High School DxD: The Lucifer's Devil Trigger — Chapter 68

Chapter 68: The Himejima Heir

Himejima Suzaku held her porcelain cup, savoring a rare moment of quiet leisure, when the atmosphere shifted. The oppressive weight of the gazes surrounding her—both the overt stares and the covert surveillance—vanished all at once.

She exhaled a soft breath, the steam from her tea curling into the air, and set the cup down on its saucer. “Thanks for chasing away the pests. But come to think of it, the trouble you bring is far greater than theirs.”

She did not turn her head to speak, keeping her gaze fixed on the bustling street outside the cafe window. Only when the scrape of wooden chair legs sounded from the opposite side of the table did she slowly shift her attention.

Levi and Ryougi Shiki took their seats.

“Levi Lucifer… and the little girl from the Ryougi clan,” Suzaku murmured, her eyes sweeping over them. The corners of her mouth curled upward into an elegant, measured smile. “A Devil and a demon-hunting clan member sitting together. What a fresh combination. Speak up. What do you want with me?”

Shiki offered no response. Her cold, piercing gaze remained locked onto the older woman’s arm.

She could sense the coiled tension beneath Suzaku’s relaxed posture. The Himejima heir was entirely on guard, ready to turn hostile at the slightest provocation. Under the cover of the table, the cold steel of a small knife had already slipped into Shiki’s palm. If the woman across from them dared to make a single wrong move, Shiki would simply cut her lines and end it.

Levi chuckled, breaking the heavy silence. “I really didn’t expect the Five Great Families to know my name already. Honestly, I’m a bit surprised.”

He leaned back, resting his arms casually on the armrests. “But I didn’t seek you out for anything complicated. I just want to chat about you.”

Suzaku narrowed her eyes, a faint crease forming between her brows.

Levi propped his chin on one hand, studying her with open amusement. “To be perfectly honest, my opinion of your Five Great Families is abysmal.” His tone was smooth, unhurried, yet laced with absolute disdain. “Cowards who bully the weak, cower before the strong, and excel only at tearing each other apart. That is my entire impression of your esteemed clans.”

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. As the heir to the Himejima Clan, tradition and duty dictated that she should immediately defend her family’s honor.

She remained completely silent.

Seeing her reaction, Levi’s grin widened. “No rebuttal? It seems you know it just as well as I do.” He dropped his hand, his voice cooling into something far more dangerous. “I have never seen your people exert any real effort against external threats. But when it comes to your own flesh and blood, you strike without hesitation.”

He leaned forward slightly. “I am not one to beat around the bush, so I will say it straight. Himejima Suzaku, in my eyes, the current Five Great Families are a massive eyesore.”

His gaze locked onto hers, pinning her in place. “They are already blocking the path of my plans. So, there is only one way for me to deal with them. Absolute force.”

Suzaku’s expression tightened, but she did not look away.

“Since you know who I am, you should understand that I am not Azazel,” Levi continued. “The Governor General of the Fallen Angels allows himself to be constrained by you because of his political stance. He lets himself be manipulated to maintain a fragile peace. But I am Levi Lucifer. I hail from the Old Satan Faction, and I have zero reservations about how I handle my obstacles.”

He let the threat hang in the air for a fraction of a second. “If your people push me too far, bringing the full might of the Old Satan Faction to wage war against Kyoto would be nothing more than a passing whim.”

As his words settled, a waiter approached their table carrying two fresh cups of coffee.

Levi took them, placing one in front of himself and sliding the other toward Shiki. The waiter’s eyes were completely glassy, his steps stiff and mechanical, totally stripped of conscious thought. He turned and walked away like a wind-up toy.

Levi took a slow sip of his coffee. When he spoke again, the killing intent in his voice had dialed back into a calm proposition. “However, aside from a bloody war, there is another way to solve this problem once and for all.”

He set the cup down. “The current clan leaders are far too stupid. So, let’s replace them with someone who isn’t. What do you think?”

Suzaku kept her face composed, but her mind raced. She could not find a single flaw in his logic. The Five Great Families were exactly as he described. The moment a direct relative awakened an attribute that did not perfectly align with the family’s strict traditions, they were cast out, left to rot. The harsher elders would simply order an execution to clean up the bloodline.

It was a cold-blooded, rotting system. She had harbored the desire to tear it down and rebuild it for years.

Suzaku let her gaze rest on Levi. This was a turning point. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity handed to her on a silver platter by a monster wearing a human face.

“To be honest, I support your assessment,” Suzaku finally said, her airy tone replaced by grave sincerity. “Earlier, when the incident occurred in Kyoto, the family ordered me not to get involved. I investigated anyway. That great yokai war was stopped by you, wasn’t it? Thank you. Truly.”

She offered a small, genuine bow of her head. Then, a slow smile crept back onto her lips. “However, replacing the entire management of the Five Great Families is not as simple as you make it sound. Those clan leaders are ancient, paranoid, and hold powerful trump cards….”

She narrowed her eyes. “Even if the current leaders all dropped dead today, the candidates for the next generation have long been secured. It is a failsafe to prevent the clans from collapsing into chaos if a leader suddenly dies.”

Levi let out a short, contemptuous snort. “You are still worrying about such trivial things? If the old guard dies, the smart ones will naturally scramble to fill the void. I don’t like wasting time, Suzaku. You don’t actually think I sought you out on a whim without mapping out the board, do you?”

Suzaku let out a soft laugh, the tension bleeding out of her shoulders. “I see. Although there are still some minor hurdles, you are far better than those old fogies. At least your mind is flexible.”

She had already seen through the surface of his offer. This was the closest she had ever been to her lifelong ambition, but she refused to let the intoxicating prospect cloud her judgment.

“Then what is your true aim in doing all this?” she asked. She did not believe for a second that a Devil would hand her a revolution out of the goodness of his heart. Devils operated on strict transactional benefit.

“My purpose is very simple,” Levi said. “I need to construct a nationwide array to anchor this world’s dimensional coordinates. It will ensure that the pests who casually travel through parallel worlds cannot break into our reality without proper coordinates.”

He had entirely changed his rhetoric from the explanation he had given Yasaka.

“As for the specific details, if you can guess them, keep them to yourself. I cannot state them clearly right now. But I will tell you one thing. No matter what you intend to do, you must hurry.”

Suzaku’s eyes widened slightly, her usual composure slipping. “Could it be…”

A terrifying thought flashed through her mind. Levi gave her a single, slow nod.

“More or less exactly what you are thinking.”

Through the ability to hear the voices of all things, Levi caught every syllable of her internal panic. Even without it, her sudden realization was written plainly across her face.

“This world will face a great catastrophe in the near future,” Levi said, his voice dropping low. “Do not misunderstand me. I am not playing the hero. I will not place myself on a pedestal and reach out to save the world. That approach is arrogant and incredibly stupid. Those who want to die can go die, and those who deserve to die will not survive.”

He looked at Shiki for a brief moment before turning back to Suzaku. “But I will lead my people through it. Anyone willing to entrust their life to me will survive. That is my absolute priority. To achieve that, I have far too many preparations to make.”

He tapped a finger against the table. “These current actions are merely the first step. And the Five Great Families happen to be standing in my way. I know what you want, Suzaku. But you must remember what I am. I will help you create the conditions for your coup. But if your plan succeeds, and your newly reformed Families still block my path…”

Levi’s eyes turned dead and cold. “Then you know exactly what will happen.”

Suzaku sat in total silence for a long moment. Then, she threw her head back and laughed aloud, a bright, ringing sound that drew no attention from the manipulated patrons around them.

“Sigh… I really do not want to stand on the opposite side of a man like you.”

A firm goal paired with terrifying, overwhelming power. That was her absolute assessment of Levi Lucifer. He had brought his own small faction into the Kyoto war, met with the leaders of the Three Factions, slaughtered Tsuchigumo and Hagoromo Gitsune, and ended the chaos overnight. A feat impossible without monstrous personal strength.

Their goals did not conflict in the slightest.

Suzaku smiled warmly and extended her hand across the table. “Then let us get along well in the future.”

Levi smiled back. He reached out and grasped her hand. Her palm was warm and soft, but he released his grip the exact second the formality was complete.

“Happy cooperation,” Levi said.

“Yes. Happy cooperation.”

Levi guided Shiki out of the cafe, stepping back into the sunlight. As the door chimed shut behind them, he glanced down at the translucent system interface hovering in his vision.

[Himejima Suzaku: Help her become the head of the Himejima Clan]

Grayfia had already returned to the Underworld early. The array eyes for the national-level bounded field were distributed across fifteen major cities. Tohsaka Tokiomi had managed the bulk of the deployment, while Levi’s retainers handled the remaining nodes. For the past few days, Grayfia had been working so relentlessly her feet barely touched the ground.

“Levi,” Shiki suddenly spoke up, her boots clicking against the pavement. “That conversation just now. You are going to help her murder her rivals, and she is going to use that blood to seize power. Is that it?”

“Yes,” Levi nodded without breaking stride.

“Then aren’t you afraid she will turn on you the second she secures her position?”

“She won’t.” Levi shook his head, his tone absolute. It was not born from a naive trust in Suzaku’s moral character, but a simple statement of fact.

“Shiki, remember when I told you I would be leaving for a while, and that I needed to find someone to take care of you?”

Shiki stopped walking. Her eyes widened as the pieces clicked together. “You cannot be talking about that woman.”

Seeing the sheer betrayal on Shiki’s face, Levi laughed aloud. “Do you really think you got a good read on her just now?”

“What is there to read?” Shiki scoffed, crossing her arms. “To put it bluntly, you just want me to stay behind and act as your guard dog to keep an eye on her.”

“Exactly.” Levi nodded approvingly. “I do not believe she is stupid enough to betray me, but this world has an endless supply of fools. Shiki, I am completely at ease leaving this task to you. Your combat strength, your instincts, your mind. You are flawless for this.”

He reached out and lightly patted her shoulder. “With you watching her, I can focus on my own business without looking over my shoulder. By the time we meet again, you will probably have grown to a level that even I will find amazing.”

Shiki had been fiercely resistant to the idea of Levi dumping her with a stranger. But hearing him lay it out like this, framing it as a critical mission only she could handle, the resistance melted away.

If he needed her to hold the line, she would hold it.

After a few seconds of stubborn silence, Shiki looked away and gave a stiff nod. “Fine. I got it.”

Levi smiled, genuinely pleased. “I am looking forward to seeing your progress, Shiki.”

“Tch…” Shiki turned her face completely away, her cheeks faintly dusted with pink. “Gross.”

Levi laughed again. “Don’t be like that.”

He knew perfectly well that Shiki’s latent potential was terrifying. The system’s check-in target was clear as day: elevate Ryougi Shiki’s combat power to the level of an Ultimate-Class Devil. Since they had a brief window of peace before the real danger began, he needed to accelerate her growth immediately.

Levi took Shiki for a long stroll through the district to familiarize her with the area. Before the sun set, he conveniently purchased a quiet, two-bedroom apartment nearby to serve as her new base of operations.