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"He’s just a lazy know-it-all." Vali supplied from the side, his tone dismissive as he poured himself a cup of coffee "The only reason he accepted the position of Satan was because he could fob off all the work on his subordinates."

"While that isn’t entirely untrue, I wouldn’t go underestimating him, Vali." Azazel cautioned, his tone decidedly smug "After all, while I won’t deny his laziness, he didn’t earn the position of Chief of Military Affairs for nothing. It was Falbium’s strategies that allowed the current Satans to overthrow the Old Satan Faction, after all."

"The descendants of the Original Satans and their followers." Xenovia supplied dutifully at Shirou’s quirked brow "Even with the might of two Super Devils backing the Reformists, the Old Satan Faction were so deeply entrenched in Devil Society that it looked like the Civil war would go on until Judgement Day."

"And maybe even beyond that." Azazel continued "You’d think after the loss of countless lives during the Great War the dumb bastards would see the sense of a cease-fire but instead they decided to keep things going out of misplaced pride." he scoffed mockingly "Needless to say, Falbium was having none of that. About a week after he threw in his lot with Sirzechs, the conflict was over and Falbium was dozing in Asmodeus’ sinfully comfortable desk chair."

Shirou shivered, more than a little impressed by the New Satan’s achievement. From what little he’d managed to gather of the politics of Devil-kind from Sona, after she’d calmed down enough to stop trying to smother herself with her palms, while the current reigning Satans had more than earned their respective positions both during the Great War and the ensuing Civil War, that didn’t mean there weren’t those who took advantage of the new state of affairs to make pests of themselves.

Under the reign of the Old Satans, there had been no ’dissidents’ or ’opposing factions’, no ’parliaments’ or ’discussion’. You either toed the line and did as you were told, or you were dead. End of story. One of the reasons Sirzechs had risen to such popularity, achievements and power aside, was that he and his allies fought to rid the Underworld of the old system, thus giving the Devils the power to choose, to speak their opinions without fear of repercussion.

Unfortunately, much like with humanity, there were those who abused this new freedom and while this had tapered off for the most part, due in part to the sheer Power of the New Satans, the implementation of the Rating Games had presented a venue for those who disagreed with them to oppose their motions, even outright challenge them without risk of death.

Of course, no-one in their right mind dared to challenge Sirzechs. This wasn’t simply due to his sheer power, something Shirou understood fully, but the overwhelming superiority of his Peerage, which was widely acknowledged as the strongest despite possessing no Sacred Gear users. Likewise, the idea of challenging Ajuka Beelzebub, the CREATOR of the Evil Piece and Rating Game Systems, was also considered an exercise in futility, even setting aside the fact he was Sirzechs’ equal in terms of power.

Serafall and Falbium, however, were another story. Many assumed that simply because they weren’t veritable Juggernauts of power like Sirzechs and Ajuka, they’d be easier pickings, a notion that wasn’t helped by their personalities and work ethics. Even following the Civil War, the fact that remained that power was the absolute measure of a Devil’s worth in the Underworld, no matter how hard Sirzechs fought to change things. Indeed, the fact he, a Super Devil, held the post of Lucifer, only served to hurt his campaign by adding more weight to the outdated ideology.

Fortunately, despite her recent obsession with the Magical Girl genre and penchant for embarrassing her younger sibling, Serafall was no slouch in terms of raw power, to the point she publicly considered the Archangel Gabriel as her rival, though Sona had admitted in private that said rivalry was one-sided, as to date there had never been a meeting between her sister and the Seraph hailed as the ’Strongest, most Beautiful Woman in Heaven’.

Falbium, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter. Having earned his seat due to his wits, rather than any feat of strength, he was considered by many to be the weakest of the new Satans and had initially been the one many sought to replace in order to further their own objectives. An opinion that Falbium had been more than willing to correct, albeit if only to ensure it didn’t cut into his nap-time.

As the statistically weakest Master in the Grail war (Shinji didn’t count for obvious reasons), Shirou was all-too-familiar with the importance of strategizing, especially when it came to discerning and exploiting the weaknesses of the Enemy. As Archer had so eloquently put it: even wielded by a master, a sword could only kill a single opponent at a time, whereas a master tactician could defeat an entire army, even bring low an entire country, with one well-placed blow.

Saber’s opinions on the Counter-Guardian’s methods aside, Shirou couldn’t deny the validity of his words. That Falbium had not only managed in a week what Sirzechs and Ajuka, with all their terrible power, had struggled to achieve in God only knew how long, but had also managed to retain his position as the chief of military affairs despite countless attempts at overthrowing him by far more experienced parties, only served to emphasize just how dangerous the current Asmodeus was.

"Don’t let it bother you so much, Shirou." Azazel chuckled, rightfully reading the Faker’s mood from his silence "Falbium might be a strategical genius, but he’s about as ambitious as a rock." He shook his head with a wry smirk "A good thing too, setting aside Michael, who couldn’t lie to save his life, at least with Sirzechs and Serafall I can somewhat predict what they’ll bring to the negotiation table."