The Devouring Dragon-Chapter 72: The Leadup

"Are you sure you can handle this, Ajuka?" Sirzechs asked slightly doubtfully, looking wearily at Ajuka.

The duo were standing in the room where Ajuka spent most of his time - usually either staring at a computer screen or experimenting with one of the many 'junk' items scattered around the messy room.

"You don't need to be concerned," Ajuka just replied, his tone slightly distracted as he was largely paying attention to the computer in front of him.

"He challenged me to a duel," Sirzechs shot back, his tone lightly annoyed at Ajuka not giving him his full attention, "Publicly, and one that's being endorsed by Zekram Bael. I couldn't just decline."

A few days prior, Zekram had made the smart move of advertising the 'Beast King v. Strongest Maou' duel to the noble families prior to even asking Sirzechs. Now, if the Maou declined it would look as if he was backing down and pulling out of the fight.

If Falbium or Serafall, or even Ajuka, had been in his situation, it wouldn't have been a big deal. Falbium was known for being lazy, Serafall's unique personality was well known, and Ajuka not caring for much other than inventing or experimenting these days was also public knowledge.

However, Sirzechs' wasn't known for his general capabilities like Falbium, or being a naturally loveable woman who excelled at dominating foreign affairs like Serafall, or for being a super-genius inventor like Ajuka.

Instead, he was known for being powerful. Where the other Maou had specific characteristics that justified their positions, the only resume Sirzechs needed was his power.

He was a national deterrent just from existing. Every being far and wide knew how powerful he was, and there was only a handful of beings from any faction that would dare to challenge him. His reputation gained his faction a lot of influence, and for that reason, he couldn't back down.

If he declined the duel, it would look as if he were afraid to fight the Beast King. Such an interaction would make Valon become more feared, thus giving him more influence, while Sirzechs would lose a lot of influence for both himself and the devil faction.

The alliance would suddenly lean in the Beast King's favor, even when his land, army, and strength were inferior.

And that annoying man knows it.

Sirzechs was sure that was why Valon challenged him. The Beast King wanted him to back down and take an effortless victory, but Sirzechs wouldn't give in that easily.

"You won't lose, will you?" Ajuka asked still distractedly, and Sirzechs just huffed lightly.

"If there's any time for me to fight seriously, it's now," Sirzechs said, his words almost sounding like a growl, "Openly challenging me after what he did to Rias..."

Sirzechs was glad that his sister was free from her marriage contract with Riser Phenex, as he knew how much she hated the man, but that didn't mean he was happy about her new love for the Beast King.

"He didn't do anything to her," Ajuka only pissed him off more with his honest words, "I've checked for any intrusive magic multiple times, but there is none. There's no succubus charm affecting her either."

"I know," Sirzechs grunted, obviously unhappy at Ajuka being right about Rias' genuine love for the Beast King, "That doesn't mean I have to be happy about her being with a man like him."

"Then use this as an opportunity to get back at him," Ajuka said bluntly, "Beat him. And, if you can win convincingly, then we use it as an opportunity to kill him."

Sirzechs blinked at his words, his eyes widening slightly, "Kill him? We can't just..."

Sirzechs paused he thought about it.

He's right.

"There's nothing stopping us," Ajuka continued, "You'll be fighting inside an enclosed barrier maintained by Tiamat. It'll take a lot of power to keep both you and the Beast King from breaking through the barrier. When you defeat him, then Falbium, Serafall, and I can hold off Tiamat while you finish him off."

"That's why you're not opposing the stadium he's building?" Sirzechs deduced, and Ajuka nodded.

After the duel had been announced, Zekram Bael had been personally overseeing the creation of a large stadium being built not far from the ex-Familiar Forest. Considering it was so close to Valon's territory, it was easy to see that the man had a vested interest in the stadium's creation.

"I assume he'll shape the terrain to benefit his fighting style," Ajuka continued, finally glancing over his shoulder at Sirzechs, "There's no other feasible explanation for it being made. I'd push back and fight Zekram to have the duel in a neutral Game Field, but he's actively putting himself at more risk by using the stadium."

The Beast King's strongest ally, Tiamat, would be weakening themself to maintain the barrier between the battle arena and the spectators. By comparison, Ajuka and his personal subordinates would be weakening themselves by maintaining a Game Field.

In Ajuka's eyes, the stadium was not only positive in their favor, but also negative in Valon's.

"What if it's a trap?" Sirzechs raised an eyebrow at his longtime friend, "If the alliance is really as flimsy as you believe, he could be trapping the stadium to try and kill me."

It would be hard to do without anyone noticing the magic, but not impossible with Tiamat's help.

"Zekram Bael is overseeing its creation," Ajuka shot him down, then continued at Sirzechs' still doubtful look, "Even if we are at odds, we still share the same overarching goal. He wants what's best for our race, even if he doesn't trust anyone else but himself to wield the power to get us there. He knows as well as I do how dangerous the Beast King is, and how valuable you are. He wants to limit our power, but he wouldn't dare try to kill you."

Sirzechs just locked eyes with Ajuka for a moment, then nodded with a sigh.

"I hope you're right," He said, "Rias would be furious if we did kill him, but..."

"Her feelings don't override the prosperity of our society," Ajuka finished easily, "Even if the opportunity to kill him doesn't arrive, just publicly defeating him is better for us. We have everything to gain here."

"And everything to lose," Sirzechs countered.

"That's if you lose," Ajuka shook his head easily, "Even if you were fighting Ophis herself, I'd still bet on you. You've never lost before, Sirzechs."

"And I won't this time," Sirzechs nodded, but still looked a bit worried, "I just hope this will really go as smoothly as you say."

"I do as well," Ajuka nodded, surprising Sirzechs as he actually stood up and turned fully away from his computer, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with Zekram Bael soon."

"Zekram?" Sirzechs muttered, and Ajuka's ever-present smile shifted up into a grin.

"Just remember, my friend, that this type of battle is where I excel," Ajuka stepped past him.

"As long as I'm here, the Beast King will have no chance of winning."

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"This is really disappointing," Azazel sighed, slumping down onto the bar as he looked at the bartender in front of him. "I really liked this bar. Why must you ruin the things I like?"

"W-What do you mean?" The bartender blinked, looking worried as she glanced at his untouched drink, "Is it not to your liking? I-I can remake it if you want! Sorry, it's my first day working here-"

"Will your master be here soon, or should I just leave?" Azazel cut her off bluntly, narrowing his eyes lightly at the beautiful woman in front of him, "This act is boring."

"M-Master? What are you talking about-"

"Don't worry, the normal bartender is just taking the day off. He'll be back tomorrow," A smooth voice cut her off, and a large, muscular figure sat down on the stool next to him, "Azazel, Governor General of the Grigori. I'd say you're a hard man to track down, but you're really not."

"I come to this bar every night, so I'd assume so," Azazel said dryly, "I'm a bit insulted, though. You think I can't tell a human and a succubus apart, Beast King?"

"A man can hope, can't he?" The handsome face grinned slyly at Azazel as he waved off the bartender. Azazel just sighed in response.

"I've had a pretty busy day, and I just wanna drink some booze and relax," Azazel said bluntly, "So, if you could get to the point quickly, I'd appreciate it."

"I won't take much of your time," Valon responded easily, "Benemue. Do you want her back?"

Azazel blinked, his eyes widening slightly as his back straightened, "What are you saying?"

"She's a higher-up in your organization, right?" Valon grinned, his lips twitching up in a slightly predatory way, "I take it that she mysteriously disappeared sometime ago?"

Azazel glanced over at him slightly suspiciously. One of the Cadre-ranked fallen within the Grigori, a gorgeous woman named Benemue, had indeed disappeared close to a year ago.

Considering the fallen didn't have one home base in particular, and tended to live all over the Underworld and human world, that wasn't unheard of. What was concerning was when she never made any report or contact with Azazel for the entirety of the year, and when he wasn't able to track her down.

He had assumed she had gone and gotten herself killed by either the Khaos Brigade or some dragon, as none of the other factions had taken credit for her death, but it seemed she was still alive somewhere.

"That's true," Azazel responded, his eyes narrowing slightly at Valon, "You took her as a prisoner?"

If the Beast King knew Benemue's name and knew that she disappeared, then it was a safe assumption to think he wasn't lying. Compared to someone like Kokabiel or himself, Benemue was much less known outside of the Grigori - and even within the Grigori - so it would be strange for him to know about her disappearance otherwise.

"Something like that," Valon continued to grin lightly, "But I'm willing to return her unharmed."

"I would appreciate that," Azazel nodded, but said the unspoken condition that was hanging in the air, "What do you want for her?"

Nothing in this world is free.

"Not much," Valon hummed, "Just some information. You've been working on artificial sacred gears lately, right?"

Azazel was slightly concerned how the man knew that, as he'd kept his experiments largely under wraps so far, but he assumed Benemue must've told him.

"I have," Azazel answered casually, trying not to let on how big of a deal creating artificial sacred gears really was, "Why do you ask?"

"How do you break a seal, Azazel?" Valon didn't answer his question, instead asking another one.

"...You unravel it," Azazel answered, still suspicious about the strange line of questioning, "You unravel the power that ties it together."

"Or, you expel enough power to overpower it," Valon continued with a nod. "The second method is the more common one because seals can be made with different types of power. A devil could easily unravel one made with demonic power, but it'd be much harder to unravel one made with holy power - unless you were a genius, of course."

"...I thought you said you'd get to the point quickly," Azazel said bluntly, not liking the direction the conversation was going.

"Humor me. It's not like you can leave anyway," Valon hummed, not seeming the least bit concerned at the idea of Azazel trying to up and leave the bar. "Now, why are Longinus' so powerful?"

"Their abilities," Azazel sighed, giving up on the idea of getting out of the conversation quickly.

"Abilities that largely come from the souls of powerful beings sealed within them," Valon agreed, "Now, if there were a scared gear with a powerful soul sealed inside of it, and its ability was sealing-based, how would you break free?"

Azazel blinked at the question, his lips twitching down into a frown, "You'd have to unravel it. Souls are a very powerful medium, and you'd have to exceed the power of the soul by a huge margin to be able to brute force through it."

"Exactly," Valon nodded, "It'd be rather overpowered, right? Especially if the soul within the sacred gear utilized a different power than your own. If an angel was sealed by a sacred gear with a devil's soul in it, then it'd be near impossible for them to unravel the demonic power."

"That's true," Azazel just nodded, not wanting to say more, "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"You know it's not," Valon shut him down easily with a smirk, "Hypothetically, if I were to put the soul of a powerful Youkai into a sacred gear, and then seal Ajuka Beelzebub in it, how long would it take him to break out?"

Azazel stiffened, trying to keep his face from breaking at the clearly not-hypothetical question.

"I think we should end our conversation here, Beast King-"

"I don't." A hand clamped down on Azazel's shoulder, and the man next to him seemed to suddenly radiate a dark aura. In that moment, Azazel felt small. Smaller than he'd ever felt in his long life.

As if he were a rabbit, and the glowing eyes of a lion were staring into his soul.

"Let's work together, Azazel," Valon said, leaning forward as his face got far too close to Azazel's, "And, to be clear..."

Azazel felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck as Valon stared down at him, his sharp eyes boring into his skull.

"I'm not asking."

Unfortunately for Ajuka Beelzebub, even a battle of intellect could be won with pure strength.

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AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be out tomorrow!

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