Chapter 39: Give the hostage a gun

"Are you sure this is the address?" a middle-aged salaryman asked his wife as the pair stood in front of an intricately forged steel gate that seemed almost as if it had been bent from a single piece of metal, lacking any craftsman's marks or welding lines.

"This is the one written in the note Issei left." The woman answered, holding onto a note torn from a notebook with a desperate grip. "Something's happened to him! He's acting really oddly and there was a group of some really shady women with him! I think he's been kidnapped by mafia or yakuza or something and they brainwashed him, or something like that!"

"Issei, just what have you gotten yourself into this time… Did you peek under the skirt of a yakuza boss's daughter or something? I can't bail you out of something like that..." The office-worker sighed in resignation to mask his rising fear as he rang the doorbell beside the gate.

Gorou Hyoudou, and his wife, Miki Hyoudou were definitely feeling out out of their element as they searched for their wayward son, Issei, who had apparently moved into a huge mansion at the edge of Kuoh, in the fabled 'noble' district that sported quite impressive estates belonging to some well-off families that sent their previously only daughters and now also sons to Kuoh's high-class academy for gifted people.

Gorou had stated that the whole establishment reeked of nepotism and frivolous spending of taxpayer money, but had come to concede his point as Issei had, against all odds, managed to get into the academy and proved that money wasn't the sole reason the well-off families got their sons and daughters in.

Nevertheless, it was hard to shake off the feeling of wandering to a place far too expensive for them as they waited in front of the 'Phenix' estate's gates for someone to either drive them off the gate or let them in so they could inquire about Issei's whereabouts.

"Momon, huh?" Gorou adjusted his glasses. "So, they forced Issei to change his first name as well? And are you certain he's married now?"

"According to his note, and according to the city's registry… I hadn't even thought to check it, but it seems that the name change is legal. Or would be, if whoever had decided to adopt our son and have him marry some woman had bothered to ask his real parents about it!" Miki's tone was calm, but Gorou knew that he woman was enraged inside but hid her anger well.

A huge door opened in the distance and a maid stepped out of the mansion, and walked to the gate with brisk, mechanically perfect steps.

The gate opened before the two worried parents before the maid could even stop, almost as if there was an automated opening mechanism in it, but Gorou couldn't spot one.

"Good morning, and welcome to Phenix estate. Master is currently unavailable, so may we offer some refreshments while we contact our Lord and inquire whether he's capable of coming to meet you in such short order or if an appointment is necessary?" The maid asked while curtsying in front of the two parents, causing Gorou to freeze completely still while Miki was equally stunned.

'The… the fabled kuudere french maid! Complete with porcelain-perfect face, slim figure and frilly dress! A bit tall to fit the stereotype, but that just makes it more exotic- No! My mind is slipping, I cannot afford such distractions!' Gorou's mind had entered a state of lockdown, but 'dad mode' activated and caused him to shake off the stupor. "I'm Gorou Hyoudou, and this is Miki Hyoudou, and we are looking for our son, Issei Hyoudou who I am told has changed his name to Momon Phenix. Ah, and if you're offering, we'd like some tea while we get our bearings straight. May I trouble you to inform our son, who I believe is now calling this lovely estate his home, of our presence here?"

"Then please follow me, I shall contact Master posthaste." The maid turned to lead the stunned pair of parents to the mansion.

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"It's a bit rainy today, no? The forecast predicted clear weather." A devil woman noted to her friend who was licking ice-cream from a cone in her hand after buying it from one of the many ice-cream stalls lining the main market street of the capital of the Underworld.

"That's too bad, I was planning on going for a date with my boyfriend…" The friend answered, looking as downcast as the sky. "Ah well, I can just go to his house and watch something fun with him. And since it's rainy and downcast outside, we can do something more exciting inside~"

"You know, your 'innocent girl' act would be more convincing if you didn't have such a lewd expression when you said that…" The devil woman groaned. "Hold on, is that a teleport- GAH!"

A teleporting circle formed in front of the pair and a Fallen Angel stepped out of it, driving a light-blade through the stomach of the first devil woman while her ice-cream cone holding friend froze in shock.

The cone-carrying woman broke from her shock to let out a scream before the Fallen Angel lunged at her as well, driving the blade into her throat and turning the scream into a gurgle.

"The Truce has ended! Time for War is now!" The Fallen Angel male announced as he was reinforced by a continuous stream of Fallen Angels through a series of teleporter circles forming in the capital of the Underworld.

A chorus of screams and angry roars answered him as the devils recovered from the initial shock and charged the fallen angels that had joined forces with Kokabiel for the raid on the Underworld.

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"AAAAHH!" Serafall cried in agony and the swamp answered her pain by rising to answer her cry while skies turned downcast with dark clouds blocking the sun.

Kokabiel let Sona's body fall to the swamp-water, throwing a light-spear at Serafall when she tried to manipulate the water to catch the body's fall and bring it to her.

'Beelzebub knows how to bring her back! No, Momon used Pieces to resurrect devils- I should be able to do so as well! No- I tried to recruit Momon, who was also a King and the Piece rejected him, would it reject Sona as well?' Serafall's mind was racing with panic, the sight of Sona's dead body not only hurt her from the point of view that her beloved, lovely little sister was dead, but also from the memories of the civil war in the Underworld waking up to haunt the pink-clad girl again.

Serafall didn't even notice the light-spear that pierced her shoulder as her body regenerated before the damage could even register properly to her mind.

"Oh, that's a good sound." Kokabiel was waving his light-sword like an orchestra master's wand, turning it to a block as Serafall charged the Fallen Angel, sending the man tumbling down into the swampland and sending hundreds and then thousands of spears made of water to pierce the Fallen Angel's skin. However, before the spears landed the man seemed to meld into shadows and materialized next to Sona's fallen body. "Oh, I can't let you resurrect her, like that Momon did so for those Exorcists. Yes, let's ramp up the intensity… ha!"

The man kicked the body, causing it to be jerked off the watery coffin Serafall had made for it, and…

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"Hm? Interesting. So Kokabiel actually managed to pull off his plan? Well, either way, the Supreme One is only going to benefit from his actions." The Elder Lich wondered as he looked through the eyes of his Undead creation using [Undead Slave Sight]. "Oh, and I can use that corpse for the Scroll…"

The hulking mass of flesh on top of which the Elder Lich was standing on came to a stop as the creature that had once been Lord Phenix reached its destination just outside the zone where the sacrificial devils were fighting against the Elder Lich's and the Supreme Being's undead creations.

"Now, to deal with these still-living sacrifices…" The Lich then grabbed a hefty parchment, crafted from the skin of Phenix, from his burlap bag and tossed it to the water in front of him. "Holding eight-tier summoning spells... I'm still impressed by that girl Master sent me. [Scroll of Deepkin]"

A blood-curdling scream emerged from below the surface of the water as the summoning spell activated, calling forth something from the depths.

"Ah, true, I should send someone to retrieve that corpse." The Elder Lich sent a command to his undead slave in the distance and cut the visual connection, glad that the weather was turning for the worse as heavy rain and wind would hinder the Devils more than the undead.

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...A undead alligator snatched Sona Sitri's dead body mid-air after making an impressive leap from under the swamp-water with the help of its powerful tail, falling back down and disappearing under the surface before Serafall could get past Kokabiel and destroy the undead that had dared touch her sister's body.

"AAAH! BRING HER BACK!" Serafall screamed in fright, rage and despair as Kokabiel bought time for the undead to make a getaway under the swampwater, masking the creature's movements.

Serafall could have torn apart the entire area, the entire zone, even the entire continent where the fight was taking place in the Underworld, but if she did that, she'd destroy Sona's body and would also destroy Momon, his Peerage and would force the other Maous to stop her. She was consumed by rage, but still retained enough of her senses to know as much- Although, seeing that the sky was positively pouring rain down the swamp, and across the Underworld, Serafall's fine-motor controls over her water were shaky at best.

The trees and the water around her froze into a solid mass, but Serafall had to stop herself before she'd extend the area-of-effect further and accidentally destroy Sona's body herself.

She realized Kokabiel had forced her to forego most of her area-of-effects by denying her the knowledge where exactly Sona's body was in the swamp. "AAAAH! YOU BASTARD! YOU'LL DIE! GIVE SONA BACK!"

"Excellent, excellent, what a beautiful, spirited melody. Ah, but it looks like I'm needed elsewhere." Kokabiel made a show of checking his non-existent wrist-watch after melding out of Serafall's attack and re-materializing in a clearly pre-drawn but hidden magical teleportation circle at the edge of the now-frozen swamp. "I'll see about my business and report to my superiors in the Human World, let's continue our battle in, hm, twenty minutes? Yes, let's do that. Oh, and I happened to order that crocodile to bring Sona-chan's body to a similar teleportation circle. My superiorswill want to see it~ Toodlidoo, Sera-tan~"

"DIEEEEE!" Serafall dived in after the smug, baby-talking Fallen Angel who disappeared through the teleportation circle.

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"There's no end to them!" Rias screamed as she swung a long kanabo, a huge five-feet long spiked club-bat that she had borrowed from Yuuto, crashing the weapon through multiple skeletons in one swing.

However her swing's main target blocked the blow with its massive tower shield, ramming it against Rias and causing her to be flung ten feet to the opposite direction.

She used her devil wings to turn herself upright mid-flight and landed on her feet, sliding back a feet or so from the impact.

The already-wet battlefield had turned positively flooding as the sky turned black with rain clouds and began to pour water in a huge rainstorm, accompanied by strong winds that nearly tore the trees of the swamp from their roots.

"Rias!" Akeno screamed from somewhere near, her voice almost lost to the rain, but the shrine-maiden was too busy fighting off a horde of undead animals and insects to intervene in Rias's 'duel'. Not to mention that the girl was also trying to avoid getting skewered by a 'Death Knight'.

The creature had been named so by Yuuto who dueled one on the background, having been split off from Irina and Xenovia who were busy trying to stay alive while the two were fighting a single Death Knight.

It seemed that almost every member of Momon's Peerage were now fighting alone, and most were fighting against 'Death Knights' which, surprisingly, hadn't killed any of them yet.

'Is it buying time for someone? Why isn't it killing me? It had multiple opportunities to do so…' Rias felt confused as she charged again, but stopped just before she could bring her overhead swing towards the Death Knight. 'Hold on, what if I just… withhold attacking it?'

The Knight lifted its shield to block Rias's attack, but returned it to the side as she withheld the attack, returning to its guarded pose.

The other, lesser undead had no such reservation and flooded at Rias from the sides, forcing her to swing around with the bat and smash five or so skeletal figures to the side and ending the swing by burying the bat into the murky water below, crushing a snake that was trying to creep up on Rias from behind.

"Guys! Stop attacking the Knights!" Rias called out to the others. "Focus on the smaller undead!"

"Are you crazy?!" Xenovia screamed, doding a wild over telegraphed overhead swing from the Death Knight, the Knight having lost its shield when the blue-haired girl had pulled out Durandal and swung it against the slab of dark metal.

Unfortunately, the Knight had just pulled another shield and the counter-swing with its flamberge had stabbed Xenovia's sword-arm, causing her to drop the weapon and severely reduced her combat potential.

"Do it!" Rias screeched over the sounds of the battle. "They are retaliating, not attacking! They're holding us until Riser arrives! Hold attacks on the Knights and focus on the smaller undead! Remember the plan!"

"Alright!" Yuuto answered while Xenovia and Irina were trying to dodge the undead Knight's attacks.

The group of Devils started to fall back towards Lady Phenix and Belial who were busy keeping the cavalry wedge of heavier Knights from smashing the Peerage's loose formation apart.

The security team was almost entirely wiped out, with only the devil Belial had kissed remaining, mostly thanks to the latter throwing occasional spears to clear undead that would try to slay the dress-wearing woman. Or, perhaps the Champion was protecting her because the security-devil, in turn, was guarding Asia.

"Ah! [Twilight Healing]!" Asia healed a deep gash on the security-devil's stomach, causing the woman to let a tortured groan.

"Let me die, please…" The woman cried out as she had been ping-ponging between living and dying for a while now, as she had received a myriad of wounds from the undead creatures even despite Belial's occasional interventions, and Asia had healed each of her guard's injuries.

"NGHII!" A horse's nay signaled another charge by the undead cavalry-Knights, but this time the crushing charge came to a sudden stop as Belial stomped his feet to the swamp-water, causing a row of steel spears that he had hidden underneath water to rise up to meet the Knights.

The charge crushed against the spears, causing may of them to snap or bend, but while it didn't really deal damage to the cavalry it did cause them to stop entirely or at the very least lose momentum, allowing Belial to hop up and drop-kick one of the riders off their mounts, impacting the rider against another and in turn falling both to the swamp-water.

Lady Phenix took the opportunity to drive a lance of fire through both of the mounts, allowing Belial to smack the two undead riders before they could get up and retaliate.

With just three cavalry-Knights remaining, the formation turned around and fled back to the undergrowth- nay, retreated back to the undergrowth to wait for better opportunity.

"Did they get scared off?" Rias asked as the group re-formed thanks to the lack of disrupting cavalry, and the Death Knights formed a testudo with their shields, blocking the devils from advancing while the lesser undead were all but wiped out.

"Undead don't feel fear. Good job on you for not being too terrified to fight, by the way." Belial answered Rias while thumbing up. "Respect. Anyway, I think they're gathering for another charge. Anyone injured or dead?"

"Just scrapes and some surface wounds." Rias answered as she and Asia healed the wounded Peerage members, Xenovia grinding her teeth as Durandal had been robbed from her and was behind the line of undead knights that had advanced over the spot where she and Irina had fought against their Death Knight. Nevertheless the girls were still armed with Excalibur fragments.

"And alas, the play reaches its peak, waiting for the final fight, crescendo and the beginning of the next act- my Ascension!" A horrible, growling voice invaded the clearing that was strewn with bodies of the security devils, undead corpses and submerged in muddy, bloody water.

What trees and undergrowth had existed in the near vicinity had turned to splinters and mush under the stress of the combat, and in turn made the group standing in the middle of it feel like targets left in the open upon hearing the horrible voice belonging to Riser Phenix.

"AAAAHH!" Lady Phenix's horrified, pained cry caused all living beings in hearing range to flinch, including Belial. "AAAAHHHH!"

"Ah, I see you approve of my work." The growly voice seemed appreciative.

A massive giant of repulsive meat, stitches and limbs wobbled into the clearing, and on top of the creature stood a husk of a man wearing black-cloak. A long rune-covered cloth floated around him as well, holding up a burlap bag that seemed to contain scrolls. The downpour of water seemed to miss the bag entirely, allowing the parchment to remain dry.

Riser Phenix, or what remained of him, creaked its dry lips into a parody of a smile while looking over each of the members of the group, causing Yubelluna to literally throw up and Xuelan to look ill as well. "Ah, you'll do well… My, no, our hidden master does not approve of failure nor fools, so let us proceed. Indeed, you may not know of it, but you're my test- to test what he has taught me like a beloved teacher testing his student."

"You-" Lady Phenix seemed to regain a degree of her senses, and her earlier hope of resurrecting Riser seemed to be dashed. "You did that to your father! My husband! You- You are not my son! Even if Momon resurrects you, I will not forgive you!"

"Haah, must you living types always cling to your worthless blood-relations… I have only one family, and it is the only that matters- my Master. This pile of flesh, however, was exceedingly useful for my research… as was that girl. I believe you two had some relation to her, hm?" The dessicated man poked the head belonging to Lord Phenix that was perched on top of the creature of muscle and sinew, almost as if the body belonged to the Lord. "Aha, indeed, while my research is almost complete, I believe that I could use you as well, my lady. Surrender yourself willingly and I'll re-join you and your husband deeper than you two could have ever hoped to be in life."

"STOP!" Lady Phenix's scream of anger was accompanied by a lance of fire thrown at the creature. "STOP DEFILING US!"

The mass of muscle lifted its hand and caught the lance before it could hit Riser.

"Ah-ah! Aren't you eager... Well then, let's get to it. I'll need to complete my work before my Master visits my humble abode…" Riser's head suddenly jerked to the side and the husk-like face flooded with pure terror. "No! I've… Miscalculated!"

"What…?" Rias was confused by Riser's sudden change of mood while the Peerage edged themselves around the clearing, fully aware that the exchange would soon come to blows and they'd need to keep the still-standing Death Knights occupied while Lady Phenix and Belial faced Riser and its 'servant'.

"Enough! My Master has arrived before I calculated, and I need to finish my work before he finds out I've failed… You! I need your souls, so give them to me! Charge!" The husk of a man screamed, somehow panicking for a brief moment before returning to calmness, and ordering the mass of muscle and stitches to charge.

"The Supreme Being is here? No, at Riser's base?" Rias turned to glance at Yubelluna who paled as she looked at Belial who took the massive creature head-on, locking the two in melee while Riser floated down until his feet touched the surface of the tumultuous water below, locking him in ranged combat with Lady Phenix.

"Momon!" Yubelluna uttered through her sudden fright as the Peerage faced off against the Death Knights, neither side making a move as they waited for the other to do so, and both sides buying for time for the other's big hitters.

Rias and Akeno paled as well.

"Momon and Gasper are heading for Ravel, and if the Supreme Being is here-" Rias whispered before her voice turned to yell. "Guys! Belial-san! We need to beat these things before Momon runs directly into that Supreme Being!"

"You will not defile him with your presence!" Riser Phenix screamed in sudden anger, seemingly having heard Rias's yell. "Emerge and slay them, Deepkin!"

Unfortunately, it would look like none of Momon's Peerage would get a chance to go to Momon's aid anytime soon as the water burst with black tentacles and a huge, nearly car-sized head full of dull, fish-like eyes suddenly emerged from the now-waist deep water.

"Gar-Shug Burr-Tahg" The creature's voice was deep, yet the words were utterly alien to the Underworld and its residents.

The screams of the Peerage were lost in the roar of downpouring rain and the slapping sounds that came from the tentacles impacting against water as they moved to sweep around the clearing in an attempt to catch the devils.

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"So, umu…" Momonga scratched his chin as he took a look around the cave the Elder Lich had likely used as a home-base of sorts, having descended down a tunnel that had an entrance at a clearing in the middle of the swamp.

Having an undead frog tail his every move had caused Momonga quite a bit of unease so he had asked his Crow to eat it in an experiment to see what would happen, figuring that if the Elder Lich grew offended he could just explain that if someone had seen him getting tailed they'd become suspicious. It seemed that he probably didn't need to worry, as an undead spider dangling from the ceiling had spotted him the moment he had entered the cave.

'Well, this 'necromancer base' certainly looks the part…' Momonga glanced at the decor which mostly consisted of blood, dead flesh, somehow still pulsating organs and research notes on the walls with large red marks on them, as well as lines drawn from one paper to another like something out of a crazy detective's wall. '...He really took the 'undead phoenix' thing seriously.'

He glanced at the girl that was lying on a shoddily built table nearby, missing her arms and legs and with her eyes, ears and mouth covered by a YGGDRASIL's [Sealing Cloth], essentially rendering her blind and reducing her hearing and talking to mumbles.

Momonga guessed that the girl was Ravel based on the now-dirty and blood-stained blonde hair and the general proportions of her body. 'Well, at least the Crow led me where I asked him to lead me…'

Since the girl's condition was stable Momonga decided to rummage around the workshop some more before seeing to her needs, figuring out that he would use [Control Amnesia] to remove her short-term memories just in case. Since the girl had been tortured quite a bit, based off her appearance, Momonga guessed that any changes in behaviour or odd mannerisms would get swept under the rug should anyone notice.

'Gasper's [Control Amnesia] seemed to work fine, but it made Rias and Akeno instantly suspicious as Gasper was apparently an incredibly shy person before, but he went ahead and sat on my lap immediately after I was done using the spell…'Momonga cast [Appraisal Magic Item] on a pile of papers. 'I'll need to be careful…'

He tilted his head as he saw a Scroll positively light up with blue glow and then did a double-take.

'Ah, so I guess this is what the Lich has been working on…' Momonga picked up the Scroll and focused on his appraisal spell. '[Scroll of Dark Wisdom: Phoenix]... intriguing. Phoenix abilities are a set of abilities, not just a single one, and moreover they are abilities and not spells. All of those facts should prohibit the use of [Dark Wisdom]...'

Momonga then cast [All Appraisal Magic Item] on the Scroll, further deepening his understanding on the concept of the Scroll and its manufacture. '...I've gravely underestimated the intelligence of my creation. This is brilliant! It used the soul of Lord Phenix and merged it with a bone of Riser's, which came from its body, and used Ravel's skin as base for the Scroll! Using three Phoenixes as base, he managed to imbue three distinct 'capabilities' to the Scroll, and by focusing on the magical properties of its sources, turned the concept of 'ability' into something that can be replicated with 'magic', essentially creating three new Spells from abilities and imbuing them to a [Dark Wisdom]...'

Momonga felt jittery and more than a little wary over the intelligence of his creation. '...If it's this intelligent, is it truly serving me or is it waiting for it's time to betray me? It's already created a sizable army, and if it's this intelligent it'll soon realize I'm nowhere as near as intelligent as it is…'

Feeling more than a little wary, Momonga took one more look at the Scroll. 'Technically, if I destroyed or used this I'd set his progress back somewhat, and I'd give myself some time to convince the Lich that I'm as intelligent as it probably assumes I am… Then again, this Scroll isn't complete. So, if I… hm, yes, that's an idea… I can just claim I tried to finish it, but accidentally used it...'

Momonga felt wary over the amount of mana completing the Scroll would take, but he estimated that he'd get up to fighting 'level' if he consumed most of the mana potions he had in his inventory. 'And if this works as intended, I should be able to reinforce my cover image even more... Let's just do this…'

"[Scroll of Dark Wisdom: Phoenix]!" Momonga flooded the Scroll with his mana and activated it.

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Lord Phenix groaned awake, lying on his back in cracked-dry soil.

"Where am I…" He saw a desolate wasteland with a black sky that still somehow illuminated the fruitless, dry soil below it.

The entire place seemed deathly still, as if the entire world's rotation had stopped and despite the sky being dark, there were no stars visible on it, nor was the moon in the sky.

He coughed phlegm on it to clear his throat and forced himself upright. "What is this?"

Something 'blinked' and Lord Phenix found himself on his knees again, somehow in a different place than where he had woken up.

He looked up as he felt something thoroughly unnatural and out of place to him, yet completely natural to the world that existed in front of him.

Lord Phenix saw a young man, roughly in his mid-thirties or early forties, with face a that could be considered 'cute' and brown hair. He was wearing a crisp official suit and matching pants and shoes, looking every bit the proper office worker or salaryman.

Yet, the man's eyes were, for the lack of better word, artificial. The iris of the blue eyes were seemingly sliced into multiple rings that rotated individually, almost as if his eyes were cybernetic implants of some sort. Moreover the man's face was lined with thin scars, as if something had been surgically cut and implanted into him, complete with a serial markings on the side of his head which had been shaved bare. There were marks of constant gas mask use around his face by sunken and scarred skin around where the mask would rub against face.

The fact his face was utterly devoid of emotions and full of calculating, hard logic made Lord Phenix incredibly nervous, as it reminded him of the Old Maous, specifically the Old Lucifer- but where the Old Lucifer had passion and rage in equal measure to match his calculating mind, this creature had emotionless, unmoving logic that moved like clockwork. He mentally named the businessman 'The Businessman' in his head for the similarity, yet not quite at the same time.

Yet, the more Lord Phenix looked at him, the more the darkness within the man looked back at Lord Phenix, allowing him to see a trio if creatures behind the suit-wearing man.

One of them was a winged avian humanoid, bearing six pairs of angel-like wings on its massive back, clad in gold and strips of leather of finest quality. Its eyes were inhuman, full of lust and immoral, unethical passions that caused Lord Phenix to feel fright for his family- a creature Lord Phenix named in his mind as 'The Despoiler'

One of them was a white-clad knight that couldn't quite cover its rotten aura behind its glorious facade. Its face was covered, masking the inhuman face beneath it if the creature's aura was anything to go by, making Lord Phenix name the hypocritical creature 'The Deceiver'

There were cracks forming under the group, the cracks having been hurriedly boarded but couldn't quite keep a clawed hand, its back covered in fur and human-like nails long and deadly, from reaching through it. There was an aura of doom coming from it, alongside an unpleasant, paranoid air of something pretending it was not, the aura flowing out of the cracks like foul scent. Lord Phenix named the sealed creature 'The Pretender' in his head.

Yet, behind them all was an avatar of death- a skeleton of inhuman proportions clad in a violet and black velvet robe, showing a red orb behind his ribcage just below where a human's heart would be. 'The Death', given form.

The creature gave off much the same aura as the businessman behind which it towered, each of the creatures nearly eight feet tall but somehow the skeleton seemed to tower over each of them.

"Ah, so the Elder Lich was successful, but it seems that soul-using spells have drawbacks. I should have predicted as much." The Businessman tilted its head behind, speaking in a grave-like tone that oozed finality. Then the head tilted to the other side, causing the mouth-piece of the Deceiver to move but no sound came out of it. "There is an invader among us."

"The gallant thing to do would be to return his soul to his body." The businessman continued, causing Lord Phenix to take a step back as he realized the creatures were talking of him, and another step from the sudden change in the man's tone. "His family has suffered enough, and saving him is within our reach. It would be what a hero would do."

The once-cute businessman's eyes were hollow and his voice changed, causing Lord Phenix to realize that the creatures behind it were speaking through the suit-wearing man's mouth like if it was a puppet. Yet, at the same time, the creatures seemed ethereal somehow, as if they were mere projections on smoke. As such, he attributed the words about saving Lord Phenix to The Deceiver, and Lord Phenix instinctively knew that each word coming from The Deceiver's 'mouth' would be a monkey's paw.

"If we don't save him, we can claim his wife afterwards!" The bird- like creature's beak opened to show rows and rows of small, needle-like teeth, causing Lord Phenix's blood to boil with anger as the words left The Businessman's mouth.

"Enough. Your words lack honor." The voice belonging to none of the speakers came from The Businessman, causing Lord Phenix to pause as he realized the speaker was The Businessman himself.

"You were not at fault for your state, but I cannot let you return. You've seen too much, know too much, were where you should have never been." The voice turned cold and logical once again, addressing Lord Phenix.

The Businessman's head tilted back and his arm rose up, alongside the arm of the skeletal Avatar of Death. "At the same time, you are now part of me. Yet you are alien to me. So, your true death will never come, but your knowledge will be useful for me. [Control Amnesia]"

Lord Phenix took a step forward as his memories started to leave his mind, beginning from his childhood and moving forward on his long life.

He took another step as the memory of meeting his wife left him, followed by another step as the memory of her giving birth to their sons and daughters left him.

The memory of the existence of his sons and daughters left him, alongside the memories of leading the Phenix family, the political machinations of the Pillar families evaporating from his now-baring soul.

He took one last step as the memory of Riser's death left him, leaving just the memory of torment and agony under the scalpel of the monstrous creature that the body had become.

The barren soul that had once been 'Lord Phenix' let one final roar and punched The Businessman, before the now-blank soul disintegrated and joined the dust scattered about the barren wasteland below.

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Somewhere else Sirzechs was holding his head and downing a glass full of water and aspirin. "Well, I can't fault Momon for being paranoid. He did get ambushed by the Supreme Being in a toilet, after all."

"You'd think you could tell him to warn us first?" Souji groaned as he nurtured his head and Grayfia was grooming her singed hair after getting Sirzechs aspirin.

"Also, can you get me some aspirin as well?" Beelzebub glanced at Grayfia who just glanced back, cowering the Maou. "Right, got it, nevermind. Speaking of which, weather."

"I don't need an observation spell to see that something happened for Serafall to get knocked off her rocker." Sirzechs glanced at his phone. "Enforcer patrols report that we've got Fallen Angels in the Underworld. Hostile fallen angels."

"So, are Fallen Angels, Ophis's faction and the Supreme Being all in cahoots with each other?" Beelzebub asked as he created another puddle for the group to spy from. "Do you think this invasion is coincidental?"

"No chance. They're too well coordinated- Lady Phenix would have known we'd chase her, allowing the Fallen Angels to strike when Maou's weren't present to stop them instantly." Grayfia interjected.

"Moreover someone, I'm assuming Kokabiel or some of Supreme Being's agents did something to drive Serafall to rage, which I'm assuming involves Sona Sitri somehow as that's just about only thing that would still elicit emotional response from her." Beelzebub noted. "That means we need to divide our attention or Serafall is going to destroy the Underworld as surely as the Supreme Being would."

"Right... Grayfia, the Fallen Angels back in the city don't seem to have any exceedingly powerful characters with them. Return to the capital, take care of the Fallen. But stay on your guard, if Azazel or other strong Fallen Angels show up then fall back instantly. I... don't want to lose you." Sirzechs glanced at the puddle.

Grayfia walked close to Sirzechs and turned his head, giving him a deep kiss. "You don't need to coddle over me. I've learned from my mistakes."

"If Gray-chan raises any more death flags I'm going to get more concerned than ever. Plus since when did you show public affection when you were in your maid persona? That's like saying 'I love you' just before a pivotal battle." Souji said from the side, mimicking Sirzech's voice and ignoring the freezing look Grayfia sent the man afterwards. "Mind if I go to help the kids down there?"

Sirzechs glanced at the puddle that showed Rias and the rest of the Peerage fighting against a huge tentacle monster, paled, and nodded to Souji. "Go, go, gogogogogogogogogogogo"

"I am go." Souji disappeared in a teleportation circle that Sirzechs formed hastily.

"I'll go after Serafall. I should be able to calm her down, or at least contain her rage." Beelzebub noted.

"And I'll wait for this 'Supreme Being' to show up." Sirzechs finalized their battle-plan. "Well, this has gone straight to hell, hm?"

"Fitting." Beelzebub snorted at using the saying in the Underworld.

"At least this can't get much worse..." Sirzechs sighed as he was left alone.

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Somewhere else in the Swamp, a sealing spell called [Ultimate Disturb] expired.

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