High School DxD: The Lucifer's Devil Trigger — Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Triple Engagement

Levi shook his head. A slow, calculating smirk curled the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t forget,” he projected his voice across the gathered devils, “back then, we held the absolute advantage in combat power. Yet we still lost in the end. Why? Because those two Transcendents—Sirzechs and Ajuka—crashed the board and flipped the pieces.”

He paced a few steps, his gaze sweeping over the remnants of the Old Satan Faction. “Do you honestly believe our faction is inherently weaker than the Reformists? What a joke. Aside from lacking a extraordinary of our own, when have we ever been inferior?”

Silence swept through the hall. The veterans of the civil war clamped their mouths shut, eyes locked on him.

Levi grinned, letting the silence stretch. “So, hold your ground. Bide your time. Trust me—the moment I step into the world of a extraordinary, the Old Satan Faction will reclaim its glory.”

His voice dropped, cold and absolute. “The throne of the Underworld belonged to us from the very beginning.”

Before the last syllable faded, the suppression on Levi’s aura snapped.

A terrifying, invisible pressure slammed into the room. It was the Conqueror’s Haki he had acquired from Sairaorg Bael—a sheer, dominating willpower made manifest.

To the devils present, the concept of Haki was entirely alien. They only saw Levi raise a single hand. Instantly, the air turned to lead. Their scalps prickled with static. Lungs seized, unable to draw breath under the crushing weight of his presence.

A few of the weaker devils rolled their eyes back, collapsing onto the marble floor in dead faints.

The combination of that overwhelming dominance and his ambitious declaration ignited the hall. The shock gave way to absolute fanaticism.

“Lord Levi is invincible!”

“He is right! We are the true kings of the devils!”

The roar of the crowd shook the chandeliers, a mad, deafening fervor that raged for several minutes before finally burning itself out.

Eventually, the hall emptied. The heavy oak doors clicked shut, leaving behind a chaotic mess of overturned chairs and spilled wine. From the shadows, a dozen Einzbern homunculi—dressed in immaculate maid uniforms—filed into the room, silently and efficiently clearing the debris.

Levi watched them for a moment, then exhaled a long breath. The tyrannical edge vanished from his eyes, replaced by a dry calm.

“You can come out now, Sirzechs. The idiots are gone.”

A ripple distorted the air near the pillars. The current Lucifer stepped into the light, a faint, amused smile on his lips.

The fanatics who had just screamed themselves hoarse about slaughtering the Reformist Faction would have suffered a collective heart attack if they knew one of the Reformist leaders had been standing there the entire time.

“You certainly have a flair for the dramatic, Levi,” Sirzechs said, brushing a speck of dust from his crimson coat. “Every time I watch you work, I become more convinced. If you were to take up the title of Lucifer, you would be perfectly qualified.”

Sirzechs made no effort to hide his intentions. He was actively grooming Levi for the throne. He didn’t even question the treasonous speech. Deep down, Sirzechs knew Levi would never jeopardize the Underworld’s foundation. Like Ajuka, he trusted the boy’s pragmatism.

“Save the flattery,” Levi said, waving a hand dismissively. “I just riled up the hardliners. The Reformist Faction will undoubtedly catch wind of this and react.”

He leaned against a pristine table. “My plan is simple. Starting another full-scale civil war is too tedious. It wastes resources. When Rizevim eventually crawls back out of the woodwork, I’ll use his own schemes to gather these old fools in one place and wipe them out simultaneously. It will drastically accelerate your little reform project.”

Sirzechs paused, his smile turning slightly strained. “That proposal… isn’t exactly conventional, is it?”

He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Arranging a marriage between you and two prominent clan heiresses… if the details of that leak, the entire Underworld will be in an uproar.”

Levi spread his hands. “Then we find another angle.”

He sank into a high-backed chair, his gaze darkening as he calculated the angles. “Regardless, this engagement issue can’t be stalled much longer. The more we drag our feet, the more variables enter the board.”

“I know.” Sirzechs rubbed his temples, looking every bit the exhausted older brother. “That is precisely why I came to discuss it with you today.”

“Before you were rudely interrupted by a pack of old geezers.”

“It couldn’t be helped.” Sirzechs sighed again. “Those elders have noses sharper than hellhounds. I had barely set foot in the territory before they caught my scent and tracked me down.”

Levi scoffed. “Well, it worked out. They’re gone. Speak your mind.”

Sirzechs fell silent for a few seconds, organizing his thoughts. “Here is my proposal. You and Rias will formally announce an engagement. We will publicly frame it as a strict political marriage to pacify the conservative factions and shut those elders up.”

“And then?”

“And then? That depends entirely on you.” Sirzechs shrugged. “If you can actually win Rias over, I certainly won’t stop you. If you can’t, we simply wait for the political heat to die down, invent a plausible excuse, and quietly annul the contract.”

Levi raised an eyebrow, dryly amused. “You’ve certainly calculated all the angles.”

“What choice do I have?” Sirzechs offered a helpless smile. “You know my sister’s temperament. If I don’t present her with a complete, airtight plan, she might actually burn my office down.”

“So you’re using me as a meat shield.”

“You are the most logical candidate.” Sirzechs looked at him earnestly. “Your status is impeccable, your strength is obvious, and your background fits the bill perfectly. More… Rias doesn’t actively dislike you.”

Levi tapped his fingers against the armrest. “And what about Sona?”

“I will personally speak with the Sitri Clan,” Sirzechs promised. “As long as you give the nod, I’ll handle the diplomatic fallout.”

Levi studied the Crimson Satan for a moment, then let out a low chuckle. “Aren’t you worried I’ll take this opportunity to actually run off with your precious little sister?”

“If you actually possess the ability to manage her, I would be deeply relieved.” Sirzechs spread his hands in surrender. “It would save her from causing disasters in the human world, and it would save me from having to clean up the resulting craters.”

The two men stared at each other for a beat before breaking into genuine laughter.

Levi finally composed his expression, standing up to approach the tall arched windows. He looked out over the sprawling, crimson-tinted night of the Underworld.

“Fine. I’ll play along,” Levi said, his tone turning serious. “But I’m stating this upfront: I cannot guarantee this will go smoothly.”

“Just do your best.” Sirzechs stepped up beside him. “If the worst comes to pass, we pivot to a backup plan.”

“You actually drafted a backup plan?”

“Of course.” Sirzechs smiled with an infuriating innocence. “I am a Lucifer, after all. If I didn’t have at least three contingencies prepared, it would be terribly embarrassing.”

“Sirzechs, I genuinely don’t know whether to praise your foresight or curse your existence.”

Grayfia was carefully adjusting the lapels of Levi’s tailored black tuxedo. Levi ground his teeth, glaring at Sirzechs’ reflection in the full-length mirror.

“If you feel the need to praise me, by all means, go right ahead.”

“Do you have any shame left in your body?!”

Levi really didn’t know how to handle this bastard sometimes.

Grayfia smoothed out the last wrinkle on the dark fabric, took two precise steps back, and surveyed her work. She gave a crisp, satisfied nod.

“Lord Levi, you are ready.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Grayfia,” Levi said, forcing his voice into a polite, even tone.

But the moment he turned back to Sirzechs, his suppressed irritation flared.

“Look, I won’t hold the initial mess against you,” Levi began, stalking toward the Satan. “Accidents happen. You couldn’t anticipate everything, and I bear a fraction of the responsibility for letting it get this far. Shared blame. Fine.”

He stopped inches from Sirzechs, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. “But… I know you’re an eternal bachelor who doesn’t understand romance, but how in the absolute hell did you manage to schedule the engagement meetings for both families on the exact same day?!”

Faced with Levi’s venomous accusation, Sirzechs had the grace to look guilty, scratching his cheek with an apologetic laugh.

He had, admittedly, botched the execution.

“I was backed into a corner,” Sirzechs defended himself weakly. “Ajuka vanished the moment things got complicated, leaving me surrounded by a mob of clan heads demanding answers about you. Amidst the shouting, Lord Sitri suddenly suggested drafting the marriage contracts together. He said it so casually, like he was inviting me to dinner! I didn’t process the implications and just… agreed.”

Sirzechs pressed his hands together in a pleading gesture. “I am truly sorry. But to make up for it, I’ve already smoothed things over with my father. And Lord Sitri doesn’t seem to care how many concurrent contracts you sign. So, really, you just need to handle Rias, Sona, and Serafall, and then—”

“Tsk.”

Levi clicked his tongue, cutting off the useless advice. It was pointless to press the issue. Sirzechs was a strategic genius in war, but an absolute amateur in matters of the heart. Hoping he would provide a tactical solution for a three-way romantic standoff was less likely than Rias, Sona, and Serafall magically resolving the issue themselves.

Which was a problem, considering those three were currently waiting for him just down the hall.

As for Rias and the others, Sirzechs had outright refused to accompany him, completely unwilling to face the combined wrath of his sister and the Leviathan.

Levi stood before the heavy double doors of the grand conference room. He adjusted his cuffs, ran a hand through the hair Grayfia had just spent thirty minutes perfectly styling, and exhaled a sharp breath.

“One step at a time,” he muttered.

He placed his hands flat against the polished wood and pushed.

Because the negotiations were hosted on Lucifer territory, the girls had arrived early. Rias and Sona were seated side-by-side at the long mahogany table. Opposite them sat Serafall Leviathan.

The Magical Girl Satan had her chin propped on her hands, a strange, unreadable smile plastered across her face. Her intense gaze was locked onto Sona, who was actively trying to shrink behind Rias’s shoulder to escape the scrutiny.

Rias, conversely, sat perfectly straight. Her crimson hair cascaded down her back, and she projected an aura of absolute aristocratic composure, refusing to show a sliver of intimidation despite being on foreign turf.

The moment Levi’s footsteps echoed in the room, three pairs of eyes snapped toward him.

No one spoke. No greetings were exchanged.

The sheer weight of those combined stares was enough to make the air feel suffocatingly thin.

‘Sigh.’

Levi mentally groaned. He casually dragged a hand through his hair again, completely ruining Grayfia’s hard work, and bypassed the empty chairs entirely. He walked straight up to the trio, projecting an aura of absolute calm.

“I despise beating around the bush,” Levi stated, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. “So I will address this engagement matter directly.”

The shift in tone was immediate. Even Serafall dropped her teasing grin, sitting up to fix him with a serious, calculating look.

Rias and Sona tensed, their knuckles turning white.

Levi knew the lore. If this followed the original timeline, these two proud heiresses would fight tooth and nail to escape an arranged marriage. In the original history, they had the Rating Games as a desperate out. But here? The fiancé had been swapped to him—a monster they couldn’t possibly defeat in a game.

They had to be feeling utterly cornered.

“Let me make one thing crystal clear,” Levi said, looking down at them. “The Gremory and Sitri Clan Heads might think this arrangement is perfectly acceptable, but I have absolutely no intention of signing three binding engagement contracts simultaneously. My distaste for this situation is equal to yours. So, do not look at me as the enemy. In a very real sense, we are trapped in the exact same boat.”

Marry them all, as Sirzechs had so helpfully suggested?

Even setting aside the logistics, a political mess of this magnitude couldn’t be magically fixed with a piece of paper. Levi was here to clean up the fallout, and he was just as annoyed by the bureaucracy as they were.

“Rias. Sona.” Levi’s gaze softened slightly as he looked at the two tense girls. “I can see it in your eyes. You don’t want to sign your lives away today. But the preliminary contracts have already been drafted by the elders. Here is the reality: you are both still young. It will be years before you truly come of age. That gives you ample time to grow, to experience the world, and to think this through on your own terms. You don’t need to treat this engagement as a death sentence today.”

He offered them a faint, reassuring smile.

The effect was instantaneous. The rigid posture of both girls melted away, relief washing over their features.

ultimately, despite their noble upbringing, they were still just teenagers. Every ounce of their anxiety and subsequent relief was written plainly on their faces.

They even stood and offered him a synchronized, grateful bow.

Right at that moment, a translucent blue interface flared to life in Levi’s vision.

`[System Notification: Host has successfully altered the emotional state of key targets.]`

`[Reward Acquired (Rias Gremory): Qualification for Piece Promotion.]`

`[Reward Acquired (Sona Sitri): Skill – Flash Step.]`

Levi kept his expression neutral, quickly scanning the data.

The mechanics of Piece Promotion were straightforward: it allowed a standard Evil Piece to be upgraded into a Mutation Piece, provided it hadn’t been implanted into a servant yet.

‘Makes sense,’Levi mused inwardly.’Rias treats her peerage like a surrogate family. The system granting a reward tied to strengthening her future pieces fits her archetype perfectly.”And Sona is a tactician who relies on technical, high-speed combat. Handing her a mobility skill like Flash Step is highly practical.’

The system was remarkably intuitive.

With a few sentences, the hostility radiating from the two heiresses had been dismantled, and the necessary system triggers had been harvested.

Levi’s gaze slowly drifted away from the relieved teenagers, naturally coming to rest on the final, most dangerous occupant of the room.

Serafall Leviathan.

Pacifying Rias and Sona had only taken a few logical words. But the Magical Girl Satan staring back at him with unblinking, twilight eyes? That was going to be an entirely different battlefield.