[244] The Schemes Behind The Back

Chapter 244: The Schemes Behind The Back

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His mansion was as grand as the Satans’ castles, but it always felt suffocating. The fact that it was only this little land that he ruled, rather than all of the underworld, Rizevim found this place suffocating. Yet today, the yard of the mansion felt even more suffocating than usual as Rizevim Livan Lucifer landed with a thud, his boots sinking slightly into the dark soil.

He was annoyed.

The sky above this part of the underworld was perpetually covered in a thick, ominous haze, a constant reminder of its bleak existence. Lilith followed closely behind him, her expression blank as ever, but Rizevim didn’t spare her a glance.

“O-oh, your highness! You’re back,” the devil servants stationed at the entrance immediately bowed deeply upon his arrival. Their postures were stiff, almost mechanical, and their faces showed fear, but he didn’t care enough to even acknowledge them.

His mood was soured, and the groveling of lowly devils was the last thing he wanted to deal with.

Annoyance bubbled under his skin as he stormed past them, his pace quick and deliberate, heading straight for the dark interior of the mansion. The heavy doors creaked open as if sensing their master’s foul mood, and the dimly lit halls welcomed him with an eerie silence. He clicked his tongue, and his footfalls echoed sharply, the only sound that accompanied him into the depths of his home.

Things were getting out of hand up there.

Rizevim clenched his fists as the thought gnawed at him. He had been too occupied with matters in the Underworld – the current Satans, the Ogdoad Pantheon, and other things that came with the surge of Icons – to personally go after Gasper Vladi. That had allowed the little vampire brat to stay safe all this time, somehow surviving all the mercenaries he’d been sending after him. And now… Aquamarine was back.

Aquamarine. Just the name made him grumble in annoyance. That damned bastard, who was nothing but a mere doctor in his past life, was the one complicating everything. How dare a mortal mess all his plans like this? The most frustrating part was that that brat likely didn’t even know what he had done.

If he hadn’t returned from wherever he’d disappeared to, Gasper would have been an easy target for Fenrik Stormclaw. Now Kuoh was crawling with powerhouses. It would’ve been risky enough with just him and his stupid sect, but now Yasaka, and more importantly that damned snake, Quetzalcoatl, had joined forces with him too. The mere thought of it all made Rizevim’s blood boil.

He sighed, his footsteps slowing as he reached the mansion’s grand hall. T

he air here was thick with the stench of sulfur and brimstone, remnants of the last ritual he’d performed to secure his hold on the lower realms. Everything about this place annoyed him. Rizevim grumbled.

Lilith, who had been trailing behind him, finally spoke up, her voice soft but curious. “What’s wrong?”

Her question, innocent and direct, made Rizevim’s jaw tighten. He almost wanted to growl at her like a petulant child, but what would be the point? Lilith wouldn’t understand his frustrations. She was just a tool—useful, powerful, but ultimately lacking any true understanding of the intricacies at play here.

Still, the temptation to vent was strong. He swallowed the urge, suppressing the urge to lash out. Instead, he allowed a frustrated sigh to escape his lips, running a hand through his silvery hair.

The many mercenaries he’d hired—he’d paid them in advance, handsomely so—and what had they done? They’d failed, every last one of them. Not only that, they’d died miserably. It had been a massive waste of resources, and now, with Aquamarine and his allies patrolling Kuoh like military, any future attempts would be even harder.

He gritted his teeth. “What a mess...” he muttered, more to himself than to Lilith.

“What mess?” she asked, tilting her head. Her blank eyes stared at him, her innocence almost mockingly out of place in this dark mansion.

Rizevim glanced at her, holding back another wave of irritation. What was the point in explaining? Lilith wouldn’t care about the politics, the underhanded deals, or the complex web of power plays here. And yet, something about her question sparked a thought in him. Maybe talking it out loud would help his head clear up.

With a deep breath, he turned to face her fully. “It’s Aquamarine, called the White Tiger Sage or something, I cannot bother,” he started, his voice dripping with frustration. “As well as his band of powerhouses in Kuoh. They’ve made things... difficult.”

Lilith blinked as if waiting for him to continue.

“I can’t leave the Underworld right now, and neither can you,” he admitted, his tone almost begrudging. “Then again, even if we did, getting to Gasper would be hard, not with those three guarding him. Quetzalcoatl, Yasaka, and Aquamarine? They’re too much to handle in one clean mission. You might be able to defeat them together, but then the mission wouldn’t be clean.” He clenched his fists, his mind racing through the obstacles standing in his way. “I don’t wanna cause a mess I don’t want to clean up.”

Lilith said nothing, simply staring at him. “Hmm.”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “I need... scapegoats.”

“Scapegoats?” Lilith echoed, blinking again. “What do you mean?”

Rizevim’s eyes shone. He smirked. Indeed, talking out loud helped. His mind finally found some clarity. Yes, that is the solution. If I can't do it cleanly, then I’ll just make someone else dirty their hands. He needed vanguards, ones who could stand in front of him to distract Aquamarine and the others long enough for him to get what he wanted.

They’d fight on the front lines, take the brunt of the attacks, while he’d slip in and seize Gasper.

“Exactly,” Rizevim nodded to himself, his smirk widening. “I need someone else to take the heat, while I go after Gasper. You see, Lilith, Gasper is the key,” he looked at the dumb little power-doll and said. “With him in my grasp, I’ll have leverage over Valerie Tepes. And with that leverage, I can get my hands on the Holy Grail.”

Lilith yawned. “What do you want to do with the Holy Grail?”

“Well…” Rizevim chuckled darkly. “With the Grail, I can wish for the submission of the Evil God Balor. I’ll sacrifice Gasper to awaken Balor, and then… then…” His eyes gleamed with ambition. “I’ll have Balor under my control, the power of an ancient deity will be at my command. I’ll be unstoppable!”

Lilith remained silent, processing his words, but her expression didn’t change. She was always so passive, so detached. But Rizevim didn’t care. He never expected any actual input from her, anyway. He had his plan, and that was all that mattered.

But first, the scapegoats. He needed to find the right enemies.

Luckily, all three of those little fools—Aquamarine, Quetzalcoatl, and Yasaka—had enemies. Big, big enemies. Ones who would stop at nothing to destroy them if given the chance.

Rizevim grinned. All he had to do was provide those enemies with a little... opportunity. And who better to be the key to unlocking that door than him?

He could open the gates, let the chaos spill into Japan, and watch as they tore each other apart. Then, when the dust settled, he’d be there. Waiting… Ready to seize Gasper and awaken Balor.

“I’ll need to make some arrangements,” Rizevim muttered, his mind already racing through the logistics of his plan. “But this... this will work. This will be my magnum opus!”

Lilith watched him quietly as his laughter echoed through the dark halls of the mansion, his sinister plot finally taking shape.

****

Kuroka was fucking scared when the Oni Shuten Doji broke out.

She hadn’t expected to find herself in Kyoto when it all went to hell. But there she was, stuck in the middle of it, watching the chaos unfold as the monstrous Oni tore through the Western Yokai Faction like they were nothing.

And when the second Oni broke free, she honestly thought it was over. The Faction was done for. She was already planning her escape route, how she’d slip away unnoticed while everything crumbled.

But then he appeared.

Aqua, her future baby daddy, the guy she’d been trying to find for a while now, popped out of nowhere and beat the shit out of those Onis like it was child’s play.

She hadn’t seen him in action since that day in Vedas, and just like before, seeing him made her... well, wet. She got wet seeing his strength. No, not just because of his strength. It was more than that.

She'd been wanting to track him down, spend a little time together, maybe get to know him a bit more intimately… maybe get pregnant right away, but he’d been difficult to find. She knew he was strong—more than strong enough to father the children she was already mentally planning—but every time she tried to search for him, he was nowhere to be found.

She’d even taken a few assassination jobs on the side, just to keep busy while she hunted him down across Japan. But he was nowhere she tried to find him. When she finally realized he lived near Kuoh and went to look for him, he and his family had gone on a vacation or something.

But now, after all that waiting, she finally saw him again.

And it turned her the same way it did the first time she saw him, when she saw him cut off Surya’s head as if he was cutting veggies. Kuroka was in heat.

Sitting on a hill not too far from the Hoshino household, Kuroka blew a bubble with her gum, her tail swishing lazily behind her as she hummed to herself. The sky was peaceful tonight, the air cool, and the soft sounds of the town below hummed like a distant lullaby.

The question was, how the hell was she going to approach him?

She could see the household in the distance, lit up but quiet, as if the powerful people inside were taking a much-needed rest. She knew Aquamarine and his "sect" had been busy lately, especially with Yasaka around, keeping the area secure after the attacks.

She knew little before, but recently, she did her research to learn about what was going on. She learned that he had a group, a Sect, as he called it, and they were currently protecting the area from the same Vampires that attacked Kyoto.

She didn’t know about all the members of this ‘Sect,’ but she knew that Quetzalcoatl had joined it recently. That was big news, and everyone in the supernatural world knew about it.

…That was good and all, but the question was, should she approach him directly? Or maybe one of his sect members first? Kuroka wasn’t exactly the type to overthink things, but when it came to a guy like Aqua, she didn’t want to mess this up.

Maybe if she caught him alone, away from all the chaos, she could finally talk to him. But there was always the chance he’d be too busy for small talk, and so just kill her right there… So it was probably better to find another way to grab his attention.

As she pondered, blowing another bubble, she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

“Huh, this is the same hill we were peeking from, remember Irina?”

“....!”

Her entire body tensed, her tail puffing up in alarm. She spun around on instinct, kicking out at the source of the voice with a speed most couldn’t match. But her feet met resistance—someone had blocked her strike with ease.

“What the hell?!” Kuroka hissed, leaping back and landing in a crouch, her eyes narrowing at the two figures in front of her. She knew those faces. “Irina... and Xenovia?”

The two of them stood casually in the moonlight, looking at her like they hadn’t just blocked her attack like it was nothing. Irina was grinning, her arms crossed over her chest, while Xenovia looked as serious as ever, her sword gleaming at her side.

Kuroka’s mind raced. There had been old bounty missions out for these two in the Adventurer Guild—they had gone missing and had to be found. A few had tried taking the mission, but they didn’t find them anywhere.

What were they doing here, of all places?

She didn’t have time to think. She needed to get out of here now. From what she knew they weren’t that strong, but they had just blocked her attack with ease. It was a strong attack that she launched in nervousness, the strength wasn’t controlled, but they looked just like. There was no way she was sticking around to fight both of them!

Turning on her heel, Kuroka darted away, her feet light and fast as she tried to make her escape. But before she could get more than a few steps, Irina appeared in front of her, cutting off her path with a speed that made Kuroka’s eyes widen.

How is she this fast?!

Gritting her teeth, Kuroka tried to slip past her, but Xenovia grabbed her by the collar, yanking her back before she could even blink.

“Oh, come on!” Kuroka growled, her claws flexing instinctively. She wanted to fight, but she already realized it would be pointless. They were stronger than her—each of them. Just enough to make a fight a bad idea to fight them one-on-one, but they were two. She couldn’t win, fighting would only bring pain.

So, instead of lashing out, she chuckled nervously, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Oops! I don’t think you ladies plan to kill me, do you? Haha...” Her laugh was weak, and her ears flattened against her head in an attempt to appear less threatening.

Irina raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed. “That’s up to our Lord,” she said, her tone sharp as she stepped forward and slapped Kuroka’s wrists.

A bright, holy light flared to life around Kuroka’s wrists, binding them together in glowing shackles. The sudden sting of the magic made her flinch, making her lips twitch, and she stared at the glowing binds in disbelief.

“Holy restraints? Seriously?” she muttered under her breath, more annoyed than anything. She wasn’t even a full-on bad guy anymore!

But the two girls didn’t give her a chance to argue. Xenovia and Irina each grabbed an arm and started pulling her toward the Hoshino household. That made Kuroka blink, as she grumbled under her breath. So when she said ‘lord,’ she meant him.

In that case, she didn’t have to fight them. This was better, no? Maybe this isn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened. After all, she was being taken directly to the person she’d been trying to find all this time.

Maybe I’ll get to meet Aquamarine sooner than expected...

Starting now, she had to play nice.

[Image Here]

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