NOVEL WEB All hail the king
My gaze fell on the back of Yuto, my knight. He was talking to someone, a man. The man was dressed the way you would have expected a traditional samurai to dress. He wore the traditional Shisengumi uniform, which consisted of a haori and haori over a kimono, with a tasuki crossed over his chest and tied to his back.
His hair was long. He had chosen to tie back his black hair in a ponytail. More than that, he looked young, painfully young, almost as young as the youngest member of my peerage. If I didn't that the man before me talking to my knight wasn't Okita Souji, first captain of the Shisengumu, I would have mistaken him for a teenager. The only telltale sign of him knowing I was there was his gaze briefly switching to me quickly than most would have been able to see before going back to my knight.
"They've been talking non-stop about swords since They saw each other," I heard a smooth voice say to my right.
I turned toward the owner of the voice. Before me was the Bishop of my brother, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers more simply known as Macgregor Mathers, a renowned occultist and the founder of the hermetic order of the Golden Dawn.
His appearance was that of a skinny man in his late twenties with sharp eyes and long and slightly wavy hair that was a mixture of black and blond. I could only describe his appearance as bewitching. The long slits of his eyes and his shallow smile only made it more appropriate to think such a thing.
He was wearing a crimson robe with a distinguished design. Every one of His mannerisms could be described as being elegant. Each of his micro actions from breathing, to blinking screamed perfection. It was as if every action had been trained to perfection. What made me cautious of him, reminded me that before me was a legendary cultist and the literal Bishop of Lucifer was the seemingly limitless creepy feeling coming out of his body. Even as a devil whose nature was to revel and bask in everything spoiled, corrupted, Mathers still didn't feel right.
"Mathers," I greeted him politely. No matter my personal feelings about him, he hadn't shown any reason for me to despise or be cautious of him openly.
"Lady Rias," his smooth voice greeted back "You've grown stronger." His eyes stayed fixed on me. I didn't know why but it felt violating. It was as if I was a mystery he was trying to understand and resolve.
His gaze shifted to behind me where I knew stood Akeno, Koneko and Gasper. I moved to cut his gaze away from them "You've all changed in such a short amount of time. It's prodigious, miraculous, novel. The growth you all exhibit is one most devils don't experience in a millennium."
"Sucks to be them. I guess we're just built different."
"Yes, different. Your growth isn't the only thing spectacular that came from you and the members of your peerage."
Through the recordings of your rating game and a magic spell allowing me to see details of everything that happened in a certain place at a certain time, I was able to also see the newly made spells created by all of you.
The reincarnated devil lifted his hand at the level of his head "Black Flash," I heard him whisper before his hand lit up in black Sparks, familiar black sparks before my shocked eyes.
"At first, it seemed only as a novel personalized way to strengthen yourself. if activated at the right moment, A guaranteed critical impact it could be said," the bishop spoke.
A smile almost orgasmic split his face "I couldn't have been more wrong. What makes this spell a true masterpiece isn't the fact it allows someone to hit above their weight class. The true genius here lies in the focus, the zone it puts in you and the self-understanding it allows you to accomplish. This spell allows someone to break through their limits, to realize their potential!"
"I'm glad you like it Mathers," I told him pushing down the uneasiness I felt.
"I don't like it! I adore it! With this spell, I was able to further my research, my understanding of innate magic. The only downside was that this understanding was limited in time but I was even able to change this, to improve the spell to make sure this understanding would stay!"
For an instant, black glimmered all over his skin covering it before flashing back out of existence "The black Flash, it's still activated," I realized.
"Bingo! It is not a voracious spell at least for an ultimate devil like me. Breathing takes more effort than maintaining it."
"You learned it through the tapes of my fight, am I right?" I asked him.
"Yes, also from your rook. She was able to trigger the same phenomenon. Unfortunately, it didn't land," he answered.
"If you could learn it, does it mean others can?" I asked him already knowing the answer but wishing it wasn't the case.
His eyes widened in realization seemingly finally understanding why I was asking him such a thing "Yes," he said reluctantly confirming what I already feared. "If it makes you feel better, the only ones who would be able to copy you are devils with either a very precise amount of control over their demonic energy, devils with so much demonic energy that even without it, they would be really dangerous and legendary magicians like me."
A new thing to deal with. Of course, if something could be created, it meant it could be understood and copied. Euclid, Grayfia's brother had in canon been able to clone the boosted gear completely in mass. What would the Lucifuge be able to do with a spell allowing someone to reach their potential and even go further?
"Mathers, we're going to create new spells together," I told the devil. I already knew that no matter what would happen, I would never stop growing strong. I just needed to get stronger faster. There was no point in strength if your castle was already destroyed the moment you gained enough strength to repel the invaders who looted it.
"We're going to create spells together? Of course!"
"It doesn't matter what could happen with the spells already created. We just need to create new ones, better ones." When everyone had a gun, the winner was the one with the most powerful one. I had also 'created' those spells so why couldn't I make other spells especially to counter them?
"I have a question Lady Rias," the bishop of my brother said bringing back my attention to him.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to ask you how you created spells. Some people do it by studying the natural world around them and recreating the effects. Others just combine preexisting ones to make new ones. What is your method if I may ask?"
I couldn't say hey, it was because I was such a copycat Shirou Emiya would look at me in disgust "Anime," I said. It wasn't a lie. I was copying things I had seen before in different media from my previous world.
"Anime? Anime?" he repeated as if he had reached an epiphany. "All this time, how none of us was able to see it! Instead of trying to learn from a rigid system, you learned through things that were not real and due to the fact that our demonic energy is shaped by our imagination, you were able to create new things none had seen in our world before!"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Does it mean that the path of growing in strength is Anime? It is imperative that we make sure manga and Anime continue to be produced!"
A red circle appeared around his right ear and the reincarnated devil began to speak "Merendino, my friend, I have a new assignment for you!"
The circle flashed as if words were said on the other side "No! Not that assignment! The manga industry, that it is imperative for the survival of our kind it continues undisturbed! Call Lee too! Tell him he's given the order to diffuse on every station and every website of the Devil Net Anime!"
The circle flashed again "No, I didn't go mad from experimenting with some of the artefacts we were able to retrieve from Snowflame! Just do what I say!"
The circle disappeared and he turned back toward me "So, Anime. Let's talk more about this."
"I'm going to see what the others are doing with Koneno and Gasper," Akeno whispered in my ear. "Don't do anything reckless."
"We're in my brother's castle Akeno."
"Rias."
I sighed "Understood." With Zekram, Issei and the boosted gear, the bathtub and a pillar head destroying one of my walls, I couldn't blame her.
I turned back toward the Bishop of my brother "So, we were talking about anime."
"Yes! I wanted to know, this black flash of yours, I'm unable to find an anime displaying such power. While you were talking with your queen, I used my magic to browse the entirety of the human internet and didn't find it."
It was time to bullshit "It's simple. I wasn't able to wait for the authors to create new chapters so I used my demonic energy to simulate new chapters." This should explain how I could be doing things that didn't even exist yet in some mangas.
His eyes widened "Of course! Why did I never think of it? It could even be used in other ways! It could be used to simulate rare natural or magical phenomena to copy them, to understand them more! This black flash, it hadn't been written yet, am I right? Is it a result of a simulation of Killer X Killer?"
"I thought you didn't know anime," I told him.
"It was the case before this conversion but I created a thought partition, a second train of thought that is by itself watching and reading every major anime."
Wasn't that a spell created and used by the alchemist of the Atlas association I don't know what was their name again?
It was a spell allowing a person to create multiple thought partitions. In other terms, it allowed you to not think quickly but to create let's say in the mind another chamber unrelated to the first one. Rare were people who could truly multitask. Thinking about two different things without confusing them, mixing them was what thought partitions allowed. It meant that you could become perfectly ambidextrous, doing multiple tasks without diminishing your efficiency in each of them.
it was something that would propel them a normal person to the intellect of a genius. In the mind of a genius like Mathers? It was like giving them godhood.
"You are close but you are wrong Mathers! I went even further! I simulated together Menma and Killer X Killer to create a new manga! I partially added some of Amok into it to create something new! This is how I was able to create the black flash and my new teleportation spell!" I lied. I blinked switching our positions. I wanted to curl myself in a blanket and forget the words I had just said. It was so cringe.
The man was looking at me with a gaze that bordered too much on adoration for me "Incredible Rias-Sama! I thought you were impressive but I was wrong! You are a genius, a true one!"
He bowed his head "Excuse me Rias-Sama to not have been able to see it before."
"Please, don't do that," I begged him. "Please don't do that while I was feeding you a lot of bullshit.
Fortunately, he raised his head "I'm sorry Rias-Sama but I am more than impressed! You don't know what you gave me! You don't what you gave to our race!"
"You're exaggerating," I told him. Most Devils were cruel, most devils were evils and most devils were not dumb. "I'm sure I'm not the only one to think about using my demonic energy to create simulations."
"You weren't lady Rias," he admitted.
"You se-"
"No one had been able to create simulations in such an innovative way except Satan Beelzebub. His Majesty was the only one to go so. Some say with his innate intellect, he had been able to do such a thing since his birth without the help of demonic energy." Envy, so deep, so raw that I could almost taste it coloured his voice "Not everyone is Ajuka Beelzebub."
There was a story behind his words, something that only left behind scorn and envy. Even without knowing it, I think I could kinda understand. Mathers studied, trained and fought to become what he was. Ajuka was a super devil. He was born more than most mages like Mathers became before dying.
His gaze locked on mine "You are Rias Gremory the second person capable of doing such a thing. More than that, you created a method one could learn from, one that could be improved! I still see you don't seem to realize the importance of your actions!"
"We had thought we would never be able to breach time's domain but you showed us what we were doing was wrong! Instead of focusing on a whole, we should have only focused on an individual thing. It sure isn't the omniscient sight of an oracle, but it is the next best thing. More than that, because it can be taught, it can be improved!"
Magic circles appeared in his eyes. His gaze travelled past me to the castle itself "I just need to use the spell I created to see past things and from those past things create a simulation!"
Did I actually create a new spell by lying? I tried to copy the Bishop or at least do something similar. I guided my demonic energy to my eyes.
Understanding, commanding, simulating. My demonic energy like a wave flew to the ground, to the wall, to the integrity of the castle and I Saw.
I saw destruction run from the sky. I saw obsidian spears launched at beings made of divine light and might. I saw war. I saw Death.
I cut the link between my demonic energy and the castle "Mathers, I sa-"
"I understand Rias. I saw it too." The magic circle in his eyes had faded leaving behind normal eyes "Let's keep it a secret between the two of us. I'll make sure it is handled."
Before I could answer or say something more, a shout stole my attention "There is a live announcement from the parliament!"
I turned to look at the bishop of my brother saying it to him silently that we would have to be talking later. He only nodded.
I moved outside to the gardens from where I heard the shoot. Akeno saw me and came closer taking my hands to drag me toward where she and the other members of my peersge had chosen to stay.
Their gazes were turned toward the sky. I copied them. Brother, you didn't want anyone to miss it but how could they miss it when the sky itself had changed, twisted to reflect, show what I knew was happening right now in our parliament? The pieces were in your hands Sirzechs. Looking at him, I only felt the certitude that no matter what would happen, I would be doing everything in the future to support him.
*scene*
Sirzechs knew that all the eyes of devilkind and more were on him and the other Satans. This was the last line that needed to be crossed. This was the last step, one he knew he wouldn't be able to back off from.
The others stayed silent behind him. Sirzechs knew they were there as his support, there for him. No matter what would happen, Sirzechs knew that they'd have his back.
The parliament had been in session when Sirzechs and the other Satans crashed into it. The only remaining devils sitting in the different chairs were ones Sirzechs knew he could consider allies, people that even though they would always hate him would always put Devil Kind first before their own feelings.
They had been smart enough to realize something had changed. They had been smart enough to shut up.
"We have failed," Sirzechs began knowing every one of his words was listened to, heard by the entirety of Devilkind and more.
"We have tried to make sure that our race would thrive! We have tried to make sure our race would reach heights never thought possible. We wanted change! We promised change and we failed to give it to you!"
"We let our ideals, our promises be broken! We are devil-kind! It doesn't matter if one is a low-class devil if one is a reincarnated devil or even a pillar devil! We should all be treated fairly! The other Satans and I saw the corruption and how it was destroying our race from the inside."
"We are right now on the verge of an all-out war against Heaven and all the opportunists who would try to exploit what they see as weakness! It is now on the thread between destruction and survival that some pillar devils chose to continue to exhibit, showing their malignancy! I killed with those hands for a better tomorrow for all of us! I didn't fight for singular individuals! I fought for our race."
"I have a son and a sister who are young! Painfully so! I asked myself what kind of future I wanted to give to them and I realized, it was one where they wouldn't be crushed by an amoral system favouriting the few! I want them to be treated fairly! I wanted it to be the case for the integrity of our race!"
"I tried doing this for centuries and failed because I let them use my morals against me, because I let them chain me, something they should have never been able to do! I am Sirzechs Lucifer, A satan! The sin of Greed! If morals aren't enough, I'll break them! I'll now do whatever I want, whatever it takes for our race!"
Sirzechs released a fraction of the hold he had on his demonic energy. The other Satans copied him. "The institutions of our race will continue to operate but under a different management! Under us! We are the kings of devil kind and it is time you all remember!"
Their demonic energy pooled like miasma travelling through the underworld, reminding sinners and devils that they were not called demon lords because they had been chosen. They were monsters each capable and guilty of terrible things. They were Satans because they usurped the old order! They were Satans because they were the strongest and power was the only universal rule.
A demonic circle opened in the middle of the parliament. "Sirzechs," Ajuka's voice told him softly "It is time."
The Beelzebub had been adamant about Sirzechs executing one single action, saying one word. Ajuka could see the future and Sirzechs trusted him so he opened his mouth to say the unique word "Arise."
The moment the word left Sirzechs's mouth, the dead rose from the circles. They were the ones that had been killed by Sirzechs and the other Satans. The signs of their brutal demise were clear to see, a reminder of the violence the Satans had mustered. Simultaneously like a singular mind, the moving corpses kneeled before the Satans.
Sirzechs heard movements coming from the members of the parliament. He hid his shock under a stoic mask as they kneeled too. He didn't need to stretch his awareness to know the same thing was happening all over his kingdom. They kneeled before Sirzechs, before the Satans. Devil kind was finally completely theirs. He crushed the sadness and guilt he felt in his heart. Sirzechs was a sovereign and sovereigns didn't hesitate. They went forward following their dreams until they either won or died.
