The Abyssal Lord (DxD)

“So? How about some introductions? And as the host, I'll even start myself”

“My name is Xeron Kezgenoth, a regular everyday demon”

The demon's ever-amused voice echoed through the dimly lit space, his eyes gleaming with mischief as he lounged effortlessly on a lavish chair. 

His attention was fixed on two of the four individuals currently sitting across where he was, the family of three deities who had suddenly come and asked to be in his presence.

But they weren't the only ones here either, there were also two others, one of them was the devil maid Grayfia, who stood straight behind the demon's seat like a proper maid usually would.

The other was Lilith, the second devil and mother of all devils was similarly also present, but unlike the maid, she was seated in a seat of her own, which was a little further away from the three deities', but still facing the demon nonetheless.

They were all seated moments after they entered the mansion, and only after sending his maids to fetch drinks for the guests did Xeron decide to start the fun.

And in response to his inquiry, the mother goddess silently looked at her daughter.

Amaterasu naturally noticed her mother's silent gesture, and after faking a cough to gather attention on herself, she looked at the demon and bowed slightly.

“A pleasure to meet you Lord Xeron, but pardon me for a moment, I'd first like to apologize for me and my brother's rude behavior before I introduce myself”

The sun goddess spoke politely and with elegance, her movements were precise and sophisticated as she lowered her head just slightly in apology.

She was specifically referring to the act of pointing her weapon at the demon a few minutes prior, and while some would say that in this world, it was a natural reaction to have when suddenly hearing a foreign voice inches away from your ear.

The fact of the matter is, it was still considered rude to do so, especially when facing someone significantly stronger than you.

It was survival of the fittest, after all. And in this cruel world they all live in, with the strong ruling over the weak.

“Oh~ How polite. Apology accepted, Amaterasu” The demon chuckled, his golden red eyes gleaming slightly in apparent amusement.

His eyes watched as the goddess straightened from her slight bow and looked upwards confidently at him, her golden eyes looking straight at his golden red ones.

Her posture was that of a queen, with no hesitation or reluctance, appearing quite confident without being too arrogant.

“Thank you lord Xeron” 

She said with a monotone voice, her eyes similarly glowing in the dimly lit room as they both stared at each other in silence.

The silence lasted only for a few more moments however, because surely enough, the god queen started speaking shortly after.

“Let us start with me then. As you may already know, I'm Amaterasu, god queen of the Shinto Pantheon and goddesses of the sun”

Amaterasu politely introduced herself, and as she did so, the atmosphere around her became slightly warmer, her divinity shifted visibly as to personify what she represented.

And it held true, her aura, her appearance, her mannerisms, they all shone brightly, and as her nature suggests, she truly was the personification of the sun.

“Susanoo, god of storms seas”

Next was Amaterasu's brother, Susanoo, whose monotone voice echoed shortly Amaterasu's, slightly resembling his sister's own.

But unlike his sister however, he wasn't as skilled in masking his emotions, as evident by the frown that was drawn on his face since his first encounter with Xeron.

But it wasn't like Xeron cared, if anything really, he was more glad actually.

It was more fun this way, after all.

“Lovely! And now that the introductions are over, let us move on to the main topic”

The demon smiled good heartedly, his expression welcoming and gentle as he looked at the god queen and her brother with a curious gaze.

“I assume that you both have something you wish to discuss with me, correct?”

The demon leaned forward on his seat and rested his chin on hand as he stared at the twin gods with a calm smile.

He looked like a piece of art, a perfect blend of handsomeness and mystery, with each feature carved with precision, yet carrying an air of enigma that drew you in.

But underneath the beautiful facade, unbeknownst to those unfortunate enough to those who still remain in the dark.

There existed a monster…a beast that even those who knew of his terror still feel haunted by his presence to this day, and will continue to be so for all of eternity.

And unfortunately, there are still those who remain clueless about the beast's true nature.

For it hides it until the last moment…until it's already too late.

“Lord Xeron, may I ask you a personal question?” 

The god queen suddenly spoke out, her question in response to the demon's inquiry a few moments prior. 

“Is that what you came here for?” He asked, his face nearly impossible to read, with only the small smile that always hung from his lips visible the entire time.

“That's not the case, I just couldn't help but be overwhelmed with curiosity regarding a rather peculiar matter that's all” The goddess softly shook her head in denial.

“Is that really so? Well, I don't see the harm of doing so, ask away” He leaned back into his chair as he spoke calmly, the small smile remained on his face, hiding any and all his inner thoughts.

Which were quite plentiful at the moment, his mind spun for a few seconds trying to understand the reason behind the Shinto's God Queen's sudden visit.

He knew Izanami enough to understand that her daughter had spoken of a compelling reason, at least one convincing enough for Izanami to bring her here, in front of him, he just had to figure it ou-

‘...I see. This is going to be fun~’ 

“Ask away, Amaterasu”

Hearing the demon's confirmation, the sun goddess gave a nod of acknowledgment, and after glancing at the one sitting in the seat furthest away from her, she looked back at the demon.

“Very well then. So, if I may ask, what is the mother of devils to you?”

The first to react was of course, the person who's being mentioned, which was said mother of devils, Lilith.

She had been silent until now, merely observing while silently wondering how could gods of such magnitude be so tame and respectful.

She didn't harbor any particular hatred towards them. Well....except one certain god, but he's dead now, so it's fine.

But at the same time, she knew that gods were majorly quite arrogant, which was justified really, considering their inherit prowess as a ‘race’, but that didn't diminish its distaste in any way.

Even she, with her far and wide spread fame have dealt with her fair share of annoying and arrogant gods and goddesses, they were second in strength to only dragons after all, so it's a given that their arrogance is also second only to dragons as well.

So to hear the literal God Queen of the entire Shinto Pantheon be this respectful was an eye opener to her.

'But why did she ask that?’ Lilith thought to herself, half in intrigue, and half in curiosity.

She may have willing became the demon's servant, but she couldn't help but feel curious about how he felt towards her.

Did he view her as nothing but a tool? An object to eventually let out his desires on? A servant that's subject to all his whims?

She didn't know, she also didn't care, she had run out of options long ago after all, and this was the only way she could have spared her people from a threat she had no way of combating on her own.

So after taking a deep breath to shake the uncomfortable thoughts away, she slowly looked at the demon and awaited for his answer.

As for the one who had asked the question, the reason for her doing so should be quite obvious.

She had seen him accompanied by the two devils, and judging by the information her mother had provided her prior, the demon's relationship with said two devils, them being Lilith and the white haired maid, should be obvious at first glance.

They should also be his slaves, that he has acquired one way or another since coming into this world, but that wasn't what she cared about.

She came here only for one thing, a way to make her mother's life better, a way for her mother to finally experience happiness.

And to achieve that, there existed an obvious obstacle that she had to overcome, a major roadblock she had to deal with.

She knew that what her mother had chosen in the past, she knew that she had sold her soul in exchange for strength, and using that strength, she not only achieved her revenge, but also secured a life for her children. 

But at the end of the day, she still gave up her freedom, she became a subject to the whims of someone other than herself…and Amaterasu appalled that.

She remembers her mother's warnings, she knows that the demon lord isn't someone to be trifled with, she may not know the extent of his power, but she's aware of the threat his being imposes on hers.

But she’ll still find a way to gain her mother's freedom, if not with power, then with wit. Even if it takes her entire life to do so.

But first, she has to gain information about the demon's nature, and hence the question she decided to ask.

She knew she was being hypocritical, slavery wasn't really uncommon among the supernatural, even to her.

But her mother being subjected to it? It was awful, and she may haven’t shown it much, but it was the most awful she had felt all her life.

But still, she wanted to know, she wanted to see for herself how he views his slaves, how he views her mother.

So while it may hurt her, she still had to know, because at least it'll serve as a driving force behind her actions from now on.

So she say there and waited for the demon to state the obvious. After all, who wouldn't want to boast about owning the mother of devils for himself? who wouldn't boast about having a literal Primordial Goddess as a slave?

But he didn't.

“Lilith? She’s my servant”

The response entered her ear, she registered it in her mind, but she still didn't believe.

'Servant? What servant? Who gets their servants to sell their souls?’ The goddess screamed inaide her mind, furious at the demon's blatant dishonesty.

But on the outside, she maintained her emotionless demeanour flawlessly.

“Servant? Not a slave?”

She couldn't resist asking, a slight amount of venom unconsciously seeped into her voice, her hands clenched beneath the long kimono she wore.

But as if unaware of it all, the demon's ever present small smile was swapped with a hurt expression, albeit a not very convincing one.

“How cruel of you Amaterasu, but I'll forgive you because it's our first meeting”

Slowly, the hurt expression he had began to morph back into his usual amused one, his eyes, which stared into Amaterasu’s own, glowed faintly as a rather creepy smile crawled onto his face.

“After all, she was the one who came to me”

As Amaterasu locked eyes with the demon's own, she saw it all.

The glee, the amusement, and most of all…the ridicule.

He knew her thoughts, he knew exactly what she sought after, and he ridiculed her for it.

'H-How despicable!’ she inwardly raged to no end, her eyes flashing a darker golden color in response to her divinty unconsciously reacting to her inner thoughts.

She felt enraged, rage so potent it threatened to spill over and blind her senses.

But…she held it all in, and with a deep breath, she calmed herself down, and her demeanour reverted back into the emotionless state she had been in before, with no trace of annoyance or anger in her expression.

She wanted to leave now, she wanted to be as far away from this damned creature as possible.

But there's still something she has to do, she still had to ask, and while that wasn't her main motivate for coming here, it was really a close second.

“I see, then demon king. May I ask another question before I take my leave?”

She stood up from her seat, which was closely followed by her brother.

“Go ahead”

The demon said while nodding light-heartedly, not at all minding the abrupt termination of the conversation.

He knew the reasons behind her sudden actions after all, even if he found them quite funny.

“Thank you. Then, what would you accept in exchange of stopping your demons from entering Japan?” Amaterasu said, with a surprising amount of conviction visible in her tone.  

“Nothing, demons crave extreme negative emotions, if you don't want any demons near you, then you’ll have to stop anyone from summoning them yourselves”

The demon said nonchalantly, which loosely translated to ‘deal with it on your own'. 

Which the goddess didn't really pursue after, as she had already ordered her subordinates to do that anyway.

“I see”

She then turned to her mother, who stared up to her from her seat in silence.

“Let us leave mother”

The god queen said quietly, looking down at her mother without any visible emotions on her face.

Izanami didn't immediately get up however, and just continued to stare at her daughter in silence.

And after what felt like a minute or so, Izanami nodded and got up, standing besides her daughter.

She then turned to the demon, bowing slightly.

“Farewell, lord Xeron”

“Goodbye Izanami, what a pleasure it was meeting your children” The demon smirked as he waved at them casually, while gesturing for Grayfia behind him.

“Grayfia, would you please accompany our guests?”

“Yes, lord Xeron”

Grayfia immediately bowed in acknowledgment and went towards the three deities, which she soon accompanied out of the mansion.

Leaving the demon alone with the mother of devils in the large hall.

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