100 regen per minute]
STR – 5 (x10) = 50
END – 5 (x10) = 50
DEX – 5 (x10) = 50
INT – 20 (x10) = 200
WIS – 20 (x10) = 200
CHA – 10 (x20) = 200
LCK – 10 (x15) = 150
Stat – 15
Taking a moment to think, I put five points into INT, my most important stats as a spell-caster, and then ten into END. Mages tend to be glass cannons, and I'd rather have a nice healthy HP pool to keep me safe should the worst happen.
I don't plan on keeping this up, but I don't want to risk being flimsy. Too much can go wrong, and more HP is never a bad thing.
With this alone, I have tripled my HP, and that is absolutely major.
What would have been a terrible wound before is an inconvenience now, and I will just keep getting stronger.
Plus, I did get some loot from chests as I fought my way through the undead, so it isn't like this has been a complete loss. I levelled and got loot in exchange for three ghouls, and now I know to avoid going too deep into this dungeon.
Iron Bar (Common Metal) x 3
Dark Iron Bar (Uncommon Metal) x 4
Corrupted Leather (Uncommon Leather) x 6
Jet (Common Gemstone) x 2
Dreadstone (Rare Gemstone) x 1
Potion of Healing (Common Potion) x 2
It's not a bad haul for a single day's work, and while I'm not sure what to do with the metal and leather... the Gemstones can be used in Wardcrafting. I need gemstones to make my wardstones which are tied to any ward I want to actually last. The Jet stones wouldn't make good wardstones, but the Dreadstone definitely seems interesting... whatever a Dreadstone is. The ominously glowing purple gemstone is the size of my fist, and probably worth a small fortune, I guess I got lucky on my loot when this thing dropped, but my ward crafting knowledge is already telling me that it should be able to hold a decently powerful set of wards with the right runes carved into it. The Jet stones could hold a single, fairly weak ward, but I might use them anyway for practice before I risk ruining the rare stone.
The better the gem, the harder it will be to turn it into a wardstone without utterly failing and ruining it in the process.
Sending my ghoul back to the lair, I head back to the castle with a sigh. I need to find a new grinding spot if I really want to start levelling.
Opening up the map again, I scratch my chin in mild annoyance at the sight of exactly zero other dungeons in the surrounding areas... there are some in the more populated areas in the Underworld, but I don't really want to go out there yet.
However... to the great surprise of no-one, there are several in Kuoh. Of course there are, this is DxD. Why wouldn't they be centred around plot-important areas?
...I can deal with the first few rooms of the dungeon easily, and I can farm them. Isis told me they respawn at midnight, so I can do them again tomorrow... and I have a few days before my new home in Kuoh is prepared apparently.
But the dungeons chests loot gets worse after the first spawn, so I can't expect as good drops every time I do this.
I have two ways to get stronger... first, I need to study those grimoires like my life depends on it, cause it kinda does... and secondly, I need to clear as much of the dungeon I can every day.
It's not the best exp, but I'll take all I can get at the moment.
But first... I need more ghouls.
- The Next Day -
Fleshcrafting is an art that requires three things, Magic, Materials... and Imagination.
Not like Devil Magic, that whole powered by imagination thing doesn't make sense, why can't I just imagine the power of destruction or any other unique magic if it is just imagination?
...yes, I tried.
But real imagination, to work out how to turn just a normal human into a living weapon.
[Inflict Paralysis]
A spell that causes the victim's body to lose the ability to move, paralysing them. This can afflict a specific body part or the entire body.
A new spell I learnt from studying the Fleshcrafting tome, the description doesn't quite do it justice. It fucks with the targets nervous system, allowing me to paralyse single limbs or entire bodies... but it has the same problem that Calcify has... if I tried it on someone stronger than me I'd be lucky to paralyse a finger before I ran out of mana.
Not that it doesn't have its uses...
Looking over the frozen body of the mother of the family, I hum to myself as I get to work. Paralysing my subject before I start working on them makes things easier than having them flail about, even chained to the table.
I do feel a bit bad about this, these people did nothing to me, but...
Human Villager (Tier 1 Human)
My game doesn't even give them names. I could ask their name, but as far as the game is concerned, she is just 'Human Villager'. She's a literal NPC.
I need ghouls if I want to succeed in the dungeons, and I need to succeed in the dungeons if I am ever going to survive in this world. My survival takes priority over the lives of people who aren't even important enough to get names.
Which is why I need to get to work.
See, I've been studying hard over the past day, admittedly while laid in bed and being supplied with snacks and drinks by my slave girls, but I have delved deep into the Fleshcrafting Grimoire...
[Natural Weapon]
A spell that causes the target to grow spines, claws, or any other form of lethal feature from their body. These weapons can be composed of anything from the body and may even cause venom sacs and fangs. Poisonous sweat, blood or spit is another example of something that could be created.
This spell isn't as flawless as it sounds... because I am limited by my own skill in Fleshcrafting. It's annoying, but until I get to the higher levels of Fleshcrafting, I can't just turn regular humans into true killing machines. Not Yet.
I'm limited by my materials, and by my skill... but I can work around it.
Fleshcrafting Upgrade Quest
Create 100 Abominations [4/100]
Cast 1000 Fleshcrafting Tree Spells [28/1000]
Learn 5 Fleshcrafting Tree Spells [5/5]
I have quests for every single skill I have, from Gaming to Mummification, but this is the one I want to finished first.
Going to one of the small cages I have in the corner of the room, I cast paralysis again and open it up, gently picking up the limp creature inside it and carrying it over to the table.
It's surprisingly easy to get exotic animals if you have money.
Eastern Green Mamba's are one of the most dangerous mundane snakes in the human world. It also turns out that rich humans are dumb and like having dangerous pets.
It should have taken me longer than a day to get my hands on a bunch of venomous snakes, but it really didn't... humans are easily convinced with money, and my family has plenty.
You'd also think that smugglers would hesitate to be paid in literal solid gold, but they weren't. I didn't even need to pull any devil charisma bullshit to get them to take their payment in gold, even if I overpaid them a quite bit for the rush order.
I should also be surprised at the fact that my father knew how to get in touch with human smugglers, but Aria was able to direct me to his dealings with them. On the other hand, it's not that surprising since we have been hiding in this castle for a long time... and some things we can't supply ourselves. He had dealings with them to get rarer and occasionally illegal things.
...having a literal smuggler offer his condolences over my father's death, while also carefully checking to see if my family would still be employing his services was interesting. He was a nice guy for a criminal and was very helpful about putting me in contact with the guy I bought my snakes from, so I agreed.
It's not like I don't have the gold, my family is very wealthy, certainly compared to human standards, and I can certainly find a use for a smuggler. It's better to have him in my pocket and not need him and all that.
Annoyingly, while there are magical snakes... the Satans put down some new laws for the buying and selling of magical animals a decade or so ago. Long story short, someone bought a Manticore, and it ate him, ate his family then went on a rampage through the Underworld before it was put down by a competent devil.
So it's not easy to get my hands on any magical creatures, at least without drawing attention or calling in favours I don't want to owe later. Serafall could probably have a giant magical snake here tomorrow... and then I'd owe her.
So I'll work with what I can get my hands on.
Laying the snake down on the naked body of the woman, I get to work.
I was foolish before... just because I was focused on the fact that the women wouldn't be as strong as my normal ghouls, since they aren't as strong as their father or brothers...
But that was me being stupid, all I need to do is change them far more carefully than I did their male counterparts.
Fleshcrafting is an art, and I need to do more than just splash paint onto the canvas.
Getting to work, I smile as the two bodies, one snake and one human, slowly start to become one, the snake literally sinking into the stomach of my test subject.
Humans are fairly boring, though they make a very good baseline to work from... but for the more interesting parts I need more materials, so this is the test... what can I do when I take another creature and use them both in my Fleshcrafting at the same time?
The hard part is the lower body, and I'll admit I make a few mistakes but not so many that I can't correct them as the two long legs slowly merge, green and black scales forming along them as they become far more... snakelike.
Curious... Green Mamba's are just bright green, but her scales have a darker green colouring, not to mention the black stripes... hmm, odd, but not really a problem.
As her tail finally forms, becoming so long that it just hangs off the large table I use for my experiments, I smile as scattered scales appear up her back, her pale white skin turning a very slight green. Her large breasts also change, rapidly shrinking till they are barely b-cup, which is again slightly strange but I suppose it is far more suitable for what I have in mind for her.
The black scales moving up her back keep going, along the back of her arms before they stop just above her elbow, leaving her lower arms and hands unchanged... before I decide to change that, focusing my power and giving her sharpen claw-like nails, not too long that they would be inconvenient but sharp enough to cut.
When I am better with this, I should be able to control every tiny change at will... but as a mere apprentice, my magic is just kinda doing whatever it wants, while I try and guide it as much as I can.
I'm sat in the back seat giving my magic directions, and hoping it doesn't drive us both off a cliff.
As the face starts to change, I have to admit... snakes have very cool eyes, far cooler than mere human eyes and as her boring brown eyes change to a slitted golden glare, I smile.
I have no idea how useful she will actually be, but I am learning a lot as I do this... and isn't that the important part?
Several smaller scales make their presence known along her forehead and at the side of her head moving towards her eyes, and her ears grow almost... elven, but after a moment the changes stop, the green mist my magic makes fading away as she stares up at me with the slavish obedience my ghouls do.
Naga (Tier One Abomination)
Removing my paralysis, she... slithers off the table, rising to her full height in front of me as she towers over me. Her upper body is smaller than my own, but her tail is very, very long... even as she curls it up beneath her and rests on it she is easily a foot taller than me, staring at me with golden eyes.
Reaching forwards, I place one of my fingers beneath her upper lip and push it up, smiling at the dangerous fangs on display, a forked tongue flickering out and licking my finger briefly before it goes back into her mouth.
That was... actually exhausting. Creating a more complicated ghoul drains a lot more MP, and while I have enough to manage it, that doesn't mean it was easy. I'll have to take a break before I do the same to her two daughters,
Then I need to get more male subjects so I can make more common ghouls as their strength and endurance is very useful in battle. I want at least three before I head back into the dungeon, preferably more.
...I have the best bed in the world, and I don't even have time to sleep in it.
I can't wait to be a high enough level that I can relax.
- ? -
Congo was a ruthless country, and war had troubled them for as long as he could remember, he had seen terrors that would break weaker men... he had survived despite the dangers and battles... but this was something else entirely.
As he ran through the jungle, he glanced back into the trees, seeing nothing but leaves but knowing they were there...
Holding his pistol in one hand, he fired blindly into the trees, swearing to himself as he heard a hissing laugh in response.
He had been with a squad of six men when they set off from the camp he was rushing desperately towards, having found their jeep upside down, its engine torn to pieces.
They didn't even notice when the first man vanished, having fallen behind too far, but they definitely noticed when something incredibly long lashed out, wrapping around their leader's leg and dragging him into the thick bushes.
As they fled, they had been easily picked off, one after the other until only he remained... and as he spotted the camp appearing through the trees, he started shouting, begging for help.
It was only after he reached the camp he realised... there was no-one on watch, not a single man was watching the road, nor was anyone moving around the usually bustling camp...
Dashing into the camp, he reloaded his pistol, his rifle lost after something had been tossed from the bushes, smacking into his hand, and he had been too afraid to stop to pick it up as it clattered to the ground.
Looking around frantically, he never even saw the attack coming, an unnaturally long tongue lashing out from one of the tents, its strangely sharp forked end scratching his skin as he froze in place.
Falling to the ground, he tried to move his head to the sound of something moving across the ground, his body refusing to obey him until she came into view, her tail nudging him onto his back easily.
From his position, paralysed on the ground, he could only pray for the first time in his life as a pair of hungry golden eyes stared down at him.
- Kuro -
"Well done, girls. You can have those two." I say calmly as I make the portal, sending a rebels camp full of soldiers and captives back to my base, each one first paralysed by my nagas poison, then calcified while they couldn't respond.
I am going to keep changing where I get my materials from, I don't want to set a pattern anyone can follow, but you can always count on Africa to have a war or two.
The Middle East and parts of South America should work as well, but I'll save them for later. I only have so much room in my lair, and I'm already pushing it.
I didn't really mean to grab so many, but my naga are completely at home in the jungle, and capturing a single camp wasn't even difficult.
They were prepared for an attack, but not from fucking Nagas, and their poison spit is incredibly effective at paralysing the lookouts.
My new smuggler friend didn't even flinch when I asked him to find me a paralytic venom, and some gold exchanging later I had a new venom I could imbue into my Nagas.
I've found something wonderful from my experiments... if I use Fleshcrafting to merge some venom samples with my nagas, they can produce that venom in their venom sacks, plus some alterations to their mouth and they can spit from an incredible difference.
I have had them practising their aim, but it seems natural to them. It's not the perfect ranged attack (because poison does nothing to undead) but it is a ranged attack, and that works for me for now.
This camp was fairly small, which was why I picked it as a target, and by the end I gathered thirty-two...
Glancing over at my feasting Nagas, I correct myself.
Thirty adult males, seven adult females, four young males, and three young females, all statues until I am ready to make them into something special.
It'll keep me going for now.
My nagas will be my stealth and ranged units for now, because I have a plan. It might now be a good plan, but it is a plan.
Nagas are incredibly fast, both on the ground and in the water, I checked, and they are also insanely dexterous with incredible reaction times, able to dodge most slower attacks with ease. Regular skeletons and zombies can't even hit them before they are constricted in the nagas long tail and simply crushed.
For now, I've armed them with crappy iron daggers and wooden bows we took from the skeletal archers, and I've given my ghoul a warhammer we took of an armoured skeleton. The naga are decent with bows, not amazing but I don't need them to be crack-shots when they can slither up to a vantage point and rain arrows down on my enemies.
I can't give them armour yet because nothing we loot can actually fit them, so my ghoul just wears a large pair of tattered trousers while my naga don't actually wear anything yet.
Is it because I enjoy having their naked bodies on display? Possibly.
Just because they have fairly small breasts doesn't mean they aren't nice, and they have nice asses as well... surprisingly not covered in scales. It's actually a bit of a problem with the whole... One is the loneliest number drawback, plus my sin of lust building up makes it a little hard to focus sometimes...
But work first, then I can play.
Five ghouls and five naga should be enough to slaughter everything except the ghosts, and then I'll start making preparations for Kuoh and its dungeons.
Still... I have a plan to make things easier...
"Hey, Isis... can you tell me the best way to get the Blacksmithing Proficiency?"
- Aria -
Some slaves were content to remain as slaves, or even too afraid of their masters to try and rise above their stations. Helia was a perfect example of that, terrified of the deceased Lady Dantalion's easily triggered wrath, she threw herself into serving the Dantalion family as well as she could.
If a Dantalion wanted her to do something, no matter what it was, she would do it immediately like the well-trained pet she was.
The two brutes at the farm were very much the same, they kept their head down and worked the farm, day in day out, never so much as taking a break out of a mixture of fear and loyalty.
It wasn't that she didn't get it, what else could they do? Run? There was nothing but snow and ice for hundreds of miles around. But they were... unambitious.
She started in the same place Helia did... they were the exact same age, they had studied and trained together. But then Helia became content to just cook and clean forever, and she wanted more out of her life.
So she got permission from the former Lord Dantalion, Iaxes Dantalion, to read in her spare time, and practically devoured the library in her quest for self-improvement. She got so good at it that she found herself as Iaxes's personal assistant, helping him deal with his reports and numbers.
Then she had made a stupid mistake.
She tried to seduce Lord Dantalion, she had started slow offering massages (after studying them in private), and he had responded well after long days of work, either on the wards or simple paperwork. She'd slowly changed her outfits to more revealing ones, even taking up sewing just so she could alter her outfits to be a little bit tighter or show a little more skin...
She picked everything out perfectly, Lady Dantalion had been on a trip to check on the Dantalion interests in the human world, Iaxes had just finished his work after a stressful day, she'd even managed to convince him to enjoy a rare drink... then she'd tried to offer him some... additional stress relief and got shut down hard.
Devils having mistresses wasn't unusual, Iaxes's father had seven, and that had been her basis on the entire plan. Most of his mistresses had been his favourite slaves... but she misjudged Iaxes and how seriously he took his own code of honour.
Immediately she had lost her position as his assistant, and only through some quick talking (blaming her actions on the teachings of her mentor, an old woman who had long since passed away), did she manage to avoid any real punishment.
He had agreed not to tell Lady Nyra, likely saving her life from the Lady Dantalion's wrath, but he had also put a lot of distance between them. It had taken her another year to rise up to another position, that of the Head Slave, which she did by proving her predecessors incompetent to Lady Dantalion and then proving her own intelligence and competence in the period where Lady Nyra was looking for a replacement.
Better yet, Kuro's nanny had died when Kuro's strange magic first awoken, turned to a rotting corpse in seconds... and she positioned herself to help look after the then six-year old Heir.
Getting a good relationship with the next Lord was important, even if she may very well be dead by the time Kuro became Lord Dantalion... and she made sure to tend to the lazy heirs every need.
Kuro was as different from his father as Iaxes was to his own father. Where Iaxes was strict, Kuro was laid-back, lectures about honour and nobility were met with lazy eye-rolls by a teen who really just wanted to go back to bed.
So she made sure to look as good as possible in Kuro's eyes, indulging his laziness as much as possible without getting into trouble with his parents for making him slack on his training.
Fortunately... Kuro was also a genius when he cared enough to try and do something, he did it. If he wanted to learn something, he would.
He got one of the 'games consoles' Ajuka designed based on something from the human world, and within a week he was making other devils cry over the Devilnet. His cackling as people sent him angry messages was something she remembered fondly to this day.
His mother tried to get him to learn chess, claiming it was a more 'noble' game, and he beat her so badly a month later she never asked him to play again.
Then Kuro reached puberty, and she immediately realised something... her old plan could still work. She still had a way out of slavery and into the lavish life of a Lord's mistress.
She had to be more subtle with Iaxes and Nyra watching, but teasing the pubescent Devil wasn't exactly hard, Devils were often lustful at the best of times, add in puberty, and she simply had to bend over slightly at the right time and place, and she had his undivided attention.
But then Iaxes had taken Kuro aside and given him a long lecture on why slaves were beneath noble devils, and Kuro started looking away, and her plans were ruined again...
Then Lord and Lady Dantalion, along with a lot of the house slaves, all got killed.
Which meant her plans were back on for a third and hopefully final time, but first she had questions she needed to find the answer too...
Not least of which was... why did she just see Kuro lead a group of snake woman and strange deformed men into the tombs?
As a chirping got her attention, she sighed and placed some more berries in Nyx's bowl.
First things first, keep her lords equally lazy and far more arrogant familiar happy so it wouldn't try setting her hair on fire again.
- Sona -
"Sona, I take it you've already been told?" Rias asked immediately as she arrived, even as Sona rolled her eyes, seeing her friend lounging in her sear, utterly naked.
She had long since grown used to her friend's utter lack of shame when it came to her own body.
"Of course, Lord Lucifer has already informed you?" Sona asked, thinking back to her conversation with her sister moments before.
"Brother called me, took ages to work out what he was talking about since he kept apologising, but I got the gist of it... we have a new king joining us in Kuoh? I was hoping you could give me more details on them, you know how my brother is." Rias deadpanned.
"Of course, Kuro Dantalion is the new Lord of the Dantalion House, after his father's recent assassination. The Dantalion family left the Pillars centuries ago, and my sister is negotiating with him to try and get them to rejoin. She was negotiating with his father before the assassination. The Dantalion family are renown for their Wardcrafting, and the Castle Dantalion held off an invasion by an entire battalion of Angels during the Great War, the wards have only gotten better over time if rumours are true." Sona listed off.
It was no surprise her sister was trying so hard to get the Lord Dantalion back on the Pillars side, that kind of power had the potential to be a game-changer if the war broke out again... there used to be Dantalion wards in key locations all over the Underworld during the Great War, something that saved countless Devil lives and gave them an advantage over the other factions... but when the Dantalion's retreated to their castle at the start of the civil war, they collapsed every other Dantalion Ward, an act of spite against the two sides trying to force them to join in.
Then they simply didn't leave their castle for centuries, ignoring every attempt to get them to join either side of the civil war, or rejoin the pillars... until now.
So it was no real surprise her sister had been uncharacteristically stern with her, this was a chance to both increase the number of Pureblood Devil families and to make sure the Devils had another edge if the worst should happen and the war heated up again.
"Kuro himself is an introvert from what little we know of him, somewhat older than us, allegedly a genius though my sister mentioned being surprised at how weak his magic felt, but that could be something to do with his family magic and might not be reliable. He's also rumoured to have a strange, unique magic that both he and his father were trying to find information on a few years ago since they didn't know how to train him to use it... what that magic is I couldn't tell you, nor could I say if he ever learnt to use it." Sona finished watching Rias carefully, Rias was many things... loving to her family, her Peerage and her friends, generous and kind to complete strangers... and utterly manipulative when she felt she had to be.
"Hmm, a surprisingly large amount of information on a man who rarely leaves his castle." Rias complimented, making her smirk.
If there was one thing she excelled at, it was information gathering. She'd been looking into the Dantalion's ever since Serafall started negotiations with Kuro's father and that was months ago.
"Have you been given the same warning to 'play nice' with the new Lord?" Sona asked making Rias giggle slightly, her breasts bouncing as Sona's smile became tight.
Just a few years... she was just a late bloomer, that was all... her mother was gifted in that area, so was her sister... it was only a matter of time.
"Ufufu~"
"Oh shut up, Akeno." Sona grumbled, ignoring her own queens giggling behind her. She'd disciple her later.
"Yes, I did... more or less. Brother spent half the time telling me to play nice only to then start apologising for telling me to play nice, but then tell me how serious it was that I had to make sure not to offend the new Lord... and then started apologising again." Rias said with a sigh.
...Why were all the Satans so weird?
Well, she was fairly certain she'd figured that out years ago, she was almost sure that most of the eccentricities she had seen in both Lord Lucifer and her own sister were part of an elaborate act, a goofy act to make their people forget what utter monsters they actually were.
Serafall could freeze the entire Underworld if she truly went all out, but when people looked at her they saw the sexy magical girl who did photoshoots and childish programs instead of the terrifying, powerful Devil with a kill count that had more digits than anyone wanted to think about… and Sirzechs? He was so much worse.
The act was necessary if Sirzechs wanted to walk among his fellow devils without having them flee in terror. He was the strongest in a group of utter monsters.
She'd seen the hints of the far smarter man in Sirzechs Lucifer, no matter how silly or over the top he acted around his precious little sister or son.
"My sister said the same, though more eloquently... which means you need to stop that right now." Sona pointed out, watching Rias's eyes widen in shock. "Rias, I've known you since we were children... and I know you far too well for you to act innocent. These are orders from two Satans, you can't risk endangering the Dantalion's return for your own personal situation." Sona warned, already knowing Rias wouldn't listen.
"It's easy for you to say... you don't have a marriage to Riser Phenex hanging over your head." Rias countered, a mixture of a fierce scowl and a cute pout on her face. "The Phenex's are pushing for a closer wedding date, again... and Father just agreed without even asking me."
"...How long?" Sona asked, giving her friend a pitying look.
"Three months, at best. I might be able to get out of this if I can beat him at a rating game, but..." Rias trailed off, not needing to finish.
Riser was an asshole, and half his Peerage was just there to be part of his Harem... but he had won every rating game he had tried to win, and only ever lost by surrendering after putting up a token effort. Riser was far smarter than people gave him credit for, and very powerful for a devil his age. His fire magic alone was formidable, even without taking into account his regeneration...
And that was without mentioning Yubelluna, the Bomb Queen with her immense explosive magic, and Ravel, who was almost as good with fire as her brother despite her young age...
Rias, with her four-person Peerage, didn't stand a chance... even if Gasper wasn't sealed away. Akeno and Koneko were powerful, but they were either too afraid or too ashamed of their heritage to reach their full potential, and Rias was too kind to force them to do so.
In truth she found it disdainful that Akeno was so full of hatred aimed at her father and herself that she'd rather let Rias be forced to marry Riser, putting Rias, herself and Koneko in the hands of a man with a reputation for being a pervert due to the patriarchal rules of the devils, then actually try and use her Light Magic which could give Rias an edge against Riser and his regeneration.
Not that she actually believed Riser would try and force himself on Rias or any of her Peerage. Riser was an arrogant ass, he wasn't suicidal. Raping the sister, or a peerage member of the sister of a Satan known for being a siscon was something even the dumbest Devil would think twice over, and Riser was anything but stupid.
Rias, however, treated Riser like he was the reincarnation of the original Lucifer himself, pure evil and completely degenerate. She could probably be told that Riser ate nothing but puppies and she'd believe it, her anger at the injustice of her situation blinded her and she refused to consider that she was wrong about him.
"I... just don't do anything to make him decide to run back to his castle, my sister might just marry you to Riser herself out of spite if you ruin this for her, she's been trying to get the Dantalion's to return for years." Sona warned, making Rias smile again.
"Do you really think I'd do something that bad?" Rias asked, faux-insult in her tone.
Normally... no, she wouldn't, but desperation was a deadly thing.
- Bonus Scene – I'm going to need those nine lives... -
"You called for me, Lady Ophis?" Kuroka said as she entered the room, hiding her fear as the empty eyes of the Infinite Dragon God locked onto her, the child-like head tilting slightly.
"New mission." Ophis said simply, not wasting any time.
...She was supposed to be working with Vali, but Ophis took priority on account of how terrifying she was. Vali could handle himself, he was a big boy.
"Of course, Nya~ What can I do for you?" Kuroka purred, keeping her normal act up. You couldn't show fear to a predator after all.
"Find the realm maker... see if it can make silence." Ophis ordered before going quiet as she paused.
What the hell did that mean?
"...go do it?" Ophis added after an awkward moment of silence.
"Erm... Lady Ophis? I don't know what that means... Sorry, Nya~" Kuroka said after a moment, catching a moment of irritation on the emotionless face, her heart skipping a beat.
"A realm was made... in the Underworld. Go find it. See if it can make a realm of silence." Ophis ordered again, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"Got it, Nya~ I'll get right on that..." Kuroka said quickly, smiling as Ophis nodded, letting her leave the room.
Somewhere in the Underworld? The massive Underworld? Where she was a highly wanted criminal? Sure, why not!
She'd happily search every inch of the Underworld...
...the alternative was telling Ophis that she didn't know how to do what she had been told to, and that was a far more dangerous task.
How the fuck was she supposed to find someone capable of making Realms? She didn't have any way of sensing that kind of magic. She wasn't even sure where she was supposed to start... but it was time to head back off to the Underworld.