Enjoy reading, rejoice and...
See you all on next time
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(..Continuing)
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From the silver magic circle, Micael and Grayfia appeared inside a room.
Looking around, Micael saw a desk with a computer in one corner and in the other he saw a wide sofa.
Raising an eyebrow, Micael found the design of the room very familiar. 'Is this a reception room?' The place looked exactly like an office reception room.
"As I imagine you already know, the underworld borrows a lot from human culture, this place looking exactly like a human office reception points to that."
Grayfia spoke, noticing his gaze around, he nodded in agreement.
"Well, it kind of makes sense, I mean, Sirzecs is like the CEO of the underworld, this place being like an office makes sense." He said as he finished analyzing the place and looked at her at the end of his sentence.
Grayfia just nodded silently in agreement.
"He's waiting for you there." She then extended a hand, pointing to the door in front of them.
"Hmm." Humming a response, Micael walked to the door without hesitation, when his hand touched the doorknob, he heard Grayfia speak.
"Micael."
Turning his head towards her, he waited for her to continue.
"You don't need to be nervous, Sizercs-sama is very calm and already has a good opinion of you, don't worry."
Finding the woman's expression calm, Micael smiled slightly in response. "Thanks for the tip, Grayfia. I'm glad to hear it, but don't worry, I'm not nervous."
Giving one last nod, he turned the handle and opened the door, his expression returning to its usual calm.
Because in truth, if he wasn't nervous, what he felt was caution. Brother-in-law or not, this guy was one of the strongest beings in the world, there was no way he wouldn't be the least bit tense.
Taking a step forward, Micael first looked around, seeing an archaic-style black wooden office desk, the place having a predictably old eupeur style.
With dark red tones and some black tones on the walls, ceiling and floor, a single sofa in front of the table, a bookshelf full of books on one side and some paintings on the other.
Then there were two windows behind the table, the curtains open showing the purple sky of the underworld.
The sight of the purple sky made Micael notice the atmosphere, he didn't feel any difference compared to Earth, he imagined that there would be some difference regardless of the barrier so that the aura of the underworld wouldn't affect him, but that didn't seem to be the case or maybe the barrier had done that.
After finishing assessing the place and closing the door behind him, Micael finally focused on the man sitting behind the desk.
Wearing a black cape with gold details and large shoulder pads divided into three sections, long red hair, blue eyes and a supernaturally handsome face, was Sirzecs Lucifer, one of the Satans.
Approaching the table, Micael studied the man's expression, which was a calm gaze combined with a slight friendly smile; the man gave the impression of being deceptively harmless.
And with a face that is also deceptively young, looking no more than twenty-five.
Arriving in front of the table and stopping, Micael was about to extend his hand to greet him when the man stood up and extended his hand himself.
"Micael-kun, right? Hahaha, nice to meet you."
Micael blinked for a moment before accepting the handshake, noticing how much taller the man was and guessing he was around 1.83 (6ft).
'He's strangely friendly...was he like this in the anime?' A fleeting thought that Micael had when he saw his smile, he had no memories of Sirzecs from the anime and even the ones he had from the fanfics were too different to serve as a reference.
'Let's see how it goes.' Regardless of his memories, with or without meta knowledge, he would just follow things as he normally would so ending the handshake, he replied. "Nice to meet you too, Sirzecs-san."
Micael decided to follow him and speak in Japanese as well.
Sirzecs nodded slightly in response. "I'm glad to hear that. By the way, you can call me Sirzecs directly, no honorific needed."
"In that case I say the same thing, you can call me Micael directly."
"Sure, please have a seat." Sirzecs said gesturing towards the couch.
Doing as the man suggested, Micael sat down with Sirzecs imitating the action in his own seat, ending by placing his hands clasped together on the table.
After that, what followed was a momentary silence as the two stared at each other, Micael with his calm gaze and Sirzecs with his slight smile.
Deciding to break the awkward silence as they stared at each other, Micael spoke, gesturing towards his own clothes. "By the way, considering your status and the context of our conversation, I thought it would be appropriate to come dressed more formally, but I wasn't sure if it was necessary. Would you find it disrespectful if I were dressed casually?"
"I noticed that, hahaha, I appreciate your gesture and no, I wouldn't consider it disrespectful if you had come in casual clothes, as long as you were comfortable."
"I see." Micael responded with a slight nod.
"Well, how about before we start talking about our main topic, you tell me a little about yourself?"
Raising an eyebrow slightly at the smiling man, Micael felt a slight sense of déjà vu and also had the impression that this felt strangely like a job interview.
"You didn't receive any information about my past?" He asked directly, he doubted that Sirzecs or Grayfia hadn't done any research into his past.
"Yes, I have information, but I would like to hear it from you personally."
Micael silently looked at Sirzecs in reaction as he nodded, the man still gave off that friendly and harmless vibe despite the situation not seeming so simple.
"Starting with my origin, as you can see, I'm not Japanese..." Rubbing his head for a moment, Micael began to tell his story, getting an even clearer impression that this felt like a job interview.
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"Hahaha, I see you are very close to your family."
"Yes, as I've always been a more introverted guy, preferring to solve my problems alone without wanting to cause them stress, they made a point of trying to know how I was and making it clear that they were there for me, so yes, we are very close, but mainly because of them."
After a few minutes of conversation where Micael basically told his backstory, his childhood in Brazil until his eventual arrival in Japan until the current moment with recent events, until the subject reached the present, where they talked about his relationship with his family.
And there they were, with Sirzecs with his friendly smile and Micael with his calm face, the two of them looked like just a brother-in-law and his sister's boyfriend having a casual conversation.
"I understand, I'm like that too. I prefer to solve my problems alone than to cause stress for my family, but sometimes I end up needing their support, as my responsibilities end up affecting my personal life." Sirzecs' smile turned somewhat bitter as he commented.
Micael gave a slight nod of understanding. "I understand, you are one of the leaders of the underworld, I imagine it is quite tiring."
"Yes, it's tiring, but it's still something I decided to do. Besides the changes I've brought and will bring, this position has its advantages too, after all."
With these words from Sirzecs, the two looked at each other in mutual understanding with slight nods, the underlying meaning of these last words was understood by both of them, so Sirzecs continued the conversation.
"So, I guess we can move on to the relevant topic, right?"
"My relationship with Rias and all the implications, right?"
Nodding, the smile on Sirzecs' face disappeared as he took on a more serious look. "Listen, Micael, I want to make it clear that I have no problem with your relationship. Grayfia told me how happy Rias is with you and that's enough for me." Sirzecs clasped his hands together as he continued. "But my opinion or Rias's doesn't change the situation of her engagement, so I want to know if you have any idea of the gravity of this situation."
"I know how serious it is, whether it's the risk we run if our relationship is discovered or the risk to your engagement if we can't end it, but I can guarantee that Rias will stay with me, no matter the cost."
"I'm glad to hear that, but I don't think you fully understand the seriousness of this situation, Micael." With his serious expression, a faint invisible pressure began to come out of Sirzecs and spread. "Rias is someone extremely important to me, I wouldn't want her to be unhappy, so tell me, do you really like her and will you do your best to make her happy?"
"Yes."
"I see..." Sirzecs stared at Micael's calm face for a moment before closing his eyes.
Until slowly the invisible pressure he exuded increased, and then, out of nowhere, it exploded.
Shuumm—
With an aura so dense that it shook the entire place with a low hum, a dark red energy covered Sirzecs' body as the man opened his eyes, his previously serious face was now completely neutral, with an emotionless look.
Before Micael was no longer Sirzecs Lucifer, Rias' older brother, but Sirzecs Lucifer, the Satan.
"If that's the case, then tell me one more thing: would you be willing to die for her? Are your feelings for her that intense?" Sirzecs' voice sounded as emotionless as his face at that moment.
An immense pressure enveloped the entire place, Micael felt as if he was submerged in the ocean with thousands of liters pressing down on him, his body was completely immobile due to the tension in his muscles as an instinctive response.
'Huh, how ironic.' Micael obviously didn't miss the irony of the situation, since this was literally what he did to Issei before coming here.
Looking faintly at his hands tightly gripping the arms of the sofa, Micael didn't feel afraid or nervous at that moment, but he wouldn't deny that the difference in power was frightening, it was so absurd that it seemed like a joke.
'This guy can kill me simply by releasing his aura, what a cheater.' He thought based on the fact that what Sirzecs was releasing at that moment was definitely not his full aura.
'Well, I'm a cheater too, so I can't judge him.' Finishing his musing, Micael met Sirzecs' emotionless eyes as he replied. "No."
"Oh...can you explain yourself?" Sirzecs kept his eyes on him without showing any reaction to his answer.
"I like Rias, but not enough for something like that, for that I need to love her and love is something that takes time."
"So you're basically telling me that you will eventually love her and that at that point you would be able to do so if necessary?"
"Yes."
After that exchange, the two just stared at each other in tense silence until Sirzecs spoke again.
"You seem to have a very systematic view of your relationships."
"I thought it was something suitable for the future and with my new reality it makes even more sense."
"I see, but what about your family? Let's say they disappear for some reason. I imagine you'd be able to dedicate yourself completely to Rias, right?"
These words made Micael frown instantly. 'What the hell is this guy talking about?' What Sirzecs had said seemed like a very clear threat.
'Why would he say that kind of thing? Does he want a reaction from me or something?' Micael was confused more than anything, it didn't make sense for Sirzecs to say that despite the pressure he exuded, the man hadn't shown any real hostility.
'This doesn't make sense, is he acting out of character or...' At that moment, Micael remembered that this universe could be an AU.
He didn't remember Sirzecs' personality to have any basis, but regardless, this man was still a devil, he shouldn't be using his kinship with Rias as a basis.
And as if responding to his thoughts, faintly but clearly, Micael felt something, a cold sensation like an invisible blade against his neck, something very similar to the sensation Raynare gave when he confronted her.
Instantly recognizing what it was, Micael reacted immediately.
Shuumm—!Crack—!
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(Continue...)