The Maniac of DxD (Highschool dxd insert/ semi-crack): Chapter 39

Within the darkness of an unknown forest, two beings walked.

“So, he is finally gone?”

“Yes. He left with his master. That fox even went so far as to bid them farewell personally with her daughter at the train station.”

The Youkai man sneered at the thought of a dignified Youkai being so courteous to humans, even if one of them was the current Red Dragon Emperor.

Not that his companion could see his expressions since they were both under heavy enchantments that obscured their features, making it impossible for anyone, even themselves, to identify what they looked like.

An extreme yet necessary precaution for what they were about to do.

The devil simply hummed in reply to his words.

“Do not underestimate them. Especially Maniac Ren. He is more of a threat than the Boosted Gear wielder. Even my master thinks the same. It is why he sent me personally to make sure that nothing goes wrong with our task.”

The Youkai simply waved his hand dismissively.

“What threat can that human pose to us? He couldn’t even see through the fact that the attack on the vaults was nothing more than a sham and a way to cleanse your ranks of the weak filth.”

“While it is true that the attack was a sham, it is also true that the humans took out our forces far more easily than we predicted. That warrants a certain level of caution.”

“….Very well. But, are you sure we don’t need the Ame-no-Nuboko? It would be much easier to destroy the seals with a naginata that holds the same divinity as the caster of the seal.”

The devil nodded his head.

“I know that it would make our task easier. But the weapon is not worth the risk. Not to mention the fact that it’s not any mere divine armament. It is a primordial weapon, similar to the Vajra of Indra, Kronos’s Harpe, and other such things. In today’s Underworld, and even in Takamagahara, there is no one left who can wield such might anymore. Even Lady Amaterasu will be forced to use a lot of her divine energy to stop the weapon’s divine energy from harming her.”

“It is simply not worth that much trouble when we can achieve our goals with a far simpler, if time-consuming, method.”

The youkai nodded his head at those words.

After the disaster that was the 1940s, and for some pantheons, the times during the rise of Christianity, the majority of the Primordial races were either forced to become a version of lesser divinity or faded entirely.

For the Shinto, it was the five Kotomatsukami and the seven generations of Kamiyonanayo, with the sole exception being a deity who was sealed in Yomi.

This situation was similar to the way that the Titans of Greece, the Sumerians, and many other primordials faded from existence, with some of the few exceptions including the current Dargon King Tiamat, who used to be a primordial as well but chose to give up that aspect of herself for the sake of survival.

And yet, even after these primordials faded, many of their armaments and tools remained, either locked in the vaults of their respective pantheons or lost somewhere in the world.

The Ame-no-Nuboko, created by the Kotomatsukami from materials and energies that no longer exist in this world and wielded by Izanagi-no-Mikoto along with his wife, Izanami-no-Mikoto, to create the Japanese islands in their version of the creation myths, was one such primordial weapon.

However, with the fading of the Shinto Pantheon’s primordials and older gods, there was no one left who could bring out its full power. However, it still remained a dangerous weapon, so it was always sealed away in a pocket dimension tied to the Kyoto Leylines, only accessible to Amaterasu and her chosen followers.

“We are here.”

The devil’s words brought the Yokai out of his thoughts, watching as a colossal cave estrance manifested in front of their very eyes.

For a human, they would not be able to make sense of the scene in front of them as the cave entrance simply floated in the air as if it were simply a mirage or a hallucination.

However, for the Yokai and other supernatural races, they would be forced to retreat in the face of the sheer divinity radiating off of the metaphysical structure. In fact, the Yokai felt the need to kneel and worship the glowing seals and talismans placed on the massive boulder blocking the cave.

As for the devil, even for someone as experienced and long-lived as himself, he still could not help but feel trepidation for what was about to happen.

And yet, he would never dare to betray his master and his expectations, so he would do everything that was asked of him.

With determination burning in his mind, the devil turned to the reverent Yokai.

“Let’s begin.”

The Yokai nodded and waved his hand, bringing out an unconscious human child who was bound with various Shinto talismans that suppressed her spiritual energies.

With black hair and violet eyes hidden behind her eyelids, along with the naturally beautiful face and affinity for fire spiritual energies, it was not that hard to tell where this child came from.

The Devil nodded and started drawing the ritual circle, but could not speak out his question born of curiosity.

“Did the Himejima not question your action?”

The Yokai simply waved in dismissal.

“They don’t even know that one of their elite’s daughter is missing. And even if they knew and tracked it down to me, what of it? The Himejima clan of today is no longer what it used to be. Especially after that disaster that the Izayoi heir brought about by attacking that abomination some time ago.”

The devil could not help but chuckle at those words as he remembered the explosive news that made circles in the supernatural community all those years ago.

The news of the former Izayoi clan heir making off with the majority of money from the Himejima clan without getting caught after helping the fallen anger halfling escape the clan.

It was the first time anyone would hear about Maniac Ren, known as Izayoi Ren back then, and it would start his journey to what he is now.

The devil had to admit, for a human, his actions were truly cunning and unpredictable, even for his master, which was saying something.

Such an unpredictable factor is something that cannot be allowed to exist in the vicinity when they are conducting this ritual, it was why they waited until the Maniac left Kyoto with the Red Dragon Emperor to begin their real plan.

Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, the devil continued the ritual.

Soon enough, a rather massive pentagram was formed beneath the girl, which held the markings of different pantheons and powers, the formulae for which were carefully calculated and designed by the devil’s master specifically for this task.

“Now, the others.”

The Yokai nodded and took out a jewel that held the divinity of storms and a spear that held the divinity of the moon, placing them in the same pentagram.

With a few arcane words, the pentagram activated, forcing the girl awake and making her scream in pain as her body literally started to burn from within, drawing the ancient divine blessing given to the Himejima clan’s ancestors by Amaterasu centuries ago.

At the same time, the jewel that held the divinity of storms, one that his master gained thanks to his associates, burst open, flooding the pentagram with its energies, just like with the spear, which also broke into motes of light and scattered the divinity of the moon.

“With the divinity of the Sun, the Moon, and the Storms as one, we are only missing the final step.”

“…Understood.”

The Yokai shed his disguise, revealing a fox yokai, just like Yasaka, but with only two tails as opposed to the Kyuubi of Kyoto.

He kneeled within the pentagram and started a Shinto ritual, connecting himself with the lands of Yamato and invoking an ancient rite, becoming a bridge for the natural energies of the land to flow through him and into the pentagram.

Instantly, the Yokai started to combust from the sheer divinity that was being formed within the pentagram by combining all these energies, but the Yokai did not cry out in pain. If anything, he held a gleeful smile as his body started to break down into dust.

Watching all this, the Devil sighed a little dramatically and smirked.

“If only the natural energies and vitality of your land were not damaged so much thanks to WWII. You would not have been forced to sacrifice yourself like this.”

The Yokai laughed madly as his eyes glared at the Devil.

“Do you think I don’t know it was your master who orchestrated that whole event? We have long since known that it was your people who tampered with the atomic bombs and included a secondary, metaphysical detonation into the bombs using your demonic energy, forever tainting our lands with your evil energies and destroying the land's vitality beyond repair.”

“…if you all knew, why did you not retaliate?”

The Yokai continued grinning.

“Because that is exactly what your master wanted. He wanted us to retaliate so that he could stave off his boredom and get a ‘worthwhile fight’ as he would put it. In fact, isn’t his boredom also one of the biggest reasons why we are doing this in the first place?”

The Devil could not help but smirk and shed his own disguise, revealing a man with silver hair and crimson eyes.

“You know us too well.”

The Yokai simply laughed his last as his body finally turned to ash, indicating that the ritual was nearly complete.

The devil made a few hand signs, directing the newly formed fake divinity towards the boulder blocking the cave entrance floating in the air.

The ancient seals on the cave glowed in response to the familiar divinity, showing that their plan had succeeded, and instantly fell off, causing the boulder to instantly shatter and release foul energies into the air.

With the boulder gone, the cave structure also faded from existence, as if it were never there to begin with.

But the devil did not panic because he knew that this was part of the process.

Fortunately for him, he did not have to wait for long before the corpse of the girl at his feet, which had been burnt to a pile of charcoal, started to radiate a powerful form of divinity as the girl rapidly healed in front of his eyes.

Within seconds, the girl’s body was replaced by that of a young woman with long black hair wearing a traditional kimono, giving off an irresistible charm that would draw in any man or woman.

The moment the woman opened her black eyes serenely, the devil kneeled in front of the newly revived primordial.

“I, Euclid Lucifuge, greet Lady Izanami-no-Mikoto on behalf of my master.”

“Hmm, Lucifuge huh? To think that your pathetic race is still alive after all this time. No matter. What does your master wish in return for this boon he has given me?”

The devil grinned as he heard those words.

“He wishes to meet you in person. He has a deal in mind that he thinks would be of great benefit for both of you.”

---------------------------------------------------

Euclid Lucifuge:

Izanami-no-Mikoto: