"Another pillar has fallen, My Liege." Velrissa kneeled in front of , reporting the newest activities of her succubi.
"How many does that make now?" I asked curiously.
"Of the 32 pillars, my succubi have complete control of ten heads at the mont," Velrissa reported at my question, "Another five are deeply embedded, and seven more have partially infiltrated a family."
"Good work," I nodded approvingly.
I sat comfortably on my large throne, my eyes gazing across the throne room.
The progress was decent enough, and while so of the stronger pillar families would be harder to crack, like the Gremory or Bael, I didn't need every clan under my control.
I just needed enough for my plan to work, which would co to fruition soon.
"The whole Underworld will be yours soon, nya~" The near-nude catgirl strewn across my lap wed, the form of Kuroka casually sharing my throne with .
"Sooner than you think," I grinned widely, a slightly predatory look on my face, "I'll be eting the man who will sell out his entire race very soon."
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"Beast King," The stocky man across from greeted, smiling overly kindly as he took a seat.
"Zekram Bael," I greeted back easily, despite the fact that the man across from was not Zekram Bael. "Do you want to die right now?"
We were seated at a large wooden table inside the Bael Estate, inside a room that I was sure was loaded with all sorts of protective magic and traps. The ancient Bael had only agreed to et here, and I couldn't bla him.
From my reputation and actions, as well as the fact that Zekram probably knew Ajuka had told that he planned to essentially bomb my territory, it made sense for the devil to assu I might try to eat him.
That wasn't why I was here at the mont, but it was certainly within my plans for the future. Soone as arrogant, well-connected, and overall dangerous as Zekram Bael couldn't be left to ddle.
But, for now, I was here to be diplomatic.
'Zekram' stiffened as I grinned widely at him, his smile wavering, "W-What do you an, Beast King? You requested a eting to threaten ?"
"I wanted a eting with Zekram Bael," I emphasized, leaning forward as my predatory eyes stared into the man's slightly fearful ones, "Not his lapdog."
In front of , the man looked in every way to be Zekram Bael. He had a stocky build, a muscular body, a square handso face, and short black hair. He was even dressed in a fancy suit with the Bael symbol on it.
Despite that, I knew he was a fake. Above the head of the man who looked nearly identical to Zekram, a similar yet different na floated.
[King of Belial] [High-Class Devil] [Zekrel Belial] - Level 285
"But, I wasn't threatening you," I humd, raising my arm and pointing at a seemingly random spot in the large dining room, "I was talking to you, Zekram Bael."
"You're just as fearso as I've heard, Beast King," A deeper voice spoke, and from the spot Zekram Bael seed to appear out of nowhere as the air shimred, "I've only ever seen Ajuka Beelzebub see through my magic."
[Great King of Bael] [Ultimate-Class Devil] [Zekram Bael] - Level 725
For soone who stayed behind the scenes and sched so much, Zekram was surprisingly powerful. He was nearly as strong as Tiamat's base level, and I was sure in his long life he'd acquired a ton of different magic-based abilities and attacks.
I was also sure Zekram was pretty proud of his stealth magic, but I had a laundry list of skills that could counter stealth-based magic at this point. The man had never stood a chance.
"I'd apologize for trying to trick you, but," Zekram grinned as he stepped forward, taking Zekrel's seat as his nearly identical double stood up, "I'm sure you understand. I wasn't sure why you wanted to et , so I had to take precautions."
"So, you threw your lapdog into the fire to die in your place?" I humd, smirking lightly at the man, "If I really did call this eting for nefarious reasons, he'd be dead."
"Better him than , right?" Zekram matched my smirk with one of his own, and Zekrel didn't seem the least bit offended by his words. Either he was used to being treated like this, or he was confident in whatever magic Zekram had set in this room to save his life.
"You're exactly what I expected, Zekram Bael." My smirk shifted into a large grin. "I think we'll get along well."
"I do as well, Beast King," Zekram matched my grin with a large, slightly hungry one of his own, "I can appreciate your blunt, powerful approach to things."
In reality, I had no intention of getting along long-term with Zekram, but he didn't need to know that. That wasn't even evil thinking by - I knew he felt the sa.
But I was actually rather impressed. His friendly deanor and the way he seed to mirror my expressions and attitude were very convincing. If I didn't know he was a manipulative old bastard, I would really believe I was speaking to soone similar to myself.
"Now, why did you want to et with ?" Zekram asked, still matching my grin, "Though, I believe I already know."
"I'm sure you do," I nodded, glancing over at Zekrel as he stood at the side of the table, "Is it fine for him to be here?"
"He won't reveal what's said here," Zekram waved his hand dismissively, "He knows to keep his mouth shut."
I knew that already, as my calling Zekrel the 'lapdog' of Zekram wasn't an exaggeration, but allowing Zekram to assert Zekrel's inclusion at the eting worked in my favor. It allowed the ancient Bael to believe he had control over the situation, and I needed that to continue.
I was going to be playing a balancing ga here - keep enough of my usual personality that he wasn't suspicious, but quietly give him enough control to think he was truly in control.
"Ajuka Beelzebub," I started bluntly, "And the Maou system as a whole. I want them gone."
"And you ca to about that?" Zekram just smirked lightly, "Wanting them 'gone' sounds rather threatening, Beast King. Should I take this to an that you're betraying the alliance already, and you're asking to betray my own leaders?"
"'Leaders' that you have no respect for," I replied dryly, "Do you think I'm clueless? You undermine and go against every decision they make. You even tried to do so against ."
"Don't take that personally, I never intended to follow through on it." Zekram shook his head casually, "If I truly attacked your kingdom and killed the hostages, then Sirzechs would go ballistic. It was simply an act to force Ajuka into taking action."
I had assud as much, but I still wasn't sure if Zekram was lying or not. It didn't make sense for him to ignore Rias and Sona's safety and overstep the Maou to attack , but the Bael would say whatever I wanted to hear anyway, so I couldn't be sure if he had a different plan I wasn't thinking of.
"But, asking to go against the Maou..." Zekram leaned forward, unable to hide the glint of excitent in his eyes, "That's quite dangerous, you know? If they found out, my neck would be on the line. You're asking for a lot..."
I could already see the angle he was going for - try to make feel indebted to him, even though I was helping toward a goal he already had. We both knew the Maou couldn't do anything to him, even if he was blatantly trying to take them down.
His hold on noble families was simply too strong.
While Zekram didn't hate the Maou or anything, as he had been the one to help put them in their positions in the first place, it was pretty evident that his original plan had failed. The ancient devil had allowed for the New Satans to gain their positions of power for the simple reason that he had been the one to put them there.
They were indebted to him and didn't raise a finger as he slowly gathered the rest of the remaining noble families under his thumb. His plan would've worked perfectly if he could continue to manipulate them from behind the scenes.
However, Ajuka Beelzebub was clearly too much for Zekram to handle. While Falibum's laziness and Serafall's disposition made them rather easy to control - as it'd been far too easy for to get Serafall under a contract - the other two Maou were more troubleso.
Sirzechs was outspoken and intelligent. He wouldn't just bend the knee and let Zekram do whatever he wanted, and his power being such a deterring force to other factions and a protective barrier for himself ant he was hard to get rid of.
Ajuka was like Sirzechs on steroids. The man was a scher just as Zekram was, and his slightly lower power compared to Sirzechs - which was actually lower than the level gap showed because of how deadly Sirzechs' Power of Destruction was - was more than made up for by his insane intelligence.
"You don't have to be concerned about anything," I said sharply, shaking my head at his words, "I'll do all the heavy work, I just need you to arrange sothing for . I'm putting you in a situation to risk nothing and gain everything."
"How so?" Zekram humd, looking even more interested, "What do you have in mind?"
"You don't truly want the Maou gone, you just want their power limited," I said bluntly, to which Zekram didn't try to deny.
If even just Sirzechs wasn't around, then the devil faction would lose a lot of their power in the supernatural world. Zekram's influence over the noble families wouldn't an anything if his faction as a whole was viewed as weak, or if another faction took the chance to completely take them out.
"In the sa vein, I want my power in the overarching Underworld landscape to increase," I explained easily, "It would be difficult for either of us to do this alone, but together it would be much easier. In one move, I'll limit the influence of the Maou and increase my own."
"How would you do that?" Zekram raised an eyebrow at , "And what do you want to do?"
"Set up a duel between and Sirzechs Lucifer," I said bluntly, and Zekram's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he schooled his expression again.
"A duel?" Zekram asked casually despite the intrigue in his eyes.
"Fra it as a friendly thing," I nodded, "Make it a spectacle, with every noble head in attendance. The reason Sirzechs has so much sway compared to the other Maou is because of his power. When I beat him in front of everyone..."
"You'll take that influence for yourself," Zekram humd, nodding approvingly, "Sirzechs won't look invincible anymore, and you will. It's a good plan, but if you lose-"
"I won't," I cut him off bluntly, staring coldly into his eyes, "I'll do more than just win - I'll humiliate Sirzechs. He'll lose his influence, and you won't have to worry about other factions looking down upon you after his loss - because I'm your ally now."
"...It's a good plan," Zekram agreed with a nod, "If you can really defeat him, but you're not giving enough credit."
Zekram leaned forward, his cold eyes matching mine, "Just because we share a common goal does not make you my ally. If I help you acquire more power, then you could beco an even bigger thorn in my side than the Maou are. You've made your ambitions pretty clear."
He was completely correct - I planned to beco far more than just a thorn in his side. Honestly, being simply a thorn in his side would look like paradise compared to what I would do soon.
"I want the Underworld, Zekram Bael," I countered easily, emphasizing the word, "When I rule over every creature in this world, I won't give a damn about what your race does. I'm sure you're knowledgeable about how my kingdom runs - despite many races making it up, I allow the leaders of each one to remain leaders."
While neither Zekram nor any noble family in particular had approached before, I would be naive to think the man didn't have spies watching my kingdom at every mont.
"Instead of the Maou who oppose you and try to limit your power, I will give you full authority," Zekram's eyes widened at my words, and I knew I had him hooked, "I will be the King of the Underworld, and whether I grant Serafall, Sirzechs, yourself, or any other devil leadership over your race doesn't matter to ."
Of course, Zekram wouldn't be satisfied with exchanging the Maou for a King, but he didn't need to be. If I were actually intending on sticking to this agreent, then he'd see it as a chance to manipulate the less-intelligent and more blunt over the supergenius Ajuka - thus vying for power not over just a race of devils, but over the entire Underworld.
"If I lose, then the duel was showcase of your faction's superiority in our alliance," I finished, reaching out and offering my hand to Zekram, "When I win, I will guarantee you leadership over your race. If I beco the King of the Underworld, then you'll beco the ruler of the devils under . If I fail to achieve my goal, then Sirzechs still loses influence, and you'll have more control against the Maou. You have everything to gain, and nothing to lose."
"...This offer sounds too good to be true," Zekram smirked, reaching out and grabbing my hand despite his words, "But only fools think like that. I'll set up the duel, Beast King."
I grinned as I shook Zekram's hand.
Soon, the ancient devil that always got what he wanted would be in for a rude awakening.
When sothing sounds too good to be true, that's because it is.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next Chapter will be out tomorrow!
You can also read the next 7 Chapters right now on Patreon/Koyon !
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