Xenovia and Irina walked behind Asia.
"U-um..." Asia turned around to look at the two ex-Exorcists. "I-is there something I can help you with?"
"...No, not really." Xenovia sighed while glancing at Irina who looked as lost as Xenovia felt. "I suppose we are just... lacking in direction."
"Ah, I believe the toilets are..."
"No, no, not that kind of lost." Xenovia hurriedly corrected Asia. "I mean... where should we go now? What should we do? If... No, I know that the words that Lady Phenix and the other devils said back in the swamp, about the God-ow being dead, are false. They must be. But, what should we do now? We can't go back to the Church as devils, we can't beg God-ow, for forgiveness... What are we to do?"
"Um, I figured I'd just follow Rias-sama's lead and stick to Issei... erm, Momon-san and follow their lead... Rias-sama isn't a bad person even if she's Devil, although she can be scary at times, and Issei-san was a good person, even if he was a bit... perverted." Asia shivered a bit. "Momon-san, um, I guess is a good person, but he's scary all the time so I don't really know... but I know Rias-sama will keep Momon-san in line, if he gets too out of hand."
"So, you're saying that we should just shut up and soldier, soldier?" Xenovia sighed. "Well, I suppose you're our 'senpai' in terms of being a devil, so I guess we should follow your lead... So, what do devils get up to in their free time? Massive orgies? Blood rituals? Murder-games? Corrupting the young and vulnerable?"
"No, nononono! Ehm, at least I don't think so." Asia blushed to her eyebrows and waved her hands wildly. "Ahem, erm, well, the massive o- o- oeh..."
"Orgies." Xenovia completed as Asia seemed to struggle getting the lewd word out of her mouth.
"T-those, um, I think some devils do have those... I-it seems it's pretty common for male Devils to have a ha- harem composed of their Peerage members... At least as far as I know..." Asia seemed incredibly troubled. "Auh, Riser-san, who was Rias-sama's, um planned husband had a huge ha- harem that he had made from his Peerage members..."
Xenovia sighed. Then corrected herself and sighed in a not-dreamy way. And blushed a bit. "A-anyway, that's a sin so I'm definitely not interested. Moving on. So, what should we do before Momon-san's planned training begins?"
"E-ehm, I planned on just walking around, getting to know this place..." Asia waved her hands at the wide hallways of the mansion.
"Some walking around? I guess that'd be good for clearing our heads..." Irina voiced her opinion for once. "Um, Asia-senpai?"
"Eeh?! J-just call me 'chan', Irina-san! I-I'm nowhere near experienced enough to be a 'senpai' for an Exorcist!" Asia waved her hands to Irina's direction, blushing wildly.
"Alright, as long as you call me 'Irina-chan' as well, Asia-chan." Irina nodded while smiling. "Ahem, can you tell me what sort of person Issei-san was like?"
"He... he was kind, and..." Asia continued describing her view of Issei Hyoudou to the two ex-Exorcists as they walked.
After a while the two came to view of a huge window showing the estate's grounds, complete with a stunning lake-view.
What made the view even more stunning was the massive, thirty-feet tall armored and armed angel standing on the water without sinking, just a twenty feet or so from shore while there was a huge crowd of Devils wading in to the water and dipping themselves in.
"Is... Is that Angel?" Xenovia felt stunned. "A- and is it baptising Devils?"
Asia and Irina seemed equally stunned.
The trio looked at each other, then at the angel, and made their way to the manor's exit.
.
.
"And praise be upon... Hm?" The Angel's booming voice halted as Xenovia, Irina and Asia reached the group of devils who turned to face the girls. The Angel then addressed the devils who stood to block the girl's path. "Stand and greet the Champions of the Lord, the Purified, the Pieces of his Chessboard, the Heralds of the Coming Age. Those who stand side by side with the Lord, serving as his cleansing swords and protecting shields."
Xenovia opened her mouth, then closed it as the devils bowed to her. She saw that the vast majority of the Devils looked as if they had been recently wounded and some still had bandages around their bodies despite the majority's wounds had been healed, and some were soaking wet after the 'baptism'.
Yet, all of the devils were young ones. Xenovia couldn't spot even one 'old' devil- albeit it was difficult to tell a Devil's age even at best of times, due to their tendency to retain youthful appearance even after hundreds of years of living.
Then the words the Angel had spoken hit her. 'What?'
"A-ahu... um..." Asia seemed incredibly embarrassed by the looks the devils sent her way. She spotted a devil who had an injury in her head and used her as a distraction. "U-um, hold still, please... [Twilight Healing]!"
A green light shone and was absorbed into the wounded devil's head, and she was healed in an instant.
Murmurs spread through the crowd and the devils made a corridor in their ranks so that the trio of ex-Church members could pass through.
"The Messengers of the Lord..." A murmur reached Xenovia's ears as she walked through with the two other members of Momon's Peerage.
"The Exalted Ones... "
"They are touched by the Lord..."
"He blesses us... His Angel heals us, resurrects us..."
"I thought of the Church as stuck-up idiots and fools, clinging to dead God-ow..."
"...He extended his mercy upon us, in our darkest hour... He is no longer the Lord of Heavens, but of all Realms..."
"...The Church clings to dead God-ow, blind to the True God, who was betrayed by the Heavens, by His own children..."
"...My eyes have been opened, thank you, Lord..."
Xenovia felt incredibly wary as she heard the whispers that accompanied the trio. 'Cultists? In here? In the Underworld? Worshipping the Lord-ow? No, they don't feel pain when they worship... but I do? Am I the heretic, and they the righteous ones? Do I worship the wrong God-ow? Did I always worship the wrong one? True God? Hold on, that didn't trigger a reaction... Oh.'
Xenovia's faith shook more than ever as she came to stand in the water in front of the massive Angel that looked more like something out of the Biblical text's version of Angels, rather than the human-like representations that icons and paintings depicted them as.
Indeed, Xenovia remembered how in the Texts the Angels opened their conversations with humans by saying 'Be not afraid'- Indeed, the angels, specifically the higher ones, could allegedly have wildly inhuman forms but all had feathered wings.
She felt her body shaking as she stood in front of the massive form that spread all its eight wings and a halo of golden radiance spread through the water and land. "Come to me, Champions. Take my Blessing, and smite the Enemies of the Lord with it. You are Servants of His, and His Mercy has brought you back into this world from Death and led you from Heresy. Rejoice for the gifts He has granted you!"
Xenovia wanted to say something but she fell to the water as the Angel swept its pole-mace, the gentle touch causing the trio of girls to topple over and fall on their faces into the lake. 'Did it just- oh no. It is Baptising us?'
"[Under the Divine Banner]!" The ex-church trio sputtered a bit as they popped their heads above the water's surface, and saw as the massive pole-mace grew some sort of banner, with a spiky and artistic almost skull-like gothic emblem on it. "[Blessing of the Seraphim]!"
Xenovia blinked as she saw that Asia and Irina had a golden halo above their heads. Then she glanced upwards and saw that she had one as well.
Then Xenovia noticed that the trio were now standing on the water's surface.
"Gah?" Xenovia's mouth fell open. 'H-heresy? No, wait, 'He' has brought us from death? And from heresy? Don't tell me...'
"Praise the name of Momon, Our True Lord and Creator who shall lead us to victory, to salvation, and to eternity in His Promised Land!" The Angel completed its ceremonial speech, the flag seemingly disappearing into motes of light from the pole-mace.
The golden halo seemed to disappear from Xenovia, Irina and Asia alongside the banner, but it seemed that the Devils who were watching the ceremony were quite impressed by it, based on how they fell on their knees and lifted their hands in prayer towards the three Devils and Angel.
'...Momon. Ahah. Ahahaa! Am I a Blessed Paladin of the True God now? And Momon is the True God? And I'm Momon's Piece?' Xenovia's head was starting to slowly shudder like an overloaded bridge about to collapse. 'Does that mean I'm part of his harem, like the girls in that 'Riser's Peerage? And a Devil? Griselda-sama... I need your motherly advice...'
Xenovia felt her mind shutting down as she recalled the words uttered by Heiress of Gremory House, Rias Gremory, as the two had spoken about their 'new lord' in 'His' guest bedroom.
"You've been exposed to, hm, this much of the insanity Momon can cause on an existential level." Rias Gremory said while showing a tiny space between her forefinger and thumb.
Xenovia's mind went offline as the church trio walked, no, wobbled out of the lake and towards the mansion, and the cultist-devils parted before the trio's exit.
Momonga wasn't entirely comfortable.
He was in his mind-scape once more, but this time he was standing on the barren soil and in front of him stood a huge, almost seven feet tall skeletal creature with an elongated and carved skull. It had a simple but smooth black robe made from velvet, and it was circled by tomes of arcane knowledge like how an Elder Lich would have a Scroll circling it.
There was a black halo of obsidian radiance around its head, and the barren ground under its bony feet turned black and cracked with negative energy it imbued to everything around it.
"So, [Overlord Wiseman]..." Momonga opened the conversation.
"I hear the words of my Lord." The Overlord performed a grand flourish that caused Momonga to die a little inside. The skeletal form then bowed to him. "Please tell me thy law, wish and desire. I shall topple the world to fulfill the orders of my Lord."
Momonga calculated his words with extreme care. "That will not be necessary."
"Of course. There is no need to topple the world when it bows to you out of its free will, like sheep following their herder to the slaughterhouse." The Overlord Wiseman nodded its head.
Momonga paused before he could wave his hands and shout 'nonononono, not like that!' and break his persona, which might cause the Overlord Wiseman to turn on him. "That won't be necessary either. I do not intend to slaughter the occupants of the world. Or rule them, for that matter. I intend to adventure the world alongside a group of people I call my 'Peerage' and people I call my friends."
"Ah, I see. I have presumed too much." The Overlord nodded thoughtfully, reaching to scratch its chin in a way that eerily reminded Momonga of his own scratching of his chin when he felt thoughtful.
'Could it be that my summons inherit some of my behaviour tics and mannerisms? Oh. That grand flourish... No, I refuse to believe that it was infected by my Chuuni...' Momonga realized that he was scratching his chin and stopped. "Quite so. Anyway, your role is to take the memories and personality of 'Lord Phenix' and lead the Phenix family who provides medical services to the Underworld, a world which is inhabited by devils. You will assume the role of the head of the family alongside all the responsibilities and tasks that it comes with. You will be responsible for integrating the healing services I provide through my other servants, and will be expected to lead the family to success."
"I understand, my Lord." The Overlord nodded its head in a thoughtful manner.
"In addition, I am known as 'Momon Phenix', adopted son of 'Lord Phenix and Lady Phenix'." Momonga continued, causing the Overlord's scratching of its chin to freeze utterly.
"M-my lord, I- I, This task- I... Ah, that's better. My lord, am I to assume the position of thine 'master' in the political structure of this 'Underworld' and thine 'father' in the 'Phenix Family'?" The Overlord's speech turned to a panicked mumble for a bit before it stabilized itself. "My lord, I must confess to my eternal shame that I do not believe my intelligence is enough to assume this leadership role adequately!"
'Hm, it's going off into a weird tangent again... I'll have to be a bit more specific. I'm guessing that it freaked out because I technically asked it to become 'the master' and me 'the servant' in the relationship, which isn't' the case...' Momonga stared at the Overlord while scratching his chin again, noticing the tic, and stopping the scratching. "Yes, and no. You are to assume the role of 'head of the family', that means you'll take care of the day-to-day political and administrative tasks and see to the health of Phenix family. I shall take care of major decisions and you'll be my mouthpiece. In other words, I'll be the true lord of the house, while keeping my cover persona of the house's adopted son. You are still subservient to me in all tasks, but shall project the air of family's head to the outside view, and will be one who carries out my tasks and decisions to the public eye."
"Ah... Thank you for clarifying this, my Lord. I apologize for mine misunderstanding of the task's true scope." The Overlord seemed to sigh in relief.
"In addition, you are not to treat me as your 'son', but instead treat me as your equal in public eye, and superior when the two of us are alone or with my summons." Momonga continued to specify the Overlord's task- it wouldn't do if it started to treat Momonga as 'son', as it would just make things awkward. "I shall supply you with memories necessary for the task- here. Jump in."
Momonga waved to the side where Touch Me-plushie was observing the condition of the dam holding back the memories of Lord Phenix.
The Overlord Wiseman bowed deeply to the plushie who nodded slightly back.
The skeleton then climbed on top of the dam, placed its hands on its chest while turning towards Momonga, and opened its mouth.
"Zur Ehre der Höchsten Wesen!" the Overlord shouted in joy before it fell and its body let out a 'splash' as it hit the 'water' that made Lord Phenix's memories.
'Was that German?' Momonga paused to analyze the Overlord's words. ''For the Glory of the Supreme Beings', right? Oh... I didn't want to believe that it would be possible, that my summons could inherit my Chuuni, but... Since I invoked my Chuuni to make a grand ritual to summon the Overlord Wiseman... Oh, oh no.'
The dam broke, forcing Touch Me-plushie to dodge the debris. Luckily no 'memory-water' came through, as the dam had become utterly dry.
"...Lord Phenix joins the ranks of your servants, my lord." The Overlord's voice was much more controlled and deep as a roughly middle-aged man with long blonde hair and fair skin walked through the debris. "I know my task, and shall obey you in all things, as I have, as I will."
'Hm, indeed, it seems that the personality of the Overlord Wiseman changed drastically after absorbing Lord Phenix's memories.' Momonga nodded to himself, glad that he had dodged a bullet by pulling up a summon to take the shot in his stead. "Good. Do you still remember my orders?"
"I have committed each word to my memory, and my immunity to mental ailments will keep these memories from interfering with my duty." 'Lord Phenix' answered while holding his chest. "I am ready, my lord."
"Can you suppress your auras and native abilities that betray your nature as an undead?" Momonga asked. "I will teach you how, if you cannot."
"...I can." Lord Phenix's face seemed to strain for a moment. "That should do it."
"Good. You are not allowed to use death magic or reveal your Overlord nature to anyone, and if your undead nature is revealed, you can explain your nature as if you were Lord Phenix, but your bodily state deteriorated to one a regular undead skeleton. If the fleshy body I have restored for your use begins to deteriorate naturally, you are to report to me and we'll see about restoring it." Momonga nodded. "In addition, you are to feign amnesia from the moment 'Lord Phenix' was captured by an Elder Lich until now. That means you are to refer to me as 'Issei' until I tell you my current cover-name. Under no circumstances are you allowed to refer to me as 'Supreme Being', any of its derivatives such as 'Supreme One', or 'Momonga', unless I specifically allow you to say so."
The Overlord's fleshy face scrunched up in displeasure but returned soon to normal. "I understand, Issei-sama."
"Then let us return." Momonga nodded, glad that his new servant knew its duty.
Still, he swore to keep a close eye on the new summon for a few days, just in case it had decided to pull some creative freedoms with his orders.
His mental-scape faded into dull gray as the 'two' returned to present.