Grigori Headquarters, Tzalmavet, October 11, 2019, 5:30 AM
Vali arrived alone at the headquarters of the Grigori. The Grigori, also known as the Watchers of God, was better known as the Fallen Angel Faction. They were located in the third level of Hell known as Tzalmavet, or The Shadow of Death as opposed to Devils who lived on the first level which was known as Gehenna. This level was massive, even more so than the one before it as the realm itself contained stars and a moon.
A moon? That wasn't there before. Looks like Sahariel finally drove the old man insane and got what she wanted, Vali thought as he trudged up the path to the Headquarters.
The Headquarters was a large complex with several buildings. It was akin to a small city with streets, lights, and even a wall surrounding it. A large obelisk tower stood in the middle and functioned as the capital building much like the Ars Nova did back in Gehenna.
Vali entered the city and after a few minutes, reached the base of the tower. He opened the door where he was greeted by the Secretary.
"Azazel said that he wanted to see me?" Vali said.
The secretary nodded and pointed to the elevator. Vali walked over and pressed the button at the top and waited. The trip to the top floor took several minutes. When Vali arrived, he walked to a pair of massive french doors.
What do you think the Old Man wants? Vali asked.
[I don't know but we should tell him what we told them. The Fallen sees Ddraig's host like a son. If anyone would react to your statement, it would be him.] Albion said.
Vali nodded as he opened the door. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by a man with black and blonde hair. He had violet eyes that held mischief inside of them. The man wore a violet trench coat with a wide-open collar and parted at the hem.
"Azazel," Vali greeted.
"Come on! Everyone is waiting for you!" Azazel said as he grabbed Vali by the arm and dragged him through a door.
"Look, whatever it is you need, can it wai—!" Vali froze when he heard a voice calling out.
"VAAAAA-KUUUUNNNN!" Vali took a step back as a blue and yellow missile crashed into him and pinned him to the floor. He felt his face being shoved in between two soft mounds of flesh as he struggled to breathe, his cries for help were muffled by the fleshy prison his face had found itself in.
Vali heard Albion laughing alongside every other occupant in the room.
"Okay, okay. As amusing as this is, I'm going to need you to get off him so he can breathe Lavinia," Azazel said.
Lavinia hesitantly removed herself from Vali, allowing the poor man to breathe. Vali gasped as he took in large quantities of air, praising whatever higher power had intervened.
Lavinia Reni was a beautiful woman. She had long, flowing blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. She had a voluptuous figure with a sizable rear and large breasts. Lavinia wore white hooded mage robes.
On the sofa, still snickering at Vali, was a man with short-cropped black hair. He appeared to be in his early twenties and had flint-grey eyes. The man wore a beige trench coat over a reinforced vest that was on top of a white dress shirt. He wore black pants and military-grade combat boots, giving him the persona of a bartender who can kick ass if his bar has been disturbed. Vali knew this man. He was Tobio Ikuse, wielder of the Sacred Gear, Canis Lykaon, or as Vali liked to call it, the Great Grey Wolf Sif ripoff.
"Careful Vali. If she sees this, she might be jealous," Tobio teased.
Vali glared at him.
"Stop teasing the boy and let's get on with this meeting," a man on the right said. He had silver hair and violet eyes. The man wore a violet tunic with yellow and green embroidery alongside silver slacks and black oxfords. He was Shemhazai, the current Governor-General of the Grigori.
"I concur, Azazel," another man said. This man was extremely muscular. Unlike the others, he appeared to be the oldest in the room, looking like a middle-aged man. He had black hair and a scruffy black beard. He wore a black bodysuit. He was Baraqiel, the Vice-Governor General of the Grigori.
"Right," Azazel gestured to a woman sitting on a sofa. The woman was extremely beautiful. She had creamy skin and soft violet eyes. Her hair was dark violet and flowed down to her waist where it curled into small spirals at the end. She wore a violet formal dress that parted at her leg, revealing a black and grey skirt. She nodded and pulled something out of her breast pocket.
"Ah, here," she said as a small silver orb floated into the air.
"Thanks, Penemue," Azazel said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek. She smiled and nodded.
Azazel walked up to the orb and pressed a red triangle button located on the back.
The projection of an arena appeared in the air as Azazel turned around and coughed into his mouth.
"Ahem, now you might be wondering why you were all called here from your lives to my office," Azazel said.
Mutters went around the room as a whole range of ideas could be heard from some new discovery regarding Sacred Gears to even some new position he tried with Penemue the night before.
As he heard these, Azazel's eyebrow twitched. No one ever took him seriously anymore.
Ignoring their ideas, Azazel spoke.
"Now because of recent events, every pantheon that participated in the war, as well as a few others, have gotten together and we have come up with the idea of a World-Class Rating Game as a way to symbolize our new unity. Ajuka and I have been hashing out the details but we're all meeting in a few days to discuss the rest of the details," Azazel said.
Everyone went silent as Azazel's words sunk in. Every Cadre had wide eyes as the words kept replaying inside their heads.
A World-Class what!?
A small chuckle erupted from Vali as he began to laugh madly. A shit-eating grin appeared on his face. Tobio and Lavinia looked at Vali with amused looks on their faces while muttering about Boob Obsessed Dragons and Half Devil Battle Maniacs.
"Don't get your hopes up yet. It still needs to get through the Senate first. We'll vote on its fate in a few days so calm your tits Vali," Azazel said.
"Hmph. You better vote in favor of it, old man," Vali said.
"If all goes according to plan, the Games should be in six months, give or take a few weeks so cross your fingers," Azazel said.
Everyone nodded and waited for Azazel to say more.
"That's all," he said, walking over to his whiskey cabinet and pulling out a bottle of Jack Daniel's.
"Well, thank you for the information, Azazel-sama," Lavinia said, standing up. She curtsied before leaving in a teal magic circle.
"Azazel," Tobio said, catching his attention. "I'm going to take a break from my duties. I need to go find and get the old band back together in case this does come to fruition."
Azazel nodded and waved as Tobio summoned a massive black wolf and disappeared in a swirl of shadows.
"Father damnit Azazel! You pulled me here for this shit! I have actual work to do!" Shemhazai said. He huffed and disappeared in the sound of flapping wings.
Azazel sighed and looked towards Baraqiel.
"It seems that… a training session is needed. Azazel, I'm going to get Ambriel and Tyrael if you and Penemue don't mind," Baraqiel said.
"Sure, go for it. Ambriel is in the lab and Tyrael is over at Research and Development," Azazel said.
"Yeah, sure just tell him where our children are, why don't you?" Penemue said.
"Thank you and Pen, I'll be careful with them," Baraqiel said as he disappeared in a flurry of wingbeats.
"Az, I have some work to do," Penemue said as she began walking to the door. "Gab-nee-sama told me that Az-nee-sama found something that's worth… looking into."
Azazel nodded and watched as his wife disappeared like his compatriots. Azazel poured himself another cup of whiskey. Noticing that Vali was still there, Azazel turned around and flashed him a grin.
"So, you're still here. Is there something else that you need?" Azazel asked.
Vali blinked, seemingly pulled out of his fantasies as the entire reason he even came here in the first place was pulled to the forefront of his mind.
"Right, Albion and I sensed something today. Something familiar and alarming. I told Sirzechs and Grayfia but… anyway, I think that you'd want to hear this," Vali said.
"What is it?" Azazel asked as his face became serious.
"Haru… earlier today, I sensed him entering the [Juggernaut Drive]," Vali said.
Azazel's eyes widened as he performed the mother of all spit takes, spraying whiskey and saliva all over Vali's face. The cambion looked at him with a deadpan as he wiped the whiskey and the Fallen Angel Lord's spit off his face.
Azazel looked down, millions of possible scenarios running through his head as to how this could have happened. All of them were refuted with reasons as to why it could be impossible.
Vali watched as Azazel dissected his words inside his mind and waited for his response.
"Vali… are you sure it was Haru and not just some random dragon entering Outrage Mode?" Azazel asked.
Vali and Albion were floored. Azazel didn't believe them either.
It was worth a shot. Looks like we're going to go check on Haru after we draft our training regimen for the tournament, Vali said to Albion.
[I don't blame him. No one else other than us sensed that power spike] Albion said.
"Well, I'm off to train then. You might be right. It was probably nothing," Vali said, walking off. As the door closed behind Vali, Azazel was left alone with his thoughts as he fought off the nagging paranoia that was brought upon by Vali's statement.
Calm down Azazel. That's impossible. Every faction leader would have felt something like that and the girls would have reported it by now. And besides, there hasn't been any news of Kuoh being wiped off the map so we're good, Azazel thought as he poured himself one more bottle of whiskey.
He looked at his desk, grimacing at the large piles of paper that could be seen on his desk. Azazel sat down in his chair and looked at the picture on his desk. A picture of simpler days. He smiled and got back to work.