Author Note 1:
Hi guys, here I got a fat chapter for you. Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks for all the powerstones and for the 3K collections, I can't believe it.
I'm publishing this just when the ranking restarts, so please leave some powerstones and collections. I want to give this fic a chance to reach more people.
And thanks to you...yeah, specifically to you, I'm referring to the ghost readers of the page, lol.
If you want to leave a review, that would be great too. Anyways, thanks again.
Things we will be talking about in the author notes 2 at the end of the chapter:
-About this fic and the other ideas I had before choosing to go with Forsaken Regalia.
-Webnovel situation.
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-Samuel Pov-
Flying is a liberating sensation.
High in the dark night starry sky, I feel free.
Somehow...
It feels right.
After flying for a while, of course, I teleport to Tokyo...
Time to take a closer look at the magical side of this country.
Of course, I teleport to the entrance of the magical hub in Tokyo. Jokes aside, the Devilnet is a very useful tool to know about this kind of place around the world. When I have more time, I will go to different countries to take a look.
I pass the gates, entering and looking around.
A lot of people, small shops...street vendors...youkais too.
Tokyo is the territory of the youkai faction from the east, so basically, the big shot here is Nurarihyon.
No wonder there are so many youkais. I can see human magicians too.
I will go to Kyoto at some point, no doubt about it. I have some sacred gears to take and avoid the destruction of one part of the city.
Being an anti-hero is hard. I sigh.
I flare my senses, scanning the surroundings...no ultimate-level people around here.
Mmmmh...
I start to walk, looking around. They sell food, magical trinkets, third-rate weapons.
Some people glance at me, maybe because I'm a gaijin in their eyes? Or maybe they can gauge some of my power? Pick one.
Yep, I know I will not find an equally or better weapon here. As expected, nobody will sell a somewhat good weapon here, hehe.
Let's enter this store...kinda gothic-themed for being here in Tokyo.
I open the door and pass through it. This looks like a store from a terror movie.
Now, in front of the counter, I feel someone is on the other side working down, moving things, and making noise. There's the bell on the counter.
I press the button on the bell.
And quickly, a woman around her twenties stands up on the other side of the counter.
Oh god...
This fucking world and its obsession with big breasts.
Curly blue hair, tight-fitting black dress with a cleavage, witch hat, dark blue lipstick.
A goth witch with big breasts. This can be dangerous for me, maybe turn around and leave without saying a word?
Not gonna lie...I'm making a conscious effort to not look at her breasts.
I must stay focused and not be caught lacking.
"Open for business~" she says with a smile.
"Hi, you sell items with magic space storage? A ring, preferably?" I will buy one if I have the chance, for investigation purposes on magic items.
"Yep~ give me a sec." She goes down again behind the counter.
I feel a disturbance in the force...hehe, probably she has her own magic storage.
She stands up after a bit...I see her breasts jiggling in my peripheral vision...bro, this is hard.
"Here." She puts three rings on the counter. Golden, Silver, and Black.
I watch the rings...magic items indeed. My choice is obvious, of course.
Before I say anything...
"You don't look Japanese," the woman stated, leaning over the counter...breasts first.
She has to be doing this on purpose.
"No, I'm not," I said, grabbing the golden ring and looking at it closely. It has to keep the color theme after all.
"From the States?" She asks again, narrowing a bit her eyes at me.
"England. But I live here in Japan." Okay, enough chat, I will buy the golden one and go back to my house.
"I see~ I'm from Texas," she said, smiling and putting her hand on her chin.
"How much for the golden one? You accept payment in gold bars?" I ask.
She looked at me in silence for two seconds.
"20 gold bars," she stated.
Don't know if that's the correct price for this, but I don't care either... I have infinite money after all.
I start putting the gold bars on the counter.
"A magician too?~ Not gonna lie, you have the young master vibes," she says playfully while I put the bars from my storage.
Bro, woman intuition is such bullshit sometimes, like a cheat...but yeah, I'm a fallen noble after all.
Let's say I have the Royal Rizz.
"Woman. Do not call me that and save some face in front of your clients." I joke a bit with a generic phrase of those individuals.
"Hahaha~" She throws her head back and laughs. Now I can see her two Mt. Tai's.
"20 gold bars." I finish putting them on the counter.
"This should do...by the way, I didn't catch your name," she says.
"Samuel." I roll my eyes a bit. I will not say my surname here in an open magical city.
"I'm Cordelia. Nice to meet you~" She leans even more...fuck.
"Sure." I deadpan to her.
"You are no fun~" She pouts.
Woman, you will never catch me lacking.
"See ya." I grab my new ring, wave to her, and go out.
Now, outside the shop, I realize two things.
I like them a bit older. As expected, I was in my twenties in my other life.
And second...I need to get laid urgently.
"Fuck, I will do some extra meditation tonight," I mutter.
Time to go home and rest. Tomorrow is a school day, after all...ugh!
-------------------------
-Small skip to the next day in school-
It was lunch break in school, and I was sitting at my table. The cafeteria isn't used much by students...yeah, some groups of friends here and there, but meh.
I realize I'm avoided by my peers, heh, but okay. I'm not a high school girl that cares sooo...
Of course, this is because of various factors. I'm not the approachable type, even before the merging of memories—no matter if I'm handsome, so no fan club of girls for me, hehe.
Plus, some people see me dismiss, play jokes, and throw verbal jabs at the council student and Rias's group when we talk, so people take it the wrong way.
Normal. They're more popular than me, so in a popularity clash, they win.
Funny thing happen on my way here, I saw Kiryuu checking me out...of course, it was the crotch part. It was funny to see how comically her eyes went wide open.
T-rex is peak after all.
That girl is down bad, just like Issei and his friends, but she knows how to hide it a bit better.
Today, Asia was introduced as a new student too, in Issei's class.
It crossed my mind to save her at some point...but I quickly decided not to do it. She wanted friends, and she found her happiness in Rias's peerage.
If it works, don't change it...thank God, less work for me. I need to play by canon a bit more before I throw it out of the window.
Uh-oh, look who's coming this time.
Ah, shit...here we go again.
I see Sona and her whole fucking peerage sitting at my table. Ugh, Saji is here too.
No way she's trying to do some sort of intimidation by numbers or something like that, right?
Of course, I keep eating without a care in the world...let them talk first.
"Lancaster, Rias told me what you talked about with her yesterday," Sona said.
Of course, she's talking about the reality check I gave her.
"We talked. I told her my reasons for why she's a mediocre devil wasting her potential. If you're here to scold me on behalf of your friend, I don't want to hear it," I said to her.
"What do you think you—" Of course, Saji, being the unaware dumbass, starts yapping.
"Saji, silence," Sona cuts him off.
"Down, boy," I tease him with a mischievous smile.
"YOU BASTARD!" Funny enough, Tsubaki and Sona double-smack him before he can continue. Good thing, because if I smack him, it'll hurt more.
Fucking sad, haha...that's the appeal to enter a peerage? Well, Saji kinda likes that shit. I know Saji has his reasons to enter, but...sigh.
"It's okay. I understand that it can be hard to educate new recruits," I said calmly while sipping some tea.
"Yes. He's my new pawn. Genshirou Saji," she signals him.
"Tch," Saji said in response, along with a nod.
"Samuel Lancaster," I tell him my name.
"Good pick, Sona. He has one of Vritra's parts." Time to have some fun.
Her whole peerage looked at me in silence.
"Of course, you know..." Sona said with a dark frown, then rolling her eyes.
Haha.
"H-how did you know?" Saji asked.
"Magician," I said like the playful bastard I was.
Sona twitched...violently.
"Well, enough about that...so yeah, Rias told you about that, so?" Let's see how this goes.
"I want to thank you," Sona said.
? What.
Did I hear that right?
"What for?" I said, unsure.
"She went crying to her brother, asking for training to change her...difficult situation," she said with a conflicted gaze.
Did I hear that fucking right!?
Potential woman, the spoiled one, the fraudulent one...wanted to train to change HER life?
"..."
I'm surprised. My words really affected her for the good, huh.
"Guess the reality check I gave her worked for the better," I shrugged. "I was half expecting her to ask him to cancel the whole thing...but she decided to fight instead...guess she's not that dumb," I conceded.
"Indeed," Sona said with a smile. "I'm a bit more relieved now that she's planning to do something about it," she continued. "I wasn't expecting that from you, Lancaster," she said, giving me the look.
"What thing?" I asked.
"Your peculiar way of helping," Sona pointed out.
"Well, I was only being honest. They say the truth hurts, but Gremory needed it. Like I said, I don't mind shedding some light on troubled and stupid teenagers," I said with a magnanimous voice.
And, of course, doing the Rias bashing in real life was an equally important part.
"You're a teenager too," Tsubaki pointed out.
"But I'm better," I said with a smirk, messing with them a little.
Some girls shook their heads, while others scoffed.
"I'm curious, Lancaster. What do you think of me?" Sona challenged, adjusting her glasses anime-style.
Sona is a theater kid. Noted.
"Thank God you're way more intelligent than Gremory. You probably already have a future planned for yourself and everything," I said. When I said that, she smiled. Girls' rivalry, huh.
"But still, Gremory will leave you way behind," I said while I saw her smile disappear.
"Explain," she said in a serious tone.
"If what you're saying is true, she's getting training from her brother, one of the most powerful users of the Power of Destruction," I said. I saw her expression... she caught on fast.
"Her peerage will get some training from him too?" I asked lightly.
"Yes..." she said a bit more quietly.
"Then, if you don't do anything, she'll get you far behind in that aspect too," I continued. "Not to be an asshole, but she has the superior bloodline. Don't get me wrong, the affinity for water magic in your family is useful... but everyone knows that the Power of Destruction is fucking ridiculous," I explained a bit.
Top 10 powers of this world, in my humble opinion.
She gave me a face with furrowed brows in response.
"You're more intelligent than her. I'm sure you'll use all possible means to get stronger," I threw that out there. She needs to ask her sister. Her sister is a siscon like Sirzechs, so she'll say yes. If she says no, just let her eat your ass or something... get creative, girl.
"Always so sure of things..." she muttered in disbelief.
"Well, look at me—Ultimate-class, and I'm only human, after all," I said. I saw Ruruko and Momo spit their drinks, while Sona and the others looked at me in awe.
No point in playing dumb anymore. It was an open secret. And Sirzechs will know when we have our "talk" in the foreseeable future.
"Y-you're lying. No way a human can achieve that," Saji said.
"There are humans who have reached Ultimate-class, dumbass. Even among us to this day," I deadpanned to him.
Vasco Strada. One of the chads of this world.
The other example would be Cao Cao...but eww. Let's not think of that guy.
"...How?" Sona asked me in a low voice.
"Training," I said with mirth.
"YOU—" Sona got agitated but then calmed herself, letting out a sigh.
"HAHAHA," I laughed at her expense.
Before she said anything, I decided to talk first.
"Going back to the main theme, it's a good thing Gremory is throwing herself into the ruthless world of self-improvement," I said to her.
I'm a bit unsure of that...I'll know later for sure, I guess. If it's true...damn, it'll be a big thing.
She'll really own the title of "Better Rias" and not Runeas, HAHAHA.
Kinda funny and based if Rias really takes the red pill in this situation.
This brings back memories of my past life...when I threw myself into that hole of self-improvement too.
I kept silent, remembering my past life.
'That time, huh?'
Then I got called by Sona again. I didn't catch what she was saying.
"Sorry, I was in the clouds. What was it?" I asked Sona.
"Maou-sama is coming to take Rias and her peerage for their training. He'll come after the end of classes in the occult research club," Sona said, looking at me carefully, trying to gauge me, girl?
Oh my God, it's happening.
Rias is taking the red pill and pulling a training arc all by herself!!
"And?" It can't be, right?
"...He wants to meet you. Maou-sama is really interested in the magician who made his sister cry," she said with a playful tone.
Of course, it can be.
"And he asked me if I can bring you there..." she said more slowly and unsure about that part.
I was half expecting him to TRY to enter my house like a creep so I could beat the crap out of him.
Bruh. The fanfics keep lying to me.
"Sure, no problem," I responded lightly with a smile.
Sona's jaw dropped a bit at my careless response.
"O-okay, I'll accompany you after classes," Sona said.
"Sure, until then."
I stood up and left them in the cafeteria.
Guess a wild Sirzechs decided to appear a bit early this time.
I'll be waiting, you damn siscon.
-------------------------
-3rd Pov-
After classes, Sona and her whole peerage come looking for Samuel.
'I feel like that Luigi guy being escorted like this,' Samuel thought with mirth, joking in his mind.
"Follow me," Sona said while she and her followers walked to the Occult Research Club.
The walk was pretty much silent. Nobody talked.
When they entered the club, Rias and her peerage were all standing to the right side of the room.
'No Gasper around, huh,' Samuel thought, looking for the vampire femboy who can stop time.
'I once read the book "Personality-Modifying Masks", so it would be a good solution to give Gasper a stone mask to help him... for no particular reason other than help him of course!' Samuel joked inside his head.
"Lancaster..." Issei muttered when he saw the young man with a carefree expression.
"Issei-san, you know him?" Asia asked in a low voice too.
"...Y-yes," he responded, unsure.
Lancaster looked at Asia. It was the first time he could see her in a more normal state than last time, after all.
He decided to address the elephant in the room directly.
"Hi, guys. Where's the big bad Maou who wanted to talk with me?" Samuel asked, looking around.
"..."
Everyone was speechless at him.
'Is Lancaster utterly insane?' they thought.
"L-Lancaster-san, my brother will come in a bit," Rias said.
Samuel rolled his eyes. The siscon bastard was making him wait.
"Whatever...this one is new," he said, looking at Asia.
"Yes, this is Asia Argento, my new bishop," the potential woman (for real this time) said with a hint of pride.
"Is that so?" he said.
"Hello, nice to meet you," the blonde said politely with a deep nod.
"Samuel Lancaster. Likewise," he said.
Before anyone said anything...
"Another Sacred Gear user?" Samuel asked, looking at the new girl, to the surprise of some members.
"Bastard! How did you know!?" Issei decided to put himself in front of Asia and Lancaster, making a fake bravado.
"Same thing as last time. Do you remember?" the always playful Samuel said with a hint of mockery in his voice.
"Y-you..." Issei seethed a bit in rage.
"So that's where all your luck in life is going, huh? I don't know if you're lucky or unlucky, Gremory," he decided to mess a bit with the redhead.
Rias just frowned at his words.
While they were talking, Sona and her peerage stood on the left side of the room.
"Well...Shitori told me you went crying to your brother and kinda snitched on me," Samuel, being the bastard he is, threw those words without a care in the world.
Rias, at his words, blushed pink.
"SONA!" Rias looked at the other side of the room to her childhood friend, who looked away with a smile.
"It was not like that, Lancaster-san. I asked for training, and I didn't cry!" Rias quickly explained.
"But the snitch part was right?" Samuel gave her a look.
"T-that's... he asked why, and I told him the truth," Rias decided to go with honesty on this one.
"Meh, not that I care about what he thinks, but it was funny to see in my mind the image of you crying and snitching to an adult...like a kid," Samuel said in his never-ending jabbing.
Rias blushed while both of her eyes twitched.
"Ufufu~~ Lancaster-san, you are incorrigible," Akeno said while putting her hand to her mouth.
"True," Samuel conceded easily.
"Where's your brother? I'm growing old here..." he said, a bit bored now.
Then, a red magical circle appeared behind the desk where Rias normally sits.
"Finally," Samuel said.
Two people appeared from the magical circle. One tall man with red hair and royal armor. The other, a curvy woman with white hair and... a maid outfit.
'No wonder she has a good chunk of fans too. She's a beauty,' Samuel thought, watching for a fraction of a second as Grayfia appeared.
Then he decided to put his eyes on Sirzechs.
The two kings looked at each other in the eyes for a time.
Red stared at golden.
Golden stared back at red.
They let the silence stretch on.
"You must be Samuel Lancaster. Nice to meet you. I'm Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the four Maous," he said calmly while sitting in the chair behind the desk.
"Good thing you decided to have this talk this way," Samuel said with a smirk.
"How so?" the Maou asked, curious.
"I was half expecting you to try to sneak into my house like a creep, and we'd end up throwing hands at each other," Lancaster said with a giggle.
!
'He's insane,' everyone thought while looking at Samuel with perplexed expressions.
Both Sirzechs and Grayfia widened their eyes a bit.
After letting out a giggle of his own, the redhead continued.
"I would never do that," the Maou shook his head with a smile and continued. "I'm a Maou, so I need to always have some decorum in every situation," he concluded.
'Fair.' Samuel thought.
"I must say, Lancaster-san, my sister told me about your...peculiar personality," he looked at me again.
"Yep. So, you wanted to talk?" I got to the point.
"You know a lot about the supernatural world," he stated.
"The Devilnet is a wonderful invention, right?" Lancaster said with a smile. He kept bullshitting his way to the top!
'God dammit, Ajuka...' Sirzechs cursed in his mind.
"Is that the case?" he said, looking at Samuel, searching for any lies in the expression of the young man.
"Yes," Samuel said calmly.
"You're strong too. It's been quite a while since I've seen a human in the Ultimate Class tier. Even more so, one that was a low-tier magician," the Maou said, trying to get an emotional response or more information.
"Training," the young man shrugged.
Sona facepalmed while hearing this.
"I'll be direct, Lancaster. I'm not a fan of you being here or your words to my sister," Sirzechs' expression turned serious.
"Even if my words are true? I don't give a crap if you're not my fan," Lancaster did not back down.
Everyone was watching the back-and-forth of the two kings with worried expressions.
Both kept staring at each other in silence.
"Not gonna lie, I'm quite surprised Gremory decided to take the matter into her own hands, asking for training... I didn't expect that, to be honest," Samuel decided to change the topic.
"...Indeed, me too," Sirzechs responded, looking at his sister, who was looking down at the ground.
"Just out of curiosity, is it true you'll train her and her whole peerage?" he asked with a small smile.
"Yes," the blood-haired devil decided to keep it short.
"Interesting. Well, if you want them to beat Riser easily... then you must make them do ruthless training," Samuel said seriously.
"..." Rias and her peerage.
"Why is that?" Sirzechs said.
"You're strong too, Sirzechs, so you know they have the means to beat Riser individually. If you want the freedom of your sister, then you'll need to be ruthless in the training," Samuel was not beating around the bush anymore. He was being damn blunt.
Sirzechs was not liking this conversation. His serious expression was proof of that. The young man in front of him was powerful, and he was not intimidated or nervous in the slightest.
"Life without freedom is meaningless, after all," Samuel said that more for himself than the topic in question.
He was the one who understood that better than anyone.
"Lancaster." Sirzechs said with a stone expression on his face.
"What if I decide to make you go away from Kuoh? As I said earlier, I'm not a fan of you, and I'll sleep better at night knowing the unknown Ultimate Class will be far away from my sister and her peerage," Sirzechs said coldly.
"ONII-SAMA!" Rias protested, to Samuel's surprise.
"Quiet, Rias," the Maou said, and Rias obeyed.
"You really are a good brother, huh?" Samuel said with a giggle.
"To be honest, I don't want to fight you. I don't want to hurt you badly. You're the best choice from the people of the Underworld, after all," Samuel responded, always calmly, even when one of the most powerful Maous pressured him. This surprised Sirzechs and the rest.
And he really is the best choice.
The Great King Factions are far from perfect, but what's the alternative?
The Old Satan Faction? As if.
Rizevim? Don't joke around!
The Great King Factions are the lesser evil.
"Sirzechs." Samuel Lancaster's whole demeanor changed, and his voice became cold, making all the present stiffen in response.
"If you decide to force me...well...I can offer you a battle you have no chance of winning. Rather an anticlimax, after all you've accomplished."
Sirzechs widened his eyes. Shivers and sweat ran down his back.
The rest were no better. They were feeling the most primal emotion.
Fear.
Sirzechs instinctively knew he had no chance of winning.
'...Monster,' he thought.
Everyone was watching him in awe, the normally playfully Samuel Lancaster behaving in this way.
With inhuman coldness.
With absolute thought.
"It's your choice." Samuel finished his words, then he released his pressure in the room.
Silence filled the room.
Both Sirzechs and Grayfia were looking at me with surprised eyes after that display.
"..."
"It was nice to meet you, Lancaster-san. Thanks for coming and having a talk with me," Sirzechs said with a practiced smile. Not for nothing does he know how to navigate high nobility.
Obviously, Sirzechs was cutting his losses and calling it a day.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Lancaster rolled his eyes at him.
Then he turned to Rias and her peerage.
"Guys, best of luck in your training," and for the first time, he gave a genuine smile.
He was radiant.
"..." Everyone.
That shocked everyone again.
From a scary demeanor with a cold voice to a genuine smile.
Samuel turned around, going to the door.
"W-wait a moment, Lancaster," Issei said, going to Lancaster.
"Yes?" Samuel turned to face Issei, a bit intrigued.
"You're strong; I know that. But I want to surpass you when this training is—" Issei started yapping like the dumb shonen protagonist he was.
Everyone noticed how Lancaster's smile grew...to the smile they all knew very well.
"Sorry, not interested in your shonentard rivalry speech," he cut Issei off and passed through the door, closing it.
*PAM!*
"..."
Issei was standing there, dumbfounded.
Then, slowly, his expression turned to one of comical anger.
"LANCASTER!" he shouted.
'Shit... it's like Azazel but scarier,' Sirzechs cursed in his head about Lancaster while putting his hand on his forehead and letting out a sigh.
-------------------------
Author Notes 2:
Damn, I think this is the longest chapter I've written in my life. Here on Webnovel, they normally go around 2k words, approximately.
Let me repeat that Cordelia is not the love interest, just a funny interaction that i thought. Just an interaction to make the MC and the readers more aware of the "posible" woman choice in the future of the fic, im undecided of what woman still, fuck i don't know if i will put him in relationship, i need to think alot about that.
-Well, let's talk about the fic ideas that they lost and i discarded to go with Forsaken Regalia.
The first one was an OC that transmigrated into Rias. The fic name will be "Better Rias"... indeed, in this one, I thought to make Rias go to her full potential and stomp Riser, solving all the problems with her fully trained peerage, with Issei not fixing everything.
Basically, a red pilled Rias, lol. Beautiful, accomplished, and reliable woman who lived up to her full potential and talent. It would've been a fun fic like this one.
I even thought about changing her hairstyle not a fan of her fangs all over the place, haha. I was thinking about nicely straightened hair with a curtain bang on the forehead, like Kushina Uzumaki...but better.
The other one was an OC that transmigrated into Asia. Asia wouldn't meet Issei, wouldn't join a peerage, would break every bone in Diodora's body, and rescue her fellow holy maidens. The plot would go on, and she'd keep becoming stronger, eventually making a group called "Holy Maidens Who Were Wronged", HAHA. I was thinking of throwing both Jeanne d'Arc's (Fate Jeanne and DxD Jeanne) into the story.
Of course, shitting on the three factions, specifically the Heaven faction, and all of that.
But in the end, I choose Forsaken Regalia to have more freedom and more fun writing, of course, heh.
-Time to talk about the page situation. Shit, man, we're being invaded by AI slop and Chinese translations (with AI slop too). I see a lot of people complaining, and even among my friends, we're talking about this. I really hope this tones down a bit. It's crazy.
I'm a reader before an author, so I read on other pages too. I'll talk a bit about the first one Fanfictiondotnet (I write it like this so Webnovel doesn't get angry, and I'll add some dots in between). I like the page, but not the comment system ew. Readers have similar opinions compared there and here.
I'll say authors there are a bit different, but not by much, in my opinion.
The other page is wa.tt.pad. I read COTE fics there from time to time... the page sucks. It's always slow for some reason... and it's the page for women, lol. Horny women. Really, go and see the popular original fics, and damn, bro... not a fan of that type of "literature."
And the most different page from Webnovel... spa.ce.batt.les. Authors and readers there are VERY different. I go there to read Worm fics, and I always get disappointed when the protagonist of the fic (could be Taylor/OC/SI) the first thing they do, which is reveal their powers the first time Armsmaster or someone else asks them about it... okay.
Normally, I don't like those tropes in fanfiction. I just close the fic page and search for another one of my taste, but the majority of them are like that. And nobody says anything...that's the crazy thing very different from here in webnovel.
One friend of mine is a crazy one and called out the bad trope from an author... and he got perma banned from the page, lmao.
That page is strongly moderated. I even see some warnings when I enter to read some Worm fics from certain authors, basically saying only "constructive criticism" is accepted.
Okaaay...it gives me something to think about, you know?
I'm a ghost reader 90% of the time, so I don't care much.
Anyways, thanks for reading my rambles. See you guys in the next chapter.