Okay, so this chapter is bit of a clunky infodump. I have written an alternative regular chapter ahead of this, so if you like to skip these infodumps, you choose to, but do read this through and tell me what you think and whether I should keep this or not.
Thanks!
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Dear Diary,
Ten years have passed. And I do age. Quite fast too, at an almost human rate, considering I'm a devil, a species with a minimum lifespan of 10000 years. I guess the aging stops at some point, given than my father looks 30 at 670 years old. Which brings a rather funny thought to mind.
Sirzechs Lucifer is 560 years old. Out of ten thousand years of lifespan. Our leader is the human equivalent of a 5 year old toddler.
Heh, God sav- OW.
A piercing headache rang in my skull at the mere mention of Big G. Right, the taboo. I still forget sometimes. Even from beyond the grave his curse on our species keeps a tight grip. Gwyn, The Lord Of Sunlight ass move.
Hmph.
I sigh.
Regardless, the last ten years of this new life have been fruitful. Initially, I worried that they would find out that I was an imposter in their son's body, that they'd disown me at best and destroy me at worst. I didn't even know if I could act like a baby convincingly enough, and yet….somehow, it all worked out fine.
My early speech, attributed to the devils' ability to communicate in all languages.
My curiosity about the world, even in detail? Just a child's voracious appetite for curiosity.
And I played into it. I made cute little gestures, mastered the art of begging with those puppy dog eyes all children have, and even, slowly but surely, began to see them as my own family.
My past life, my identity….it being lost at birth, perhaps it made it all the easier to see myself as one of them, that I did not have two contesting identities vying for control, no dissonance of being, no….existential horror. Just one solid state of continuity, with my vague and broken memories of having a past life slotting straight into the continuation of a new one. Like a new game plus.
Being a devil noble wasn't exactly hard on that transition either. I wasn't some lowly, no-name corporate slave anymore, scraping out inches of time on my weekends and limited days off to pursue what little hobbies I could afford.
And my crippling TTRPG addicition.
You think gacha's bad? Try Warhammer.
Sheesh. And I couldn't even find any groups to play with. A sad, pathetic, peasant life.
Now, I was a supernatural creature, and at the top of the ladder too.
Was it prideful? Yes.
Arrogant perhaps? Absolutely!
But who cares!
I'm Riser Godsdamned Phenex!
I am filthy rich. I am Handsome. I can fly. I can speak all languages. I am Handsome. I can use ~*magic*~! And did I mention Handsome? No? Well, I am.
Perfectly sculpted devilish features, glowing, flowing blonde hair and those deep, mysterious dark blue eyes, straight out of a modelling magazine. I could just stare in the mirror all day.
Oh! And magic, oh what a joy that little bonus on this perfect cake of life has been.
Teleportation, telekinesis, summoning lightning, storing away stuff in my very own pocket dimension! And having demonic power, magic by imagination, like Fairy tail's Arc Of Embodiment, only way, way better. It was my wet dream, as a DnD Sorcerer main- ah, those golden days when I made my DM cry with horribly minmaxxed characters. Mwahahahahah! Those sweet, sweet DM tears were just so delicious.
He quit DnD that year. And was never seen again. Shame. But I loved it. Magic was the holy grail of every geek and nerd.
So I did not let a single moment go to waste.
Every waking moment of my last ten years I have spent on mastering magic, studying magic theory, hiring stray magicians to teach their own styles and buying research off of all sorts of little hedges and covens and even negotiating with some of the larger magician groups like Golden Dawn for their new and improved modern magic. It even came with a magical programming language which, though crude, provided some very useful insights, which would be invaluable for my future plans in this world.
And of course, planning. The moment I realized I was in DXD, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
The original Riser Phenex may have been a minor antagonist, a stepping stone for the main character.
But, I am no such thing. Any who dare step on me with find me a caltrop that will rend their flesh and pierce deep, such that they will never walk on both legs again.
I will not be a gag, a stepping stone, to be used and mocked like a clown.
Frankly, I don't understand how the original Riser lost to the MC in the first place. The man was born rich, powerful, had years of training on him and had one of the best devil traits possible, the miraculous four-in-one Phenex trait that can make you a one man army. Hellfire, Wind Control, Regeneration, and Phoenix Tears. Mobility, defense, offense and support, all in one person, where other clans like the Vapula with their Lion Taming and Furcas with Horse Taming struggle to even pull up one aspect of their powers.
That's just pathetic. I know it was plot contrivance, the MC always wins, because plot armor, and it is genuinely unfair to expect a character to know the genre of their story, which in his case was a comedy, with Riser being the butt of the joke.
Of course, I have also never seen the DXD anime, or read the novels. Or the manga. I really only know of DXD from the copious amounts of fanfiction and wiki drifting I consumed in my college days, so maybe he did put up a decent fight in the original.
Nevertheless, that's not me. Nope. Never.
Now that I'm here, there are going to be some big changes around here. I'm not about to waste a second chance at life, with- admittedly fragmented and mostly fanon- foreknowledge of the plot.
Nah, I'd win.
This life is my last life. Because I never plan on dying ever again.
This life I want more than just a peasant's life. More than just denying my desires, telling myself it's all fine, I'm doing pretty great- No!.
I want more and More and MORE. I want to conquer the world! I want gold. I want wealth. I want power. I want women. I want powerful, golden, jewel studded women- uh um ahem.
I got a little ahead of myself there.
For now, I just have to wait and watch. For the moment my helicopter parents let me out of their stupid sights.
Ugh! They have restricted my entry into the human world for the last ten years, with excuse after excuse. Its too dangerous, we have many enemies, master magic first, you haven't even learned to use your traits. Which, in all honesty, were valid concerns. And it wasn't like I was going to be able to act on any of my half-remembered bullshit this early anyways. I had no power, I had no influence and I certainly had little in the way of leverage towards anything or anyone to get what I wanted.
I did however manage to talk them into expanding their library with a section on the human world, filled with worldwide newspaper subscriptions, scientific research, economic journals, and even some stuff that wasn't available to the general public. Just some of the perks of being rich, I suppose.
Every moment I wasn't practicing magic, I spent in the library, plotting out histories, lineages, myths and conspiracies. Every tidbit of knowledge, a puzzle piece, filling in the gaps in my knowledge of this world, ever since, at age four, when I learnt the inventory magic. Hundreds of notebooks, charts upon charts, messy webs of red strings and pinboards, all neatly stored away where no one but me can find them.
And finally, today, on the eve of my tenth birthday, it was completed. My grand plan, every step meticulously calculated, every pawn complete with their own recruitment dossier, every piece of plot knowledge strung up with its corresponding leverage.
Now all I have to do is accomplish it all without raising any suspicions, and I'll be on my way to the top in no time at all.
Today, it begins. These next ten years, my most crucial years, I will gather and train the most powerful peerage, make the most useful connections and then, when plot comes, it will answer, to me.
Because today, I get my Evil Pieces.
And recruit the first member of my peerage.
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Heyo!
How are y'all doing today?
I'm back with chapter two, which just had to be a bit of an infodump, but worry not! Another chapter is coming in a few hours, and there we meet the first peerage member. Can you guess who it is ? Tell me in the comments.
Don't forget to donate your powerstones, they motivate me to write more.
And add the book to your library. It ranks us up in the fanfic fiesta rankings! Lets win this competition together!
Thanks for reading!
Cya in a few hours with the next chapter.