(TPD) Chapter 46: Recruiting Acerola

Chapter 46: Recruiting Acerola

After experiencing the unwelcome intrusion, the attendees all gathered in a lounge room without Oshino and Jin's presence for the time-being, everyone sat on either a couch or chair with their respective group.

They were all finding it exceptionally hard to relax, and understandably so, with the exception of Avalon for some incomprehensible reason.

Why? Because the intruder was sitting down with the strangely composed Great King on a couch, casually lounging beside him and wearing a content look on her face, as if her presence wasn't unnerving in the slightest.

Avalon scratched his head, glancing at everyone around him and taking full note of the tension that was looming above them.

"What's wrong? You guys all look like you're constipated," he performed an innocent head tilt, the cause behind their unease truly passing right over his head. "If you guys need some laxatives, I can make a quick run to a nearby pharmacy."

"I assure you our bowels are quite alright, Lord Bael." Azazel replied, the corner of his eye twitching out of irritation, wondering how on earth Avalon wasn't bothered by the woman sitting right next to him.

"Then what's the issue? Do you all need some water or something? I thought we were supposed to start discussing how we're going to get our factions to agree to Oshino's proposal."

Rizevim tapped him on the shoulder, leaning closer to his ear. "I think they actually are constipated, they might just be too embarrassed to admit it out loud."

He smacked his fist against his palm in a moment of understanding, "Oh! That would explain it, sorry everyone, I'll make sure to keep quiet though. Don't worry, I'm not the type to embarrass people in public for no reason."

Adaloth, Esdeath, and Lars all proceeded to cough for no reason whatsoever.

"Enough with the constipation talk!" Azazel roared, "There's a bonafide monster sitting right there! Why are you pretending like everything's fine?!"

Michael and Sylvia both nodded their firm agreement, with Vali having been knocked out by Azazel to avoid him from trying anything reckless again.

Rizevim wasn't an opponent anyone present was capable of talking on their own, they stood a slim chance with Jin Toujou's help, but even then a plethora of casualties would be a guarantee.

She was the one and only true offspring of Lucifer and Lilith, and the first ever naturally-born Super Devil in existence, as well as a complete Super Devil unlike Adaloth and Avalon.

She was someone who warranted Sirzechs and Ajuka's personal attention, and someone who could easily turn the whole meeting on its head if she pleased to do so, regardless of whether the Greek Pantheon was backing it or not.

"Monster?" Rizevim and Avalon exchanged a glance, both looking at one another with equal confusion. "No, it's impossible for her to be a monster."

"Oh yeah? And what led you to that conclusion?"

"She's a Levi-tan fan," he pointed at the plushie in Rizevim's hand. "Therefore she can't be a bad person." He said with prideful confidence in his deduction, folding his arms together and nodding to himself.

She raised her brow inquisitively, "Oh? Do you like Magical Girl Levi-tan as well?"

My existence is worthless without Levi-tan.

"I do," he affirmed calmly.

"Hold on a second," Azazel interrupted, noticing that something was off about how Avalon was treating Rizevim, besides the obvious. "You do know who that is, right?"

Michael and Sylvia's ears perked up, both of them also eager to hear the Great King's answer.

"No, I don't think we've met before."

"We haven't," Rizevim confirmed.

Azazel threw his arms up, a vein bulging out of his forehead as he strongly considered throwing something at the insufferable Devil sitting opposite him.

The Devil who had killed thousands of his people, Armaros, and turned Eurus into his servant, didn't even know who Rizevim was—and he was supposed to be the Underworld's Great King.

That was the person he had been defeated by.

The level of shame, simply put, was unbearable.

Michael chuckled nervously, "Surely you jest?"

"Why would I joke about that?" He looked up at Rizevim, "Are you famous or something? Everyone here seems to know you already."

She smiled, "Somewhat."

"Zekram didn't tell you about her?" Even Serafall couldn't hide her shock, wondering what possible reason his wife could have for hiding the identity of someone that important from him.

"No, are any of you going to tell me what's bothering you so much? Or are you just going to keep asking me questions that I can't answer?"

"That's Rizevim Livan Lucifer, she's the daughter of the original Lucifer, and Lilith. She's also a Super Devil, which I doubt you haven't already figured out from your earlier confrontation." Serafall clarified, nervously eyeing the Crown Princess from afar as the latter simply met her gaze with a warm smile.

"To be introduced by Levi-tan herself, it's an honor." She plastered on a knowing smile, well aware of why everyone looked at her with such apprehension, but refusing to acknowledge it.

Avalon hummed, "Then she's with us. There's no need for everyone to be so nervous, it's not like she's going to hurt any of you. Isn't that right?" He looked up at her expectantly, if she were a true Levi-tan fan, then she'd share her sense of justice down to the letter.

"Of course, I have no intention to harm any of you." Rizevim let her eyes drift across the room, watching as each of them reeled back out of sheer instinct once her gaze landed on them. "I merely came here to meet Zekram's husband, nothing more. You can all continue your discussion, just pretend like I'm not even here."

She came all this way just to meet me? Avalon pondered momentarily, Ah. She must want to enroll into the Levi-tan fan club, the fact that she took the initiative to come ask me face to face speaks to her character. I'm impressed! He nodded to himself, silently approving of Rizevim's clear motive for appearing here.

"See?" Avalon added, shuffling closer to Rizevim to show them that their concern was unwarranted.

Which didn't bode well with a certain someone, who was sitting on the other side of him.

And naturally, Rizevim picked up on Adaloth's intent, a devious smile crawling up the Lucifer's face as she thought of something to set her off even more, despite having absolutely no reason to provoke her other than for the sake of her self-satisfaction.

Rizevim stretched her arms upwards, letting out a hearty yawn which also worsened the level of unease Azazel, Michael, and Serafall were experiencing.

Anyone who knew Rizevim, knew that she was most dangerous when she was bored.

"I'm tired, so I'm going to go ahead and take a nap. It'll be easier for all of you to relax that way as well won't it?"

And then Rizevim proceeded to do the unthinkable, an action that both shocked, and infuriated Adaloth more than anyone else.

She put her head on Avalon's lap, and kicked her feet up onto the couch's armrest.

Do you have a death wish? Bitch, Adaloth clenched her fist, extremely tempted to reach over there, grab Rizevim by the hair, and throw her off.

However, there was a problem with that plan, a problem she really didn't have much experience with.

Rizevim was stronger, much stronger than her. She didn't have a way to overpower the Lucifer, and didn't even know what any of her abilities were since she had held back Avalon, Oshino, and Jin with her brute strength alone.

But she had still taken her spot, and Adaloth wasn't simply just going to forget her transgression.

"Alright," Michael spoke up, knowing that they couldn't afford to just remain silent indefinitely as much of a disturbance Rizevim's presence was, the show had to go on. "Before we discuss how we're going to convince our people to collaborate with one another, can we all at least agree to a ceasefire for the time-being? There's no use in us going through with this if we're still going to be a threat to one another."

Azazel nodded, "I agree."

"That sounds logical," Serafall also gave her confirmation, turning towards Avalon and noticing his lack of response, the sight of Rizevim leisurely laying on his lap still bewildering her quite a bit. "What about you?"

"Me? I'm fine with whatever Levi-tan chooses!" He replied cheerily, causing the entirety of his peerage to facepalm in perfect unison, appalled at how shamelessly childish their King could be, even in the presence of the head Seraph and Grigori's Governor.

But Michael didn't mind one bit, as long as he was on board then all was well. "With that settled, I suggest we start writing up the terms that all of us will have to follow should we succeed in forming a united front."

Even if they succeeded in getting their respective factions to agree, there was still going to be a colossal amount of resentment and disdain between their people, and that malintent would need to be heavily regulated if they didn't want everything to crash and burn within seconds of their alliance being formed.

Forming a set of rules wouldn't be enough, they needed to be as ironclad as physically possible, and need to be practically enforceable. You couldn't just write a term that stated "play nice" and expect everything to go swimmingly.

"Ava-tan, you don't mind if I handle this do you?" Serafall asked, evidently the more experienced one between them when it came to legal matters such as these.

"No problemo!" He gave her a thumbs-up, herself, alongside Michael and Azazel deciding to move somewhere preferably further away from Rizevim as they started to set the terms for the alliance they were attempting to form.

"You certainly seem to be enjoying yourself," Adaloth scooted closer, squishing her arm against Avalon and looking down at Rizevim.

She slowly opened her eyelids, feigning ignorance as to why Adaloth wasn't pleased with her. "Do you want to join in? You can lay on my chest if you want," she held out her arms, causing Adaloth's face to scrunch up in disgust.

"I'll pass, more importantly, do you really have to sleep there of all places? There's plenty of room on the couch for you to place your head elsewhere."

Avalon furrowed his brow, "You're being rude Adaloth. She came all this way to make her pilgrimage to meet Levi-tan, it's understable that she's tired." As fate would have it, the fact that Rizevim just happened to be a fan of Levi-tan immediately put her on Avalon's good side.

You're not helping, she sighed, slowly realizing how big of an issue Rizevim was proving to be.

And while she was lamenting, a pair of cold, slender arms wrapped themselves around Avalon's neck.

"Your part of the meeting's over now isn't it?" Acerola said, "You said we'd have our battle after it was finished."

His eyes widened, "Oh. I did say that, didn't I?" He chuckled nervously, looking down at Rizevim apologetically. "Sorry, but I need to go handle this."

Rizevim remained eerily silent for a moment, her eyes briefly locking onto Acerola, sending a dread-inducing chill down her spine. Did I seriously just get interrupted by some Vampire? She swiftly returned to normal, making Acerola feel as if a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Sounds like fun, I'll come watch."

---

While Serafall, Azazel, and Michael were handling all the grown-up stuff, Avalon and Acerola, alongside his peerage, and Rizevim, left to go to the same unfinished construction site where Avalon had fought the Stray Exorcists who had stolen the Vampire's body parts.

The two who would be battling were standing on the ground floor, with the spectators finding a nearby array of scaffolding to climb atop and watch their fight from above.

Rizevim sighed, sitting down cross-legged and resting her chin on her palm. "Fighting a Vampire is probably one of the most boring things you could do, it's just a nonsensical battle of attrition and nothing more."

Adaloth deadpanned, "Didn't you just say it sounded like fun a minute ago?"

"I lied."

"Aren't you going to pull out that sword you used earlier?" Acerola asked impatiently, letting her Demonic Sword—Heartspan, rest on the back of her shoulders.

"I don't need to bring out Muramasa in order to use it," he replied without elaboration, taking a deep breath before slowly reaching towards his blindfold. "You already saw me do it when I broke the chains of the coffin holding your limbs."

I already used one Uncontrolled Release against Rizevim today, I'm barely going to have any time to make use of the second. He started to warm up, I'll have to somehow beat an opponent that can force a battle of attrition, as quickly as possible.

His Touki activated, coating him in a white blanket of natural energy and enhancing all his physical attributes. Followed by his Mana Reinforcement, which nearly put his physical strength at his limit since he wasn't using his Youkai Mode.

Should I use Youkai Mode from the get-go or not? Because I took my blindfold off against Rizevim earlier, it's very possible that I'll run out of gas before I can finish the fight.

Just do it, Tomoe encouraged him, with flawless reasoning no less. You already know the extent of her abilities, but she can't say the same for you.

You just want my hair to turn fully white don't you?

What? Nooooo, why would you even accuse me of such a thing? Tomoe made an effort to sound offended, I just want to make sure you win this fight, that's all.

Uh-huh, Avalon's concentration began to surge, recalling everything Acerola had shown him during their first bout, not just her abilities—but her fighting style, her tells during combat, and her general strategy she used against him.

"How long do you plan to take getting ready? I'm already starting to get bored over here," Acerola groaned in impatience, her battle-mania gradually getting more and more restless.

"Calm down, I'm almost done." He took his blindfold off and shoved it into his spatial storage pouch.

[Uncontrolled Release—Activated.]

30 seconds, that's probably all the time I'll have if I use all my strength. But 30 seconds is a lot of time for me, I'm the fastest after all.

The brown stripes of his hair turned white, a fierce, violent, overbearing aura encompassing the entirety of his figure as tremors ran through the ground, the vibrations being fully received by Acerola through the soles of her feet.

A white cloak made entirely of thick, potent Ki enveloped his torso, a pair of ethereal ears popping out of his head, and nine similarly composed tails protruded out of the back of his waist.

His pupils shrank into vertical slits, and his canines grew even sharper than they already were, cracks appearing in the ground beneath him as Acerola found herself losing her balance for a brief moment.

"So that's what you look like when you're not holding—"

00:30.

Before the words could finish leaving her mouth, an open palm came crashing against her face, sending her sky-rocketing into the unfinished building where the spectators were observing their battle from, and turning her body into a projectile that caused the building's foundation to come crumbling down.

They all hurriedly hopped off the rooftop onto a different platform, preferably a bit farther away from where the fight was going on, watching as the structure was reduced to naught more than a pile of rubble, leaving behind a large dust cloud in its wake.

Lars blew an impressive whistle, "It's a good thing I put a silencing barrier beforehand. Although I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do about the damage itself."

"It doesn't matter, it's just a bunch of human trash anyway." Rizevim scoffed.

00:27.

Acerola let out a hoarse coughing fit, Avalon's speed had been more than impressive during their initial fight, but this time it had reached a level where she couldn't even begin to react in time, let alone see what he had done.

"Sorry, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch here. So forgive me if I'm a little rough."

The next thing she knew, he was grabbing her by the throat and hoisting her upwards, well aware that she was about to use her ability to transform into a flock of bats to escape again.

Her body erupted into a dark-blue inferno, starting from her heels and spreading up to her head in a split-second, the red-hot ferocity of the fire he was currently using being in a completely different league to what she experienced last time.

Her regeneration had evened everything out back then, but right now the fight felt completely one-sided, both to her and those watching in the distance.

00:23.

Acerola didn't respond to his remark, wisely deciding that she didn't have the time or energy to waste speaking, shooting her arm out in an attempt to grapple him by the collar.

But Avalon made no attempt to defend or counter, simply allowing her to take in the sight of some kind of paper talisman having been attached to her forearm, one she hadn't noticed prior to now.

Boom!

Her figure imploded into thousands of little chunks of flesh, like shrapnel from a grenade, immediately forcing her body to work overtime in order to regenerate the catastrophic degree of damage it had just endured.

00:17.

The amount of time I have isn't enough to disable her regeneration, even with this much output. However, there's still a way for me to defeat her even without doing so.

In a fit of mild panic and desperation, she ended up throwing Heartspan at him with as much force as her body could possibly muster, having absolutely no idea how she was supposed to handle this version of Avalon.

His current form—was where his classification as a Super Devil came from, even if he wasn't fully matured like Rizevim, he had come a very long way from where he first started out.

Alright, let's wrap this up now—literally.

00:15.

He sidestepped the thrown Demonic Sword, extending his arm and grabbing the hilt of the sword as it passed by with his demonic threads, taking advantage of all the momentum Acerola's throw had built up and hurling the weapon back at her.

Heartspan pierced through its owner's chest, sending her flying backwards once more on a collision course to yet another building in the distance.

However, the feeling of her back crashing against rock-hard cement or cold metal never came. Instead, she was met with something much softer, and far more difficult to break free from.

00:09.

A spiderweb, woven from Avalon's demonic threads.

With each and every thread being covered in talisams with a different marking on them than the one that had exploded her arm earlier on, spanning across the entirety of its surface and easily numbering in the hundreds.

"Don't look so startled, you're the one who wanted me to stop holding back weren't you?" He stood behind her suspended figure, confidently wearing a look of assured victory.

00:06.

Binding Technique—Huntsman! He activated the technique that was only now receiving a proper field test, the inscriptions on the suppression seals all lighting up in unison, causing the spiderweb to fold in on itself and wrap Acerola in a tight cocoon.

I managed to get it done in 24 seconds, not bad. He hastily deactivated his Youkai Mode and put his blindfold back on with just as much speed, having absolutely no interest in passing out while he was supposed to be gloating.

"You won't be able to use any of your abilities while those seals are active," he had pretty much done the same thing to her that he had done to Eurus when he captured the Fallen Angel at the end of the Supremacy War—except on a much smaller scale.

Acerola remained completely silent, her mind more likely than not still trying to wrap itself around what exactly had happened in the past 24 seconds, and just how much of a difference there was between Avalon wearing a blindfold, and Avalon taking it off.

"...You're a monster."

She really wasn't sure what else to say.

She had come to this fight expecting an even more drawn out, and drastically more explosive fight than last time, but had received a one-sided beatdown that hardly even lasted half a minute.

"I wouldn't have any business being in this town at the moment if I weren't," he didn't deny her claim. "Now that our fight has officially concluded, what do you plan on doing now? Will you go look for another place to die? Or will you continue to wander the world aimlessly in hopes of finding something that'll bring you a sense of fulfillment?"

He crouched down, his face hovering only a few centimeters in front of hers'.

"From how you worded that, it sounds like you're planning on offering me something?" She narrowed her eyes out of suspicion.

"I'd like you to join my peerage," he stated without hesitation. "I've grown fond of you in the short amount of time we've known one another, and I'd be happy to take you along with the rest of my family if you're interested. If it's boredom you're afraid of, then I can assure you you'll never have to dread it again if you come with us."

"Aren't you a bold one?" She chuckled, "However—boredom certainly doesn't appear to be something you're ever experiencing from what I've seen of you thus far. That much I'll admit, but do you honestly think my fear of boredom will suffice as grounds for me to become your servant?"

"It was enough to make you want to end yourself."

She scoffed, "You lack delicacy." She fell silent for a brief moment again, taking some time to think over what he had offered her. "But I don't really have anything else going for me, so I guess I'll take you up on that offer."

"I'm glad to hear it," he had already decided what piece he wanted to give her based on what he had seen of her fighting style and abilities.

She would be his Knight.

---

This is probably the first time Avalon has had a proper fight where he isn't literally clinging onto dear life now that I look back on it, but he finally had his chance to flex his status as the Main Character, it only took an entire volume and some change.