"They shall be my finest warriors, these men and women who give of themselves to me. Like clay, I shall mold them, and in the furnace of war, I shall forge them. They shall be of iron will and steely sinew. In great armor I shall clad them and with the mightiest weapons shall they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight them. No Magic shall oppose them as they shall be born of it. The Nether will protect them and aid them in their grand quest. They shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best them in battle. They are the bulwark against the Ruin, Heretics and Terrors of the Great Darkness. They are the Defenders of the Netherworld and its people. They are Stormcast Eternals, the embodiment of storm and rage...and they shall know no fear."
- The Creation of the Stormcast Eternals of the Netherworld
***
Codex: Rune Knights
Rune Knights were an ultimate display of power amongst the humans. Originally archers, defenders, frontliners, or even mages, they all had the ability to bear runes on their bodies. A Mid-Tier Rune would raise the might of a melee fighter by thirty percent, putting a Low-Class Knight on the same level as a Middle-Class powerhouse.
Rune Knights were strategic forces, as Archmages were strategic deterrents. Knights with more than 3 Runes on their body were considered Elite Rune Knights, capable of easily fighting above their Class.
The concept of the Rune Knights was created and established in the Netheril Empire by the Archmages, who sought to create stronger Knights while also strengthening their own bodies.
After the fall of the Netheril Empire, the Rune Knight Profession in Faerûn and Kara-Tur fell into partial obscurity. Many Legacies of the Rune Masters were directly tied to the Netherese Enclaves, and after the Karsus folly, there were not many of them left in the first place.
In the end, the Netheril Empire gave birth to countless Professions like this, yet after the Empire's fall, many of these Professions fell into obscurity one by one, and their legacy was lost over time.
Only many millennia later, after the Nilfgaardian Empire and High Elves of the Miyeritar Empire started excavating the fallen Enclaves of the Netheril Empire, which also led to the rejuvenation of the Rune Master Profession and Rune Knights overall.
Rune Knights differed based on the Rune sets they used, but the threshold to form a Rune Knight was very high. This made many Noble Houses vie for the creation of Rune Knights among their Household Guards as the core of the Guard and elite force.
Some of the prominent Noble Houses of the core continents even created specialized Rune Sets that were directly tied to their Lineages, and nobody could use them if they did not possess the Blood of the said Lineage.
It was also noted that the Deus-Thelos did not possess Runes like the ones in the Abeir-Toril, or rather, the existence of Rune Knights became widespread on the Deus-Thelos after obtaining them from the Netherworld, which obtained them from the Abeir-Toril.
Within the Netherworld, the Rune Knight Profession became immensely popular, especially among the common Devils who were able to easily elevate their Class to her level through the Runes.
The Rune Knight Profession of the Abeir-Toril was, over time, incorporated into the native methods of the Deus-Thelos. Even though there were no Rune Knights at the Deus-Thelos and in the Draconic Deus Segment, it would be a lie to say that there were no Runes.
Pantheons like Asgard or Takamagahara had their own version of the Runes, which they were using to strengthen their troops. Legions of the Einherjar and Valkyries of the Asgard were bolstered tremendously with the Rune of the Rune Knights.
In the Abeir-Toril, the Nilfgaardian Empire started mass-producing the Runes for their war machinery to conquer the entire continent. On the Kara-Tur, the Baharuth Empire and the Miyeritar Empire were using the Runes to strengthen their force and start a new wave of conquest on their neighbors.
Even in the Underdark, the darkest and foulest creatures were doing the same thing after they recovered some legacies of the Netheril Empire. This last iotuation was more problematic for the entire Abeir-Toril and even beyond, because nothing good was hiding in the Underdark.
- On the topic of Runes by Dwarven Runesmith King of Azerlisia Under-Kingdom
***
"So what do you say about your newfound evolution?"
Zekram asked as the Archdevil stage was the peak of the evolutionary ladder for the devils, and by undergoing the Atavism, their power would be tremendously upgraded, and even their Clan Traits would get much stronger after becoming Archdevils.
The old Archdevil could understand the wonder and the feeling that his grandson was experiencing right now, because he had gone through the same thing in the past.
The evolution from Super Devil to Archdevil was a tremendous change for the individual on a fundamental level.
"Good... you could say that I am feeling rather too well for some reason."
Sirzechs stated as he looked at his ancestor.
"That's because the Archdevil stage is the true Atavism. After undergoing the Atavism, your body will feel like it is in its most natural and comfortable state possible, which isn't that surprising."
The elderly devil explained to his descendant, while Sirzechs pondered over something because he noticed that his Demonic Energy was still the same, yet at the same time, it was a bit different.
"What's happening to my Demonic Energy right now? And why wasn't it converted to the Infernity as you said?"
He asked because he noticed that his Demonic Energy was a bit different from what it was before. Yet, it was undeniable that his Demonic Energy was still Demonic Energy and not the Inferinity that his grandfather showed him before.
"It's undergoing conversion... It would take some time until your entire Demonic Energy reserves are completely converted to the Infernity. The process itself is rather long and arduous, but I can help you to speed it up by a good amount."
Zekram then began explaining everything about the conversion of the Demonic Energy into the Infernity, including how long it would take. As it seemed, after evolving into the Archdevil, one's Demonic Energy would start slowly mutating into the Infernity.
The Infernity was at least twenty to twenty-five times more potent than Demonic Energy, and the process of conversion could take even several years. Everything depended on the original amount of Demonic Energy and its density.
Sirzechs noticed that he would have a rather big problem with this, because his Demonic Energy was already extremely dense and enormous before.
"How so? With my own Demonic Energy, it is comparable to at least thirteen High Ultimate-Class devils even before becoming an Archdevil."
Sirzechs asked because he had an immense amount of Demonic Energy even before he became an Archdevil. That was rather given, because he was already born as Ultimate-Class in terms of Demonic Energy reserves alone, if it spoke something about.
He still could remember that he trained for several years just to be able to control his Demonic Energy on an average basis, so he could actually use some combat spells or use his Power of Destruction in a fight without turning his opponent into nothingness.
"There are some objects that could speed up the conversion tremendously. Demons who often deal with this, because they have a good number of Archdemons who use Infernity, have several means of speeding up the conversion from the Demonic Energy to the Infernity."
Zekram explained that because Demons have basically the same evolutionary stages as the Devilkind.
At the bottom of the ladder were Common Demons. This was a category for myriad Demon Sub-species because, unlike the Devils, who were basically a homogenous species, it wasn't the same for the Demons, as the Demon Race had many subspecies.
Above the Common Demons was the category of the Higher Demons which were a few species of Demons that were born with far more power and some innate abilities... which was in nature pretty similar to the Higher Devils.
Above that, were the Supreme Demons... contrary to, for example, the Super Devils, the Supreme Demons were not really an evolutionary stage per se... but they were the Higher Demons who had developed their abilities to near perfection and were far stronger and more potent than those of the Higher Demons.
Supreme Demons were the pinnacle of the Demon Race, only a tad lower compared to the Archdemons that were the Overlords and Supreme Overlords of the Demon Race.
"I will bring you one of those in a few hours. It would save you a lot of time when converting your Demonic Energy to Infernity. Be grateful for that, those things are pricy as fuck."
The old man cursed because the thing he wanted to procure for his grandson was very precious and pricy... it was something that was only in the hands of some more powerful Overlords, because usually only their Dungeons could give birth to such things, or they could be found in the depths of Gehenna.
Dungeons were the most prized treasures of the Demon Race, or rather... they were symbiotic organisms that bound themselves to specific Demons under specific conditions and they grew... expanded... became larger and more powerful.
Sirzechs nodded as he then went to practice the Demonic Energy control exercises, because his Demonic Energy was going out of control right now as aftermath of the evolution to the Archdevil species.
He started practicing these exercises to have better control over his Demonic Energy, which was now off the charts after evolving to the Archdevil.
After practicing for two hours or so, he could clearly tell that his control over the Demonic Energy had categorically improved over before, and he felt more confident in the conversion process to the Infernity.
Control over one's Source of Power was important, be it Magic or Demonic Energy.
At the same time, another effect of the higher control over the Demonic Energy was a rather high increase in the combat prowess because he was right now wasting far less Demonic Energy in his attacks and could remain active in combat for much longer.
Not long after he stopped exercising, he saw his ancestor Zekram returning with a single object in his hand. He accurately sensed that the object that he brought with him was pulsating with the Infernity, and the power of it was absolutely overhelming.
"This is the Heartstone of Inferno... created only in the deepst parts of Gehena or in certain Dungeons under specific conditions. It has the ability to convert Magical Energies into the Infernity."
When Sirzechs saw the Heartstone of Inferno, it looked like some weird lava-like stone that was vibrating with the sheer amount of heat and power. He took the Heartstone of Inferno into his hands, as he felt that his Demonic Energy was reacting to it in real time.
It was like an instantaneous reaction as his Demonic Energy was converting itself on its own to the Infernity. Sirzechs noticed that the Infernity was much more potent and powerful than the Demonic Energy, but if he were to describe the feeling, it would be very different yet the same.
Very hard to tell.
"With the Heartstone of Inferno, it should take you around one day to completely convert your Demonic Energy into the Infernity."
The great downside of the Heartstone of Inferno was that, after using it on one person, it would take a few years for it to be usable again in this way. Zekram noticed that the thing seemed to be sentient...
Or rather, it was sentient to a certain degree, but the degree wasn't certainly high. The Heartstone of Inferno could be chosen if it would let someone use it or not... it was a most mind-boggling thought that some piece of stone was sentient, but that was how the things were.
He managed to obtain this one Heartstone of Inferno only by sheer accident and luck... nothing else included. Even then on... it was nothing short of miracle that he came into possession of Heartstone of Inferno, beucase these things were extremely rare.
Even within Gehena itself, they were only in the possession of either Supreme Overlords or very powerful Overlords. Heartstone of Inferno certainly wasn't something that could be obtained just by anyone, because for the demons, it was an utterly priceless artifact.
"Start using the Heartstone of Inferno to convert your Demonic Energy into the Infernity... the process should be smooth and relatively fast without any side effects."
Zekram stated as he passed the Heartstone of Inferno to Sirzechs... the crimson-haired devil could see that the old devil was pretty satisfied with the things that happened today, because he knew that for Zekram, there was no better thing than to see how his Line is getting more powerful.
"I will go and take care of some matters."
Zekram then left Sirzechs to his own things while his descendant returned to training and preparing to use the Heartstone of Inferno.
***
As he went to his personal study within the Bael Castle to handle some things. As he entered his study, he closed the heavy wooden doors behind him and activated very complex sealing wards that were around his room for added privacy.
He sat down behind the table and took out a small, black box-shaped object that was made from some crystalline material. He tapped several spots on the black box, and suddenly the object began to glow in black light.
"You are done?"
From the box, a distorted voice resounded as Zekram felt the power behind the voice, even if the owner of the voice was technically dead... at least in the physical sense of things, he was dead.
"Yes. We obtained Incinerate Anthem from a witch named Augusta... though it seems that the situation is getting more complicated because our Segment has attracted the attention of the Mind Flayers."
Zekram stated as he looked at the black box.
"Those Abominations? They are as unholy as those Fiends in the Abyss are."
The voice was filled with disgust and repulsion when he spoke about the Illithids and Demons of the Abyss.
"Regardless of that... I have spoken with Michael and instructed him to start gathering resources for my return. Azrael was also recalled from his mission in Astral Sea."
When the voice spoke again, Zekram was rather shocked that another King of Angels was returning back to the Heavens. The Heaven would welcome back another powerhouse on the level of Supreme Overlords and Primordial Gods.
Kings of Angels were the strongest angels that Heavenly Father ever created, and they were created with all of his might and bore Divine Authorities themselves, despite not being Gods.
There were only four of them because of the requirements to create even a single King of Angels.
The first two that were created were Helel the Lightbearer and Michael the Flaming Sword of God, Justice and Heaven.
Then came Azrael, the Archangel of Death, and Gabriel, the Strongest Shield of Heaven.
"We have managed to gather a few things that are needed and will send them to Heaven once we are done... but... what should we do with the Grigori? Some of their elements would do everything in their power to prevent your full return."
Zekram asked very carefully while looking at the black box.
"You can inform Azazel... that wayward son of mine could be trusted at least with this... but do it only when it's completely necessary."
Zekram nodded at Yahweh's words. He wasn't that keen on working with Azazel, as he found the Fallen Archangel extremely insufferable... especially because he had a thing for annoying people and attempted to seduce his wife, Runeas, who was also the First Gremory.
Though compared to him, she didn't have much luck when she was struck by the powerful Champion of Changer of Ways and was cursed into a Magical Coma.
Technically speaking, both the Gremory and Bael Houses were descended from them, but for the 1st Generation Clan Heads, procreation worked in a different way... Some descendants inherited all the traits of Zekram and became Baels, while others inherited traits of Runeas and became Gremorys.
Aside from a select few people in the entire Draconic Deus, there were not many who knew that the Heavenly Father was technically speaking dead. Well, only technically dead, because he lost his physical body, but everything aside from that was still very much alive.
And even right now, he was in the process of the revival... which was a far more complicated matter than it would seem at first glance. Many would be shocked that the Great King of Devils was working together with the Heavens and Heavenly Father on his revival.
It was pretty ironic...
He could imagine that quite a number of people would have a heart attack just from knowing about such a thing.
"As you wish... I have also news about the last thing that is needed for your revival... but there is a certain problem with retrieving the object."
Zekram said amid the discussion because he was in charge of obtaining things that 'He' needed for his complete revival that were located in the Netherworld, and there was a good number of them.
"What problem?"
The Heanvely Father sounded rather calm when he heard that, as if he already anticipated some problems during the entire process. Which was only logical, because they had already encountered several problems on the different fronts.
If not, then he wouldn't need to send his strongest Angel, King of Angels Azrael, to the Astral Sea to search for alternative solutions to certain problems.
"It's located in the 9th Layer of the Netherworld Nessus. My best bet is that Lucifer hid it there before his demise, but as you know... nobody can enter that Layer without being a bearer of the Primordial Contract, and the last bearer of it ended dead a few centuries ago."
Zekram reported the situation as he learned it, because the final thing that was needed for 'His' full revival was the Heart of Old One... A God that was so old that even the Primordials were like youngsters compared to it.
And not just any Old One, but Old One of Light, Holiness, Creation and Life... essentially the same Divinities as that of Heavenly Fathers. Zekram didn't know how Lucifer got his hands on something like that, but he guessed that he must have obtained it from some Tomb World in the Astral Sea or Prime Material Plane.
What did he want with such an object?
It was pretty easy.
Use it on himslef to he could become something more... to stand on the same level of power like Infinity Dragon God, Great Red Dragon of Dreams Io and similar enttiites.
Unfortunately for Lucifer and fortunately for everyone else, he was killed before he could achieve it.
"And I don't know if the Incinerate Anthem would be enough to bring the thing back... even though it's Logninus related to the Elements of Light and Holy Fire, that thing is..."
Zekram then added, noting that Heavenly Father's consciousness was rather silent for some time.
"About the first thing, I cannot help you. The Primordial Contract is something that is even beyond my own comprehension, but with the second one I can help you... Michael will bring you things that you can use to elevate the potency of Incinerate Anthem to a whole new level, which would even cause someone like a devil to touch the Heart of Holy Light of Creation."
Heavenly Father said after some thought, because his revival was being complicated once more, which wasn't good. Despite the rumors, 'He' disliked the stereotypes about Angels and Devils, or other dark-attribute beings; he believed that any being can be good or bad, and neither their species nor which side of the balance they belong to determines their personality.
"Well then... hopefully you are right... the child isn't aware that he was born with the Mark of the Candidate. Once he becomes Overlord-Class, I will tell him everything... for the time being, we need to lay low. I heard disturbing rumors that Hades is recovering his forces, and some of the Supreme Overlords are showing suspicious moves."
Zekram stated that this was the highest-guaranteed secret known only to him and Heavenly Father. Nobody aside from the two of them was aware of the fact that his descendant was born with the Mark of the Candidate.
Those who had the Mark of the Candidate were allowed to participate in the Selection Trial for the ownership of the Primordial Contract. Within the entire Netherworld, there were not many Candidates for the Selection Trial, and Zekram knew of only a few people who were still alive.
And those who were still alive were either old monsters waiting for the time when the Selection Trials happened once more or were unknowns.
One could say that sometimes the unknown was the worst one of all.
***
Devil Domain, Gremory Territory, Castle Gremory, One and a Half Day Later
Castle Gremory was located in the central area of the Gremory Territory, also called the Gremory Duch, as the House Gremory held the Rank of Duke among the 72 Pillar Clans... not like those aristocratic titles actually meant anything.
They were mostly decoration, because after the Dusk of the Gods, they were not really actual anymore. For example, Gremorys, who were Dukes, were no less powerful than the Baels on the outside, if one didn't account for the personal power of Zekram Bael, who was Overlord-Class Devil.
And there were also other Devil Clans that had lower aristocratic titles, yet their true power was really high, especially after the events of the Dusk of the Gods. The Gremory Castle was an enormous complex, and it looked like a grand fairy-tale castle perched dramatically on a rocky cliff above a winding river and a lush green valley.
The castle was huge and highly ornate, with multiple tall towers and spires topped by dark pointed roofs. Its architecture blended Gothic and Romantic styles with lots of narrow windows, decorative stonework, arched bridges, and layered terraces. The walls were made of light stone, giving it a noble, almost storybook appearance, especially in contrast with the deep green forests and blue water below.
Inside the outer walls, there was a formal courtyard garden with symmetrical paths and a central fountain. The Gremory Castle wasn't designed just for defense, but also for elegance and royal comfort. The castle's layout felt like a complex of connected palaces rather than a single fortress, with inner courtyards, elevated walkways, and multiple levels cascading down the cliffside.
Teleporting to the place with the usage of Infernity instead of the Demonic Energy was much more efficient, as the consumption of the energy was far less, and it was even faster than when he was using the Demonic Energy.
Well, the Infernity was a higher form of energy compressed into the Demonic Energy, so it was only given.
His mother was already waiting there for him the moment he teleported to the premises of the Castle Gremory. Well, she was High Ultimate-Class and also a Demigod at that, so it was only given that she would notice that someone was teleproting there.
Demigods already possessed rahter strong Magic Awareness, which allowed them to sense anyone casting Spells in their vicinity.
His mother was a very beautiful, young-looking woman with flaxen hair and violet eyes, much like the natural-born members of the Bael Clan. Due to her devil lineage, she appeared around the Sirzechs's age, or rather, she didn't appear to be much older than her son, but that wasn't anything unusual.
"You look different, son."
Venelana noticed that her son had a vastly different appearance compared to before. She noticed that he had two pairs of horns, rather imposing ones; one pair were sprouting above his ears, while another pair sprouted on his forehead.
She also noted that his tail was different from the ordinary devil's tail and looked more like a dragon's tail, if anything else.
Sirzechs wasn't really hiding his true appearance, because he noticed that it was uncomfortable, and he wasn't like Zekram, who preferred his more standart devil form compared to his True Form.
Though it was more or less the thing of preference... Zekram was someone who evolved into the Archdevil only after several thousand years. So he was already too much accustomed to his standart devil form compared to his true form.
"Well, that's the result of evolution to the Archdevil. It's pretty cool, right?"
Sirzechs asked more rhetorically than anyhtiung as he pointed at his newly transformed state. He thought that the newly evolved wing and tail, together with his horns, were really cool and intimidating...
"Yeah... you also look more powerful than previously."
Venelana noticed it almost instantly that her son had grown much stronger... she knew that he must have converted his Demonic Energy into the Infernity, which was the reason behind his vastly different presence.
She herself was standing in front of this hurdle, because she couldn't really reach the Overlord-Class by herself. Despite her power, Venelana was still just a Higher Devil and without becoming an Archdevil, it was impossible for their kind to reach the Overord-Class.
"Shame that the method for the further Evolutions was lost after the fall of the Lucifaad."
Venelana muttered sadly, because she, too, wanted to reach the Overlord-Class. One of the reasons why she and her husband took the risk to become Demigods was to bypass the racial limitations on their species as they went through the Divine Path.
Yet even that was proving to be really problematic, because increasing one's Divine Rank in the Netherworld was much more problematic than one would have thought.
"Maybe the Book is still in the Lucifaad... it would be good to create an expedition to the Lucifaad and recover it if it is possible..."
Contrary to his expectations, his mother actually looked at him for several months, before sighing with a certain kind of resignation. Sirzechs knew that his mother was a bit overprotective of him... though that would be rather understated of the century.
If not for his father and grandfather Zekram, he doubted that he would be allowed to leave the Gremory Territory regardless of his power.
"You are actually going after the Melabranche, right?"
Venelana knew her son very well, and he knew that there was one thing that stood out among the ruins of the Lucifaad.
Melabranche.
Malebranche, also known as the Evil Claws, was a collection of twelve living weapons that Lucifer created using crystals excavated from Agreas. They were modeled into weapons, using the Sacred Gears as a reference. Due to their unique power to transform them into weapons, Lucifer and his Generals referred to them as Satanic Arms.
Lucifer and his Generals created the Malebranche as the living weapons, which were created in secret using the special crystals found in Agreas Island, using the Sacred Gears that the God of the Bible created as a reference.
Though Lucifer and his Generals used them, they later sealed them, fearing their devastating power. As such, none of the Malebranche was used in the Abyssal Incursions and Dusk of the Gods, because even if the Devil Faction won, they believed the Malebranche would later kill them in all.
It was a commonly accepted idea that the Melabranche were completely uncontrollable, and they would turn on their creators as the only thing that they wanted was to slaughter everything that was alive.
After the Abyssal Incursions and Dusk of the Gods, information about the Malebranche wasn't revealed to the public, so their existence was just treated as a rumor or legend. The ones who knew about them were Lucifer and his Generals, Heads of the Six Houses of Lucifer and Zekram Bael.
Aside from them, only Zaoroma Nebiros knew about the Malebranche, as the others who did know about them had died. He was also among the people who were studying the Melabranche, but he was pretty lucky when the Abyssal Daemons attacked the Lucifaad.
Considered living weapons, the Malebranche possess both a body and consciousness and can change between their normal forms or into combat gear to be wielded.
They were sealed away in the deepest space below Lucifaad, where they remained sealed, and nobody wanted to have anything to do with them at all. After the Lucifaad fell, they still remained sealed underneath the Lucifaad, and they awoke until someone awoke them once more.
"Aside from the Divine Artifacts and Longinuses, there are not many weapons that fulfill my requirements for my personal weapon. Using the Divine Artifact right now would be a waste of resources for me, and Longinuses are out of the question due to Heaven's System and the fact that 'He' already gave us one in exchange for the help for 'His' resurrection."
Sirzechs started as he and his mother went to the castle for lunch while passing the servants, who gave them deep bows every time they passed him. Even after many years, he never acclimatized to the worship-like behavior from the subjects at the Gremory Territory or the Bael Territory.
Zekram always told him that he would get used to it, so hopefully he was right.
Nevertheless, he returned to the discussion about the Melabranche and the Lucifaad.
"But the Melabranche... I think that all twelve of them could be reforged into one weapon, and if all of their consciousnesses are merged and wiped out, we can create a new collective consciousness that would be stable, and the weapon would be powerful. With enough resources added and fused with the Asura Sword that I am using right now, we can create a Growth-Type Ultra-Divine Tool."
This was the basis of Sirzechs's plan, as he found the Asura Sword rather inadequate in fact. The weapon was created by Shiva for Zekram Bael and while the sword was attributed heavily toward the Power of Destruction, it wasn't the thing that he needed.
Or rather, Sirzechs always felt that there was something missing about the sword.
With the resources of the Devil Race, it wouldn't be much of a problem to create the thing that he wanted. It may not seem like it, but when it came to the riches and wealth, the Devils were actually one of the wealthiest races or factions across the Draconic Deus.
His ambition was to create an Ultra-Divine Tool.
The Divine Tools are created by Gods or beings with power comparable to Gods, such as Divine Blacksmiths. Only a True God can fully utilize their power, as the Divine Force required to tap into the true strength of these weapons was enormous.
Each Divine Tool was categorized into ranks: Quasi-Divine Tools, Divine Tools, Artifact Divine Tools, Pseudo Ultra Divine Tools and Ultra Divine Tools. These tools possess intelligence and various abilities, and their ranks determine how much they can enhance the wielder's strength.
The Divine Tools were unique, and each one that was created by a God was perfectly suited to the Divine Domains and Divine Authorities of the God. Due to that, God not only obtained very powerful weapons but at the same time, they obtained perfect tools to channel and wield their Divine Abilities.
"If you want to create an Ultra-Divine Tool or something that would become such a Divine Tool, you would need a superior base for the weapon that is unmatched by anything else. Especially if you want to add their Growth-Type Attribute."
Venalana knew that Sirzechs was more ambitious than even the First Bael, which was already something to behold, in fact. Now that her son had become a Demigod, she knew that he wanted to develop his Divine Path in the direction of destruction.
Even though it lacked much creativity, she admitted that it was the best course of action because if one coupled the Magic Rule of Destruction with the Divine Authority of Destruction, then it had the potential to overcome even someone as powerful as Shiva.
Who was the most powerful God of Destruction in the history of the world.
"Father?"
Sirzechs asked with surprise when he saw his father sitting in the dining room of the Gremory Castle, because with his Six Eyes, he noticed something different about him.
Zeoticus Gremory had the appearance of a middle-aged, handsome-looking man with long crimson hair that was tied in a loose ponytail with a black hairband. He had bright blue eyes just like his son, Sirzechs. He also had a short, red beard with protrusions similar to fangs and contrary to his wife or son, when someone looked at him, they would feel...
Nothing.
"If you want to ask if I reached the High Ultimate-Class, then it would be correct. Only a few days later, I finally touched the Realm of the Magic Rules, more precisely, the Magic Rule of Magic Control."
He was rather surprised that his father managed to learn the Magic Rule of Magic Control because that was one of the most difficult Magic Rules. The more abstract object the Magic Rule represented, the harder it was to learn and subsequently master.
For example, the Magic Rule of Fire was incomparably easier to learn compared to the Magic Rule of Destruction.
Though when one thought about it, the Magic Rule of Control was really fitting, considering the Clan Trait of the Gremory Clan, which was Extreme Demonic Energy Control.
His father was always much better in this Clan Trait compared to him. Sirzech's talent and affinity for this Magic Rule were just above the average. It wasn't actually anything bad, because compared to the average Higher Devil of the Clans, his Demonic Energy Control was like comparing heaven and earth.
Now, the Gremory Clan was one of the few Clans that possessed multiple High Ultimate-Class powerhouses in their family. Such a thing was very rare, and what was even rarer was that all three High Ultimate-Classes were also Demigods.
The advantage of having territory at the border regions of the Devil Domain.
Which meant that some wandering God would lose their way here.
"Well then, let's have dinner... I think that you must be hungry after having such a busy time."
His father said as servants started bringing food to the table, as thbey were soon enough having a lavish feast. It may not seem like that, but devils actually ate a lot, and rich ones like the Gremory Clan ate only the best of the best.
Surprisingly or not, food and its nutrient content was very important for any powerhouse because they needed a lot to sustain their top forms. Of course, the moment one reached the High Ultimate-Class and touched the realm of the Magic Rules, they could be sustained by the ambient Magic alone.
At the same time, Gods didn't need anything for sustenance.
"I heard that you are planning on absorbing one of the Divine Sparks to become a Demigod, right?"
His father asked as Sirzechs just nodded while eating the steaks that were made from some cow-like Magical Species. It was pretty tasty, though that was understandable, considering the fact that it was from a rare species and prepared by top-notch chefs in the Devil Domain.
When it came to that, Devil Aristocracy was lavish... they liked spending lot of money on the things that were adding to their luxury.
"Yes... Unfortunately, my compatibility with those Divine Sparks isn't the highest, and I am facing the same situation like you two. Even if I use the Divine Spark, I can maximally achieve the peak of the Demigod."
He wasn't actually disappointed too much with it. He knew that if one wanted to become God, compatibility was everything and one needed an affinity for certain Divine Domains.
"Yeah... me and your mother were rather lucky that we managed to obtain the Divine Spark of a Major God that held multiple Divine Authorities and Divine Domains, so there was a lot to choose from... yet a lot was lost during the ritual."
Zeoticus Gremory, as a Demigod himself, understood the situation pretty well, because he and Venelana became Demigods together just a few years ago when they managed to kill Major God together.
It was pretty unfortunate that only two Divine Domains were compatible with them, so they used that, and the rest of the Divine Spark was just... useless.
"Well... if one doesn't really care about his progress in the future, you can always use the Divine Spark regardless of that."
Zeoticus was more of a scholar than a fighter, while his wife was more of a combatant than anything else. He was a rather excellent and powerful Mage, so he was very knowledgeable about many, many things that existed in the Draconic Deus.
Gods were naturally one of them.
"I guess that there are some side effects to that?"
His father just nodded at his question while Venelana listened to the discussion, mostly uninterested herself because these were rather boring things to speak about during lunch.
It reminded her of the gathering of Mages, if anything else.
Nothing for her.
"There are two cases of how this could end. If one's affinity toward the Divine Domain of the Divine Spark is in negatives, then one could expect only death. If there is only slight and low affinity, then your future progress would be strictly capped, and any further progression would be extremely hard."
Well, if it was said like that, it was only logical.
He certainly didn't want to be stuck as a Demigod until something miraculous happened, which would allow him to progress once more.
"That sounds rather... depressing."
Venelana chuckled at the expression on her son's face because she could understand his sentiment.
"I understand your trouble, Zechs, but when Zeo and I slayed the Major God and obtained his Divine Spark, we were in exactly the same position. It's rather unfortunate, because even with the huge number of Gods, you would be very lucky to find and kill one with a Divine Spark that matches your needs."
His mother said with a gentle smile, because it was rather ironic that their son was now in the same situation they were in a few years ago.
"I will try to obtain some Divinities on my own... One of Destruction is already on my list as the priority of all of them."
Sirzechs said that because there was still a possibility of obtaining Divinity on his own, especially with the help of the Six Eyes. Divinity was a collective name for the Divine Domains and Divine Authorities and was more commonly used as an all-encompassing term.
"That would be ideal... since the First Great King, there is no one who has even a fraction of your talent for the Destruction."
His mother wasn't saying it as mere words of encouragement, but she really meant it, because aside from her son, there were not many people in the entire Draconic Deus who had such monstrous affinity for the Magic Rule of Destruction.
***
Devil Advanced Research Projects Agency, Capital City of the Devil Domain, Lilith
DARPA, or Devil Advanced Research Projects Agency, by its whole name, was originally named the Nebiros Research Institute, but that one was destroyed together with the destruction of the former capital city of the Devil Race, Lucifaad.
After the fall of the Lucifaad, Zaorama Nebiros, together with other scholars and researchers of the Devil Race, established the DARPA, the Devil Advanced Research Projects Agency, which was doing the same thing as the old Nebiros Research Institute, but on a much larger scale and level.
Its headquarters was located in Lilith, the new capital city of the Devil Domain, which was located in the heart of the entire Devil Domain after the territorial reshuffle, which resulted from the loss of huge pieces of land to the Daemons after the fall of the Lucifaad.
The entire city of Lilith was enormous, if anything, because it had an entire area of more than fifty thousand square kilometers and was home to several tens of millions of devils. One would say that it was a small population for such a huge city, but one needed to know that the land itself wasn't really precious by the devil's tadnert.
It wasn't that precious even before the Dusk of the Gods, much less now, after the Netherworld itself started expanding due to assimilating ambient Magic from the Elemental Chaos.
Sirzechs was in the isolated room under the observation of Ajuka, Zaorama, Zekram, and a few other people who were observing the entire process of the Ascension to the Demigodhood because he would be using the Divine Sparks.
He already spoke with his parents about using the Divine Sparks, as both of his parents were Demigods, and after listening to their explanations about the entire process and everything, he went directly to the Devil Advanced Research Projects Agency to pick up the Divine Sparks and underwent the process.
The conversion of his Demonic Energy into the Infernity was complete, and he wanted to become a Demigod as soon as possible so he could join the hunt against the Stray Devils, because when he mentioned this to his grandfather...
Old Zekram literally ordered him to participate in the mission, because it was a unique opportunity to meet the daughter of one of the Supreme Overlords of the Demon Race.
Maintaining any relationships with the Demons was pretty problematic because they were an extremely decentralized bunch. Their entire society was ruled by the Supreme Overlords, beings of unimaginable power standing on the same level as Primordial Gods.
At least in the raw power, not in the other means and abilities, where the Primordial Gods excelled, but that was a topic for another discussion.
Among the known Supreme Overlords, Zekram remembered that Avel Necron was a total recluse and Anos Voldigoad wasn't interested in politics or anything in those lines, leaving it mostly to his Demon Elders.
Supreme Overlord Forzelotte and her faction were the ones that were most familiar with the Devils because her Dungoen was located in Avernus, and the Dungeons of the lot of Overlords under her command were located in Avernus.
They were one of the most steadfast allies against the Abyss.
That left them two Supreme Overlords who were competing over the political dominion of Gehena.
At present, the Gehena was divided into two factions, Supreme Overlord Kayblis and Supreme Overlord Hornet. Both sides have wildly different opinions about the future of their species, are constantly at odds, and often even fight among themselves.
This has further "split" the Gehena, with the members of the Hornet Faction residing to the north and the members of the Kayblis Faction residing in the south. Both factions have Demon Armies working under them as well, formed by Demons who sided with each faction based on their own personal beliefs.
Of course, the Overlords under their command were not ruled by their Supreme Overlords, but rather, various Overlords were just nominal vassals under the said Supreme Overlords, and for approximately 99% of the time, they were doing what they wanted.
Though among all Supreme Overlords, it was Voldigoad who was the strongest out of all... Zekram remembered that it was he who personally slew the Primordial God of Darkness, Erebus of the Greek Pantheon, without much effort in the ancient past.
Sirzechs shook his head as he stopped thinking about the political schemes of his grandfather and focused on the ast before him.
The two Divine Sparks were before him. One of the Demigod and one of the Lesser God.
The Divine Spark of the Demigod, which belonged to the Demigod of Urds, Kuraulyek, contained the Divine Domain of Combat and War, while the Lesser Divine Spark of Kurtulmak contained the Divine Domains of War, Evil, Envy, and Kobolds.
It wasn't the ideal combination around, but Sirzechs could manage. He would become a Demigod through using the Demigod Divine Spark because he was most compatible with the Divine Domains of Combat and War.
Afterwards, he would elevate his Divine Rank through assimilating the Lesser Divine Spark... though according to Ajuka's and Zaorama's tests, the effects won't be that good, because the Divine Spark was mostly aligned toward the Divine Domain of Kobolds.
As Kurtulmak was the God of the Kobold Race.
There were several requirements for Ascending to the Godhood. It was much harder than it seemed because there were many requirements that the person had to fulfill.
The first one was that one needed to have some sort of affinity for the Divine Domain, also called Divinity, and understand the Divine Domain enough for the person to ascend to Godhood with it.
Then there was the process of litting up the Divine Flame and condensing the Divine Spark; the Divine Flame would purify and refine one's body and soul, elevating it to the Divine Body and creating a Divine Spark in their bodies, which are basically the condensation of God's very own fundamental being.
During the Ascension, one needed a lot of Divine Force to support his Ascension Ceremony, but that wasn't really a problem for Sirzechs, who already had more than enough for his own preparations.
The Divine Rank symbolized a more precise division of the Gods based on the amount of the Divine Force that they possessed.
Everything was prepared by Ajuka and Zaorama as they created a Ritual that would supplement Sirzechs with an enormous amount of Magic that would supplement the entire process for him.
"Are you ready?"
Due to a lack of knowledge of Divine matters and a less compatible Divine Spark for Sirzechs, they performed the entire Apotheosis Ritual in a more complicated and magical manner.
Which was meant to supplement what they were lacking... otherwise, if they possessed a perfectly compatible Divine Spark, he could have just assimilated it without any preparations or anything and be done with it.
"We can start at any moment."
With that being said, his Ajuka left him alone while the green-haired Super Devil took control of the magic Array as Sirzechs went into the middle of the formation. The Magic Array was formed from several interviewed circles, singing in a dark golden color.
He sat down in the center of the Magic Array, at the length of the Runic Formation that was inscribed on the ground, sitting exactly in the middle of it, as the runes suddenly lit up and the dark golden color turned into a bright golden color.
The first step Sirzechs took was partial assimilation of the Demigod Divine Spark with the help of the Magic Array, because he needed to tread carefully, since his compatibility with the Divine Domain of Combat and War wasn't the best...
Once he felt some Divine Force entering his body, he started the process of Litting up the Divine Flame.
Litting up the Divine Flame was rather a dangerous thing to do because if one didn't have the utmost control over his Divine Force and then the subsequent Divine Flame that would be created, one could die almost effortlessly by being burned to ashes by the very own Divine Flame that one had lit up.
He was already told several times that he needed to be extremely careful when he was litting up the Divine Flame, but fortunately, he had a trump card, which was the Six Eyes, as that one would greatly help in this aspect.
He was controlling the Infernity in his body, and with the help of the Six Eyes, which gave him sub-atomic perception, he was almost effortlessly controlling the Divine Flame that was newly created in his body.
He predicted that everything would be alright, as he felt the Divine Flame was slowly refining his Body and Soul into the Divine Body and Divine Soul.
This was the start of the Apotheosis to Demigodhood.
With the Divine Body, the Gods obtained a lot of unnatural resistance towards the Mortal Magic, and practically anything that wasn't of the Divine Origin or wasn't on the same level as the Divine Origin was greatly weakened.
The process of creating the Divine Body was lengthy, and Sirzechs could feel in real time as his Body and Soul were literally burned away by the Divine Flame and rebuilt anew in the image of the Demigod, a higher being than he had been.
It wasn't the geniue Divine Body and Divine Soul, as he was still a Demigod, but he could see that both his Body and Soul were far above that of a common Devil.
He could feel that the Divine Spark was being created in his body due to this and that he was already on his Apotheosis. The Apotheosis was something that took a rather long time, and it was a very painful process because his entire being was transformed into a higher form of life.
Or rather into something more advanced, as the Gods were the favorite species of the Draconic Deus Universe, together with the Dragons. He could see it, just based on the number of passive benefits that the Gods were receiving just for existing and nothing more.
The Divine Flame that was being controlled by him through the usage of the Six Eyes, as he could see that if it wasn't for the Six Eyes, he wouldn't be able to do this so effectively.
Sirzechs was slowly, but steadily refining his body towards the Divine Body and his Soul towards the Divine Soul. He had to admit that the process was extremely painful, but it wasn't actually that bad, though he needed to withstand it all.
After around one hour or so, Sirzechs could feel that the Apotheosis was complete, when the last parts of his Divine Spark had been completed, and he had basically become a Demigod.
As Sirzechs recovered from the side effects of the Apotheosis Ritual and assimilated the remnants of the Divine Force, which were strengthening his Divine Body and Divine Soul.
Soon enough, when everything had subsided, he slowly opened his eyes while he felt that everything was different. Now that he had become a Demigod, he felt the difference between the Gods and Mortals.
Technically speaking, even Devils were still a Mortal Race beucase they were finite... they had lifespan and they could die from the old age. They were not eternal like the Gods were...
With the Divine Body and Divine Soul, he was an entirely different being compared to his old self, and right now, even injuring him would take a lot of effort. Now he could feel it on his own, why it was so hard to kill Gods.
Just the Divine Magical Resistance and Divine Physical Resistance were something that made him a very hard foe to fight. The Divine Magic Resistance basically gave him tremendous resistance towards all Magical Spells that were not on the same existential level as him.
In plain speech, it meant that if he was hit by a Spell cast by a Human using Human Magic, the Spell that hit him would lose the majority of its potency. Sirzechs predicted that if he became a full-fledged God, then he would be completely immune to the Mortal Magics.
Only the Higher Magics and Spells with Anti-Divine or God-Slaying properties would be effective on him. It wasn't hard to understand the reason why the Gods were the most dominant species acorss the entire Draconic Deus.
Of course, one of such Higher Magics was the Chaos Magic of the Daemons from the Abyss, and the High Magic was effective against the Gods. Some of the High Magics were even specifically created to target the Gods.
"Well, congratulations on becoming a Demigod, brat. What's your Divine Rank?"
Zekram was the first one to say something to him, while Ajuka just wordlessly stood there and cast several diagnosis spells on him to observe the effects on him through the Apotheosis.
"1."
Sirzechs said with an almost defeated expression because he expected more, but he was satisfied with the result nevertheless. Demigod Divine Ranks were divided into Divine Rank 1 to Divine Rank 5.
He could feel the Divine Force within his body, as right now he had two Sources of Power in his body. One of them was Infernity, and the second was Divine Force, which was much smaller compared to the enormous amount of Infernity that he possessed.
"Alright... everything seems to be in norm for a standart newly ascended Demigod."
Ajuka said as he ceased his tests and measurements with the Magic Cilres that had previously been orbiting Sirzechs.
Apotheosis Rituals for the people who wanted to become Gods were dangerous.
The majority of the Gods in the Draconic Deus were already born as Gods or ascended from the species that had a strong predisposition toward ascending as Gods, like Aesir and Vair or Asuras and Devas.
Only a small fraction of the Gods became Gods through the Apotheosis. And during the Apotheosis Ritual itself, there was also a good chance that one may even die during the ritual if there was something that went wrong.
Fortunately, in Sirzechs's case, everything went according to his plan, and he successfully became a Demigod. He would need to experiment with his abilities further to discover the extent of his Divine Domain and everything around that.
He could feel that he had two Divine Domains.
The Divine Domain of War.
The Divine Domain of Combat.
Neither of them was particularly powerful because he was still a Demigod, and the Divine Domains of Demigods were not really that much more powerful. Still, he could feel that the Divine Domain of War gave him some passive boost when he was in an area where a war was taking place.
At the same time, because of the Divine Domain of Combat, he obtained an ability called Battle Continuation, which allowed him to fight at his full force regardless of injuries and state, which was very useful and powerful if used correctly.
The strength of the Divine Domains depended on basically three factors: The amount of Divine Force, the Divine Rank of the God and understanding of the Divine Domain.
"With this, would you be able to create a safe plan for fusing with the Longinus Incinerate Athem?"
Sirzechs asked his best friend, who pondered over something before answering.
"Well... we conducted some tests on the Incinerate Athem... the oproble with the Longinus is that once you fuse with it, it won't be really the standart method according to the infromation that you gave me... it would be in the full form and not is weakened sealed form and that my friend is more than even Archdevil and Demigod like you can handle."
Ajuka, Azazel, and Zaorama conducted some tests on the Incinerate Anthem, and they discovered that there were some problems with Sirzechs fusing with the Longinus Sacred Gear like that.
Unbeknownst to the three of them, the method was given to them by Zekram, who obtained it from The Heavenly Father himself, which would allow one to use the Longinus in its fullest and truest form.
"So what do you propose?"
Sirzechs wasn't in a hurry to use the Incinerate Anthem, because he had more than enough time for that. Not to mention, he did experience several "power-ups" recently, and right now it would be most prudent to digest the gains first.
"Becoming a True God would be the best... the ideal scenario would be increasing your Divine Rank to the Lesser Godhood. The Holy Fire in the Incinerate Athem in its true form is too powerful..."
All Sacred Gears couldn't unleash their full potential and power... this was especially true for the Longinuses. The maximum power that Longinus could unleash was comparable to the High Ultimate-Class and capable of killing Major Gods.
It couldn't reach the power that was above that, as there were numerious failsaves in the Longinuses to prevent that. Theoretically, one could bypass this with the use of Balance Breaker, but using Balance Breaker slowly killed the host.
Though Ajuka and Azazel theorized that even with the Balance Breaker, one could use approximately only 50% of the Longinus. Or else the users of the Sacred Gears, like Divine Dividing and Boosted Gears, would be destroying continents left and right.
Both Albion and Ddraig were Great Wyrms, though not ordinary Great Wyrms, because they were Titled Ones, and with their unique abilities, they were able to match even some of the Primordial Gods.
"Whatever... I need to get used to my current power right now, and adding the Longinus to my arsenal would be detrimental to me right now."
Sirzechs stated that there was no need to use the Incinerate Ahthem right now, since he had already received significant power-ups from becoming a Demigod and, technically, reaching the peak of the High Ultimate-Class.
Even the entire thing with Longinus was done mainly because Zekram wanted him to have the Incinerate Anthem, which would give the Bael-Gremory faction the ultimate edge against anyone and anything in the Netherworld.
"Well, that's a pretty logical conclusion. Well, I will be making use of the Lesser Divine Spark, so I can at least push my Divine Rank up... the amount of the Divine Force that I have is pitiful."
The Heir of the House Gremory then turned his attention to the second Divine Spark that was in front of him.
With the amount of Divine Force that he possessed, he could barely use the Divine Abilities he obtained from becoming a Demigod. Well, it wasn't like he got a lot of Abilities from becoming a Demigod, truth to be told, because the only active ones were Avatar Creation and Greater Teleport.
He was just Divine Rank 1 Demigod, so the Divine Force that he possessed wasn't really big and he would need to increase it over time... together with increasing his Divine Rank, but that would be pretty hard within the Netherworld.
Sirzechs couldn't go around and start harvesting Faith.
There was a reason why God used humans as their favourite species when it came to generating the Faith.
Sirzechs remembered from his studies about the Gods, that Faith generated by the humans, while not being the most potent one around, they were a species that was most susceptible to the entire process of generating Faith for the Gods.
"Are you going to use the Lesser Divine Spark right now or at a later date?"
Ajuka asked as Sirzechs nodded and looked at the Lesser Divine Spark, which was taken from the Lesser God of Kobolds Kurtulmak. The Lesser God of Kobolds had a considerable amount of Divine Force, and his Divine Rank was rahter high for a God in his situation.
"Right now. If I am lucky, I should be able to raise my Divine Rank to the peak of the Demigod... from there on, I would need to prepare for my Apotheosis to the True God, which would be rather troublesome, because I will need to obtain a considerable amount of resources and most importantly, Divine Domain, which is perfectly suited for me."
This was something to which he received a few nods, because the Apotheosis to the True God was almost the same as the one to the Demigodhood. At the same time, though... the greatest differences were two...
During the Apotheosis, one needed to create and establish their Divine Kingdom and also have a Divine Domain, which was perfectly suited for the God. This wasn't the case for the people who wanted to become Demigods, because one could become a Demigod even without a perfectly suited Divine Domain.
Even if one didn't have a Divine Domain that was well-suited for them, one could become a Demigod. It was just that the future advancement would be pretty hard, because these individuals would need many more resources.