We sat down in his office as we continued the conversation, on the same side of the newly reinstalled desk.
"What I don't understand is, why at the party? I thought we were going to ask for a private demonstration, vis-à-vis a contract?" I asked, a little confused by the Gremorys actions.
"I did." My father replied, giving me a distinct look I recognized from his lessons in politics.
"They insisted." I sighed in annoyance, "They want to get a measure of me. Let me guess, Ajuka saw the internet schematics and informed his bestie, and now they want to pick my brain over tea. Except they couldn't be bothered to put in a polite invitation, because why would they? Damn idiots."
This was the kind of move only pulled by someone who thinks they are smarter than they really are.
"At this point it would have been more polite and subtle to have simply called for an inquisition." I added, clicking my tongue.
My father laughed, jovially.
"The Gremorys have certainly gotten rusty in their scheming, not in small part due to the five centuries of being treated with kid gloves, thanks to Sirzechs' position. An emperor's new clothes situation, so to speak. Though, I would advise that you refrain from calling them idiots to their face."
"Oh, don't worry. I have a much better counter to that in mind." I smiled mischievously.
My father raised a curious eyebrow.
"And what would that be?"
"Nothing serious. Just a simple gift for my dearly beloved fiancé~" I held back a grin, "I hear she likes magical girls. What better gift than the chance to be a real one?"
My father's expression darkened with a tinge of worry.
"Please tell me you're not trying something dark."
"What? No! No." I chuckled, waving my hands in clarification, "Nothing of the sort. Just a cute little redheaded addition to our demonstration."
"Ah, I see." My father finally realized what I was up to, "Very well. If that is the extent of it. But!"
He held out a finger, accusingly.
"You will behave yourself the rest of the time. No more mean spirited comments and backhanded verbal jabs."
"Is this about the child bride thing?" I asked, deadpan.
"It is about the child bride thing." He confirmed.
"I thought it was funny." I shrugged.
"Not in company."
"Good thing it's a private party then~"
"Riser, no." My father warned.
"Riser, yes!" I grinned.
"If you cause mischief at the party, I swear, Riser… no allowance for a year."
"Wait-"
"Two years." He upped the ante.
He had me there.
Well, shucks. Best behaviour it is.
"Fine. I'll stick to the gift." I muttered, "Spoilsport."
"No." He wagged a stern finger at me, "You'll be the very image of politeness. And when you stick it to them, they'll smell nothing but roses and geniality." He commanded, "Am I understood, Riser?"
"Yes, father." I snarked.
"Don't take that tone with me." He flicked my forehead, his tone softening with a warm understanding smile, "I know you're hesitant about the engagement, due to the age difference and Iolava's situation, but remember, devils live a long time.
Four years is nothing to a devil. When you're 300 and she's 296, that four year age gap won't matter. So stick with it and build a good relationship with both your fiancé and your in-laws. It'll pay off in the long term, and the long term is all that matters to us. The life of a devil is long, Riser. Don't get hung up on such small matters."
"But weren't we going to cancel the engagement anyways, now that I am more useful being in the family, than joining another?" I pointed out, but he shook his head.
"Unless you'd prefer to marry Ravel?" He teased.
"Nope." I gagged at the thought, "Never in a million years."
"Then you'd better stick with your engagement." My father laughed, patting my back, "You know our backup plans for your children, now don't you?"
"Sairaorg won't fail, dad." I assured him, "And we still have Magdaran in our back pocket."
"Doesn't hurt to have extra backups." My father countered, "Besides, if your plan succeeds, they won't even be needed."
"The plan for divinity?"
"Not just that one, but yes." He said, looking down at me with great pride and joy, "Any single one of those could raise a house to great heights. We have what, a dozen such plans in motion now? And you keep coming up with ever more ideas on the daily. I have no doubt that we will succeed."
"I am gladdened by your confidence, but most of these are just speculation. Not all of them will succeed, and not anytime soon." I warned, trying to temper his expectations, "I simply revealed these to you because you told me not to worry about disappointment and failure. That you'd understand."
"And I do." He assured me, "But hope is a contagious thing, wouldn't you say?"
"I suppose." I gave in, "But the Authority of Hell has been unclaimed for so long. I'm not even sure it is possible to claim it. Else, why would the rest of the Underworld not try?"
"Riser, for all your genius, you are too lacking in experience to know this, but you are missing one fundamental piece of this puzzle." My father chuckled warmly, "The reason no one has tried to claim this divine authority is simply because they haven't even considered it.
It is known that no devil can be divine, not even Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the prince of all devilkind, a demigod in his own right.
And people are slave to this thing. This poison.
'It is known'.
Do you know why, for all his brilliance, Ajuka never invented the rating games before the late 1800s? Why the underworld only adapted to TV in the last 20 years? The telephone in the last 40?
Because it was known. It was known man could not speak to another, halfway across the world. So we did not. It was as simple as that.
We had teleportation magic, messaging magic cast through our familiars and even illusion magic to portray images. And yet, we did not invent the television. The humans did. Because we could not imagine it happening.
For all our power of imagination, we devils are poisoned. It is in our blood. The inability to adapt.
It is in our nature. And we realized it early on. That is why we form contracts with magicians, buy out their research. Why so few devils truly create their own spells.
It is the nature of our species, this severe lack of creativity. Because we are imitations of divinity. And the divine do not stray from their domains.
They simply are, static, unchanging, lest by the whims of their nature and the changes in their domain and the world.
Because we rely too much on 'what is known'. Ajuka is one of the few who are able to overcome their nature and truly create.
That and most don't even know it exists in the first place if anyone knows of it at all."
I see. It's like Paarthunax, from Skyrim. Most devils are content to be slave to their nature, taking the world as it comes.
Few ever deign to put in the effort to overcome their nature as devils and actively seek creation and innovation. Fewer yet possess the capability to succeed in doing so.
To overcome their devil nature through great effort. It was easy for me, because I was a human in my past life, but for those who were born as devils… I can understand why they'd be unable to change.
No wonder the divine authority has remained unclaimed. Even Ajuka probably couldn't imagine usurping a divine authority, even on the off chance he knows it exists.
After all, I only happened to stumble upon it's existence by chance when creating the Black Flames of Judgement, and even then, only because our clan trait is closely linked to it. Combined with the previously divine nature of our bloodline's origin, we were the only ones who could have ever even touched upon it.
A heap of coincidences aligning with one another… combined with the existence of a former human soul in a Phenex's body.
I'd wager no one else even knows the authority exists, and Lucifer being the paranoid fuck-knuckle he was, he probably never revealed its existence to anyone else, in fear of being usurped.
It really is a miracle just waiting to land in our hands. If we succeed, that is.
This also explains why centuries old devils never reached Satan Class. Why there are so few ultimate class devils, no more than a few hundred, definitely less than a thousand. Most simply cannot imagine that level of power. Of being that powerful. Even those who can, eventually stagnate. That's why the only ones to reach close to the boundary of Chief God Class, are those born into that level of power.
To become stronger, you must be able to conceptualize being that strong. Pulling yourselves up by your bootstraps.
An incomplete paradox.
Free will. What a joke.
I snorted in amusement.
"And we devils are blessed in this regard when compared to the angels. They have remained the same ever since He died. They are entirely unable to change without falling.
And the fallen? Not a single one of them is not obsessive to an insane degree with what catches their fancy. They are creatures of indulgence and experience." My father explained further, "This does make them very innovative, but even they aren't entirely rid of this curse. It is endemic to our pantheon, the three factions.
A chain of misery and stagnation, a system built to collapse if it's hegemons were to become absent for any reason.
Great way to prevent rebellion and foster absolute obedience, but it has become a shackle upon this pantheon's growth." My father spat, "I have only realized this because of you Riser, and what you have shown me. It is why I believe in your ideas. Because you have managed to overcome it. The same way I did, all those centuries ago, only better."
"Thanks. Dad." I smiled and hugged him.
"That said, what are you planning to do about Lavinia? You haven't reincarnated her yet, have you?" My father asked, patting my head, "If you don't want to waste too many pieces, we can trade bishops and let Ruval reincarnate her-"
"Dad. Are you still on that?" I asked, frowning. He can't still be trying to get me to give her to him, right?
"No." He clarified, "I meant that it would allow Ruval to feel as if he was being a generous older brother and helping you by double swapping her through his peerage into yours and it would save you the trouble of using up two bishops. It is a Longinus after all.
To him, it would only take one bishop to reincarnate. You could trade a bishop piece with his bishop. Then he can reincarnate Lavinia, and trade her back to you and take back his bishop. Simple as that."
"That is… tempting." I considered the option.
It wasn't a bad choice, but…
I shook my head.
"Lavinia won't like that. It might even sour her to the idea of being in a peerage. You know well the problem with unwilling peerage members. We cannot afford to have a Longinus user become a stray devil. Besides..." I summoned one of my pawn and my father's eyes went wide.
"Another mutated pawn? So soon?" He asked.
I nodded.
"It happened soon after I fought Tannin and my demonic power advanced to Ultimate Class proper." I said, letting him examine it himself, "I think there is a small chance that an unused piece mutates every time it's owner experience a significant growth in their demonic power in a short time."
I pulled out my notebook and presented my calculations.
"It tracks with demonic power growth. By my calculations, as long as the owner's demonic power reaches a new height in a timeframe as small as an year, there is a chance for a piece to mutate. The more the growth, the higher the chance of mutation, and the more significant a piece that mutates. For example." I pointed to the newly mutated Pawn.
"Since I only went from peak High Class to low Ultimate Class in just short of a day, it mutated a Pawn. But if I had gone to high Ultimate Class in the same timeframe, I might have gotten a Mutated Bishop or Knight."
In canon, Issei had jumped from Low Class to Ultimate Class in just over a year and was rewarded with a Mutated Rook for his troubles.
This caps the improvement check on the time period of a year, and there's probably even some limits on how many pieces can mutate at a time.
Regardless, I think I have a better grasp on how the Evil Pieces system works now.
"You have a theory?" My father asked.
The temptation of creating mutation pieces with just hard work was understandable.
"I have inklings of one. I'll need help to prove it."
"What do you need?" My father immediately asked.
I grinned.
That's the father I know.
"I think that if I can reach high Ultimate Class by the end of the year, I will be able to get another Mutation Pawn. Another when I reach Satan Class or thereabouts. I think there are limits on how many Mutation Pieces can be born out of a set at a time, or even at all. But I think I can get another two Mutation Pawns, maybe three."
"Not a bishop or rook?" My father pushed curiously.
"No. The growth threshold is far higher for that. It is too unrealistic to achieve. It could also be that the mutations depend on which piece you originally received mutated or had the highest chance to mutate. Could be a different affinity for each person. There's no telling, without Ajuka confirming it, which he won't."
Even Issei was only able to achieve it because the Boosted Gear spikes his demonic power to insane levels momentarily, which broke the Evil Pieces system into giving him that result.
"I suppose something is better than nothing." My father smiled, "This something is quite the thing too."
"Yup." I nodded, "But I need help getting there."
"Just say the word, Riser." My father assured.
"I need Ruval to train me on the weekends. I need to see what the peak of Ultimate Class looks like. I want to experience it myself."
"Done. Ruval will be ready starting next month. I'll get the Rating Games practice ground we made for Ruval re-enchanted and quality checked by then." My father said, "Anything else?"
"Yes. I'll need a few crates of Agreas Crystals, the kind used to make Evil Pieces. Highest quality you can find. I want to conduct some experiments." I added.
"What kind of experiments?" My father asked, intrigued, "Do you need test subjects for these or…"
"No. Just the crystals." I explained, "You see, the Evil Pieces, capture and hold a snapshot, a sampling of their owner's demonic power to form a connection to them and through that, their peerage.
This also powers the Evil Pieces and allows them to transform people into devils, without taxing either the owner or the reincarnated devil for the costs of the magic. The cost is however spread over time.
That's why the newly reincarnated devil has to spend a few days close to their master just after being reincarnated. To stabilize the spell. Of course, this requirement disappears as the devil grows stronger, being able to fuel the magic in one go without spreading out the cost.
So, we can surmise than Evil Pieces can store demonic power and power spells. You see where I am going with this?" I asked and my father nodded.
"Spell scrolls for demonic power." My father answered.
"Not just that. Demonic power batteries, like the ones powering our new phone designs, but for backup spellcasting. Imagine, a single battery allowing a Low Class devil to fight at the level of High Class for a moment. A tactical nuke in the hands of every single one our legionnaires."
It wasn't a particularly unique idea, but it was just too expensive for anyone else to have put into practice. Even for us, we might only be able to supply the officers at first.
Agreas Crystals are not cheap and we're already buying tons of them for our internet plan. We can't afford much more. But it helps to have the blueprints and prototype ready for production in case of war.
And war there will be, in just twelve years.
"I will have it delivered it to you tonight." My father nodded in understanding, "Good job, Riser."
"Don't praise me." I dumped a stack of books on his desk, and grinned, "You'll be researching it after all. I just wanted them for my own curiosity."
My father seemed pleasantly surprised.
"Not hoarding the research to yourself?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Any more work on my hands and I'll lose both my hands and my mind." I laughed.
I'm already dying from overwork. I'm not taking any more on.
"I'm glad you're being reasonable about this." He sighed in relief, rubbing my head, "It hurts us to see you waste your childhood away in research, though we do not speak it as often, son. Your mother and I, we worry for you."
I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah… it must be odd for them to see their ten year old work overtime, burn through his childhood innocence in pursuit of a goal they cannot even begin to see the edges of.
That distance, that disconnect… it must be hell on them, as a parent.
I have been so inconsiderate.
"I'm sorry, dad." I hugged him, tears welling up at the edges of my eyes. I wasn't spending time with Ravel. I wasn't enjoying my childhood. I was distant, always training, always researching, to the point… even they began to wonder.
I don't want to become a distant memory for them.
I want to be here. With them.
What use is a family if I don't spend time with them? Create memories, cherish these moments, these good times, because I know bad times are coming. Times I don't know if I will survive or not.
For all my schemes, all my plans and preparations… For all my trying, I could still fail. And what would I have to show for it?
A short life full of doomsday prepping and constant struggle and manipulation. Scheme after scheme, plan after plan but nothing of substance.
"I'll make time." I promised, more to myself, than to him.
"I know you will." He kissed my forehead, "I know I don't show it often, but I miss you too, son."
I nodded and gulped down my regrets.
"Let's go get lunch."
----------x----------
"You're leaving already?" Lavinia cried, clamping down on my arms like a koala bear, "You can't go!"
"I'll be back every week, Lavinia." I patted her head, consoling her, "And my mom will be here with you. Once you finish training with her, and learn teleportation magic, you can come visit me anytime."
"Can't I come with you now?" She begged with those puppy dog eyes and Ravel jumped in too, grabbing my other hand, "Me too! Me too!"
"Okay, that's enough you two." I grabbed them with my telekinesis, and gently pried them off of me, setting them down the bench beside me.
"We made a promise, didn't we?" I reminded them, and they looked away pouting.
"Now, now. I am not leaving you empty handed." I pulled out the mutation pawn, and pressed it gently into Lavinia's chest as she watched curiously.
The Mutation Pawn entered her chest and a red and black magic circle appeared, spinning around her as it rose through her body, transforming her completely.
From her back sprouted two ink black leathery wings, twice as wide as she was tall, and pointed in threes each, but no sooner had they appeared did they shrink back.
The ice doll radiated a strong, malevolent aura, as if to express its disapproval of them, and in her rejection, replacing them with another set of wings.
Crystalline and blue, made of clear, unblemished ice, though still in the shape of devil wings, they were leagues more beautiful, complementing Lavinia's natural beauty perfectly.
She looked like an angel made of ice, as she floated before me, looking back at her wings in surprise.
"Do you like my gift?" I asked, distracting her from the doll's actions. I cannot have her freak out and reject her wings, refusing to fly.
"This…" She was awestruck, unable to even speak as she choked on emotion.
"Wings of your own, so you can fly high into the sky, even when I'm not there." I kissed her cheek, and teased, "Something to remember me by~"
She blushed lightly and giggled as she wrapped me up in a hug.
"Thank you."
"Only the best for my Lavinia~" I snuggled her as I teased her further and she blushed so red she began to all but steam from her ears.
"No fair!" Ravel shouted, as she demanded, "Big brother Riser! I want a present too!"
"Of course." I turned to her and pinched her cheek, and pulled out a crystal flower brooch I had fashioned from the Agreas Crystals my father had arranged for me earlier today.
It was painted in our house colours, with a tiny little Phoenix roosted within, all folded up on itself like a little bumblebee.
"So pretty!" Ravel played with it as I pinned it on her shirt, "What does it do?"
"It contains a very special spell from me. It'll protect you if you call out my name and ask for help." I patted her head, "And I'll know to come find you."
"Will you come if I ask for help?" She asked.
"Always." I kissed her forehead.
"Promise?"
"Promise." I assured her, "But only if you behave and use it only in emergencies, okay?"
"Only in emergency." Ravel nodded her adorable little head and I patted her.
"Good girl."
"Hug?" She asked, arms extended, one last time as I stood back up to leave and I obliged.
"Please come back quickly." Ravel spoke softly as I hugged her.
"I will. Before you even know it." I smiled and cupped her face lovingly.
"I will wait." Ravel nodded even as she began to tear up.
"Bye." I waved both of them goodbye and teleported away.
..........
Alright. The slog is over. 4000 words. And it wasn't up to my standard entirely. Some parts will need to be edited and redone but finally, the slog is over.
I had so many ideas to put here and I cut out so, soooo much. It still racked up to 4000 words. Phew!
Next time, action, touki training, and rias' birthday controversy~
After that, finally, the timeskip.
Thanks for reading.
Tell me what you think?
Any plotholes or problems you spotted here?
Don't forget to donate your powerstones.