Highschool DxD-Dream of Perfection

Chapter 31

In a grand, luxurious office with a blend of medieval elegance and modern opulence, the room was bathed in the soft glow of golden light from an ornate chandelier overhead. The walls were adorned with intricate wood carvings depicting ancient battles. Rich velvet curtains draped over tall arched windows, offering a glimpse of the dark, stormy sky outside. A heavy mahogany desk, polished to perfection, dominated the center of the room, where scrolls, tomes, and finely bound ledgers lay in absolute chaos.

Seated behind the desk was a man, an imposing figure with purple hair cascading to his shoulders. His face, once a map of wisdom and relentless spirit, lay in complete disappointment and silent flusteration. With his face tightening at one moment, then relaxing in the next as he tries to come to terms with his defeat, which in prospect means his complete death, with both his legacy and life ending.

Before him stood his assistant, a younger man dressed in a sharp yet traditional tunic, meticulously embroidered. But his face and expression were the opposite of his clothes, as he was in deep despair, where he couldn't even report and jot down what his lord, Edward von Phase, occasionally said in his notebook. But Edward could not blame him, since they are but dead men. The faction of devils that is backing them has retreated when they saw a fierce response from Norse mythology. Which is sending out one of their strongest gods, Thor, the god of thunder. Leaving them to fend for themselves, Heck, they even robbed quite a bit of their resources. Leaving only half of what it once was. 

They, who call themselves the Old Satan Faction, the rightful ruler of the devil, acted more like bandits than anything that has anything connected to royalty or nobility. Edward thought with amusement as he looked around. The few places that are not robbed, which is his office. While he was looking around, his eyes were met with his collection of wine. Why not? Edward thought as he got up and walked towards the cabinet. Opened it and poured himself a wine. After which he grabbed the wine and walked towards his chair, while his assistant still stood in his place, his gaze just looking at his report.

With a Fuf, Edwards sat in his luxurious chair, slowly sipping his drink as he continued his musing. Tsuki Yuto, a boy from Japan, an extremely talented human battle mage with strength even above him, if the report he gained was true, was the main reason why they failed when they could have won. Unconsciously, Edwards's fist clenched tightly around his armchair. Main reason why his legacy is going to be buried. Edwards started to breathe rapidly as he continued to think. If only I had sent both of them together. NO, if only I had not added him to the Shadow Knight program. Then anything like this wouldn't have happened. If I did not, because of a moment of amusement, add him to the shadow knight, instead sent him to the devils as he is supposed to. NOTHING LIKE THIS WOULD HAPPEN; NORSE MYTHOLOGY WOULDN'T CARE ABOUT THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THEIR SUBORDINATES AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOWED THE RULES THEY SET. Edward clenched his teeth so hard that his gum is about to bleed. But after it seemed like he was about to stand up and rush to where Yuto is located. He suddenly stopped with a heavy sigh as the arm that is clenching the chair loosened and the jaw that is clenched tightly stopped. He lay there for a few seconds, his body lax as he just sat. 

After a minute or two, Edwards straightened his back as he slowly reached for the glass of wine on the table. Only to be interrupted as he felt the thunders suddenly stopping and massive amounts of mana gathering in the sky. Edward sighed, wishing he'd spent his time drinking instead of brooding over past mistakes.. But nevertheless, he reached for the wine on the table and gulped it down, turning around.

His eyes blazing with determination and blazing will as he thought. "I am not going to go down easily."

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Yuto stood on top of the Edward, at least the thing that was left of Edward, one of the heads of the shadow veil since there was only a charred corpse remaining of what was once a Peak Ultimate class. He fought bravely, without caring about anything; he threw himself towards Thor, regardless of the consequences. Which Thor responded as he reduced his power to that of Edwards level and fought him for a bit. He lasted until he was the last remaining one. Then Thor finished him off.

Yuto expected emptiness as he gazed at Edward's charred corpse. Instead, a wave of satisfaction washed over him, his lips curling ever so slightly before he caught himself. looking at Edwards charred skin and melted bone, but he did not poke or kick him. Since he is dead, he probably would have done that if he were alone. But he won't since there are others besides him, and they would probably not like that he did that. Especially Thor, since he looked at Edward, not as an ant or an annoying fly, when he was fighting him; instead, he viewed him with respect, the respect of someone who is fighting with all he has for his ideals and goals, no matter how evil or cruel it was to the innocent that would die because of him.

So Yuto, after five minutes of looking at Edwards's corpses, stopped looking at it as he started to look around, thinking of looting some things, although he shouldn't since they would divide the spoils in a few days.

"Hey, kid." A loud shout was heard as Thor walked towards Yuto with his happy-to-go face. His footsteps were loud and heavy as he approached. "Do you want to join Valhalla?, i think you would like make a fine addition there." He asked.

Yuto looked towards Thor for a few seconds, his mind racing on whether he should join since he would receive protection from Asgard from other factions. At least a certain amount of protection from most factions, since some factions like Old Satan or Khaos Brigade won't be deterred much. Although they probably won't attack him blatantly, they will probably try to catch him or kill him. However if the faction that he is part of was extremely strong or protective of their members, like the Hindu pantheon, it would provide much more protection. Also, All-Father Odin is a pacifist, so that is a minus.

Also in Asgard, the resources and authority are all but divided, with it being filled with strong gods. So it would be difficult for him to gather a meaningful force under his banner, and there is Loki, the trickster god, a heavy, unstable factor. 

So he, in the end, made his decision. "Thank you for your offer, but I refuse," Yuto said as he gazed at Thor right in the eye. Which Thor responded with a glare of his own, both of their faces serious, the atmosphere tense. As if Thor or Yuto, any one of them is about to attack one another.

They stood like that for a few seconds, but in the end, Thor broke out into loud laughter as he hugged Yuto in a bear hug. "You don't have to worry about me, kid; I won't attack or get angry at you for refusing my offer. I am not a dick," he said in a loud voice, making Yuto's ear ring because of it. After that he let Yuto go, breaking the hug, after which he turned around and walked towards the manor. Probably to look for something to drink or to discuss something with Clara.

This left Yuto to do his own thing, which is looking for a valuable magic totem or artifact to take, no, claim. As they are spoils of war. So Yuto turned around and walked towards the barrack, because the mansion is occupied by most of the people here, like Clara, Yato.

(2 days later)

Clara, Yuto, Yato, and the like, along with the rest of the high-ranking members, sat on a chair, having a meeting. Dividing the spoils with all of them going back and forth, checking the attitude of another, taking a step forward when it was deemed appropriate, and back if they assumed that they bit off more than they could chew. 

"We also want the forest in the Gracia Everland," one of the members of the Phamos family, an elder, stated his demands.

"Then give up the Kane mountains of Khalaman then," another elder countered, Thurnder Horn Guild.

Clara sighed while all of this was happening, with no end in sight, although it did not bother her much considering that dividing the loot is one of her favorite pastimes. It still tired her out, as she had to constantly be vigilant, weigh pros and cons, and observe every participant here to gauge their bottom line and weigh how much it would be valuable to them compared to her organization. Then change the value inside her mind, like a chip, if you will.

"Let us put that on hold for now," the elder from the Thunder Horn Guild said, as the elder from the Phamos family did not budge an inch on it, not giving it up. So he decided to change the subject to another subject. Prisoners.

"Let's move on to our prisoners," the Elder said, as he prepared to fight tooth and nail to get the best benefit for his organization. Only to be interrupted by the head of their guild, Clara Beinzwell herself. 

"I have to add something here," she said as she leaned forward. "Tsuki Yuto, more commonly known as Arcana anomaly, demanded a few things," she said, her voice calm yet steady. Phamos family elder looked confused for a second, wondering why she waited until this moment to state this. Considering that it had already been a few hours since they started, with most of the things all but divided, he decided to keep his questions to himself, since he didn't want to interrupt Miss Beinzwell.

"First thing, he doesn't want to have anything to do with the tribute." She stated one of Yuto's demands, which is the tribute that they are going to pay to Asgard, well, a tribute that is extra heavy this year because of Thor and his actions, which was helping them in the war, giving them much more extra territory to manage and collect resources. This is quite a lot, to be honest, with them not being capable of expanding or anything like that for the next ten years or so. And the future heavier tribute they have to pay. But it is all worth it, since the constant threat to their lives is gone, and they have much more territory and resources they could utilize now. So in short, no benefit for the short term, but quite a bit of benefit for the long term.

The demand was met with easy acknowledgment since they already expected something like this; heck, they did not even think of making Yuto pay anything.

Clara, seeing their reaction, nodded, also not surprised by this, and then she continued to state Yuto's demand.

"And books, totems, and money that are on this list." She said as she pulled out a page filled with quite a bit of totem and book and, in the end, an amount of money. Which is quite a lot for them as individuals, but for an organization, it is not that much. So all of them, although a bit bitter, acknowledge it.

She then stated Yuto's last demand. "He wants all the prisoners that are connected to the Shadow Knights, whether they are teachers a knights, or even workers."

And she expected it; it was met with an explosive reaction as the elder from the Phamos family stood up in shock, various expressions going through his face, ranging from disbelief to anger, then to frustration. As he replied. "Miss Beinzwell, is it not too much to give to Yuto? Although I admit that in this war he played an important role. It is too much; workers and teachers are fine, but knights themselves would be too much," he said, barely keeping his cool, trying not to shout.

Clara just looked at the elder quietly, her eyes intense and heavy, but inside her mind, she just sighed. Wondering why she stopped Yuto when he was about to join in on them and state his demands. Only to remember a second later why; it is because she did not know what Yuto's reaction would be: would he lower his demand while quietly bearing a grudge? Or will he just explode, kill anyone who stood in his way, and leave? While a few days ago, she would not have had this kind of thought, now she isn't so sure. 

What a blunder! I was so concentrated on my mind that I forgot what was happening around me, she thought as she looked at the elder, who became a bit pale and had already sat down, back to his chair while he averted her eyes. So she turned her eyes towards Klein Defrost, the leader of the Phamos family. "What is your decision?" she asked, hoping for him not to be stubborn. Since while the knights, are young, extremely talented child soldiers, who are no doubt all of them going to reach high class at the minimum, with some even reaching ultimate class. It is not worth it to offend and anger Yuto. If they had the knights, it would have allowed them to flourish for the next century or two at the minimum, making them reach a higher ground. Granted, they would have to give up on some of them if they were kidnapped from a strong organization or had a strong backing, even still it would have been a massive boon.

Leader of the Phamos family, Klein Defrost , closed his eagle-like eyes for a few seconds, probably weighing the pros and cons, before replying to his answer. "Alright." in a calm voice.