chapter 263
<b>Chapter 263:</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">Now that they weren''t trying to kill me anymore, I was in the middle of giving our guests from <i><span style="font-weight:400">Earth DxD-C</i><span style="font-weight:400"> a quick rundown on our own home Universe. I wanted to get the majority of the <i><span style="font-weight:400">info dump</i><span style="font-weight:400"> out of the way so that they could enjoy the next week visiting with Rias and Sona. I started my exnation by giving them the rundown on how our Earth was split into two halves, with one of them containing a disproportionate amount of the world’s supernaturalmunity. I exined to them how the barriers were breaking down between the two halves and there was only a few years before the two worlds would merge again.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Do you know how insane that all sounds? How the hell would Big G have even gotten the power to do something like that. How the hell does someone just rip a in half without killing every single living creature on it?” Serafall asked in disbelief.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That is quite the interesting story,” Cecilia Sitri added. “Your god definitely sounded more powerful than the one in our Universe.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I''m not saying I don’t believe you about all of this, La, but it would be nice to have some proof other than your own words.” Sirzechs remained skeptical, as did his wife Grayfia.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I would offer to give you all a tour of the other half of our Earth, but Devils aren’t particrly well liked over there,” I exined to them. “I could only really take you to the Underworld, and that would get pretty awkward considering there''s other versions of you all currently living there…for now.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“For now…?” Serafall asked me curiously. “What, are you going to kill them all or something?” she added jokingly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, but we’ll get to all of thatter.” I waved her off.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, what!?” Serafall openly gaped at me. “Why would you kill them all!?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“They’re all evil and most of them still feed on human souls.” I gave her the quick exnation. All of the Devils grimaced upon hearing that. “Even the young Devils like Millicas have already consumed hundreds of human souls at this point,” I said while pointedly looking at Sirzechs and Grayfia.
<span style="font-weight:400">Grayfia finally lost her cool and sputtered loudly. “This universe’s M–Millicas has eaten over a h–hundred human souls…? Oh Lilith…”
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded at her and gave her a quick rundown on the time I met him and took him hostage. “They’ve been feeding him a new soul every month pretty much since he was born. It made him very powerful for a young child, but I don’t know what the repercussions will be on him. I don’t know what they''ll be on any of the Devils actually,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I can answer that,” Cecilia said to me. “I''m old enough to remember some of the worst times. Devils are creatures that naturally desire power, but many are toozy to properly work for it. Consuming human souls became the perfect solution for all thosezy Devils.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“What happened?” I asked her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Cecilia continued, “It made them stronger, but the price wasn’t worth it. It became an addiction that those Devil’s would never be able to get rid of. Souls are the most addictive drug there is for Supernatural beings. The withdrawal is horrible, if the addicted don’t regrly consume souls then they start to go feral! When the Great War ended, consuming souls became ouwed in the Underworld. All of the Devils who regrly prayed upon humans were forced to stop cold turkey. The results were not pretty. The withdrawal symptoms they experienced got so bad that many of them tried to devour other Devils to stave off their hunger,” Cecilia told us with a grimace. She then went on to exin something I was not aware of. Serafall and Sona were actually half sisters. Serafall’s father was one of those Devil’s who used to consume human souls!
<span style="font-weight:400">“That was one of the reasons for the Devil Civil war. Many Devils flocked to the Old Satan Faction because they promised to sate their hunger,” Sirzechs continued her exnation. “When we eventually defeated them, we had to put most of those Devils down.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Was your first husband one of those?” I asked Cecilia delicately. Did she have to kill him herself?
<span style="font-weight:400">Cecilia didn’t seem particrly upset about discussing her dead former husband. “He was, and good riddance I say. He was a useless good-for-nothing who sat around all day and did nothing but torment our servants. He constantly tried to act like he was the Lord of the house even though the Sitri n is matriarchal and he married into our family. The only good thing he ever did was give me Serafall, and even then I''m not so sure he was the father. DNA tests didn’t exist hundreds of years ago, and I did have a harem back then after all…” she trailed off fondly.
<span style="font-weight:400">Serafall and Sona both blushed when their mother mentioned she had her own harem. I gave her a thumbs and she smirked at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That brings me to my question, did the Old Satan Faction win the Civil War in this Universe, La?” Cecelia asked me.
<span style="font-weight:400">I shook my head. “No, the Underworld is still run by Sirzechs, Ajuka, Serafall, and Falbium. In fact, I think they hold even more power.” I told them. “It might sound a bit cliche, but I think Devil’s from my Universe are simply inclined to be more <i><span style="font-weight:400">evil</i><span style="font-weight:400">,” I said while making finger quotes. “I think that works both ways though, the Angels in my Universe are much more active in their fight against evil.” Gabriel and Michael had practically taken the demonic invasion of New York personally. Both of them ughtered tens of thousands of demons with great enthusiasm. The Angels in DxD Canon pretty much let the Devils run around and do whatever they wanted.
<span style="font-weight:400">“So basically, the Devils here are more <i><span style="font-weight:400">evil</i><span style="font-weight:400"> but the Angels are more <i><span style="font-weight:400">good</i><span style="font-weight:400"> to bnce it out?” Serafall asked me before she frowned. “Ugh, I bet your Gabriel is even more annoying than mine then. I didn’t think that was even possible…”
<span style="font-weight:400">I snickered as I recalled some of my sister’s funnier stories. “Yeah, she enjoys pulling vindictive pranks on our Serafall. One of her favorite things to do is sneak into Serafall’s office and change things around. A few weeks ago she reced all of the office furniture with perfect replicas made of cake. And they weren’t good cakes either, they were all disgusting fruit cakes!”
<b>[That’s so incredibly petty… I love it!]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">“Is there anything else we should know?” Sirzechs asked me. “We’ve been talking for over an hour and I would like to see my new niece soon. That’s the whole reason we decided to visit.” Sirzechs had a goofy smile on his face. “I wonder what Lia looks like? I’m sure she’s perfect, just like my amazing Ria-tan!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“There’s only a few more things that you all need to know and then I''ll let you meet <i><span style="font-weight:400">my</i><span style="font-weight:400"> children,” I continued with my tale and exined more about our Universe and some of the major events that had urred in the past year. Of course, that included the recent invasion from Hell and the overall effect it had on the people of the world.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Devils and Demons aren’t exactly looked upon highly here.” Cecilia correctly pointed out what I was getting too.
<span style="font-weight:400">I nodded my head in confirmation. “Rias and Sona are fine because they’re considered part of my <i><span style="font-weight:400">Harem </i><span style="font-weight:400">but you all should refrain from openly disying your wings outside of our home.” They could be randomly attacked in the streets otherwise by people thinking they were demon spies or something.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is certainly more than I was expecting, La. It''s a lot to take in all at once,” Sirzechs said. “Your dimension is absolutely crazy. And that’s not counting the fact that your entire gxy is filled with extraterrestrial life!” He almost wanted to deny it all, but he couldn''t considering some of those aliens had paid his home universe a visit.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It is absolutely crazy, but it''s still home.” I smiled.
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">“She''s absolutely adorable!” As soon as Serafallid eyes on her niece for the first time, she fell in love with her. She ran over to Sona, who was holding Sia, and gave them both a tight hug. “Your daughter is so precious, So-tan!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Hi there! I''m your Uncle Zechs-kun! Aren''t you just the most precious little thing!?” Sirzechs acted pretty much the same way when he spotted Rias holding Lia. “I promise to love you forever and destroy any stinky boys who try to date you in the future!” He received a p upside the head from his little sister after that secondment.
<span style="font-weight:400">While the family were meeting their newest members, I took Hilga and moved towards the other side of the living room. The three goddesses were with each other as usual. They all got along surprisingly well considering none of them ever really interacted before they met me. Frigga was from apletely different pantheon than Artemis and Hestia. Artemis used to spend 99% of her time running around the forest with her hunters and hardly ever interacted with her aunt Hestia.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don''t like them…” Artemis huffed in annoyance while pacing nearby. She was jealous that I had just met Serafall and there were already talks of a marriage contract. Artemis was also ring daggers at Grayfia for some reason. I think she was jealous because Grayfia was also a very beautiful silver haired maid…
<span style="font-weight:400">I grabbed her hand and pulled her down on the couch next to me. I rubbed circles on the back of her hand with my thumb while I spoke. “Don''t be jealous, Artemis. I think you''re much better than Grayfia. My tsundere maid is much cuter!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Artemis blushed and pouted at the same time. “I''m not a tsundere…” She made no move to take her hand away from mine.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I always love having guests, how long will they be staying?” Hestia asked me without looking up. She was currently in the middle of knitting together some clothing for the girls. Even though she could conjure up pretty much anything with her Divine Power, she preferred to make everything handmade. Otherwise, “it didn’t feel like home.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“The Devils should be staying about a week. I was nning on giving them a few days by themselves to catch up with Rias and Sona,” I told the three of them. “I don’t expect them to give me any more trouble after I gave Serafall and Sirzechs a quick beat down.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I hope not, I could sense your battle all the way across the ocean. You probably sent poor Bast running for the hills when you battled so close to her territory,” Frigga pointed out.
<span style="font-weight:400">Iughed at the mental image of a scared ck cat running away in terror. “Good, she deserves it for trying to get all the pantheons to turn against me. I don’t even understand why most Wakandans still worship her. She only gives her blessing to a single person every generation. Other than helping create the ck Panther, she does nothing else for them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s how the majority of Gods and Goddesses act, La. Even I was guilty of that. We expected to be worshiped by all mortals and yet gave back very little in return.” Hestia temporarily paused her knitting and looked up at me. I gave her a reassuring smile. She was still the nicest olympian by far. She never went out of her way to abuse any mortals like the majority of her pantheon.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I suppose I can put up with the Devils staying if it''s only for a week,” Artemis grumbled while still sending a few annoyed nces across the room at Grayfia.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Why don''t you and I get out of the house for a while, Artemis?” I suggested. “I know you''ve had our date nned out for a few days now and have been waiting to ask me,” I added teasingly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You knew about that?” Artemis blushed. “Ok, let’s go…”
<span style="font-weight:400">I put my hands together to make a quick<b> Shadow Clone</b><span style="font-weight:400">, but Frigga stopped me. “You don''t need to make a <b>Shadow Clone</b><span style="font-weight:400">, La, I can watch Hilga while you two are out.” Frigga suggested while smiling at my daughter. I stood up and handed Hilga to her ‘grandma Frigga.’ Hilga giggled happily when I passed her over.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thanks Frigga, we''ll be back in a few hours…or maybe tomorrow morning, depending on how our date goes,” I said while wiggling my eyebrows at Artemis.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re not getting lucky that easily…” Artemis scoffed at me. In a sh of silver light, her french maid outfit disappeared. Her outfit had changed to a tight vest and slim leather pants that ented her curves perfectly. She looked hot! “You might want to change as well, we’ll be outside for the rest of the day.” she told me and I swapped out my clothes for an outdoor hiking outfit.
<span style="font-weight:400">On our way out of the penthouse we passed by Asia and Heather, who were sitting on the couch next to ‘John’. He had been staying with us for the past week since he had nowhere else to go. Without his armor, he appeared to be arge but fairly average looking man. I definitely wouldn''t peg him as someone who had stormed Hell multiple times and killed millions of demons.
<b>[He still hadn’t told us what happened after he stormed the green portal into Mephisto’s realm.]</b>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">‘I''m sure he’ll tell us what happened there when he’s ready,’ </i><span style="font-weight:400">I replied in my head.
<span style="font-weight:400">They were all sitting in front of the TV watching John as he yed a certain video game. The 1993 version of Doom. The Doom yer found it amusing when he learned there was a whole video game series based on his exploits. He really enjoyed ying them. I was just d the games didn’t give him PTSD or anything…
<b>“Game Over!”</b><span style="font-weight:400"> Appeared on the screen as his character died under gatling gun fire.
<span style="font-weight:400">John red at the TV. “How is it that the pixted version of the Spiderdemon is more difficult to kill than he was in real life!?” the controller he was holding snapped in his hands. “Dammit…” he said while turning to Heather for help. Clearly this wasn’t the first time that had happened.
<span style="font-weight:400">Heather giggled and cast a quick <b>Reparo</b><span style="font-weight:400"> spell with her wand. The broken stic controller fused back together.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Don''t worry about it, John. Old video games were for a different breed of <i><span style="font-weight:400">gamers</i><span style="font-weight:400">. They just don''t make them as hard as they used to,” I told him with a sigh.
<span style="font-weight:400">Heather nced up at me and Artemis. “Hi, Mom! Are you two going out on a date? Are you nning to be out all night?” she asked me with a knowing smirk.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Why would they be out all night?” Asia asked innocently while petting our new family dog in herp. It was Cosmo of course. Without his adorable astronaut outfit, he just looked like a regr dog–until he decided to speak that is.
<span style="font-weight:400">Cosmo perked his head up at Asia’s question and started sniffing the air. “I can smell Master’s pheromones. She is hoping to be able to mate with the female next to her!” he exined while wagging his tail.
<b>[Well, he’s not wrong…]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">Asia’s face turned bright red. “Oh… T-That’s um…” she was too embarrassed to say anything else.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Bad dog, Cosmo! Don’t corrupt Asia like that! She’s too innocent!” Heather scolded him and he whined. “See youter, mom.” she waved to us as we walked out of the room.
<span style="font-weight:400">…
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, where are you taking me for our date, Artemis,” I asked her curiously. “I’m not the biggest fan of hunting…” I didn’t mind hunting for food, but I didn’t believe in hunting animals for sport or trophies. I believed it to be cruel.
<span style="font-weight:400">As the Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis had been almost mortified when she found that out, but it surprisingly wasn’t a dealbreaker. I think she was convinced she’d be able to change my mind one day. “I’d love to go hunting with you, but I actually had something else nned out. As you know, I’m not the biggest fan of men…”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s an understatement.” I snorted. I think the only man I’ve ever seen her openly speak to is the Doom yer, and that’s because he ‘hunted’ more demons than any other being in existence.
<span style="font-weight:400">Artemis blushed slightly. “Y–Yes…well, I didn’t want any men possibly interrupting or ruining our date. I wanted to find a ce we could enjoy that only had women,” she exined to me as she reached her hand into her own personal pocket space.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That sounds easier said than done,” Imented as I watched Artemis pull out a device that I had seen before. “Huh, where did you get that?” She was holding one of the devices that Azazel had created for Universal travel.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Penemue gave it to me after I talked to her. When your brother was still experimenting with the creation of these, he stumbled upon a few more interesting versions of Earth. Penemue told me that he traveled to one Earth that had an entire Ind full of only women,” Artemis said with a sigh. “It sounded like a paradise…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Iughed at the thought of my perverted older brother ending up in such a ce. “It sounds like <i><span style="font-weight:400">his</i><span style="font-weight:400"> paradise! So what happened? Howe I''m just hearing about this ce now?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Artemis smirked at me. “Your brother asked Penemue to keep that Universe a secret after every single woman on that ind tried to kill him the second theyid eyes on him. Penemue filmed the entire event and was nning on showing everyone at the next Christmas party!” she said with augh.
<span style="font-weight:400">“An entire Ind full of women and he failed to seduce a single one of them?” I asked in surprise. I liked to tease my older brother, but there was no denying that he was known as the Fallen Angel who had seduced more women than even Zeus. When he wasn’t acting like a nerdy scientist, he could definitely turn on the charm. “I wonder what he said to piss all of them off? I can’t wait to see that video!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“So, do you want to go? I’d really love to take you there for our date,” Artemis told me while shifting nervously.
<b>[I wonder if he went to the Ind I''m thinking of…? An Ind full of </b><b><i>Wonder</i></b><b>…]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">It clicked for me. <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Is that where Artemis wants to take me?’ </i><span style="font-weight:400">Now, I wasn’t sure whether or not this was a good idea. That Universe was full of dangerous beings on par with my own. <i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Although, they do still openly worship the Greek Gods on that Ind, so I suspect we’ll be fine if we don’t stay too long.’</i>
<b>[You’re right, what’s the worst that could happen?]</b>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">‘Thanks for jinxing it, system…’</i>
<b>[Heh, who are you kidding? With your track record, you’ll be lucky if the Ind doesn’t sink to the bottom of the ocean by the time you leave.]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">Artemis was still waiting for my answer. She was looking at me expectantly while fiddling with the device in her hand. I could tell that she really wanted to visit this ce. An entire society run by women was her dream after all. She was practically begging me to “say yes” with her beautiful silver eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">I could never resist a beautiful woman giving me a look like that. “...Ok, let’s go, I''m sure it will be fine,” I said with a sigh. The System already jinxed it all anyways, so whatever happens next won’t be my fault…
<b>[That’s the spirit!]</b>
<span style="font-weight:400">Artemis pressed a few buttons on the device and I felt a fluctuation in space. Azazel’s creation powered on and opened a swirling ck portal next to us. It was remarkable how far his own portal technology hade in such a short time.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Come on, let''s go.” Artemis reached out and took my hand in her own as we walked through.
<b>XXX</b>