Author Note: Okay, so I am editing a few things here:
- It was mentioned in the previous chapter that Alexian Belial is the current Head of House of Belial, so that’s changed, Alexian Belial will not be the current head of House of Belial for now, as making him the Head of House at this point will affect his involvement in the story, the current head will be Alexian’s father.
- I am changing Himejima Akeno back to a two-winged fallen angel from a six-winged.
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Underworld, Gremory Castle.
The Great Hall of Gremory Castle, decorated with beautiful lights, a magnificent grand chandelier donned on the roof of the great hall. Several stewards and maids passing here and there, passing on drinks and snacks to the guests.
Several small groups of young men and women of different colors and features can also be seen. These men and women are all devils of high-class along with their escort servants.
There are several prominent devil figures here including the Great Devil King Sirzechs Lucifer, Duke Zeoticus Gremory, Duchess Venelana Gremory, Queen Greyfia Lucifuge, Marquess Rylan Phenex and his wife Marchioness Raveena Phenex, Ruval Phenex, Rusell Phenex, and Ravel Phenex along with their servants as well as few other high raking devils.
Some of the most notable faces from the younger generation of Devils in the crowd include the likes of Alexian Belial, Sairaorg Bael, Seekvaira Agares, Sona Sitri, Diodara Astaroth, Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas… et cetera, along with their escort servants.
These people of high status have gathered here for the engagement party of the heiress to the House of Gremory with the third son of the House of Phenex.
Since this is but an engagement party, as such only the representatives or the heirs of different noble devil houses are here, not the current heads.
While most people are waiting for the engagement ceremony to begin, Alexian Belial along with Bellmond Zakkart who had just arrived at the party is walking towards a few friends of his after having greeted and congratulated the current Heads and Heir of the House of Gremory and House of Phenex.
Alexian did not have to walk closer, as his arrival was early noticed by the love of his life, who greeted him with a kiss on his cheek, “Lord Belial… you are finally here, you look prepossessing...”
“As do you, my Love. Thank you for waiting for me. Meeting with Riser took more of my time than I had planned, nonetheless, I am here now.” – Alexian apologized, following which Bellmond nodded respectfully, “Good evening my Lady.”
Sona shook her and said, “It’s alright.”, then she turned to Bellmond and nodded, “Good evening to you to Bellmond, how are you doing?”
Bellmond nodded, “I am fine, thank you for asking my Lady.”
While Sona and Bellmond were busy in some conversation, Alexian turned to the other two.
Sairaorg was the one who greeted him first, “Well if it isn’t my rival Alexian, how have you been?”
“Perfect as always, thank you for asking. How about you Sairaorg? And miss Abaddon? And how is Lady Misla’s condition, I think she should be able to walk by now?” – Alexian nodded and returned the greetings.
Sairaorg Bael, a handsome and tall young devil with black hair and violet eyes. He has a muscular build due to the extreme training he has done over the years.
Sairaorg Bael is an ultimate Class Devil, as well as the heir to the House of Great King Bael.
Sairaorg Bael is also the King of his Devil Peerage.
Sairaorg nodded with a wide smile, “I can’t be happier than I already am. Mother’s recovery is also going perfectly… House of Sitri’s nursing is helping in the matter. She should be able to return to normal life in a few months… And it’s all thanks to you, my friend.”
Alexian shook his head, “Don’t thank me, it has nothing to do with me… if anyone you should be grateful to, then it is Lady Misla, herself, for her strong spirit, and my Pawn Mavis Vermillion. After all, it was Mavis who healed Lady Misla from her sleep disease using the ‘Drop of Life’, from her Spirit Spear Chastiefol.”
Sairaorg nodded, and said, “That is true indeed, However, she is a member of your peerage… for that, I will be eternally grateful to you… Thank you very much my Alex.”
After Sairaorg, thanked Alexian, miss Abaddon greeted Alexian Politely, “I am good Lord Alexian, thank you for asking… also, on behalf of the entire Peerage of Lord Sairaorg, I am extremely thankful for Lord Alexian’s help to Lady Misla.”
Kuisha Abaddon, A beautiful girl with blonde hair and green eyes.
Kuisha Abaddon hails from the House of Abaddon, one of the pure-blood devil households from the Extra Demons. She is the Queen of Sairaorg Bael’s Devil Peerage.
Alexian nodded, then turned to Seekvaira, “And how about you Gundam princess?”
Seekvaira Agares, a beautiful young woman in her late teens with long, pale greenish-blonde hair, long slit pink eyes, and glasses that give off an impression of being cold rather than cool.
“With all due respect Alex, I am not the Gundam Princess.” – Seekvaira retorted as she folded her hands under her breasts.
Alex tilted his head in confusion, and questioned, “The last time I checked you were the Gundam Princess, if you are not the Gundam Princess anymore, then who are you now?”
Seekvaira Agares is a High-Class Devil, and heiress to the House of Agares, a pure-blood noble devil household of Arch Duke rank from the 72 pillars.
Seekvaira pushed her glasses over the bridge of her nose, then said with an extremely serious expression and tone, “I have surpassed the one you call the Gundam Princess, now you may refer me as Gundam Empress!”
And she is also an Otaku…
Alex felt his throat dried in awkwardness, “All right… Gundam empress it is, and I see that you are doing good.”
Seekvaira nodded, “As long as there are robots in existence, Gundam empress will always have something to keep her entertained!”
“Right… I must say Seekvaira, your Otaku levels have started to surpass even Rias’s…” – Alexian said blandly.
At the mention of Rias, the atmosphere turned strange and the five people looked towards the Engagement altar.
Sona who was having a conversation with Bellmond immediately said, “Alright two of you… Seekvaira can you please accompany Sairaorg, for a while, I have something I must discuss with Lord Belial.”
Sairaorg and Seekvaira looked at each other with an amused expression, then Seekvaira said with a sly smile, “Well, we wouldn’t want to become third and fourth wheel between a pair of love birds, so you have nothing to worry about us, Sona. You can have, your ‘Lord Belial’ all to yourself.” – The last part was said in a particularly emphasized manner.
Sona blushed. Since childhood, she has always referred to Alexian Belial as Lord Belial, even though they are of the same age. It is because he has always been like a teacher to her, therefore, she used to refer to him respectfully by the use of ‘Lord Belial’.
And that habit has gotten to her even as she has grown older.
Even after the two of them got into a relationship, and it was approved by the families of the two, it still did not stop her from calling him, Lord Belial.
And all her friends, even including Rias teases her for this.
“You guys…” – Sona said helplessly.
Alexian smiled and patted Sona’s head, then said, “Alright both of you, no more teasing her… we will join both of you after I hear what Sona has to say.”
Both Sairaorg and Seekvaira nodded.
Sona said to Bellmond, “Kushia, can you two please watch over my four servants, Erza won’t cause any trouble unless her strawberry cakes are touched, but Usagi-chan alone is not enough to keep Yo-chan and Asuka in check…”
Bellmond nodded, “Don’t worry my Lady, I will make sure that that they do not cause any trouble.” – then she turned around and started walking towards Erza and the other three.
With Bellmond gone, Alexian and Sona also made their way towards the balcony to have a chat, on their way, the two noticed little Princess Ravel, but since she was too busy boasting about her brother Riser that the little girl did not notice the two.
“She sure is enjoying herself.” – Alexian said in an amused manner.
“Yes, the girl’s got a mouth on herself, doesn’t she?” – Sona said in an unamused manner, as the two continued to walk.
After they had reached over to the balcony, far away from the crowd, “Sona, did you not bring the rest of peerage with you to the Engagement Party?” – Alexian questioned curiously because when he was looking at them, Alexian only found four faces from the peerage of Sona.
“No Lord Belial, I did not bring all of them. Revealing the existence of Ingvild to the whole Devil World at this point is unwise, moreover, her Sacred Gear ‘Nereid Kyrie’ is also a big variable, until she gains control over her Sacred Gear, recovers from the resulting repercussions of sleeping for over a century, as well as is confident enough to be able to protect herself, I intend to keep her existence a secret.” – Sona answered Alexian’s question, then continued, “And since I couldn’t leave my Queen alone, therefore, I appointed my pawn Genshirou Saji and my maid Shinra Tsubaki to stay with her.
And with Minamiya Sensei and Zest also staying at my mansion in Kuon town, I am assured of her safety.”
“Understandable.” – Alexian nodded, then after taking a glance at Riser who has made his appearance before the guests and was announcing a few things, he turned back to Sona, and questioned, “Now, what is that you wished to talk about Sona?”
“Lord Belial, I wanted to ask about Rias’s engagement with Riser Phenex.” – Sona said with a low tone, “I wanted to be able to help her, yet I am powerless, is there nothing we can do to prevent it? I don’t want her to marry someone she doesn’t want to.”
Alexian sighed, “I don’t think I need to inform you because you already know this Sona, but we devils are forbidden to interfere in the private affairs of other households. Rias may be a friend, but foremost she is a devil belonging to the House of Gremory, and this matter does not involve just Rias, it also involves the House of Gremory as well as House of Phenex. Not to mention, Rias did lose in the Rating Game. And to be frank, Riser too is a friend of mine if it’s a matter of friendship, so I can’t be biased towards Rias.”
“I know Lord Belial.” – Sona nodded lightly, but still sighed, “But it’s just so frustrating.”
Alexian chuckled, “Don’t worry, we may not be able to do anything, but it does not mean this engagement is going to succeed…”
Sona asked with a frown as she noticed the arrival of Rias who was wearing a white dress, “What do you mean Lord Belial?”
With a smirk, Alexian brought his face closer to Sona’s ears, then whispered, “The one to put an end to this engagement should be arriving here any momen-…”
Boom…!!
Alexian said after hearing the sound of the door of the hall being pushed opened, “And he has arrived…”
Whisper… whisper… whisper… whisper… Whisper… whisper… whisper… whisper…
“Issei…!” – Rias shouted in confusion.
Hearing Lord Belial’s words, Sona looked in the direction from where the sudden sound came, and muttered in confusion, “That is Hyoudou Issei… you mean him, Lord Belial, can he really stop Rias’s engagement with Riser Phenex?”
“Perhaps… Let’s see how things proceed.” – Alexian said mysteriously.
Sona nodded, then the two walked towards their servants who were now sitting together.
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…
After the two had walked closer towards the other guests, Alexian took the lead to greet the half-dragon girl, “I see that you have been enjoying your strawberry cake without a care in the world.”
“Hey there Alex… how are you?” – Erza questioned Alexian in a frank manner, without intending to share the cake.
Alexian did not mind, he was used to it when dealing with Erza and started a normal conversation with her.
Erza Scarlet Belserion, daughter of Sage Dragon Queen Irene Belserion. The scarlet to her name comes from her mother who is also feared throughout the mythologies by the name of the Scarlet Despair.
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All this while the conversation between Lord Lucifer, Rias Gremory, Riser Phenex, and Hyoudou Issei was going on.
“I see, you want a fight?” – Riser said.
“Dragon vs Phenex yes. I believe our guests will quite enjoy a head-to-head match between two powers such as yours.” – said Lord Lucifer.
“No… please don’t.” – Rias denied, she didn’t want her pawn to die.
“Excellent idea my Lord, I will be more than happy to oblige you.” – However, Riser did not care, he was more than willing to burn the low-born into cinders for interrupting his engagement.
“And you dragon?” – Lord Lucifer questioned Hyoudou Issei.
“Sorry, what…?” – Issei was confused and overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events.
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“So tell me dragon, if you are the victor, what would you like as your reward?” – Lord Lucifer questioned Issei.
“You can’t be serious, my Lord! A reward for a lower class devil?” – The guests were baffled by Lord Lucifer’s sudden question.
“Your King has spoken, lower class or not, he will get his prize. I am the one that’s requested this of him, I must give him compensation for this trouble.” – Lord Lucifer said shutting up any and all arguments, then turned to Issei and continued, “What would you like to receive? A title? Or perhaps a woman of great beauty? Ask… and if you win, you shall receive.”
“Fine, there’s only one thing I want. Rias Gremory!” – Issei said without even a moment hesitation, which brought a smile on Lord Lucifer’s face, surprised Rias while baffled the guests once again.
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Whisper… whisper… whisper… whisper… Whisper… whisper… whisper… whisper…
Immediately whispers could be heard throughout the great hall.
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“Well, that’s a sudden turn of events.” – Erza said in surprise, but no so surprised at the same time.
“But even if he does fight Riser Phenex, can Hyoudou Issei win? Will the result be the same or will it be different?” – Asuka questioned in wonder.
Erza said, “I think it will be a bit different this time…”
Yo questioned, “What makes you feel so sure Erza-san?”
Erza said with a smile, “Wait and watch…”
Kuro Usagi said, “Please don’t play mysterious Erza-san…”
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Alexian questioned, “Bellmond, can you see it?”
Bellmond nodded after looking at Hyoudou Issei’s left arm with her demonic eye, “Yes, my Lord, the pulse in his hand … But I don’t think it will be enough to defeat Lord Riser.”
Sona said, “From the confident look he has… it seems that he does have a plan on his mind, I wonder what strategy he will be using.”
Alexian said, “I guess we will just have to wait and watch.”
