Chapter 7: Reactions and First Pillars
The news traveled through the underworld like a tempest. Rias Gremory has returned to the Gremory estate and was discovered to possess the full incarnation of the power of prophecy. While the younger devils didn't necessarily know what this meant, the older ones started shifting their plans, adjusting their schemes. The power of the Gremory house is a massive boon to devil kind as a whole and a major bonus to devil society. With it now in the hands of a current powerful heir, the power balance is likely to shift in the days to come.
It was also revealed that she lived in the Sin Lands for the past decade and achieved ultimate class strength. While that spectrum is vast, devils in the know understood very well that this information wouldn't be publicized unless she was at least in the upper-middle tier of strength. Combine that with the powers of prophecy and destruction and the Gremory household had just received a massive power increase. Considering her age, her potential is still blossoming, so further power increases were likely. The uppermost echelons marked her down as a likely super devil like her brother. Considering she's stronger than he was at that age, it's not unlikely. Furthermore, her experience gleaned from a decade's worth of life-threatening danger would serve her well in any future combat scenarios.
The last bit of news was the death match between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex. No one was surprised about this. Most heirs would do the same, were they in her position. The part that took most observers by surprise was the fact that Riser hasn't withdrawn his bid for marriage. Surely, he didn't think he could win. For those that knew him well though, they could only shake their heads. A combination of excessive pride, lack of experience, and ignorance of the true potential of the power of prophecy in defying known conventions would lead him to his death. It was almost certain.
Phenex Estate
Lady Phenex was pacing around her rather large room. They were in trouble. They were seriously in trouble. She was expecting a rating game would be the worst situation she would have to plan for. She wasn't expecting this.
The girl who ran away a decade ago has returned with ludicrous demonic power and the power that made her house famous. That's not counting the vast experience she's likely gained with using the power of destruction her brother's famous for. Riser may pass her off as a sham, but she knew better. Her senses were multiple times sharper than his and she could tell that rather than mid-ultimate class being a fake, it was actually just a smaller fraction of a larger whole sealed under what appeared to be a multi-layered seal likely represented by those tomoe marks on the back of her right hand.
'I need to find a way of forfeiting the game without having my son killed. He may be an ass, but he can still change. He still has time to grow up!' her mother's optimism shining through, she continued to pace around considering various options she may have to save her son.
'Stopping the games are impossible and the decision of death is up to the winner.' Solemnly she looked out the window and towards the moon.
'There is one option. Let's just hope Riser stalls long enough for me to invoke it.' She thought as her gaze became more and more resolute.
'I better get my affairs in order.' As she finished this last though, she started toward her study. There are things she would need filled out in advance to minimize the disruption to the house should a tragedy occur.
Ruins of the Capitol (Land of Gluttony) (2 Days Later)
Stepping out of her cerulean teleportation circle, Rias walked toward the site that used to house the emperor's chambers. Looking around, she sighed.
'This place used to be the capitol of sin. A place that makes the Ars Goetia settlements look tamer than human cities. How fitting that it would end in such a tragedy'. Unlike her future pillars, she was glad that this place is gone. It was a festering cesspool and she'd rather the culture not spread further than this city. She's made sure to keep that to herself though, sensitivity and all.
A minute of walking later she raises two orbs or destruction in two distinct directions. Her power of prophecy warning her of the danger. Clapping can be heard in a crescendo as two figures walk closer to her, Akame and Esdeath.
Akame is a young girl with long black hair that reaches down to her knees and red eyes. She wears a dark sleeveless tank top with a white collar and a red tie; she wears a red belt that has a red side skirt cover over a black, pleated skirt. She also wears long black socks and black shoes, red gauntlets and black gloves. Strapped to her side is her weapon of choice Murasame, a katana known to spread a killing curse with every cut. Unless the affected wound is removed the curse can quickly spread to the whole of the body.
Esdeath is a tall, beautiful, and slender woman with long, light blue hair and blue eyes. She's wearing white General's apparel with long sleeves with buttons on the upper arms, a blue scarf on her neck, and high-heeled boots. She also has a tattoo on her chest, which is the sign of her power demon extract; Demon Extract was a glob of concentrated demon essence-blood that grants Esdeath the ability to manipulate ice to absurd levels. The craziest feat she performed last time Rias saw her was to freeze time for a brief instance. Ridiculous.
Smiling Rias lunges at both of them, wrapping them in a hug.
"I missed you two." Her smile brightening with every passing second. "How have you been?"
Blushing, Esdeath stares at Rias's blushing face. 'So innocent. Is this what I've been searching for. Power, kindness, deadliness, innocence, and beauty all wrapped into one package?' Nodding to herself, Esdeath moved to return the hug. 'Time will tell.'
"It's been a while Rias" Esdeath stated with a large smile. "We're going to need to spar soon to make sure you haven't gotten rusty." Rias nodded.
"I agree, but it'll have to wait till after tomorrow. I have a death match with a chicken." Esdeath snickered.
Akame didn't think much of it, she just returned the hug. Both of them owed Rias their lives after being saved from the angry Dragon that burned their home.
"It's nice seeing you again Rias" Akame stated quietly.
After catching up for another 30 minutes Rias got to the main point.
"Akame, Esdeath. I've recently come across the means to bind people to me by making them Demon God Pillars."
Esdeath's eyebrows raised, her mouth hanging open for a good while.
"You did what! How? What would we need to do?" It really wasn't necessary for her to wait for Rias to ask the question, the fact that they were having this discussion in this form made the question pretty obvious. What surprised her more was the achievement of attaining this ability. Rias just admitted to having the potential to create her own demon/devil society, her own ideal paradise. If word got out, pandemonium would be the least of what could happen. Truly Rias' self-given last name was once again well earned, Pandemos indeed. That said, she was truly looking forward to the future with this news. All that was left was to learn the pros and cons of this arrangement.
Akame's thought process was a little simpler. She owed Rias for saving her life and she truly had nothing better to use her life for. Her whole existence had been spent in the service of others. Knowing the good Rias could do with her power, her agreement was a given.
"Through a series of prophetic journeys and karmic riddles, I became a Demon Goddess, but unlike Lucifer who achieved his through absorbing the Biblical God's darkness, I achieved mine through inheriting the mantle of Keeper of the Akashic Records."
Rias stated with pride, her joy could be felt from a distance. "Basically, I won't lose myself to darkness like my ancestor. We can really build an ideal paradise without worrying about becoming too evil."
Hearing this the two former residents of the empire smiled at her enthusiasm. This was actually a dream they shared. Building a kingdom where people can live in without worrying about being picked on by the aristocracy. A kingdom where people of all walks of life can enjoy. While Esdeath's talents leaned more toward the militaristic side of development, Akame's lean more toward information gathering, espionage, assassination, etc. Between the two of them the defense of the future kingdom was already looking good. Admittedly, Esdeath only came around to this realization in the final months of the empire's existence. Were it not for Rias's frequent battles and discussions with her at the time, she would've likely remained entrenched in her obsession with strength and death, another thing to be grateful for.
"Alright here's the deal with becoming a Demon God Pillar" Rias began. "First you must sign a contract similar to a familiar contract with myself. Essentially, your essence and life force will be tied to mine. This will mean that you can only die when I do or when I intentionally release you from service; this would cause you to regain your mortality and age from your current age to your deaths. In addition, due to this merger, you will become demons. The changes won't be immediate, but you will develop some minor changes. Mine are the obvious examples. This will also spark the development of a pillar ability, a unique skill that will be exclusively yours. This ability will be passed down to future generations in a weakened form similar to how devils pass down their family's pillar abilities. The full ability will also be integrated in it's full form into myself, though my version will change to suit me. The only downside I can think of is the potential for the natural compulsion that comes with having your core essence stored inside of myself. This will likely lead to a desire to serve me being cultivated inside of yourself by that bond. That should be everything," Rias explained clinically. She felt that she owed the two the full explanation considering the potential ramifications for this decision.
"So immortality, stronger powers, strong descendants and eternal servitude." Esdeath mulled it over for a second, then snapped her gaze toward Rias, causing her to flinch.
"Do you know if you're able to make descendants with females? I've heard female demons could do that." Esdeath continued as Rias' eyes widened.
"I guess I should be able to do that, there definitely seems to be plenty of methods to achieve it within my authority as Demon Goddess" Rias said with her index finger on her lips as she contemplated the possibilities. She was very clear on what was really being asked. It's something she expected. What better companions for an eternal being than their pillars, their life-long companions in the most literal sense?
"Good! Then I accept." Esdeath stated finally.
"I accept as well. Truthfully, my decision was made when you first mentioned the ability." Akame added.
"Great! Now think of something that defines your self. A personal characteristic, weapon or skill or all of the above. From what I've gathered the ability will form itself accordingly." She stated as she raised her hands, palm facing up. Two glowing spheres of Black-cerulean energy appeared above them. Next Rias, pushed them into her two new pillars, one each. Light bloomed from their forms as they were cocooned in a web of light. Seeing as they were becoming extensions of herself, she willed the cocoons to shrink to the size of marbles and absorbed them. This would also facilitate forming her connection with their essence and their new powers.
From her estimation, it is likely that Esdeath's ability will be focused on empowering her ice to be able to affect things like space, time, and other similar concepts. Rias could already feel that ability integrating with her power of destruction. Akame's seemed like it was revolving around integrating the killing curse from Murasame into herself and controlling it. She could feel the curse bleed into her cells, making her body inherently toxic. She would have to learn to control the distribution of the curse in the future. Especially if procreation was in her future, which from Esdeath's question, it seemed it was.
Shaking her head, Rias looked one final time at the ruins of the capitol.
"Things are sure getting interesting….." Following that, she teleported back to her room in Gremory Manor.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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