But by then it would be too late. The general populace would already be aware of it and by then, Serafall would’ve marketed the new Peerage Overhaul System. The pressure for this law to be passed would not be something that Clan Heads could overrule.

[Truly, this is a blessing.]

Change was drawing closer and Sirzechs could smell it in the air.

.

|DxD|

.

“Greetings esteemed elders of the Underworld. My name is Aurelia von Drachenburg, attendant of my lord, Igor von Dimori. If possible, please allow me to borrow a few moments of your time.”

‘If possible’, she says. As if they had a choice in the first place. The elders no longer had their haughty appearance. Each and every single one of them sat ramrod straight and appeared as if they were paying attention.

They were indeed paying attention…to the person behind them. They didn’t dare turn around for fear of catching his eye. But everytime they knew that Igor was behind them, it felt like someone had pressed a knife to their spine.

They were afraid that if they turned around, they would…

Gulp…

…become the third corpse. Two elders dead. One had his head punched into oblivion while the other and arguably the most important elder…

Drip…Drip…

…had his head crushed by a crown of fingers. Their mangled corpses still released blood, but none of them had the liver to attend to them.

“Hey.”

“““?!”””

When Igor called out, they somehow sat even straighter than before.

“My sister is kindly asking for a few moments of your time. Why are you ignoring her?”

They couldn’t see his face, but they could imagine the consequences if silence ensued.

“We-we don’t mind, Lady Aurelia!”

The Astaroth elder was the first one to stand up and speak. His brows were covered cold sweat. He knew what his crimes were and from how Sirzechs ignored him, it was obvious he knew too. Like Igor said, if he wanted to keep his worthless life, he had to be obedient.

His life was worthless, but it was his goddamnit!

[A worthless life is better than no life at all.]

His eyes flickered to the Crimson Satan every once in a while, but all he saw was Sirzechs’s amused smile at every turn. He had probably turned into a joke in the satan’s eyes, but living as a joke was much better than the alternative.

Soon, the other elders all clamoured to fill the silence and please Aurelia.

“Please, Aurelia-sama. Our time is yours to take.”

“Yes, yes, yes. We absolutely don’t mind at all, Lady Aurelia.”

“Take as much time as you need, Lady Aurelia.”

They all cursed the Astaroth Elder in their hearts for being so quick-witted, but they dared not dawdle. Who here had no crimes? Even if their hands were clean after the civil war, numerous centuries had passed since then.

“Thank you, esteemed elders.”

Aurelia would blame Igor’s influence on this, but she found it just a teency weency tiny bit amusing that they were suddenly so enthusiastic about the speech of a ‘low-life Aryan scum’.

“I shall not waste any more of your valuable time. I would first like to say that I am honoured to have entered an alliance with you all. As pertaining to the terms of the contract, I am willing to provide my services and expertise to those willing to contract them. I would also like it that if you have it in your hearts, please forgive my lord for his actions. I understand that he may have been somewhat heavy-handed in his introduction, but I hope you will give him another chance. We as members of the Aryans endeavour to maintain amicable ties with our partners.”

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“““...”””

‘Forgive’ she says. ‘Somewhat heavy-handed’ she says. ‘Another chance’ she says. She spoke as if they had a choice. But what could they do? They could only don ugly smiles and ‘forgive’ her.

“There’s no need to forgive anything, Lady Aurelia.”

“We hope this alliance will last for days to come.”

They did not dare to dispute her, not with that monster sitting behind them. Dagan said a few words of opposition and his body was already cooling in front of them. They were smart enough to know these corpses were purposely left to intimidate them.

And they were weak enough that it worked on them.

“Thank you, esteemed elders. I look forward to a fruitful collaboration.”

Su!

Just like Igor, she vanished from sight and appeared right at the seats in the back. Her little show of speed cemented in the hearts of every elder that she was also much, much stronger than them. Those that had the tiniest little smidgen of thought to kidnap Aurelia immediately dispelled such a notion.

Aurelia was seated next to Igor. The elders were quiet. Serafall and Sirzechs stood to the side while Ajuka carefully set up his presentation. The council hall had entered a brief period of silence.

At the bottom of the stage, Sirzechs looked up to the elders with visible satisfaction. Those eyes that always looked at him like he was an idiot, eyes that looked at him with boredom and disdain, and eyes that looked at him with goading had changed to gazes of fear and pleading.

He took a sadistic pleasure to this. After centuries of being seen as a puppet, Sirzechs almost wanted to scream into the air in jubilation. Things were changing for the better. Even if today’s events were found out, no one would dare make a fuss, not after the immense power Igor released in Kuoh.

[As long as I covertly trickle that information outwards, any minor notions of dissatisfaction from the clans will be immediately quelled.]

.

|DxD|

.

Ajuka was a happy man. In fact, he felt this might be the first time in centuries that he enjoyed a day not spent in his lab. He could finally implement the change that made his peerage system, a tool that is disliked by the supernatural world into the innovation it was finally made to be.

“Elders. I, Ajuka Beelzebub extend my humble greetings to you.”

Usually, they would be quiet or perhaps half-hearted greetings would be offered in return. However, today was a change.

“The pleasure is all ours for gracing us with your presence, Lord Beelzebub.”

An elder from the Astaroth clan had quickly stood up and offered his greetings. Soon, many elders also stood up and bowed their heads.

“““The pleasure is all ours for gracing us with your presence, Lord Beelzebub.”””

[Oh?]

Ajuka looked at his uncle with some intrigue. He never expected such an enthusiastic greeting to follow. If the situation permitted it, he would’ve chuckled.

“Thank you for your kind words. It has been quite a while since I’ve come to the council hall. This time, I’ve come with a new innovation I would like to share with you all.”

In his hand appeared a small case that held peerage pieces inside.

“With the help of Aurelia-san, I would like to introduce a few new features to the peerage pieces. I guarantee all of you will be happy with the results.”

He knew they wouldn’t be happy with the results. But even if they wouldn’t be happy, they’d have to smile and vote yes or else their heads would roll.

“Over the years, we have received numerous complaints from other factions and pantheons about how we devils are taking their members. Due to this, we have lost direct trade with several of them including the Norse Pantheon and the Heavenly Palace in China. The loss of access to their artifacts has severely diminished our potential for progress, but this innovation I bring aims to change that.”

“...”

Some of the elders already had a bad feeling in their hearts, but Ajuka continued.

“The first feature I would like to list is number one. Consent.”

On the whiteboard behind him, a short reconstructed GIF of a Bael trying and failing to resurrect a dead samurai repeatedly played.

“Three-hundred-years ago, we had experienced the first case of a person opposing the piece even when they had just recently died. It was the first and only case documented, but it highlighted a key oversight in the peerage system. Some people genuinely do not want to become devils, and we should not force them.”

Ajuka enjoyed the ugly smiles on their faces. When one or three might’ve shouted objections in the past, they had no choice now but to dumbly sit and endure.

“Once this change is implemented, the piece will detect someone’s willingness and automatically decide if it transforms the recipient or ejects itself from their body. Whether the recipient is coerced through various or other means, verbal confirmation of acceptance alone will not be enough. If their rejection comes from deep within, then reincarnation becomes impossible.”

With a wave of his hand, the GIF on the board disappeared.

“This will only mean that people who genuinely want to become members of our society will be accepted. Thus, the rate of stray devils will decrease and gradually, our humane actions will result in previously closed trade agreements opening once more. This little change will improve our standing in the supernatural world and allow us to net more allies.”

A very, very kind smile spread on Ajuka’s face. With every benefit he listed, the faces of the elders turned more and more ashen. What they saw weren’t benefits, but the disappearance of their dominion.

And their faces paled once more when Ajuka mentioned this next.

“Thanks to Aurelia-san’s expertise, this feature can not only be implemented on new pieces, but on existing peerages as well-”

“NO! I DON’T ACCEPT THIS! THIS IS NONSENSE!”

.

.

.

Silence…

“““...”””

.

AN

.

I wonder. If some powerful entity cloned itself and entered our parliaments, would our countries finally develop? Because that’s what I’m seeing here. The method is bloody and tickles my morality bottom line, but you can’t deny effectiveness.

From what we’ve seen, the Four Satans had policies that were declined for years because of greedy elders and clan heads. I do hope Igor somehow benefits from this. A simple fight isn’t even a worthy price in comparison to kickstarting a revolution.

On another note, today is Friday and I’m thankful for the continuous support. Until the next chapter.