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(TPD) Chapter 38: The Great King's First Task
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 05:29:47 +0000 UTCChapter 38: The Great King's First Task
Avalon stormed into the private area of the Bael Estate reserved solely for him, Zekram, and Adaloth. Firmly planting his behind on the nearest couch he could find while still wearing the royal mantle he had adorned during his coronation. He leaned back and spread his arms across the couch's ridge, breathing an exasperated sigh as his body seemed to melt into the lavish cushioning.
Seriously, how are they capable of spouting out that much empty flattery without getting tired? They're like juiced-up mosquitos, even though Zekram had taught him to expect an endless sea of nobles looking to get on his good side, actually dealing with them head on was a mental battle that drained every last drop of stamina he had remaining.
On the bright side, no one had the audacity to offer up their daughter's hand in marriage, and certainly not themselves with Zekram now being his wife—all of them only capable of imagining the sort of punishment that awaited such a foolish endeavor.
I haven't touched a single drink in over 4 years, not that I drank all that often beforehand—but I think now might be the time for an exception. He looked over to the table placed in front of the couch, reaching for one of the bottles Adaloth had been drinking from and pouring himself half a glass. Red wine again? At least try to have some variety, he sighed while taking a sip, a groan of relief escaping his breath shortly after.
"That bad?" Adaloth's voice reached out to him from behind as she vaulted over the couch, landing beside him and covering herself in his mantle as if it were a shared blanket. She leaned against him as much as she could, plopping the side of her head down on his shoulder and looking up at him.
"That bad," he repeated. "I think I was on the verge of going deaf at some point."
"Well you better get used to it then, they're going to approach you in a similar manner at pretty much every event you attend." She snatched his glass, taking a sip from the exact area he drank from before handing it back to him. "But I wouldn't say it's all bad, it also gives you the ability to use them as you see fit if you navigate around their ambitions properly."
"They're Zekram's toys, I have no interest in playing with them more than I need to." He knew Zekram expected him to take on a good portion of her workload from here on out, leaving him with no other choice but to face the music as best he could.
She reached her arm out, cupping his cheek with her hand and turning him towards her. "I'm here as well, I'll help you deal with the rodents so you don't have to face them alone." Her voice shifted into a warm whisper, "But more importantly—you can also rely on me to help you with your stress."
He felt her hand slide up his upper thigh, causing him to firmly grab her wrist and hold her arm in place. "I'd rather you not pretend as if you're doing it for my sake," he could sense her more carnal side starting to flare up.
"Everything I do is for your sake, unlike a certain someone." Clearly unphased, she shuffled closer to him, her breasts squishing against his side while she clasped his hand, gently interlocking their fingers as she thoroughly relished in the sensation of the touch she had brazenly claimed.
"Mhm," he hummed—evidently unamused.
It doesn't make any sense, she's the embodiment of evil herself without so much as a morsel of passion held within her heart—yet she's rewarded with marriage instead of me? She stared at him intently, her gaze making it clear that she wanted to push for more, a lot more.
"I love you," she said as if it were as natural as breathing to her.
"I'm painfully aware." He continued, "I'm also aware that your hand is still on my thigh." He spread his fingers, making the same motion he would when he was about to use Spider Dance. "Am I going to have to remove it by force? Or will you do it of your own volition?"
She exhaled, reluctantly retracting her palm. "I'm much stronger than I was before since I began training with Tiamat, just keep in mind I only stopped because you asked me to." She huffed, lifting his chin up with her index finger while shooting a judgemental gaze his way.
"Yes yes, you're very strong," he groaned while patting her on the head in a patronizing manner.
"And because I'm strong—," she abruptly threw her arms around his torso, pulling him down with her so they were both laid out on the couch, and holding him in a position that made it easier for her to cuddle. "—I'm able to do stuff like this," she smiled, clutching his waist and planting a firm, wet kiss on his neck, one that would more likely than not leave a lasting mark.
"I'm glad making me an involuntary body pillow is something you consider a valid use of your newfound strength," he frowned, his head squished in between the two mounds on her chest, and his upper body completely at the mercy of her mouth.
"You're exhausted Avalon—I can tell, it's important that you rest, especially now that you're officially Great King, how do you expect to deal with all those rodents with a fatigued mind?" She ran her fingers through his hair, stroking his head in a soothing fashion, her massaging ability drastically improved by the improved control she had gained over her power.
He paused for a moment before speaking, "I'll figure it out."
"You couldn't resist for even a few minutes could you?" A third voice interrupted, belonging to Zekram who had just entered the room and was looking down at Adaloth's cuddled up figure with clear disappointment. "At least try to restrain yourself, do you have any idea how much of a hassle it'll be for me if anything were to be exposed?" She put her hands on her hips, admonishing Adaloth as if she were an unruly child being scolded by their mother.
She never had, and never would see Adaloth as a genuine threat to what she had curated between her and Avalon, knowing full well how the latter thought of the former. From Zekram's perspective—Adaloth was just a pitiful, desperate girl trying to win his affection.
I'll drag you off your high horse one day, Adaloth scowled, noticing the masqueraded arrogance emanating from her now sister-in-law.
"I know what I'm doing, I don't require your input on how to manage our love life." She hugged him tighter, Avalon not having the energy nor desire to begin a proper scuffle with her at the moment, wanting nothing more than to dive head first into bed and doze off—preferably while wearing his Levi-tan outfit instead of his current regal attire.
Zekram facepalmed, sharing her husband's disinterest in escalating the matter. "Just get up and come with me, we have urgent business to discuss with your older brother."
"Can't it wait? I'm tirreeeeeeddd," Avalon moaned.
"It involves Serafall."
Like magic, Avalon somehow escaped from Adaloth's grasp at what felt like the speed of light, his posture straightening and all signs of fatigue on his face disappearing. "You should've begun with that!" He grabbed Adaloth by the hand, dragging her alongside him. I mustn't let Levi-tan down! I can't disgrace my title as her number #1 fan!
"How did you just—"
"Now's not the time for chatter! Levi-tan demands our service!" He refused to let Adaloth speak.
I haven't even told you what it's about, his wife deadpanned.
The three of them ended up in Zekram's private office, situated on the highest level of the Bael Clan's estate, and was also the place where Avalon and Zekram's first meeting had taken place following the post Mortis Campaign funeral. The piano's still here, he listened intently to the symphony his older brother was performing to cure the borden while he awaited their arrival. Thoroughly impressed by his masterful command over the instrument.
Light pierced through the window, illuminating Sirzechs' figure as his piano playing slowly came to a halt. "You certainly took your time," he stood up, facing Zekram in particular with noticeable scrutiny. "But time is of the essence, so I won't waste any of our time." He looked to his siblings, "Have you been briefed?"
Avalon shook his head, "No—I just heard something about Levi-tan."
I can't even find it in me to be surprised anymore, he respired inwardly, fearing for his colleague once she was placed in the same vicinity as his clearly obsessed little brother.
How would she fare against someone just as, if not even more eccentric than her?
"Avalon, I understand that you've only just assumed your new position—but this is something that can't afford to wait, so please try to keep in mind I'm only asking for your immediate assistance because I deem it absolutely necessary." Sirzechs' tone of voice made his sincerity clear, the matter clearly being of utmost importance.
Avalon pursed his lips, deciding to reciprocate some of Sirzechs' earnestness much to his brother's light—in spite of the fact that his mind was still currently in Levi-land. You're rarely one to take up a formal tone with me outside of the public eye, consider my curiosity piqued.
Sirzechs slid Adaloth a photo before speaking, to which she merely stared at with a dazed expression—not having the faintest clue as to who the person it portrayed was. What's with this sleazy looking dude? She looked at her older brother for answers.
"Tomorrow morning, there's going to be a meeting in the human world. Between Heaven, Grigori, and as you've probably guessed—the Underworld." Avalon looked ready to interject, but Sirzechs' continued his explanation before he could do so. "The photo I just handed to Adaloth is that of a man called Oshino Meme, or at least that's what he calls himself, we're all confident that it's just an alias."
Oshino Meme? Adaloth hummed, that's a japanese name isn't it? Interesting.
"I feel like you just said something extremely shocking, in an extremely casual manner." Avalon narrowed his eyes from beneath his blindfold, his mind retracting what Sirzechs had just told him, trying to verify whether he was hearing him correctly or not. Heaven? Grigori? The Underworld? Meeting? Correct me if I'm wrong but—none of us are exactly on what you'd call "good terms" with one another are we?
The passing of multiple millenia weren't enough to quell tensions between the three, not even a little. What could have possibly changed in the span of half a decade to change that all of a sudden? The only rational conclusion he could make was that this was a set-up somehow, and that his worries about the two banding up to take down the Underworld together had come true.
Not to mention the extremely glaring fact that they had just come out of a war, one that had resulted in the death of three Cadres, or four from Grigori's perspective since they were unaware of what had happened to Eurus.
"He's a representative from the Greek Pantheon, with a close relation to the Goddess of Balance—Hermonia. He declared a place in the human world a neutral zone for all three factions with the backing of the Greek Chief-God, Zeus—which is the only reason why we're even entertaining the notion of a meeting between the three of us happening in the first place."
Zeus? That's certainly not a name I was expecting to hear get dropped, at least not to me. Avalon still struggled to wrap his head around the prospect of Gods actually being real, animated beings in this world, unlike his past life where they were naught more than endlessly debated fables.
And his brother, the man standing right before him, had the power to go toe to toe with them and come out victorious against nearly every last one. Save for a few who stood tall even amongst divinity like Indra and Shiva.
I wonder if there will ever be a day where I'm on that level, Avalon hummed, falling deep into thought. "Isn't there a good chance that they're just trying to bait us? I mean—why declare the human world of all places a neutral zone? Most of it is under the church, and what's this meeting even supposed to entail?"
If a Goddess representing balance was getting involved, he could only assume that this meeting was going to be unfavorable to the Underworld even if it wasn't a trap, seeing as the strength difference between them and Heaven was clear with the existence of Sirzechs and Ajuka. Although it wasn't as drastic as the gap between them and Grigori, which had already been proven for the world to see, it was still a justifiable cause for concern.
Still, why was the Greek Pantheon getting involved of all factions? It was more logical for Grigori to attempt to pull a stunt like this, since they were in the most dire condition compared to everyone else.
He couldn't piece it together.
"Judging by your tone, I'm assuming that we're planning on attending this meeting—might I ask why?" Avalon queried, a foreboding feeling stirring within his stomach.
Sirzechs gestured to Zekram, letting her carry on the explanation. "Apparently, it has something to do with the remnants of the Old Satan Devils that disappeared after they were defeated in the Civil War. We tried tracking them for quite some time back then, but somehow they managed to elude us even with the help of Ajuka's efforts."
Even Ajuka couldn't find them? He was taken aback.
She sighed, "We've always assumed that some powerful third party decided to aid them, but at the same time we never understood why anyone would want to help them—there really wasn't much to gain from that pathetic lot," Zekram abruptly paused, seeming to have recalled something.
"What's wrong?" Sirzechs questioned.
"Nebiros, he's still alive isn't he?" Once that word left Zekram's mouth, Sirzechs' complexion immediately paled, as if a terrible memory had just resurfaced. "If he's still connected with the remnants, then it's possible someone reached out to them in hopes of securing Zaorama's aid. If nothing's happened to him, he should still be in possession of the Malebranche."
He gritted his teeth, "As much as I want to refute you, getting to Zaorama is definitely a valid reason to go through all the effort of granting the Old Devils refuge."
The Malebranche, Evil Claws, Satanic Arms, the name didn't matter—they were twelve living weapons that the original Four Great Satans created through using Agares Crystals and fashioning them into a weaponized-form with the Sacred Gears used as reference.
Even while sealed, each individual Malebranche released a pressure like no other, one that was undeniably daunting and overbearing—one that could make even the strongest feel as if they were no more than a commoner standing in the presence of a monarch.
The original plan was to use the Malebranche to win the Great War, but their power was deemed simply too overwhelming, and far too uncontrollable to be used reliably, the Satans confident that using them would only result in mutual destruction rather than assured victory—leading them to seal the Malebranche into twelve separate status separately, and leave behind only a single document with an ominous message left for whoever's eyes landed upon it.
"Only the leader, Malacoda, must never be awakened."
Despite what their names and purpose suggested, every Malebranche was capable of full sentient thought, and autonomous movement—furthering their already extremely unreliable nature.
During the Civil War, a Malebranche named "Scarmiglione" gave a Beelzebub descendant a mere fraction of its strength simply to demonstrate its power—enhancing the descendants "Lord of the Flies" ability to the point where Sirzechs was forced to use his true form to defeat him.
A mere fraction, that's all it needed to force one of the strongest beings in existence to use all of his strength.
That was the sheer caliber of just one Malebranche, and there were twelve of them in total, with Scarmiglione probably not even being amongst the top three.
"Even so," Zekram continued. "We shouldn't have to worry about Zaorama unsealing the Malebranche, he knows that doing so would result in his demise. Instead, we should be more focused on figuring out who's sheltering the Old Devils."
"I don't really know what either of you are talking about," Avalon interjected. "However, you seem to be under the impression that this Oshino will be of help?" He tilted his head, seeking confirmation.
She nodded, "If the Malebranche, and someone powerful enough to evade even Ajuka's detection is involved—then it's not unreasonable to say that it would suffice as a proper reason for Hermonia to get involved in the world's affairs."
Gods and Goddesses weren't allowed to simply act as they pleased, pantheons normally restricted one another out of fear of them going out of control—only those who stood above even their own kind like Indra and Shiva got to truly do as they wished without repercussion.
As the saying went, there's always a bigger fish.
"They're powerful enough to warrant even something as unreasonable as Heaven, Grigori, and the Underworld being on the same page?" He raised a brow, not having experienced the misfortune of facing the Malebranche like his elder brother had.
"Most definitely," Sirzechs replied with steadfast determination.
To think there's something in this world to make even you apprehensive, "I'm going to assume the reason you called me here is because you want me to attend the meeting?" He surmised.
"Indeed, you and you're peerage are exceptionally powerful," even though Lars and Esdeath had a long way to go to catch up with Avalon, Adaloth, and Eurus—their strength had almost tripled in the past three years, easily putting them in the realm of Ultimate-Class. The two of them now capable of holding their own against someone like Sahariel without assistance. "Therefore, even if by some horrible stroke of ill fate this ends up being a trap, you should be able to handle yourself."
I'm delighted to hear how much confidence you have in me, but if it is a trap doesn't that mean we'd be going against two prepared factions? I can't imagine that'll be as easy to handle as you make it sound.
"What about you two? What will you be doing?"
Zekram and Sirzechs exchanged an affirmative glance, "We're going to try to get in contact with the Crown Princess."
She's still alive? Avalon hummed, "What for?"
"Even though Rizevim wasn't actively helping the descendants during the Civil War—she was present with the Lucifuge Clan—one of the Six Houses of Lucifer during the conflict. We know information about the Malebranche was shared with them, so we're hoping she'll be able to tell us something."
Sirzechs coughed, "I think the more pressing question is whether she'll want to tell us anything."
Zekram flared her brow, unable to disagree. Rizevim had a tendency to be rather—difficult, to reason with.
"The location is a place in Japan called Naoetsu, you won't be going up there alone though, Serafall will be going alongside you since she's more well versed in these types of events. Make sure you pay attention to whatever she—" All of a sudden, Avalon stepped forward and grabbed Zekram by the sides of her face.
"What did you just say to me?" His entire demeanor changed, like a switch had been flipped on the back of his head.
"I said Serafall's going with you, now unhand me plea— Mmmphh!" Sirzechs and Adaloth recoiled, watching as Avalon leaned in for a passionate kiss, pressing his lips against Zekram's and hugging her waist. "A-Avalon! Mmmphhh! That's enough!"
He started unbuttoning his collar, causing Sirzechs to immediately turn his head and Adaloth to clench her first as she started to pace towards him. "How many children did you want again? Actually forget it, we'll just keep going until you're satisfied." A beet red flush appeared across his face, his hands intimately caressing her torso.
"Stop that!" Adaloth grabbed him by the back of his collar, suspending him in the air while scowling ferociously.
"Behand me at once foul witch, can't you see that I'm in the middle of something important with my wife?"
I'm going to meet Levi-tan! I'm going to meet Levi-tan! I'm going to meet Levi-tan! I'm going to meet Levi-tan! I'm going to meet Levi-tan! Avalon's vocabulary wasn't capable of putting his excitement to words.
"Now isn't the time nor place for that," Adaloth looked at Zekram. "Is there anything else we need to know beforehand?"
"Not for now, just make sure you and the rest of your peerage are adequately prepared. You'll be departing first thing in the morning."
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Sniff. Sniff. Do you smell that? It smells like… Plot! Some big things seem to be going down now, let's see how they deal with them!
