Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?
Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.
Chapter 85: Hot Spring Date
There are up to 15 chapters ahead at [email protected]/theogbasilisk
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- Arcueid -
"Moss." Arcueid's voice cut through the air, sharp and commanding.
In an instant, her lieutenant materialized before her desk, his appearance was swift as he existed to serve at her whims, as he always did. His presence was tightly wound up upon his tiny body, yet the shadows seemed to cling to his very body.
"Lady Arcueid." He bowed deeply.
She met his gaze, her crimson eyes glinting with an air of authority. "How goes the takeover of the Free Guild?" She inquired.
Moss straightened, his expression unreadable as he answered. "It is proceeding steadily, my Lady. The process is taking time, as expected, but I have already placed one of the Cult of White's more trusted members at the helm. He now serves as the figurehead of the Free Guild, allowing us to tighten our grip on the organization. Currently, I am purging those who stubbornly resist our rule, eliminating the last vestiges of opposition."
She allowed a satisfied smile to curve her lips.
After her Lord has spoken to her about killing the former Guildmaster of the Free Guild, she sensed an opportunity to secure more resources for her Lord to make use of at his leisure in the Western Nations.
Having control over the Free Guild would give her and her Lord a significant amount of soft power over the Western Nations. They now had an army of Adventurers to call upon should she or her Lord desire it.
Of course there were those that opposed her plans, such as the Guildmaster that took over after Yuuki Kagurazaka's death, but he had been… dealt with. She suspected that he was also a mere figurehead for another party.
Her mind raced ahead, planning the next steps. Once those who opposed her in the Free Guild were thoroughly dealt with, her objective would be to intertwine the Free Guild with Azeroth's influence so thoroughly that it would become inseparable from its operations.
The Western Council still retained some influence over the Free Guild due to the economic power they possessed, not to mention the Western Council funded the Free Guild. However she was taking steps to insure she had some hold over the Western Council as well. She had already uncovered the identities of the five elders who ruled the Western Council and had sent her subordinates to gather blackmail on each of them.
Soon she would know where their families lived, where their deepest and darkest secrets were buried.
The Guild's future would be bound to Azeroth's ambitions, ensuring that any attempt to distance themselves from him would be futile.
She knew her Lord did not have many ambitions for this world, he did not wish to conquer it, he merely wished to live his life and enjoy it, there were many in this world that would seek to disturb her Lord's life, having some form of control in the West would be useful to counteract these disturbances.
She had even begun cooperating with her Lord's friend, Lord Rimuru to ensure the success of her plan. He would be having a meeting with the Western Council in some weeks, during that time he would attempt to gather as much information as possible for her to make use of, of course on the condition that he also gained partial control over the Western Council, something she did not reject.
Her Lord and Lord Rimuru were quite close after all, so she did not mind giving him some of the influence she had snatched away from the Humans, she was well aware of his goals to create peace between Non Humans and Humans, he would need all the assistance he could get for such an aspiration.
However, she was well aware that her goals were not something that would be achieved overnight. It would require patience, and planning.
"And the Cult of White?" Her voice broke the silence again. "Any signs of rebellion among them?"
Ordinarily she wouldn't have cared for the members of her cult, she rarely if ever made use of them, however Moss had brought them up seeing as they could prove useful in this endeavor.
Some of them were somewhat useful, the leaders of her cult were of the A Rank, and they had wormed their way into some political influence. In their efforts to please her, their goddess, they had even managed to gain control of a few members of the Council of the West, no one too important, however they had managed to use the influence they had gathered to place one of their members at the helm of the Free Guild, with the other members of the Council of the West clueless.
Each of the Primordials had cults of their own that roamed this world, some choose to make use of them from time to time like she and Misery did, while others merely ignored their existence.
Moss shook his head, his response immediate. "None, my Lady. The Cult of White remains loyal and unwavering."
She nodded, pleased with the report. "Good. Continue to advance this operation steadily. I intend to present the Free Guild to our Lord as a gift, delivered on a silver platter."
Moss's expression hardened with resolve, his loyalty to her and Lord Felix was unshakable. He bowed once more before vanishing as swiftly as he had appeared, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
- Felix -
My thoughts wandered to the data Odin managed to acquire by analyzing Chloe's Chronos.
'Have you managed to learn anything new, Othinus?'
"I am still analyzing the way time flows between multiple worlds. Because time flows differently between different worlds, the duration of the process is taking longer. Even the data from Chronos is not enough as it is composed of data based on the time flow of this world."
'I see.'
I had asked Odin to begin working on a method to go to DxD a while ago, more specifically a way to travel to the past of DxD so I can yoink Ingvild's parents' souls after their demise and bring them to the present. That girl deserved to at least have her parents with her after the shit show she went through.
I'm sure I wouldn't have come out as fine as Ingvild did after being enslaved.
As things were now, the coordinates I had for DxD were after her parents' deaths to my knowledge. Her father's soul may be out there as he was a Human, however there is a cycle of life in that world, so he may have already reincarnated. As for Ingvild's mother, well Devils don't get an afterlife, their souls are gone once they die. At least that is what is said in the light novel, but realistically that was likely untrue. All souls that did not belong to an afterlife were thrown into the multiversal cycle of reincarnation to reincarnate.
That's what happened to me.
I could still travel to DxD with the coordinates from Ingvild's soul, I would just appear in the moment and place Ingvild herself disappeared.
This would also be in the future of this multiverse since in the present DxD doesn't exist, or Ingvild's world in particular doesn't exist. There may be other DxDs out there for all I know.
The multiverse was always growing and dying at the same time from what I understand. So new worlds being born in the future was believable, Ingvild was proof of that.
I was somewhat hesitant to travel to the future of the multiverse right now as I am, I had explained my reasoning to Ingvild and she was understanding.
There was much I didn't understand about the multiverse, I didn't want to risk getting the Voice of the World on my ass for something like that. I didn't know if that would break one of the "rules" Veldanava set, and there wasn't really a way for me to find out what the rules he set are exactly.
Only one copy of a soul could exist at once, so I wasn't sure how my existence in that future would conflict with that of the future Felix's.
I needed to be stronger, stronger than I am now, and have a greater understanding about the rules Veldanava has set on his creation, I was still forced to abide by those rules after all, the Voice of the World was far greater than I was, and I had a feeling it wouldn't hesitate to enforce them on me if I did something I really shouldn't be.
All in all, there were simply too many unseen risks at this point when it came to traveling to DxD due to it only existing in the future.
However I still wanted Othinus to come up with a way to do it theoretically for when I was willing to make that jump.
I was hoping the data on Chronos may be enough for Othinus to have a breakthrough in that direction, but time travel is harder than it sounds.
Time was closely intertwined with Space, however it was still a very complex element to understand, even with my power and understanding over Time having been strengthened many folds, I still had much I did not comprehend.
"I currently need more data on the way time flows between different worlds so I can decipher the coordinates of the past of the world you wish to travel to."
More data huh.
I planned to go to another world after this whole Granbell fiasco is dealt with, I don't like leaving things half done so I've been waiting until after Granbell is dealt with to travel to another world.
'If I sync the time flow between the world I want to go to and this world would that give you the opportunity to gather more data on time flow?'
Planeswalker at the Ultimate level was truly an incredible ability. It didn't have much combat power directly, but it allowed me to venture to other dimensions which had their own Space-Time, I could even sync those Space-Times with the Cardinal World's Space Time due to the way my Skill functioned, though I usually didn't do that. And that was mostly due to an inbuilt feature of the Skill that sort of got the Voice of the World to do it for me, so it wouldn't be by my own power.
"I cannot give you an absolute answer, I do believe it would give me more valuable data but I could not tell you for sure until later on. Another solution is further recreating Veldanava's memories."
So more data on Veldanava would also work, of course I don't really have a good source of data on that guy at this point.
'Got it, then I'll sync the times up between this world and the one I want to go to.'
Anything for more data!
That's another reason to wait until everything is somewhat sorted out in this world, so I can have some time without any annoying events happening while I'm in another world.
Man why did DxD have to be such a complicated universe, it just had to be the land of tits.
Though Ingvild being summoned from the future is a miracle on its own, just sheer dumb luck. I'm guessing a Space-Time incursion happened at some point, which the summoning ritual sort of latched onto allowed the ritual to pull from the future.
Basically time bullshit.
I actually wanted to visit that universe too, not because of the characters, I didn't care much for them, but due to the sheer bullshit present in that universe.
I can think of many abilities from that universe that would be useful to have data on, but I need to wait until Othinus has more data on the way time flows, and on the rules Veldanava set. I seriously don't want the Voice of the World to go batshit and try to erase me like it tried to erase Chloe.
I sighed. At least the next world I planned to visit was a fun one.
I suppose I should tell Arcueid about my talk with Dagruel now.
–
"Arcueid." I called out as I knocked on the door to her office. I sensed that Moss had been in there with her earlier, so I held off until they had finished their discussion.
"Come in, My Lord!" She quickly responded.
As I entered, I noticed Arcueid set a document aside, her crimson eyes narrowing slightly in what I assumed was appreciation.
"My Lord, it's a pleasure to see you again so soon." Arcueid said, her tone warm and welcoming.
It was always rather amusing to consider that the being in front of me was one from most beings' nightmares, yet in front of me she just seemed like a normal woman rather than the Primordial entity she was.
Still, I couldn't help but wince a little at her words. While Arcueid likely didn't mean anything by it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had been neglecting her a bit. We interacted fairly often, given that she essentially managed my entire territory, we all also ate dinner together every day, as while we didn't need to eat, I liked to eat and everyone else joined me.
But we hadn't had much one on one interaction.
I had plans to return to Tempest tomorrow to pick up Kenya and then head to visit Elmesia. But I'll put that off until later, I wanted to spend some time with Arcueid now.
My thoughts drifted to my upcoming journey to Sarion. The Divine Tree was capable of housing the entirety of the capital of the Sorcerous Dynasty. So it was definitely something that had always fascinated me. My curiosity only grew after learning it was a Divine Artifact left behind by Veldanava to support the world itself.
Divine Artifacts designed to sustain the world made a lot of sense in hindsight. This world would have crumbled long ago if not for some form of support. I had always assumed Veldanava made the world extraordinarily durable, but it seemed there was more to it.
The Divine Tree was responsible for regulating the magicules in the atmosphere as well as the magicules that were naturally released by beings such as myself.
"Now that I have begun truly focusing on the world itself, I can detect its subtle influence."
'Oh? How so?'
"Whenever you rip Space apart, the world quickly gets to work on mending it, which was something we both always knew, now that I am actively looking for something I can detect the presence of the world when it begins mending Space."
Huh, well that's something.
There was something I was wondering though.
'Can the world actually fight back against things it doesn't like?'
"Inconclusive. I do not possess enough understanding of this world to be able to properly answer that. From what I understand the world is an emotionless being that acts merely to secure its own survival, nothing more, nothing less. As long as you do not actively harm the world I do not believe it will bother you."
'I see, and how strong do you think it is?'
"Incomprehensibly. The amount of energy flowing through the world is immense. In terms of EP, perhaps billions or even trillions."
Well damn.
"The world created the Mad Titan as a self defense mechanism, and according to some of the data I have gathered I estimate the full power of the Mad Titan to be at 100,000,000+ EP."
The world just casually made something that strong. Don't fuck with the world unless I have to, got it.
I refocused on Arcueid. "Yeah, I wanted to update you on a few things. I contacted Dagruel and arranged for one of his envoys to meet with us in three weeks."
That timing would be just after Rimuru's meeting with the Western Council.
I had offered to teleport Dagruel's envoy here, but he declined, probably because he didn't want to owe me a favor that Arcueid could leverage during negotiations. Politics could be a real headache.
Arcueid nodded. "Understood. I'll begin preparations to welcome his representative."
"Thanks." I replied, appreciating her efficiency. "By the way, if you're not too busy, would you like to join me at the hot spring? I've been meaning to relax there more often. After all, I had it built for luxury, and it'd be a shame if it went unused for too long."
I didn't even choose a hotspring for lewd shenanigans, I would be the first to admit that Arcueid is a bombshell, but I could appreciate her beauty without acting like a horny dog.
Arcueid's eyes lit up at my invitation, a rare glint of excitement flashing across her usually composed expression. "I'd love to, My Lord." She said eagerly, her tone showing just how much she appreciated the offer.
Arcueid's enthusiasm brought a genuine smile to my face. I was glad that she was also looking forward to spending some casual time together.
"Great." I said, feeling a bit more at ease. "I'll meet you there then?" I asked more than said.
I didn't know if Arcueid wanted to do something beforehand after all.
Arcueid nodded, her beautiful smile still present on her face. "Yes, I shall meet you there, it will not be long." She said as she snapped her fingers, causing the papers on her desk to all organize themselves into neat stacks.
I waved her off. "Take your time."
I left the office, allowing Arcueid to finish up her business without acting as a distraction.
I wonder how Saeko is doing. I sent her to Hinata so hopefully Hinata can keep things under control. Saeko has also become rather reasonable as well, so I'm hopeful the interaction between those two goes well.
- Hinata Sakaguchi -
Her lips twitched as she took in the sight of Felix's Oni. Saeko had appeared out of nowhere, she had sensed the shifting of Space, but she couldn't prevent the teleportation with her own Space-Time Manipulation, but that was only natural since Felix's capabilities in that department dwarfed her own.
Saeko planted her hands on her hips, her gaze unwavering. "As expected of Felix-sama's student, you are strong." Saeko remarked with a nod.
Hinata suppressed a sigh, recalling the events leading up to this moment. She had been in the midst of training the Great Saints, focusing on giving them an auditory lesson on the various aspects of Fighting Spirit, and then Saeko had appeared without warning. The nine members of the Saints had immediately sprung into action, launching a coordinated attack on the perceived threat, already making use of the tips she had provided them.
Hinata couldn't blame them, Saeko had torn through the protective barriers she'd erected around the training grounds as though they were nothing which did make it seem as if a hostile was invading.
Yet, their efforts had been in vain against Saeko. She had dismantled their attacks with ease, even Saare, who was one of the stronger among them, had found himself helpless against her.
Saeko hadn't even made use of a Skill to accomplish this either, through sheer Battlewill Saeko beat down the so-called strongest in the West, which only went to show how foolish they were in the past, her included, for thinking themselves equal to some members of the Demon Lords Council.
They weren't even strong enough to take on a True Demon Lord's Lieutenant, though Felix's subordinates were far from the norm. Luminous herself had admitted that Felix's repertoire of subordinates was monstrous, he had multiple Demon Lord class subordinates, and even Primordials who scaled even higher due to their knowledge and experiences.
Ignorance could truly be bliss.
Of course, they had already been worn down by their earlier sparring session with her, but the outcome would likely have been the same even if they had been at full strength.
She sighed softly, addressing Saeko, "What are you doing here?"
She had been introduced to Saeko back during the Tempest Founding Festival. Back then she thought of Saeko as a powerful foe due to her power.
Saeko was suppressing the majority of her power, however her instincts warned her that Saeko was strong.
She was one of the most powerful figures in the Western Nations back then, Felix truly had impressive subordinates, for one of them to possibly be capable of matching her back then.
All of Felix's direct subordinates were around the Saint level or close to it from what she understood, while some others were even beyond the level of a normal Saint, though Saints were not normal by any definition of the word in the first place which went to show how strong some of Felix's subordinates were.
Enlightened likely made up 0.0001% of the population, while Saints were even more rare.
Thankfully with her evolution she had grown far more powerful than Saeko, her energy reserves had practically tripled from their previous state, not to mention her increased understanding of the world and the potency of her power.
Though she wouldn't be arrogant, she did not know what abilities Saeko may possess, underestimating her opponent could prove fatal.
"Felix-sama transported me here as Luminous had requested my presence." Saeko replied casually as she took in the sight of her downed foes.
Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze shifting to Garde, who was sprawled on the ground, panting from exertion. Among the Ten Great Saints, he was the only one unaware of the true nature of the goddess they worshiped, a Demon Lord, one of the enemies of Humanity.
Though she doubted Saeko cared much for that secret, Saeko always struck Hinata as the type to act before thinking.
With a swift gesture, Hinata snapped her fingers, erecting a barrier around the two of them. "I see. I don't know why Felix sent you to me then."
Saeko shrugged. "I know not how Felix-sama makes his decisions, only that they are the correct ones." She said with a smug smile.
Hinata sighed. "I see."
Hinata nodded, her mind racing. An idea sparked. "While you wait, do you mind helping me train my subordinates?" She gestured toward the battered Saints, their breaths still ragged from their streak of recent defeats. First against her, and now against Saeko, she was sure the egos of all nine of them had taken a beating today.
Saeko glanced at the group before nodding. "Very well! I've been training my own subordinates, perhaps I can assist you." She puffed out her chest proudly, her enthusiasm almost childlike in its earnestness.
Hinata's eyes briefly flicked to Saeko's chest, an involuntary comparison to her own crossing her mind. She quickly shook her head, banishing the thought, and refocused. "Thank you, Saeko." She said genuinely.
With a wave of her hand, Hinata dispelled the barrier and addressed the Saints. "This is Saeko, one of Felix's strongest subordinates."
Saeko beamed at the introduction, clearly prideful at her earned power
"She will be your sparring partner for today."
She was originally planning to focus on lessons for today rather than actual combat practice. The eight were rather worn out and hadn't recovered a significant amount of their strength from their earlier spar. However there would not be many opportunities for them to face someone of Saeko's caliber, one that was a Majin and had a differing combat style to her own, she could teach them what she wanted another day, now she would take advantage of Saeko's appearance.
Saare groaned. "Ugh, I'm already running on fumes here…."
Saeko merely reached to the side, she seemed to be reaching into her Spatial Storage.
Saeko extracted multiple potions from her Spatial Storage and threw them to everyone who needed one.
Everyone immediately began drinking their respective potions, healing all their wounds and regenerating most of their magicules.
Her own eyes widened as she realized just what those potions were. "Full Potions?!"
The gazes of everyone snapped to Saeko as they realized just how valuable the potion they all so carelessly consumed was.
"Th-That was a Full Potion!" Leonard exclaimed, his voice trembling slightly. A single Full Potion could be diluted by one hundred times and would still be a potent elixir.
Saeko nodded, still beaming with pride. "Felix-sama provided me with plenty in case I needed them."
Hinata sighed. "I suppose that is expected of him."
She had known Tempest had figured out a way to mass produce the mythical Full Potion, but she didn't have access to many of them herself.
"I see, thank you then Saeko."
"It's no problem! I've always wanted to test myself against the Western Nations' so-called greatest warriors!" Saeko's eyes sparkled with excitement.
Hinata winced, she had a feeling Saeko would be disappointed. The myths behind the Ten Great Saints, now Nine Great Saints, had been rather exaggerated.
Garde smirked at Saeko, his arrogance still intact somehow despite his earlier streak of defeats. "Heh, I suppose even a Demon Lord's subordinate knows her place. I suppose I can take you on now that I am at full power."
Hinata held back a groan. She would need to discipline Garde later, his idiocy was going to get him killed one day.
Saeko's eyes narrowed dangerously as she began cracking her knuckles. "It seems you want a beating."
Before Garde could respond, Hinata stepped in. "All of you will be going at her at once." She announced.
Arnaud's gaze snapped to her. "Wh-What?! Is she just like you?!"
Hinata shrugged her shoulders, choosing not to directly answer. "She is the direct subordinate of a Demon Lord, it's about time you all realized how hopelessly outmatched you are against a True Demon Lord, understanding the strength of merely one of their subordinates will allow you to see a glimpse of the true power some of them possess."
The weakest True Demon Lord she knew of was Luminous herself who was in reality not weak at all. The current Demon Lord lineup was just filled with monsters.
Though perhaps Dino was weaker, she had not met the man so she did not have a good read on his power, and she did not count Ramiris to be part of their ilk.
Hinata felt like she could take Luminous on now with her ascension, but that did not mean that she could not pay respect to her friend's power.
In the end at this point she refused to accept Luminous' dominance over her, on her journey with Chloe one thing she had learned was that as a Spiritual Lifeform, half the fight was a mental one.
If a Spiritual Lifeform felt like they were inferior to their opponents they had already lost the fight due to the nature of Spiritual Lifeforms, with the Spirit influencing the flesh.
Hinata knew that was an issue she would have when facing Felix in the future. Felix had almost mythologized himself in her eyes, he always seemed to have some way out of any situation he was in, and he had power in spades.
If she ever wished to become his equal she would need to acknowledge herself as equal to Felix with a solid chance at beating him in combat, or else she would never stand a chance in the first place.
She focused back on her subordinates who were all reluctantly nodding. Even Saare, who had initially resisted, had grown to trust her judgment after their earlier sparring session. Only Garde seemed hesitant, a frown creasing his features. "Fine, we'll show this ogre her place together." He said as his blade lit up in flames.
Saeko ignored his taunt, instead reaching for the weapon strapped to her back. As she drew the blade from its sheath, Hinata's eyes were drawn to the weapon's ominous Aura. It was powerful, a Legend Grade weapon, if on the middle end of the scale.
The air around them seemed to tremble as the blade was fully revealed, its Aura no longer suppressed by the sheath. Saeko hefted it onto her shoulder, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Behold! Hercules Edge, one of Felix-sama's gifts to me!"
Hinata stepped to the side, raising multiple barriers around the training grounds.
"I will be serving as the referee. If the battle goes too far, I will step in." She stated firmly.
Both parties nodded. Hinata bent down and picked up a small rock from the ground. "Once this lands, you may begin."
She carelessly tossed the rock into the air, watching as it ascended before plummeting back down. The moment it touched the ground, the atmosphere around them shifted violently.
Hinata's senses flared as an oppressive pressure filled the air, a wave of malice that radiated from Saeko like a storm. The very ground beneath their feet cracked under the force of it, sending tremors through the earth.
She quickly realized what was happening. Saeko was utilizing a form of Haki, one she hadn't encountered before. The air was thick with the weight of it, as though the very world itself was recoiling in fear.
Hinata felt the pressure brush against her own Aura, attempting to force her to falter, but she countered with a surge of her Holy Haki, dispelling the effect with ease. Her eyes scanned the battlefield, assessing the state of the Saints.
She spotted Garde, who had been the most vocal, he seemed to have trouble breathing as his face pale in the face of Saeko's pressure. His confidence evaporated in an instant as he felt the cold grip of fear enveloping him. Saeko's Haki seemed to be meant to inspire fear in her foes over anything else.
Garde's hand was trembling as he gripped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles turning white, eyes wide with a terror he couldn't suppress.
The others were no better; they stood frozen, their wills crushed under the weight of Saeko's malevolent aura.
Hinata knew they were in for a brutal fight, but it was for their own good. Perhaps Garde may even grow as a person from this fight. He would achieve character development as Felix liked to say.
- Felix -
I stripped myself of my clothing as I took in the pleasant heat of the hotspring. The hotspring was fairly large, there were in fact multiple hotsprings present in my palace, this one is my personal one.
It's still fairly large, easily large enough to fit up to 10 people, but it isn't as large as the other ones.
I took in the pleasant scent of the hotspring, steam was wafting off the water.
The water came from an artificial waterfall I had created a while back, connected through spatial tunneling allowing a steady stream of fresh water even through a long distance, it was drained through the very same way to keep the water truly fresh. The water was instantly heated up to temperature with Magic as well, this hotspring was definitely built to be fancy.
There was even a wine cabinet in the corner. Arcueid went all out on the design of this place.
I let out a sigh as the hot water enveloped my form from the chest down. I placed my arms on the marble tiled floor as I let my head sink backwards. I closed my eyes and relaxed as I waited for Arcueid's arrival.
It didn't take long for me to hear the door opening, I opened one of my eyes and spotted Arcueid saunturing towards me. She was holding a plate filled with various fruits.
She was dressed in merely a white bathrobe which was left open allowing me to see a generous amount of side boob.
"You look wonderful."
Arcueid smirked at me as she made her way towards the wine cabinet. "Thank you." She said, licking her lips slightly.
She picked up two glasses and a bottle of wine before she set them as well as the plate of fruits on the floor beside my head.
"Thanks."
Arcueid merely smiled. "It is no problem." Without any more prompting Arcueid kneeled behind my head causing me to stare at her in confusion. I was no longer confused once Arcueid gently lifted my head and placed it on her soft thighs, the only thing separating me from her skin directly was the very thin bathrobe, which didn't take away from my enjoyment of the sensation.
UUOOOOOOHHH, a lap pillow! I most definitely would not say no to being spoiled, especially by someone like Arcueid!
Ah, I have turned into a degenerate haven't I? Oh well, I'm a Demon Lord, I can be as lascivious as I want! At least I don't like kids like Leon does!
Arcueid seemingly sensed my delight as she warmly smiled at me. I had a perfect view of Arcueid's cleavage from her lap due to the way she wore her bathrobe, but I didn't focus on that, I merely enjoyed the sensation of Arcueid's pampering.
Arcueid reached to the side, picking up some of the fruits on it, once her hand was closer the fruit she chose revealed itself to be grapes.
She gently lowered them into my open mouth so I could eat them.
I quickly chewed on the crisp grapes, relishing in the taste. Magic could do a lot to further enhance some of the most basic foods. I will never have to eat a soggy grape every again, only the crispest!
As Arcueid fed me grapes I spoke up. "There is something I'm curious about, before you were ever summoned to this world, what did you used to do in the Daemon Realm for so long?"
Arcueid had been in the Daemon Realm for eons, I have no idea what she did to occupy that much time. Now was a good time to ask.
As I chewed on an orange slice, Arcueid answered. "I was the second oldest of all of my kin, Guy being the only one older than I am."
I nodded, that was something I already knew. Guy was the oldest and the strongest, then came Arcueid, after Arcueid Diablo was born, then Misery was born, after her came Megumin, then Lalatina, and then the youngest is Rain, which makes sense since she acts like a bratty, lazy younger sister.
"Once I was born a battle for supremacy immediately began in the Daemon Realm between Guy and I. He was more skilled than me at the time due to his greater age and experience, however he failed to put me down for good, and so we would continue to fight for quite some time until Diablo was born.
Guy lost interest in continuing his battles with me and moved on to fighting Diablo, while I found rivals of my own."
It was incredibly impressive that she managed to hold Guy off as practically a newborn. My Arcueid really was quite special.
"Megumin and Lalatina." I stated.
Arcueid nodded as she placed another grape in my mouth.
"The three of us would compete on anything that caught one of our attention, we were fairly bored so we did much. I of course also focused on building up my own court, gathering powerful subordinates as well." Arcueid said. "In the end we merely played around with each other until you summoned us My Lord." Arcueid finished.
"That sounds like a fun life, having fun with your friends for eons."
Arcueid clicked her tongue but reluctantly nodded. "I suppose they can be considered my closest friends."
By now the plate of fruit was finished. "Did you wish for more My Lord?"
I shook my head. "No I'm fine, why don't you join me now?"
"If that is what you wish." Arcueid happily replied as she set the plate aside.
I raised my head off her lap, though I noticed Arcueid pouting slightly. It seems she enjoyed being in the role of a caretaker, a mommy through and through.
Arcueid gently stepped into the water, her bathrobe still on. Arcueid sat down next to me. "This is quite nice."
I nodded. "It is."
Arcueid gently scooched closer to me, I wasn't going to say no to a bit of skinship, and it wasn't like I hadn't already seen what was under that robe of hers.
"What have you been doing recently My Lord?" Arcueid asked as she poured us both a glass of wine.
I took the glass from her hand before answering. "Hmm, well you already know about the Chronoa situation."
Arcueid nodded. A little while back I had another little group meeting where I told everyone who mattered to me about my plans for the future. This involved explaining Chronoa, Chloe, and Hinata's situation as well so thanks to that all my direct subordinates are aware of that entire mess.
The reactions were mixed, but in the end not many seemed to care that their alternates were erased from existence, they saw things differently I supposed.
"After dealing with the initial fallout of that mess, I had sparred with Hinata, she actually ended up evolving." I said before I took a sip of my wine. I had lowered my Poison Nullification so that I could get a bit of a buzz.
The wine was made from some berries that have been grown in a field of extremely highly concentrated magicules, my own magicules. Thanks to that it could even affect me if I allowed it to.
I let out a sigh of pleasure as a very subtle warmth spread through me.
Arcueid raised a brow. "Oh? Did the Human finally become a Complete Saint?"
Right, Arcueid doesn't know that right after I healed and upgraded Hinata's body she managed to reach Complete Sainthood.
I shook my head. "No, she went beyond that."
Arcueid's eyes narrowed. "She achieved Divinity then?"
I nodded. "She did, she even got an Ultimate Skill."
Arcueid's lips twitched. "I see, it seems she has become rather powerful then."
I nodded. "Yeah, she's pretty strong now."
She isn't a match for any of the current Demon Lords except Ramiris if she counts, though perhaps she can give Luminous a decent fight, but that doesn't mean Hinata is weak, the current line up of Demon Lords are just absurdly strong. I can't say how well she'd do against Dino since I only know that he hides his true power, but he was a Primordial Angel, I'm betting he's pretty strong.
Arcueid swirled her glass. "Perhaps I need to put more effort in regaining my former power."
Ah, that's right. The Primordials are basically degraded when they incarnate in the Cardinal World. In the Daemon Realm they reign as supreme Devil Lords, born from the Great Spirit of Darkness.
However when summoned they are degraded to mere Arch Daemons. Arch Daemons that can mop the floor with any other Arch Daemon, and perhaps even most Daemon Dukes, but Arch Daemons nonetheless.
The world really does not like Daemons.
"I do have a plan regarding that." I mentioned.
Arcuied looked at me with interest. "Oh?"
"I came up with a way to give you enough energy to push for an evolution, though this comes with risks of course."
"How does this method of yours work My Lord?" Arcueid asked, not doubting my words.
"Basically I use a bunch of souls and convert them all into energy, similar to the process of a Harvest Festival, and then I shove all that energy into your body. At that point it is up to you to control all that energy and use it to basically push yourself further. The soul energy will nourish your soul, your body, and your spirit."
Arcuied nodded with interest. "I see. I do not believe I will have an issue with such a method."
"I don't think you will either, I don't have the souls needed for this just yet though."
I need to visit Guy to see if I can get some souls for him. I don't want to use the favor he owes me for this, but if I can't think of some other way to get him to give me some souls then I may just have to. I wasn't going to just slaughter a country after all, even in another world.
"I see, I will not refuse extra strength to serve you with My Lord. With the future you told us about, you will need us to be as powerful as possible." Arcueid said.
Arcueid knew very well about the threats that were coming our way. The Eastern Empire which had a True Dragon, potentially Dagruel who was also a beast. The biggest threat was the Eastern Empire since I didn't know all that much about them.
I had Lalatina send some of her Daemon spies over but none of them have managed to gain any useful information, the Eastern Empire keeps its secrets well guarded.
I barely even knew about the military power they possessed, there were some things that Chloe and Chronoa knew of like tanks, and airships, but that didn't tell me much about the overall strength of the Eastern Empire's military.
"Just think of it as a gift from me."
Arcueid nodded.
"Back to your earlier question…."
I ended up telling Arcueid about almost everything I had done recently that she may not have known about. Fighting Milim, more training with Hinata, my time in Ruberious….
Arcueid was especially interested in Hinata's growth, I think she was being competitive, she does still have her pride as a Primordial Daemon, I'm sure she doesn't like that Hinata has surpassed her in power.
"It seems you have been enjoying yourself then My Lord." Arcueid said.
I nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to have as much fun as I do if it wasn't for you, so thank you."
Arcueid gave me a smug smile. "Fufu, that was what you summoned me for, no? It brings me pleasure to fulfill my purpose under you My Lord."
"Heh, you Daemons are too much." Daemons are way too loyal to their chosen lords, but I wasn't going to complain.
"It is simply in our nature, My Lord." Arcueid retorted. "When we find something interesting after so long of living in boredom, we get rather… attached."
"I suppose I can understand that."
I noticed a flush rising on Arcueid's cheeks, this wine was not to be underestimated.
I felt her hands snake towards my thigh under the water. "It seems you have been quite busy My Lord, why don't we relax a little~"
"If you ever hear me say no to that you're with an imposter." I answered.
"Fufu~" Arcueid laughed as her hand snaked around my shaft.
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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.
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Links: patreon.com/theogbasilisk
Author's Note: Sup everyone, in this chapter I tried to go into more detail about my in story reasoning for pushing DxD off to later. Hopefully it made sense, but again, time shit can be very very confusing so I won't blame anyone if they don't get it.
Basically DxD is born in the future, Felix would need to time travel to the future of the multiverse to go there, he doesn't know if that will break some rules that Veldanava set as Chloe's situation was rather special and she was going to the past rather than the future.
I'm aiming for the DxD trip to be between the tenma war and after the eastern empire invasion, so not too long, probably.
By that point the broken shit Felix can get in DxD won't have as much influence since he'll already be super broken.
We also learn a bit more about what Arcueid has been doing, I was hoping to develop her character and motivations a bit more in this chapter.
Anyways, thanks for reading, peace.
Thanks to @Salante and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.