Chapter 26: A God Reborn
Sona's eyes were as wide as they could possibly be, the name Raynare had just muttered replaying through her mind repeatedly.
She knew exactly what the name meant and who it belonged to.
But she just couldn't wrap her head around the fact that such a figure had appeared right before her, in Kuoh of all places, and without any warning whatsoever.
It was a name thousands of times older than hers', and one that stood near the top of the supernatural world.
Azazel, the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels. The strongest of his species, the only twelve-winged Fallen Angel in existence.
A bona fide genius who had spearheaded Grigori as a bastion of innovation both during his time as one of the Biblical God's Seraphs, and now as the leader of the species that had fallen from his grace.
If he wanted to, killing Sona and Takauji would be as easy as breathing.
But fortunately, he didn't seem to bear any ill will.
Well, at least not to them. The same definitely couldn't be said for Raynare and her stooges; after all, they had messed up enough to cause Azazel to make an appearance personally.
And for a person who detested the outdoors in favor of the comfort of his laboratory, that said a lot.
"Tch," strangely enough, something bothered the Governor more than Raynare's presence.
It was the cross-shaped structure behind her that had caused Azazel's mood to sour even further.
"To think you would have the audacity to create such a disgusting device behind my back, it's a spit in the face to everything Grigori stands for."
He extended his arm, creating a longsword entirely out of Light Magic that had to at least be a thousand, no, ten thousand times more potent than anything Raynare could ever hope to conjure.
Whoosh!
He swung the illuminous blade, causing a bright-yellow crescent of light to shoot forth and destroy the structure in one fell swoop.
"If you're wondering." Azazel turned his head, addressing Sona, Takauji, and Asia. "That device is designed to extract a Sacred Gear from a host, which would effectively kill them because of the unbearable level of pressure it would put on the victim's soul."
Immediately, the reason for Raynare bringing Asia to Kuoh had become clear.
She was trying to plunder her Sacred Gear!
"I'm thankful to you, Sitri Heiress. Had you not intervened, I might have arrived a moment too late and lost a valuable host for Twilight Healing."
"How do you—" Asia tried to question him, but he gestured for her to let him continue.
"The Longinus Institute monitors the status of all Sacred Gears and their hosts, but don't worry, we have no intention to interfere with your livelihood whatsoever—"
Thwack!
He kicked Raynare in the jaw.
"—Even if my failure of a subordinate made it seem otherwise," he narrowed his eyes, the pressure he was exuding onto Raynare making it impossible for her to muster up even half a sentence.
"Who are you?" Takauji asked in his usual coarse tone of voice, earning him an admonishing glare from his contractor.
That was a final-boss character he was talking to!
"Their disappointed boss," he chuckled, thankfully not taking any offense. "Even though they were my main reason for coming here, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in meeting you as well—Ashikaga."
The way he said Takauji's last name caused Sona to furrow her brow; for some reason, she felt like a sense of nostalgia was laced within Azazel's voice.
'Maybe he knows something about his family? After all, he's the Governor-General; his intelligence network is far more deep-rooted than mine.'
"Honestly, when I learned that another Ashikaga with the Dark Element had awakened after 700 years, I thought you had been reincarnated or something. But seeing as you haven't slaughtered everyone in Kuoh already, I guess you really aren't the Legend Killer from all those years ago."
He stared at Azazel with a blank expression, clueless as to what the Fallen Angel was rambling on about.
'Legend Killer? Reincarnation? Is that supposed to mean something to me?'
And Azazel quickly picked up on the fact that he was rambling a lot of nothingness to the confused Magician, causing him to sheepishly scratch his cheek.
"Sorry, it's just that your predecessor left quite the impression on me. Actually, he left quite the impression on everyone who had been alive during his era."
Sona's eyes lit up, finally picking up on what he was referring to.
'700 years ago! He's referring to the Shogun Ashikaga Takauji! There's a connection between them after all!'
"Don't worry though, other than your pain-in-the-ass family, no one else has been made aware of your awakening. And by family, I don't mean your Mom and Dad, but the rest of your slightly less amiable relatives."
Still, Takauji's face didn't react.
And his confusion, confused Azazel.
"You still don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
He shook his head.
"Sheesh, I didn't think your family would've kept you in the dark for this long. Alright then, let's deal with this one thing at a time."
His attention returned to his subordinates, his stern glare frightening them for what was to come.
"Sitri Heiress, since they violated the ceasefire on your turf, I think it's only right that you decide their punishment. I promise I won't have any complaints regardless of what you choose."
From what Sona's instincts told her, he was being genuine.
"I think they should be killed—"
"No," Takauji intervened.
"Excuse me?" She frowned at him.
'You better have a good reason for interrupting me.'
"At least one of them should be left alive. I want them as research subjects to study Light Magic."
"Do you really need a subject?" Azazel inquired. "If it's Light Magic you're interested in, I'd be more than happy to help you out as compensation for the trouble my subordinates caused."
"Oh? That's quite the enticing offer." Takauji nodded to himself.
"Great, then I'll—"
"I'll take both."
"You're pushing your luck!" Sona groaned, lamenting that her Contracted Magician didn't comprehend the gravity of trying to wring more out of someone as powerful as Azazel.
"Hahahaha!" But the Governor merely laughed, showing no signs of frustration. "I take it back, even if you're not the Legend Killer, you've still got his personality down to the letter. Sure, you can do both if you want. Who do you want to keep?"
He scratched his thin, carefully examining each of the Fallen Angels with Ki Sense.
And eventually, he pointed at Raynare.
"She seems to be the best of the worst in terms of strength; I guess I'll take her."
'Yin Release aside, there's some artificing equipment I'd like to try creating. She should suffice as a test dummy.'
"Very well." Azazel nodded, snapping his fingers and creating three arrows out of Light Magic.
Swoosh!
The arrows jettisoned forward, piercing through Kalawarna, Dohnaseek, and Mittelt's chest like a hot knife through butter—their bodies lifelessly collapsing to the floor as puddles of blood started to leak out from the exit wounds.
Asia gasped, covering her mouth and turning her head so she wouldn't have to face the gruesome scene.
'He really just went ahead and killed them without hesitation.'
Even though Sona didn't feel so much as a hint of pity for the Fallen Angels, the fact that Azazel had actually gone through with killing them, and had done so without expressing any discontent whatsoever, had caught her by surprise.
He truly was a ruthless leader.
'I shouldn't brood over it too much, my sister's only lived for a few centuries, and she's already impossible to comprehend. The Governor-General has been around for millennia, trying to pry into his mindset will only give me a migraine.'
"Now that that's been handled, Sitri Heiress, would you mind if I asked you for a small favour?"
"A favour?" She couldn't fathom what someone as powerful as Azazel could possibly want from her.
As prideful as she was in her own strength and intelligence, she was self-aware enough to understand that she had no business contending with an Ultimate-Class existence.
"I'd like to borrow your Contracted Magician for some time to discuss something with him in private."
She crossed her arms. "Something you don't think I should be privy to? As his contractor, I'm inclined to refuse you."
"I understand your concern, but the information is sensitive because it relates to him and his family. Wouldn't it be healthier for your relationship if he decided what he was and wasn't alright with disclosing to you?" Azazel smirked, pretending that he had worded his statement unintentionally.
She pressed her lips together, still unsure whether to trust him.
Then again, this was an incredibly influential figure; maybe denying him such a simple request as a mere discussion was more trouble than it was worth.
"Very well, but I expect him back before the end of the day."
Takauji deadpanned.
'What are you, my Mother?'
"Don't worry, I won't keep him for long."
…
A short while later, Azazel led Takauji to an apartment with a maroon-colored interior and fairly lavish decor that looked like it would fetch a pretty penny at an antiquity shop.
"You already have a place set up here?" He found it strange, seeing as Azazel supposedly just arrived to deal with Raynare's insubordination.
Speaking of Raynare, she was now obediently following Takauji as his soon-to-be test subject with a hollow, dejected look on her face.
But it was a fate she had brought on herself, even if she was under the delusion that her actions would somehow benefit Azazel; idiocy was still idiocy.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
"This was originally supposed to be for my subordinates to use while they watched over Kuoh for me, but as we both know, they ended up settling for a different forward operating base."
Azazel plopped himself onto the living room couch, pulling out a tray of whiskey coupled with an array of expensive-looking glasses.
"Thirsty?"
"I don't drink alcohol, it'll dull my peerless brain."
"Suit yourself," he shrugged—pouring him a glass of water instead. "Your predecessor loved to drink, I thought you'd be the same."
"Predecessor, you've used that word a couple of times now. Are you referring to the Shogun named after me?"
'Named after you? Isn't it the other way around?' Azazel couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. 'I'll admit, seeing that arrogance again is rather refreshing.'
"Yeah, he was the only pure human to have ever awakened the Dark Element in all of history. As well as the founder of the Ashikaga Clan, which is where you and your family come from, at least your paternal side."
Takauji remained silent, sensing that Azazel had quite a bit of information he wanted to divulge.
"There's an organization called the Magician's Council, which is basically the governing body for organizations such as the Golden Dawn and Grauzauberer. That council is headed by a Devil called Mephisto Pheles, and the rest of the seats are made up of different Magician bloodlines."
"Not all of the seats hold the same amount of power; each of them is ranked depending on the strength of a bloodline's leader, or more specifically, which circle they've obtained."
Based on ranking alone, Takauji would be in the lower echelon of Magician society because he was a 2nd Circle Magician.
Of course, Takauji wasn't a normal Magician—trying to put him up against the average 2nd Circle Magician would result in a completely one-sided battle in his favour.
"The highest-ranked bloodlines on the council have 4th Circle Magicians as their leader, and at the moment, there are currently only two of them. One is the Pendragon lineage, which originated from the west, and the other is yours—the Ashikaga lineage."
"I see, I recall you saying that they're aware of the fact that I awakened?"
"Yeah, putting it simply, you're basically like a reborn God to your bloodline. Since the original Takauji's passing, each clan head has been waiting for someone in their bloodline to possess the Dark Element again, which hasn't happened for 700 years now."
"Until I awakened."
Azazel nodded affirmatively.
"But I'm confused, how did they learn about my awakening in the first place?"
"My guess is as good as yours. Apparently, they have some kind of a tablet that's connected to their obsession with you or whatever. They've been frantically trying to get access to you, but the fact that you're in a Devil-ruled town, and your parents, especially your mother, are suppressing them, has prevented them from doing so."
'I wonder, has she ever worked as an investment banker? Or is that just a cover-up for whatever's going on with our family?'
"They sound desperate."
"You don't know the half of it," he smirked. "Anywho! That's not something you need to be worried about, your parents are more than strong enough to deal with them."
'Even so, maybe I should pay them a visit sometime soon. If they really see me as their God, I should be able to extort a good deal out of them.'
"More importantly, I'd like to give you an invitation. One that would greatly help your growth if everything goes as planned."
"Go on."
━━━━
She Ashi, on my Kaga, till I 700 Years.
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