I, Necromancer Chapter 16

It was chaos. Total, utter chaos.

Chaos that couldn't be stopped by mere words and power. Chaos that, if he intervened, he would be called tyrannical. He would be spat upon.

But if he didn't, the Nobility would demand he step down as the Satan Lucifer.

So what should his priority be? The Nobility? The Low Class citizens? Both were his people… Yet one made no demand of him and simply left, while the others furiously tried to stop them, only to be taken down or intimidated by the soldiers taking away the willing people.

Tens of thousands vanished in the first minute. Nobles rose in protest. Belligerent youths tried to reclaim their escaping Peerages, just to be squashed beneath the claw of some Ultimate Class Undead beast standing watch with the Leviathan's Scion soldiers.

Stray Devils came out of hiding in mass. All wanted, all criminals, with the majority having either wounded or killed their previous Kings. And all of them fled, being accepted into New Haven, even willing to be incarcerated so that they could enter this new grand city.

Sirzechs could do nothing, for he would be the monster either way. No matter what choice he makes, he will be villainized. He will be the monster of the story, the ones parents in the future will tell tales on how they escaped his evil, disgusting rule.

And it sucked. It hurt. For they will be right.

The Devil Race wasn't that numerous. The Nobles didn't even make up those numbers. There were at most tens of thousands of Noble Devils within the remaining thirty or so Devil Houses. A hundred thousand at most, even.

The rest? It was all made up of Middle and Low Class Devils, which kept the society running. Which cut the grass. Cooked the food. Sharpened the weapons. Made clothes, cleaned the windows- Everything the Nobles do not do for themselves, and pay others to be done.

And even then, after the Civil War, those numbers had taken an even sharper dive. After the constant surge of Gates? That number was even lower.

The last time – roughly five years ago – that Ajuka had done a count of how many Devils remained, he had come up to a chilling four million.

The number now, after countless casualties from Mercenaries and soldiers and other Gate disasters, had likely fallen by another million, or half.

And now, Fleurdelys opening the doors to New Haven caused a collapse that will propagate across all of the Devil Cities and Noble Houses. One that will cripple them heavily.

Servants left in droves. Civilians disappeared within minutes. Countless cities were nearly emptied within just the first hours.

Even when everyone knew that New Haven only had homes for just a hundred thousand civilians, it still did not deter the masses from going, willing to live within tents just so that they could escape his rule. His cities. The Nobles.

They'd rather build homes and a future with their own hands than wait for someone who only gives promises to appease the masses.

And this wasn't even the worst of the events taking place.

The distraught, broken cries of Serafall filled his ears as she lays on her knees, hunched over the bloodied white tarp that covered the corpse beneath. The corpse of Sona Sitri, her younger sister.

The entire Sitri House had been slaughtered within moments. Far too fast for any of Serafall's agents or Spells to alert her. Every servant, soldier and Noble lay dead, horrendously maimed and ravaged by by some kind of poison.

The stench of blood was nauseating, and the entire mansion was a foul sight. Blood and corpses everywhere, all with faces frozen in pure agony, showing that their deaths had not been quick or painless.

Serafall's magical aura rampaged wildly, threatening to bring forth an ice age that would swallow the whole Sitri House lands and beyond, yet it didn't. Despite her cries and rampaging magical aura, the Satan Leviathan still managed to control herself enough to not lay waste to the surroundings.

"This was premeditated." Ajuka's words cut through the dismayed cries, making Sirzechs' attention snap towards his friend and fellow Satan, while Serafall got her emotions under control so to listen in, "The poison, the cause of all this death, has been in the bloodstream of every single member and servant for years."

Eyes shoot wide open at that, "Y-Years?" Serafall questions, voice hoarse, "I-… I thought this would have been Her doing, s-seeing the grudge she had towards my-" Her words choke, and more tears flow down her cheeks, only to freeze and burst apart before they could drop.

Ajuka nods, gaze severe, "It was hidden. Cloaked in their very Devil Energy, just waiting to be roused and activated." His gaze flicks between his two friends, faint hesitation within it, before he speaks, "Whoever did this… It was from the Sitri House."

Sirzechs draws in a deep, slow breath, "They likely escaped to New Haven after this, then." They used the chaos to accomplish this goal of theirs, and then likely fled to the new Devil territory they had no jurisdiction over.

"But why would they do this?" He turns his gaze towards Serafall, who held a heavy frown on her face, her eyes bloodshot and narrowed in confusion and fury.

"I d-don't know…" She starts, staring down at the tarp that covers the corpse of her sister, "There shouldn't be any-" That's when she pauses, and her eyes widen. Her gaze flicks towards the table of the dining hall, where the corpses of her parents lay, slumped against the table and covered by their own tarps.

"You thought of something?" Ajuka probes, and Serafall gulps with a slow nod.

"There is… Something." She stands, slowly and on shaky feet, "More than a decade ago, my parents started some sort of… Experiment. They wanted… They wanted another me." Sirzechs hisses at that, eyes screwing shut at that. He could already see where this was going. "Another Serafall, but one that… One that obeyed them."

"After I left House Sitri to become the Satan Leviathan, I washed my hands of them. Even when Sona was born, I didn't really pay much attention to what was going on with the House and the Branch Families."

Ajuka crosses his arms, severe frown on his face, "What did they do?"

"That's the thing… I don't know." Serafall sighs, a sob threatening to break past her lips as she tries to drag her gaze away from the corpse at her feet, "I know it involved the Branch Families, but I don't know the exact details of it. I had them shut it down, and since then I never heard more mentions of it, so I thought…"

The Satan Beelzebub sighs through his nostrils, gaze falling low in consideration, "I'll see what records I can dig up… But I'll be busy with the rest of the events currently swamping us."

Serafall nods and sniffles softly. Her right hand rises up, wiping away at the frozen tear trails still on her face, "I'll be going to New Haven." She suddenly declares, and Sirzechs stiffens, "Not as Satan Leviathan. But as Serafall Sitri."

Her gaze burns with a fierce, burning and hate-fueled determination, "I just want to find my sister's murderer. That's all."

The Satan Lucifer chews on his inner cheek in thought, "Consider that this may also be a ploy. To draw your anger towards New Haven." It could be the Great King Faction's doing. The Old Satan's Faction, even.

There were just… So, so many possible culprits. So many bastards who could be holding the strings.

And as he thought that, his memories flash back to that dinner he had at his family's home, where he was schooled by someone not even a tenth of his age.

But then again… Scaith was right, wasn't he?

"Bring Sona with you, then." Ajuka suddenly suggests, and Serafall frowns heavily… Before her eyes slowly widen and redden with hope.

"You think the Necromancer could…?" The frail, shaky hope in her voice tore Sirzechs apart, and he hated the fact that he could do nothing for his dear friend.

Words of condolence would be useless, for he knows well that Sona is Serafall's anchor. One she latched on despite their rocky relationship due to the usual teenage drama, and Sona being constantly compared to her older, much more powerful sister.

It was drama that would disappear with time. Once the teenager years are far behind, and the younger Sitri had gained more experience, but now…

"It might be possible." Ajuka reassures, "Just… Don't have high hopes. Our relationship with them is non-existent."

Quietly, Serafall nods and motions for some of the soldiers to step forward and take care of her sister's corpse under her careful, unblinking gaze.

The other two Satans watch them go, and Sirzechs keep hating himself for having no words to comfort his friend.

None of them wanted this job. They just took it because they couldn't allow idiots who didn't have the prosperity of their Race in mind.

But then, did they do any good themselves?

"Sirzechs." Ajuka calls out softly, startling the redhead out of his thoughts. "It is time you make a choice."

Blue eyes blink slowly, "A… Choice?"

The Satan Beelzebub nods, gaze serious, "There is chaos out there. The Nobles have gone feral, and will do anything – and I mean it – to stop their servants from leaving."

"Hence…" Turning, the green haired Satan holds Sirzechs gaze with his own, "It is now time to put down our morals, and become the monsters that squash the Nobles beneath their boots."

Hands slowly clench into fists, and the words of the Necromancer ring within Sirzechs mind once more, "You bear the name of the Devil, yet try act so… Human."

Any dislike Sirzechs had for Fleurdelys and her Queen vanish into thin air as his gaze chills. "I'll call my Peerage." Ajuka smiles.

"I'm done playing nice with these animals."

~XXX~

"You want us to open a shop in New Haven?" Lord Phenex question, turning his gaze towards his wonderful and skilled niece.

Changli nods, face all smiles, standing beside a starry-eyed Ravel. His young daughter looked up to Changli as her role model, and that made him quite happy.

"Wouldn't that cause problems with the people who have moved here?" His youngest male son, Riser, questions curiously as he turns away from the shelves of the rather large shop Fleurdelys had basically gifted them.

The massive city was divided in quarters, each being a circle contained within massive reinforced walls, where giant Dragons sit and watch the horizon for any threat.

The main circle was the entertainment district. Movie theaters, museums, children daycare centers, music halls, bars, and even arenas that would show off monsters captured in No Man's Land.

The next circle was the market district, filled with food stalls, shopping malls, restaurants, so on and so forth. After that were the massive living quarters, going from the third to the sixth circle, with more being added.

Already the city was full, and uncountable numbers of large tents had been offered and set up for those waiting to have their own home finished.

Many Devils had already joined the Forging Sect from the Chinese Faction in droves, eager to learn how to build, how to make weapons and armors and how to tend to them, and other esoteric arts taught by that Sect.

While the women had joined the Alchemy, Talisman or Formation Sects, thus giving New Haven access to all of these people to further boost its economy and power.

Homes were being completed in droves with everyone working together, with them only requiring the finishing touches to expand the insides according to the needs of the families assigned to them.

Lord Phenex had to admit that it was a beautiful sight. Seeing those without families eagerly put themselves at the bottom of the list so that children would have homes much faster.

It was nice to see so many children gathered together too. The schools had massive classrooms meant to contain a lot of them – the poor teachers – and they were all going wild.

He faintly remember seeing a massive Undead Dragon buried beneath laughing children. It was strangely horrifying.

"New Haven is a place where everyone is equal." Changli states warmly, "And we want to remind everyone of that, and this shop will help."

Moving behind the counter, the young woman waved a hand towards the large sealed barrels in the back room, "These barrels hold a liquid that Scaith himself made from the Sephiroth Graal. It can heal, but the inherent healing properties aren't that powerful."

Lady Phenex hops forward with an interested hum, "I presume you have already thought of a way around?" Changli flushes at the knowing gaze directed her way, but nods nonetheless.

"You can use these to dilute the Phoenix Tears one step further. To sell for cheap, meant as cures for scrapes, illness, colds- Minor issues like that." Lord Phenex whistles at that.

Changli had already helped them dilute the Phoenix Tears for mass-production and sale, but this pushed it a step even further. A single Phoenix Tear would create uncountable numbers of massively diluted vials, so it wasn't even a waste.

"This young man has a great many talents." Lord Phenex couldn't help but praise. Sadly, he still hadn't had the chance to meet his friends Queen.

Changli nods lowly, the flush on her cheeks much deeper than before, "H-He has a great many ideas. Working with him is very nice!"

Lady Phenex shoots a knowing smile and glance towards her husband, who holds back a soft snort.

Unaware of that, Changli suddenly perks up, "Oh, he also has a gift for you all!" The young woman bends down to grab something beneath the counter, before popping back up with a large crimson egg within her grasp.

A large egg much, much bigger than her head, which she gently places on top of the counter, "This is a Phoenix he made!" Changli proudly huffs out, massive smile on her face as her family freezes and gapes at the large, visibly hot egg.

"T-Truly?!" Ravel gasps out, hesitantly reaching for the large egg with one small, curious hand.

"It is currently slumbering and will awaken once you make it your familiar." And the egg is instantly snatched away from Ravel by Lady Phenex, who hugs it against her bosom with a wide, greedy smirk.

Changli just titters softly at the sight, "It will take a while to grow up, but it does have our Clan Trait! So it'll fit the Phenex House the best!"

Lord Phenex had already disappeared off within his own mental world, drooling at the mere mental image of him proudly flying on a gigantic flaming phoenix and showing it off to his haters.

"Shall we consider this as dowry, dear?" Lady Phenex suddenly asks, making Changli squeak and flush brightly.

"Aunty!"

Lord Phenex coughs into his fist and frowns heavily, "A phoenix as dowry for Changli, our jewel?… Worth it."

"Not you too, Uncle!" The flushed beauty groans loudly, before pouting at them, "Scaith can also fix our fertility issues, and has offered those services to you…"

Lord Phenex instantly finds himself frozen on the spot as his wife burns holes through him with her piercing gaze.

Now, that… That would be nice. Not for his hips. Or his lasting survival. Or his manhood. But some more children were always nice.

"W-We can talk about this at a later date…" His wife cackles like the damn vixen she is, which makes him shudder and pale. But not whimper. He is a manly man, and he does not whimper.

"Still, I do quite like this offer." Lady Phenex admits, changing the subject, much to her husband's relief, allowing him to let out a long and deep breath of relief while his son gives him a thumb's up, "It also lets us be closer to you, so that we can visit you often!"

The good thing was that they weren't even that badly hurt from the sudden escape of workers and Low Class Devils. The Phenex House lands had long since been mined completely centuries ago, so they had loaned their workers to other Houses unless they required them for Gates and such.

But that was rare, as their army could do that already. How to skin monsters, dissect them, and even mine the ores from Superimposition Gates.

At most, they handled the shops across Devil Cities, but even this loss of monetary income wouldn't hurt them, and will not for centuries to come. That is just how much the Phenex House had saved throughout the centuries thanks to the sales of the very expensive Phoenix Tears, which sky-rocketed once the Gates started popping up.

Thus, New Haven wasn't an eyesore. It was actually a very beautiful city, which had a powerful aura lingering around it.

With a leyline beneath it pouring out immense quantities of Mana, the enormous array protecting the city was likely among the strongest defenses in the Underworld. Magical barriers were very, very lacking compared to stationary Arrays and Formations, after all.

Any further exploration of the city came to a halt when a large surge of magic came from the main square in the middle of the city, a blinding flash erupting soon after and depositing hundreds of people carrying tools, large boxes and the likes, who swiftly started rushing away.

All of them wore white robes that held the symbol of a hammer and anvil over their chest, which marked them as disciples of the Forging Sect.

"Scaith!" Changli suddenly calls out, her face bearing a thousand-watt smile, which made Lady Phenex throw her husband another knowing smile and look.

Their niece rushed up to a handsome young man holding a large box of his own, sweat clinging to his forehead and hair a complete mess. Even his fine clothing was covered in dust.

The young man with peculiar pupils blinks, then smiles at Changli, who swiftly approaches him and gives his state a confused look, "What have you been doing that you're so dirty?"

"Ah, that…" Scaith blinks, turns towards the departing disciples, then turns back with a bright smile, "Haggling!"

An irate shout came from the distant disciples, "That ain't haggling, you fuck!" An old dwarf of a man loudly hollers, being held back and dragged away by the tired disciples, "You robbed us blind! Blind, I say! We'll never recover from this-!"

Scaith's smile turns innocent under Changli's intense stare. "What? He wanted me to bring back Guan Yu as a powerful Jiangshi. That has to cost quite a bit."

"So you… Robbed him blind?" The young woman giggles, and Scaith just shrugs without shame.

"Got plenty of weapons for the Undead army though!" His cheeky grin evoked a blush from Changli, which the Necromancer misses when he takes note of them, "Oh dear… This is one hell of a first impression, huh?"

Lord Phenex snorts while his wife laughs and lifts the gifted egg up, "Don't worry, the egg makes up for it!" That didn't reassure the Necromancer, who slumps and even pouts.

"He likes making good first impressions." Changli mock-whispers towards her family, earning her a light glare from the Queen of her Peerage.

"I am a refined man with style and class, I'll have you know."

Changli titters and dusts off his right shoulder with the back of her hand, "Uh-huh, I can totally see that now…" She playfully states, "What did you even do to get covered in so much dust?"

The Necromancer shrugs, "Helped the guys dig out even their very, very old weapons. I wasn't going to leave without everything they had."

So he did rob them blind…

Turning back towards the rest of the Phenex family, Scaith offers them a wide smile, "The egg will take a bit to hatch and grow. Mostly because I want to study if growing up will make it stronger than the ones that I've made into adults from the get-go."

Lord Phenex blinks, "You've made more of them?"

Scaith nods towards Changli, "A couple of dozen, all under Changli's control. Felt like spoiling her a bit."

The look Lady Phenex threw her husband was nearly as bright as the Sun itself.

"Now, I'd love to hang around and chat, but I am swamped with quite a lot of work!" Picking up the stuff in his arms, the dust-covered Necromancer turns to leave, wide grin on his face, "Do hang around for the night, I'll make sure to treat you all to some fine food!"

And with that, he departs, leaving a flushed and fidgeting Changli under the intense stare of the rest of her family.

The squeal that erupts out of Lady Phenex's lips could rupture the eardrums of lesser Devils.

~XXX~

Making an army of Undead is laughably easy when I can delegate all the work.

The Corpse Striders had been modified a bit, and I now have over a hundred of these hulking monstrosities of flesh, bone and Necrotic Magic.

And I left them to tirelessly work tearing through the immense mountains of corpses gathered from clearing the reaches of No Man's Land closest to us, the many corpses gathered by the Angels while on their murder spree to gather more Souls to help God recover, and so much, much more.

To say that they can be stacked up into mountains would be and understatement.

The best part? They have all been stored right beneath New Haven. A small space, really- Just massively expanded into a rectangular shape with no end through a Formation.

This lets the area be choked full of magical energies due to the leyline, thus making me able to leave Land of the Defiled active since its creation without taking any strain on me.

This now left this underground pocket filled with Necrotic Miasma, and thanks to the new and improved Corpse Striders, Corpse Qi has joined it. Any other living being would be poisoned to death within seconds by standing in this desecrated space, but for me it feels refreshing.

Dense clouds and pools of Necrotic Miasma and Corpse Qi linger everywhere, drowning the corpses in it, making them enormously more powerful and tougher than they were in life.

And the Corpse Striders tear apart these corpses, and out of them are slowly fashioning an ever growing army of giant humanoid skeleton warriors clad in dense bone armor.

Each of them is fashioned after Lu Bu – not that any of them will get close to match the huge bastard in pure physical might – and I've granted them all Souls. Not to make the living, but to make them learn.

I still had my old Ancestors on had, which didn't get to see much action for a while due to how fast I grow as a Necromancer, but now I've found a good use for all of them.

I upgraded them, made them mightier, and also made them into teachers. The body is the container for the Soul, the body is the first to learn before imprinting things into the Soul.

It is why any Mage I bring back can still use the repertoire of Spells despite lacking a Soul, like with Rhapthorne.

Thus, I gave young Souls to my whole army- Well, not me. I made it so the Corpse Striders can grant a Soul Seed to their creations. I just need to restock them every now and then, but it is very easy and fast to do.

Through this, my Undead Ancestors now have a Magic Unit beneath them. A thousand Undead Mages each, all learning from them, without pause or rest, for they do not need it.

Lu Bu instead trained the Generals, the strongest Undead Jiangshi I created before the new and enhanced Corpse Striders.

A thousand of them in total, all with the best of the best, clad in corrupted Plate Mail armor, looking akin to humanoid Dragons, and holding weapons made of the same materials.

Powerful Jiangshi with their own Core, trained in combat by Lu Bu himself, and slowly being taught how to wield Touki like he does too. Once matured, these puppies will be horrifying monsters.

The other Jiangshi don't receive the same treatments because making Plate Mail armor takes a lot of resources if I do not use the Sephiroth Graal, and I cannot personally upgrade my whole army, especially with how enormous it is by now.

Each Corpse Strider churns out fifty Jiangshi every minute, and I have around one-hundred of them. They've been at this since after we took out the Titan, and by now I see no end to my Jiangshi army.

With the Generals trained, I had them train the army. They can fight and train all they want, constantly, and now they are all equipped with the best weapons made by the Forging Sect.

The best thing about Corpse Qi? It corrupts and empowers these weapons even more. And the best thing about the weapons made by the Chinese Faction? They can grow stronger.

They have these things called Item Spirits, which are the Souls of weapons, which learn and refine techniques, or help refine the energy flow of their master. They make a lot of difference in combat.

So of course I robbed the Forging Sect of all of their weapons, new and old. The old ones had lost their Item Spirit, and there we so, so many of them… But nothing I couldn't fix!

Hence why I made a Corpse Strider that would just swallow the old weapons and shit them back out with young Souls inside them. Like hell I'd spend so much time to put Souls in each of them.

Thus, I made sure my whole army got at least one such weapon. Even if they ran out, I'll have them give their bone weapons to the Corpse Strider made to implant Item Spirits within them, just so that they wouldn't lose out.

With this, my Jiangshi army is learning, growing with each passing moment, and equipped to the teeth with the best of the best. It has long since surpassed the hundred-thousand mark. I'm pretty sure I'll hit the millions – if I haven't already – pretty soon.

Then, I moved to Rhapthorne. When I first got the Sephiroth Graal, I had planted a young Soul inside both him and Lu Bu, and I've retrieved these Souls and exchanged them with younger ones once more.

Then, I fused these two Souls that had learned everything from Lu Bu and Rhapthorne. Fighting styles, all the Spells, how to use Tension and Touki… And then I fused this new Soul, with all the Souls from the Flaming Angels that were beneath the Titan.

Their corpses were then used to create a container for this very, very powerful Soul.

A body similar to Ddraig's, robes fashioned out of corrupt Plate Mail Armor, a complete Corpse Core, and a Soul that will grant my future new Undead Minion might close if not surpassing Lu Bu's.

A Holy Necrotic Undead. A Dark Bishop, capable of healing, buffing and attack Spells, but also fight in close quarters.

He is still gestating, soaking in Necrotic Mana and Corpse Qi to empower his body more and more until I'll raise him.

He is already Maou Class, for sure. Maybe even a bit higher, perhaps touching on the realm of Super Devils… Fuck, what if I make him one?

The first Holy Demonic being… His lack of life could help him not mutate and collapse from the Super Devil genes… And I've analyzed Michael too.

The make-up of the Archangel, mixed with the make-up of Super Devils… Just what sort of monstrosity can this fusion birth?

But… I could also lose everything. It wouldn't be an immense loss, since I can do it again in a month or so, but still… I also still have that essence from Ophis, so perhaps...

Fuck it, we ball.

Time to make the first Super Arch-Devil.

Or would it be Super Nephilim?

Eh, whatever.

...You better not fucking blow up on me, pal.

….

My return back home was followed by a warm and much needed shower, where luckily – not really – no one jumped me in the shower.

Which did raise some alarm bells, as Zani would never skip the chance to get laid and have some fun.

Said suspicion bloomed when I reached the living room of our mansion, which was moved closer to New Haven. Teleportation is one hell of a nifty thing.

The couches were occupied, with one being taken by Fleurdelys, flanked by a very serious and awake Zani, and a frowning Tio.

Before them, much to my surprise, sat Serafall herself. Though, the Satan didn't seem to be here in any hostile form. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there was a depressive air around her.

...Something happened.

"What did I miss?" I make my presence known, making the ladies perk up. Fleur sends a blinding smile my way, her eyes tired from handling New Haven's affairs all day and making sure everything was proceeding smoothly, and no one got bright ideas.

Serafall's instead had her eyes overflow with hope, her mouth opened for a short moment, before she bit down on her lips and restrained herself.

I'll be honest; I don't like seeing her like this. She was a favorite character of mine from a very stupid, joke of a series that was carried by fanfiction and the smut born from it.

Fleurdelys turns her gaze to Serafall, then back at me, "Serafall's younger sister was murdered." I pause at that, "The entire Sitri House was, in fact."

What the fuck.

"Just like that? No struggle?" I question, approaching the couches with a severe frown on my face. There was a grudge against the Sitri House, one that would end with them torn apart, and with Sona humiliated and probably killed by Fleur, but this was far, far into the future, and by the Fleur might have changed her mind and just humiliated the Sitri Heiress.

"Poison." Serafall answers, voice cracking as she spits that word out, "Everyone, from soldiers to servants, to my sister and parents… They all died in the same minute, poisoned over time, for years."

Okay, what the fuck… This feels like a plot from the Old Satan Faction, maybe to stir shit and make Serafall go insane and attack us wildly, but it hasn't gone how they wanted.

"You think the killer might have fled here?" Serafall nods, then moves to fully face me.

"I-… I know we've haven't had any good relations, and we've… We've been-" Fleur looks at me, and offers me a faint smile and nod.

So I just sigh and put my hands on my hips, "I'll do it." I drawl out, bringing Serafall to a pause. Her mouth opens, eyes widen and redden, and words visibly fail her, "But… You gotta apologize to her first." I jab a thumb towards Fleurdelys, who pouts my way in that cute angry way of hers which makes me want to kiss her.

And pin her on a bed. Which I will do later.

Serafall looks between the two of us, tears freely flowing down her cheeks, "I could hug the two of you right now, you know?"

"I have a feeling I won't survive said hug, so no thanks…" I dryly state, which earns me a soft, bubbly laugh from the distraught woman, who proceeds to wipe away her tears with the back of her hand.

Still, I move and summon one of the cups of the Sephiroth Graal into my right hand, "Mind pointing me in the general location of the Sitri House?" I ask Serafall, who nods and stands up, before turning a bit and pointing in the direction of the mansion's doors.

The Graal in my hand glows with milky white light. I first scan Serafall, as her Soul will naturally be slightly similar to Sona's, so finding it will be easier.

Then I turn my Soul Sight towards the Sitri House lands. With how many people died in the same spot, it is quite easy to find the mansion even from this distance.

I did this already when looking for the Original Leviathan, so doing it again is even easier.

"Found her." I state, the Graal flaring with light and collecting the weak Soul and pulling it back to us, and making it appear right within the cup, where I turn my gaze towards it-

"They are just Branch Family animals. Cattle, if you will."

"If any of these maggots survive the experiment, you can recruit them in your Peerage, Sona."

"Father, mother, I heard that another test subject died."

"-expected from Branch Family filth. They cannot even survive such little pain-"

"-antarella is pulling through once more."

"-many test subjects remain?"

"Just her."

"Sona, my dear daughter, what do you suggest-"

"-triple the dose-"

"-might not survive-"

"-screams are getting tiresome-"

"-waste of time… Oh well, we can marry her off in the future-"

I tighten my jaw and grip the cup within my trembling hand.

"Is… Is something wrong?" Serafall asks, voice shaky, gaze worried.

I wordlessly offer her the Graal.

She takes it slowly, her hands trembling and gaze hesitant. But she still takes it- And her eyes slowly widen in pure, overflowing horror.

"Oh, no…" She whispers, dread in her voice, "No, no, nononono…" Her face goes green, and the cup slips out of her hands, which rise to cover her mouth.

Tio rises and moves to assist Serafall, guiding her towards the bathroom so she could release her stomach's contents.

This surely did not happen in the story I know, but this world is different enough.

Fleurdelys, the Gates… The existence of them might have pushed the Sitri House to go through with those vile experiments. To have powerful pawns. To rise higher.

How many more Houses have done similar vile shit?

I don't even want to think about it.

I grab the cup with a sigh, and go to put it away before I catch sight of… Something.

"Scaith…?" I frown and turn my gaze towards No Man's Land.

My eyes widen in horror.

"Sound the alarm." Fleurdelys and Zani instantly stand up in alarm.

I turn my gaze, and everywhere I look, I just see more and more, and more-

"Gather all the Dragons. Split off to go and support the other Factions."

I turn a severe gaze towards them, "A Beast Tide is coming. Billions. Straight from No Man's Land."

Zani left without further words needed, while Fleurdelys gives me a worried look, "What about you?"

What about me…

I turn back to the immense army approaching New Haven… And I smile. Now, that's a whole lot of corpses.

"I'm a Necromancer." The Graal shines, connecting to the one held by Ddraig. The warning I told him about.

"Leave New Haven to me."

….

No Faction was going to be spared by the Beast Tide.

The alarm had been sounded, having been created a whole decade ago yet having never seen use since no tides ever flowed out from No Man's Land.

It was a fear. One that demanded the union of all Factions to combat, if it happened.

And today, that fear had become reality.

Uncountable numbers of beasts of all Classes overflowed from the horizon, trampling anything in their path like the feral beasts they were so to reach their target, the respective Faction before them.

It didn't matter which one it was. Youkai, Hindu, Chinese, Greek, Norse- All of them were being targeted, thus making them unable to support each other, the very reason the alarm had been made in the first place.

On the Chinese Faction side, they used the two hours they had before contact to prepare as much as possible.

Arrays and Formations were set up, poisons were readied, traps were set, artillery and armies of flying ships were armed and loaded. All Sects moved to fight against the incoming horde, both Righteous and Evil Path Sects.

Yet, they all faltered when the roars reached them. And they faltered further when the horizon became littered with shapes of all kinds.

Colossal titans, flying horrors, beasts burrowing beneath the earth. All screeching madly, frothing at the mouth, eager to feast upon them.

And then two figures smashed into the earth far ahead of them. Two warriors brought back from death.

Lu Bu rolled his shoulders, halberd lazily sat on one of them as he calmly stomped forward, advancing towards the incoming army without fear within his baleful reddish-green eyes.

Beside him, the gleaming Green Dragon Crescent Blade rose out of the dust cloud, and a tall figure clad in clean green robes followed after the Strongest Beneath The Heavens.

Their two figures alone, advancing fearlessly towards the beast tide, reignited the courage of the Chinese Faction as a whole.

Seeing two of the beings the youths and even the old worship to this day walk towards the incoming Beast Tide lit a fire beneath them.

Thus, they didn't wait for the Beast Tide to reach them, and instead met it in the middle.

Meanwhile, the Youkai Faction fared much worse. Their occupied territory was much, much smaller than the rest. The smallest occupied territory in the Underworld, in fact.

A territory that they were now wondering if it should be abandoned, for the losses would be uncountable, and victory against the horde wasn't guaranteed.

Yasaka nibbled on her lower lip, glaring towards the horizon with conflicting emotions.

The loss wouldn't be massive, but the other Factions will be encircled if she gave up on her position, and they will surely come knocking once everything calmed down.

"Lady Yasaka." One of her closest aides calls out to her, clearly rushing her to make a decision, for they still had time to pack everything and leave. If they were quick.

Her nails dig into her palm. Her desire to make the Youkai rise further hinged on mining these Gates for all they were worth. Training, materials, ores- All of it was power, or could be used to gain more power.

But now… A deep sigh leaves her lips, "Pass down my order; We are abandoning-" A multitude of roars cracked the skies open.

Yasaka's eyes blow wide open, and her gaze shoots skyward just in time to see an army of Dragons and Phoenixes fly overhead, and straight towards the Beast Tide marching towards them.

Hundreds, if not thousands of Dragons and Phoenixes both, their sharp cries and mighty roars matching the demented howls from the feral Gate invaders.

Among them, a mighty pitch black Dragon slowly descends before her, a beautiful pink and white haired woman standing upon its head, offering her a kind smile, "Apologies for the sudden appearance, Lady Yasaka. We – Changli Phenex and Tio Bune, Rooks of Fleurdelys Leviathan – are here to offer our army as assistance."

The alluring mature Kitsune couldn't help but gape at the spoken words. A whole army of Dragons and Phoenixes- The Necromancer. The one who holds the Sephiroth Graal.

There was no one that didn't hear about him in the whole Underworld, after all.

"I doubt I will ever be able to repay this kindness." Yasaka bows, a thankful smile on her face as she beheld the mighty sight of the beautiful army before her.

Changli's smile twitched into a playful one.

"I'm sure just giving us the corpses will be more than enough."

Despite herself, Yasaka couldn't help but let out a disbelieving laugh.

Necromancers truly were weird...

Finally, the biggest of Fleurdelys' forces and her whole army went to assist the front that faced the biggest portion of the invasion. The Devil Territory.

No words were exchanged when she arrived with Zani, Serafall and their armies. Instead, they gazed towards the distance, standing behind the Satan Beelzebub, who had dozens of Magic Circles flaring around him.

Behind them, all of the armies of all of the Noble Houses stood. From the top ten Rating Games fighters, to any able bodied fighter.

"Ajuka…?" Sirzechs calls out, not liking the silence from his best friend.

Silence. Then, the Satan Beelzebub finally speaks up, "One million."

The temperature drops.

Ajuka speaks up again, "Ten million."

Hearts stop beating, and faces pale to the level of a corpse.

Then… Ajuka speaks again, closing his eyes with a deep sigh.

"One-hundred million… And rising. Fast."

Fleurdelys frowns heavily. She didn't like this, one bit. It felt too unlucky.

A beast tide of such levels, and with the biggest horde aimed straight at the Devil Faction territories, right during their weakest moment. Torn apart, with heavy strife within, having lost their workers, and with the Noble Houses having been forcefully subjugated by the Satan Lucifer and Satan Beelzebub.

They were still weak. Still recovering. And will be for a while, until the Satans can stabilize their internal situation.

And yet… She remembered the Khaos Brigade Scaith told her about. Of their bases in No Man's Land.

This had to be their doing. Using the essence of the Infinity to drive the beasts wild and send them hurling towards the Factions of the Underworld.

For what reason they wanted such destruction, she didn't know, nor did she care much. They stood in her way, so they had to be cut down.

The horizon and the distant skies turned black from the sheer number of rabid creatures charging towards them, yet their demented cries and howls were soon drowned out by a much, much more powerful one.

One that shook the land and the skies.

The clouds blew apart, and the radiant form red form of the Red Dragon Emperor slowly descended down, colossal clawed arms crossed before the jewel on his chest, jaws set in a grim grin, and gaze locked on the horizon.

Even with the arrival of one of the Heavenly Dragons, the situation looked grim.

"Get ready." Ddraig suddenly spoke, voice heavy, followed by a low growl as the gem on his chest starts to glow, "Something… Horrible, is coming."

The horizon went dark.

A rumble drifted across the Heavens and shook their very hearts and Souls.

And they all could only watch as a flying, continent-sized monstrosity slowly drifted towards them, skyscraper-sized tentacles drifting down from the dark clouds, ending into enormous mouths filled with more tentacles covered in sharp, hooked teeth.

A horrid, nightmarish sound drifted out of the jellyfish-like horror. It was like the moaning of a ghost, just coupled with sharp nails dragging along a chalkboard.

Yet, that's when a beam of light cleaved Reality in half.

The jellyfish stilled, then two separate halves crashed down upon the land below like colossal meteorites.

The skies above the Devils burned gold, and the songs of the Heavenly Host reached their ears.

They descended in the millions, clad in radiant white and gold armor, bearing flaming armaments overflowing with their Holy Light and Faith.

But the most eye-catching of all was Her.

Beauty made flesh. A dress of woven Divinity and Holy Light, hair and eyes made of gold, and fourteen crystallized wings of Light and Flames, glowing with a radiance that put the Sun to shame.

"Be not afraid, children of Lucifer." Her heavenly voice reached their ears, her smile reassuring, yet her gaze… It seemed to be looking for someone.

It settled on Fleurdelys, then looked to those close to her.

Then, the ethereal woman pouts. Fleurdelys' eyebrows start twitching.

Did she have to count the God of the Bible as a rival?!

A.N. Everyone fighting over Scaith while he just hums happily and desecrates corpses in the background, unaware of the expanding plot surrounding his dick. Been a while since i wrote smut for this fic, i'll have to rectify that soon.

Also, I kinda like giving the Khaos Brigade so much power, but them being so utterly fucking stupid in using it.

Kinda fits idiots like Rizevim and Euclid, to be fair. 'Muh destruction!' ahh idiots…

Either way, hope y'all enjoyed this chappy!

Toodles!