chapter 262
Chapter 262:
“Layla, why are we out here in the middle of the Sahara Desert?” Rias asked me, her current displeasure was plain to see on her face. “It's really hot out here and my brand new outfit is getting all sweaty and ruined.” Rias was wearing a womanly business suit to try and make herself look more mature for her older brother. I didn’t see much point in that considering Rias and Sona both looked 25 when they were 18–one of the perks of being Pureblooded Devils.
“I would also like to know why,” Sona said while fanning herself with her hand. She was dressed more appropriately for the desert, wearing a shirt and jeans, but she still wasn’t comfortable being in the desert as a Devil from the Sitri Clan–a clan that specialized in water magic.
“We're out here to meet your siblings,” I told both of them again. “I thought we went over this?” I explained it to them last night.
[You did, but neither of them were listening. Rias was in the middle of watching anime and Sona was studying.]
Rias pouted at me cutely. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening, can you please tell us again why we are out here in the middle of an African desert?” she asked me again.
I nodded at her. “Why an African desert, you ask? I was going to do this in Death Valley again, but that desert is still packed with tourists and scientists checking out the wreckage from Thanos’s invasion. It would have been a bad idea to meet Serafall and Sirzechs with so many regular humans nearby. They’re both going to try and kill me after all and I'm expecting some collateral damage.” I explained. Hopefully, that damage should be kept to a minimum by fighting out here in the Sahara.
Sona pouted at me next. “Our older siblings aren't going to attack you the second they see you!” she tried to explain, “I think they deserve a little more credit than that,” Sona huffed out. She clearly didn’t know her sister as well as she thought she did…
“Oh…” Rias, at least, now seemed to understand my logic of being out in the middle of nowhere now. “This might have been a bad idea…” she trailed off.
“It’s not going to be that bad, Rias.” Sona tried to reassure her. “Our siblings are hundreds of years old, they can act mature when they need to.”
“Sona… my brother is kind of crazy.” Rias replied with a sigh as she took a couple steps back away from me. She dragged Sona with her.
I smiled at Rias, glad she was already taking precautions. “Let’s see how this goes,” I said before calling on my Sacred Gear to open a portal to their home Universe. We sent a message ahead of time, a week ago, telling Serafall and Sirzechs to be ready.
A moment later, the two Maous from a different Universe stepped through the portal and emerged into our world. They didn't come alone, Grayfia was also with them along with a female Devil who looked like an older version of Sona. I suspected it was her mother. Rias’s parents were strangely absent though.
“…You!” Serafall gnashed her teeth and pointed at me scathingly. She and I locked eyes. She did not look even remotely happy to see me, pretty much as I suspected.
“Hi,” I said while giving her a casual wave. “Welcome to Earth–”
“Miracle~Sparkle~Levia~Blaster!” Serafall interrupted and immediately pointed her Magical Girl wand at me. A beam of rainbow light blasted out of the tip of the heart shaped wand. It was heading directly at me!
I didn’t make a move to dodge, I felt like I probably deserved this one…
[You do…]
{-1000 HP!}
Serafall wasn't holding back! The rainbow beam smashed into me and sent my body hurtling a few hundred meters before I crashed into a large sand dune.
It definitely said something about my mental state that I was more annoyed at all the sand getting all over me instead of the fact that Serafall just tried to immediately murder me
[At this point, losing 1000 HP is more of a minor inconvenience for you than an actual detriment.]
“I don’t like sand…” I grumbled while standing up and trying to brush it off of me. It was all over my body, under my clothes and in my hair. “It’s coarse and rough and irritating–”
“Hakai!”
My monologue was interrupted when I felt a large build up of power directly above me, followed by Sirzechs yelling out the name of another attack. I glanced up just in time to see a massive torrent of the Power of Destruction hurtling down at me!
“Son of a–”
BOOM!
{-3000 HP}
…
–Wakanda–
Warning lights flared and emergency sirens went haywire in Princess Shuri’s lab as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on! Wakanda wasn’t known to get earthquakes, but Shuri certainly felt the ground shake just then.
“Shuri! What is happening!?” Her brother, T’Challa, ran into her lab in a panic. He was accompanied by Okaye and a few other Dora Milaje guards women. “Sirens are going off all over Wakanda and the ground is shaking! Are we under attack?”
“I'm trying to figure that out, give me a moment, brother,” Shuri replied while typing away furiously on her keyboard. The ground shook again harder this time and Shuri almost lost her balance. Her brother ended up catching her before she fell over.
“Thanks, T’Challa.”
“Anytime, sister. What is happening out there?”
“I’m about to find out,” she told him and went back to her computer. She let out a sigh of relief when she finally figured out what had set all of Wakanda’s sensors off. “It’s okay, ‘we’ are not under attack. There are simply massive energy surges nearby–coming from the middle of the Sahara desert for some reason.” Shuri said as she examined the data. Something was throwing around tremendous amounts of power. Maybe a couple somethings…?
T’Challa and Okaye both frowned at her words. “Do we know what's causing these energy surges?” Okaye asked her princess. “Whatever it is, it is a threat to Wakanda!”
“One moment, I'm bringing up the spy satellites,” Shuri told them both. A second later, they were treated to a strange sight on the screen. A battle between modern day titans was occurring nearby. That explained the ground shaking.
Shuri let out a squeal of excitement. “Oh! It's Layla! She's in Africa? We have to go see her!” Shuri was a massive fan of Layla of the Fallen! She followed every bit of trending news about Layla online and she attended every FallCorp stock meeting just to try and get a glimpse of her Idol!
T’Challa sighed in irritation. He didn't particularly have anything against the Fallen Angel, not after she saved the world–twice now from invasion. He wasn't exactly comfortable with how his sister had basically thrown away her worship of Bast and chosen to start praying to a new Goddess instead…
Okaye shared her prince’s exasperation, but at this point everyone figured Shuri was a lost cause when it came to her admiration of the Foreign Angel. “Who is Layla fighting?” Okaye decided to ask the important question. On the screen, they could all see an overhead view of Layla battling two very powerful beings. One of them was a man with incredibly red hair. He was tossing around attacks that almost resembled anti-matter. The other was a woman who was dressed up as–
“Is that a real magical girl!?” Shuri squealed again. “Magical girls are real too!?” she asked before turning to her brother and pouting at him. “You told me Sailor Moon wasn't real when I was a little girl. You lied to me!” She crossed her arms and huffed.
Shuri went through an anime faze when she was younger. She desperately wanted to visit Japan to try and meet a real life magical girl. She remembered begging her parents constantly to let her go. She was devastated when her brother and parents sat her down and explained to her that Magical Girls and anime weren't actually real…
Apparently, they were wrong! Shuri was already bouncing in her chair with excitement!
T’Challa let out a sigh of exasperation. “I didn't think they were real, little sister.” he tried to reassure her. Angels, Demons, Wizards, Foreign Gods… So many beings only thought to be make-believe had been revealed to the world this past year that it was hard to keep up.
Shuri hopped out of her chair and made a break for the hangar while Okaye and T’Challa were busy staring at the battle on the screen. She wanted to meet Layla and the Magical Girl before they left Africa!
…
–Layla–
I flapped my wings hard and dodged out of the way of another powerful blast of Destruction. Sirzechs was still going strong despite expending a tremendous amount of magic trying to vaporize me over and over. I let that first attack hit me because I felt like giving each older sibling a free hit. After that, it hadn't been so easy for either of them.
“Die, you Imouto stealing bitch!” Serafall flew towards my flank and swung at my head with her sparkly wand.
“Not happening!” I raised my hand and caught her wand mid swing!
Serafall’s eyes widened before I punched her in the face! Her head whipped backwards as she was sent hurtling towards the desert below. I smirked when I saw her crash into her own sand dune and get covered in it.
I turned back to Sirzechs who was preparing another powerful spell. A black and red aura of power was wafting off of him. “You took Ria-tan from me! I won't forgive you for that!” Sirzechs glared at me as he pointed both of his hands forwards.
I glared back at him with my Rinnegan and raised my right arm. “Rias is an adult and can make her own decisions. She chose to come and live with me,” I told him and that only made him angrier.
“Disappear!” He unleashed his most powerful blast of destruction yet. I could tell it was enough to vaporize a few square kilometers of desert off the face of the planet.
“Almighty Push!” I overloaded my attack with extra MP.
My invisible gravitational wave collided with his tsunami of Destruction! The two powerful opposing attacks clashed in the sky momentarily as they each tried to win out over the other. After a few seconds, the inevitable happened. My gravitational wave ended up winning out. His Destruction was broken apart and my Almighty Push ended up smashing into Sirzechs. The force of the blow sent him flying across the landscape for a few kilometers.
With Serafall and Sirzechs both temporarily out of commission, I flew down and landed next to the others. Grayfia had placed a barrier around the four of them to protect them while I clashed with both Maou. I hadn't defeated Sirzechs or Serafall by any means, but I had slapped them both around enough to prove they weren't as invincible as they thought they were. They had both grown complacent after hundreds of years of peace in the Underworld.
Grayfia looked less than pleased with the current outcome of our battle. For a second, I wondered if she was going to try and attack me next.
“For Lilith's sake, don't embarrass yourself, Grayfia!” the woman next to Sona spoke up. “Don't forget that we Devils worship power above all else, my daughter-in-law has proven she has it in spades,” the woman chastised Grayfia before turning to me appeasingly.
I merely raised an eyebrow at the way she was able to speak down to Grayfia. “And you are?”
“Hello, Layla of the Fallen. I am Cecilia Sitri. The current Lady Sitri and the Head of the Sitri Clan,” she introduced herself to me with proper noble etiquette.
“It's nice to meet you as well,” I replied to her, happy that at least one visitor so far had decided to act properly. I turned to Sona and smirked at her. “It looks like you were wrong about Serafall and Sirzechs.”
Sona blushed at me in embarrassment and stamped her foot. “I can't believe she immediately tried to kill you as soon as she saw you…”
“I can believe it,” Cecilia said while shaking her head in exasperation. “It seems my eldest daughter has completely forgotten how a proper noble lady is supposed to present herself. It seems I will need to re-educate her,” she said while pushing up her glasses. They flashed in the exact same way that Sona’s did whoever she was trying to act smart.
Now I know where Sona inherited that gesture from. I was definitely teasing her about it later!
A sand dune nearby exploded and Serafall climbed her way out. She hacked out a few mouthfuls of sand before she grabbed her wand and pointed it towards me again. I felt her start to gather her magical power for another attack. “Miracle–”
“That's enough, Serafall. The fight is over. Don't embarrass our clan any further!” Cecilia chastised her daughter. “Don't make me come over there…”
To my surprise, getting yelled at by her mother actually managed to stop her.
Serafall lowered her wand with a few tears in her eyes. “B–but mom! This winged harpy stole Sona away from us and took her precious innocence! How can we forgive her for that?”
Cecilia scoffed. “And, in less than a year, she accomplished what you haven't been able to do in 600. She finally gave me a grandchild and our Clan has a proper line of succession again.” Cecilia explained while nodding at me in approval. She turned back to Serafall. “What's your excuse, daughter? Even that wet noodle Sirzechs managed to pop out a kid. Not much of a kid I admit, but at least he made one.”
“Hey!” Grayfia looked offended on behalf of her husband and son. Rias simply snickered at the description of her older brother and nephew.
Serafall pouted and turned her head to the side to avoid looking her mother in the eye. “I would have given you a grandchild…eventually. I just haven't found the proper partner.” Serafall said while glancing back at Sona not-so-subtly. Her infatuation with her own sister wasn't exactly a secret.
Sona pointed at herself. “Me!?” Sona blanched at her sister while Rias snickered at her. “You’re serious, Nee-sama?”
Cecilia looked thoughtful. “I never thought your crush on your little sister was actually serious, Serafall.”
“I love So-tan and will do anything to hop into bed with her!” Serafall declared loudly.
Everyone except Rias was gaping at her in astonishment for that bold declaration. Rias was currently rolling in the sand laughing her ass off at the expression of shock and embarrassment on Sona’s face.
Cecilia took a moment to collect herself after her oldest daughter spoke. “I–Is that so? Well then, I think there is an obvious solution to our problem before us…” she trailed off glancing between myself, Serafall and Sona.
“And what’s that?” I asked while tilting my head. “I'm certainly not giving up Sona to her sister. Sona is mine, I love her!” I declared proudly.
“L–Layla!” Sona sputtered at me in further embarrassment. “I l–love you too…” she admitted in a whisper, but I still heard her. She was so cute whenever she admitted her true feelings.
Cecilia nodded at us both. “I wouldn’t dream of it. You are incredibly powerful and any Devil house would be lucky to have you as a daughter-in-law. I propose that you take Serafall as one of your wives as well. That way Serafall can fulfill her dream of getting her sister into the same bed and we can finally put all this unpleasantness behind us,” she suggested to me.
“Hmm, that’s not a horrible idea,” I admitted to Cecilia. I couldn’t lie and say I had never fantasized about it before either.
She smiled at my perceived acceptance. “I can have a marriage contract drawn up within a few days. My only stipulations would be that I want at least two more grandchildren within the next 100 years.”
“W–What!? You can’t be serious, mother!” Serafall exclaimed while pointing at me. “Do you know how many Fallen Angels I killed in the Great War? Now you expect me to marry one?”
“I expect you to stop embarrassing our noble clan with that slutty TV Show of yours and actually start doing something productive,” her mother replied.
“My TV Show is productive. I spread positivity throughout the Underworld,” Serafall defended herself.
“If by positivity you mean softcore porn, then sure…” her mother trailed off. She wasn’t far off, I had seen some of Serafall’s Magical Girl show. Sona had all the episodes stored on her laptop. There were a lot of tentacles in every episode…
While Serafall was arguing with her mother, a disheveled and confused Sirzechs landed on the ground next to us. “What happened, how come we're not fighting anymore?” he asked Rias and Grayfia.
“Sona’s mom is trying to marry Serafall to Layla.” Rias said with a shrug.
“...”
“W–What!?” Sirzechs sputtered. His reaction was almost identical to Serafalls. I found it pretty funny. He turned to me flabbergasted, and I simply shrugged in response.
“I wouldn’t mind getting Serafall into my bed, but only if she gets over her hatred for me first.” I told him.
Sirzechs slumped to his knees in shock and defeat. He started muttering to himself. “Now she’s taking Serafall too!? What if she wants to take Grayfia next!?” he asked himself in horror.
Grayfia and I both scoffed at him at the same time. When she noticed my similar reaction, Grayfia looked partially offended that I would so quickly reject her.
“You’re hot Grayfia, but I already have a beautiful silver haired battle maid.” I told her. I was speaking of Artemis of course.
“You should give Artemis a couple pointers on being a maid while you’re visiting, Grayfia,” Rias suggested to her sister-in-law. “I think you and her would get along.”
“Now that the fighting is over, why don’t we all head back to our home?” I suggested to all the Devils. “Our daughters are absolutely adorable and I'm sure you all will love them!”
“No! You can’t go yet!” a voice I recognized called out from above us. I glanced up and noticed a Wakandan stealth plane hovering in the sky with my Rinnegan’s enhanced perception. Princess Shuri leapt out of the aircraft and proceeded to parachute to the ground below. When she landed, she quickly ran over to Serafall. “Wow! Are you a real Magical Girl? Can I have your autograph?”
Serafall immediately perked up from her depression. “Of course you can! Miracle Levia-tan always has time for a fan~!” Princess Shuri proceeded to gush over Serafall and her costume.
I stared at the scene in confusion before shaking my head. “My life is weird…”
“You know what’s really weird, Layla?” another voice I recognized called out behind me. I spun around and could see the Ancient One staring at me in disapproval. Where did she come from, and why was she here? Judging by her expression, I had obviously done something to upset her…
“Hi, Ancient One… What are you doing here? And what’s weird?” I asked sheepishly.
She stared at me in further disappointment before she pointed at the group of Devils nearby. “I would like some notification in the future if you plan on bringing any more Devils into our world. Especially Devils capable of destroying entire countries single handedly,” she said while gesturing to the damaged landscape around us. Multiple square kilometers of the desert had been charred black by Sirzechs tossing around his Power of Destruction everywhere…
I rubbed the back of my head. “Sorry about that… We had a ‘small’ argument,” I tried to explain to her.
“Your small argument ended up causing 32 earthquakes across Africa…” Prince T’Challa himself said as he hopped out of another Wakandan stealth craft that had appeared in the sky next to Shuri’s. “You caused the entire country of Wakanda to go into a panic, thinking we were under attack. Next time you are expecting a fight of this magnitude, might I suggest you having it in Antarctica…or maybe just outer space?” he spoke to me in that same disapproving tone…
[Wow, that’s a lot of Earthquakes.]
“My bad…”
XXX
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