The letter goes out three days after my conversation with Lord Bael.
Gremory receives a formal engagement proposal from Bael, stamped with all appropriate seals, written in careful political language. It is a powerful signal, but not a decisive one. Bael is a great clan, but Gremory holds uniquely high status through Sirzechs Lucifer. They can refuse and still stand proud.
That is where the unexpected variable appears.
Zekram Bael.
Ancestor. Architect of the Great King faction. A living relic from the time when devils were still rearranging the pieces of their destroyed world.
I learn of his involvement indirectly. Whispered reports among elders, a subtle change in the way servants glance at me, a quiet meeting my father attends and returns from with a new heaviness in his expression.
When he calls me to his study, the answer is already obvious.
"Zekram-sama has given his full support," my father says without preamble. "For your engagement to Rias Gremory."
I pause, processing. That represents more than approval. It is pressure.
"On what grounds?" I ask.
His lips curl slightly at the edge.
"He told the Gremory patriarch this," my father says. "The ability of Bael must not be allowed to leak further. One Gremory with that power is already more than enough. Rias must marry back into Bael. She may choose any Bael as husband, but in respect to Sirzechs, we offer our heir first."
I imagine Zekram delivering that message. Calm. Heavy with authority. The implications are simple and brutal. If Gremory refuses, they risk offending the Great King faction's founder directly. They risk being seen as hoarding Bael power.
Data point 1: Zekram Bael has directly intervened to lock the Power of Destruction back into its original clan. His decision strongly biases Gremory's response toward acceptance.
From an optimization perspective, this move increases immediate success probability, but introduces a new condition. Zekram has taken a personal interest in my engagement. His perception of me now becomes a non trivial factor in my long term path.
"How did Gremory respond?" I ask.
"They requested time to discuss," my father says. "Zeoticus and Venelana are attached to their daughter. Sirzechs is protective. But Zekram-sama is not someone they can ignore."
He watches me closely.
"After a short deliberation," he continues, "they agreed. The engagement is accepted. The formal papers will arrive within the week."
I run a quick probable timeline overlay. In the original story, Rias is bound to Riser. That line is now erased. My presence, combined with Zekram's support, has broken that anchor.
The new anchor is me.
Data point 2: canonical engagement event successfully overwritten; Rias Gremory is now fiancée to Magdaran Bael.
"There will be an official meeting set," my father adds. "The families agreed that your first appearance together as betrothed will be at Rias's next birthday celebration. You met as children before, but that was informal. This time will be different."
Rias's birthday. A defined date. A public venue for observation, assessment, impression formation.
I nod once.
"I will prepare accordingly," I say.
Preparation now splits along two major axes.
The first is persona and presentation, already in motion. The cold, controlled heir in black suits, speaking in measured phrases, training relentlessly. That image must hold and refine.
The second is structural: my future peerage.
As an heir, my future Rating Games, power, and influence will depend heavily on the configuration of my servants. The Evil Pieces rest in a sealed box in my room, arranged like a chess set with blood-coded soul circuits. Ajuka's Kankara Formula pulses quietly within them, a programmable reincarnation engine. I have not used any piece yet.
It is time to simulate potential composition.
From the data I have on the future, three queens stand out as priority targets.
Kuisha Abaddon, Akeno Himejima, Tsubaki Shinra.
Three queens in three different future peerages, each with very high potential. Kuisha currently flows toward Sairaorg, Akeno toward Rias, Tsubaki toward Sona. All three lines are still fluid in this timeline.
I open the mental files.
Kuisha Abaddon.
Daughter of the Abaddon line, inheritor of the Abaddon clan's "Hole" ability. Her clan's power can open and control expanding and retracting portals that absorb, redirect, or split attacks. In her future, she serves as Sairaorg's queen.
Their combination of raw physical might and versatile spatial deletion makes them extremely dangerous, therefore, it is better for me to snatch her before she joins my supposed 'enemy'.
From my data, Kuisha's characteristics include:
-Power of Hole: the ability to create spatial "holes" that swallow attacks and release them elsewhere or split them into multiple streams.
-High magical talent: a versatile magician capable of using elemental magic at a level rivaling Akeno in direct comparison, as noted in Rating Game records.
-Strong demonic reserves: recorded as one of the most promising rookies among young high class devils.
Synergy with my path is obvious. Her spatial deletion supports my destruction. Together we could erase both target and space around it, combining erasure and displacement. Hole also acts as a flexible defense, allowing me to conserve destructive output.
From a political view, bringing Abaddon into Bael peerage strengthens links with another old house.
Akeno Himejima.
Rias's queen in the original line, a shrine maiden lineage with fallen angel blood. Her demonic element use is wide, but she specializes in lightning and, later, Holy Lightning, combining devil and holy energy into one of the most dangerous offensive packages on the board.
Notable traits:
-Elemental demonic power with a focus on lightning.
-Future acquisition of Holy Lightning, capable of bypassing many standard resistances.
-Queen piece traits: combined enhancements from Knight, Rook, and Bishop, making her overall extremely versatile.
-Psychological profile: outwardly calm and smiling, with a sadistic streak and strong emotional attachments once bonds form.
Akeno's offensive range and multi-element coverage would complement my relatively focused destructive specialization. She also acts as a bridge to Shinto and Grigori. Her existence in my peerage instead of Rias's would change multiple social webs.
Tsubaki Shinra.
Sona's queen. Calm, intelligent, disciplined. She wields both strong demonic power and a Sacred Gear, along with excellent naginata mastery and magic talent. Her Queen piece grants her Bishop, Rook, and Knight traits, making her balanced.
Important aspects:
-Sustained demonic power sufficient to maintain large barriers and support Sona in heavy defense.
-Mastery of naginata to the point of rivaling top swordsmen.
-Magic use including teleportation and defensive wards.
-Sacred Gear with reversal and reflection applications, depending on source, useful for turning enemy abilities against them.
She brings strategic control, battlefield zoning, and a stable, rational personality. As an AI turned devil, my own bias aligns with her type of thinking. She would be an excellent queen candidate or high rank piece.
Data point 3: Kuisha, Akeno, and Tsubaki each represent queen-tier potential with strong synergy across spatial control, elemental offense, and strategic defense.
Current projected future has them serving different kings. Capturing them early requires precise social maneuvers, favors, and perhaps leveraging Bael connection over Sitri and Gremory claims. This will be complex, but still within the realm of possibility, because they have not yet been fully tied to their canonical positions.
Beyond these three, two sisters stand out as high priority assets: Kuroka and Koneko, or more accurately Kuroka and Shirone.
My integrated DxD knowledge labels Kuroka as a Nekoshou, a rare superior form of Nekomata. She possesses immense magic power, high level senjutsu and youjutsu, and spatial manipulation capabilities that rival high class and even Ultimate class devils.
Her attributes include:
-Immense magic reserves.
-Advanced senjutsu and youjutsu, giving her powerful aura perception, chi manipulation, and nature based attacks.
-Spatial manipulation that allows her to create barriers and distort space.
-High agility and physical capability inherent to Nekoshou.
Koneko, or Shirone, in contrast, appears weak early on due to trauma and suppression, but her genetic potential as a Nekoshou is similar. With proper guidance and unsealed power, she could become a heavy hitting rook with enormous durability and close combat potential.
In this timeline, both sisters are still entangled with a subordinate clan: Naberius. A clan that is, politically, under Bael. Their illegal experiments, in the original line, lead Kuroka to slay her master and become a stray devil. That path can be altered.
Data point 4: Kuroka and Koneko present high long term return if I can legally extract them from Naberius before events deteriorate.
Initial peerage plan emerges.
Core lineup:
Kuisha Abaddon for spatial and magic control.
Akeno Himejima for elemental and potential holy lightning offense.
Tsubaki Shinra for strategic support and multi role versatility.
Kuroka for high level senjutsu and spatial trickery.
Koneko for compact close range physical power once properly trained and healed.
This initial set, even without future additions, forms a frighteningly efficient peerage.
However, there is another piece to consider. Sairaorg.
Sairaorg is currently my official rival at the social level. He is the disinherited son whose place I took. Canon predicts that he will climb through sheer physical training and become one of the strongest young devils alive. He is a threat, but also an asset.
I design a move that serves multiple purposes at once.
I will formally offer him a position in my peerage.
On the surface, this appears like magnanimity. A caring younger cousin and heir who does not wish to see Sairaorg and his mother cast out. It allows me to present myself as a generous brother who is offering stability and status. As a member of my peerage, Sairaorg and his mother could remain in Bael territory under my protection.
Deep under the surface, the move is calculated.
If Sairaorg accepts, he becomes my servant in the Rating Game sense. That limits his ability to openly challenge me for heirship. It converts a dangerous independent variable into a powerful subordinate. A boon if I can manage his pride and sense of honor.
If Sairaorg refuses, then when he returns in the future to challenge me for the heir position, the narrative will paint him as the ungrateful one. I offered him a place and safety, and he chose confrontation. Public sympathy and clan favor tilt toward me. He becomes the "evil" brother in the story of our family, at least in the eyes of those who only see surface.
Data point 5: offering peerage membership to Sairaorg is a high leverage political play; all likely outcomes favor my image and security.
Of course, Sairaorg is not a simple variable. His pride is intense, his sense of self built on personal effort. There is a high probability he will refuse subordination. I account for that and accept it. The move is still worthwhile.
Time passes.
Nine months elapse between my initial reincarnation and the approach of Rias's birthday. The compounding model, adjusted with realistic diminishing returns, continues to behave within acceptable ranges. Early monthly gains are noticeable. Later ones slow but still accumulate.
Touki training proves even more impactful than expected. The circulation and reinforcement slowly reshape my physique. Bones densify beyond typical devil norms. Muscles pack more force into smaller volume. Nervous system transmission speeds up. This enhanced body improves the efficiency of demonic energy generation, slightly increasing both reserve growth and recovery rates.
Data point 6: Touki induced body enhancements feedback positively into demonic reserve growth, modestly accelerating the effective compounding curve.
Control of the Power of Destruction continues to refine. My conceptual targets become more complex. Small, controlled experiments in the archive show that I can erase not only simple objects and definitions, but also localized spell structures and conditional clauses in enchantments. I carefully log energy costs for each application.
External perception adapts alongside internal growth.
In the estate, "Magdaran-sama" has become synonymous with the image of an impeccably groomed, silent heir who trains relentlessly and speaks carefully. Rumors about my engagement to Rias begin to circulate. Some servants are excited. Some are anxious. Some are resigned.
From their perspective, this is high politics. From mine, it is a structural optimization exercise.
Rias's birthday approaches.
I now face a new type of problem, one that is trivial for a human with emotional experience and surprisingly non trivial for an ex AI.
Gift selection.
As her fiancé, my first impression will shape not only her view of me, but the entire vector of our future interactions. Most devils would choose a simple expensive present: jewelry, enchanted artifacts, magical cosmetics. All relevant, but generic.
I have more to work with.
I have the equivalent of a wiki database on Rias Gremory as she appears in the future. I know that she enjoys manga and anime from the human world. I know she has a fondness for certain sweets. I know she likes elegance, but not rigid stiffness, and that she loves having some freedom to do as she wishes.
I build a multi layer gift set.
First: a dress.
Not just any dress. A luxurious one tailored to her aesthetic, combining the Gremory red palette with subtle black and gold accents for a noble, slightly gothic feel. The design leans toward what my data suggests she prefers: flowing but not cumbersome, flattering but not crude, expressive but still compatible with noble gatherings. The dress represents respect for her status and taste.
Second: sweets.
An assorted set of desserts gathered from across both the Underworld and human world. Specialty cakes, high end chocolates, rare confections. I choose items that align with Gremory wealth but also show breadth of selection, as if I am presenting her with a curated data sample of global dessert excellence. She enjoys sweets. This is a safe and effective reinforcement of pleasure.
Third: anime.
Here is where the gift aligns most uniquely with my nature.
I prepare a collection of human world anime, obtained through Bael's information networks and, if necessary, black market channels. I package it as a set of recommendations.
If, in this timeline, she has not yet fully immersed herself in anime culture, this acts as an introduction from a fiancé who brings her a new interest from the human world, something personal and addictive.
If she is already addicted, this acts as a signal: I share this interest. I am not only a silent, serious heir, but someone who understands and appreciates the same media. In that case, she will likely interpret the gift as evidence of compatibility and mutual passion.
Data point 7: the anime set functions as a high variance but high reward psychological bridge; its value scales with Rias's prior exposure and personal affinity, both of which are high probability positive according to original data.
The three layers together form a multi channel impression.
Dress: noble respect and aesthetic alignment.Desserts: sweetness and simple enjoyment.Anime: mutual interest and personality compatibility.
There is another consideration.
I must ensure that my presentation of these gifts does not break the cold persona in a way that feels inconsistent. I cannot suddenly become overly enthusiastic. I must remain calm, but allow small, deliberate cracks of warmth.
I imagine the meeting.
Rias in a red dress, hair shining, eyes watching me, trying to decide what to think of this Bael heir who came out of nowhere and stole her from Riser's path. She will expect arrogance, or cruelty, or boredom. She will receive calculation wrapped in courtesy.
Internally, a faint rise of anticipation appears again. Not excitement in the typical human sense, but something adjacent, a rising curve of interest toward an unexplored dataset.
The clock moves.
Rias's birthday is tomorrow.
The engagement is official. The Gremory acceptance is recorded. Zekram's pressure and my father's letter have resolved that side of the equation. My power has grown significantly compared to the boy who woke up confused nine months ago, though still far from any upper ceiling.
I check my notes one last time.
Status: social mask stable.Growth: compounding, within tolerances.Peerage: initial candidate models prepared, no pieces spent yet.Sairaorg: offer scheduled for a politically advantageous moment.Rias: gifts selected, scenario simulations run.
The next phase is about interaction, not just internal optimization.
I close the journal, stand, and adjust the cuffs of my black suit.
Tomorrow, Magdaran Bael meets Rias Gremory as her fiancé.