DxD: Celeste 13

DxD: Celeste 13

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Commissioned by Chaosbrain and Althero

Wordcount: 2000

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I had to admit that Lucifer was pretty good at hiding.

He evaded me in my last life, and now he was evading me in this life, despite the fact that I memorized how he did it last time.

“Where the heck are you?” I looked through my modified binoculars, while flying over most of the Underworld. No matter how hard I looked, or checked the mechanisms of the artifact that I was using, I couldn’t find any sign of the interdimensional fortress that Lilith was conniving within. “It worked last time, but it's not going to work this time.”

No pithy comment came to make fun of my obsession, because Azazel went off to get lunch.

However, I still took my eyes off long-range detector that I’d fashioned and rubbed at my eyes.

They stung more than I cared to admit, since I was scanning through multiple dimensions with raw power.

I wasn’t Li, I couldn’t just stretch my power across the world, and figure out everything and anything that was happening.

A sigh left me, while I took a seat on nothingness.

Then, I noticed an approaching presence, which wasn’t Azazel.

“Sup.” I greeted Grayfia and she paused and ceased being invisible. She carried a basket in her hand. I reached out for it. “Lunch?”

“It is.” The Elena look-alike spoke tersely and avoided looking directly at me. I wondered why, until I realized some of my concealment burned off while I’d been using my power. I reforged it quickly and made it so that I wasn’t accidentally giving the Devil’s soul a sunburn. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. I’m not out here to hurt you guys, just put down my idiot of a son.” I opened the basket. Inside were some sandwiches and canned drinks. The canned drinks were from the their own factories. They didn’t need to import things from the human world. The Devil Cola was both intriguing and a telling sigh that CORE couldn’t make the same deals here that it did in my world. It was kinda sad, but the Devil Cola was pretty great. “You can tell your Satan that I haven’t found anything yet, and I’ve looked as far as a thousand kilometers in every direction. Your city is pretty safe.”

“That is… good news.” Grayfia’s shoulders slumped in relief, while I took a sandwich wrapped in a plastic and took a bite. Roasted Chimera. They were so well off that they could use high-end monsters as ingredients for their food, instead of using them for experiments and potions. Things were really a whole lot better for these Devils than the ones back home. “Where do you think they are?”

“Honestly, given how strong you’ve gotten, they probably evacuated to somewhere farther away. Lucifer knows that you lot won’t want to be put under his yoke again.” Every chew of the sandwich gave me a smattering of flavors. Lamb, Chicken, and Lion composed the mythical beast, but while I could taste the former two, the lion was missing. It was just a strong meaty flavor that I couldn’t stop myself from going after again. A whole Chimera steak sounded like an amazing treat that I needed to have, after just eating quarter of a sandwich. “Well, unless you want to put it to chance and hold some elections over it. I’ll still kill him, though it wouldn’t be because of politics.”

I just wanted him dead and not interfering with this world.

Grayfia was quiet for a long time, before she spoke.

“I believe that there are many who would wish Lucifer to return. He helped create our people and guided us. The prosperity we now enjoy can be said to be due to his efforts. There are even people who decry our current way of life, and seek to emulate his actions, even if it causes our current existence to crumble.” Grayfia confessed and I listened. I put the food aside to make it clear that I was interested, even though my stomach was prepped for far more food than I just ate. I took note of how the Devil placed a hand on her stomach. I didn’t sense another soul inside her, but there was another way that could go. “I wouldn’t want my children or my children’s children to suffer through the same terrors we did. The path of Lucifer is one of endless destruction and torment against the entire world, not just Heaven, or you.”

I didn’t hesitate to confirm her fears.

“Lucifer was built to be the perfect soldier. All he knows and will ever know is war. Even if he destroys everything else besides the Devils, it won’t be long before he turns on you for some fucked up reason he cooked up in his head.” I shook my head and turned back to the underworld, but I couldn’t help but still hear the bustling metropolis just behind me. It was full of people, Devils and former Human, who were living normal lives in the place I cast Lucifer down. “What he did helped make you what you are now, but he sees everything except himself as a challenge to his perfection. He won’t be satisfied until he is the last thing that lives and breathes, and after that… he’ll probably not have another thought again.”

I should’ve killed him instead of casting him down, but there was no point in ruminating over such mistakes.

I looked at Grayfia and gave her a nod in thanks for the meal she delivered.

“Don’t worry, I learned from my mistakes. I won’t harm the Devils. It’s the Demons and Lucifer that I have a problem with.”

At my words, once again, Grayfia was silent… until she pinched the hem of her skirt and gave me a curtsy.

“Thank you very much for your hard work.”

I accepted the Devil’s thanks without a thought, and went on to enjoy the meal she prepared.

Something I never did in my own world, now that I thought about it.

…

Azazel and I looked over the data we gathered and then at one another.

“That son of a bitch really ran to the edges of the Underworld, didn’t he?”

“Looks like it.”

Between the two of us and my artifacts, we covered the known regions of the Underworld within the afternoons. We had to strain ourselves and use up the artifacts completely, but the effectiveness of our search couldn’t have been understated. We cleared all of the territories the Devils held and confirmed that Lucifer was nowhere near them and that they were secure.

That was information worth being proud over.

“Hm, well, at least I can build up defenses and wards for the Devils. And, a trap for Lucifer.” I looked at Azazel and he glanced at his Homunculi. In a few moments they had our luggage out in our room. Most of our clothes and required amenities were in one bag each. The rest were carefully-concealed against detection and conjoined into a portal between my workshop and the Hell. It took a lot out of me to activate and maintain, but we had the hands necessary to make the time limit work for us. “Grab one of each box. Two trips. Three if you can!”

The Homunculi rushed through and fetched what I asked for.

The last one coming back lost the heel of her shoe, but they managed to get three trips worth of raw materials, while Azazel only managed to grab all my tools.

I was sweating by the time the portal closed, and there was a knock on the door.

Sirzechs entered a moment later.

“I detected a surge in power.” The red-haired Satan casted his gaze around the room that he provided us. It was heavily warded and protected against intrusion. His skill at detecting magic and proximity was the only thing that allowed him to detect our actions. Or, at least, I hoped that was the case. “What are those?”

I was catching my breath, so Azazel explained.

“The raw materials needed to make sure your people don’t get turned into Lucifer’s underlings, if he suddenly comes into existence out of the blue. We couldn’t find him, but since we’re sure he’s not around here, we can put up some defenses.” Azazel was glib as usual, but he handed me a bowl of fruit that was nearby. I scarfed them down quickly, and I noticed Sirzechs call for a servant to fetch me food. That was going to help a lot, if they got the right amount. “Don’t let the slim body fool you. Father can eat a horse in this state, as long as it's cooked. You might as well have a large dinner set up for us to eat here, since we’ll need your help.”

Sirzechs blinked, but nodded and gave the commands, before speaking once again.

“What do you require from me?” No big speech about doing it for his people. The ability to see we weren’t lying to him. The readiness to make a decision on the dime. It didn’t take much reasoning to see why this guy was the head-honcho of Hell in two universes. Even if, in my home, he wasn’t the powerhouse, he was still the leader. “What are the chances of it failing?”

“If you mess up, we’ll just have to try again. You’ll be replacing the materials, though. As for me? I won’t mess up. Making things is what I do.” I took a deep breath after polishing off the bowl of fruit. I took stock of myself. Between the portal and powering two artifacts that scanned through most of Devil territory, I was still pooped. “We’ll start after dinner, but for now, why don’t you practice making the smallest amount of Destruction possible?”

I thought that Sirzechs would hesitate at my request, since Destruction was a ridiculously temperamental magic. Trying to control it, and not unleash it after creating it, bordered on suicidal.

Instead, Sirzechs nodded, held his palm open, and created a ball of pure destruction the size of his fist without effort.

“Is this enough?” It was a ball of pure Destruction, as well as the Aspect herself could make it, and I had to remind myself that this was another universe and the situation was different. In my other world, the Devils were floundering, scratching at the walls to advance and keep up with the rest of the world, and entire packs of them used to roam America as whole gaggles of murderous creatures. Here in this world, they were the victors, therefore those with talent and ability were naturally of a far higher standard. “Or, should I make it smaller?”

“Half that size and you’ll cut off our material cost by a third, and speed up our construction time.” I answered him honestly, while eyeing the orb in his hand. I became very aware of the fact that I wasn’t in my combat suit, because I let my guard down after taking care of the Hero Faction so easily. If Sirzechs decided to try and kill me with such condensed, pure Destruction, my only recourse would be to activate the portal and dive through again. That thing was deadly and I was far too tired. “And, before you ask, that power isn’t that good against Lucifer. He can throw attacks right back at you, or cancel them completely at the tenth of the cost.”

I got up, felt dizziness, and let one of the Homunculi lead me to a nearby sofa. Azazel stayed standing near the boxes, looking like he was minding his own business, while being able to intercept if Sirzechs tried anything.

I let myself relax at that.

Azazel was plenty strong back in my world, and he had the same amount of strength this one.

I planned on always going out in my armor from now on, but I could still relax with someone I could trust guarded my back.