Here is the long awaited 18th chapter for Existence! Enjoy!

Training Ground – Lucius POV

Lucius's eyes darted from one side to the next, watching calmly and patiently as if he was expecting something to pounce at him.

It has been a few days since leaving Matsuzaki's mansion as he was currently standing in a large clearing in his personal training field he had received from Sirzechs when he was young. This training field was connected to his mansion in the Underworld and home in the human world though a magic circle but had never really thought about using it since it was too spacious for only himself.

However now that he had four members in his peerage and needing a place to train with them, he had decided to unlock it for all to use. And now, he was standing there, waiting for something quietly. He exhaled a quick air of breath as he waited patiently for whatever that was heading towards him.

Suddenly he heard the bushes behind him rustle as he glanced over his right shoulder before turning his body 90 degrees, his right arm flying up to guard his right side. A kick impacted his right arm as a dull sound rang in the area around them. He twitched his eyes slightly in pain before jumping several steps back. He looked up to see Enju standing at the spot he once stood, knees bent to dash forward at any moment while her eyes were flaring up in glowing red with her black metal boots strapped onto her leg. The metal boots, made from a very special and rare metal called Varanium allowed Enju to keep her speed up without weighing her down.

Lucius waited patiently when Enju broke into a sprint as she dashed straight for him. Lucius narrowed his eyes at her movement as he quietly watched her without moving away from his place. Suddenly she propelled herself into the air before spinning her body around and tried to deliver a heel kick to the head. However Lucius was able to see through the attack as he had brought his arms above his head, successful guarding himself from a blow to head. He pushed her back as she spun in the air, trying to deliver a kick to the chin.

Lucius backed up slightly as he watched her feet hit the ground before she dashed forward to release a kick from the left leg aimed towards his right abdomen. Lucius easily dodged her as she pouted slightly in annoyance before jumping back into his comfort zone, releasing a barrage of kicks in attempt to hit him. Lucius dodged each kick with ease for several attacks before grabbing her leg and pushing her back down onto the ground. Enju hit the ground lightly as she looked up to find Lucius pointing a finger gun towards her.

"You lose…" Lucius said bluntly before opening his fingers and extended his hand down towards her as Enju pouted further before taking it. Lucius pulled her up to her feet as she continued to pout towards him.

"Why can I not hit you?"

"Your movements are simple and too easy to read. Make yourself flow like air and use more tricky movements." Lucius explained simply to Enju who continued pout at him. Lucius glanced down at her before sighing as he began to pet her head lightly. Her pout had begun to disappear as she looked up at him while Lucius glanced at another direction, seemingly somewhat embarrassed.

"You are getting better Enju… I'm sure you will become stronger…" Lucius tried to comfort her to the best of his ability as she widened her eyes before smiling with a small blush.

"Of course! I have a good trainer after all." Enju said proudly before giving Lucius a large beaming smile as Lucius glanced down at her before returning her with a soft smile of his own.

Suddenly a large explosion exploded in the training field as the two of them directed their attention to the sound when they noticed something flying in their direction. Lucius narrowed his eyes before stepping in front of Enju as he prepared to either destroy it or stop it. However he quickly widened his eyes slightly to find that it was actually a person as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Lucius opened his arms wide, waiting for the moment for the person to slam into him.

Seconds passed before the person slammed into him as his open arms wrapped around her while the impact dragged his feet on the ground. He put more weight into his feet to stop himself grinding on the ground before he came to a stop. He glanced up at the figure to find it was his Pawn and purple haired Yuki-Onna, Mizore who was sent flying, her eyes were closed shut as she groaned slightly in pain.

"You alright, Mizore-chan?" Lucius asked with a tone of concern as Mizore slowly opened them before glancing down over her shoulder to find Lucius, gripping her waist tightly. Mizore blushed at the closeness of her body to his as well as at his arms wrapping around her waist. Her ice cold body was melting from the warm and kind touch of her master while his golden, concerned orbs stared up into her eyes.

"Lu-Lucius… I-I'm fine…" Mizore muttered out in embarrassment as Lucius nodded his head before dropping her down onto the ground. Suddenly the sound of wind swooshing turned his attention from Mizore to the sound as he found Sajin standing there with his katana in his right hand while an apologetic expression was written on his face.

"I'm sorry, Mizore-dono. It seems I underestimated my newfound strength." Sajin apologized as Mizore waved it off while trying to calm herself from her close contact with Lucius. Lucius had ordered Mizore and Sajin to train against one another, as he wanted Mizore to try to find out her weakness or bad habits as well as how well she would fair against a stronger opponent while Lucius would train with Enju who was still somewhat inexperienced in combat.

"It can't be helped… You have powered up incredibly since becoming a devil Sajin." a third voice rang from a different direction as all members present turned their attention to Mira, making her way towards them with her hand on a clipboard. Being his Queen, Lucius had asked Mira to take note of each member's ability and fighting capability especially for the new members, Sajin and Enju as he extended his arm, asking her for the clipboard. Mira gave him the clipboard to take a look at their results while she began to explain the results to both Sajin and Enju. Lucius being the King, decided to zone out of the talk as he stared at the results.

Despite having abnormal strength, quick speed and the ability to regenerate her wounds, Enju's movements were somewhat sluggish, bricklike and very standard. He knew that she had to be trickier and confusing so she would be able to win against an opponent. She also had a habit to rely on her regeneration, which can easily be countered if the opponent attacks her with an attack that damages her more than her ability to regenerate her wounds.

While Enju had to work on her ability to fight a bit more, Sajin's ability was already beyond normal before becoming a devil and now that he is one, his ability and strength had increased drastically. His already monstrous strength has increased, allowing him to preform powerful close combat attacks as well as increase his attacking power when using his katana or his Zanpakutou. His already impressive endurance has increased further allowing him to survive deadly injuries. Essentially he has become the perfect Rook for Lucius and his peerage.

Sajin had revealed to Lucius and the other members of his peerage that he was a Shinigami, a Shinto grim reaper serving the God of death, Izanami. However he was often discriminated against for appearing as a werewolf from normal Shinigami who took the shapes of humans and thus left, becoming a wandering mercenary for hire.

He had also explained to them that the Shinigami had four basic fighting styles. First was the skill of the katana or Zanpakutou, essentially a special sword that reflects the power and soul of the user, providing them with abilities unique to each Shinigami.

The next was Hohou or Shunpo; a movement technique allowing him to move faster than the eye can follow. This is done by moving from point A to point B in the least number of steps. This also explains why he can stand in air as he can send his reiryoku or spiritual energy to his feet, allowing him to create a platform.

The third was Hakuda or close combat when unarmed and without a weapon and was one of his skilled areas other than the skill of the katana, thanks to being a werewolf as he can use his animal like strength to fight.

The fourth and last fighting style was Kidou, essentially special Shinigami magic spells either for offensive or defensive purposes. This was the area he was weakest at and has even stated that he was not going to learn it, being not fit his character.

Out of all of these abilities, Lucius was most interested in the ability to create platforms to stand in the air. This allowed him to bypass using his wings to fly and allow him to stay afloat in the air easier. He knew he need to learn that from Sajin sometime in the near future as he turned his attention to his peerage members who still listened to Mira's explanation of the results.

"Lucius, I brought some drinks."

Lucius's attention was ripped from Mira as he glanced down at his right side to find Mittelt standing there with a basket in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Lucius stared at her before taking the bottle and took a quick sip of its contents as the cold water hit his throat, revitalizing him.

"Thanks Mittelt…" Lucius thanked as Mittelt smiled before making her way towards the other members of the peerage to deliver them water. After returning from their mission, Mittelt was extremely worried for him when she had heard that he got injured not once but twice. However due to her position of being the guard of Azazel, she couldn't leave her post and to head straight to where he was. She had even cried on him when he came back to the Underworld after the success of the mission. In an attempt to be some use to them, Mittelt had been helping the group during training sessions by delivering water to them and cooking breakfast for the group. It was an attitude completely different from Kalawarner, who was most likely sleeping after babysitting Azazel who liked to do a lot of crazy things.

"Lucius-dono. How is the Shodai Kitetsu?" Sajin asked Lucius while bringing up the name of his recently acquired meito or famous blade, Shodai Kitetsu. Lucius took another sip from his drink before shaking his head.

"No good… It's a cursed and closed blade." Lucius answered as Sajin nodded his head while Mira stared at him with slight worry. Recently, on the advise from Sajin, he had been trying to communicate with the blade's evil nature but was always either sent flying or almost overrun by its malicious presence. It couldn't be helped, as the blade was known to bring death and tragedy to its wielders thus it could eventually lead Lucius to a brink of death. Of course he was willing to sacrifice anything to get the blade to listen to him. This had brought worry to Mira, knowing that controlling a cursed blade will give the user great power but it was difficult to do. She had stories that of people trying control cursed blades but failed and was overrun by its malice. Plus, she being the Queen of the peerage, its safe to say her love for him was one of the strongest in the group.

"Mizore. Do you not know how to perform Senjutsu and Youjutsu?" Sajin asked as he turned his attention from Lucius towards Mizore, who stopped drinking her water and stared at him. She thought for a few moments before shaking her head.

"I left the village for Kuoh Academy before my training for that… Plus my village doesn't use a lot of Senjutsu or Youjutsu, only ice." Mizore explained as Lucius narrowed his eyes at what Sajin was asking. He understood his concern since he felt the same way. At the current stage, Mizore could only use a third of her true powers thus can only use a third of her true potential. The other two thirds were split into Senjutsu or Youjutsu and out of these, Lucius wants her to learn Senjutsu.

Youjutsu is a Youkai exclusive spell with the ability to create illusions and other various techniques. Her ice is also a form of Youjutsu exclusively for a Yuki-Onna, therefore if she can gain access or some more basic knowledge about Youjutsu then she would be able to use her ice more frequently without suffering from fatigue often and will be more effective in her usage.

However his major concern was the other ability, Senjutsu. Senjutsu is a destructive power that uses one's life force to bring about devastating attacks. Senjutsu uses ki, one's flow of life to allows users to read auras and spy on others, making it more useful then tracking someone through demonic power or magic power due to skilled users being able to inhibit their demonic and magic power, allowing them to be invisible to those tracking them. However as living things always emit ki, it will be much easier to track them through Senjutsu. Of course, Senjutsu masters can limit the amount of ki emitted close to zero but not completely. Another benefit of Senjutsu would be learning Touki, allowing them to increase their attack, defense and speed by controlling their base of life.

However being a devil, Lucius didn't have much knowledge about Senjutsu and he doubt not a lot of devils do too thus making it very difficult to learn Senjutsu. He would need to find someone who was skilled enough to teach Mizore.

"Mizore-chan. Contact Tsurara-san later and ask her if she or someone from your village can train you. I try to find someone as well from my end…" Lucius ordered as Mizore nodded her head in understanding. Lucius placed his right hand on his chin in deep thought at who could be a good teacher for Mizore's training when another voice rang.

"Lucius."

Lucius looked up to find Kalawarner standing there with her usual tank top and shorts with her thumb pointed next to her while a sleepy yawn escaped her mouth as he moved his attention before twitching his eyes in annoyance. Standing next to her was Grayfia with her usual stoic expression and maid outfit. He glanced down at his feet, hoping that she wasn't here to lecture him on his recklessness as she closed the distance between the two of them.

"Good morning, Gray-"

"Mother."

Lucius's greeting was interrupted in an instant by Grayfia who narrowed her eyes at her 'son' still unwilling to call her that. Lucius's expression sorrowed, visibly annoyed at being forced to call her 'Mother' yet again as he twitched his eyes and sighed.

"…Mother" Lucius corrected himself, slightly giving up at arguing as Grayfia nodded her head before continuing.

"Good morning to you too, Lucius. I'm here to inform you that you are invited to the Devil party hosted by the Maou-sama." Grayfia announced as Lucius twitched and narrowed his eyes, half expecting that she would be sent to tell him to go. He used to be away from the Devil parties for various reasons from traveling the world, most likely to not really talk with anyone and the fact that he didn't want to deal with arrogant nobles and next heirs. Lucius sighed before staring into Grayfia's eyes, his golden orbs had an expression of annoyance.

"I'm not going…"

"That's not an option."

Lucius narrowed his eyes in an instant at his answer being turned down in an instant. She knew how much he hated to go to these parties since he would spend the time alone, in a corner while getting glances or shot glares at him. He wanted to know why he had to go now after he had avoided it for all of these years.

"You are being asked to come." Grayfia followed up as Lucius widened his eyes. Usually, he would never be asked to go or participate in such an event being that almost 99% of the Devil's don't have a great impression of him due to either High-class members sprouting rumors or the media, which is controlled by the nobles, is saying some ridiculous nonsense.

"By who?"

"By my master Sirzechs Lucifer, Serafall Leviathan-sama, Lord Gremory and surprisingly by Lord Sitri, Ajuka Beelzebub and Lord and Lady Phenex." Grayfia revealed as Lucius widened his eyes in surprise. He could understand the first three, two of them being his adopted relatives as they have great love and care towards him while the third one just wants to hug him and rub her cheeks against his. What came to a surprise was the request to attend from the other members of that list. Although he had friendlier relations with the Sitri family than most High-class family, he had never been called by Lord Sitri to come. The same goes with Ajuka Beelzebub who, despite being somewhat of an uncle like figure, had never asked him to come to these parties. The final pair was unexpected, as he had assumed that maybe they would not like to meet him anymore. Of course, now that he thought about it, maybe Lady Phenex wanted to thank Lucius for taking it easy during their battle at the engagement party.

While Lucius looked annoyed at being forced to go, he felt a tug of his shirt from the left side as he glanced down at Enju.

"Lucius! I want to go to that party!" Enju declared as Lucius widened his eyes at her announcement.

"I want to dress up for Lucius…" Mizore followed up as Lucius's head turned to Mizore. He glanced behind at Sajin, who kept a neutral expression and at Mira, who despite keep her normal kind smile, was blushing slight at the thought of going to the party.

"Come on Lucius, just come. We are going too and besides, you need a break and you can see Mittelt and I in beautiful dresses."

"Ka-Kalawarner! What are you saying!?"

"What? It's true."

Kalawarner and Mittlet also spoke out as Lucius turned their attention to the two girls with Mittelt beginning to bicker with Kalawarner while Kalawarner picked at her ears and tried to wave her off. Lucius stared at each of the members, trying to see if they were serious but could only find a serious and determined stare back into his eyes. Lucius, seeing no way to escape from this, sighed as he brought his hand up and gripped the front of his hair in annoyance.

"Fine… We will go…" Lucius finally declared as the expression on the girl's brightened up, as they turned to each other with gleeful expression, happy that they could go all together. Lucius looked at their happy expression while his mind thought of the events that could happen.

However he shook his head of those thoughts. He knew that if he had them with him, they would be able to deal with any threat and deep down, he knew he wanted them to be happy. He stared at his right hand before gripping it tightly, preparing himself mentally at the choice he made as he looked back up to find Grayfia walking away from the field, her happy expression not able to be seen from Lucius's view. Lucius glanced down at the ground with a small smile when he heard a sound coming from Mira as he looked up at her, with everyone's on her.

"Now that that's decided. I say we all go into town and pick out dresses after breakfast." Mira said with a smile as everyone agreed while Lucius twitched his eyes, annoyed at what was going to happen.

"Hah… What have I got myself into…" Lucius muttered to himself as he watched the girls walk towards the teleportation circle to leave the training ground for his mansion in the Gremory territory.

Lilth

Lucius's eyes and mouth twitched while his expression soured every second as he walked the streets of Lilth, the capital city of then Underworld.

Lucius was annoyed. Very annoyed.

After having breakfast with the peerage, the group had went out of their mansion to shop for dresses that the girls would wear for the party held in several days. They had decided to head out to Lilth where one of the larger malls there had a very expensive, tailored made store exist that specializes in dresses and suits. However once arriving into the city, Lucius's face distorted from his expressionless face to his annoyed expression.

This was mainly due to the amount of stares he was getting from the people around him, mainly the middle-class and low-class devils that walked the streets. The stares usually ranged from quick glances, which resulted them in walking the other side or making way for him, long stares from several people who most likely have never met the clan of light and finally glares from those who dislike the Malphas clan. It was for these reasons Lucius usually never leaves his mansion and head out to the city. Plus he would have rather jumped to the place however Mira had insisted on not using the magic circle.

Lucius sighed as he glanced behind his back, his peerage members, Mittelt and Kalawarner following behind him, all of them talking with amongst each other besides Sajin who was trailing behind the group. Although to Lucius and his peerage he had the appearance of a wolf, to anyone outside of his peerage, he looked like a late twenties man with long, flowing light brown hair thanks to transformation magic of Mira. It was one of the alternatives for him to walk in the streets without wearing a bulky helmet. He was impressed at the capability of the magic that he has decided he wanted to learn it for himself instead of asking Mira to put the spell on him every time. Lucius turned his attention to his girl peerage members and the two Fallen Angel girls.

He was envious of them who were able to talk to each other without any problem or without any care from the stares they getting from the people around him. It was as if they had shut themselves away from those who looked down on them and pushed them out of their lives. Lucius stared at each one of them, their happy expressions entering his mind when he was caught staring at them by Mira who gave him her usual smile, as he looked away, his mouth slightly disfigured from her smile and his eyes looking away from the calm, relaxed smile that she gave him.

Suddenly, because he wasn't paying attention to the direction in front of him, he felt himself pushed into something as momentarily lost balance before pushing his weight on his feet to stop himself from losing control while a small scream entering his ear followed by a small thud.

"Ravel-sama! Are you alright?"

"I am fine Karlamine. I will just have a word with the low-class devil who pushed me."

Lucius's eyebrows cocked up at the sound of the familiar voice as he glanced down to find a young, light brown haired woman wearing armor kneeling on the ground helping up the other girl, a young beautiful girl with long blonde hair tied into twintails with large drill like curls and dark blue eyes. She wore a long pink dress with white frills as she pushed herself up to her feet while wiping the dirt from her dress.

"Now, who is the one who pushed me onto to the gr-! Lu-Lu-Lu-Lucius-sama!?" Ravel's scream echoed the streets as Lucius twitched his eyes in annoyance at her loud scream. Lucius stared down at her as she looked at him with wide, surprised eyes and her mouth gaping. Lucius glanced to the armored knight who flinched at the appearance of the one who had defeated them. Lucius moved his attention back to Ravel before bowing to the young lady in respect.

"It's good to see you again, Lady Ravel. I apologize for the push, I was not paying attention. I take it you have been well."

"I-It's fine, Lucius-sama. If it's you then I will forgive you…" Ravel mumbled the last bit as Lucius stared at her quietly but decided to play dumb and stared at her with a slight confused look.

"Did you say something, Lady Ravel?"

"N-No! Nothing! It was nothing." Ravel stuttered quickly in attempt to hide her words as Lucius smiled softly inside at her flustered reaction when Ravel's expression calmed down before pointing to the members behind him.

"Lucius-sama… These people are…?"

"These two are my Fallen Angel friends, Kalawarner and Mittelt." Lucius introduced them as Kalawarner waved at her while Mittelt sighed at her partner's attitude before she bowed respectfully at the high-class devil. Ravel bowed back at the two of them before turning her attention to the other four members as they stepped forward; ready to greet the lady in front of them.

"I am Mirajane Strauss, call me Mira and I am the Queen of my master's peerage"

"I am Sajin Komamura, Rook of the Malphas Peerage."

"…Mizore Shirayuki, Pawn."

"And I am Enju Aihara! Pawn of Lucius and I shall be the one to marry Lucius!" Enju declared with a bang as Lucius twitched his eyes before face palming at her words. Ravel stared at the young girl with a small blush at her bold declaration while Mira sighed and made her way towards Mizore who was looking far into the distance suspiciously. Mira pulled her ears as Mizore began to react somewhat painfully while Enju stared at the sight with confusion and cocked her head. Lucius sighed, knowing that Mizore had told Enju to say it purposely as he turned his attention at Ravel.

"What have you been doing out here?" Lucius asked as Ravel snapped out of her stare and turned her attention towards Lucius.

"I was in need of a new dress for the party coming up in a few days. Will you be attending as well?" Ravel asked curiously as she looked down to the ground and began to fidget while taking quick glances at his direction. Lucius stared at her before nodding his head when she saw her expression brightened up as she began to beam in delight. However she quickly coughed into her fist to clear her thought and to compose herself before staring back up at him.

"Of course you shall be going, how silly of me! Well, I have to get going now so I shall see you at the party, Lucius-sama!" Ravel said with a smile as she bowed at him before she and her escort left the area. Lucius watched her walk away, her body posture extremely happy at the turn of events as Lucius smiled softly at seeing her glad and happy expression. Lucius then moved his attention behind him only for his eyes to twitch in annoyance. The girls that once stood behind him had all but disappeared, leaving Sajin there with a cardboard box in his hand.

"Where are Mira and the others?"

"Mira dragged Mizore somewhere and so the girls followed them. They told me that they were heading to the mall after the scolding." Sajin answered Lucius's question when Lucius caught the box shivering to itself as he narrowed his eyes. He pointed at the box as he stared at intently with narrowed eyes.

"What's that box in your hand?"

"I found it shivering in that alleyway so I presumed it was a dog." Sajin replied as he pointed at the alleyway behind him. Lucius stared at the alleyway before making his way closer to the box, sensing a vague familiarity with the box in Sajin's hand. He opened the lid of the box slowly as light began to illuminate the darkness.

"Eeeeek!"

A small shirked escaped from the box as Lucius stopped moving his hands before sighing, finally figuring out whom it was.

"Gasper… What are you doing in a cardboard box out here?" Lucius called out as the shivering box stopped shivering when a pair of red eyes peered up at Lucius. Lucius stared back into the back with his golden orbs as the head of the blonde haired vampire appeared from within the box as Sajin blinked several times in confusion while Lucius stared at him. Suddenly as if he was freed from something, his nose began to sniffle and his eyes began to water before he flung himself towards Lucius as he wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Uwahhh! Lucius-san! I finally found someone I knew! Uwahhh!" Gasper cried out as Lucius widened his eyes slightly while he watching the vampire with slight hesitance before sighing. He lightly rubbed Gasper's back in an attempt to calm him down from his crying. However Gasper's cries increased slowly as the corner of Lucius's mouth crooked in hesitation before he pointed at a direction to Sajin. Sajin nodded his head as the two of them began making their way towards the direction he pointed.

Library

Lucius sighed in annoyance as the quiet atmosphere of the library surrounded him and calmed him down. He touched the spine of a book before pulling it out as he skim read the book in hand.

After Gasper had stopped crying and calmed down, he had explained to them that he was busy training to become more open to people by walking out in the open street. However because of his shy and shut in personality, he had a hard time walking out in the open and thus would frequently hide in the box due to being afraid. It was at that moment, he saw Sajin walk over and pick him up off the ground. He had gotten extremely scared due to the sudden turn of events; he had started to shiver in fear and tried to kill his presence. He only cried because after finding out Lucius was there, his nervousness disappeared and replaced with relief leading to his tears.

Lucius closed the book as he stared at the door of the library, having left Sajin with Gasper outside as he entered the library after feeling nostalgia at the place. The library, which was close to the mall that Mira and the others are at buying their dresses, was one of his favorite places when he was young. He would often leave his home when he was living in the Underworld to enter the library quietly and secretly without trying to raise any suspicion. He would stay here for hours, reading any book that came to his attention from books about fighting, devil history to books of the human world. This helped him develop his fascination towards the land of the humans and eventually lead him to leave the Underworld.

He could remember times when he stayed late into the night at the library and was frequently found by the librarian, who was a very old and wise devil who had lived for hundreds, if not a thousand years. At first, he expected the librarian to spew forth hate towards him but he was surprised when he treated him with kindness. The librarian would often recommend books or tell him stories of the past from his perspective. Of course he eventually told the old librarian of his heritage but he accepted him nonetheless, something he never had before, something that lead him to cry for a long time while the librarian hugged him softly. It was the only time he had let his feelings get the better of him and it was one of the few times he found someone who accepted him for what he was as an individual, instead of judging him from his clan.

"Hohoho… I thought I saw a nostalgic figure, I would never have guessed it was you, Lucius."

Lucius's eyes perked up as he glanced over his back to find the old librarian standing there, wearing dress shirt with a vest over it and brown trousers. He had short white hair, a white beard and small round glasses as he smiled up at Lucius who turned 180 degrees as he smiled softly at the old man.

"Its good to see you again, librarian Buek."

"Hohoho, please. You can just call me Buek, my boy." the librarian, Buek, said kindly with his smile still directed at him as Lucius nodded his head although somewhat hesitantly.

"You have grown, Lucius. It seems like it was only yesterday."

Lucius widened his eyes as he glanced over at Buek who smiled although a small tear can be seen dropping out his eye. Lucius opened his mouth slightly as he stared at the old man. Lucius placed his hand on Buek's shoulder as he glanced up at Lucius to catch him smiling down at him before calming himself as he returned to his normal smiling self.

"My boy… Will you visit the Malphas territory?" Buek asked as Lucius removed his hand from his shoulder and bit down on his lip. It was something he knew deep down that he had to do but could never find the courage to head back there. It was a place that brought back memories of his parent's death and the beginning of everything. He was sealed there and found there. He was born there and it was his home and his rightful territory, should he wish to take it.

"I see… The choice is yours to make but you cannot run forever." Buek said after seeing Lucius's reaction about the territory as he caught a glimpse of several people heading towards the check out counter.

"I will have to go back to work, my boy but feel free to look around." Buek finished before he pushed himself towards the counter while Lucius went the other direction as he walked deeper into the dungeon called the library. He stared at the thousands of books that were on the shelves as he touched their spine before coming to a large opening in the library. He stared around at the area when he caught sight of a familiar person sitting near a table with large amounts of books stacked around her. Normally Lucius wouldn't care about why someone is here or what they are doing but for some reason found himself making his way towards her.

He stopped several meters behind her and looked over her shoulder as he could see her scribbling away at a piece of paper with several pieces of paper littering the table while two books were open in front of her. Lucius skim read the contents, recognizing one book as one of the books that teach readers about the several different versions of Rating Games while the other book was about strategies to deal with those games.

"Planning for your Rating Game…?" Lucius asked as the figure flinched at his voice before turning her head around to her left side. Sitting in front of her was Sona Sitri, the next heir of the Sitri clan and the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy. Sona widened her eyes as she stared up at him, surprised to see him watching her.

"Lu-Lucius. Were you standing there for a long time?" Sona asked as Lucius shook his head before he reached forward to pick up one of the papers, skim reading the strategy laid out in front of him. Sona pushed her glasses up and watched him quietly as his eyes darted from one side of the paper to the other, his face neutral but his eyes serious.

"Interesting…" Lucius commented as he placed the paper back down on the table while Sona smiled, glad that her strategies interested Lucius. However Lucius grabbed another piece of paper and a pen before beginning to scribble something down on the piece of paper. Soan watched his intently with curiosity as he wrote with incredible speed before he stopped moving his hand, handing the piece of paper he wrote on. She gladly took it before widening her eyes at what the contents of the paper was.

Written there was a strategy of Lucius's own, one of simplicity but at the same time one that could bring out her members fighting style and habits out to the fullest. Lucius stared at her widening her eyes before smirking slightly to himself, amused that she had gained interest in the strategy he wrote.

"Your strategies are good but they are focused on open field combat. You need one that focuses on closed spaces… I also like the idea of taking out Issei first since he is the pillar that holds the group together but I recommend taking Gasper out too. He is one who should also be considered a threat…" Lucius explained quickly as Sona stared up at him, her surprised daze staring into him. Lucius, feeling uncomfortable at her stare, glancing at a different direction while rubbing the back of his head. Time slowly passed as Lucius's gaze slowly moved back to Sona, the two of them stared deeply into each other's eyes. Lucius stared at her with his neutral, non-expressive eyes while Sona stared up at him in wonder, curious at what he was feeling or thinking.

Suddenly a light push brought Lucius and Sona out of their daze as Lucius glanced over his shoulder while Sona stared past Lucius. Wrapped around his waist was a pair of small arms as Sona could see the young girl staring up at him with a large displeased pout on her face.

"Lucius! What are you doing staring into this girl's eyes!" the girl said out loud as Lucius twitched his eyes in annoyance before sighing, waving it off as nothing. The girl continued to pout before she removed herself from Lucius and pointed at Sona.

"Lucius is my husband! Don't you dare take him away from me!" Enju declared loudly as Lucius face palmed at her declaration while Sona blushed at the young girl's declaration. Lucius bonked her head lightly as she knelt down holding her head while she glanced up with small tears in her eyes.

"Don't say that out loud in the library Enju…" Lucius said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance before noticing something different about her appearance. This morning she had been wearing the clothes she wore when coming to the Underworld from Matsuzaki's home but now, she was wearing completely different clothes. She wore a small orange hooded sweater with square patterns on the inside. Underneath her sweater, she wore a long white dress that covers half of her thighs. Instead of the yellow tags she wore previously to tie her twin tails, she wore two large black tags with bunny designs printed on them.

"You bought those clothes Enju…?" Lucius asked as Enju immediately jumped up, her facing gleaming with delight at him most likely noticing her new outfit. She quickly did a single twirl with her arms wide open before stopping as she stared up at Lucius with a wide smile

"That's right! What do you think? How do I look?"

"You look great Enju." Lucius replied with a small smile as Enju smiled happily before clinging onto Lucius. Lucius twitched his mouth slightly in annoyance as Sona was giggling quietly to herself, seeing sight between the two of them. Lucius sighed as he glanced down at Enju who was smiling happily up at him.

"Did you buy the dress you wanted?" Lucius asked as Enju eyes blinked several times before jumping off of him, one finger on her chin. After finishing her deep thought, she shook her head as Lucius sighed and shook his head in annoyance. Lucius pointed at the door as Enju nodded her head before she dashed towards it, returning back to the mall to pick her clothes for the party. Lucius watched her go like an older brother watching his young sister before turning back to Sona who was smiling at their interaction.

"What…?" Lucius asked with a neutral expression as Sona glanced up at him with her small smile.

"You two looked like you were the older brother and she, the younger sister. It was cute." Sona commented as Lucius twitched his eyes at her comment while she continued to smile at him however Lucius's focus was towards the door, wondering what the other members were doing. Suddenly, he could feel his back being lightly pushed as he stumbled forward. He glanced behind him as Sona was standing up with a small smile at him. She pointed at the door while keeping her same expression.

"Go. I think you should be with them, not me." Sona said as Lucius stared into her eyes before nodding his head, pushing his feet forward to make his way towards the door. However after taking a few steps, he stopped moving as he glanced behind him, his golden orbs staring into him with a small smile written on his face.

"Good luck with your Rating Game with Rias. I wish you the best and I will see you at the party." Lucius finished as he turned back to the front, walking towards the door while raising one hand to wave back at her. Sona watched him walk away with a small blush at his words, words that was telling her to win and that he was supporting her.

Lucius walked past Buek as he took one glance at the old man who smiled at him and nodded his head. Lucius smiled back and nodded his head before walking out of the door to the library as the warm breeze hit him. He glanced around to find Sajin and Enju standing near the door with Gasper nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Gasper…?"

"He was taken by a black haired man with golden bangs, saying something about training. Should I follow him?" Sajin asked whose hand was making its way to his katana as Lucius sweat dropped, knowing exactly who the man who took Gasper. He waved at Sajin to ignore it as he motioned the two of them to head to the mall. The two of them followed him as they made their way towards where the rest of the group were as he smiled to himself. He had finally found the group that understood his pain and his suffering, as he knew that they will face many perils but he knew that with this group, they would be able to overcome everything. To him, this was the group that will follow him till the end, whatever ending that awaited for him and it was the group he would be able to protect with his light.

Here is the 18th chapter of Existence. Sorry about the long wait, I had just arrived in my university mid August for its orientation program so I didn't have time to write. No that it is over, I was able to finish it. Extremely sorry for that. This chapter has a small training part then a little bit more views of what ordinary devils think of Lucius. Next chapter will be go back to the normal route of the DxD story.

Now for some answers from the reviews:

guest: Well is there a point to have an ability that overpowers everyone without a weakness? I don't think so. Every character needs some kind of drawback or weakness, small or big. For example, Issei's weakness is that he is somewhat of an idiot and is not the strategist type of character (although he is growing). It brings them out as a character and makes them stand out. It also makes their duty for the character to overcome that to become stronger and better characters. I wanted Lucius's light ability to still damage him since he is still a devil who can use the power of light. Thus he will get damaged if he uses it too much. Of course as time goes by, he will be able to fight longer with light and get less damage from it. If you don't like how I made the story, then thats fine because there are many stories out there that could suit your interest and expectations.

ShadowUzumaki55: That's good to hear. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Frank: Hahaha you will see more cute Enju in this chapter.

Neonlight01: Yup hence the enemies will slowly get stronger and stronger.

ark: Arifureta? Okay maybe if I have time.

withdranwnmadness000: Oh sorry about that! Chouryu Bunen or Shia is actually a name of a character from Koihime Musou. Shia is her real name that she can only tell those she trust or cares while Chouryu Bunen is the name she uses. Chouryu Bunen is the Japanese way of saying Zhang Liao, who is a Chinese general during the Three Kingdoms era. Well I think I explained them in the chapter above so I hope it makes sense.

Lightwave: Thanks for liking the way I made the chapter. I felt this was the best way to go down so it's good to see people liking it.

Ashzaroth: Shia is from Koihime Musou. She is also known as Chouryu Bune. Well if many people want to see the past of Lucius and they put it down in the reviews then I might consider it and make a different story to focus on that. Something like a side story you know.

Guest: I am sorry you feel that. In the last chapter, I used it 7 times which I felt it was needed because I didn't want Lucius to convey his thoughts about how annoying that battle was. Hence I used "clicked his tongue" as a way to show that. If it helps, I only used it once in this chapter so it shouldn't be that annoying.

No changes to the harem or peerage:

Harem: Serafall, Rossweisse, Kalawarner, Mittelt, Kunou, Gabriel, Griselda, Kuroka, Sona, Yasaka, Seekvaira, Mirajane, Ravel, Wendy, Akame, Jeanne, Mizore, Chouryu or Shia, Enju (Complete)

Peerage (Complete):

Queen: Mirajane Strauss

Bishop: Ravel Phenex, Wendy Marvell

Knight: Akame, Jeanne

Rook: Wave, Sajin Komamura (Mutation piece)

Pawn: Mizore Shirayuki (3 Piece), Chouryou Bunen or Shia (3 piece), Enju Aihara (2 piece)

Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Since September has come, I will be returning to my normal pattern so the next story update will be from Pokemon: The Search. I will see you guys later :)