Arthur:
I'll be honest, grabbing four dumbass high schoolers with no inherent supernatural powers or magic of their own was stupidly easy.
Especially when you could go invisible, move faster than a human could comprehend, and had a sword that could basically teleport you. The priest had come up with a complex plan for Percy and I to pose as new high school students to get close to the little bastards.
Percy and I had shared one look and decided that was beyond stupid. While we were 15, the accelerated puberty courtesy of being a Demigod would have made us stick out like a sore thumb even as Seniors. We had both leveled out in height well above 6 feet and muscle was now starting to fill out our previously lanky frames now that we were no longer getting taller. Hell, I was having to shave every day just to remain clean-shaven.
We looked like adult Olympic athletes, not high schoolers.
So instead as I said, we just straight up grabbed them.
I'm sure there were some students and teachers in shock as to why their students were suddenly snatched a tear in reality in the middle of class, but that was the mist's problem to deal with. Not mine.
So while I was committing a federal crime, I had Percy search their houses.
And now here I am. In a church basement with the four teens that the priest told us about tied up.
I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere.
The last 30 minutes had been me ignoring them as they begged and cussed at me to let them go. One of them at some point had started muttering in Latin under their breath thinking I wouldn't hear them. Probably trying to invoke some spell they had learned from the book they had been given.
They all shut up after I commented that I'd blow the brains out of whoever tried speaking another word of Latin or any other ancient language.
Eventually, the door behind me swung open and Percy walked through while tossing a book at me. I caught it and I knew immediately it was what we were looking for. A quick scan with my eyes and observe confirmed the fact.
"Well, well, well. It seems that you all really are messing with dark magic." I addressed the teens as I held up the book for them all to see.
None of them said a word. Two of the boys and the only girl among their group averted their eyes from us, while the remaining one who I assumed was the leader just glared at me.
Opening the book and flicking through some of the pages I let out a low whistle at what I read as I looked towards Percy, "Damn, this really is some fucked up shit. You gotta see this stuff for yourself if you haven't already looked inside Percy. Curses that will affect the target for life. Rituals for bodily enhancements at the cost of human sacrifices and some cannibalism. Even stuff about how to bring Biblical Plagues upon an area."
Turning back towards our captives I held the book out once again, "Normally I'd have just grabbed the book and left, but based on what we've been told and some research on all of you that I did, you little assholes have been using this thing liberally."
Stalking forward I bent down and looked at the kid who had been glaring at me right in the eye, "What? Wasn't good enough to make the football team on your own and couldn't get any drugs? Kinda funny how you suddenly made it after being turned down."
"Fuck you." The leader said.
"I'd take you more seriously if your balls had already dropped, kid." I snorted before I turned my gaze towards another one of the teens, "What about you tall, skinny, and nerdy? Wanted some vengeance on the people who bullied you? Piece of advice for the next time: Instead of selling your soul for a demonic book, just buy some protein powder and hit the gym. You could have just beat your bullies up instead of turning them inside out with a spell."
The nerdy kid flushed and tried to stutter a response.
Skipping over the third guy, my gaze landed on the only girl in the group.
"And what about you sweetheart? How many rituals did you have to do to get a body like that?" I asked as I gestured at her curves and generous rack.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." The girl tried to deny.
I rolled my eyes, "Oh please. Told you I did a bit of research before grabbing you all. In your photos in your yearbook from last year, you were flat as a board, skinny, and mousy looking. Now you have double D's and are a solid 8/10. No mortal puberty changes you that much in a year."
A heavy blush settled on her face and I knew I hit the nail on the head.
"Now I'll only ask this once. Who gave you all this book?" I asked.
I was met with silence.
"Alright then." I shrugged as I channeled Holy Fire through my hand and into the book.
"No!" Leader boy cried out as the book was set alight, "You have no idea what you're doing."
There was a muffled screaming as if a thousand tortured souls were crying out in pain while the book was consumed by the purifying flames. But even they were muffled out as the book fell apart into ash.
"Oh, I think I do." I chuckled, "Let me guess. The book was borrowed to you in exchange for the souls of people you killed. If the book was lost or destroyed, the collateral was your souls?"
I was met with silence again and this time it was deafening.
"They're not gonna tell us sparky." Percy muttered from off the side, "Anyone smart would have put a silence clause into whatever deal they made. We'll have to find another way to find out who."
He was right. Any smart Devil would cover their tracks in Greek territory. But if I could just look at their souls maybe I could see who currently owned them. Unfortunately, magic sight didn't go that deep and observe wasn't telling me anything.
Hmm, weren't Angels masters at reading souls?
'You got anything that could help me, Michael?' I mentally asked the slight constant presence I could feel in the corner of my mind ever since I became a champion.
I hit yes for the mental communication as the interface asked if I wanted to allow it. The slight presence became overbearing and heavy as Michael entered my mind.
'There indeed is a way. How about you look at their soul itself?' Michael suggested.
!
Your magical sight provided by your Silver Eyes ability has been upgraded by your patron. Look beyond magic and see a being's very soul. Let their Sins be laid bare for you.
I felt the familiar surge of Michael's fiery power burn through my retinas. Focusing on my magic sight, it suddenly became… more.
Good god did I love having an Archangel in my corner.
While I could still see the worlds and Percy's ambient magic, suddenly the souls of everyone in the room were laid bare to me. Percy's for example was literally squeaky clean. It was a shining white with hints of divine gold spread throughout. Much like how I could normally see golden bits of Ichor in the blood of most Demigods.
The four teens in front of me were far different.
Some of their souls were varying shades of dark grey, except for the leader. His was almost black as night. Not only did I see who currently held his contract, but also many heinous acts told to me as I observed his soul.
Rape, assault, incest…
I could practically feel the Protector of Maidens perk slamming into overdrive.
Well then, maybe a show of force was necessary?
Walking up to him the guy flinched as I put my hand on his shoulder.
"You truly are a vile creature." I growled as I yanked on my holy element.
Maybe it was the seriousness in my voice, but the dickhead suddenly looked rather nervous.
"You wouldn't kill a kid… right?" He gulped.
I frowned, "I once blew a kid's chest out with a revolver because he betrayed our pantheon. If you had wanted to live, then you should've left your little sister alone."
Douchebag's eyes widened.
"H-how?"
"These eyes know all."
With that, I flooded his body and soul with holy energy.
!
New skill unlocked: Smiting
Smite, Lvl (1): An ability that allows you to incinerate the soul of a being by simply touching them.
- You may only smite low-level beings (levels 1-10) currently.
- "Ever just want to make a problem disappear with the snap of your fingers?"
The kid threw his head back and he screamed in pain as white light illuminated the insides of his ribcage and flared out of his eyes like holy flame. With my new ability to see souls, I could see the divine element atomizing every part of his essence.
Only a few seconds had passed when my smite stopped. The sockets where his eyes had once been were now empty and charred.
It made sense I suppose that if the eyes were the windows to the soul then they'd also got destroyed when you incinerated the soul.
I watched in slight satisfaction as his body slumped forward lifelessly. Was this what Artemis felt like whenever she rescued children and punished their abusers? If so, then I had far more in common with my mother than I had initially thought.
I looked at the remaining and now very frightened teens, "You all are going to go to the police department and admit to the murders you have committed. If you don't I'll be coming after you myself. Trust me, some years in prison is nothing compared to what I'll do to you."
I gestured towards their still crispy friend and they all seemed to get the message.
"What about the Devil that sold them the book?" Percy asked, not looking at all bothered by the fact I had just smited someone in front of him.
I guess it was probably one of the more tame acts of violence he's seen me commit. Plus his sympathy for people that killed others for the sake of power and evil was generally rather low.
"Oh, we're going after him. I just need to talk to someone first. After all, the bastard's just operated in Greek territory."
I stepped through my portal and immediately regretted not trying an Iris message first.
I was not prepared for the sight of my naked grandfather and three mortal women who seemed to have been fucked into unconsciousness. The scene was already scarring enough for my mind, unfortunately, my incredibly good eyes could also make out every spec of fluid that stained the bed and was currently leaking out of orifices before I could order them not to.
If I didn't have dreamless sleep I'd probably be having nightmares for weeks.
Something of note was that all three women also happened to be blondes. Heh, guess I know where I got that from.
"Is pissing Hera off just a pastime of yours at this point or did she do something to warrant this?" I asked my grandfather blandly.
Zeus raised a single eyebrow at me and I saw the slightest bits of amusement dance in his eyes. With a snap of his fingers, we were suddenly no longer in a bedroom and instead in some kind of garden on Olympus.
I noted that he was now wearing clothes as well.
"You know Arthur, some people consider it quite rude to show up unannounced." My grandfather tutted before deciding to humor my question, "As for my lovely wife, who do you think leaked Thalia's location to Hades all those years ago? As such I've decided to give her, even more, stepchildren to care for. Especially now that my brothers and I are no longer bound by the Great Prophecy."
I hadn't even considered that last part. Great, that meant Big Three Demigods were going to be running wild all over the place again.
"Well, getting over your and Hera's eternal pissing match." I sighed as I passed a folder from my inventory to Zeus, "Take a look at this."
With a look of slight interest, my grandfather took the folder and inspected the contents held inside, "These are reports of deals mortals have made with Devils and Fallen."
"Notice anything interesting?" I asked, "Take a look at the aggregated data and dates on the spreadsheets near the back."
Zeus did and he didn't seem happy with what he read, "There's been a massive spike in these deals made over the past year in the Western Hemisphere compared to even last year."
"Percy and I noticed it when we saw a Devil contract brazenly put upon the souls of multiple mortals last week after reports of mass demonic signs and biblical plagues." I said in agreement, "After that, I asked Heaven and The Church to give me what data they kept on the matter. It all came together once I gave all this information to Annabeth. She's the one that put this file together."
Bless my girlfriend and her amazingly powerful brain. She could go through numbers and data faster than anyone or even any other Child of Athena I had ever seen. Now if only she used all that brain power to decide where we would go out to eat instead of just always asking me.
The King of Olympus hummed in thought, "Tell me, Arthur, personally why do you think Devil activity has picked up so drastically in our territory?"
"Honestly?" I said, "To weaken and distract us. There's a political party in the Devil Government known as the Old Satan faction. They've been rumored to be supporting the organization that's been helping Kronos, the Khaos Brigade."
"Well then." Zeus shrugged, "What are you going to do about it?"
I raised an eyebrow at my grandfather, "Me?"
"You." Zeus confirmed, "Athena is already bogged down with talking to other pantheons. You meanwhile have connections to the Biblical Underworld and are technically an envoy of Heaven. If there's anyone who can make something happen out of this without causing a war, it's you, my boy."
Goddamn. Did Zeus really have such low faith in his other children and gods that he'd trust me with foreign diplomacy over them? I mean he wasn't wrong, but ouch. No wonder Athena was the favorite until she helped Posideon trap Zeus.
"So I'm allowed to do anything necessary to make them knock this shit out and maybe make an alliance?" I asked for confirmation.
My grandfather suddenly looked a little weary, but nodded non the less "You are being given a blank check as the mortals of today say."
Alright, I could work with that.
"Then I need two things from you grandfather." I sighed, "And you're probably not going to like either of them."
"And why is that?"
"Because one involves Hades and the other the West Coast."
Zeus sighed hard enough to almost make me think had groaned instead, "I can already think of what you would want with my elder brother, but are you truly going to open that can of worms with the latter?"
I shrugged, "This is all hands on deck Grandfather, and we must show the world that our entire pantheon stands united."
"Fine. You have my blessing."
Foreign Affairs Office, Hell:
As the clock struck the 11th hour the Underworld's strongest female Devil let out a sigh. For this was officially the most amount of hours she'd ever consistently stayed at work for. She was no stranger to the occasional long day, but the supernatural world gearing up for a world war and making alliances with each other had increased her workload to the size of Mt. Everest.
She hadn't even been able to film a new episode of her magical girl adventure series in a month!
A whole month!
"Stupid Angels, stupid Khaos Brigade, and where the hell could this kid possibly be?!" She muttered as stamped another report and threw it to the side.
Ever since the last major meeting of the heads of the Underworld she had been looking constantly for Richard's youngest son. Yet the kid was like a ghost. Not terribly unsurprising when he mainly operated in Greek territory and apparently had a sword that could take him anywhere at a moment's notice.
Which by the way was another box of madness that she wasn't in the mood to unpack. The sword being able to go anywhere wasn't an exaggeration. There had been multiple reports of the past years or so of him just casually popping in around the Underworld. Either just going to random places to eat or just popping into classes at Lucifuge to talk to his sister Michelle.
The Underworld and especially Lucifuge Academy were specifically warded to stop all forms of teleportation and magic travel unless you were specifically given permission to do so. The fact that his sword seemed to just cut through reality and ignore all those wards was slightly maddening.
Especially for the Dantalion's. Ward crafting was their specialty and they were the ones who had built and designed said wards. Last she heard they were losing their minds at someone just casually going through them.
Knock Knock
"Come in." Serafall called out.
Her assistant poked her head through the door, "You have a visitor Ma'am."
The female Satan raised an eyebrow, "My next meeting isn't until tomorrow morning."
Her assistant gave her an unsure smile, "He isn't on your list Ma'am, but it's the young man you've been wanting to talk to. Arthur Winchester"
Serafall went silent as her brain tried to process what had just been said to her.
She had been looking for the brat for at least a month and now he just shows up at her doorstep.
Taking her silence as a sign to continue the assistant motioned outside of the door, "He says he's here to negotiate on behalf of the Greco-Roman Pantheon and Heaven."
This was exactly what she had been trying to set up.
"Ah, very well." Serafall finally responded, "Please send him in immediately."
A few moments after her assistant left, Arthur walked in and Serafall found herself face to face with what was basically a male Artemis. Sure there were a few hints of Lucifer and Zeus in there, but you would have needed supernaturally good eyes and to know exactly what you were looking for to notice.
Otherwise, she would have thought the Goddess of the Hunt and Moon had shifted into a male form if she didn't know any better.
Tall, strawberry blonde hair with silver eyes, and a deep Mediterranean tan.
She let out an internal giggle. Most Devils were supernaturally good-looking, but both of Richard's sons were the epitome of panty droppers. Something she's sure the man would be absolutely proud about.
Though different ways of course.
Cadius was a refined noble with the natural charisma and beauty of the Lucifer line. Women and even some men swooned when he passed by. A staple of those with Archangel blood within them as all three of his sisters was much the same.
Arthur on the other hand looked like a budding Greek God. And though hidden as they were behind his aviators, she could feel the intensity in his gaze as he looked upon her.
When most beings looked at her it was in either lust or fear. Arthur seemed to be sizing her up. She could tell he was somehow observing her very aura and soul, looking for the fastest and most efficient way to kill her should things get violent.
He truly was Artemis's son.
She felt bad for Grayfia's little sister. Poor thing was missing out on the catch of a lifetime.
"Greetings." He said in a voice far deeper than it was when she had last heard it. Back when he was a child and she'd visit his father, "I'll be blunt for the sake of both of our schedules."
"How considerate." She offered with a smile, "So what do you have for me Xander-Kun."
He was thrown off by the nickname and honorifics, but only momentarily as he reached his hand seemingly into a blur in reality.
And out came the body of a woman that he threw onto her desk.
"Don't worry. She's still alive." He said as if that was the thing she'd be worried about, "This is both my peace offering and a way to start positive relations with your faction. This is Lilith."
Serafall's mouth went dry and her eyes widened minutely
"Before we go any further or reveal how I came across her, I want an N.D.A and a contract. The former will state that only those with the need to know will know that I am the one that dropped her off. The latter will state that this will not be investigated and no repercussions will come upon my pantheon for any part of our involvement if something should happen to come up." Arthur stated.
So he was serious about getting straight to it huh?
"Acceptable," Serafall said as she summoned the contracts immediately.
Technically she should've consulted her fellow Satans and probably Lucifer. The former because this was a major political revelation that Lilith was still alive and the latter because she'd probably demand to know what happened to her oldest lover, but that could wait.
Lilith had the ability to restore old and create new Devil bloodlines. As such Serafall wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Arthur:
As we both reviewed and signed the two separate documents, I was planning on how to proceed from here now that I had effectively absolved the Greeks from catching shit in what would have been an international incident.
Of course, Serafall being a Devil just had to try and fuck with me.
"So are we going to seal this contract with a kiss or sex?" She asked innocently.
Fucking Devils and Fallen.
"Neither." I said dryly, "Afraid I'm spoken for. This contract does represent my whole pantheon though. I'm sure my grandfather, uncles, and Aphrodite wouldn't mind if you asked them instead. They all seem to have no problem perpetually cheating on their partners."
I wasn't even lying either. Serafall was incredibly attractive even by Devil or Greek standards. I'm sure most of the gods' already divine-level libidos would kick into overdrive if she made that offer directly to them. Personally, though I wasn't dumb enough to stick my dick in a being that held the title of "Satan" even if I didn't have a girlfriend currently.
Serafall gave me a pout, "Awww you're no fun. I just wanted to see if the apple didn't fall far from the tree."
Of fucking course. She was an attractive female Devil. Why didn't I expect this?
"Really?" I sighed, "My father railed you out too?"
Serafall pouted further, "You don't have to use that kinda tone Xander-Kun. You make it sound like I'm some kind of common whore."
I rolled my eyes and checked my watch, "Then don't offer to sleep with the son of a man you've already slept with then. But aside from that, I assume you'd like to know why I'm buttering you up by handing you, Lilith."
"It would be appreciated." She agreed.
"Alright then. One of your Devil Clans Heirs has illegally entered Greco-Roman territory and has not only made deals that exchanged a book of incredibly evil magic for souls but in doing so has killed dozens of western citizens. This is just one of the hundreds of Devil summonings and soul deals that have been made as of recently." I started as I threw the same file I had shown Zeus earlier on her desk.
Serafall's breath hitched as she carefully took the file and read it over, "Fuck."
I'm sure her brain was working overtime on how to avoid a political disaster of having Devil Clans involved in breaking neutrality against another pantheon. But I was in no mood for giving her that time.
"Fuck indeed." I said, "Dolrad Raim is the one who sold the book that caused all these deaths in the most recent deal. I'll be frank with you, hand him over now."
Serafall frowned, "I can't do that. The government and population would never settle for us just handing over one of our own because a foreign government demands it. Opposing factions to our current government would have a field day with that. What's your evidence that he committed the crime?"
I tapped the side of my head, "I recently gained an ability to read and see souls. Your dumbass clan heir left his mark all over the souls he claimed when he made his deal."
"Of course he did." The female Satan muttered as she messaged the bridge of her nose, "Listen, I promise he'll be put on trial and that our government will heavily owe Olympus for his and other Devil's past transgressions. But I can't just hand him over and there's not even any precedent to-"
"I'm not asking Miss. Leviathan, nor will I be debating law or precedent with you." I cut her off, "Let me be clear again in case your assistant didn't tell you. I am representing the entirety of the Greco-Roman and Heaven's pantheon. My decisions are backed by Zeus and Michael themselves."
Leaning forward I made direct eye contact with Serafall to make sure I was being heard, "As such, you will hand Raim over. This isn't up for debate. I don't care if it causes the next Devil Civil war, you'll hand him over to me by tomorrow. This is me being nice, hell I even brought you a peace offering. If you don't comply, things will get ugly."
For the first time since the meeting began, Serafall grew angry. Sure she acted serious earlier when I gave over Lilith, but she hadn't been angry. Now though she was. I could see her power flare ever so slightly and her eyes narrow at me.
"Is that a threat Arthur?" She growled.
Ah, there was the Devil leader I knew was in there.
"Yeah, against you and your entire fucking species." I shot right back, "Let me spell it out for you Miss. Leviathan. If Raim isn't ready to be shipped off to Olympus by tomorrow, I'll have Olympus and Heaven seize every single asset that Devil and Fallen kind have in the human world that's in our territory. In case you don't know human geography, that's the entirety of the western hemisphere, all of Europe, Australia, South Korea, and Japan. You know, almost the entirety of the world's economy and where over 90% of your businesses are."
Or in more simple words: If they don't give me Raim, I'll nuke their entire economy into oblivion.
Now that got her attention.
Genuine concern flickered through Serafall's eyes at my statement as her magic powered back down. She probably thought I was going to threaten something like violence or war. Something that would have been rather hollow seeing as that we already had enough enemies and the Devils still had Ajuka and Sirzechs.
Zeus might be in the top ten and Posideon and Hades were incredibly close to being on that list, but I wasn't going to fuck around with someone who embodied the very concept of destruction.
But fortunately for me, Sirzechs and Ajuka were still good men and that was their weakness. They absolutely could just vaporize me and threaten a globe-spanning war to save Hell's business. But they wouldn't. For the same reasons they played nice with their fellow Devils and allowed the Pillar Families to retain power or let my grandmother live.
They were to moral.
"Are you sure you really want to start a relationship between our factions like this Arthur?" Serafall asked with narrowed eyes, "Making an enemy out of so many great houses by threatening their incomes will make them your enemies."
I snorted, "Good. That's the whole point of this. I don't give a shit what any of your great houses want or think Serfall. The only reason I haven't gone on a killing spree of all the Devil Nobles we have word on that have violated our territory is because I'm not willing to get into a fight with your two Super Devil friends over it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to allow them to get away scot-free. Think of this as a freebie and a warning to all of them. If they come into our territory again, they die."
Standing up I cracked my neck and thumbed my quick selection, "This discussion is over. Have him ready in 24 hours or say bye to your economy."
Taking Tsurugi out and standing up I casually charged it with magic and sliced through the air behind me, opening another portal.
Turning back towards the female Satan I nodded, "My sister Michelle has my number should you need to contact me. And despite the turn, our discussion took, if you want a conversation on how to get rid of your Old Satan Faction… tell Sirzechs and Ajuka I'm ready to discuss it whenever they are."
"Till then." I nodded and stepped through my tear in reality.
Office of the Praetors, New Rome
"Excuse me?!" Reyna exclaimed in outrage and disbelief at the stranger who had just strolled into her office and had made a statement that made her blood boil.
If it wasn't for the sigil of Olympus that was displayed inside a scroll he held and the fact she could feel Jupiter's authority oozing off the stranger and the seal, she would have thought the man deranged and had him thrown into prison.
Instead, she could only try to soothe her mounting dread as the stranger related himself.
"I said that as of now, the positions of the Praetors and the New Roman Senate itself are now dissolved in the face of wartime measures." The young man repeated himself, "We are in a crisis, and my grandfather has given me executive authority to deal with it while the Gods themselves prepare for battles not seen since the creation of Olympus."
His grandfather. That was something the Roman Demigoddess caught onto as her mind continued to try and process what he was telling her.
It meant the man sitting across from her was a legacy of Jupiter. But why was he the one delivering the news and being given this power when Jupiter's direct son, Jason, was already a part of the legion?
"Ah, my bad. I haven't introduced myself yet." The young man laughed, "My name is Arthur Winchester Son of Artemis and Grandson of Zeus. And yes I used their Greek names on purpose. I'll tell you why once your fellow Praetor and senate representatives get here, but until then, welcome to the Greco-Roman Armed Forces. Hope you're ready because we're about to go onto the offensive."
Note - Read 5 chapters ahead at https://www.patreon.com/c/AWinSter