The Dragon Farmer
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 21: Talk between Monsters
- Mathias -
I walked out of the Magic Circle. Lavinia, Ingvild and Shizuka followed me.
We entered the building.
Lucifer's Castle at New Lilith.
At the reception, I saw Armin already waiting with Tobio. Even Latia and Genbu had arrived a moment later. The little girl looked very nervous and I didn't blame her either.
It was kinda surprising how the relatives of all four Satans had someone related to the Five Principal Clans in their peerage, no matter how distantly related they were.
"When did you get here?" I asked.
"Just now. I was not at home when I got the message. And you?"
"At work. Uncle Logan was taking me to see the development projects we were working on. I left when Lavinia called me." I replied.
He looked at the girls behind me, pausing a moment at Shizuka and then turned towards me.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
"Rias is coming down to pick us up. She and Sona were the first to arrive with their Queens." I replied in time to see Rias and Akeno exit the elevator and walk towards us.
"Matty!" She greeted me as soon as she found us.
"Rias. How are they? Did you see them?" I asked the first thing after seeing her.
"Yes. They are currently being treated. We are not allowed to meet them personally before the treatment and then questioning is completed but they seemed mostly safe. We talked to the doctors and they said that they have injuries but most of them will be alright."
During the inspection of the development zone today, I got a call from Lavinia that Euclid had sent a message that they had found some members of the Five Principal Clans captive while raiding the Utsusemi Agency and Wizards of Oz bases.
They had been rescued and brought to the Underworld.
I headed back directly to the territory and picked Shizuka up and left for Lucifer's Castle in New Lilith.
"Can we see them, even from a distance?" I asked.
"Hmm. Let's go. I know where they are." She led us to the upper floors of the castle, the medical wards.
Serafall and Euclid were already there and the latter came to meet me directly.
"Euclid. You are alright, right?"
"Yes. There was hardly a fight this time. They were troublesome mostly because they hid well but we had information directly from their leaders. Moreover, you took out most of their top fighters. There were only some leaders of the Wizards of Oz left but they were handled by Sirzechs. The rest of us were just cleaning after them." He replied.
"I am sorry for all this." I apologised.
"Not this again. It wasn't your fault. It was their fault for betraying their word."
"Exactly." Another voice came from behind us.
We looked behind to see Sirzechs walking towards us.
He looked serious, unlike his usual jovial mood.
"What we did was to show everyone that our Devil faction will not take such moves lying down. Had we not done so, it would have emboldened them and the attacks on you as well as many of our talented youngsters like you would have increased. We cannot allow that to happen and thus the retaliation. You don't need to feel responsible for this."
"I… thank you."
His eyes softened a bit.
"Come and meet me before leaving today." He added after a thought.
"Okay." I nodded.
"Euclid, I will leave the rest to you." He said to Euclid before taking his leave.
We watched him leave and when he was out of sight, I turned to Euclid.
"He has gone to prepare for a meeting with the leaders of Grigori and Heaven. They still need to answer us for their actions after all."
"Ah." I looked at the man again and then back at Euclid.
"Don't worry about it. Let's go and check the Principal Clan survivors first." he said looking at Shizuka and others who were standing quietly by the side, although looking more nervous by the minute.
I nodded and followed him to the inner parts of the Hospital Wing. In a large room, around two dozen people were laying on hospital beds, being treated. Some were awake and our arrival attracted their attention.
Genbu seemed to have recognised someone and ran to a girl around Rias' age, hugging her.
Akeno, Tsubaki, Tobio however stayed in their place, not sure what to do. They didn't really have that good of a relationship with anyone in their clans. Tobio didn't even know anyone from the clans, being very distantly related to them, through his grandmother.
I looked at Shizuka who was scanning everyone in the room, perhaps looking for a member of her clan. Her face fell after a while when she didn't find any she knew.
"No one from Himejima here?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"Well, there are five more. They are seriously injured and are in the emergency ward if you want to check." Euclid said, guiding towards the emergency rooms.
None of us were allowed inside but we could see the patient from the windows.
As we reached the first door, Shizuka's eyes widened. "Hiyori." She whispered and then ran around to look at the other four. Two of them were the members of the Himejima Clan, a boy around Gasper's age and Hiyori, who looked to be in her twenties. Shizuka turned towards Euclid and asked. "Will they be alright?"
We checked the girl inside and she had a leg missing, currently on a ventilator completely unconscious. The boy however was covered and we couldn't see the full extent of his injuries.
"Hmm. The injuries on these ones are severe. The boy especially. Most of his injuries are internal. The five here were the most severely injured. Both their bodies and spirits were hurt. I think they were probably experimenting on them with their Utsusemi creation thing or something. I will have to find out more about it from the captives."
Thinking of something, I brought out several senzu beans from my inventory and handed them to Euclid. "Fix their bodies first. We will think about the spirit later."
"Oh the Senzu Beans. You have a stock. These could really help out in Hospitals, unfortunately they are too costly."
I took out five more and handed them to Euclid. "Here."
"Thank you."
"Can we move them to the Sitri Hospitals?" I asked. "The Sitri have the best equipment right?" I knew because I had exported many of those myself.
"We chose this place as it was safer due to their more… politically troublesome identities. Don't worry. While the Sitri Hospitals might have the best equipment, this place has the best healers. Now with the Senzu Beans we have more confidence in healing them."
"Thank you."
"No problem. Anyways, what do you want to do with them when they are healed? The kids outside the emergency department will be ready to leave in a day." Euclid asked.
Well, sending them back to Japan was impossible.
They would die there in no time.
Even if they are not hunted by the Youkai, they would be hunted down by the new Principal Clans established by the Shinto. Those guys are very big about their presumed honour.
"I will arrange for a place for them to live when they are released. They can stay there or if they want, they can follow their clan members to live in their territories. I don't think anyone would mind that."
After all, all the kings of their family members were all High Class Devils from prominent families among the seventy two pillars, even related to the Satans. They had more than enough capacity to provide a place to stay for them.
Moreover, with the characters of the four of them, I can see them providing a place for them to stay quite comfortably.
"Hmm. Good. Then in that case, I will see that they are treated first. We can talk after that." He said.
We nodded and he left immediately, promptly administering the senzu beans to the patients. They healed mostly.
They were still unconscious due to the damage to their spirits and that would take some time to recover.
I had an idea on this and asked Rias to see if Kuroka could help them with Senjutsu.
"That might actually work. I was thinking of having Valerie help out but she is too young and inexperienced with her Sacred Gear to help out in such intricate healing."
Euclid's words caused Shizuka to look down so I reassured her. "I am sure we will find some way."
Kuroka came after some time and checked the patients.
"I can help some of them nyaa~ Their souls and lifeforce have been greatly harmed due to whatever was done to them. Senjutsu can help them but I am not good enough to help them all recover fully. We will need someone at a higher level of Senjutsu proficiency like Matty-sama."
"Hmm. Okay. I will see what I can do." I agreed. "Although I will be honest, I haven't really healed anyone with Senjutsu yet so I am a complete novice at this."
I hadn't really focused on the healing aspect of Senjutsu, having leveled the skill up with brute force using the System.
My main focus was on the sensory and attack aspect of senjutsu.
As for why I hadn't learned the healing aspect… well, I never really had the chance. I already had my hands full with a lot of things such as farming, studying, training, learning magic and spending some time with my loved ones.
This was not to mention that healing was never a problem for me as I had tons of consumables which could help with that. We never really needed any other method of healing for us.
"We could hire someone from the youkai to help." Kuroka said. "They use senjutsu for healing all the time and are very good at it."
"Hmm. That might be difficult." Latia interjected, making us look at her.
She looked exasperated. "Did you guys forget that the Five Principal Clans used to be the mortal enemies of the youkai? Why would they agree to heal the leftovers of the principal clans?"
"This…" Everyone was left dumbfounded at her words.
"Don't worry about that. We can try to contact them. We have some dealings with them too." Euclid said. "And even if they don't agree to directly heal them, they could teach Mathias. Do you think you can do that, Matty?"
"Yes. If they teach me, I can obviously learn." I was sure of this.
"Great. Then I will find a way to contact them. In the meanwhile, Kuroka, please do your best." He instructed.
We stayed there and watched Kuroka turn into her cat form and start with the youngest kid first.
"Matty." Euclid called me when everyone was busy.
"Yes?"
"Do you think you have some free time now?" He asked.
"Yes. What is it?" I asked promptly.
"Then come with me for a while. The rest here can take care of everyone here."
I nodded and followed him.
We took the lift to the higher floors of the castle.
"Once again, thank you for all this Euclid. These people… they would help Shizuka recover a lot."
"Hmm."
"So, what is this about?" I asked, already having some ideas.
"A few things actually. The meeting between the three factions this time will focus greatly on the attack on you, that's why you will need to be present there too. We just want to know more about the incident from you in detail before the actual thing." He said.
I nodded. I hadn't been called over for questioning about the whole thing as they waited for me to heal first.
We reached Lucifer's office and Euclid directly entered.
I followed him inside.
All four Satans were sitting inside the office and Euclid went and stood behind Serafall.
"Come Matty. Take a seat." Sirzechs pointed towards the seat in front of him.
I sat down.
"We couldn't talk properly that day as everyone was busy with the incident. Now, can you tell us everything about that day?"
I nodded and began, describing everything about the incident in detail.
"So they had set up a Holy Barrier. That's the trick they had used to hunt down most of the Zagan house. It disturbs the flow of Demonic Power, disrupting spells from being cast easily. For a Zagan, that's worse as they need a decent amount of concentration and control to create monsters."
"Not to mention the monsters themselves are made up of demonic power as their base so even they are weakened." Falbium finished. "You did great considering the odds you were in. Especially, considering the fact that you were holding back to avoid collateral in the human world."
"I heard that the territory we were supposed to meet was bordering the Norse Pantheon's territory. I was worried that if I destroyed something in their territory, it would bring trouble to you all. I had created parasites and sent it inside their bodies to disable them without much collateral. It was just taking a bit of time for it to activate due to the Holy Barrier."
"Thank you for your consideration but from next time please don't hold back anything if you are in trouble. We can manage the trouble but your life once lost cannot be brought back. Your life is far more precious than that." Sirzechs said, seriously.
"Hmm."
"What happened next?"
"Umm, you know about the history between Lavinia and the Wizards of Oz?"
"Yes. She told Serafall about them. In fact, Glenda Goodwitch was one of the people whom Sirzechs encountered during these raids and… she is no more." Euclid said.
I looked at Sirzechs and thanked him. Still, I wonder how Lavinia would feel.
She didn't exactly hate her teacher. After all, although for her own selfish reasons, she still helped raise her when she had no one. If she didn't have any love for the woman, she wouldn't have felt so hurt when she found out about the betrayal of her teacher.
Knowing Lavinia's character, she would still feel bad about her.
"Well, Augusta, the wielder of the Incinerate Anthem, had tried to taunt and manipulate Lavinia using that as well as my life. She snapped and turned everyone to ice."
"Hmm hmm. I saw the damage there. It seems that Lavy-tan is not slacking off in her studies. She did well." Serafall nodded happily.
"While distracted by that, Edward Christaldi managed to use the Excalibur Transparency to sneak an attack on Ingvild and well…" I paused for a second. "I saw red at that moment and stopped holding back. It was only Shizuka's outburst which followed after that which broke me out of my rage. They had… they had summoned the kids from the principal clans and used them as cover to attack her, killing all the kids in the said attack. She… went completely into an outrage after that."
"About that. Shizuka Himejima was supposed to be a human. Why is she a dragon?" Ajuka asked.
"She was turned into a dragon, probably to save her life when she lost Suzaku after Susanno's attack. How that was done, I don't know. Neither does she. When she was delivered to me, she was just like that." I replied, leaving any names out.
Thankfully Ajuka didn't notice this or just didn't care but he didn't probe me.
"What about Ophis? How did it come into play?" Falbium asked the question which everyone was thinking of. "And who were the ones who stood up to it?"
"She had come for Satanael. As for the details, I have already told Sirzechs everything about it. Apparently Satanael managed to dupe her into working with them."
"Did she only take Satanael?"
"Yes. She did try to take other members of the group too but I didn't accept that. That's what sparked the conflict. Later we came to an understanding that she could take Satanael back but the rest had to stay."
They exchanged a look at this part.
"Hmm about the so-called conflict. Who were the ones involved in the conflict? We know that one of them was Tiamat and one was you. What about the others?" Ajuka asked.
"One of them was Crom Crauch."
"The Crescent Eclipse Dragon? How was he involved in all this?"
"He is…" I took a deep breath. "He is my Rook."
"Your rook! Since when?"
"It's been a while. We first met on the day I found out about the Naberius. I was… angry and we fought. Later we fought a few more times and I managed to convince him to join my peerage."
They exchanged some looks after which Falbium continued with the questioning.
"What about the last one?"
"That was Leafa."
"Your familiar? I didn't know she was that strong?" Euclid asked.
"She was just a toddler the last time you saw her and was already stronger than many named dragons. Over the last few years, she has eaten a quarter of my yearly produce which has accelerated her growth even further."
His mouth opened as if trying to form words but couldn't.
At this point Sirzechs spoke, asking something which everyone wanted to know. "Who was that last presence, the one on par with Ophis? Was it the one who drove her back?"
…
I paused for a second and finally decided to answer but before I could speak, the door to the room opened and Mathers came in quickly. "My Lords, we found Satanael."
_x_
I looked at the box in front of me, containing Satanael's head and let out a sigh internally.
With it was a letter.
Back when I was in the Lucifer's office, Lavinia had received a call from a frantic Natsume. Apparently, they had found the box in my bedroom… on my table.
I made a mental note to burn that table after this was done.
Gasper and Valerie found the box and the latter, thinking of some prank, opened the box only to be scared out of her mind when she discovered a head inside the box.
I obviously had an idea whom the box could be from. There was only one person who had the habit of dropping such things in my bedroom so casually without any warnings.
As expected, we rushed here as soon as we got the news. Only Shizuka stayed there and Ingvild stayed with her.
I looked at the letter.
"This will count as the next five years worth of supplies. You are welcome."
"P.S.: I am taking this year's shares in advance."
…
…
…
…
I didn't know if I should thank Great Red for taking care of such a troublesome being or be worried about Ophis coming after me.
That's when I noticed a 'P.T.O' note on the bottom of the letter.
On the other side, it said something more.
"P.P.S: I have taken care of Ophis. Five more years of supplies for that."
My eyes twitched at this point, not even sure what I should feel anymore.
While I was doing this, the Satans who had arrived with me were investigating the box.
They didn't find anything, obviously.
While strong, they were nothing in front of Great Red and Ophis.
"Do you know who sent this? Whoever it was seems to know you quite well." Serafall asked, peeking over and reading the letter in my hand.
"I… well… he is a customer of mine. One of the first ones too. As for his identity… I don't think I should say it out loud." While Great Red hadn't said anything about disclosing his identity, caution was the better part of valor.
That said, I did give them a hint seeing the weird looks on their faces.
I showed them the note on the other side of the paper.
As expected, Sirzechs' eyes widened when he saw the note about Ophis.
Suddenly he used the Power of Destruction to erase the letter.
"Don't worry. This matter is over." He gave me a nod.
The other three looked at him but he took Satanael's head and passed it over to Mathers, looked at them and shook his head.
Having worked together for that long, they had good mutual understanding and agreed to his words without any questions.
After some more words with Valerie and Gasper, three of them left although Serafall did remind me to attend the meeting later on.
I agreed.
They left.
Only Sirzechs stayed.
He smiled towards my Peerage members who were looking at him nervously.
"Matty, it's been a while since I have eaten your cooking. Do you think I can have a taste today? One gets very tired after a day of hard work." he asked with a smile, probably trying to ease their nervousness.
I understood the message and nodded and added. "Would you like to have some snacks before dinner?"
"That would be wonderful."
"Great, I have some great new products which have ripened just recently. Come with me. They taste the best when freshly picked."
I said before walking out of the room but not before giving Gasper and Valerie a gentle rub on their heads.
We headed into one of the isolated dimensions which I was working on for a new biome. On the way I picked up some snacks too.
"Is this another new dimension you created recently?"
"Yes. I have some ideas for products which require a negative 50 degree celsius temperature to grow. My plan is to turn this dimension into such a place."
"I would like to say that no plants grow in those kinds of temperatures but knowing you, I will wisely keep my mouth shut to not look like a fool."
That made us both chuckle.
I brought out a table and chairs from my inventory and readied the snacks as we sat around the table.
Sirzechs took a bite out of the food and his eyes widened as he quickly finished up everything in his place.
"Really. This tastes great no matter how many times I eat it."
I, too, took a bite and waited for him to start the conversation.
Contrary to my expectation, he finished everything on his plate and stopped only then.
I merely looked at him and smiled as he washed his hands.
"Ah, I really needed that."
"You can drop in for a snack anytime you want, you know."
"I would love to do that once things settled down a bit." He nodded and then looked in the distance.
There was a moment of silence in the place before he spoke again.
"I heard about what you told Euclid about your powers. The girls didn't take it well, I guess." He asked.
"At first they were scared but they came back later that same day and we made up." I replied.
"I see. That's… good to hear. You are really lucky in that regard. Never let those girls go. Obviously, if you hurt Rias, I will beat you up." He added and I was pretty sure he was being very serious about this but he continued. "But even beyond that… there are very few people who can brave their fear to remain with… beings like us." He added the last part with a hint of melancholy.
"Ah… I know. I was originally waiting for them to get a bit stronger first before I revealed everything to them… well…"
"To not scare them away?"
"Yes. But then this whole incident happened and they looked so worried due to me hiding things… I decided that we will never hide things from each other."
"A wise choice. So then…"
"When I showed them my dragon form… their hands were shaking. They looked terrified." I remembered the scene.
"That's a normal reaction."
"I know and yet…"
"Yet it hurt, right?" He asked and I just nodded. "That's understandable. My case was similar to. Back then both Ajuka and I had to keep a seal on our power to not get detected by the Satan Descendants when we were your age. Hiding power was more of a necessity in a way. I had Ajuka with me back then so I had someone to share this with, not to mention my family. But yes, hiding such things from people you call friends… that hurts." He paused and I pulled out two glasses and a bottle of wine and poured each of us a glass. "Emerald Wine?"
"Hmm." I nodded.
Sirzechs took a sip. "This is really good stuff. Where were we again… yes. It is not well known to most people but… this…" He pointed at himself. "This is not how I actually look. This is a sealed form."
"Hmm, Rias told me about it a bit." I said. I already knew what he was talking about, still I didn't have any way of knowing such information.
"Oh, did mother talk to her."
"Yes. Although I don't know the exact details."
He nodded in understanding. "In my True Form, my entire body transforms into a mass of Power of Destruction and my control over my power goes haywire, erasing everything in the general vicinity. That form… it can cause people to despair. Back during the Civil Wars, I was forced to use it a few times. The first time I did it… right after that… even my comrades, the friends and colleagues I had fought with, shed blood… all looked at me with fear. Some moved away almost reflexively as if afraid to be erased. Those looks… the fear… that had haunted me for years."
At this point, his eyes were looking unfocused in the distance.
He shook his head as if shaking off those thoughts and returned back to the conversation. "It wasn't until I met Elsa. She had actually fainted when she had seen my True Form, a fact that had almost devastated me… until she came rushing to see if I was hurt or not after waking up. Turns out that to her, it looked like my Power of Destruction had consumed me and she had fainted due to worry." He smiled fondly. "I won't lie… but just that once in my life… it actually felt great to see her worried."
We sat down in silence for a few more moments. He looked like he was reliving that moment.
He continued after some more time. "That's when I actually started to accept my power, my True Form completely… and today… this same power is an essential pillar keeping the Underworld, the entire devil race… supported." He said seriously. "So while it's true that this power of yours might get you feared by many, look not at them but the ones who are willing to stay by your side despite all this. For those are the people who truly care. Make this a power to protect them."
At this, I could just nod lightly.
"Say…" I spoke up, thinking of something.
"Hmm?"
"Can I… can I see your True Form?" I asked.
He raised an eyebrow at this but nodded slightly. He downed the glass of wine and removed his Satan's armour and stepped into a distance.
Suddenly a wave of demonic power passed over the area as if an ominous sign before his demonic power started to rise at an incredibly rapid pace.
His Power of Destruction started covering his skin. It kinda reminded me of the curse mark on Sasuke from Naruto… only that it slowly covered his entire body and what remained there was just a humanoid figure made from the Power of Destruction.
The Scan from the System showed his stats now.
Sirzechs Lucifer
[Rank: A-]
The entire dimension was shaking wildly and I threw in several spells just in case it began collapsing to fix everything.
I stared at his figure for a while. The Power of Destruction around him was moving as if autonomous, erasing everything beside it.
The scary thing was that I couldn't even sense anything from him using Senjutsu as even the Nature Energy was getting devoured by that mass of destruction.
A mental calculation told me that in this form, no matter how many of my creations I throw at him, it wouldn't matter. It would be like throwing cotton into fire.
No wonder, they called him the strongest Devil.
His raw power was stronger than Crom, although it was still behind Tia's by a bit.
This also showed the range of power in the A- Rank. The difference between someone at the lowest point of A- and someone at the peak of A- could be huge.
After some time, the demonic power around him started to recede and he slowly reverted back to his human form.
I picked up his armour and walked up and handed it to him.
"That was… impressive."
He smiled at my words as he took his armour and started wearing it. "Impressive? That's the first time I have heard that one."
"Oh. I mean sure it was great. The fact that your Power of Destruction was also erasing the nearby Nature Energy made it terrifying when sensed with Senjutsu, like a black hole of sorts but in terms of raw energy, Tia is still a bit stronger." I replied quite honestly.
"Tiamat? I mean I have seen her and she is strong but not to brag or anything… I think I am stronger by more than a bit."
…why was I getting the feeling of Deja Vu?
As if the only words left to say were… Nah, I'd win?
The Strongest Devil and the Strongest Sorcerer… oh…
He hesitated, probably at the look I was giving him.
"That's a thing of the past. The current Tia is on par with the Heavenly Dragons, even stronger than Crom. It's… well, it's a long story but I don't think I should tell it without her permission. It's kinda personal to her."
He nodded. "Understandable. Still, you are quite close to Tiamat. I don't think I have ever heard anyone call Tiamat like that and not get burned." He laughed.
"Ahahahaha then you should see Gasper. He calls her Tiamama."
"Really? That is hilarious. Seems like she has mellowed out quite a bit from the past."
"Hmm."
"So now… your turn."
"Eh?"
"Your turn to show me your power." He pointed at me before sitting on the table and poured himself another glass from the wine bottle.
"Oh. That's fair, I guess. Then… should I go as far as I went with Euclid or should I go all out?" I asked.
"You were holding back with Euclid?" He asked, surprised. "He had a very high opinion of you even with that."
"Hmm. My power… it's a bit like your True Form. I still cannot control it fully so I don't use it. The only ones who have seen it are Tia, Crom and my three peerage members during the recent ambush. Even Rias, Latia and Armin only know about it by words and not what it looks like so… please keep it a secret from everyone." I requested.
Sirzechs nodded seriously. "You have my word. Whatever we see here, will stay here."
"Thank you."
With that, I got up and downed my glass of wine too, imitating Sirzechs, a fact which made him smile at me.
- Sirzechs -
He looked at Mathias who was walking away.
This brother-in-law of his, while a handful was someone he had really grown to appreciate in the recent years.
It wasn't just the fact that he loved his dear sister Rias so dearly but also his overall personality. There was not a single scheming bone in his body… well, maybe one or two which he showed during that Press Conference but that much wasn't even enough to cause Angels to fall.
Mathias' personality was what endeared everyone to him.
Even with all this power, all this strength, his deepest desire was to live peacefully.
Most devils, his age and with his power and resources would already be planning for world domination in their minds and yet Mathias scoffed at those thoughts, preferring to stay in his farm more.
This was something Sirzechs appreciated.
After all, even they were trying to establish peace between the three factions.
The whole thing with Rudiger's son was a move from both him and Michael to ease tensions between them. There were obviously many such moves.
After all, the fact that Gabriel was the most desired woman among the Underworld's population was not a coincidence.
Serafall had not been happy with that move.
On Heaven's side, they were also making some concessions, like moving their bases from the cities they shared with Devils.
Kuoh town had been one such place after that… unfortunate incident.
Even Azazel was instructing his people to de-escalate… that's why he sent Mathias to meet Michael.
But it seems like it was still too fast.
The ambush had disappointed him. Thankfully, Mathias was strong enough to come out unscathed… or he couldn't even think of what he would say to his sister, Rias. That thought both scared and angered him.
When he had heard about Mathias' situation from Euclid… it reminded him of his own situation back from the Civil War and he felt rage at the attackers… something he hadn't felt in a long time.
He squinted his eyes to look at Mathias who was a kilometer or two away and was still walking further, stopping at a distance of around three or four kilometers away from him.
But before he could think of anything else, his power started to rise as did the size of his body. The Bune clan trait, Dragonification.
A few moments later, a massive dragon with red and golden scales stood in the distance, its demonic power filling the whole dimension, shaking it.
Very impressive.
Although not up to his and Ajuka's… perhaps Rizevim's level, he was already beyond any other devil in the Underworld… and he was still young.
Sirzechs himself hadn't reached his peak until he was in his fifties.
Just as he thought it was over, an overwhelming sense of danger enveloped his entire being.
"This…" He looked at Mathias in the distance as a shiver ran down his spine. This was the same feeling from that day… the power on par with Ophis.
In front of his stunned gaze, a red shadow burst out from Mathias, expanding… and expanding even more until it covered the entire space in front of them.
Suddenly he understood why Mathias had gone so far.
He felt his Power of Destruction slowly covering him, trying to protect him against the invisible threat. He was slowly changing back into his True Form. It wasn't something conscious, just an instinctive reaction from his body. He gritted his teeth and reigned the power, clawing at his hand to use the pain as a means to suppress the primal sense of fear which had enveloped the whole area.
And then he saw it.
The red shadow had taken its shape, revealing a monstrosity… a dragon unlike anything he had ever seen before. The sheer size of the titanic beast was beyond anything recorded in history, natural or supernatural. To call it huge would be an understatement. It was titanic.
No.
Even the Titans from the Greek Pantheons and Giants of the Norse would look like ants in front of this being.
The five pairs of eyes looked at him and Sirzechs found his breath stagnate for a moment but clenched his teeth and pushed through everything.
It was only when the figure started to slowly fade away that he could breathe freely again, as if a huge weight had been lifted from his back.
Mathias also reverted back to his normal form and flew and landed in front of him.
"Now you see why I hide this from others?" He asked.
"What was that… thing?" Sirzechs asked, stunned and even a bit terrified. The only reason his whole body was not drenched in sweat was because his Power of Destruction had destroyed it all.
"That was my inner demon. It's… complicated."
Over the next hour, he explained about the 'Inner Demon' of his and how he had awakened it on the day he found out about his parents' death.
Sirzechs left the place with complicated thoughts.
This brother-in-law of his… was really troublesome. But at least, with such a power inside him, Sirzechs didn't have to worry about his safety any longer.
- Mathias -
I dusted off the dirt from my hands and looked at the field, appreciating the work.
"Are you sure this will work?" Uncle Logan asked from beside me.
"It will. Moreover, don't you think it suits the theme of the Zagan lands?" I asked with a smile, as I used a spell to clean my hands.
"Still, how long will these take to grow? And how much will they cost?" He asked.
"Cost will be affordable. I would have preferred to give them away for free but that would probably ruin many real estate businesses which are being established in our territory so that plan was shelved after Latia pointed it out. Finally it was decided that we will only give these away for free to people who sign an agreement to live in our territory for at least a hundred years."
"Thank Satans that you have Latia looking over you or who knows what kind of chaos the territory would be in before people even gather here."
…
"Anyways, these Mush Rooms grow in three years but I can get them done in a month." Leafa can use Back Channel even at a low rate right now.
She would be able to pull that off.
I will just have to splurge a bit on the fertilisers to support the growth of the plant.
The Mush Rooms are a special type of plant which has four different sections in four different floors.
Each of these four sections can have very large spaces, almost equal to small groves, enough to support their own flora and fauna inside. Each section has a season of their own, summer, autumn, winter and spring.
My plan was to make these Mush Rooms into residential complexes or small societies where my people could enjoy any season they wanted anytime they wanted.
As for the space to grow them… well, the Underworld lacked several things but space was not among them.
We had enough space.
I personally owned enough land, equal to a large country. In comparison, the number of people was extremely small, only a few million in the entire devil race. The addition of Reincarnated devils barely changed that.
The number of High Class Devils, the ones who were eligible for Evil Pieces was just in the thousands. Among them, the Extra Demon Houses had more or less rejected the part barring a few exceptions.
Even if every High Class Devil with a set of Evil Pieces were to reincarnate 15 people, the maximum they could, it would only be a few hundred thousand reincarnated devils. The actual numbers were actually quite lower.
The reincarnation of talented humans had no doubt helped stabilise the Underworld's decreased strength due to the Great War and the Civil War but it hadn't changed the numbers much so we had more than enough land for everyone.
I was now working on laying down the foundation for a city we were creating.
Uncle Logan had already taken care of the planning and my job was only to plant these Mush Rooms and help them grow.
The actual construction would start after they mature.
Later on, we can start cultivating seasonal crops and herbs inside the Mush Rooms too.
My conversation with Sirzechs had gone well that day.
He advised me to keep my Gourmet Demon hidden for as long as I could.
Like this time, even when estimating that I had low Ultimate Class power at best, these people had prepared an ambush strong enough to bring down a Satan. Had they known all my cards, they would have planned more, perhaps even having Ophis directly one-shotting me.
Not to mention, if my current power level and news about my Gourmet Demon were to get out so easily, there is a chance that other factions will join in the crusade against the Devils, just to take me out.
My power didn't just break the delicate balance between the different factions… It absolutely shattered and stomped on it until there was nothing left.
According to him, my power was going to come out sooner or later so better make full use of the time I had left to improve as much as I could.
"These will be more than enough for the residential complexes. We have already started working on the industries. Next will be the basic amenities."
"Hospitals, schools and such?" I asked.
"Yes. Those plans are already on the way. The Sitri have lent us a hand with the hospital and schools. As for the industries you want to start here, you will need to work on it on your own."
"That part is actually being taken care of by Latia. Although I do need to sit down and discuss the matters with her."
"Do it. Don't delay this."
Hmm.
We talked a bit before I returned back home.
_x_
"Are you sure this is necessary?" I asked Kuroka, my eyes twitching a bit.
"Absolutely nyaa~ This is the best way to get some practice." She replied while still in her cat form, laying on the bed.
The problem wasn't her.
It was the third person on the bed.
Shizuka lay there too, dressed in a thin white shrine maiden dress which was sticking to her body due to the water from the bath she had just taken.
Kuroka, seeing no response from me continued. "Shizuka-chan also has some injuries on her spirit due to that… outrage of hers. She hasn't been healed fully yet. It will take regular sessions for a year to get her back to normal state. That said, her injuries are quite easy to heal. That's why she is perfect for you to start your practice with."
Her reason sounded reasonable.
In fact, it sounded too reasonable. That's why I had doubts.
"Rias and Latia put you up to this, didn't they?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
She paused for a moment, the stunned expression easy to see even on her cat face.
I looked at Shizuka who answered my unasked question. "They did have a talk with me about a possible relationship a while back."
"I see."
I looked back at Kuroka and let out a sigh. "Just teach me properly, okay. Don't forget why we are doing this in the first place."
"Okay nyaa~"
As per her instructions, I removed my shirt and laid on the bed.
"When treating someone using Senjutsu, first we need to sense the flow of energy within their body as well as their life force. Uninjured people have a steady flow of energy and a strong… bright life force, without any inconsistencies, while injured ones have irregular flow of energy and even their cores show inconsistencies. Our job is to slowly channel our energy into their bodies and use it to slowly nurture their lifeforce, making their energies flow smoothly. It is basically like holding the hand of the energy in the patient's body and guiding it while slowly using our own energy to increase their life force, fortifying their spirit." She spoke as she laid on Shizuka's other side and showed an example.
I spread my senses, trying to see the flow of energy inside Shizuka and how Kuroka was guiding it. The observation revealed that the process was not as easy as she made it sound as she was struggling quite a bit. After observing it for a while, I figured out that I could try it out so I moved towards Shizuka's side too.
"Body contact nyaa~ the more body contact, the easier it is to push energy inside the other side. Not to mention Shizuka-chan's resistance is too high which makes it harder to channel energy inside her." Kuroka instructed and moved aside as the girl turned towards me.
Ah, no wonder. After all, she has a body made up of Great Red's flesh. It would be odd if she didn't have such resistance foreign energies.
I pulled her into a hug slightly. Her body felt warm, a pleasant contrast to the coolness from the wet kimono she was wearing. Dragon's blood kept her body temperature higher than normal.
She breathed into my chest and the soft warm feeling started making me hard.
I tried to adjust my position but she felt it and looked at me. "I am sorry. It's a… natural reaction when I am in such a position with a pretty girl like you."
That was not me flirting but the honest truth.
"I… understand." She replied as she hid her face into my chest. "That proposal for a relationship from Rias and Latia… I accepted it."
"…oh." Was all I could say.
They didn't tell me about that.
"You are fine with it right? I mean… if you don't want to then…"
"No. I am fine. In fact, I can't think of any other partner right now." She replied, cutting me off.
I pulled back slightly and looked into her red eyes and she explained.
"I had lost all reason to live but it was you who helped me… and my family." She paused for a moment and then continued.
"I am different now. My power… it can harm people I am close to if I lose control but with you… I don't have to worry about that. With you, I can… relax."
At this point her words were barely a whisper so I didn't force her to talk any longer and pulled her back into a hug, using my energy to soothe her.
She didn't resist and pulled herself closer to me, her body tightly pressing against mine.
We laid like that. I kept channeling my power inside her to help soothe her, gently caressing her hair, until she fell asleep.
She had been through a lot. She deserved this well-earned rest.
- Sirzechs -
"Okay, so did you find out who it was that delivered Satanael's head to dragon-boy? And why did you suddenly tell us to leave after reading that letter?" Serafall asked.
"Was it even real or just a prank?"
"It was real. Euclid verified it. That was Satanael alright." Serafall confirmed. "Sirzechs!"
"Oh! Yes. I am sorry, I was a bit lost in thought." Indeed.
He still hadn't gotten over what he had seen inside that dimension yet.
"That letter… it was from a customer of Mathias who claimed to have taken care of Satanael."
"Oh, did it say who it was? You looked quite freaked out after reading the letter." Falbium asked.
"It also said that he had made sure that Ophis wouldn't come after him."
Now that… silenced everyone in the room.
"There are not many beings in this world who can claim to be able to do the latter. In fact, there is only one I can think of." Ajuka spoke. "Which makes your reaction and Mathias' reluctance to answer understandable. The question is… why? Why would someone like him do this?"
"Apparently it was for the sake of food. The letter said that both the favours would cost him fifteen years of supplies, something which Mathias was already aware of."
"Seriously… Satanael got his head ripped off and Ophis got stalled just for a few fruits?" Serafall asked incredulously.
"Apparently so." He nodded, although he guessed it might also have something to do with the 'Inner Demon' inside Mathias. After all, it was also a draconic being.
"Do you think he would actively protect Mathias or help him out with other things?" Falbium asked.
"No. Mathias made it clear that he wouldn't involve himself with any factions. This was just an exceptional case as Ophis coming out was partly his responsibility which is why he took action. Mathias wasn't even sure he should reveal his name to anyone so let's end this matter here and pretend we don't know anything either."
After all, that was the only thing they could do when such powers beyond their control were involved.
"Hah… at least that's one less headache with Satanael gone or who knows what he might have plotted in the shadows." Falbium sighed.
"Well he has already caused more trouble than he was worth." Serafall spoke again. "The news about the ambush and the battle has already spread all over the world. I have been getting endless calls from other pantheons about the details. Worst of all, the Shinto Pantheon called. They are asking about the Utsusemi Agency and Wizards of Oz, more specifically the Divine Beasts and the Holy Swords which were in their possession. They are demanding we hand over the prisoners of the organisations for interrogation if we don't know where the Divine Beasts and the Holy Swords were. Had it not been on a call, I would have thrown an ice meteor at that old god's face."
"The Divine Beasts and the Holy Swords were things which they had lost due to their own mistakes and something Mathias and his peerage members won at the risk of their lives. It was their lack of attention with the Utsusemi Agency which endangered the life of one of the greatest talents of the Underworld and now they want to pretend it has nothing to do with them and even want us to return the Beasts and the Swords? They must be dreaming."
"Exactly. They had even driven some devils from their territories during the Principal Clans mess, causing severe losses to us despite us not having any involvement in the matter. Goodwill has to come from both sides if they want any negotiation. What do you think, Sirzechs?"
"The right to decide what to do with these belongs to Mathias. Let him decide. We focus on the meeting with Grigori and Heaven next."
_x_x_
Support Me on: Pat Reons Crossedge
Subscribe Star .adult Crossedge
Join me on my Discord Server on discord .gg/RNNZyyert4
Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.
Beta Reader: LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB99th Britannian Emperor(Discord), and Basilisk
Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of 'The Dragon Farmer'.
Mathias and the group are getting a break but it seems that this break wouldn't be for too long.
Sirzechs finally saw Mathias' Gourmet Demon as well as found out about Great Red.
On the other hand, we might get some contact with the youkai in the coming chapters.
Next up we will see the meeting between the Three factions as well as the reaction of the rest of the world.
Mathias is going to show on the world scale soon enough.
After this arc, I will start focusing on the farming aspect a bit more when the farm updates the next time.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.