Looking out the window of the Bael train at the purple sky, Zeroth found that it was still hard to believe that this universe was nothing more than a fictional one in his old life. It still was a lot for him to take in, being part of a universe where the supernatural existed, including devils, angels, and beings from various other mythological factions. And it had all been thanks to reincarnating Regulus as his servant that had caused him to remember everything from his past life.

He could not comprehend the how or the why of having apparently been granted a second life. Hell, he did not even know how his first life ended. The only things he knew for certain was that he was somehow in the High School DxD universe, and there was going to be the Khaos Brigade, Evil Dragons, Rizevim, 666, Hades, and the UL to deal with in the not-so-distant future.

Of course the future he knew could change as his presence here had already caused some changes in the original timeline. For one, he was quite certain that Zeroth Bael did not exist in the story he had known, who had completely replaced Sairaorg Bael as the only son of Lord Bael and Misla Bael. Not to mention that there was no Magdaran as Zeroth had inherited the Great King's Power of Destruction, with his father announcing him as the next Great King of Bael.

Then there was the reason for him being on the Bael train in the first place. The First Bael Zekram had decided to grant Kuoh Town to Zeroth to govern with Rias and Sona also coming with him to attend school there, informing him that the previous Devil, Cleria Belial had been killed due to having an affair with an Exorcist even though Zeroth knew the truth of the matter. But he now had an excuse to be involved with the main events of the story while building his own peerage from scratch in the human world and that was all that mattered to him.

Unlike Sairaorg who had built his peerage around Devils scorned by other Devils, Zeroth planned to recruit his members from future enemy factions and rivals with Sacred Gears, Longinus, and other beings who were not Devils. After all, that was the whole point of the Evil Piece system was it not? Luckily he was already in contact with one future servant thanks to his clan's contacts with Mephisto Pheles.

"Looks like things are about to get interesting for you, huh." The man Zeroth was scouting spoke via hologram from his magic circle. He was a young man around the same age as Zeroth, with short, spiky brown hair and light brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. He wore a red mage-styled robe that went down to his knees.

Zeroth smirked. "You're always welcome to join if you get bored of those magician's councils."

The young man pushed up his eyeglasses in response. "When I had accepted your offer to become your magician I never thought that you would also be trying to recruit me into your peerage."

That was because Zeroth would prefer to have the possessor of the Dimension Lost Longinus on his team than with the Hero faction.

"Your potential is being wasted by sticking with those geezers. And my offer still stands by the way. Just think of having all the resources and contacts of the Great King at your fingertips, free of charge."

"And in exchange I become one of your servants," the man sighed before frowning. "Though if I am being honest with you I have been considering it."

Zeroth raised an eyebrow, surprised. "And why is that?"

"I told you about those Wizards of Oz, right?"

Zeroth nodded his head, remembering about their involvement with Slash/Dog's timeline. While he would have loved to add Tobio to his peerage he was too young at the time and had not yet awakened his memories of his past life much to his disappointment.

"What did they do this time?"

"It's not what they did, it's what the council is not doing. The only one who has been doing anything about them is Mephisto, the Chairman of Grauzauberer. Though the most he has done is send out the possessor of the Longinus, Absolute Demise and made common cause with Grigori. At this rate you might be right and that I am wasting my talents with the council." Georg replied.

"Well, if you do decide to accept my offer you will know where to find me." Zeroth shrugged, hoping that Georg would accept his offer before Cao Cao scouted him out.

"Kuoh Town, right? If I show up there unannounced then you'll know that I have accepted your offer."

"Then let's hope that day comes soon."

"We'll see," Georg chuckled before he ended their communication line, leaving Zeroth alone to his thoughts once more.

"Dimension Lost, huh," Zeroth muttered, looking out the window. He already had in mind what piece he would use on Georg if he decided to accept his offer. In canon, Georg was the sub leader of the Hero faction and if Cao Cao trusted him enough to be his second in command than so could Zeroth.

And that was why the Queen would be the perfect piece for Georg. That and he had already used seven Pawn pieces on Regulus and had a different candidate in mind for his Bishop Mutation piece.

His peerage would be the strongest, no matter what. This world was now his sandbox and he didn't care what kind of butterflies his actions caused so long as he came out on top. If he happened to weaken his enemy's forces and rivals at the same time then so be it.

Zeroth sighed, closing his eyes to rest.

Planning could be such a pain sometimes and unlike Rias or Sona, Zeroth knew of the threats that were coming for them. He could begin to understand why Azazel had been gathering Sacred Gear and Longinus possessors under his organization before forming an alliance with the Devils and Angels. If he knew about the threats like Ophis and Rizevim, Zeroth would also do the same thing.

"No luck still."

Opening his eyes, Zeroth was greeted by another boy around his age, with silver-white hair and red eyes. Though he was now a Devil, he still wore his priest's coat from his days as an Exorcist, and hanging from his belt at his waist that formed a sword skirt were six swords. Five of the swords gave off demonic energy while the last one emitted nothing.

"It's only a matter of time now, Sieg." Zeroth pointed out, pleased with the progress he was making with Georg.

Siegfried smirked, sitting down in front of him. "And once he joins you plan on searching for that ancient weapon in the Dimensional Gap?"

"Yeah," Zeroth grinned, eager to add that golem to his peerage. Unlike Vali, Zeroth didn't need Ophis telling him about the ancient weapon's existence and this time it would be the Great King of Bael to obtain its power not Lucifer.

"Two Longinus, Demon Swords, and an ancient weapon. You really are going all out to form the strongest team." Siegfried chuckled. "And thanks to you I have a purpose now."

To become the strongest knight and to help Zeroth become the next Champion of the Rating Games. And in order to achieve the latter, Zeroth needed only the strongest members from other factions and rivals. He wouldn't have been able to achieve any of those goals if he had remained in the Underworld and been stuck with Sairaorg's original team.

He already had Regulus and the Demonic Emperor Sword on his team and it was only a matter of time before the Dimension Lost was his as well. But it would be some time before his team was complete as some of the members he had in mind wouldn't appear for some time.

Kuroka would be a difficult one to find as she was currently on the run and not much was known about her past other then that she eventually joined the Khaos Brigade and then the Vali Team. He could only hope that accepting multiple Stray Devil contracts would eventually lead him to her.

"We still have a long ways to go," Zeroth sighed.

"I know I've said it before but you really are strange for a Devil from the House of Bael." Siegfried pointed out.

Zeroth rolled his eyes. "So I have been told."

He could still remember the looks his fellow Devils had when it had been announced that he would be going to the human world along with Rias and Sona. No doubt he was one of the first Baels to have a desire to live in the human world instead of the Underworld. Even his father had been shocked and had tried to persuade him not to go but had relented when Zekram had granted his wish and appointed him as Cleria's successor. Only his mother seemed to approve and wished him well.

If only they all knew what was coming for them, but Zeroth wasn't doing this for them. He would prosper in this new world and if it meant saving it along the way than so be it.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, Kuisha wanted me to let you know that we will be reaching Kuoh Town soon." Siegfried remembered.

"And I take it that Regulus is with her."

"Yeah."

Though Kuisha would no longer be a member of his peerage that hadn't stopped his father from appointing her as his manager to observe and report back while he was in the human world. And if Georg didn't accept his offer than he always had a backup option for his Queen.

It was then that the announcement came out for their arrival.

[We will soon be arriving at Kuoh Town. We will soon be arriving at Kuoh Town.]

"Time to go." Zeroth stood up and stretched before getting ready to disembark.

"I never would have imagined that I would be returning to the human world as a Devil." Siegfried muttered.

"Nor leave as one," Zeroth added.

Siegfried smirked as they joined Kuisha and Regulus, who was in his human form at the exit point. "This brings back memories."

"Yeah."

It had been about seven years after Zeroth had regained his memories when he had run into Siegfried. He was fourteen at the time and was visiting Greece with his mother on one of the few trips he had been allowed to go to the human world. He was exploring some ancient ruins around the area when Siegfried had emerged from one of the ruins, battling a pack of stray werewolves.

Surprised by the demonic energy being emitted from the swords he wielded, Zeroth immediately jumped in to aid him, unleashing his power of destruction on the wolves.

"A Devil," Siegfried recognized, surprised by his intervention.

"Thought you could use a hand." Zeroth grinned, slamming his fist into the jaws of one of the wolves and disintegrating it with a burst of demonic energy.

"I don't need help from your kind," Siegfried snapped, cutting one of the beasts down with ease and sending a powerful shockwave towards another.

"Too late," Zeroth chuckled, finishing off the last one with a wave of demonic energy that engulfed it and turned it into nothing.

Once the battle was over, Zeroth took note of Siegfried's appearance as he sat down on a boulder, breathing heavily. His clothes were tattered and worn and looked like he had been out on his own for days.

"You're still here," Siegfried muttered, glancing at Zeroth as he leaned against the pillar of a ruin he was exploring.

"Yeah," Zeroth replied, gazing at the swords that were clipped to his belt. "Those are Demon Swords are they not?"

"You already know the answer to that," Siegfried replied.

"Just trying to make conversation," Zeroth shrugged.

Though he didn't show it, Zeroth was surprised and grinning like a madman when he realized that he was in the presence of one of the top two swordsmen of the Khaos Brigade. His abilities were nothing to scoff at as he remembered Siegfried being able to easily keep up with Kiba and Xenovia without breaking a sweat in the Light Novels and defeating them with ease.

And now an opportunity had presented itself to where Zeroth had a chance to claim the swordsman and his Demon Swords for himself instead of letting him become a terrorist and losing his swords to Kiba. There was no way that he was going to miss this moment and let him join the Hero faction.

He was the main protagonist of this story now, not Issei, Vali, or Cao Cao, but him, the next Great King of Bael.

"So, are we going to sit here in silence or fight? I'll have you know that I have places to be and people to fight." Siegfried said.

"I take it that you are no longer a member of the Church," Zeroth pointed out, noticing the lack of a cross around his neck.

"That's right," Siegfried shrugged.

"Why?" Zeroth wanted to know his reasons for leaving the Church before coming up with the perfect offer for Siegfried to get him to join his peerage.

Siegfried frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

Not how he had wanted to present his offer to Siegfried, but this could perhaps be his one and only chance and Zeroth could only hope that the offer he had in mind would be enough to entice him to join his peerage.

"Because I have an offer for you."

Siegfried raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "I'm listening."

Remembering how Siegfried had left the Church only to join the Khaos Brigade, Zeroth could only assume that it was because of his desire to fight stronger opponents, knowing that he had started a rivalry with Arthur Pendragon and was disappointed when he had left the Hero faction to join the Vali Team.

"My dream is to become the strongest and eventually the Champion of the Rating Games and in order to achieve that I need to have only the best at my side. And what better way to reach the top than to have the strongest swordsman. If you join me I can promise you that you will never be bored again and there will always be someone stronger out there for you to fight."

"The strongest swordsman, huh." Siegfried smirked, standing up, gripping the handle of a large double-edged sword. "And the strongest Devil. You have big ambitions, but let's see if you can back that up."

"What do you mean?"

Siegfried didn't even bother to respond and instead vanished within an instant and had it not been for the years of intense physical training Zeroth had gone through he would not have been dodge the attack as Siegfried appeared in front of him and slashed downwards, causing him to leap back while cloaking his body in the Power of Destruction.

"Not bad," Siegfried grinned.

Not wanting to give him another chance to attack, Zeroth responded by unleashing a torrent of demonic energy in his direction while swinging his fist at the same time, with the swing of his punch causing aftershocks that rippled across Siegfried's body, pushing him back.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zeroth asked, readying himself for another attack.

This was not at all how he imagined recruiting Siegfried would be like and wondered if Cao Cao had to go through the same trial with him.

"Don't hold back. If I lose then I will join your team and cut down all who oppose you." Siegfried unsheathed another Demon Sword from his waist and unleashed a powerful gust of wind in Zeroth's direction, causing him to step to the side to avoid it. "And if I win then this will be where we part ways."

"So be it." Zeroth would make Siegfried regret telling him to go all out and swung his fist back, compressing a large amount of demonic energy into his fist before swinging it forward, causing the ground in front of him to shatter while surging towards his target. He then dashed forward, cloaking himself in the attack.

Siegfried responded by blocking the attack with his swords and his eyes widened in surprise when Zeroth emerged from the wave of demonic energy before smirking. "That won't work."

A silver arm emerged from his back, drawing another Demon Sword from his back to block the attack, but it turned out to be an after image with Zeroth appearing at his side, slamming his fist into Siegfried's ribs and sending him flying.

Had it not been for his foreknowledge of Siegfried's Sacred Gear, Zeroth doubted he would have reacted the way he had. He then made his way over to Siegfried, appearing before him as he tried to get back up.

Deciding to put an end to this fight, Zeroth raised both his hands into the air, imbuing them with demonic energy and joined them together before slamming them onto Siegfried, knocking him out as the area around them was destroyed by the discharge of his attack.

After that, Zeroth had healed his injuries and the rest was history when Siegfried joined his peerage as his knight. He had also gained Siegfried's respect when he had learned afterward that Zeroth was one of the few Devils who trained physically even with the demonic powers he had inherited from his clan.

They of course were surprised when Siegfried unveiled his wings, revealing a pair of silver wings instead of the normal black ones. It was then that Zeroth remembered that Siegfried was an artificial human, along with Freed and another he could not quite remember.

It was an hour after Siegfried had joined his peerage when they had returned to where Zeroth was staying with his mother, informing her of the newest member of his peerage. Shortly afterwards they had left for the Bael train to take them back to the Underworld with Siegfried by his side.

He smiled as he finished reminiscing. Siegfried was just the first of many changes he planned on causing throughout this timeline that was now his.

As they disembarked from the train, Zeroth was greeted by a familiar crimson-red head waiting for his arrival. "You're late!" she pouted.

"Sorry Rias, you know how my father is when it comes to living in the human world." Zeroth chuckled.

That man would only accept the best living arrangements for his son and had gone out of his way to prepare a home that was almost twice the size that Hyoudou's home was after it was renovated and built only a block away from Kuoh Academy, much to his annoyance. Even after slipping out of his grasp his father still managed to have some form of control over his life.

Of course none of that mattered to Zeroth anymore now that he had control over Kuoh Town and could proceed with building his peerage.

He then took notice of Rias' servants, with one of them missing who he knew was currently sealed away. "It's been a while, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko."

"Prince Zeroth." They bowed, causing Zeroth to sigh.

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that Zeroth is just fine? There's no need for formalities around me."

"Until you are no longer the next Great King of Bael," Siegfried chuckled. "You are royalty after all, Master."

That was true. Compared to the Gremory clan who had rose in power due to producing the current "Lucifer", Zeroth's clan were the true rulers of the Underworld. It was all because the ones who had supported the Devils of the Underworld after the death of the previous Maou was the House of the Great King, with the Maou becoming nothing more than symbols afterwards.

And the one who would inherit the title of Great King would be the one who has the power of destruction.

"Well, they'll have to start getting used to it once we start attending school." And though Zeroth loathed the thought of attending school again it was either the human school or the Devil school and Zeroth preferred living in the human world.

Rias smiled. "You could always form your own club once the school becomes co-ed than you'll have a title they can refer to you as."

"Too much hassle. I'll probably just join either yours or Sona's club instead."

Rias sighed, shaking her head. "Do you ever take anything other than training or your peerage seriously?"

"You forgot to add women in there, Rias."

"Don't remind me," Rias grumbled while Akeno giggled in amusement.

"I still remember the scolding Grayfia gave you when she caught you trying to bed one of the maids." Akeno added.

Zeroth flinched, remembering that particular moment. Grayfia's scolding was of course nothing in comparison to his mother's when she had found out. It wasn't his fault that he was a growing young man seeking the pleasures of sex and it was worse considering that this was his second life. He blamed the constant presence of beautiful women in his life who brought out his carnal desires.

"An experience that I can assure you will never happen again," he muttered.

Siegfried smirked and was about to say something but was stopped by a glare Zeroth sent his way. Don't even think about it, Zeroth silently warned.

He shrugged in response before glancing at Kiba. "How's your sword training coming along?"

Kiba smiled at his fellow knight and rival. "Quite well. It will only be matter of time now before I surpass you."

"I look forward to it." Siegfried grinned.

Zeroth smiled, remembering when Siegfried and Kiba had first met. At first, Kiba had been wary around Siegfried when he learned that he was once an Exorcist from the Church but that had all changed when he had learned that Siegfried was a product of the Church's attempts to create a true descendant of Sigurd who could wield Gram.

Like Siegfried, Kiba was also experimented on by the Church as part of the Holy Sword project and was the only survivor of that project, so he could relate to Siegfried's past.

They had soon bonded over a friendly spar with Siegfried easily defeating him and Kiba vowing to surpass him as a swordsman. Ever since then, Siegfried had looked forward to the day Kiba would surpass him while testing his skills against other swordsmen, waiting for a worthy challenge for his Demon Swords.

And this time they would be facing each other as friendly rivals, not enemies.

He then glanced over his shoulder at Kuisha, looking out of place amongst their group. "By the way this is Kuisha, my manager. She will also be joining us during our stay in the human world."

Realizing that she was just placed in the spotlight, Kuisha bowed when Rias and her servants turned their attention to her. "How do you do? I look forward to working alongside you all during our time here."

"My quite a beauty you have there," Akeno giggled, glancing at Zeroth with a knowing look. "Have you laid with her yet?"

"Akeno!" Rias scolded while Kuisha's face turned into the same color as her hair, with Kiba coughing uncomfortably and Koneko remaining silent throughout the conversation, eating one of her sweets.

Zeroth laughed at their reactions before responding. "Not yet."

Rias groaned in annoyance, glaring at him. "You're not helping here."

He shrugged in response. "Not my fault that Akeno knows me so well."

Even though the Bael and Gremory clans had a strained relationship with most of the Bael household being hostile towards the Gremory clan for their current generation having strongly inherited the power of destruction, Zeroth, along with his mother and Zekram Bael were the only ones who didn't have any grudge towards them.

As such it was no surprise that Zeroth had struck up a friendship with Rias and her servants, despite his father's attempts to get him to despise the Gremory household. That and because he was already well acquainted with their characters from reading the light novels.

So he was used to Akeno's personality by now along with the others.

"You'll get used to this," he heard Siegfried tell Kuisha who had lowered her head in embarassement.

"Oh and this is my pawn, Reg. He won't be attending school though." He added, deciding to keep Regulus a secret for now from Rias and the others until the time was right.

His human form was around the same as Koneko and Zeroth noticed her eying him with curiosity. Though he found the thought of a Longinus spirit attending school amusing, he didn't want to take the risk of him going berserk while he wasn't around.

"And why's that?" Rias asked.

"Reasons."

Knowing that he wouldn't say anymore, Rias sighed and turned around. "Well, we better get going. Sona will be waiting for us at the school and is no doubt wondering what is taking us so long."

"Wouldn't want to worry her now would we?" Zeroth chuckled as they made their way to the elevator.

"No, we wouldn't."

After stopping by the school and meeting up with Sona, Zeroth and his group made their way over to where the Bael residence was. To say that his father had outdone himself would be an understatement, as he stared at the small palace in front of him that had completely taken over the plot areas around it.

His father truly knew nothing about the human world. Luckily none of the normal humans seemed to take notice of the palace that had taken over the lands of their neighbors.

"This is a bit overkill," Siegfried voiced his thoughts.

"Yeah," Zeroth sighed, feeling exactly like how Hyoudou had felt when his home was renovated.

There was even a freaking gate surrounding the palace, covering it from all sides.

Not in the mood to deal with a Devil's logic, Zeroth made his way through the gates to the front door when it was swung open and he was greeted by a gray haired man, wearing a butler's suit.

"Welcome, Prince Zeroth. We have been expecting you."

Of course Kuisha wouldn't be the only Pure Devil his father would send with his son and heir to the human world. Leave it to his father to send additional guards who were Pure Devils to serve and protect him.

Rias and Sona were lucky they didn't have to deal with this kind of nonsense from their parents.

"How many others are here with you?" Zeroth asked, annoyed that his father believed that he needed additional security detail with him when Siegfried and Regulus were enough for now.

"Just three others: Beruka Furcas, Gandoma Balam, and Veves Furfur."

Well at least his father didn't send an entire platoon of guards so that was something at least.

"Whatever. Just try and stay out of my way while we are here. And there is no need for you to greet me at the door whenever I come home."

"Of course, my prince." Sectaas Barbatos bowed and Zeroth brushed past him, entering his new home.

Once he entered he couldn't help but groan at the entrance hall of the home, taking note of the staircases leading up to different floors and a pair of elevators as well that made it look more like a hotel than a home.

This was too much.

"How many people does your father expect you to house here?" Siegfried asked, checking out the blueprints they were given before leaving the Underworld.

"At this point I don't care anymore." He then turned around, facing his servants. "You are all dismissed."

Turning back around, Zeroth made his way over to the elevators and entered one, having it take him to the top floor. Once he arrived, Zeroth stepped into a room that was more like a penthouse, lavished with all kinds of luxuries he had never had in his past life.

He even had his own personal bar for crying out loud, filled with all kinds of liquor to choose from. He hadn't been much of a drinker in his past life so that didn't particularly interest him.

Continuing to explore his new living quarters, Zeroth even saw that he had his own balcony much like the one he had back home in the Underworld.

"I give up," he groaned, spotting his own personal kitchen that was connected to the living room.

Making his way over to his bedroom, Zeroth swung the door open, finding himself standing in front of humongous bed that had enough space for at least ten people with a canopy as well.

"Ugh, why did I even bother?" Dropping his bag at the door, Zeroth sat down at his desk that was at least normal compared to the rest of the room.

He should have known better than to leave his living arrangements to his father when he had told him that he had wanted a normal house in the human world. To a Devil, normal probably meant a palace in their minds.

Checking out the room one last time, Zeroth sighed before standing up. Might as well make the most of his new home while he was here.

He stopped when he caught sight of his reflection from the mirror. Staring back at him was a handsome young sixteen-year-old boy with haunting violet eyes, jet-black hair with broad shoulders, arms thick with muscle, and a muscular chest.

He didn't quite have the same muscular build that Sairaorg had due to having awakened his memories at the age of seven with his former self not having the desire to train as much as he did now. But he still had an impressive build nonetheless from the years of training that followed and his strength was further enhanced by his power of destruction.

Of course that didn't mean that he just planned to rely on his demonic power as he also planned to learn how to use Senjutsu to unlock his Touki now that he was in the human world.

Zeroth just hoped that it would be enough for the battles to come.

"This place is insane." Siegfried told Zeroth once he had settled down and decided to check on his peerage.

"Yeah."

He was currently checking out the blueprints of their new home, shaking his head in disbelief at the sheer size of it. It was a twelve-story house with the top floor being his penthouse as he had dubbed it and the floor below that being for his servants and future members of his peerage. The floor after that was for VIPs.

The floor below that was the barracks as Siegfried had called it, housing his guards and Kuisha. After that was the library/study/storeroom area, followed by the entertainment floor, with a home theater and fancy recliner chairs.

The sixth floor was the treasury area to hold any artifacts and valuables Zeroth and his peerage acquired from their contracts. The fifth floor had a ballroom for what purpose Zeroth had no idea nor did he want to know.

The fourth floor had its own gym, with training and changing rooms, and a large indoor bath. The third floor had a heated indoor swimming pool.

The second floor included guest rooms and the first floor included the kitchen, living room, and great hall.

There was only one basement floor Zeroth noticed that was entirely made for training.

"So much for having a normal house," Zeroth sighed, folding the blueprints up and tossing them aside.

Siegfried chuckled. "Like your father would ever have wanted you to live like a human."

"You're right. If I recall he called you lot monkeys once."

If only his father knew that his son and heir was once a human in his past life. He could almost picture his father's reaction if he ever found out.

"If your father had it his way I bet that your peerage would only consist of other High-Class Devils like the lot below us."

"Then it's a good thing that he's not in charge."

Zeroth already knew the kind of results that kind of team would get if he stuck with canon, which was why he was in the human world, poaching off rival teams in order to strengthen his own position, not caring what his actions would cause to the original timeline.

"So, what are we going to do now? Explore the house?" Siegfried wondered.

"Train. I plan to learn how to use Senjutsu to find one of our future teammates."

Siegfried sighed, shaking his head. "There's a reason the others call you a training maniac, you know."

"Don't care. The only thing that matters are the results and the only way to reach the top is to get stronger."

And the only way to do that was to train. Zeroth already had better control over his power of destruction than Rias when she was the one born with more talent due to his years of training. And his physical prowess was nothing to scoff at either even if it wasn't on the same level that Sairaorg's was. Once he added Senjutsu and Touki with his Regulus Nemea he would become a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

"You should also keep up with your sword unless you want Kiba to surpass you." Zeroth added.

Siegfried smirked. "That guy has a long ways to go before he can catch up to me but you're right. Even at my current level I'm still nowhere close to the likes of Souji or Vasco Strada."

"All the more reason you should also train if you hope to become the strongest swordsman."

"And who exactly will I be training with? We left all the good swordsmen back in the Underworld."

"Beruka will do for now unless you also want to take on Regulus as a sparring partner." Zeroth grinned; remembering the last time Siegfried had tried his skills against the lion.

"And let that guy go berserk on me again? I'll pass."

"Just go and train with Beruka already. I'm going to go and find a secluded place to learn Senjutsu."

"Shouldn't be too hard in this place." Siegfried chuckled, making his way over to the elevator.

Shaking his head, Zeroth took the second elevator back to his penthouse and sat down, not at all looking forward to to the meditation process. But it was the most basic way of learning Senjutsu and acquiring Touki.

Besides, it wasn't like he was going to be able to release his ki on his first try. As much as he hoped that would be the case. But no one ever said that reaching the top would be easy.

Taking a deep breath, Zeroth closed his eyes, pressing his clenched fists together, with his legs crossed.

"Here goes nothing."

Better or worse than the previous version? Let me know what you guys think.

I did try and go for 10k words for this chapter, but figured that this would be enough for the first chapter. Future chapters will probably be around 5k as usual as that is what I am most comfortable with.

And here's the new and final peerage that I have in mind for Zeroth. I'm pretty sure you guys can guess who most of them are with the hints I've dropped. Half of the group are going to appear before DxD Canon starts, with the beginning arc being around probably four or five chapters.

Zeroth Bael's Peerage-

King: Zeroth Bael

Queen: Magician

Bishop: Black Cat

Bishop, Mutation Piece: Vampire

Knight: Siegfried [Artificial Human]

Knight: Holy Sword user

Rook: Golem

Rook: Valkyrie

Pawn x7: Regulus [Lion]

Pawn: Fallen Angel

I also decided to write in third person this time instead of first for the rewrite as I'm more comfortable with the former.

I will leave up the older version for those of you who want to go back and reread it for whatever reason, lol.