Extravaganza 12

Extravaganza 

A/N: Aftermath of the fight with the Satans, because obviously Serafall is gonna calm everyone’s jets cold. After this, Torch Bearer 6 and Raptor 31-32 are next!

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Part 12

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(Serafall Leviathan)

“It’s you and me now, Lady Leviathan.” The armored teenage girl said to Serafall with a bored expression. 

When she dealt with Sasaki Kojiro with some kind of sword technique that bent the laws of physics to multiply its existence, Serafall understood that this girl was not normal at all. The Satan Leviathan didn't panic and acted rashly like Sirzechs did because her friend's Knight was still alive, just with some broken bones which downed him and put him out of the fight.

Sirzechs threw a ball of destruction power at her and Serafall was frozen by what he just did and thought that he will cause another war to start because of his rashness when the girl… nullified the PoD construct with ease by countering it with some kind of atypical energy construct Serafall has never experienced before. Then she proceeded to make Sirzechs disappear in a purple ball of fire out of phase with reality somehow.

Usagiyama dispatched Samuel Mathers who was hailed as a magic prodigy by nullifying his magic and punching him good. Who the hell is that girl? How come no one has heard of her before? How did she get kidnapped if she is that strong already?!

Something was strange to Serafall, unless that Usagiyama girl kept growing in power as a form of adaptation to danger. There's no way, right?

The girl slowly flew toward Serafall, her silver angel wings slowly beating, the feathers looked wicked sharp. The metal silver arms behind her back playing with the weapons she manifested were covered with a haze of touki. 

“Your friends are kind of disappointing.” The long wrist katana blade on Usagiyama's gauntlet shortened to dagger size.

Fire wrapped around her form; Usagiyama looked like a fiery angel of death. That same energy that she used against Sirzechs manifested on her short blades.

Yeah, no. Not dealing with that. Serafall raised her hands and shouted in a hurried tone, “Timeout!”

“Eh? What?” Usagiyama froze.

Serafall insisted by jumping up and down, “I call timeout!”

“Why?” The girl tilted her head and her weapon ceased to emit that strange dark energy.

Serafall did some quick speaking. “We didn't come to fight you! We came here to save you!”

The girl took on a thoughtful expression, her eyes never leaving Serafall for a moment until she said, “Because one of your own has done goofed I bet? Did Yasaka-sama call you?”

Serafall found Usagiyama Iori frighteningly intelligent; she has already grasped the situation. The Satan Leviathan nodded and explained, “Yes, Yasaka-chan threatened war to get you back, she even sent us proof that it was one of our own who took you.”

Usagiyama smiled. “Allright, that explains why you're here.” Then she frowned and said in an accusatory tone, “Not why your fake Lucifer tried to erase me with his PoD, I didn't even kill the samurai devil.”

Serafall laughed in her heart of hearts, the famous Okita Souji reduced to being called Samurai Devil. Serafall had the perfect excuse for this, Sirzechs owed her a lot right now. “I'm sorry, Usagiyama-san, Sirzechs is not at his best right now. You destroying an entire territory brought back… bad memories.”

Usagiyama looked at the result of her escape from her kidnappers, the destroyed mountain, the surrounding villages and town in flames, the roving bands of summoned monsters attacking everything. Serafall saw the monsters stop attacking and disappear into the shadows and stop from killing and eating people.

This caused Serafall to sigh in relief. The girl can be reasoned with...

Usagiyama raised her left eyebrow as she asked with doubt in her voice, “Red has PTSD? Wow, that sucks.”

She started smiling again as she gazed toward the haze of purple fire in the sky where Serafall had seen Sirzechs last. “I should let him cooldown in the pocket dimension. He kinda is raging in it, too bad for him that Witchblade is powering it.”

The girl waved her hand and Serafall saw Sirzechs in his other form, the human shaped Aura of Destruction. He can convert himself into the Power of Destruction that destroys everything. Sirzechs was acting like a berserker, punching at the barrier of the pocket dimension, trying to destroy his prison.

Serafall was shocked that Usagiyama could contain Sirzechs at all, what kind of abilities does the sacred gear she possess have? Was it even a sacred gear? The Satan Leviathan gulped and said, “Um… yeah let's wait an hour or two before freeing him, he deserves it for jumping the gun and worsening the situation.”

“Sure.” Usagiyama shrugged, then came up right before Serafall. Her gaze was intense as she looked at her. “Can I ask you something?”

“W-what is it?” Serafall stuttered despite herself, that girl was scary.

Usagiyama Iori surprised Serafall by asking, “Can I have your autograph?”

“Eh?” Serafall gave Usagiyama a dumbfounded look.

The girl placed a lock of hair behind her ears as she said shyly, “I'm a fan of your work.”

See this? This moment vindicates Serafall, her making manga and anime about her magical girl persona once again has saved the Devils from the threat of war! It was paying off! And they kept ridiculing her for it! Serafall felt utterly smug.

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(General point of view)

Things calmed down after Serafall realized that her foe was a fan, she asked politely to Iori if she could do anything to heal Souji and Samuel Mathers. Serafall was surprised when the girl demonstrated that she could heal people with a touch. Healers were precious for each faction, Serafall understood why Yasaka was willing to go to war for Iori.

It wasn't just her strength that was valued. Okita Souji and Samuel Mathers were told that everything was smoothed out with Iori and didn't attack her again and they waited for Sirzechs to stop acting like a barbarian in his cage. 

Eventually, the Super Devil calmed down after seeing that his subordinates were fine. He was let out after a thorough explanation from Serafall while still in the pocket dimension. Sirzechs immediately called for a gag order about what happened in the Andrealphus territory to save their species reputation.

Serafall immediately contacted Yasaka and told her the good news. The Yokai side asked for a meeting to be convened immediately. The Satans received the Western Yokai faction in the capital city, Lilith at the Sitri palace because Usagiyama Iori only trusted Serafall Leviathan and her family to be objective in their recent conflict. 

Not once had Iori turned off her armor as she didn't feel safe in the Underworld…

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(Yasaka)

Lilith Capital City
Sitri Palace
6 hours later…

Yasaka entered the opulent room with grace and poise. She ignored the ostentatious riches put on display, what mattered to her was the girl who had saved her and opened her eyes to the presence of the traitors amongst her people that she kept discovering in her own faction, reporting to other masters than herself.

“Lady Yasaka!” Iori ran toward the nine-tails, her armor having retracted to an immodest chainmail bikini; but Yasaka couldn't blame the girl for how her power had chosen to manifest.

With an appraising eye, Yasaka stared at Iori; she didn't look wounded or in distress. She hasn't been turned into a Devil and that was reassuring. “I'm glad to see you whole and healthy, Iori-san.” 

Iori didn’t let go of Yasaka, she breathed in and said with a bit of vulnerability, “Thanks, I almost got turned into a Devil.”

Yasaka’s eyes widened, how did the girl escape being reincarnated? “How did you…”

Iori showed her gauntlet, the red gem in the middle started glowing with a sinister blood red glow. “Let’s just say that Witchblade is a jealous boyfriend.”

Again, her artifact. It saved the girl somehow, there were not many sacred-gears or artifacts with autonomy like this one. The Nine-tails was definitely more curious about the gauntlet. “He defended you. Are you finally going to enlighten me about what that gauntlet does beyond what I've seen?”

Before Iori could answer, a sing-song voice behind the young woman said, “I wish to know more about her gear myself~.”

The twin-tailed menace that was Serafall Leviathan appeared; she was smiling while looking at the Kitsune.

Yasaka made a pained expression. “Serafall...”

“Yasaka-chan~~~♡.” Serafall lunged toward Yasaka to glimpse her, but she was kept at arm's length by the nine-tails who pushed her hand against Serafall's head and made her unable to hug the Kitsune.

“Please control yourself, Sera.” Yasaka used one of her tails to push back the Satan without being too violent.

She hated that side of dealing with Devils, they were so consistent in what kind sin they indulged in. Serafall pouted and crossed her arms under her chest. “Mou… fine. Let's be all professional.” 

Yasaka didn't miss the focus of Iori onto Serafall's breast. Serafall taunted Yasaka with a smirk and the nine-tails rolled her eyes. Next the Devil leader changed demeanor and pointed at the empty seats at the table which would be used for the meeting. “The meeting hasn't started yet… We're waiting for Ajuka. He's being a slow-poke.”

Yasaka frowned, didn't Serafall have all the power to negotiate between their two factions? “Are their presences even needed for this situation?”

The nine-tails felt uncomfortable meeting the four satans at the same time. Serafall gave a glare toward Iori. “Your girl here kind of nuked one of our holdings… Ajuka is in the Andrealphus territory trying to cover up what happened with Sirzechs. So yes he and Zechs are involved.”  

To illustrate what she said, Serafall presented Yasaka a small crystal ball which projected a small screen showing a mountain exploding and the surrounding village, town and a city being damaged by the rocks projected by the explosion as if a meteor shower had crashed on the region. Yasaka watched with fascination as Iori proceeded to battle two Satans and two ultimate class foe to a stand still; the fight would still be going on or she would have run if Serafall didn’t do some quick talking and defused the situation.

Things could have been worse, but Yasaka still threw a disappointed look at Iori who crossed her arms and said with an unrepentant expression. “I am not apologizing.”

Yasaka reminded herself that Iori was still a teenager, despite the maturity that she showed all the time. A teenager with the power of a Satan? That’s how her life rolled right now. The Kitsune slowly wrapped a tail around Iori as she said, “You shouldn't, it's not your fault that you were kidnapped on your way home.”

The young woman let her guard slip at that moment as she got surrounded by fluffiness; Iori stopped moving and her facial expression relaxed.

Serafall clicked her tongue, seeing that her plan to guilt trip the girl she changed track and said, “Indeed, but some unrelated innocent Devils have paid the price. Not all of us are like Andrealphus…”

Yasaka was happy that Iori wasn’t so easy to bully; Serafall was a shrewd woman despite how silly she carried herself. Those centuries old devils were cunning and would fleece and force Iori in some unfair terms of settlement if Yasaka abandoned the girl.

The girl looked down at Serafall, Iori being the taller of the two. Iori put on an introspective expression, the ruby on the back of her gauntlet glowed Crimson and she seemed to communicate with it. A clear sign that the girl could communicate with it.

Iori's eyes glowed with determination as she replied to Serafall, “I see. It's true that I will have their deaths on my conscience; But in the meantime, you the Satans, learned something important.”

Serafall's tone was less playful as she asked, “Well, what might it be?”

Iori escaped the embrace of Yasaka’s tail and stepped before Serafall and tauntingly explained while into the Satan's eyes, “Simple. You don't fuck with me and I won't destroy you. In the end, this kidnapping incident happened because of your weak domestic leadership.”

Serafall's eyes widened in shock by Iori's bluntness, similarly to Yasaka who couldn't believe the girl's boldness. Iori continued to speak, “That dude, Red, the one responsible for domestic affairs, he shouldn't be in power if he keep being soft on the fuck ups in your government who really think they can get away with anything.” 

The atmosphere around them suddenly went cold, Serafall's control on her magic slipped due to a spike of anger and outrage. Yasaka stared at Iori with her mouth gaping, she was left speechless by the girl's opinion on Sirzechs Lucifer. “Iori-san!”

Yasaka pulled Iori away from Serafall who closed her eyes and started breathing exercises to calm herself. The air around then was no longer winter cold.

Serafall opened her eyes and said, “No, don't reprimand her Yasaka-chan. She's out of line, but… she's right. Zechs needs to man up. I’ve kind of had enough of putting out fires all the time because some of those old fucks longing for the good old-times of the Great War are influencing the younger generation to become evil self-absorbed assholes.”

Yasaka and Iori then listened for another five minutes to the reproaches and complaints of Serafall about the idiots in their parliament. The Great King Faction amassed further influence and economic power by snatching other houses’ business. That was nice information to know about the Devils… they aren't as united as they appear. Yasaka thought as she learned about the factionalism present in Devil society.

Still, why is Serafall telling us all of this?

Gachack.

The meeting room's door opened and here entered Sirzechs Lucifer and Ajuka Beelzebub, they looked tired and weary. Yasaka thought that obtaining concessions from them might get easier… 

“Zechs! Juka! Welcome back!” Serafall called out to her fellow Satan.

Iori looked as if she was readying for a battle, and it wasn't far from the truth.

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(Ajuka Beelzebub) 

The scenes of Devils crying out for help as they were stuck under the rumbles and ruins of their own abodes or the mangled remains of victims of monster attacks still playing in his mind. Ajuka might look unaffected outwardly, but in his heart he lamented the loss they incurred. The destruction of the Andrealphus territory was an event which could have been avoided if the current head, Rufus, had stayed in his lane.

Examining the remains of the Andrealphus palace had yielded nothing beyond picking up divine energy and other mundane radiations. It was as if the palace had been exposed to the sun's corona. The mountain exploded , projecting debris and it melted, creating a lava lake that dribbled down and created forest fires or destroyed entire villages.

Ajuka couldn't even blame the perpetrator, Usagiyama Iori, as it was clear that she was captured by Andrealphus and defended herself. The survivors of the palace, the maids and butlers, who escaped speak about shadow monsters appearing and killing everyone. 

Were those monsters created by the human girl's sacred gear? Is it some sort of defense mechanism? The servants have reported that Usagiyama was taken to the dungeon and that the monsters originated from the same location. He had watched the recording of the fight between Serafall, Sirzechs, his subordinates and Usagiyama; he had a field day with what she showed.

The girl was obviously a swordmaster, she competed with Okita Souji himself and was victorious. It was strange that she was relatively unknown at this point, unless her skills were given to her by her sacred gear, but Ajuka doubted that.

Adaptivity seemed to be the cornerstone of the ability of her gear; the more threats seemed to be arrayed against her, the more armored and proportional her power grew. The divine power present at the epicenter of the mountain told him that their guest might as well be some kind of Demigod. Or was it that the gear she possessed contained a Divine soul; Ajuka wouldn’t put it past the God of the bible to seal someone like that.

She could generate constructs made of metal able to channel energy and magic; Ajuka didn’t miss the norse spell array that she used to nullify Samuel Mathers’ magic circle. It was some kind of oscillation effect that partially neutralized the magical energy of the circle. It was fascinating, the girl didn’t show any of those abilities in the first fight that she had in Japan.

Then there was the blasting power of this artifact, which was immense in his estimation; The Satan estimated that they couldn’t have that girl as an enemy. She seemed to grow overtime and by what she faced directly. This is why Ajuka was determined to meet her and control the narrative of this meeting. Serafall and Sirzechs would be too soft and Falbium was too lazy and irresponsible to handle talking to someone so combative.

Once again, he didn’t blame Usagiyama Iori; her first interaction with Ajuka’s species was someone who attempted to turn her into a slave and change her into a Devil.

That was why Ajuka slightly bowed and introduced himself when he was facing Lady Yasaka and her protege. “I greet you, Usagiyama Iori, Queen of the Blade. My name is Ajuka Beelzebub, the Chief Advisor for the Technology Department of the Devil government.” 

Ajuka pointed at each of his fellow satans. “You already met Sirzechs and Serafall. Unfortunately, Falbium couldn’t come to this meeting, so we will do without him.”

“Greetings.” Sirzechs said coldly as he stared at Usagiyama who didn't seem to mind his reception.

“Falbium, that lazy ass, must be sleeping in his palace.” Ajuka heard Serafall mumble.

“Hey, why are you using my S.O. handle?” The girl frowned at Ajuka.

The green haired Devil smirked at the question as it seemed that Usagiyama Iori didn't have any interest in managing her own image on the internet. Something that could become fatal in the long run. Lady Yasaka placed a hand on the dangerous girl's left arm.“Iori-san, everyone calls you by that moniker nowadays.” 

Iori hid her face with her two hands and whined. “Urgh, why?!”

Seeing her like this made it obvious that she wasn't just a dangerous individual, but a teenager the same age as Sirzechs’ sister. Youth and power didn't go hand in hand well, the mistakes of such individuals could be costly. 

“Your only public statement was a threat, you know?” Lady Yasaka stated in an amused tone.

Iori leaned on the back of her chair and crossed her arms; her cleavage being emphasized by the almost not there bikini-armor. “I thought that they would take me seriously after the leak of the video, that I would be left in peace.”

The look of frustration on her face told Ajuka that the girl didn't want to be propelled on the supernatural stage. There weren't many female fighters like her since the Great War; to the new generation of heavy hitters, she was something new.

Bored immortals were dangerous, sticking out wasn't a good thing. Ajuka leaned forward and said, “Life doesn't work this way in the moonlit world, Usagiyama-san. Strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. Conflict brings catastrophe.” 

Iori flinched, her arms going slack and her hands falling into her laps. She had a neutral expression on her face as she asked, “So you mean that what happened to me, it's not going to stop?”

Ajuka nodded, his light blue eyes gleaming as he replied, “Precisely.”

Iori glared, the air around her rose in temperature, the only sign that her power was brought to bear. “Then bring it on, I will just send their ashes back to whatever factions or organizations they belong to.”

How young, and brash. Then again, she reminds me of how hot blooded Serafall had been in her youth. Ajuka thought as he gave a side eyed glance to his fellow Satan.

Of course this was at this point that something wrong happened. Sirzechs who has been rather hostile since he was given the tally of the casualties from the Andrealphus territory spoke coldly to Usagiyama Iori. “Violence isn't the only way to enact justice, you should know that.” 

“Sirzechs…” Ajuka couldn't believe what he heard, but then again, Sirzechs has always been the more emotional of the two of them. Ajuka was the most rational of the Satans and could understand how the situation had escalated so much, but Sirzechs had tunnel vision and was only concerned by the Devil casualties, blaming everything on the victim it seemed. 

He should focus his ire on Andrealphus, the cause of everything, but that Devil is dead, turned into ashes floating over his defunct territory by the girl his best friend was antagonizing.

A fight might break out right now, but with surprising control Iori took a steadying breath and sighed. “Do you think that I wanted any of this to happen? That I wanted to kill so many people? All I wanted to focus on in this life was my training, friends and family. But because someone is a limp dick politically… you have assholes like whoever that guy was-”

Sirzechs interrupted her. “His name was Rufus Andrealphus.”

Usagiyama Iori stood up, and declared coldly, “I don't care.”

Sirzechs stood up as well, adopting an threatening stance which caused a fantastic phenomena. The girl's armor started sprouting more pieces of itself, covering her body; this validated Ajuka’s theories about her unknown gear.

“Please, calm down you two.” Serafall intervened and pulled Sirzechs down, making him sit. 

Yasaka took Iori's hand. “Iori-san, control yourself.”

The Japanese girl sighed, her armor slowly receding to its base form. Nothing was said for a moment, until Iori spoke, “This is so frustrating, I was just going home when that guy and his thot squad attacked me. If I didn't have Witchblade, I would have been turned into a Devil.”

Ajuka frowned as he heard her. “Interesting, your gear stopped the reincarnation?”

The evil pieces often didn't work on divine beings, just like he thought, that gear she possessed sealed a God within.

“Wouldn't you like to know, huh?” The girl rolled her eyes at him.

She's such a tease. Ajuka’s thirst for knowledge redoubled.

Serafall coughed and said, “I think we should speak business now…”

“Yes, I agree and so, I will begin.” Lady Yasaka hurriedly said to stop any other confrontation. It was strange, usually it was Sirzechs who was the most level-headed. Ajuka resolved to speak to him later…

“I will be candid. We will be out of your hair and sweep everything that has happened under the rug for the following reparations…” The Kitsune slid a piece of paper to Serafall.

Serafall read it and made a strangled cry, then she passed the paper with the Yokai's demand to Ajuka. The green haired Satan read it, so far there was nothing too bad. They wanted two tones of some materials only available in this part of the underworld, a small magic tomes library and… the last demand was too much.

Ajuka passed the paper to Sirzechs as he said, “Those terms… are acceptable but the last one. It's unfair. Kuoh town is the only territory we have in Japan!”

The nine-tails smirked as she linked her hands as she watched the three satans with a predatory gaze. “Actions have consequences. But I am not doing this for me, I intend to give Kuoh's headship to Iori-san.” 

Sirzechs passionately argued while slapping the table with his hands, “What would she do with the territory? She's barely out of middle-school!”

His eyes shone with power, showing his ire. Ajuka backed his friend up, “He has a point there, Lady Yasaka…”

“What would I do with Kuoh Town, Lady Yasaka? I am not ready for such things…” The girl said with a distressed expression.

At least she knows her limitations… Ajuka thought. 

In ancient times, Usagiyama Iori would be considered a God Queen due to her power if she ruled over some part of the world. But those times are long gone, modern Humanity and its government wouldn’t accept that someone with supernatural powers took over some of their lands and the veil between supernatural and mundane being interfered with would bring many enemies to the one who tore it.

But Yasaka seemed to reinforce the girl's position in Japan that she wanted it or not. “Iori-san, as Lord Beelzebub put it, you cannot regain your anonymity. What you must do is create your own power base; and seeing that you can fight two satans at the same time you have enough power to hold territory. Take the headship, gather subordinates and you'll make yourself too dangerous to mess with.”

Ajuka was seeing the game the nine-tails was playing, he was about to say something when he saw the gauntlet on Usagiyama's arm glowing, attracting Ajuka’s attention. 

Iori looked at it as if she was having a conversation with it. Fascinating, it is intelligent. 

Iori sighed. “Fine, I will accept that honor… Lady Yasaka.”

“Good. Very good.” The nine-tails smiled in satisfaction.

Ajuka couldn't afford to refuse handing out Kuoh, their reputation and trust built up over the centuries would crumble. Serafall and Sirzechs looked at him and they came to the same decision. “We will relinquish Kuoh to you…”

Usagiyama Iori surprised him. “As I am feeling generous and remorseful… I will turn the place into a neutral area where some of the main factions who pay tribute to me and adhere to a code of conduct can operate in the town.”

Ajuka was taken aback. “I thought that by your behavior toward us you didn't like Devils…”

Iori rolled her eyes. “You're mistaken, Lord Beelzebub. I might not like Sirzechs Lucifer and be wary of you, but I like Lady Serafall and I don't want to make her my enemy.”

Serafall smirked and looked at the two other Satan smugly. Ajuka couldn't believe that her marketing campaign was saving them money and reputation right now…

Usagiyama Iori wasn’t done with them as she said, “There's a term that I wish to add, I heard about the Nekoshou massacre and my gear allows me some amount of power to see the past, I want you to reopen the case about the Naberius’ oopsies as there clearly was some kind of cover up.”

“What do you mean?” Ajuka couldn't anticipate that girl's moves at all.

Iori took a piece of paper, wrote down something and she slid it toward Ajuka who read it. 

He looked at her with curiosity. How interesting, I want to know more…