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DxD Chapter 9: Schemes and Politics
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 22:42:55 +0000 UTCSeeing her brother glare at Tatsuya, Rias was worried that Tatsuya's past might have caused some trouble.
She had just informed her brother of her new peerage members a few hours ago. She was excited because she believed with Tatsuya she could beat the shit out of Riser and save herself from her marriage.
In her excitement, she blurted out the entire ordeal of how she met Tatsuya and his past as said by him.
Just as Rias was becoming fraught with nervousness, Sirzechs' frown eased as he smiled kindly.
“I’m glad that my sister has chosen a courageous peerage member.” Sirzechs nodded in approval as the atmosphere eased, “I am, Sirzechs Lucifer, the current Satan and formerly Sirzechs Gremory, also Rias’s older brother. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot just now, please excuse my manners.”
His demeanor was full of nobility as he humbly apologised, not caring for the gap in their power and status.
“It is of no worry, as an older brother myself, I can relate to your concerns.” He smiled gently as he glanced at Ichika.
Sirzechs looked at her and smiled as well, “Ichika Yamamoto? Sorry for the late introductions. I hope you'll take care of my little sister, sometimes she gets overly excited.”
“Onii-sama!” Rias glared at Sirzechs who avoided her gaze coolly.
“Ah, I will!!” Ichika nodded and bowed politely.
“No need for formalities,” Sirzechs laughed and waved his hand. His pleasant expression slowly faded as the look in his eyes turned sharp, “Let's leave pleasantries for later and discuss the issue at hand. I have gathered you all to make a few announcements.”
The atmosphere tensed again as they realised they would finally be able to understand the reason behind the sudden meeting.
Sirzechs hologram lifted its index finger, “First, the management of Kuho belonging to Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory shall be temporarily relinquished—”
“Onii-sama!” Rias slapped her hand on the table abruptly, unable to believe what she was hearing.
“Silence.” Sirzechs looked at her coldly, “Let me finish, mind your behaviour in front of the current Satan.”
Zeoticus and Venelana were surprised.
Sirzechs harshly scolding Rias? That was a sight rarer than a blue moon!
Rias was shocked as she slowly sat down and bit her lower lip. This was the first time she was being reprimanded so harshly.
But this only made her curiosity grow. She knew just how much her brother loved her, he was a Sis-con for heaven— cough hell's sake!
Just what had happened for Sirzechs to become so serious?
“Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri are to remain in Hell till further notice. You are to absolutely not wander alone and about. This is a warning to not only you but to all of Hell and its inhabitants for a short period of time.”
“What exactly has happened, Sirzechs?” Venelana asked with concern and Sirzechs nodded.
“Something unexpected has occurred in the Human Realm.”
“Are you talking about the flash of red light followed by the earthquake, Onii-sama?” Rias hurriedly inquired.
“Correct. That flash of red light was an attack.”
“Attack!?” The members of the meeting were stunned as Sirzechs continued.
“An attack on Grigori, the major organisation of the Fallen Angels.”
Sirzechs let silence overtake the hall as they digested the information.
While everyone was shocked including Tatsuya, only Ichika's shocked face barely concealed the twitch in her lips.
Her mind quickly connected the dots as she grew horrified.
“Why would someone attack Grigori? Isn't Azazel overseeing it? Who has the courage?” Zeoticus was stunned.
Sirzechs showed a rare sign of hesitation as he sighed before speaking in a low voice.
“Grigori has been annihilated. The upper echelon of Fallen Angels including Azazel, Kokabiel and Bareqiel have perished as well.”
While everyone was stunned a small gasp escaped from one of the members of Rias’s peerage.
“Akeno…” Rias didn't know what to do as she panicked.
Akeno's eyes were red but her expression was cold as she shook her head, “I'm fine please continue.” Her fists were clenched into tight balls.
Sirzechs let her take it in for a moment before continuing.
“The culprit has been named as the Soul Reaper based on the text visible on his robe. As for the reason he attacked Grigori…”
The Holographic Sirzechs raised his palm and there was a small metallic device on top of it. The metallic device shown before a holographic screen was shown on the palm of the holographic Sirzechs.
On the screen, there was a tall man.
He wore a long, black, tattered coat with a deep crimson lining. His long black hair fluttered due to the wind currents around him. The highlight of his appearance was a mask.
A bone-white mask.
The mask had two jagged crimson stripes running vertically over the eye sockets. The mask's mouth was lined with sharp, interlocking teeth, giving it a skeletal, menacing appearance. Narrow slits for the eyes concealed his gaze.
Ichika was inwardly bitter as she confirmed her guess. This was the exact mask Tatsuya wore while slaughtering the Whiteroom.
Who could this Soul Reaper now be if not Tatsuya?
However, something extremely eerie occurred as they continued to watch.
The Soul Reaper who had been silently gathering energy on the screen suddenly looked up. It was as if he was looking straight at them.
“I am a human.”
A hollow voice echoed from the holographic recording.
The members of the meeting hall besides Grayfia and Sirzechs felt a chill go down their spine hearing the bone-chilling voice.
“This world full of impurities… I shall cleanse.”
At this moment the masked man released the charged beam towards Grigori and the millions of humans below without any hesitation.
“May Heaven and Hell cease to exist.”
At first, it looked like a single beam of compressed black and red light but soon the compressed beam tore through everything in its path before leaving destruction in its wake.
It didn't take much intelligence to understand what the goal of this Soul Reaper was.
Zeoticus was frowning hard as he slammed his hand on the table, “Insolence! Who does he think he is?”
“This… Onii-sama…” Rias and her peerage were horrified. Despite it being a simple holographic replay they could still sense the destructive force behind the attack.
“Does this guy want to…” She didn't dare continue her words but Sirzechs cared not.
“Yes, it seems like the goal of this individual is to kill all Supernatural Beings that are not human. In simple words, it's a Xenophobe with unbridled strength. Don't be afraid though, Ajuka and I can still easily handle this individual from our current knowledge. That energy strike took more than two hours to prepare and the only reason Grigori fell was due to not being prepared. Had they deployed all their defences at best a few low-level Fallen would've died.” Sirzechs spoke calmly but a subtle frown lingered on his brows.
“Then what is the problem, Sirzechs?” Venelana asked softly. She was still processing the scene on the screen.
“Ajuka failed to trace him. We were going to track him when all his traces just vanished abruptly halfway. It seems like he's quite well-informed about Ajuka's abilities and has methods to counter them but I suppose if it weren't for such methods he wouldn't have even dared to attempt such a thing.” Sirzechs snorted before shaking his head, “Most Supernatural Factions will be putting him on our Must-Kill list. Ajuka has also noted his energy signatures and should he appear anywhere in Hell he'd be instantly detected.”
“That's not all, is it? A terrorist shouldn't be what's causing you so much of a headache.” Venelana knew her son and could guess the real trouble behind the appearance of this Soul Reaper.
Sirzechs showed a frustrated look for the first time. Even when mentioning Grigori’s annihilation he didn't appear emotionally troubled.
“The Soul Reaper has caused us innumerable troubles. He has attacked the human world along with Grigori. His actions have caused heavy stress to us Figure Heads. The Human world is not ready for the reveal of the Supernatural World yet.” Sirzechs sighed, “We're using thousands of Devils and Angels to create an illusion of a big meteorite. Slowly we'll begin large-scale manipulation, perhaps also taking the help of Odin who specialises in such stuff. He should be able to manipulate the memories of the majority of humans subtly. We'll handle the rest. Despite all this, the damages can't be undone.”
“Do we have any clues as to who this terrorist is or where he belongs from?” Rias asked in distress.
“For now we can assume he's a human from Japan as the text written on his robes is in Kanji but that is just speculation.” Sirzechs shook his head, “For now that is all. You don't have to worry too much. Just stay in Hell for now and pass time. Soon we'll deal with this situation. I'm busy with time myself and will have to cut this meeting short. Please stay safe and take care, especially you my cute little imouto.” Sirzechs smiled towards Rias.
“Ah, by the way. I would like to talk to Yamamoto-kun for a bit in private if that's alright.”
“Sure, if he doesn't mind.” Rias turned to Tatsuya who nodded with a smile.
Ichika seemed worried but Rias comforted her.
Zeoticus and Venelana glanced at each other with knowing looks as they dragged Rias and her peerage with them. Venelana in particular was excitedly conversing with Ichika.
Soon only Tatsuya and Sirzechs were alone in the room.
The silence lingered for a few seconds before Sirzechs smiled, “I hope you don't mind it.”
“It's fine. You won't really gain much from my sister. We're clean.” Sirzechs was a bit surprised seeing Yamamoto speak so bluntly, he hadn't thought Tatsuya would be this astute.
“Power with intelligence is the most scary thing hahaha…” Sirzechs laughed lightly but his laughter slowly faded as he sighed, “I'm sorry.”
“Your appearance is too odd. If not for your clean background I would've already killed you for being suspicious. Your sister is completely fine but the only anomaly is your strength. Why would you want to become a servant of my sister who is far below the current you? I'd like you to be frank with me.”
The stage he had been setting for so long was slowly unravelling. Tatsuya smiled as everything was going to set in place.
Today he would erase his suspicious nature from the eyes of Satan. Sure not entirely but in Hell, Tatsuya should be safe for a long time.
“Have you heard of my past from Rias?” Tatsuya asked and Sirzechs nodded.
“To be more elaborate I noticed I was different from most people at a very young age. My strength was Divine and…” Tatsuya raised his palm as a small magic circle was created and a shard of ice materialised.
Tatsuya grabbed the shard of ice and slashed his own wrist under the disbelieving eyes of Sirzechs.
“You!” Sirzechs was surprised by his sudden actions and so was Grayfia who stood behind the main seat in a frozen manner.
Grayfia was about to help heal himself when she and Sirzechs noticed something incredibly bizarre.
The wound healed instantly.
They felt absolutely shocked as they raised their eyes and matched the gaze of the gentle Tatsuya who continued his speech, “My strength was Divine and… my life was seemingly infinite.”
“No matter how wounded I am, I heal instantly,” Tatsuya spoke softly.
“This…” Grayfia and Sirzechs looked at each other with absolute seriousness. The implications of this matter were far deeper than they had imagined.
“Is your regeneration infinite…?” Sirzechs could not care about the taboo of not prying into someone's secrets at the moment.
Tatsuya frowned and Sirzechs immediately spoke without hesitation.
“You don't have to say anything if you don't want to.” His demeanour was as kind as before but Tatsuya noticed the subtle shift in behaviour.
“It's not that,” Tatsuya shook his head as he smiled wryly, he sighed in a helpless manner before raising his hand and ruthlessly stabbing his own chest.
“Stop!” Grayfia immediately muttered. They did not need him to torture himself to prove his loyalty.
Tatsuya pulled his hand out which was just shy of touching his heart through his shattered rib cage. But as if denying reality he continued to heal, albeit, in a slower manner than before.
“My heart.” Tatsuya said, “Consider this my sincerity. Any wound around my heart takes longer to heal. I suspect if my heart is directly obliterated my healing would be of no use and I'd die instantly. However, I haven't and don't dare to test this.”
Sirzechs nodded gravely as he smiled, “One last question Yamamoto Tatsuya, why have you joined my sister's peerage? From what I've heard you quite like hunting Fallen Angels and Devils.”
“I don't ‘like’ hunting them. Knowing I was much stronger than those around me, I, as a child, played the role of the hero and went to save others in the night. It was inevitable that I'd encounter Supernatural Beings. My only mistake was sparing them in my early days. One of them came for revenge and targeted my family instead. My parents died. I was unable to handle such emotional stimulation and became uncharacteristically harsh with my sister. Later on, as I suspected she was kidnapped a few years ago by another one of the Fallen Angels I spared… I… My reason for joining her peerage is after she told me about you, Sirzechs Lucifer.”
Tatsuya took a deep breath as the husband and wife exchanged glances.
“I simply cannot protect her by myself without making her life miserable. I can't bear to see her live like that. If becoming a Devil servant under a supposedly kind Devil whose brother is the Current Satan offers much more reliable protection than myself… then why not? As for me joining the peerage, it's just to make sure my sister is safe and Rias wasn't lying about her kindness. The thrashing I gave her peerage was also a warning so they wouldn't mistreat Ichika.”
“I have no other ulterior motives. Please just keep my sister safe. Even if you ask me to die I won't hesitate to do so.” His words were filled with such conviction that even the centuries-old Devils felt their hearts soften.
Especially Sirzechs, who loved Rias immensely.
He could deeply resonate with Tatsuya's feelings.
“I understand,” Sirzechs nodded with a solemn expression, “As long as you and your sister do not harm Rias or betray her I'll ensure your safety. That is my promise as the current ruling Satan.”
Sirzechs motioned for him to leave and Tatsuya bowed gratefully before leaving.
Silence befell the hall.
“What a tragic story. The little hero turned ruthless as he realised he couldn't protect his sister alone and had to become one of the species he started hunting.” Sirzechs sighed before turning to Grayfia, “Any abnormalities?”
The emotions from his voice disappeared as soon as it appeared.
For these half a millennium old Devils politics were far more important than measly emotions. Sirzechs wasn't just handling Hell because he was the strongest but also because he was an old experienced Devil.
"None. Pure human."
“He's a human with a seemingly Phoenix Family level of regeneration and divine strength as well. I've heard he quite literally demolished Rias and her peerage, how true is that?”
“I was observing the ordeal.” Grayfia spoke coldly, “He used pure brute strength to overwhelm them. No trace of any supernatural energy. While Rias hadn't been able to use her Power of Destruction I suspect with her lack of control and power she wouldn't have been able to hit him. She really needs to begin training seriously.”
“Don't blame her too much,” Sirzechs smiled wryly, “From what you're saying he can probably contend with Low-Class Ultimate Devils, albeit, without magic, he'd be no more than a punching bag but—!”
Sirzechs smiled brightly, “Hasn't he just turned into a Devil? His potential is limitless Grayfia, limitless!”
Grayfia understood the implications.
If a Reincarnated Devil reached the peak of Ultimate-Class at a young age it would be a huge blow to the Conservative Faction of Hell that disdained humans and the peerage system.
Sirzechs eyes gleamed, “What a treasure we've found. Not only can we use him as a mascot for our goals but we can also gain more support. With him, at the front, we can simply demolish the reasoning behind the Old Factions' demands and shut them up. It'll give me quite a peaceful time. Also…” He smiled mysteriously and Grayfia rolled her eyes.
“Is it about Rias-sama?” She knew her husband all too well.
Sirzechs shrugged, “I've never wanted her to marry that chicken in the first place. How dare that imbecile even imagine sullying my cute little imotou?” Sirzechs snorted coldly, “Since I am no longer part of the Gremory Family I can hardly intervene in major matters. Rias's engagement was one of them. To Father, Rias marrying is an important matter as we can't have the Gremory Bloodline end with her. As the heiress it is inevitable that she has to take a husband and continue the bloodline.”
Sirzechs sighed.
“The Phoenix Family is a good candidate for marriage even though I dislike that child, Riser. I did not have a sufficient reason to stop the engagement and my emotions aside if the Phoenix Family and Gremory Family combine it would only bring outstanding benefits. I cannot intervene in the old deal of the Family Heads.”
“But now? Heh.” Sirzechs smirked and looked at Grayfia with a perverted smile, “It doesn't seem like my sister dislikes him. Alas, had we found him before and could've bred a few children while he was still a human it would've brought us numerous benefits.” Sirzechs cared not if he saw Tatsuya as a tool for breeding powerful children. “No matter, with the incident of this Soul Reaper the Phoenix Family will surely push for the engagement even further.”
“Indeed.” Grayfia nodded.
“Subtly push things forward between them Grayfia, I won't be able to return for a while considering the mess outside. I'm confident you'll be able to do as instructed.”
“Isn't it just to push two young ones together? Leave it to me, my lord,” Grayfia bowed elegantly as Sirzechs nodded with relief, “I knew I could count on you Grayfia.”
With that, his holographic image disappeared and Grayfia too walked out of the room pondering how she should go about this matter.
What both of them weren't aware of was the pair of ethereal eyes that peered over them and overheard their conversation.
“Amusing."
Kaguya spoke softly as her figure vanished, pitying the two Devils that had fallen prey to the Anomaly's lies.
The Devils schemed behind Yamamoto Tatsuya's back not noticing the Soul Reaper watching silently from behind.
It aligned with an old saying—
The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
