Scene 1
Mortal World — Japan, Shinto Territory
Rook POV
"Arrrrrrrgh!"
I stepped back, dodging a mutated insect claw that attempted to bisect me. Watching coldly, I saw its arm stop dead against the pillar of ice I had left in its path. It forced itself free, failing to notice Ceres leaping toward its exposed back.
Ceres drove his sword forward, bisecting the Devil and sending its upper body flying. I immediately cast a magic circle, getting quicker at forming them as I placed it in the path of the fallen Devil. Its upper half froze before its mind could lash out in one final death struggle.
Although these Stray Devils were useless even as beasts within armies, they still possessed more vitality than the average Mid-Rank Devil. As a result, putting down each Stray Devil had become a group effort, with High-Ranking Devils leading smaller squads of Mid-Rank Devils.
This one had reached the threshold of High Rank, having already accumulated a body count of over a hundred. Most of its victims had been defenseless Yokai. Yet their connection to Lifeforce had only prolonged its shortened lifespan.
A grim reality of the Evil Pieces growing in popularity. Every non-Devil converted into a Devil lived in ignorance of this possibility. It was a grim fact that even Lord Ten had to turn a blind eye to when Devils omitted that part of the deal.
"Good job. We handled that before it fully became a High-Class Devil. I'd rather it never have reached this point, but we can only be in so many places at once."
I nodded to Ceres as he lifted the bottom half of the body before bringing it over to me.
"Has he decided on promoting more of the Soldiers to this duty? The job is manageable, but we need to get it under control first if we want to keep the number of people here to a minimum."
I shook my head at Ceres's question, causing him to look shocked.
"He's training at Demon Mound. Actually training this time instead of overseeing a new group of trainees. So, no one has been able to reach him. But if things get to this level again before he exits the Mound, I'll reach out to Lady Sitri and ask for some of the Succubi to aid us."
I watched his mouth frown before shifting into a grin as his lewd thoughts became obvious on his face.
"Then let's not bother the Young Lord any further. Lady Sitri works."
Shaking my head, I created another ice spell beneath the bottom half of the body before sending both pieces to the medical team in the Underworld for dissection.
"My cousins are actually very picky. Unless your name is Tenebris, then good luck. They're all taking turns tricking him into believing Mari is a real agent name. I doubt he hasn't realized it either, considering how willing he is to tease Mari whenever he gets the chance."
I laughed to myself as Ceres's smile fell. He remembered that he was still a High-Ranking Devil without a House to claim that status against the women of the Sitri clan.
"Come on. We still have two more Peak Mid-Rank Strays to deal with. But they'll come once I put in the request. Just don't get your hopes up, my friend."
Patting his shoulder, I created a second teleportation circle, sending us to another region.
Scene 2
"Good job, everyone. That's the last of the Peak Mid-Rank Strays."
I commended the team I had come to assist as they lay on the ground, ignoring the ice statues scattered around us. A nest of Stray Devils had formed beneath the stronger Peak Mid-Rank Stray.
"Good job, ladies. We get to live to see another day."
One of them chimed in with a smirk as I began creating multiple teleportation spells to transport the statues. I ignored my dwindling reserves, determined to finish the job for today.
Once today was over, Ceres and I could rotate between handling the Underworld and the Shinto territory. Tod, the exile from Lucifer Territory, had been taking on more responsibilities while we were away. He considered it an opportunity to step into a new life, leaving his past behind after being the one who set off the explosion that destroyed the Church of Lucifer.
The place was still under construction, if the rumors from merchants were true.
We had largely ignored expanding our foothold into the rest of the Leviathan Territories or pursuing the nearby Beelzebub Territory, either of which could restart the war just as quickly. Instead, our merchants had focused on expanding trade into the Shinto regions.
This removed any likelihood of our people being connected to the attack almost thirty years ago.
The coronation, which had been put on hiatus, was pushed forward at Sirzechs's request. The rest of us were left with bitter smiles at how the war had unfolded into the current ceasefire, which had lasted less than five percent of the total duration of the civil war against the Old Satan Families.
Both the final battle of the Satan Civil War and the opening battle of the New Satans' War had been shut down by the same person.
Tenebris had stopped the two conspirators: Sirzechs, who had been sneaking around, and the spy working for the Old Satan Families.
This proved that the rumors concerning Ajuka's soundless victory against the Beelzebub faction contained some truth. The heiress of the Beelzebub family had not truly been defeated in the mock war, which had mirrored the Lucifer side of the Old Satan Civil War, where Sirzechs had emerged victorious.
While Ajuka's decision to direct his attention toward Serafall's territory would ordinarily have been a cause for massive concern, our hopes for our naive princess seemed justified. Given that Ajuka was the smartest Devil among the Four Demonic Stars, his actions might have been expected. Yet the addition of Tenebris's plans had even stopped me from second-guessing his orders.
Tenebris had used the first battle against Sirzechs as justification to attack Ajuka's rear and destroy the Beelzebub capital city. This forced its citizens to migrate, while he left members of the Black Suns among different convoys that joined the packs of refugees.
They were mainly focused on joining Lucifer Territory through the openings created by raids into the surrounding lands. Those raids had been carried out to gather food for the Leviathan forces, whose leaders had failed to realize they were already starving their lowest-ranking soldiers.
He had turned Ajuka's own attack into justification for triggering a second wave of attacks within Lucifer Territory after twenty years of silence and rebuilding.
It had forced Bael to intervene directly in the war before things got out of hand.
"Well, the quickest way to grow is by pushing yourself. Until you reach High Rank, Lord Ten can't do much to help you surpass your limits without turning all of you into targets.
"Remember, we could always give this task to him and Lady Sera. If he wanted that, he would have done it already. Instead, he expressly ordered me to use this training to strengthen the Black Suns.
"Although I can't say why he's forcing you all to grow, he has privately expressed that he doesn't use the word family lightly. So either climb the ladder or accept the positions offered by Lady Sitri.
"You've already defied the fate imposed on low-born Devils. You're all Mid-Rank Devils approaching High Rank. Although your skills could use some work, you're doing better than any of you could have imagined five hundred or a thousand years ago, before Lord Ten joined the clan."
I watched as a couple of them sat up and slowly nodded. A few had already fallen asleep from exhaustion as the medical teams teleported in to treat them.
After sending the last Stray Devil statue to the medical teams in the Underworld, I took a seat and drew a deep breath, relaxing as I felt my energy settle.
My own words struck at my core because the truth applied to me as well. As a branch member of an original Devil clan, I wasn't allowed to pursue opportunities outside the clan without the Devil Society treating it as treason against my own people.
Whether they agreed with that judgment or not didn't matter. The loss of prestige could justify the ankle-biters testing the waters around the sharks they swam with.
"It's your turn, too, Rook. You don't get to run off again this time. I have the Assistant Head hunting down your partner as well. You two have been running nonstop, and Lord Ten ordered both of you to rest while he comes to clean up the rest."
I nodded, watching the older Devil who had learned under one of my cousins in the main house.
Accepting her medical aid, I took the water she handed me and began drinking while she bandaged the wounds I had kept frozen. I ignored the pain as she used fire to remove the ice.
Ceres's wish was coming true, too, as he was now being hunted down by a half-Succubus.
I laughed to myself and relaxed further, finally allowing the water to quench the thirst I had been ignoring.
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