(Diodora POV)
Move your foot slightly to the left, your waist a couple inches to the right… move your hands slightly downward, move the other leg slightly to the left… keep in tune with the rhythm. Keep your head level and your eyes straight.
To be honest, this is kind of calming in a way. I never imagined practicing professional dancing would be this enjoyable… it's kind of like interpretive dance, given the fact that I'm basically dancing by myself. By no means does it look good, but it's passable. Maybe I just enjoy the feeling of moving my body because I want to and not because I need to.
It's one thing to be ignorant, it's another thing to be inept. As much as I dislike my parents, I myself do not want to make a fool of my own lacking person. Gotta keep up the act, as they say. Makes me wonder if I'm going to have to start spewing classic young master lines.
As enjoyable as that would be, it really wouldn't make sense because while devils are a very power-based society, there is a slight bit of nuance there. While the strongest could quite literally wipe out a pillar house whenever they want to, they themselves don't really want to, given their unique personalities and their understandings on how unstable the underworld is, even under the new Satans…
I remember going to some of those old Satan faction meetings. They weren't officially called that because any gatherings like that would rouse suspicion. No, they were just referred to as charity events or misnamed get-togethers.
It mostly contained the usual jargon, that being how the devils should rally together under a united front and basically make the reincarnated devils into more slaves than they already are… in addition to invading heaven, destroying the fallen angels, yada yada yada… it was boring and seemingly a terrible way to spend nearly eternal life.
It's a wonder how much a mind can change when you realize how much time you have… most humans can barely live to 100, and even if they make it past 70 or 80, their bodies and minds degenerate so much that they can barely remember themselves… while devils that reach their 80s or 70s are barely considered young adults.
Move my center of gravity a bit to the right… slide a bit to the left, turn and bow… I can definitely thank my talents for helping me learn these dance moves more thoroughly than I already did.
Physically, seeing progress is much more inspiring than I remember it being. Maybe it's because it's much faster and therein much more noticeable… I remember trying to dance in my previous life, and I looked like a headless chicken trying to do interpretive breakdancing… or just terrible breakdancing. I still remember those parts of the Olympic Games. I wasn't even a dancer and I felt bad.
However, the hilarity of the events did bring a smile to my face… I need to remember to smile more often… there was no one to judge me here, just myself and my thoughts…
My thoughts then wandered back to the phone which remains in its dimensional pocket… I wonder who I should summon once I'm done using my points on myself… according to the information from the device, the people that I summon are inherently loyal to me, but not through mind control, just through specification… it brings me comfort that they can still think for themselves, even if it will require me to make suicidally stupid decisions.
Turning off the music, I finish practicing for the day, and as I pick up the ax that I placed next to the door, I see my reflection in the weapon… it looks the same.
It's been six days since I used my first template, and to say I was impressed is an understatement, as I had essentially gone through metaphysical surgery to inherit not only Stark's physique, but also his skills with weapons, primarily swords and axes… every day when I go to sleep, I see more of his training with Eisen.
And when I wake up, I feel my bones and muscles aching in pain as if I had experienced it myself… I had also taken inspiration from how he was trained. The only thing I haven't been able to find are worthy opponents, as there isn't anything around me for miles.
The closest area is the Dragon Mountains, but those are under close watch by Tannin and his king, Mephisto Pheles. I do admit it surprises me that a dragon would be willing to become subservient to a devil, yet, as I read some of the basic history, I found myself impressed by his willingness to bend the knee not only to continue his own existence but the continuation of his dying race.
Dragons are not born very often. In fact, their fertility is often lesser than even devils. And even then, their chances of growing to ultimate class are less than average. Ddraig and Albion were outliers, to say the least, as they were born during a time of great conflict, when the factions were fighting more against each other than other races.
It's the reason that dragons are so often hunted down, as the supernatural doesn't have a target anymore… that, and dragons themselves tend to get into trouble—a lot of trouble. I wonder if it's a conceptual weakness, something that dragons give up in order to obtain their great strength.
They give up peace for power… even if they don't even realize it. However, dragons have the innate advantage of growing as they age, but it's very slow.
But with that tangent out of the way, I continue my training… through my studies of demonic magic, I have found a way to make my seals even more difficult on myself, as they not only increase my own weight but also constantly attack my own body with demonic energy.
My body is constantly having to fight off that energy. It felt like I was burning from the inside, and to be honest, I probably was. It's not only training my control but also my own reserves.
Every day I get better and better at controlling my energy. I've begun to cast my own spells without using my crest. It's basic elemental magic, but it's a start.
Pulling on my demonic power, I summon multiple spheres around me, all of which crackle with electricity, and I bid that they try to hit me. In that moment, nine orbs of energy rush at me, coming from different angles.
My own increased weight makes this training exercise even more difficult, yet ever so more thrilling, as I can feel the danger. One orb attempts to hit me in the stomach, but I bend down in a limbo-like pose. Two more orbs attempt to smash me into the ground from above. In that moment, I roll away. The rest attempt to surround me in a circular motion, but as I jump into the air and take flight, I begin dodging as I summon more and more orbs of energy until a near 40 meters of space are covered in just orbs of crackling demonic power.
Continually and endlessly, I fly through the air, bobbing and weaving through the ever-continuous onslaught of these demonic orbs… while doing this, I wonder how I should act during the youth gathering. Honestly, my introverted nature does not mesh well with devilish politics.
I could barely remember anyone's names. How the hell am I supposed to remember which heir I should talk to or not? But then I remember that I now have a perfect memory, for better or worse…
The only ones I could really remember were the Gremory heir and her future Queen, Akeno Himejima. Along with Zephyrdor, the Glasya-Labolas heir… Riser never spoke to me and I've never met his older siblings.
Latia was a strange one. She didn't seem outright hostile, but her parents are another story. Her father is my father's younger brother. They've always been rather cross with each other. When Ajuka took the Beelzebub name and basically cast himself out of the family, I remember my father telling me about how his younger brother tried to take advantage. Let's just say it didn't end well… my father never elaborated on what he did. But ever since then, my uncle has definitely not been on my side.
While he isn't stupid enough to try to assassinate me directly, he definitely does appreciate my weak position. One of these days, I expect him to eventually pay someone off during a Rating Game or something to kill me on "accident." Because if I die, his daughter becomes the new heir.
It's probably the only reason my parents are even keeping me alive, since my father doesn't want any way for his younger brother to have anything over him. It's essentially a contest of pettiness to see who is going to give first.
It's not Reverse Flash level of pettiness, thankfully, but devil politics can feel like that sometimes…
For the next couple hours, I continue this training, occasionally increasing the weight on my demonic seals, and as I finally begin to sweat due to the exertion, I stop and begin physical conditioning, which mostly includes lifting heavy boulders and dragging boulders while running.
But normal boulders wouldn't cut it anymore, so I've been using the same weight-increasing seals to make it actually difficult. Currently, my limit in terms of weight is 50 tons—basically an airplane—but I'm using two of them, so take that as you will.
The exercise itself is rather simple, as I have to take these boulders and run the 30+ miles back to my estate… so yes, basically physical torture, but unlike in real life, this world runs on anime logic, so instead of causing all of my bones and muscles to break apart, it actually increases their strength. At least it will eventually, because right now I feel like I'm in incredible pain.
Letting go of the ropes that are connected to the boulders, I continue to use the weight seals on myself, but I walk inside, and for a few moments, I just enjoy the silence… the calming atmosphere and the fireplace shining brightly amongst the empty space.
I have been working on my teleportation magic, but I'd rather not risk trying to teleport out of the underworld just yet. That, and I'd also have to get around the various security measures that keep teleportation limited in the underworld.
Essentially, anyone that's allowed to teleport to Earth has essentially been given permission by the government to do so. If you attempt to teleport out of the underworld without permission or being able to get around the security measures, your teleportation will be tracked and you'll be immediately set upon by various devil security forces. Or if Ajuka is feeling especially petty, you can just be straight-up deleted.
But I want to see the sun again. The real sun, that is. The underworld itself is rather room-temperature instead of the fire and brimstone that people imagine, but the air is infected by demonic energy, and the very nature is stagnant in some areas. It requires an immense amount of magical arrays and various other processes to actually allow nature to grow in the underworld.
It's one reason why the Yokai don't really like the underworld, as it's essentially an entire dimension covered in negative energy. And given the fact that their whole power system relies on natural energy along with manipulating their own life energy, it makes the underworld a very bad place for them to be long-term.
And to be honest, I almost get that, and I'm a devil. After making myself some dinner—I think the fact that my parents remember to send me food every other week, not a lot of food but enough to survive the week… sometimes the servants would send me bad food and some would even become bold enough to poison me. I remember years ago when I fell sick due to eating poisoned food.
While that servant was killed, the fact that they even let it through shows that they don't really care. I assume they were more angry about the fact that they failed to make me suffer more.
But now I don't need to worry about that, as with body defense, I don't need to worry about ever being poisoned again…
Deciding to treat myself today, I cooked up a sirloin steak along with some macaroni salad and a side of garlic bread, and to say I was satisfied wasn't an understatement.
I could almost see the food shining after I finished it, and as corny and cliché as it is, I don't think I'll be able to eat any other food after tasting my own cooking.
However, eventually, I will be able to give this skill to others within my retinue, so there is that. Makes me wonder if I should summon a chef one of these days.
After cleaning off the plates and everything, I headed to bed and waited for midnight….
(City of Agreas - New Satan Meeting Building)
"It seems that most of the pillar families are going to be attending this year's youth gathering… I wonder what I should get Rias for this time?" Sirzechs said as he looked over the itinerary for the event.
"You're telling me. I have no idea what to get So-Tan. She doesn't want to wear any of the magical girl sets that I give her… maybe I should get her another chess set as her other one was just broken." Serafall says while twirling her wand in her hand.
"Wait, who broke her other chess set?" Sirzechs asked as he placed the papers down onto the table.
"Well that's the thing. Rias got a bit angry that she kept losing to my beautiful So-Tan, so she may have accidentally used her Power of Destruction to destroy the set… sooo."
"So you want me to buy you a new one that you can give to your little sister… the things I do for love." The two then chuckled with one another as they waited for the other two.
"So how go things in Japan, Serafall?" The Crimson Satan asks with a bit more of a serious tone.
"Thankfully, things are going as well as they can. Dealing with the Japanese pantheon is never fun. The only one I can actually talk to is Amaterasu, and even she only barely accepts my presence. The Evil Pieces aren't exactly doing us any favors. I've had to stop at least four pillar families from getting into trouble with the Japanese government after kidnapping some people for their peerages… do you know I had to basically stop one of them from kidnapping an entire idol group that they like? Seriously, why can't our people just go to concerts like normal people? Other than that, it's the same as always. Kuoh is still in our hands for now… Cleria is still holding the fort down. However, I've been hearing that she's beginning to investigate something, but I don't know what it is." Serafall, while saying this, then shows various documents pertaining to world events.
Sirzechs, taking the papers, then gives them a look. "So it seems that Odin has chosen a new candidate Valkyrie to possibly make his personal assistant, huh? She seems a bit young though?"
"Well, how can I say this… God is a pervert, so who knows what he's thinking? But my bet is that he's fulfilling a promise to Goindul. But who knows, it can change at any time." Before she can say anything else, two teleportation circles appear, and two men exit.
Ajuka calmly sits down at his table while Falbium half-walks, half-snores his way to his seat… Serafall then uses some of her magic to splash him with some cold water, causing the tired-looking devil to wake up with a start before immediately falling back down to the table and falling to sleep immediately.
Serafall just sighs and looks over to Ajuka. "Any idea why he's so tired today? I mean, he's usually always sleeping, but this is just bad."
Ajuka, turning his head away from his various magical formulas, says, "It seems that a lot of devils are going stray these days… the sightings have been appearing all over the world, but these aren't normal strays. They seem to be mutated monsters… definitely experiments, but no idea who's causing them."
Sirzechs immediately pays attention as he himself asks, "Does his department need any help? I can send some of my peerage to assist if need be."
Ajuka then shakes his head in denial. "He asked me to tell you guys that he doesn't really need help, just more time to handle the situation. The strays themselves aren't very powerful. Barely any of them have reached High-Class, but the fact that so many are appearing so quickly means that someone is emptying out their dirty laundry… for now, we're just gonna have to see how it goes."
For a few moments, the meeting table is left in silence before the magical girl enthusiast then looks over the list of devil heirs attending the youth gathering.
"By the way, Ajuka, your little brother is attending this meeting. Are you planning on going to meet him?" The question is met with silence for a second but then confusion on the face of the green-haired Satan.
"Who?"
...
...…
"You know, your younger brother? He should be at least 10 years old now… are you not planning on meeting him?" Sirzechs says while wondering how long his friend has been trapped in his lab.
"Probably not. My father and mother will most likely keep him close, and to be honest, I'd rather not see them again. And if he's anything like them, I definitely won't… besides, I haven't heard any news on him, so he isn't anything special… moving on." The entire question line died there as the four Satans moved on to other topics.
(Diodora POV)
Feeling a vibration from the phone, I returned my attention to the digital screen, and as I see 300 more points enter my account, I look over what I need to buy. I'm definitely going to see if I can finish buying all of the defenses, as they are necessary to explore the rest of the omniverse.
I buy the next level of paradox defense as well as destiny defense, so that I may be completely immune to all changes within my own timeline and immune to time-based effects. In addition to the fact that my luck or fate can now never be manipulated.
Seeing that I had 200 points left after buying those, I looked over the rest of the defenses list, and thankfully, I had just enough points to buy both levels of drain, fatality, and possession defense, so at this point, other than physical damage as well as pure magical power, I am immune to most conceptual effects. It almost makes me laugh, thinking that if I ever go up against the White Dragon Emperor, he won't be able to use his precious Sacred Gear against me.
And the fact that I am now protected against possession is also amazing, as the last thing I want is someone able to take over my body.
I still had 30 points left over, and with this amount left I already knew what I wanted. It was time to buy another template, as now that I had proof of concept with the Stark template, I needed someone with a bit more oomph.
And the first person that comes to mind given my circumstances is a certain wannabe Eminence in Shadow. It's not just because I liked the show, but also because I understand how strong he really is. The man not only has access to complete regeneration, but also perfect control over his magical abilities and physical parameters.
Also, given the fact that he's a protagonist, I might also get an increase in my own luck, but that just may be semantics at this point. One of the other main reasons is that getting his template will give me a background in every other martial art on the planet—at least the normal ones.
But before doing that, I decide to buy a few quality-of-life perks, and after I set all of these to buy, I confirm my purchase.
So, with the press of a button, I accept the first level of the Cid Kagenou template… and in that moment, I realize something fundamentally important.
(Hey guys another chapter for you all I apologize that I haven't been writing too much, but I've come into some bad news my grandmother whom I have known for my 24 years of life as recently passed away by myself. Don't really know what to do with this information. My thoughts are kind of all over the place at this point to be honest I don't even know what to say really it's been a lot of turbulent change in the past couple weeks, I hope I can find some stability in the coming weeks, but who knows if none of you guys have read this small message then feel free not to it's mostly just me wanting to write something to make myself feel better. I'll try to write some more chapters for other snippets, but I don't know if I'm gonna be able to write with my current headspace too much and for that I apologize… I hope you all have a good morning, good afternoon, and good night.