Chapter 101: Chapter 101: The senate cowers in fear
"Hm, hm…" Miki Hyoudou walked amidst the bodies of the dead and dying.
She paused beside a man with leathery wings sticking out of his back, and who had a hole the size of a football in his abdomen. The man was dying and was muttering something, so Miki went ahead and put a wet towel on his head.
The man lost consciousness instantly.
"Ah, lady Hyoudou- No, ahem, teacher… please remember which towels have been blessed and which have just regular water in them…" A voice came from the side and Miki turned her head to look at one of her protegees, who had a number 'three' on the side of her temple.
The tall, lithe maid had wings sticking out of her back, and she was hovering her hand above a woman with leathery wings and who had lost both of her arms. The maid muttered something about healing, and the armless woman was imbued with some sort of light before her arms returned to normal.
"Hm, this is somewhat complicated it seems…" Miki nodded and swapped the towels on the unconscious man's head, causing him to let out a miserable whine as he woke back up. "These guys are… odd. Hm, thank you for teaching me. I suppose our roles have been reversed."
"The circle is now complete. When we left the human world, I was but a pupil. Now, I am the master! Er… teacher?" The maid motioned as if she had a sword, and Miki sighed.
"Haa, I shouldn't have let you watch movies… They are corrupting the youth's morals…" Miki hugged herself in despair. "My 'perfect maid harem project to recover Issei' is in shambles…"
"S-sorry, teacher…" The winged maid looked depressed, as far as the mostly emotionless maids could look, so Miki reached to pat the woman's head. Even if she had to tiptoe to reach it.
"Anyway, Gorou-kuuun… Stop slacking!" Miki moved to shake her husband awake as he had taken a place among the unconscious winged men, and was in much the same state.
The salaryman-looking Japanese man shook awake and rubbed his eyes.
He then looked around the sky of the Underworld, then at the rows and rows of dead, wounded, dying and unconscious people, paled to the complexity of a sheet of paper, and fell unconscious again.
"Sheesh, what a sleepyhead… Oh, coming!" Miki shook her head while she had her hands on her hips, before one of the numbered maids waved her hand that she had procured more healing supplies that Miki could use on the less injured people.
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A teacup shook in Lady Phenix's hands as she looked at the emergency broadcast from a cozy lounge to where she had relocated after the Three Faction's defectors, or at least defectors in case of devils, had returned to Human World.
One of the servants of the Phenix family had gotten Lady Phenix proper tea as opposed to the plaster-dust-mud that she had been drinking until that point due to the… unpleasant… circumstances where she had been tossed into. However, even the smooth consistency and delicious fragrance of the Underworld's teas couldn't stop her shaking.
The sight in the emergency broadcast had forced Lady Phenix to put the cup down as her foolish, brave, but honorable to the end ex-husband made his decision to save not only Lady Phenix, but also Ravel, and also possibly the entire Underworld by choosing to side with the 'defectors'.
After all, Lady Phenix knew that the Underworld's 'noble' populace wouldn't be enough to stand against united Fallen and Heavens factions, even more so if Momon and his cult joined forces with them.
She had no illusions that the killbox would be enough to execute all of the 'defectors', as she had been the one who had prepared the killzone in the first place- In case 'The Supreme Being' attacked Momon's estate she had bought for Momon and Rias as a wedding gift (and to control where exactly they were at all times so she could use Rias as a hostage against Sirzechs in case he got uppity over Riser betraying them all, and tried to go after Phenix house).
However, it was clear that even if the killbox failed, the Pillars expected Phenix clan to destroy the 'invaders' in Underworld… And so, her dear ex-husband had defected himself and the entire Phenix clan to the side of the defectors and the two heavenly factions.
It was a massive gamble, since that move would also turn the Phenix clan into an enemy of the Underworld, like the Supreme Being. Which would then be likely combined with the initial 'introduction' of the Supreme Being to draw a conclusion that Phenix was either working with or for the Supreme Being…. Assuming Momon was killed or chose to abandon Phenix house.
After all, Momon's cult had gained widespread attention and draw after demonstrating that they could heal the sick and injured, and resurrect the dead. Which, when combined with the fact Phoenix Tears were the premiere healing item of the Underworld, meant that for any devil seeking aid that the conventional medicine or surgery couldn't heal, they had to turn to Momon for aid. And in doing so, become drafted into the cult.
Lady Phenix had looked at the buildup from the side, slotting the events in place in her head, and dreading the conclusion… And now it was here.
Her brave, foolish, honorable ex-husband was dead. She had sacrificed Ravel and herself to Momon to resurrect him, and he had died for them in turn- To declare the Phenix clan's allegiance to 'True God', and killed the old Pillars.
Lady Phenix could already see that the new heads of the Pillars, drawn from the heirs of the noble house, would be either conflicted or outright frightful of Momon and his power, as despite the fact all of the Young Devils were High-Class devils, none of them were even nearly powerful enough to rival Momon or his allies within Fallen and Heavens.
And thus it was likely that, unless Maous managed to take down Momon and expel the intruding feather-winged factions from the Underworld, the 'new Pillars' would seek a truce, peace, or outright subservience to Momon… Or be unwilling to compromise their pride and die in Momon's hands.
In other words, Lady Phenix realized that Phenix clan would reign supreme amongst the Pillars, and more importantly not be eradicated for turning their backs on the old Pillars, as long as Momon fought and won against the Maous.
Serafall had already fallen in combat against Momon, and even though she still lived, her 'value' in the eyes of the devil populace had fallen quite low due to her crushing defeat. Even to the point Lady Phenix had heard that there were rumors about searching for a new candidate to take the mantle of 'Leviathan'.
In other words, only Beelzebub, Asmodeus and Sirzechs remained to oppose Momon. Of course, if Momon managed to defeat Sirzechs, who was recognized to be the strongest of the Maous...
And just when Lady Phenix had thought about it, the windows of the cozy lounge had exploded with the force of a wail of anger from somewhere in the distance.
What had followed had been… Unusual.
'...For Beelzebub-sama to betray Sirzechs… Just what is happening in the Underworld?' Lady Phenix felt as if her head was starting to resemble a worn, rusty gearbox- But more than that, the whole thought about the political scheming was just her attempt to cope with the fact Lord Phenix had died again- And that this time she didn't have anything to bribe Momon with in order to get him resurrected. "Hubby…"
She lifted her hand to her face and wiped at the thick stream of tears and snot that were flowing from her eyes and nose, utterly unbecoming of a noble lady… Yet, she knew that she was a noble lady no longer, as she was from a political point of view just a minor concubine of an adopted son of a noble family.
In other words, she was little more than leftovers or trash.
Lady Phenix was a high-class devil by her blood, but since her clan had died during the civil war, she had no 'noble family' to back her up, meaning that if Momon chose to discard her then she'd be little more than a houseless devil, a step above a Stray but nothing else.
Indeed, Ravel had become the Lady of the House as soon as Lord Phenix had died, by the sole fact of being the last remaining pure-blooded heir of Phenix house.
And then she remembered the declaration Lord Bael had made in the emergency broadcast, before Lord Phenix had charged the Pillars, that Phenix house were all Strays already. And even if the decision was overturned by the new Pillars, the shame and stigma would not go away and thusly it was likely that Momon would discard Phenix house, adopt a new name for himself, and reign supreme over the new Pillars while Phenix house were relegated to little more than servants of the 'True God's cult.
It was also possible that Momon would discard Ravel as she would have become unsightly baggage for him in the eyes of the new Pillars, dragging him down from the position he could assume, perhaps even high as the new Grand King.
... If Momon managed to play his cards, anyway, as despite being 'human-born', the strength he had displayed and the influence he had on the heavenly factions meant that Underworld's nobles did not want to get on Momon's bad side. However, if Momon approached the issue too heavy-handedly he'd cause the old noble faction to rebel, as they would likely choose death over servitude. And in doing so, could potentially cripple Underworld out of spite during their 'exit'.
And while Lady Phenix didn't think Momon was a cold or overly cruel person, from what little he had gathered of his nature, it was clear that he was coldly logical so hoping that he had gained an affection for Ravel which would stay his hand and keep him from discarding her if it suited him, was foolish at best.
Which would in turn mean that if Momon chose to take over the Underworld in a fluid and simple fashion, Raven and Lady Phenix would both become little more than servants for the 'Cult', and likely be used as both servant-managers and as 'flesh service personnel' for the cultists, as she had not been blind to the teachings of the 'angel' who preached to the choir in an area that had essentially been Lady Phenix's back yard and garden.
A shaky breath escaped Lady Phenix's lips as she gripped her teacup with desperate fingers, her eyes unseeing and heart growing still and quiet alongside her mind.
She knew she had lost everything but Ravel, and she was likely to lose Ravel as well soon, from the way the current trajectory of Momon's political career looked to progress.
She felt tired.
Her body felt as if it was made of lead, and her thoughts were heavy and sluggish, almost as if she was about to fall asleep.
But she felt that it was heavier than mere sleep- More final.
Her eyes closed...
"Ahahaha…" And a faint laughter brough Lady Phenix's mind momentarily back from the darkness that had threatened to envelop her.
She looked to the side to see that Ravel had entered the room at some point during Lady Phenix's internal monologue, and had sat next to her.
The girl put her head on Lady Phenix's lap, and she began stroking her daughter's head absentmindedly. "Ravel… Did you watch the broadcast… did you see Sirzechs-sama… his…"
"Oh? That Lord Momon ordered his pawn to sacrifice himself for 'the sake of the Underworld'?" Ravel practically chuckled while speaking oddly. "Or that Sirzechs-sama played the role of a jester to the letter, and perished at the climax of the act, betrayed by all he held dear?"
"R-Ravel… What are you saying?" Lady Phenix's strokes of Ravel's hair turned stiff and mechanical.
"Kuku, that 'dad', or rather, a puppet that Momon-sama decided to bring into being that resembled dad, sacrificed himself to grant Momon-sama the world?" Ravel muttered easily, and then turned on her mother's lap so Lady Phenix saw the maniacal, insane expression on her dear daughter's face.
Lady Phenix felt her heart stop beating for a moment as she looked at Ravel's expression which had tear-streaks mixed with mascara and an insane smile mixed with wild, open eyes that looked at the same time victorious and horrified.
"Ravel- Talk to me, what are you trying to say?!" Lady Phenix felt concern and fear grip her gut as she started to analyze what Ravel had just said-
"Kuku, isn't it obvious? Momon is the Supreme Being. No, he was the Supreme Being all along, from the very start." Ravel's chuckle was choked as she was shivering and choking on her tears at the same time. "This was merely the time for the puppet that was occupying dad's corpse to expire. Like when He ordered my brothers to die, one for inconveniencing him and thus Riser became a undead thrall for Him, and two to teach a lesson to that hateful bitch, Lady Sitri, for daring to include a clause in her contract for my brothers to be required to attempt to cuck Momon-sama..."
"R-Ravel!" Lady Phenix felt strength leave her legs as she contemplated the words that had left Ravel's mouth. "That-!"
"...Yet, all life and death are just tools for him to command… Kukuku… How horrifying…" Ravel reached up to stroke Lady Phenix's face as she had grown utterly still. "Can you see it, mom? What sort of monster has made a nest in our home, and has crept into our beds at night?"
"You… If that's… Momon… No…" Lady Phenix was starting to see the comparison, and while she had not paid much attention to Momon's 'nature', as she knew that he turned undead when he died and that he had powers that could be attributed to 'God', she had been at first too busy with the Phenix house to look deeper into the enigma, and when he had saved Ravel and resurrected Lord Phenix, she had been too busy trying to rekindle her relationship with her ex-husband to look deeper into Momon.
"Kukukuku… That expression… You're starting to see, no?" Ravel let her hand fall to Lady Phenix's bust. "You see what sort of monster prowled by our side, clad in the cloth of a saviour and hiding the despicable tyrant of skulls… You must be still thinking about Pillars, conventional politics and whatnot… Momon does not care about that. If something strikes his fancy, he'll take it. If something gets his way, he'll destroy it. The old Pillars learned that, and if the new Pillars choose to raise their voices against Him, they too will follow their predecessors to the grave… That is the way of the Supreme Being."
"We- we need to…" Lady Phenix had wanted to say 'we need to report this to the Maous!', but before she managed to speak the words, she was hit by the realization that Momon had defeated Serafall by himself, and had somehow manipulated Beelzebub into betraying Sirzechs.
In other words, the main 'force' of the Underworld's defenders was already either subservient, defeated by, or thralled by Momon. And even if she went and tried to convince some of the other factions that resided in Phenix territory, she was but a concubine who had lost her ex-husband and her sons, and her words had the importance and meaning equal to droning of scarabs when compared to the heroic image Momon had forged.
"Who… who told you this? How did you learn about this? Why haven't you told anyone else?" Lady Phenix stammered at Ravel, and Ravel's smirk deepened.
"I tried to tell everyone when I learned about it, no? Do you remember, when 'Momon' 'rescued' me from his 'servant'?" Ravel sounded outright insane. "I tried to tell everyone, I tried to warn everyone, but everyone was too enamoured by Momon-sama's 'heroism' that they discarded what I had to say… And when I approached him personally to slay him, to protect you, and to end his threat to the Underworld- no, to all creation…"
Lady Phenix felt faint while her head started to spin when Ravel began detailing the experiences of the night when she had attempted to ambush Momon in his bed, and the ambush had been turned on its head… And in the end, had resulted in Ravel becoming Momon's woman.
And then Ravel spoke of Momon revealing himself to Ravel, when Serafall was present, and when he spoke of his 'true self', and finally broke Ravel's sensibilities by proposing to her...
"...I… I don't… This cannot be… Hubby…" Lady Phenix realized that she had been played, that she had been a mere tool in His plan, that she had been manipulated so thoroughly that she hadn't even realized what was going on in her family, when it had fallen apart so rapidly and brutally.
"Kukuku, dad is no more… After all, he must have seen a useful pawn in him, and now was the time for 'dad' to expire… And perhaps, you have caught his eye, and dad needed to be disposed of since He must have known you'd be loyal to dad as long as he lived..." Ravel stroked Lady Phenix's side. "After all, do you believe for a second that a master of webs like Momon would have you turned into a concubine for no reason?"
"I… That was something I offered, in my desperation…" Lady Phenix's mouth was dry and she felt strength evaporate from her body like steam.
"Did you, now? Or was it just Momon's influence over you, subtly egging you to speak words you yourself thought were yours, but in reality were but twitches of a marionette on strings?" Ravel lifted herself up and sat bow-legged on Lady Phenix's lap so that the two were looking at each other. "Did you rebel against your fate? Or did Momon just decide for you, and you played along to the invisible tune?"
"That… There's no way…"
"Momon can read thoughts, you know. Even the ones you have in your head right now. Did you for a moment think that you could have secrets?" Ravel purred while she came even closer to her mother, and their breasts pushed against each other's. "Submit to your fate… Like I have."
"Ravel…"
"We cannot win against the Supreme Being, and… I… I don't want to lose you too… Dad… Riser… Ruval… Nii-samas… All of them… are gone..." Ravel's headstrong facade crumbled into tears and snot running down her face, and she buried her face into Lady Phenix's chest. "Please, mom… please… Submit to Him, please don't anger Him… I donthwannah… idonthwannaloseyoushtoo…"
Lady Phenix felt as if her body had turned to lead as she reached to hug Ravel back, and stroked her hair which had come loose at some point and was flowing down the girl's back like a golden waterfall. "Ravel, but… Your brothers… Hubby..."
"What does it matter anymore… Momon-sama controls all... " Ravel muttered into Lady Phenixs's breasts. "If he so chooses, he can bring them back at the flick of a wrist, or send them back to ground with the same motion… All that matters is that we are something that Momon-sama would cherish, no, we can never reach that height… We need to be at least something he'd value above trash… He has already decided to keep me, or at least have me as his slave… But you're still wavering, mom… Your loyalties are with dad, so when the moment comes… I… I can't beg Momon-sama to reconsider for your sake when your heart is astray, so please… please, mom, submit to him..."
"Ravel…" Lady Phenix hugged Ravel harder while she ran her hands down Ravel's back and allowed the girl to cry to her chest. 'If… if what she says is correct… And since Momon has been resurrecting the devils, angels and Fallen…'
She would most definetely not be 'submitting' to one who had caused her such pain, one who had murdered her husband and sons, and had betrayed Lady Phenix's trust and contract by 'resurrecting' a fake Lord Phenix to replace the one Momon had killed.
Instead, she would do as Ravel suggested, and put up an air of submission while keeping her eyes out for chances to have Momon in debt to her, and then use that debt to see if she could trick Momon into resurrecting her sons and husband for real. Possibly even by seducing Momon and seeing if she could make Him fall for her- After all, Momon had already asked Lady Phenix to become a mother to his children.
While Lady Phenix was unsure just how deeply Momon was interested in older women, she was confident in her looks and figure, and felt confident that she could use the combination of that with her experience to potentially dazzle Momon, or at least give her time to enact her plan-
"Mom… No…" Ravel shook like a leaf while she looked up at Lady Phenix, and her eyes were full of fear and terror. "No, no… Please, no! Don't- Please don't! I can tell… Your body language, you're thinking of resisting Him! He can tell what you think even clearer than you yourself can formulate those thoughts, any plan you'd make would only be a tool for him to torment you until He feels like disposing of you! Please don't make Him do that! Please… Don't make me experience that again… I don't want to be alone..."
"I-" Lady Phenix blinked. 'Was… Was I always that easy to see through? Or was Ravel always this sharp?'
"Please, tonight… Please, no plans, no plots, just… Go to Momon-sama, and tell him that you are his… If you don't… If you become his foe at this stage- No, if you even annoy him at this stage... 'Dad' is gone, so I'm the lady of the house, so you have no use for him! If you draw his ire now…!" Ravel cried desperately to Lady Phenix's bust. "Mom… Please… Don't do this to me… You're the only family I have left… Please…!"
Lady Phenix felt thoroughly shaken as the whole picture was starting to become more and more clear to her- And when she combined what Ravel spoke about to Momon's strength and the odd random coincidences that seemed to pile up to always cause Momon to end up as the victor… And with him being potentially able to read minds from incredible ranges...
She was starting to realize just how horrifyingly dangerous and intelligent Momon was.
Lady Phenix hugged Ravel harder against her chest, feeling the instinctive urge to protect her daughter, warring with her own fear.
"Thank you, mom…" Ravel muttered to her chest as she felt Lady Phenix stiffen up, and likely deduced the reason.
Lady Phenix felt more frightened than ever.
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Yasaka of Shinto, the Kyuubi of Kyoto, put her hand down on an ornately carved table after she had relocated herself to one of the myriad of lounges in Phenix castle-manor.
Her retainers, at least those who had survived anyway, were milling about outside the lounge and were interrogating service staff who strayed near and Yasaka had requested a pile of snacks from the servants after the retainers had captured one and brought her to the lounge.
The servants had delivered on the demand, and Yasaka had quickly checked the snacks for signs of poison or some such before handing the snacks over to Kunou who purred adorably before starting to stuff herself with the treats, making her resemble a hamster for a moment with her cheeks puffed.
Yasaka meanwhile used the sudden collapse of the anti-teleportation field and communication blocking to cast a magical circle with her contact in Kyoto to get a report of what was happening in the Human World.
"...And that concludes the report, Lady Yasaka." A voice of one of the geishas Yasaka had around her in Kyoto came through the circle. Of course, the geisha were not mere servants, but rather elite cadre of kitsune that Yasaka had kept around her in Kyoto ever since the disastrous battle in Kuoh, where Serafall had attacked Azazel and Kokabiel.
It had been fortunate as she had done so, as the raised level of alertness had foiled one abduction attempt on her person by a shadowy human organization, but she had been forced to leave the geisha to Kyoto as it'd be of bad taste to bring what were effectively disguised assassins to a peace meeting. 'Hm… So the proxy I temporarily induced in Kyoto is holding up and the ley-lines aren't unraveling because a Kyuubi is not present there… I'll have to get that kitsune a long vacation after this is all over. I'm surprised that she managed to keep the ley-lines stable...'
Moreover, from what Yasaka had learned from the report, it was clear that the Human World was in shambles. But the contingencies the Youkai had prepared were holding them somewhat stable even though the humans were either starting to wage wars against each other in their paranoia, or were attempting to organize themselves against the sudden reappearance of so many mystical species, gods, or whatnot.
The sky in the Human World was somewhat lit by a black hole's accretion disk, but the Youkai were uncertain on just how long it'd last, or what would happen long-term from the presence of such an anomaly- However, the disk had started to glow brighter for some reason until it had reached a level of light that was oddly higher than what the sun had produced, yet didn't provide as much warmth.
In short, the Youkai faction were coping, but thanks to being largely not present during the scrap in Kuoh like the Norse, and thanks to having extensive pacts among them, the Youkai faction were faring much better than many other pantheons and mythical factions of the world.
The fact Amaterasu had disappeared was somewhat expected thanks to the state of the sun, but at the moment Yasaka had more pressing issues than chasing after the Shinto pantheon's sun-god, as while she was the high-priest of the Shinto Gods, she also held the mantle of responsibility for her people.
And right now, she was facing a massive crossroad.
On one hand, she could return to Kyoto and lead her people. But with the sun being a black hole, and the Human World in a direct course to ruin and destruction, she wasn't sure just how much she could do for her people that wasn't done by her lieutenants already.
Yes, she could feed her power to the faction's ley-lines and probably immensely easen the workload of many of the lieutenants, but it was likely that in the end the result would be more or less the same. All she could do about the sun was damage control on the scale of Japan, at best, which would be nowhere near enough to prevent a catastrophe on the scale of the world.
However, there was another option.
That was, the sudden appearance of God of the Three Factions. And instead of being solely aligned to Heavens, He seemed to be aligned to all three factions. And had more or less managed to unify all three factions around himself.
Not to mention, from what she had gathered, this 'Momon' as He had chosen to call himself, had killed Cthulhu and was all around incredibly powerful.
It wasn't unusual for gods to be powerful to the extreme, but she knew that Outer Beings were absurdly powerful to the point of being literally unimaginably powerful due to their power transcending knowledge and understanding themselves.
The Outer Beings existence was only known to the strongest among earth-bound factions and pantheons, and with all of them having a common ruling to never, ever mention much less contact the Outer Beings.
Yet, Momon had killed one of them, from what he claimed. She had sent from her retainers alongside the angels to Kuoh in order to 'help' the angels in recovering the bodies of the fallen, or rather to give Yasaka an eye on the surface, and the retainers reported that the city had a vaguely humanoid-shaped crater that was roughly the shape of the nightmarish creature that had besieged the city, and that the creature responsible for said crater was nowhere to be seen.
While it was possible that Momon was lying or bluffing, she didn't believe that to be the case as while she hadn't seen Cthilhu fall, she had seen Momon perform feats of power that left little room to question his strength- Such as banishing the army of the Dark Young with one fell blow.
Moreover, thanks to more or less taking place as the leader of Three Factions, Momon had access to the realm of Heavens, which was likely affected by the death of the human world, but more importantly Momon had access to the dimension that devils had appropriated when the original Devil had been exiled from Heavens, creating the race.
And the Underworld's dimension looked to be quite separated from the Human World.
In other words, the Underworld would be a safe haven while the Human World experienced cataclysm that might eventually stabilize, or worsen to create an inhospitable dust ball.
With the unification of Three Factions it wasn't a huge stretch to hope that the Underworld could house people other than just devils, fallen and Angels, specifically considering the rumors she had heard of the True God and the cult around it.
Or even more specifically, that the only requirement to 'enter' the Cult of the True God was faith to the true god, without discrimination for race or origin. Although from what she had gathered having a healthy libido was seen as a plus.
So, if Yasaka managed to ally herself with Momon, she could potentially use the Underworld as a refuge for her people until the Human World either stabilized or the situation worsened and the refuge would be turned to permanent settlement.
She looked over at Kunou and reached to scratch her head, drawing a content purr from the girl who had stuffed herself full and was looking like she'd fall asleep in a moment. "Mommy… I wanna see daddy again…"
"Hm… hm…" Yasaka hummed calmly to Kunou while scratching her behind the fox-ears and stroking her hair, and the small kitsune began to doze off.
Yasaka guided Kunou to a couch, where the daughter curled into an adorable-looking ball with her nine tails wrapped around her body, and the Kyuubi of Kyoto withdrew to let Kunou sleep peacefully.
'Hm… Kunou seems to like Momon… and with that talk about 'daddy'... Hm…' Yasaka of course knew that Momon was not the one who had sired Kunou.
The one responsible for the child was long gone, as he had left Yasaka after the political deal which had led to the marriage in the first place had unraveled. She hadn't searched for the man after the divorce, as neither of the participants had truly wished to be with each other, albeit the fact the union had produced Kunou was something that Yasaka would forever cherish.
Yet, Kunou's reaction to Momon opened another door for Yasaka.
She was not a stranger to arranged marriages, nor political marriages. It wouldn't be her first, and she suspected that it wouldn't be her last in her long life as the Kyuubi.
She had suspected that if she engaged herself in a political marriage when Kunou was still young the young kitsune's thinking might become distorted, but the fact Kunou seemed to like Momon and consider him her father, it was possible that Yasaka could engage herself to Momon and thus gain power by proxy to have her people resettled into the Underworld.
While the Underworld was vast, it was quite sparsely populated after the civil war.
And thus, even if some of the devils objected, as long as Yasaka had Momon's backing as her husband she could more or less just ignore the devils, brute force the resettling, and save her people that way.
Even more so if she allowed the 'cult of the True God' to spread among her people alongside the Shinto religion, giving her people, devils, angels and fallen a common language, so to speak.
'Hm… hm. So, I have my work cut out for me… I'll just have to make sure that Momon is a good father as well. I won't stand it if he's a child abuser and locks his eyes to Kunou, no matter how useful a political marriage with him could be...' Yasaka nodded to herself as she withdrew from the lounge and instructed the retainers waiting outside to keep Kunou safe at all costs. '...I heard through the rumor grapevine that Rias Gremory and some other Young Devils married Momon in the Underworld… In other words, he is married already. However, the number of brides tells me that he is polyamerous, which means that I have a considerably high chance to seduce him, as long as I avoid his other wives and approach him directly… '
'Moreover, depending on how much he is influenced by his current wives, it might be necessary to wedge myself between him and his current wives...' The thought of more or less stealing Momon from his current wives did not sit well with Yasaka, but she steeled her heart.
There was no cruelty she couldn't commit if it meant a brighter future for Kunou, and for her people.
.
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'Hm… So, Phoenix tears don't help against allergy to pollen.' Momonga sighed as he put an empty vial back to his inventory after having a quick sneezing fit and trying to 'cure' it in a resource-effective way. 'Or I wonder if it's just because it's made of my own tears? I should probably ask Ravel for some… Although, asking a girl to cry for me over something minor as that doesn't really feel appropriate...'
He had left Serafall, Sona, Grayfia and Baraqiel to the balcony in the Phenix castle-manor alongside the ice-cream treats, figuring that he needed to give all three of the women some space, and he didn't really feel like lugging Baraqiel's body around so he had just left them there and had asked Sona if she would be comfortable looking after the two other women and the unconscious man.
In a whisper, of course, as he didn't want to accidentally annoy Serafall as her period seemed to be affecting her quite badly since she was alternating between crying, glooming, wailing miserably, eating ice-cream, and then repeating from the start.
"Haa…" Momonga sighed like an old man while he contemplated his current options while walking around aimlessly in the empty halls of Phenix manor. 'I suppose I should check up on Rias and Ravel… Sona seems to be doing alright… But before that...'
He contemplated sending the crow he had created with [Lead of Yatagarasu] to find out what had happened to the Overlord Wiseman he had created. But the phrase 'A criminal always returns to the scene of crime' echoed in his head, making him hesitate. After all, him looking for intel in a way that also revealed his true nature would defeat the whole point of it. '...Yet, the fact that the Overlord Wiseman died, means that some strong enemy has found me out… Come to think of it, Sirzechs screamed something about finding who I am, but then spouted stuff about… Hastur? Wasn't that the hidden boss in Outer Gods expansion of YGGDRASIL?'
He wondered about the odd 'revelation' for a while and about the odd way Beelzebub had literally appeared from thin air and stabbed Sirzechs in the back before running off and disappearing. 'Sirzechs thought that I was Hastur, for some reason? I… don't really understand what happened for him to draw that conclusion… I'll have to straighten him out the next time I see him. Assuming that he's still alive- The [Detect Life] showed his 'health' go from huge to something that was a bit more than a 'regular' devil, and then to zero when Beelzebub hit him in the back… But I don't think Beelzebub would just outright kill one of his fellow Maous? That seems quite unreasonable...'
The fact Beelzebub had an ability like that made Momonga quite wary and so he kept his guard up. 'It's like the [Divide] that Vali used, except that unlike halving, it just straight up reduced Sirzechs's power to a tiny portion… Scary…'
Momonga sighed. 'There are so many broken, unreasonable abilities in this world… I can't afford to let my guard slip even for a moment…'
He cast a widened [Detect Life], spotted a health-sign that roughly matched Rias's, and set off to find her.
Momonga eventually reached a door, opened it, and looked inside.
Rias was sitting on the floor of the lounge like a doll whose strings had been cut, and was looking out of a shattered window with wide, unseeing eyes.
Akeno had frozen utterly still, yet she turned her head towards Momonga with slow, mechanical motions as she heard someone open the door.
The rest of Momonga's Peerage were present as well, with the exception of Asia and Gasper who Momonga guessed were in the infirmary, and Rossweisse who technically now belonged to Momonga's Peerage due to his impulsive, wrathful action in the Human World.
He didn't know where Rossweisse was, and if Momonga was honest with himself, he didn't care much since the woman's betrayal and the death of his unborn child still caused him all sorts of feelings.
And Momonga knew that if he thought more about it, without [Emotion Suppression] to help him cope with the loss, he'd likely do something stupid and possibly either blow his cover or bother something dangerous and die.
Moreover, there was a woman with black hair and equally black cat-ears sticking out of her head, and she was sitting on a couch alone with the Peerage members surrounding her in a half-circle. It looked as if Momonga's Peerage had been interrogating Kuroka, but the interrogation had come to a halt when Sirzechs had attacked the Phenix estate.
Kuroka spotted Momonga, and her eyes lost focus, her face lost colour, and white foam started to pour down her mouth as if she was a rabid animal or if she was mind-shatteringly afraid for some reason.
Koneko took a look at Kuroka who looked like she'd have a stroke if Momonga looked at her for a moment longer, then the white-haired nekoshou turned to look at Momonga, and finally moved herself between Kuroka and Momonga before opening her arms and turning towards Momonga as if she was protecting Kuroka.
"No. Bad not-hentai." The girl's words were monotone, and Momonga got the hint.
'I'm guessing Kuroka is feeling incredibly embarrassed over what we did just some time ago… Getting caught in the middle of the act… Uwah, I'm embarrassed as well…' Momonga blushed a bit as the memory returned to the forefront of his head. "Ahem, I was actually… You know, nevermind. You have things under control, I'll just go and talk to- hurgh?"
Rias snapped from her stupor and practically materialized in front of Momonga, cluing Momonga to the possibility that she had used the [Knight] function of her [Queen] Piece to augment her speed, before the girl grabbed him by the throat, swapped to [Rook] function of the Piece and tossed Momonga over her shoulder so he landed upside-down on the couch next to Kuroka and bowled Koneko mid-air so that she landed on Kuroka's lap.
"Explain. Everything." Rias had black energy coming from her entire silhouette, one of her eyes glowed with red light, and it looked like she had truly snapped. "What happened outside just now?! Why did Beelzebub-sama betray Sirzechs-niisama?! What did you do to Sirzechs-niisama for him to act that way?!"
'Hieeee?! Is this what Touch-Me meant when he said that wives were scary?!'
"Um, Rias-sama…" A faint voice coming from Yubelluna interrupted Rias's dreadful approach, and she looked to the side.
Momonga looked to the side as well, and saw that Yubelluna and Xuelan had sat in front of a television and had been staring at the broadcast with wide eyes.
The two turned the television towards the rest of the Peerage, and the television showed the emergency broadcast that had been sent all across the Underworld.
'Oh… Well, I suppose I know how Overlord Wiseman died.' Momonga hit his fist against the palm of his other hand while looking at the television screen while upside-down on the couch. 'That being said… He was way too flashy! Did I make him that flashy?! I thought I ordered it to take care of Phenix business and not stage an uprising in the Underworld or anything?! Did my Chuuni from way back when I summoned him pop up again?!'
Kuroka was shaking like a leaf in the wind beside Momonga, and Koneko was hugging Kuroka protectively for some reason.
"Kuroka-nee… Don't use Senjutsu. I forbid it. Don't worry, I'll protect you…" Koneko muttered, although the words seemed to cause Kuroka to shake even harder to the point her outline looked to blur from the vibration. "I won't let not-hentai beast get his claws on you again…"
Momonga tried to resist the urge to blush and feel embarrassed, and failed.
"That… The Pillars made all of us Strays and ordered us killed… And Lord Phenix would defend us… But... " Meanwhile Rias fell to her knees again, and the dreadful aura around her dissipated like mist in the wind. "Dad… Sirzechs-nii… Why…"
"Ah, there, there…" Momonga straightened himself on the couch and stood up to go and pat Rias on the shoulder in what he hoped to be a reassuring manner.
The girl cried miserably, and Momonga was starting to feel a bit bad about her. 'My mother died of overworking so I can relate to losing a parent… Although, come to think of it, I think Rias's father was just a collateral casualty and it looked like he voted against activating the killzone that would have crippled the returning defectors… Hm… I suppose that gives me an opportunity…'
"Rias, don't you remember that I can resurrect people?" Momonga whispered to the red-head's ear, causing Rias to froze up. "I'm sorry that Zeoticus, erm, your father died, but I can bring him back, yes?"
Rias turned around with mechanical, shaky motions.
"I don't know what happened for Beelzebub to do what he did to Sirzechs-kun, but I think Sirzechs-kun was coming to eradicate us because of Lord Phenix's actions and because of the decision of the Pillars?" Momonga continued. "I think Beelzebub-sama just took Sirzechs-kun to the side to allow him to cool down his head a bit. Although, that hit looked quite brutal… Well, I suppose we'll find out what happened to Sirzechs-kun when Beelzebub-sama appears again."
Rias shook like a leaf. "But… Sirzechs-niisama… He said… He told me that you were… That you were Hastur?"
.
.
A claw-tipped tendril, a name brought forth by careless fools parroting what they knew nothing about, reached to a voice…
.
.
"I… I thought I already told you that I wasn't?" Momonga sweatdropped. "I don't know where that rumor came from, but, umu…"
.
.
The tendril heard the name and withdrew…
.
.
"...I don't think that's accurate in any way at all. I am myself." Momon finished his speech.
Rias just stared at Momon with wide eyes, as she had thought she had seen something odd with Momon just now.
She shook her head to clear it off the sudden, eerily cold feeling. "But… You'd resurrect dad?"
"Sure. After all, it's the least I could do for my beautiful wife." Momon's words caused Rias's heart to thaw of the deathly fear that had gripped it. "I know that this might sound ironic, but have some faith in me, Rias."
Rias jumped forward, and Momon was knocked over the second time since entering the room as Rias mushed her lips against Momon's. 'Sirzechs-nii must have been mistaken, there's no way… Momon, please… I believe in you, so please bring them back!'
A pair of strong arms tied themselves around Rias's back, and she felt warm for the first time since Sirzechs had told her about his theory regarding Momon's 'true nature'.
Rias felt relief in knowing that Momon was Momon. Strong beyond understanding, cold and calculating, but also a pervert, a goof and a kind of romantic on the occasion. 'Thank you… I love you…'
.
.
Rossweisse felt confident. "I'm sure that Momon-sama will come for us! He'll save us!"
The ten or so fellow valkyries that were tied to prisoner racks and wore rags glared at Rossweisse, who was clothed similarly and tied to a mana-draining prisoner rack in the bowels of some sort of torture chamber.
Rossweisse recognized the place as the dungeon of Phenix manor in the Underworld, as she had been in the exact place once before, and Momon had rescued her. "Don't worry! This is all just a massive misunderstanding, I'm sure that Momon-sama will rescue us!"
The valkyries kept glaring at Rossweisse as time passed and nothing happened.
"Um… He'll come… eventually…"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone