Overlord of a High School (26)

Despite the fact that Momonga could take down the annoying guy who was bothering him during lunch break with a single spell, or even a single punch, he had managed to 'win' Momonga over with his explanation. He even acceded to the demand that he promise to meet him after school, and tell this Genshiro all about how he had been recognized as a 'full member of society' by the court. That is about his 'emancipation', a lie that he had created so that Miki and the school wouldn't question him so much about his background.

If only Momonga had known the vortex into which his lies about his status would drag him, Momonga would have been better off just agreeing to Miki's adoption! He only 'agreed' to tell Genshiro about it since Murayama and Katase were there, and he had to get rid of him quickly, before he got questioned more.

Anyway, regrets late, now he had to figure out what could he would say about his actions in this case. Other than that, he had tampered with his own documents and made an oversight in them, a small notation that accidentally and effectively ruined his life?! He wasn't even sure exactly how to spell the word, 'emancipation' without thinking about it for a time, let alone the legal terms for how the procedure even takes place!

He especially wasn't confident in his ability to create a realistic and convincing lie on the fly regarding his history with the phenomenon!

In addition, when Momonga did finally fend off Genshiro's pesky attempts to inquire on the spot about Momonga's status, he was too late, Katase and Murayama, were also now interested in such an 'unusual' background. It forced Momonga to use almost his entire arsenal of prepared phrases that took him as far away from the subject as possible.

"That's not the most interesting story, I'm much more interested in the kendo club's practices…" Only to stumble into something that he also preferred to keep on the down low, judging by Katase's sudden worried expression.

To Momonga's dismay, this phrase made Katase remember that he had supposedly gone to an abandoned church to fight in underground fights. An attempt to distract from this topic turned to the subject of him kissing Katase. And in Katase's attempt to fend off Murayama, who was peering at her with a sly look, paralyzed with embarrassment, Katase came up with the story that Momonga was supposedly being watched by some unknown woman.

A woman most likely sent by demons… How could one simple lie lead to so many stressful situations!?

As he fought off the girls' attempts to find out about his 'past relationships', thankfully Katase and Murayama had no idea how strange and confusing his history of current relationships was. And it's not like he can talk about them, and yet he had never had a 'past' relationship in his life to speak off, and yet the pressure kept on coming. Momonga almost snapped as he tried to come up with a safe topic to talk about, almost deciding to show the girls magic.

Well, thanks to his undead mind and suppression of emotions, Momonga didn't snap in a burst of frustrated desperation. It was just that even his rational mind at some point informed Momonga that in the current situation, revealing magic was far preferable to endlessly trying to fend off the girls' inquiries.

Which surprisingly managed to pull him deeper and deeper into the maelstrom of those inquiries, despite his attempts to deflect.

Fortunately, the bell ringing, signaling the end of the lunch break, saved him from the barrage of questions from Murayama and Katase. Katase was mostly switching between blushing when they were asking personal questions about his past relationship, and how far he had gotten with them. And paling when his 'tragic' background was used to deflect the questions, only managing to control herself at the very end and say.

"See you after school… Satoru." With one last shy wave, Katase followed after Murayama back to their class.

Holding himself back from using some form of teleportation to escape, Momonga quickly walked back towards his classroom, a fate that almost made Momonga thought that the questioning was preferable. It was the same brain-killing boredom as the first half of the class. Only his emotion suppression, which had long ago demonstrated that it's the most useful of all his power, saved him from casting Super-Tier magic to escape this hell.

But while his suppression of emotion had the ability to rid him of overflowing emotions at any given moment, allowing to act rationally rather than emotionally, it did not turn him into a mindless machine. Instead of removal, it translated his 'emotions' into a set of clearly-defined postulates and fabrications. And so Momonga's verdict by the time he finished his fourth day at Kuoh Academy was unequivocal.

'This simply cannot go on like this!'

Momonga just couldn't help himself, he felt like a hopeless level one noob who had suddenly entered a level 100 dungeon without any preparation, information study, or help from other players. Who then, by some miracle, now faced the final raid boss in the first room.

Even the rational part of Momonga that wasn't directly affected by his emotions idly confirmed that he would most likely just up and leave the school during one of his classes the next day. Or, at the very least, the day after that, putting the need of blending in with the Human World on the back burner, he'll figure out something else!

School, at least at this level, was torture to him, after all he was only an elementary school graduate, unlike the elites who have the resource to finish their education. And here he was, attending high-school, it was like someone who had just learned how to float suddenly decided to swim in the open ocean.

Even his worries about paying a forfeit, a cost that he hoped he might be able to mitigate with the help of the Fallen Angels. Or even his fear of discarding his fake identity, were scaring him less and less by the minute. Yes, he would probably end up in debt and stick up like a sore thumb to anyone bothering to look, a position that he really rather not be in, but at least he would retain the remnants of his sanity. Something which Momonga valued more highly than any disguise or possible monetary penalty.

Though he really doesn't like that last one.

Therefore, before insanity would make Momonga do something extremely rash, he decided to devote all his free time to thinking about a possible way out of the crisis he was facing and preparing escape routes. Momonga had plenty of free time during school, after all.

However, no matter how hard Momonga tried, he couldn't find the perfect escape route. If he didn't show up at the school one day, it would alarm the Demons, who would have instantly rushed in search of his trail. And considering Miki, whose ability to maintain a disguise over her changed nature in the face of powerful paranormal beings is highly in doubt. It wouldn't also be very hard for the Demons to find the abandoned church, currently full of, not only fallen angels, but also three level 100 Nazarick NPCs. Nothing good would happen from the Demons meeting the likes of Demiurge, Albedo or Shalltear.

Demiurge might make do if he's alone, he's the most logical of the level 100 NPCs after all, but the other two? Kuoh would probably vanish from the map.

Of course, he could send a Nazarick doppelgänger in his place, a low level one would probably do after a bit of coaching. But, being under constant Demon surveillance, the disguise needs to be ironclad to have any chance of succeeding. And, considering that he had at least encountered the Leviathan in person, a local Demon ruler of about seventieth level, she most likely have the ability to recognize doppelgängers, a single chance meeting would ruin the disguise immediately.

Of course, judging by the fact that Pandora's Actor was still undiscovered, it meant that a highly ranked doppelgänger could probably avoid detection. But Pandora's Actor is literally the highest ranked doppelgänger in the tomb, with Narberal Gamma being the second highest. Risking a Pleiades Sister for a plan that is so uncertain is quite foolish, and other than those two, the other senior doppelgängers were far behind in both combat and imitation abilities.

In other words, the only way for him to stop appearing at the school, without disturbing the demons, was to declare to them that he had achieved his 'goal' at the Academy… Which would almost certainly alarm the Demons.

It would probably send them on a wild goose chase to find out what exactly Momonga's goal was and what had changed now that he had 'achieved' it. Which, again, would only lead to a higher alert level that could lead them to the abandoned church.

Momonga, having had time to experience his own damned version of 'luck', Momonga was sure that was exactly what would happen…

But other than that? What other way could Momonga get out of the school? Perhaps he could contact the Demons directly and tell them that he was willing to leave the school grounds in exchange for some preferential treatment from them?

In theory, it was a workable plan. It would both reduce the likelihood that the Demons would start looking for traces of him in the city and accidentally discover the changed Miki or the abandoned church. The only question was, what to ask the Demons?

Momonga didn't even know what exactly he could demand from the demons. Not their abilities, not even the relative value of certain items, nor just what their stockpiles of resources are, nothing at all. Not to mention the fact that Momonga would be utterly lost if the demons decided to just say no.

In the end, Momonga only has two possible ways forward.

One, he could just give up thinking of a way off of school, and just spent some time gathering information about the Demons before thinking about another plan to quit school. Momonga however was not confident that he could last another day in school, never mind the indeterminate amount of time he needed to gather information about the Demons.

Second, he could simply begin open conflict with the Demons. Something that was basically anathema to him, fighting someone when he doesn't even have an iota of information about them? He'd rather cut off one of his limbs rather than do that. He could not even roughly estimate the true extent of the demons' forces in this world, nor did he know the alliances of those and the strongest players on their side!

After all, as Pandora's Actor had informed him, Serafall, who held a high position in the demon world, was officially many times inferior to at least two other Demons' leaders. Which, firstly, meant that they were probably close to the hundredth level, if not over that level at all, who knows if the hundredth level is the limit here, so caution is already paramount. And, secondly, that secretly there could be a much larger number of high-level beings in the demon faction.

After all, only two of them were known about, who was to say that another ten of them didn't remain in the shadows? Just like in YGGDRASIL, it's the secret bosses and dungeons that kills you after all.

After all, the first thing he met in this world, the so called 'Great Red Dragon', and it was very powerful for some random encounter. It wouldn't be strange if he didn't meet at least a few beings of his power level later on, or maybe even a dozen.

Unless, by some incredible coincidence, the strongest being in this world was supposed to be relegated into some random encounter, and he had fought it by chance… Which, given Momonga's cursed luck, no longer seemed completely impossible to him.

But still, he should only act based on what is rational, and not by some jumped up paranoia… While the skill he got from using Dark Wisdom on it was proving its usefulness now, it was simply too weak a skill from the supposed 'strongest'.

Right, even the other Red Dragon was so weak! Well, the [Boost] skill is Overpowered, but to have no Immunity at all to Instant Death, or ways to mitigate it? Maybe Dragons are actually quite weak in this world?

The moment the bell rang to inform Momonga that classes were over for the day, Momonga couldn't come up with a perfect plan for leaving the school that wouldn't involve a lot of other problems. So, rising from his seat, Momonga immediately made his way out of school, doing his best to not meet both Katase and Saji.

And while Momonga could at least deal with Katase, especially since she was practically paralyzed with embarrassment at his presence, and thus probably couldn't drill his brain like her friend. Saji's presence only reminded Momonga of the many difficulties that awaited him at the moment outside the school grounds. Difficulties that Momonga couldn't deal with.

Unless he dared to change Saji's memories…? Sadly, such a thing was impossible since he had approached him in front of a lot of people. If he were to brainwash Saji, he would also need to do it to everyone that had been in that corridor when he met Saji, and the countless number of people that had heard rumors about his promise to him.

Something that is basically putting the cart before the horse, brainwashing people so that his lies doesn't become obvious and attract the attention of the Demons. Only by doing so, brainwashing dozens or even more people and attracting even more attention. Never mind the fact that it would probably suck him dry of Mana and make him vulnerable for some time until it regenerates.

That was why evasion was his best option… Which is why when he saw two familiar figure awaiting him, he could only sigh.

Sighing inwardly as he approached the two people, the noise causing the two to turn towards him at the same time as he approached. Saji and Katase seemed to have read his mind and were waiting right in front of the school gates.

Momonga thought for a moment about sending Saji away, possibly by referring to Katase and his possible relationship with her, hoping that the awkwardness of being a third wheel would scare Saji away. But judging by his determined look, Saji had no intention of backing down even in the face of such a threat. Of course, Momonga couldn't help but respect such determination, but that didn't mean he was all that happy about the current situation either.

"Good afternoon… Or I suppose it's evening now, Katase, Saji." Momonga addressed the two, feeling only tiredness at the future headaches. He was really grateful for the way his unchanged expression radiated nothing but good-naturedness and understanding, and not allowing his desire to send the two humans away at the moment to be reflected in the tone of his voice.

"I believe the current situation is somewhat…. Unusual." Maybe he could use Katase to at least drive Saji away? He's not holding his breath on it though, and he could hold his breath forever now…

Katase and Saji exchanged glances, as if trying to gauge the awkwardness of the situation on some internal scale, before looking away. And to Momonga's dismay, just as he had predicted, Katase shifted from foot to foot, embarrassed, and, lowering her gaze, quietly mumbled something before turning to leave. "See you tomorrow, Satoru…"

Sighing inwardly, disappointed but not at all surprised, Momonga nodded. "Yes, see you tomorrow." Momonga supposed that Saji had talked to her about what they were about to talk about.

After that, Katase hurried away, and Momonga looked at Saji, who looked awkward, a little nervous, but determined, like a soldier preparing for his last battle. "I need your help."

After a moment, Saji bent down in a bow again, so quickly and deeply that he nearly fall over and stabbing his head into the ground beneath his feet. "Please!"

Momonga responded to such an impassioned plea with only a thoughtful look. So Saji, who had not gotten the result he expected, took a deep breath, as if before performing a dive from a high board, and then began to kneel down without raising his head.

Momonga had no doubt that should he keep silent, Saji's next move would be to lower himself into 'dogeza'. A pose of a perfect beggar's lowliness, a willingness to literally lie in his feet, forehead resting fully on the ground and body pressed against the ground.

Momonga didn't like to look at humiliated people, especially those who didn't deserve it, and those whose eyes were filled with determination. It seemed to him that such an action would be an insult to the determination that Saji had gathered until that moment.

Seeing that, since Momonga wasn't answering him, Saji began to lower his torso to the ground, so Momonga reached out and placed his hand on Saji's shoulder, stopping his actions. Saji, feeling a hand on his shoulder, looked up at Momonga, once again his face lighting up with a determined look.

Perhaps his way of getting his way was humiliating, but Saji would stop at nothing to achieve what he felt was truly important…

Momonga sighed, audibly this time, and said slowly. ''What I tell you about my status won't help you."

Technically, this was the absolute truth, if just slightly misleading. But Saji looked at Momonga almost defiantly, and then, in an unexpected gesture for Momonga, bent down again, resting his forehead on the ground and putting his hands forward in an almost prayerful gesture.

"PLEASE, I'M ASKING FOR HELP!" Saji said loud and clear, causing a few distant schoolmates who were heading home to stop, staring in surprise at the figure of… Momonga towering over Saji, then they began whispering to each other as they watch.

Momonga frowned inwardly for a second, before suddenly realizing something important.

Saji was blackmailing him with his own humiliation.

In fact, to an outside observer, the situation was very clear at this point. Saji was literally lying at Momonga's feet, begging for help. To an outsider, it would make more sense to assume that Momonga had made Saji humiliate himself in such a manner before he could acquire his 'help'. And considering that Momonga's reputation was just beginning to recover from his 'taming' of the Perverted Trio, such a picture would be a blow to his reputation. Rumors already seemed like they had a life of their own at the Academy, and if there was suddenly another rumor that he is a pervert, even more so than Issei? A pervert who just liked humiliating guys, not peeping at girls?

His reputation would drop to the lowest point in an instant… Probably even lower than the Perverted Trio, even. There was even already a previous event where he beat up the Trio and humiliated them, so it would fit.

Momonga didn't want to be labeled as a pervert. Even if he didn't come to this school anymore, Momonga couldn't live if the last memory of him in this place was from such rumors… No, worse, what if he stopped going to the academy, and people thought that he stopped going because of those rumors' truthfulness!?

A suppression of emotions worked once again and Momonga was forced to admit defeat once again, exhaling slowly. "Okay, fine, stand up already. I'll help you."

"Thank you so much!" Saji seemed to literally flew off the ground, as he reached for Momonga to envelop him in a hug, but Momonga pulled himself away with the grace of a hundredth level before he could. Looking at Saji's soiled uniform, before glancing at the other students, trying to gauge if they had decided that Momonga was responsible for the boy's humiliation.

But, as he watched for the reactions of the popcorn gallery, his gaze came across a rather curious detail as he watched the throngs of students watching his episode with Saji. 'Hmm, magic powers?'

The young girl, which was not at all unusual in an Academy, with hair the color of tree bark, tied into two long tails down the sides of her head, and emerald-colored eyes, was the bearer of magical abilities… However, Momonga could not determine their power at a glance.

'[Silent Magic: Life Essence], [Silent Magic: Mana Essence].' A couple of spells that were quickly becoming Momonga's favorite, revealed to him the girl's basic stats. That is, if she wasn't hiding them with a strong enough counter-espionage magic.

'Umu, no higher than level fifteen, I'd even say around level ten? She probably wouldn't be a threat even to Raynare… Although, she's looking at me closely, maybe she's one of the local Demons? Unfortunately I'm not good at identifying the race of mobs with my spells, excluding, of course, the most exotic variants or consumable items. Besides, the demons of this world bear only an extremely faint resemblance to the Demons of YGGDRASIL, looking very much like normal humans… Ah, one problem after another!'

"But I think we'd better move somewhere more private, don't you think?" Momonga said slowly, keeping his eyes on the new possible Demon.

Saji, hearing this, nodded seriously, clearly relieved that he had gotten his wish, smiled,

"Sure, let's go, my house isn't far away!"

***

Ruruka Nimura had always been a big fan of solving mysteries and riddles, things ranging from detective novels, to where her neighbors' parents worked. The latter didn't exactly endear her to those same parents, and, by extension, to the children of her neighbors, which often led Ruruka to associate with other outcasts instead. But, her love of the strangest mysteries and riddles brought her to Sona Sitri's doorstep when she pieced together a few facts.

She walked into the student council office, loudly exclaiming that Sona Sitri was the head of a mafia family and practiced magic.

The first claim was not quite true, Sona was not the head of a mafia family, unfortunately for Ruruka, who had practiced how to deal with mafias by watching the entire Godfather series several times and buying a fedora. But on the other hand, Sona did practice magic, and one outrageous claim being true out of two, is not a bad ratio.

As it turned out, Sona Sitri was a Devil and even the heiress of one of the Devil's noble clan… Which, in Ruruka's mind, was not something that out of the left field. If she had already thought that Sona was a magic practitioner, why couldn't she accept the fact that she'd be a Devil as well?

In any case, Sona, quite intrigued by Ruruka's analytical and deductive skills, offered her a chance to rebirthed as a Devil, with some other nice perks to follow. Things like learning actual magic, and a chance to elevated to be a High-Ranked Devil, granting her a personal demonic land grant and a Peerage of her own.

Oh, and let's not to forget near-immortality.

So Ruruka agreed to Sona's offer without hesitation. So after being inducted into becoming a Devil, Ruruka was expecting a lot of things on her first day as a member of Sona's Peerage. Perhaps she would be hearing Sona's story about her new life as a Devil, or maybe secret knowledge of the occult part of the world hidden from ordinary people? And maybe a couple of spells as her material for home study…

She got that, and perhaps even more than she could swallow.

On the day Ruruka was to undergo her first lesson in her new Devil life, she was taken out of class before first period even began, excused by some reason or other and was taken into the Student Council room. It was there that her crash course on the supernatural side of the world began.

It was a curious mix of emotions after the seminar, fear, anger, panic, confusion, and three dozen others that Ruruka could not fully appreciate. Emotions that were also reflected in the usually taciturn Student Council President.

The world was much larger than she first, and could have imagined.

What she did manage to fully appreciate, however, was the warnings Sona had given her, and just how many mysterious things existed in the world. Ruruka could probably have guessed that gods existed on her own, if not immediately. If Devils existed, then why couldn't gods, after all?

But the fact that one of them would one day decide to move into Ruruka's city was something she hadn't ever imagined could happen. Judging by Sona's panicked reaction, she was also unprepared for such a thing… Which, Ruruka assumed, was a big deal.

After all, Sona always seemed to be well aware of everything that was going on in the city, not to mention the fact that she was the younger sister of one of Hell's highest ranking officials. However, Sona had panicked so much that she ended up not even being able to concentrate on Ruruka's training or her duties, which was incredibly rare for Sona.

The only direction she gave, to the entire Student Council, her Peerage, was that they should stay away from Satoru, the supposed god in hiding. Sona really should've known better…

Of course, for a known problem child and lover of riddles that managed to go so far as to turn into a Devil in her riddle solving, no more a tempting target could Sona give her with her warnings. A red button with a big 'do not press' sign on it.

Who in their right mind could keep themselves from pressing that one at least a couple of times!

In addition, Ruruka's interest had been piqued after she'd seen the Pervert Trio's changes for the first time. Although Ruruka hadn't been exposed to their actions directly, having moved to high school only a week ago, rumors of them had reached not only Ruruka, who had attended Kuoh Middle School, but seemingly half of Japan.

So, even for just that reason, Ruruka was obliged to witness the person who had completed Hercules' thirteenth labors, 'the taming of the Perverts', in person.

And after making sure that the Trio she found had indeed changed, Ruruka was confronted with an unbelievable sight on her way out of the academy, a guy crawling in dust and dirt in front of Satoru. After something like that, Ruruka just couldn't shrug her shoulders and walk past, her hunger for secrets and mysteries demanded answers.

At the very least, she would find out the reason such a thing had happened. Besides, her past big mystery had turned her into a Devil, what would it be this time? Would she be endowed with divine powers?!

So, acting according to all the rules of espionage, namely, according to all the books she had read, Ruruka began tailing behind Satoru and the young, and by the way, very handsome looking, guy. Of course, she kept her distance from them, not getting too close, but also not too far away that she would lose sight of them either.

She kept moving from one inconspicuous position, that is behind a light pole or some trash cans, to another as Satoru and the other student walked through the streets, eventually reaching a rather large house on one of the streets.

Throughout the entire time they were traveling, Satoru and the boy didn't utter a word, however, they couldn't just head off to nowhere without any purpose, could they? So, having come to the most logical conclusion, Satoru and the boy must be wishing to have a secret conversation!

Ruruka also came to the equally logical conclusion, that she was obliged to violate their privacy.

And so, after waiting a dozen seconds after Satoru had entered the building, she followed the two students, crouching under one of the windows. Peering in through the window for a moment, photographing the picture before her with her inner gaze before dropping down to hide, replaying the image, so she could investigate what was happening.

Inside there were not just Satoru and the other guy, but two other much younger people, a boy, and a girl. And with their familial similarity, and unless the guy that Satoru was following wasn't some crazy Casanova, with a story worthy of a very tragic and perverse book, and probably a rapid trial, they must be his younger siblings.

Seeing that there's no older relatives, in this case meaning the young children were left unattended, behavior unacceptable to any adult. So their parents, or a person acting in their role, could not have been present at the moment. Either out of neglect… Or perhaps because there was none at all?

These facts combined with the earlier event at school… Was he asking a favor from Satoru? About what? What is it about Satoru that would interest someone who have younger siblings and no parental oversight… Ah, there's only one thing, the really juicy rumor when Satoru first enrolled!

"Bingo!" Ruruka said aloud, snapping her fingers, before remembering that she was supposed to be hiding, biting her tongue and looking around, even taking a peek inside again, making sure she wasn't spotted at the moment. After making sure that her actions were not noticed at the moment, she tried to eavesdrop on what was currently happening inside the house, pressing her ear against the thin wall.

Ruruka couldn't make out any specific words of course, but with her enhanced hearing as a [Pawn] of Sona Sitri, she could at least pick up the tone of the conversation.

Ruruka felt like she had pressed herself into the wall, trying to hear at least scraps of the conversation, by the sound of it, the tone of one conversation partner - Ruruka would bet it was Satoru, was calm. The tone of the other guy… Surprised? Then… Shocked?

Ruruka pressed her head even harder in an effort to actually hear what they were talking about, the scraps of information just lighting up her curiosity more. But, she still couldn't catch the details, only the tones.

Surprise, quickly replaced by a calm tone, with a hint of shock… What could it mean?

Maybe Satoru had revealed something to the guy about the magical side of the world? If the guy had asked him for help regarding the paperwork for emancipation, then Ruruka had no doubt that Satoru could arrange it… Being a god, and all.

However, wouldn't that cause a clash with Boss, and Rias Gremory? Then again, god, and just from Sona's fearful explanation and order to be careful, Ruruka suspected that that position was important enough to intervene for the sake of one person.

After waiting another dozen seconds and ultimately hearing nothing of significance, Ruruka finally moved away from the wall, her curiosity somewhat sated. As she moved, she looked around her once more, and finding no one near her, she hurried away before her presence would be noticed by any of her surveillance targets.

Unaware of just how insignificant her attempts at subterfuge meant.

***

Once again, Demiurge could only marvel at how brilliant Lord Momonga's mind was.

Indeed, even the smallest of His actions were part of an incomprehensibly large picture. Every little detail became part of the big picture, plans were extensions of each other, flowing so naturally that it was impossible to even trace the exact moment when one is completed and gave rise to a new one.

For example, the summoned creatures of the eightieth level, Goemon and Hanzo.

Of course, they were necessary for the fulfillment of the first step of Lord Momonga's plan, Raynare's information gathering about the release of the Red Dragon, surely they had played a part in that plan. But their role did not end there.

The first to bite the bait was Tobio Ikuse, a powerful agent of the Fallen Angel, a possessor of a [Longinus]. Raynare had notified Demiurge that Azazel, that damned traitor, would be sending his prized mutt to this city. And Hanzo, a level eighty creature who specialized in gathering information, countering invisibility and had outstanding concealment abilities, was 'coincidentally, the perfect tool to follow such a target.

Tobio never even had an inkling that the summon creature was lurking very close to him, watching his every move. After receiving information about Tobio from Raynare, who was quite surprised by his presence in the city, the original plan to cloak Hanzo in shadow had been called off due to Tobio's ability to control his own shadow.

As it turned out, Tobio was the possessor of [Longinus], [Canis Lycaon], one whose power is related to shadow control. So, after confirming the information about Tobio, Demiurge 'came up' with a plan, as of course orchestrated by the Supreme One.

With the help of Shalltear, Tobio was quickly kidnapped to the Nazarick's lofts, after which the next important detail of Lord Momonga's plan, the summoned Goemon, came into play. [Canis Lycaon] was quickly extracted from Tobio Ikuse's body, who had the unfortunate fortune of encountering quite an unpleasant feature of [Throne of Kings] of Nazarick.

As a World Class Item has an effect of suppressing the effects of World Class Items, including the [Longinus] unique to this world.

Demiurge wasn't quite sure that his plan would work, which is why he had asked Shalltear's help in the first place. However, as the Demiurge logically thought, if the [Sacred Gear], a smaller portion of which were [Longinuses] had been created by the Biblical God, Lord Momonga in the past. Then wouldn't the current defenses of the [Throne of Kings] would also be effective against them?

As expected, he was right, there was no doubt that everything was as Lord Momonga wishes, and he now has a World Class Item to present to the Supreme One. An achievement worthy of praise.

The World Class Item was an extremely lucky catch for Demiurge, an important item even when compared to the entirety of Nazarick's Treasury. Tobio Ikuse himself also served as an equally significant item.

Thanks to the assessments from Shalltear and Albedo, his combat level was determined to be close to level fifty. With the use of [Canis Lycaon], it was likely that he would be able to approach level seventy, or even slightly higher, but more critical than his direct combat potential was the information he possessed.

Oh, sure, Tobio was stubborn to the extreme, but he broke in the end, as all those who were unlucky not to be born with the purpose the Supreme One gives their creation. Neuronist, with the direct and immediate assistance of Demiurge himself, was able to crack him in just a few hours. Neuronist didn't even have to resort to healing magic, given that Tobio possessed a very impressive constitution.

Though, Albedo and Shalltear had to be used a few times, suppressing Tobio's will to fight and attempts for rebellion before he started to talk.

It took just a few hours of 'convincing' the little mutt of the Fallen before Tobio began to talk. Not about everything, he flatly refused to discuss his 'team', but that was also a temporary obstacle that simply required some time and work from a dear Neuronist… Information about the traitors was more important now, the mutt's friends can come later.

What exactly Demiurge was to do to him in the future, Demiurge himself was not sure. Certainly, as a servant of the Fallen Angels who had dared to rebel against Lord Momonga in the past, Demiurge was inclined on a painful execution.

But what kind of execution was in question at the moment.

Demiurge was not sure which would be more fitting, the amount of pain and suffering, or simply ones that are more symbolic? Crucifixion seemed the most fitting to him for symbolism, but flaying him alive and then plunging him in brine a few times had its appeal…

Ah, but that was simply idle musings, who was pleased that he had been able to unravel part of Lord Momonga's grand plan and accomplish His will with his little unsophisticated talent. The information provided by Tobio was abundant to the extreme and focused in large part on the Fallen Angel.

Who, as one would expect, these traitors were Lord Momonga's first target.

The information about their internal strife did not even surprise Demiurge. Degenerate creatures that dared to rebel against their creator they are, how could they have known at all about what was 'loyalty', even amongst self-similar degenerate renegades? Therefore, upon learning that Azazel, the nominal ruler of the Fallen Angels faction, was in a precarious position, facing a very prominent faction of opposition in the form of Kokabiel. Demiurge saw perfectly well the next part of Lord Momonga's plan.

One that he had to direct to fulfill Lord Momonga's grand plan.

Kokabiel wished for a continuation of the Great War, a new start to the Three-Sided War, but Demiurge did not wish for the angels who had so far remained loyal to Lord Momonga, Biblical God, to suffer. By remaining loyal when Lord Momonga had left, his brothers and sisters from Heaven deserved to once again stand under Lord Momonga's banner. Not to perish in a new war, not even realizing that Lord Momonga had once again returned to this world.

However, the Devils…

As far as Tobio had reported, Lucifer, as Lord Momonga's first traitor, had been destroyed. As had the vast majority of those who fought alongside him against God, making it impossible for Demiurge to instantly anathematize each one of them in absentia. Especially considering that some Devils had rebelled in the past against those who dared to encroach on Lord Momonga's power over this world. A Civil War.

Certainly they had indirectly killed the traitors, quite the service, but they rebelled against those not for the fact of their betrayal of Lord Momonga, but out of their own base motives. And thus the Demiurge had no sense of camaraderie for those who now used the name of the arch-predator Lucifer as their exalting title, and thus could be used as pawns of the incipient confrontation.

And, of course, as one would expect, all of this fitted splendidly into Lord Momonga's unified plan. Plans within plans that pulled one thread after another.

After all, a casus belli was needed to start the war to end all wars. An incident that only Kokabiel could provide, an incident with enough casualties to provoke a large Devil response that would draw the entire Fallen Angel faction into the maelstrom.

Only Kokabiel in the entire Fallen Angel faction, represent any appreciable force willing to commit that action. And while many powerful Devils could stop his actions before the incident got out of hand…

However, was it not then such a 'fortunate coincidence' that the Devils' gaze in this case was not fixed not on the fallen, but on Lord Momonga himself? How easily one simple assassination could slip the laxed nets.

Serafall Leviathan had already arrived, ready to summon several other extremely powerful figures of her people to contact Lord Momonga at a moment's notice. Coincidentally, leaving her world briefly quite defenseless against one swift strike from a powerful, as far as that word was concerned, Fallen Angel?

And, of course, just when the Demiurge was contemplating the timing of such an action, Lord Momonga reported that one of the petty Devil pawns had dared to approach him, attempting in their pathetic efforts to 'follow' Lord Momonga?

Without pause, Demiurge had picked up on the dozen unspoken orders and Hanzo had penetrated the Devil's shadow, for close observation and possible contact with the Devils at the necessary moment. While at the same time being ordered by Lord Momonga to not only get the opportunity for contact, but also the opportunity to determine the Devils' reaction to revealing information about the mystical side of this world to the unenlightened people of Earth… Indeed, Lord Momonga, who but He was to be called 'omniscient'?

Therefore, after finishing writing the letter, Demiurge smiled slightly. There were many minor details left. He needs to make contact with Kokabiel, pass information to him, direct him in a suicidal attack, then, when the demons' retaliation would draw the Fallen into war, retake the reins of the faction after a decapitating strike. Simultaneously throwing them under the wheels of other factions as a bargaining chip and gaining more pawns to use.

And that was only one part of the plan and one part of the information Tobio had brought in. The Chaos Brigade, the mages of Europe, the Youkai of Japan…

Folding his hands in a gesture of prayer, Demiurge once again praised Lord Momonga and thanked Him for every opportunity to follow His will as His faithful servant, before nodding as he looked at the blessed image of His son.

"Amen."