Chapter 15 - Part 2 - Ugly truths and To be Infuriated

Third Person Point of View

…

"Everything is ready. We can commence the operation to invade Grigori," said Satanael.

"You're sure this is accurate?" asked Promestein.

"I am positive. Azazel likes to keep to a certain structure. In all the years I've been alive, he has barely changed things, and even if he does add a new section to the organization, it'll be the same. And even if it's a new base in the Underworld, I doubt it will change much, trust me will ya?" said Satanael.

"Trust in our organization will always end in betrayal, you should know that," said Chernobog. "However…Yomiel, you may perish in this operation with Mīkhā'īl, are you sure you want to do this?"

"We have the Evie partaking in this along with all of Qlippoth. We will be fine, as long as we stick to our plans. One [Combat Fanatic] and another [Atrocity Fanatic] will be helping us with this, along with several clones of Niðhöggr, and the original Niðhöggr, as well as clones of Crom Cruach, Apophis, Grendel and Ladon. Not to mention the mass-produced Evil Dragons, Cryptids, and Divine Beasts and various monsters from the Phantasma," explained Yomiel.

"Ah, don't forget around eight completed Battle Gods! This is their first test run and if successful, we'll use it for…that! Lapis is nearly back after all and she succeeded, hehehe~!" exclaimed Kecate.

"…No, she's taking a detour. She wishes to become an outer god, so she plans on siphoning power from a few that are sleeping and as well as…some power from Nyarlathotep since she left some residual power for her to absorb—that outer god is meticulous. So…by the time she comes back, we'll have someone that can fight on par with the Middleman," said Promestein.

She smirked. "That will work for us. We'll use her afterward to carry out our plan,"

"Then what about the crystals?" asked Oz.

"One is under the Middleman's protection, but we already reached it before him, so we'll remotely access it. The rest is in the place where the next operation is being held at. The last three have been transported there, and if the death of a certain individual occurs…it will send out a signal for the Death King and it'll make its way here. Whether it reaches us on time is another story, but we can wait," explained Promestein.

"I heard Black Alice may want to fuse with it like Lapis. Can that be done?" asked Mard Geer.

"We're uncertain, but we are speaking to Melvazoa and Phumera about it. But first we have to enact the first part of our plan—the Grigori invasion," said Nyx. "What are we using for it?"

"We won't need much. All we need to do is kidnap a few individuals there and we'll be gone. We succeeded before, it will work again," said Kyôka.

"Who are we targeting?" asked the Original Leviathan.

"I'm personally going after Shuri Himejima and Baraqiel. I want them to suffer," said Augusta with malice in her voice.

"…Penemue is my target," said Yomiel. His obsession oozing out of his body making them feel uncomfortable.

"If possible, we can try to take Meruem too—in order for that to happen, we must kidnap the fallen angel known as Mittelt. He appears to be close to her. We may as well get Slash Dog and Sae Toujou. I wish to take a look at the Sacred Gear she has. It was apparently modified by the Middleman too," said Promestein.

"What about Avezza? We can definitely alter her mind again and have her back on our sides," asked Kecate.

"Well, we can add her too…we'll need fast people for this…or at least have them gather in one spot…we'll force them to one spot—Satanael how many of those hybrids do you have that specialize in speed?" asked Oz.

"Too many. I can send them all if you want, we can just force them to different points to make the Middleman's subordinates to split up and distract them while the rest can force those targets or teleport them away," he said while looking at an hourglass.

"Good. We can test that new barrier too. It's been in development for months now and if effective, we can become completely hidden in certain spots from the Middleman. It's a mix of the red vial and our research. Personally, I think it's one of our biggest achievements," said Promestein. "…We have a few hours until the operation, go get everything ready!"

All the members of the Seekers of Truth left their meeting room. One in particular was quite excited about this, it was Satanael. The new hybrids he made were various kinds, but the ones he was going to use for the invasion of Grigori were…

"I wonder if we can steal some of the Sacred Gears that those two have been working on…? Being able to compare ours to theirs and perhaps combine them for even more powerful Sacred Gears would be beneficial to us," he muttered to himself.

"Oh? Is it finally happening?" a boy asked after Satanael stepped into a room.

"In a few hours, I'm surprised that the remnants of the Connected Harmony decided to follow the Seekers of Truth," replied Satanael.

"It beats the other stupid factions in this organization. I mean, I didn't get to participate in it, you know? Now Hanezu is dead again, and a couple of members were captured by the DxD Alliance. We have nowhere to go! Anyway, not all of us came here. Some went to various others, being turned into one of them, or just becoming subordinates," explained the young man.

"…Hmm. What about the other one?" asked Satanael as he put his hourglass down.

"He joined me, obviously. But right now, he's out, and we don't plan on partaking in this operation. I mean we need more power, right? I'm barely Satan-class and I haven't taken that vial yet. I want to get to God-class myself before taking it, then it'll push me further, then I'll start participating," explained the boy.

Satanael had already started his preparations while half-heartedly listening to the boy talk about his plans of getting stronger. He didn't have much of an opinion about it. He gave him a shrug and continued doing his work.

"Ah, can I request an Artificial Sacred Gear from you?" asked the boy.

"Hmm? That's unexpected. You were formerly part of the Five Principal Clans and you want a Sacred Gear? Is the world ending?" Satanael asked in disbelief.

"Yes I used to hate them, but seeing their powers and potential made me want one. I have the specifications here to make it easier for you," he said and waved around a piece of paper.

Satanael glanced at him and tabbed the table he was at. The young boy strolled over happily and placed the blueprints on the table. Satanael looked over him and started coughing violently.

"Are you insane?! I'm crazy, but this is beyond my comprehension! This…is less of a Sacred Gear and more of a gamble on your life, literally!" Satanael shouted at the young boy after looking at the blueprints.

"But as you know, I have very high luck, more than most, and with that…I can influence this fun Sacred Gear, can't I? If we add a mixture of everything we've made…this Sacred Gear of 'chance' will make it pretty fun."

"It's not consistent at all! If you managed to get something useless, what then? The waiting period is a minute! You'll need to hold off your enemies for that long—if it's the Middleman then you die!" Satanael didn't understand this young boy's thinking and scratched his head in confusion.

"Details, Satanael. Are you willing to take the challenge or not?" the boy asked in a serious tone.

"…Easily, but are you sure?" he repeated his question again while looking at the blueprints.

"I am. Perhaps I share the same sentiments as Vali Lucifer. A world that I can't fight in is a boring one and I wish to die as soon as possible," replied the young boy. He got up and started walking away. "Anyway, get back to me as soon as you can. I'll be waiting~!"

Satanael watched the boy leave the room and looked back at the blueprints given to him.

"While I do not fear death, you exiled clan members are something else. It's like you pursue death itself…first it was Hanezu then Atsutarou, a few others and now you, Ayumu Doumon," he said and sighed. "Very well, I'll make this one of the best Artificial Sacred Gears I've made to date."

Ayumu Doumon, the older brother of Genbu Doumon, the inheritor of the Black Tortoise. Ayumu himself wasn't born with his clan's water manipulation, however, he was instead born with incredible luck. Whatever he did, he would always come out on top of it, whether it was in a fight, or something trivial. He would always win.

Ayumu was born under one of the brightest stars in the universe, Alpha Centauri or Rigil Kentauras hence why he had a lot of luck. These were known as the brightest 7 stars in the universe, also dubbed as the 'Lucky 7'. Anyone born under them are known to have great luck throughout their lives. This was only amplified in the universe they were born in, the Draconic Deus where magic and powers were real.

…

Universe – Evie Etoulde

…

[After this operation, most factions of the Khaos Order will launch an all-out assault on the Draconic Deus. How much have we recovered since the outer god's attack a few months ago?] asked Melvazoa.

[We are back at 89% capacity, the operation won't start for the next few days, however, we are lending them two of the weakest in the Combat and Atrocity Fanatics. After that, we will wait for them to release Trihexa onto the world, Lapis to arrive and we will then attack the Draconic Deus,] explained a subordinate.

[Hmm. It is unsure of what the Middleman will do, we will send only a few of our own, and then make up for it by sending our own soldiers,] said Melvazoa [If those past operations are anything to go by, this will end in utter failure. We will focus our efforts on finding the Inreaos while giving just a small fraction of our power to the Khaos Order.]

[…At once!] the subordinate said and left the room.

[Are you sure about that, Melvazoa? If we went all in, we could potentially conquer that universe too you know? It's the only planet in their universe to have any kind of organic life,] asked Seraselbes.

[Hmph. Apart from sending in a few Shepherds, Combat Fanatics and Atrocity Fanatics, we will send in the 'that' dragon to them too. It should prove more than useful enough for them,] he said to Seraselbes.

[…We only have a few of those in creation, are you sure? Yes, it's powerful, but…]

[They were not affected by the outer god's attack. We can afford to lose one, meanwhile Regalzeva will be tasked with going to their Dimensional Gap during the attack on the universe and seeing if he can find anything useful there.]

Seraselbes' eyes widened briefly as she had been keeping an eye on the reports of the Khaos Order. Melvazoa was meticulous, but after the failed attacks on the universe, he had lost interest in the Khaos Order as a whole and had only been giving them the minimum of assistance.

In Seraselbes' mind, he didn't know that the outer god's subordinates had taken up residency in that place. A chance…she found a chance.

[I wish to accompany him there,] she told Melvazoa.

The Malevolent God looked at her with curiosity and asked, [Why? That place only houses the Dragon of Dreams and it is below the power of Regalzeva.]

[No. I heard that the DxD Alliance may have some bases set up there. If I go, we can secure them and possibly obtain information regarding the outer god, and perhaps a way to leverage with him,] she said as calmly as possible.

[Hmm…] Melvazoa rubbed his metallic chin and nodded. [Very well. Kill anyone weak, anyone with potential, turn them into one of us. Anything useful you find there…bring it back to me,] he ordered.

[Yes, of course, brother,] Seraselbes 'smiled' at her brother and left the room. Her smile only kept on getting wider as she got further and further away from the room. It had turned into a maniacal grin. 'A chance…! The chance I've been waiting for…!' she thought and teleported back to her own base.

…

Universe – Draconic Deus

Cana Cludhmor's Soliloquy

…

A few months ago, I received wonderful news from Aaron. He said a goddess in the Hindu Pantheon would like to collaborate with me by performing a duet with me. Since then, we have spoken to each other quite frequently and also visited each other's realms since they became part of the alliance.

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. I myself am the mythical inventor of the harp, and an Irish goddess of music, inspiration, and dreams. With us working together, we'll make a masterpiece~!

Today, I was in the meeting room with many other gods in The Land of Heaven Falls. The reason for this meeting was because of Áine…a few weeks back we received word from the leaders of the alliance as well as from Aaron that she'll have her powers back soon!

Soon, as in a few days, we're meeting up because we wanted to know what she had plans after getting her powers back. This means she won't need to do her job anymore. At the start, she seemed to loathe and hate doing her job, but now…she's made a lot of friends because of it and she's usually smiling while she does it.

To her, it's exhausting but it's quite clear that she enjoys doing her job too, so Áine will no doubt feel a bit of confliction once she gets her powers back. However, she does rant from time to time about getting her powers back, something about making her day-to-day life much easier.

"So, Áine. Do you look forward to the day you receive your powers back?" Nuada asked while laughing.

"Duh! I'm a goddess for crying out loud! It's been way too strange not having the use of my powers for the last few months! I can't wait to have them back!" she replied rather irritated.

"What do you plan on doing with your powers? What about the job you've been doing these last few months?" asked Dian Cecht.

"…I'll keep doing my job. It keeps me busy during the day and when I'm done, I can just do whatever I want with more freedom with my powers. It's not like anything is going to change too much. I already have a routine, I'm not changing that," she replied dismissively.

Is…is this what they call a 'tsundere'? I heard a few of the girls in Aaron's harem call Sona that a few times back when we spent our time in his dimension. The way she's acting is definitely…!

"Danu isn't here, and a few warriors of the Gaelic Alliance, could they be somewhere with Team [DxD]?" asked Lugh as he opened one eye and looked around the room.

"It would be safe to assume so. Danu did move in with Jin not too long ago," said Brigid.

"Should we get ready? Anytime Team [DxD] gathers something happens," asked Dian Cecht.

"Trouble follows Jin anywhere he travels, so it would be beneficial for us to do that. By the way, where's Scathach? Danu and I keep in contact and she hasn't been in his home for a while now," asked Áine.

I put my hand up and said, "Ah! I heard that she's in Thine Ifreann Réimse with her sister Aífe! They're doing something with the Millstein family, I think checking the barriers around our country? I'm not too sure though."

"She's in Thine Ifreann Réimse and with her sister, huh? They weren't that close before; I wonder what changed?" asked Nuada as he crossed his arms.

"Does it matter? Anyway, is this done? I wanna get back to work," grumbled Áine as she looked at her phone.

"Eager worker, huh? Alright, alright, we're done for now. But those who want to stay for drinks and foo—"

The door was slammed open and Áine ran out of the room. The other gods around me laughed at that, but I also got up to leave. "I'll go and play in the middle of the town~!" I announced.

…

As I arrived outside, I got a message from Saraswati about a new piece she added and I looked at it. "Oooh~! That looks fancy, I wanna try it out too~" I said and brought my harp out. As I walked down the stairs, I started playing my harp and greeted the guards at the bottom once I got there.

I did this all the way to the center of the town. Along the way I saw Áine running around doing her job with a smile on her face. That was when…I saw Nessa with a baby in her arms. I stopped and waved to her. She smiled and came over to me.

"What a cute baby~ congratulations on giving birth to a healthy baby girl, Nessa," I told her and I waved at the baby. She tried to grab my hand and I let her.

"Thank you, Lady Cana. It wasn't a difficult pregnancy, and I still have a few months of maternity leave before I go back to my job. But we found a great babysitter for when I do go back to work," she explained.

"A working mom, huh? I think I can ask Nuada for more time off for you, you know? Also, didn't Jin give you some money so you won't need to work until your child is six?" I asked again.

She blushed and nodded. "It was a surprise that my husband fainted from shock. I wasn't expecting Jin to give us money like that," she said and sighed.

"Hehe, you're not the first one, he gave it to a human couple, one of his friends, Slash Dog, as well as another fallen angel and devil couple in Grigori."

"…W-we're acquainted, I'll admit that, but I wouldn't say we were that close…but I am thankful for the help, but at the same time I want to go back and work, so that's why we're using a babysitter. However, Lord Nuada told me that I'll only have to work 3 days a week and have the same pay until my daughter is six, like what Jin said," she told me.

"Hehe, that's good then, right? You get more time to spend with your family." I removed my finger from the baby's and plucked a few strings and winked at her. "Oh! Maybe I can get a student in the future?" I asked and giggled. "…What's her name, by the way?"

"Sheila. My husband and I picked it together. We had a few others, and ones for boys, but this was our first pick if it was a girl," she explained.

"I see…little Sheila~ I hope you like playing instruments in the future~ …Ah! I didn't mean to stop you!" I suddenly said. I remembered that it looked like she was on her way to somewhere before I waved her over.

Nessa giggled then shook her head. "We were just out for a little stroll; it seemed like we interrupted you before you performed. We'll go take a seat over there," she said and pointed to a small restaurant.

"Huhu! Get ready little Sheila, I will make this one of my best performances!" I declared and went near the fountain and began to play the harp.

As I played my harp, a sizeable crowd started to gather, but at the same time I thought back to the past year. I was content with staying in isolation and practicing my craft until I perfected it. However, I then heard of rumors about Danu resurfacing, so I also came out.

I didn't think she would come out because of a young man—also the new Red Dragon Emperor! I was skeptical at the start, but that eventually was replaced with confidence in him. Even though I didn't meet him until later on, he seemed like a nice person.

Though…he and his harem did make my stay in that place a lot more fun. Shigune and Ingvild helped me with my own craft even though one mostly sang, and the other was a pianist. However, we did collaborate quite a lot over those 100 years.

…

Flashback

…

I think we had been here for our 40 years at this point? It was nighttime and everyone had returned to Jin's home for the night. I decided to stay out and play my harp a little longer. I didn't want to annoy them inside. However, he did reassure me that the room I was given had several seals that would prevent sound from leaking out, especially when I started playing my harp.

But I wanted to be sure so I came out here. "But…to think he could make a world like this, it almost feels like we're in another part of the human world," I mumbled to myself, looking out at the sea of trees beneath me.

I was near a cliff and below were hundreds to millions of trees. Over the course of our stay, many of the ones who were eager to become stronger asked Jin to expand his dimension, so there were a wide variety of areas with different types of terrain.

This 'hub' area was the initial zone where we used to mainly train, while some do still train here, some use it primarily for sparring with one another, and a relaxing zone.

"How goes mastering thy craft, O Great Lady Cana?" asked a voice behind me. I turned around and saw that it was Jin...

"Um…why do you…?" I pointed in front of him where Serafall was hugging him like a koala.

"Ah, they had a little competition earlier. In the finals it was Lavinia vs Serafall. As you can see…the winner is the Satan Leviathan," he said and patted her head.

"Ice Princess-chan was very upset earlier, so in 10 minutes we have to switch~ ah, see? I'm such an angelic devil, praise me~" Serafall said and rubbed her head against his chest.

"…Yeah, yeah, you're great…" he replied and kept stroking her head.

"W-well, to answer your question, I am. I just stopped for a few seconds to look out at the new landscapes you made, you know? The monsters that appear down there are quite something, not to mention the zone-specific ones that range in rarity. I was just left in awe of the scenery in front of me…that's all," I told him and started plucking away at my harp.

As I plucked away at my harp, I heard another one and looked back at Jin. He had summoned his own harp and played along with me. 'W-w-what?! Why does he…?! It's like he's already a pro! T-this is…!'

I started to furiously play mine while he matched me…t-this guy…! This continued on for the next few minutes until I gave up and sighed. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I tried my best to glare at him.

"Are you okay? Why do you look as if you're about to cry?" he asked with concern.

"I-I'm not gonna cry!" I shouted back and unsummoned my harp while turning away.

"Ara~? You upset her by playing the harp~" Serafall said from his chest. "Bad, Jin! Apologize!"

"I was just trying to play with her…but alright, I'm sorry? I didn't know that you wouldn't like that," he told me and explained himself.

"I thought you were trying to one-up me!" I snapped back at him.

He tilted his head, confused. "I wasn't?"

Was I the one overreacting?! As my mind started to think of ways to apologize for the misunderstanding, he put a hand on my shoulder forcing me to look up.

"Well, I just had Cúntóir put a bunch of harp players from across the multiverse into my head. How about I share some of that with you as a way to apologize?" he said.

I'm the one that's supposed to apologize!! Why are you the one apologizing to me?! Is…is he an idiot? Well, he is to a certain degree, but why is he the one apologizing when I'm the one who messed up?

"…Why do you apologize? I'm the one who misunderstood," I told him.

"Sometimes…in misunderstandings people won't apologize right away, and this might go on for days at a time—I had experiences prior to this, both in this world and my last. While it may not solve it right away, I'd rather apologize now, even if I'm not the one at fault."

What's up with that? So you're just going to accept the blame? That's—

"That's dumb!" I smacked him on the head. "Talk it out! I'm no good at it, but at least don't take on all the burden on yourself! What the heck?!"

He stared blankly at me before laughing. "…Haha, yeah…I did say that to them. My bad, then let's be even," he said and flicked me on the forehead. "You're shit at it, let me teach you!!"

'......…This braaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!' I felt something snap inside of me. "What did you saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay?!" I screamed at him before he ran away with Serafall cackling to themselves. "Come back hereeeeeeeeeee!!"

…

Flashback End

…

...…W-well, he did teach me in the end, but I still hate how it started. How dare he call me incompetent at my own craft? I invented this damn thing! Show me some respect, Toole!

"Is something wrong, Cana?" Áine asked as he had arrived by me. I looked around and noticed that the crowd had left. I guess I finished my piece before returning to reality.

"I'm fine, I was just lost in thought as I played. Did Nessa and Sheila leave already?" I asked her and looked around but didn't find them.

"Mmm. They left earlier, they tried to speak to you but you didn't respond to anyone so they asked me to talk to you afterward," Áine explained as she put her hands on her hips. "Anyway, they said they were going to go shopping for groceries, you can go join them if you want."

"Aaaah…yeah I will, thank you, and sorry about that!" I told her and ran away.

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

We arrived back at that sandy beach front, the place that Ajuka had brought me to before. The rest of the group stared around in a curious manner. The sky was pitch-black with what seemed like stars in the sky. There was a gentle breeze here and the sound of the waves hitting the shore was heard by all.

"So…this is a place outside the boundaries of our universe?" asked someone from the Irish group.

"Correct. Welcome members of [DxD]," said Ajuka's voice and we all turned to him. He sat on a chair with beds near him. Each one had a different Phenex sibling. Ravel was awake as she sat there with tea in her hands and Riser was out cold.

I took a step forward first and joined him, and then the rest of [DxD] joined me as well.

"This may be the first time we meet without any other VIPs present, Governor Azazel-dono," said Ajuka.

"Forget about that. Did you prepare all of this beforehand?" he asked and looked around at the small place we were in.

"If you mean by the dimension, I've set this place up months ago and invited Jin and Serafall. However, if you mean by this," he gestured at the beds and other items around us, "then yes, this is all new."

"H-hello," greeted Ravel as she meekly waved her hand at us. Shirone and a few girls ran over to her.

"Ravel-chan!"

"Burning Chicken!"

"Vel-chan!"

They then hugged her, thankfully she teleported her cup of tea away before she was jumped like that. She began to complain about Shirone calling her 'Burning Chicken'. I chuckled at her as the rest went over to her as well. Ravel has connections with everyone in [DxD] as she checks over their health and give them pointers in their fighting style when asked.

"…Ugh…you're all so noisy…" complained an exhausted Riser.

I had arrived at his side and chuckled. "It looks like you're fine too, huh, Riser?" I offered my hand to him and he grabbed it before I pulled him up.

"Of course, who do you take me for?" he asked semi-arrogantly before grabbing his head in pain. "Ugh, never mind…where am I?"

I explained where he was and asked what he remembered. "…I heard about this, so it's really real, huh? The multiverse…more women then…"

"Riser…"

"I'm getting to that! I don't remember much. We lost badly. Well, my peerage and I did, but Ravel was the only one who could compete with Diehauser Belial…heck, I think she was winning against him until they reached some sort of agreement. What in the world did you do to my sister to make her that powerful?" he asked looking at me with slight fear.

"Showered her with a lot of love."

"She's still underage…" he said and looked at me like I was some kind of creep.

"I didn't mean it that way you psychopath," I snapped back and smacked him on the head.

He rubbed his head and angrily looked at me. "A-anyway! He said something about a [King] piece or something, but as I said I was basically losing consciousness by the time he and Ravel started talking about it. I mean…there's no such thing, right?" he asked incredulously.

"We can discuss that soon, but first, Riser, you're needed back in your household," said Ajuka.

"The Slash/Dog Team can escort you back, they can come back here…" I told him and gestured for Fusae to come to me. She was confused, but came over. I poked her head and gave her the directions to come back here.

"Yeah, yeah, I was going to ask you guys to do that," Azazel said and turned to Kanami.

"Roger! Fried Roast Chicken-sama, please come with us~" Kanami said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"O-oi, my name is Riser—"

He didn't get a chance to say anything as he and the rest of the Slash/Dog Team left.

Ajuka sighed and said, "Well, I did have another reason for bringing all of you here. Riser Phenex touched upon it." Ajuka then pulled out a chess piece. It wasn't any of the others, but the [King] piece.

"I haven't seen that before, and it doesn't look like the [Pawn], [Bishop], [Rook], [Knight] or [Queen] pieces," said Saji as he stared at it.

"This is the [King] piece," he said and moved it around in his hand. He looked at us but the only ones a bit surprised were Azazel and Avezza. The rest of Team [DxD] were just confused or didn't have a clue. "Hmm. It seems that most of the Gremory and Sitri peerage aren't surprised by this…Jin, did you tell them of its existence?"

"I did," I replied. "I also know some of the ones in possession of it, so…they had time to digest the shock already."

"That speeds this up, but I feel like I should tell the rest of Team [DxD] about it, as well as give a more detailed explanation," he said.

"That's fine I didn't go into detail about it. I just mentioned its existence and who might have it as well as the limited knowledge I have. I also mentioned its impact on the Underworld and devils as a whole," I replied and he nodded.

"To start, the [King] piece originally didn't exist, no, I tried to erase its existence. The Evil Pieces system only had the ceremony to make someone a [King], we made the soon-to-be [King] touch a [Monument] in the Satan's castles or higher-ups and registered them that way."

"However, in order to prevent the [King] pieces from being exposed to the rest of devil society, I had to erase them. When a servant devil is promoted, the piece within their body fuses or overlaps with the [King] piece and I found it to be a dangerous thing for them."

He began to play with the piece in his hand and added, "The characterizes of this piece is simple power enhancement. But the strengthening isn't as weak as just two or three times. As long as one possesses this, it could be ten times or over a hundred times is possible."

"This meant that an ordinary low to middle-class devil's power could be enhanced further than their fellow peerage members, even surpassing their [King]. This is one of the reasons for prohibiting the [King] piece."

"The fear was that the people who obtained this sort of power could have malicious intentions towards the government and could even harm them. Excessive power will often blind people's eyes."

Pure strengthening. A times ten to times one hundred multipliers, any devil would go insane to get the [King] piece if they knew of its existence or how to make it. I had confronted Roygun about it months ago and in a way told her to give it up, but she didn't. She loved the Rating Games too much and I doubt she would have said yes, even with my budding reputation at the time.

Valerie knew about it before the rest of them since she was with me at the time. But this does make me stop and think. The original Satans knew about the crystals of Agares island, then Lapis and the other strong leaders may have an idea about the [King] piece. So it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that they had Promestein, Satanael and their other scientists work on making one right?

Or something similar to the [King] piece to distribute it to the entire organization. I saw nothing about it in the memories I collected recently, but it wouldn't be surprising if they hid the fact. But adding that and Nyarlathotep's blood and whatever else they have—the thought is just giving me a headache.

We already saw that people would go insane for power after getting the red vial or whatever power-up they got from the Khaos Order, so prohibiting this piece is understandable.

Ajuka then created a small magic circle next to his hand. After applying a small amount of energy to it, the images of dozens of people appeared on the beach. They were all people that I had seen in video recordings and Rating Game magazines. Rias and Sona looked like they knew some of them as they had grim expressions on their faces.

"The devils being shown here are all top-ranked Rating Game contestants. What they all have in common is that they're all from the original 72 Pillars. They're all pure-blooded high-class devils."

"Furthermore, they are all user of the [King] piece. This was the idea of the higher-ups in the Underworld. It hasn't been publicly stated. As a result, the users of these pieces are also known as Ultimate-class Devils and some would even be classified as Satan-class Devils."

"Holy shit…! I wasn't aware that there was so much controversy within the Underworld," said someone from the Hindu group.

"Ajuka Beelzebub-sama…which ones in the top rankings are part of this…?" Sona asked. She already knew, I told her of some of them. However, the fact that she was slightly trembling out of anger—I think she wanted to hear it from the creator himself.

"Ah, them, well the majority of them are using power which I can't publicly say that it's 'their own power', since they continuously climb the ranks. Most of the game's management executives are also people who are on their side."

"By retaining the [King] piece, while also using bribery to obtain the commercial rights, along with the ideas of the higher-ups, they have conspired beforehand to manipulate their games."

"They're constantly involved in unfair and dishonest games. Even with that said, there are people who have used their own power to become top-ranked players. For example, devils like the former Dragon King Tannin, and Rudiger Rosenkreutz. It's a trend I mostly see with reincarnated devils."

Ajuka shrugged and sighed. "Well, it's the same as competitions in the human world, right? The Rating Games in the Underworld would also have those similar flaws. In our case, it's the [King] piece as well as the usual bribery and the like. Meanwhile, for humans it's performance-enhancing drugs, threats and other things."

"I was just the initiator, and I didn't manage the actual system itself. There may even be other things that can't be touched upon or things that can't be spoken about that are being used. As the initiator, no matter what the era is, by simply taking a step away from this sort of thing, things will always get out of hand."

This wasn't surprising. Things like this happen all the time in the human world. The creator makes the thing, it takes off, becomes big, and some company or person buys it, hands over all the rights and ideas, then they change it into something horrid. I saw this in games, I believe.

So, after the Rating Game system was completed, most of the rights were transferred over to the current game managers. Ajuka was the one responsible for creating it, but once the ideas of other people started seeping into the game, it became something repulsive.

I wonder how he really feels about it? He did make it, is he annoyed by the changes and its current state? Angered? Ajuka wasn't one that showed his emotions much, but this Ajuka did show the occasional surprise or smile, so he wasn't devoid of emotion.

"Although the competition is quite fierce, as long as one has real strength then anyone can obtain fame in the Rating Games. To the one who belong to the higher-ups, it's not a sham to them. But the players who are able to break through the status quo are only the truly exceptional cases, much like you guys who have come this far. For other people, it's an impossible task," said Ajuka.

"So…the reason why the top ranked players don't have much change in rank is because of…?" asked Yumi. She is like many devils, she often watched Rating Games, this more detailed explanation may be shocking to her, no to most of the devils here.

"It's basically a tug-of-war. The higher-ups make perfect adjustments to balance it. It's the old devils who are secretly controlling things in order to reap the benefits."

"It's really just a competition for the old devils' top ranked players so that they can generate a lot of money. As long as they're able to control the competition, the profits that they receive will simply increase. "

"No matter how eye-catching or powerful a reincarnated devil is, as long as their players use the [King] piece, the challengers that face the top-ranked players who are controlled by those old devils will always lose. They will never have a fair challenge for the top spots," explained Ajuka.

Sona lost her balance as she fell, but Danu, who was near her, caught her. "It's…all a lie then…!?"

For Sona who planned on owning a Rating Game school that anyone could attend, this kind of information was way too shocking for her. The [King] piece, the top ranked players who used them to control the rankings and the old devils who controlled everything from behind the scenes. It was a twisted reality she was forced to swallow.

"…All of this is hidden—a concealed truth. If the people knew about this, it would dramatically shake the values of the Underworld…!" she muttered.

"Sirzechs can't do anything about them either, right?" Azazel asked him.

"For now, this is how it is. On the surface, it's just a political front that they're pretending to actively deal with, but if they act rashly, the balance of the Underworld will collapse. With issues relating to the survival of the race and internal strife on top of that, both the young and old are in a complicated situation where everything could collapse in a single instant."

Further, the opposition consists of many clever old devils who will do anything to retain their aristocratic society for their own self-interests. To some extent, they're even more troublesome than the old Satan faction as they harbor an even deeper darkness than them."

"Even Sirzechs and I who are known as Super Devils, we can only appear to push back and forth on the surface politically. And before you ask—"

"I can't do anything. As I have repeatedly stated, I am an outsider. While I'm widely recognized…this is a devil's matter, and I can't intervene. At best, I can provide some assistance, but anything more than that, I can't," I told them.

"Exactly, as much as we'd like to ask Jin for help—that wouldn't be a good idea, those old devils would use it against us, even if the entire Underworld would support him which they won't. There are still some devils that don't support nor like Jin, simply because he isn't a devil," added Ajuka.

"The Rating Games were tied together with the politics and economics of the Underworld. Behind the scenes, those old devils were manipulating the competition for their own interests. Right now, we as a team know about the situation," I told them.

"Whether or not you can look at the Rating Game in the same light after this…for now put it behind you for now. We can consider the Gremory and Bael Rating Game a political matter too, right? Although it wasn't as much since Sirzechs did a lot to make it an honest game, he made deals with them to leave it alone."

With a grim expression, Rias asked, "Why tell us this then? Isn't this some kind of highly confidential information?"

"…Remember what I said about Diehauser Belial? He, like Tannin and Rudiger are legit. They reached their ranks without the help of the [King] piece. However, him finding out about this is also a bad thing. Also…he assisted Qlippoth that day when they attacked Auros Academy," I told them and I heard a few gasps.

"That Champion actually participated in a terrorist attack…I can't believe it!" said Xenovia.

"He defected precisely because he discovered the truth. You could say that he thought it through, and didn't just do it impulsively," replied Ajuka.

"He has his own reasons, and I believe you already know them because Jin mentioned them. However, if you search for the root cause, you could say that it's the fault of the old devils too."

"The ways the old devil's thought had been gradually distorting the standards of the modern Underworld. It finally reached its limit, and the Champion used this opportunity to take action."

Yes, for his own reasons. He hated the corruption of the old devils. However, at the same time, the old devils were also part of the reason for his cousin Cleria's death and disappearance. He couldn't forgive that. He loved both the Rating Games and his cousin, so he did this...

"W-wait, why did Emperor Belial target Riser-san and Ravel-chan? That's the part I don't get," Saji asked.

Ajuka looked at Saji and nodded. "It was in order to call me out. He only wanted to talk to me, and that's why he used them. During a match, when a misconduct occurs, that's something I personally manage. In order to fulfill this condition, the reason for it triggering was because the Champion used his ability against the system."

"The ability of his clan is called [Worthless]. It's a power that can completely invalidate a special ability. He invalidated the retiring system of the Rating Game, which caused the emergency program to be initiating. In order to find out what caused him to do that, I teleported myself over there."

"Well, what did you talk about?" asked Avezza, impatient to find out. Due to this, Azazel smacked her.

"You don't have the authority to ask that! Shut up let me do it!" said Azazel.

The two began arguing before Ajuka sighed and nodded.

"As you suspect, it was about the [King] piece, and it was also made clear that he was cooperating with Rizevim and the Khaos Order. But due to that, having the Phenex siblings there was dangerous, even more so with Ravel Phenex still conscious. Riser himself was bleeding out because his regeneration was invalidated."

The two fallen angels stopped bickering and Avezza asked, "What happened in the end?"

Azazel was the one to answer. "The Rating Game uses cameras for the audience, and the cameras with other purposes such as surveillance. The camera used for surveillance is not only viewed by management, but in some cases, the higher-ups are also able to view it."

"The conversation between Ajuka and the Champion was also seen by the higher-up. The Phenex siblings who were present at the time could also be suspected of being involved in it. "

"The reason for this is because, while Ajuka and the Emperor were talking about the [King] piece, they also spoke about various confidential matters. If things weren't handled well, the two siblings would have been disposed of."

The others were shocked by this, and Ravel confirmed that she heard it being discussed. It would be worse because she was still awake, unlike Riser who was passed out and slowly bleeding.

I sighed and said, "That's what they'll do. In order to maintain their own influential position, boomers would definitely do things like that without batting an eye."

Ajuka agreed and added, "In the past, the people who found out about the truth of the [King] piece would have also been mercilessly disposed of by them. The Emperor was afraid of that, so he entrusted the Phenex siblings to me. He created an illusion of taking them with him, but in reality he left them to me. With me, those old devils wouldn't act rashly, even more so with the threat of Jin hanging over them since he's close to Ravel Phenex."

"Wait what, we were tricked?!" Azazel shouted and looked at me. I just shrugged at him.

"Yes, it was a ruse, because once they saw the champion 'kill' the siblings, they disappeared in a puff of smoke, once they found out I had them, they back away from doing anything. I wanted them to be safe, though knowing Jin he would keep shadow soldiers in Ravel, so Riser himself would be safe because of that."

"But for young people like these two, I couldn't in good conscience let them be killed because of the old devils plotting behind the scenes."

Even if it were by coincidence, those two were dragged into that confidential matter. However, they were safe, because of my shadow soldiers and also because of Ajuka. Sirzechs and Ajuka along with Serafall, Falbium and various devils like Sairaorg, the Gremory family, Sitri family and other devils, I have more trust in them the other devils.

After recovering herself, Sona looked at Ajuka and asked, "Ajuka-sama, what are the plans for the Champion now that he's no longer here?"

He sighed deeply and looked at the sky beyond us. "Everything that we just discussed will be announced to the entire Underworld and the various factions and pantheons."

"What?!" most of the team shouted in unison. They hadn't expected that to come out of Ajuka's mouth.

That was Diehauser's wish. He wanted everyone to know the truth, the truth about the Rating Games, the truth about the corruption of the old devils, and the truth about Cleria.

However, if everyone found out about this, the Underworld's values would definitely be damaged. The hopes and dreams of the low and middle-class devils for the rating games would also be destroyed, the truth of it all was truly disgusting.

If they knew about the manipulation of rankings, the people who worked hard for their dreams and the children who were filled with hope for the future would have that crushed.

And if the absolute Champion of the Rating Games, the Emperor himself told the truth, the weight would be even heavier than anything else.

Sona said with a bitter expression, "Perhaps that will come at the expense of even more victims than in the past."

In the battle for Agares, Auros and Heaven, I along with [DxD] had prevented many casualties. However, since I have no power over the Underworld politics, this will lead to its own mass casualties. They may not be physical, but the scars that it will cause will still weigh the same. This will cause widespread anger. The people who will find out the truth will rally together and riot.

Ajuka then sighed. "This time there will be a considerable number of sacrifices. We can't rely on Jin this time around, especially because this incident will be quite radical. The things that will be lost are things that can't be ignored…"

"So? Where is the Champion now?" Rias asked.

"Currently we have no idea, but we know that he used teleportation techniques that belonged to the Khaos Order to be able to escape. If he stayed there for too long, he would have been in danger."

Lavinia then asked, "But why would he target Riser Phenex's match? Wouldn't it have worked if it was against any other opponent?"

Ajuka softly chuckled at her question further confusing her. "You will soon know the answer to that question. He is unexpectedly wise."

The rest were confused, so Azazel asked, "However, Ajuka. Since the video from that surveillance camera could be seen by those old devils, wouldn't that mean they heard the conversation between you and Emperor Belial? They may come over to question you more."

"To some extent, what happened in that video has been tampered with. Right now, those old devils will be making the wrong move," Ajuka said with a smile.

"I see, if it's you then I can assume you made your own preparations. Even if that 'something' came from the Champion of all people," said Azazel.

"Hmm. That is the case for now. I am a Satan after all, this is also something that Sirzechs can't do, it's something only I can do."

"Right…but even if you're prepared, a lot of things can still happen, so we need to keep the number of casualties to a minimum."

"Then I can probably help with that. If it just concerns the safety of the citizens of the Underworld, you can rely on my shadow soldiers," I told them.

The two agreed with my suggestion and we began speaking about contingency plans in case of other factors that may come in, this included the Khaos Order, and any other people that may take advantage of a turbulent period.

After speaking for a few more minutes we stopped, but this time, Shirone stepped forward and bowed her head.

"Thank you for protecting Ravel. I and many others here may not understand the complicated issues entirely, but we can trust Azazel-sensei, the Satan-sama's and Jin-senpai," she told us.

Ravel also bowed and thanked Ajuka. A few others who were close to her also thanked him.

"Fufu, as I said, the youth with promising futures, I can possibly let them die. All of you will be the ones leading our universe in the future after all, along with Jin. So I along with the last generation want to offer support to the next generation," said Ajuka.

Azazel then turned back to Ajuka and raised a finger. "Tell me one thing, how many [King] pieces currently exist?"

"The production was already stopped during the initial development stage. No one even knows the method of creation since I was the only one who made them, so it's not possible for new pieces to be made."

"To sum it up, only the few that I made during initial production exists. I've kept track of all of them. Aside from the few that I have, there are nine in total. The Emperor gave this one to me. I now have four in total."

Ajuka then summoned another [King] piece into his hand.

After hearing this response, Azazel frowned. "There are five remaining in the hands of the higher-up devils then. It's still a lot, and if worst comes to worst, it's enough for a rebellion to start."

The devils who used those pieces were able to rival Ultimate-class Devils, and some even up to Satan-class Devils. As for the rest of the five devils, they remain an unknown. I know two of them which were Roygun Belphegor and Bedeze Abaddon.

"I originally planned on spending a few thousand years reclaiming them. This is the responsibility that I should fulfill as the creator," said Ajuka. "If the [King] piece is used by someone who is already too strong, or if it's used by someone who has a special ability, an overload may occur. In the worst-case scenario, it would endanger their lives. Even if they were saved, it wouldn't be any better."

With such a restriction, it's no wonder the old Satan faction didn't use it. However, if the Khaos Order can modify it to their liking then there's a chance that they can make it possible.

"Hey, so—" I told them about my concerns regarding the Khaos Order and their own version of the [King] piece and possible modifications they could make.

"If such a scenario does happen, it would be troublesome. If they can make something similar, along with their red vial…then it's possible that they can create consistent God-class fighters or beyond in their ranks," said Ajuka with a frown.

"There is one more thing I wanted to say," said Ajuka. He then looked at Azazel and Avezza and then at me. Everyone looked at him in anticipation.

"You may already realize this, but to be honest, if I were the enemy, in order to bring down [DxD], you and Avezza would be the first people I would target. Avezza for obvious reasons since we took her back from the enemy, and they probably want her back too. As for yourself…well it's obvious. You're talented and help Team [DxD] extensively," explained Ajuka.

"Even if we leave the alliance to Jin most of the time, you yourself make your own deals with certain leaders and powerful gods behind the scenes, do you not?"

"Heh, well I did have the same conversation with Shiva recently, but yeah, I know. I have my own countermeasures. Also, Jin probably already has shadow soldiers in my shadow, so I'll be fine…maybe?"

"Finally…Jin. You've been the focal point of everything. The alliance, the peace, the one who stops their plans and the leader of Team [DxD]. If they can somehow…capture, kill or even get under your skin, many will be left vulnerable."

"All three of you are essential to the alliance. I hope you understand that and have your own measures to prevent such a thing from happening," Ajuka said and turned away.

I have my own plans but a lot of them need me to evolve first. However, there are some that I can do without the need for my evolution to take place. As for Avezza and Azazel…it's as he says, I have the two Electa in Grigori and my shadow soldiers…

Ajuka turned back to us immediately and said, "All of you should head back now."

"Why?" asked Azazel.

"Everything is done here, the Slash/Dog Team confirmed the safety of Riser Phenex and our discussion here is finished. I know you want to talk about something else, Azazel, but let's leave that for another day," said Ajuka.

"Fine," he said in a huff.

We all thanked him one last time and we left back for home.

…

After I teleported us to the meeting room, everyone began to relax and take seats around the place. The Pleiades came in and started handing everyone drinks and snacks. They all happily accepted them. Since this place was protected, they couldn't come here and attack it. Ophis is safe, along with the Spectre Dragon Egg, and I have no parents here so they can't be kidnapped…well, unless you—

"What is it? What happened?" asked Azazel. We all turned to him as a magic communication circle appeared beside him. The expression on his face change from calm to complete horror.

"Huh?! How the fuck—those pieces of…! They actually did something like that?! …Fuck!" he screamed and punched his chest a few times. He quickly calmed down and adjusted his breathing.

Everyone was staring at him with concern now and I had an uneasy feeling. I didn't know why but…he quickly marched over to me and grabbed both of my shoulders quite tightly.

"Jin. I seriously mean this. Look me in the eyes and remain calm, alright? Do you hear me? You have to remain calm, alright?!" he said to me quite seriously.

I didn't respond and simply stared back at him.

"What happened, Azazel-sensei? What is it?" asked Irina.

With a grim expression he uttered, "The Land of Heaven falls, and Grigori were attacked. It had taken place just a few minutes go…and there were casualties."

My breathing stopped and it felt like the whole world had slowed down.

"Shuri, Baraqiel, Mittelt, Tobio, Sae, and Penemue…have been kidnapped. No one was taken in Land of Heaven Falls…but there were more casualties there than Grigori. It seems that they only intended to kidnap people in Grigori and do damage over in the Irish Pantheon," he told us.

At that instant, I felt Lavinia, Suzaku, Akeno, Danu, Asia, several other's powers explode, and the entire room—and world shook.

…

Yumi Kira's Soliloquy

…

Akeno-san, Lavinia, Danu-sama, Asia-chan, Suzaku-san and a few more people's powers increased after hearing the news. The room was covered in ice, flames, snow, plants, roots, wind, and light.

The Pleiades who were with us and several shadow soldiers that showed up froze as they heard this news. However, to all our surprise, Aaron didn't react that much.

Azazel-sensei had let go of him as he also had a confused look on him. Aaron then put his hand up and the powers that the others had exuded suddenly vanished. I think he forcefully calmed down their emotions.

"…Let's stay calm for now, alright?" he said to everyone. His facial expression hadn't changed either, but that also scared me.

"But Aaron—!" Akeno shouted, but he smiled at her making her stop.

"Let's do this then…everyone else, go to Grigori. Danu, Irish group, you guys will come with me to The Land of Heaven Falls and assess the damage, alright? If we can save anyone…we'll do that, but let's stay calm and have a level head," he told us and we agreed.

The women were bothered by this, but quickly agreed. Aaron left immediately with Danu-sama and the Irish group.

"…Um, is it just me, or did Jin-senpai not really…react?" Saji asked awkwardly.

"Who cares about reactions right now! You heard him, everyone else get ready to go to Grigori, anyone that can use healing or has healing items bring them with them!" Azazel-sensei took charge and everyone started to scatter. But…

Lavinia and Suzaku-san stared at the spot where Aaron was…no Raiko-san, Grayfia-san, Rossweisse-sensei and Akeno-san also did the same thing.

"Oi, what's wrong with you six?" Azazel asked.

"…It felt the same," Grayfia-san said to him.

"The same?" Azazel-sensei repeated, confused.

"…It was brief, but I saw the same look he had when Lavinia was hurt a few months back…right now, he's keeping that fury inside. I think…when we attack the place where they took them—he's going…" Grayfia-san didn't finish her sentence, but we all understood what she meant.

Aaron Toole was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

…

Jin Skyward's Soliloquy

…

Once arriving in the realm, the Irish group quickly scattered. All of them had a look of worry and horror. Danu also rushed off by herself, I went down the town that was once here. It was pure devastation.

It's like what Azazel said, they only had destruction in mind here—all buildings were destroyed, it didn't matter if they were significant or not, if they saw it, they destroyed it. As I reached the center of the town…the fountain that once shot out beautiful clear water had bodies and blood in it.

Hell, the fountain itself was also destroyed. The bloody water leaked all over the place. I gritted my teeth at this, but I kept walking. The first place I went to…was the bakery shop that Padraig ran. It also had been annihilated, I entered the store and saw there were towns people dead there too.

I made my way into the kitchen and found Padraig himself there too…dead. The upper half of his body had been sliced in half; the upper half was also missing. No…there was a large part of the roof further ahead. It's probably under that, crushed.

'Tis a start of a beautiful friendship, Jin-boy.'

'Aye, see you later, Lady Scathach, Lady Áine, Jin-boy, and Jin-boy's harem!'

Our first meeting echoed in my head. He was a very chill and funny person. I wanted to come back here more and talk to him about recipes and even offer him to join my future business.

'…I'll bring you back to life—all of you, just wait…' I said to myself and left the spot.

The next spot that was the closest was Miss Zuzanna, the old lady that Áine delivered flowers to and the old lady that slapped my ass. I couldn't forget about her. I could see from a distance that her house was also destroyed, so I ran over there.

Once I arrived by her home, I saw Áine there. "Áine…" I called out to her. In her arms was a dead Zuzanna, her bottom half missing, yet she had a smile on her face.

"…I couldn't save her…I delivered a lot of flowers and other miscellaneous items to her over the last few months. I considered her a friend…even a surrogate grandmother…" Áine said as tears streamed down her face.

"I—"

"It's my fault…! If I hadn't done that stupid thing…I could still have my powers and I could have saved her! I trained with all of you didn't I! I could have done something—Cana…she was the only one who could help us…but she was drawn away…" she cried harder, "I killed her…"

I didn't know what to say. In a way, I blamed myself too. If I had given her powers back already…she and Cana could have stopped more damage, right? But where was Cana? I can feel her aura so she wasn't dead so…

Aura…? I looked back towards the town and ran off. Áine shouted my name but I ignored it and ran towards a certain direction. All the gods were still alive, that much I was certain about, but…!

'Nessa…!' I shouted in my head. I couldn't feel her aura, or her husband's or…! The grim thought flashed in my mind, but I brushed it off.

Once I arrived in front of the home, I found Dian Cecht and Nuada there. Dian Cecht was trying his hardest in healing them…no…it wasn't going to work.

I walked towards them and they turned to me.

"Jin…" they said in defeat.

"I'm sorry…I couldn't…save them…" Dian cried out.

"Where's—"

Nuada shook his head and gestured with his elbow to a giant splatter of blood beneath a giant pile of debris and rocks.

"…Both the husband and their baby, Sheila were crushed to death. They had no time to react since their house instantly collapsed on them. They were never fighters—at best…Nessa and her husband were just Middle-class if I compare it to the devil's system?" Nuada explained as he cried.

"…She was there for the longest time for me—for us…I can't believe she's…"

I didn't let him finish that sentence and touched the ground and forcefully started the revival process. Hundreds of souls began to come back and many of the previously dead people began to come back to life. Both Dian and Nuada were shocked, but…

Nessa, her husband and baby Sheila…

"…"

[Partner…you already know the answer to that,] said Ddraig.

I gritted my teeth and quickly appeared near Áine again, but Miss Zuzanna also didn't revive.

"Aaron…it's not working…why isn't it working…?" Áine asked as she cradled the upper half of Miss Zuzanna.

I teleported to Padraig's shop and…

"Oh…Jin, haha I didn't—"

He was alive and I immediately hugged him.

"Woah there…! You missed me that much?" he asked jokingly. "I'll tell you what though, I never thought in me life I'd die and then come back to life! Life is full of surprises, huh?" he asked and looked at me.

I stopped hugging him and let out a defeated laugh. "Yeah…it is…sorry, I revived you just now…I need to check on others."

"I'll go help around too—"

"No need…" I replied and held my hand up to repair the damage too.

The ones that didn't revive—they had already passed on and are being reincarnated. I didn't think they would reincarnate so quickly…Nessa…her family had so much to live for—that baby…was still a newborn…!

"…Cana…" I muttered and looked in a certain direction. After confirming her aura, I quickly made my way there. Once I arrived, she was sitting on the grass with her harp to the side. She wasn't hurt badly, but she did look exhausted.

I took a few steps towards her and she turned to look at me. She smiled and tiredly waved at me. I quickly appeared in front of her and embraced her. "You're okay…"

"Huhu! I'm a goddess after all…but I am tired. I didn't think defending the place mostly by myself could be that exhausting…Lugh and the other gods also helped me. But…I couldn't save everyone, I'm sorry Aaron…" she apologized and hugged me back.

…Right it would be strange for her to be injured at all, I guess my own anxiety got to me.

"…You did your best. In reality, this is my fault—so I'm sorry," I told her and picked her up.

"U-um I can—"

"…Let me take you back."

"Okay…"

…

Once we arrived back in town, I also healed her and put her down. While many of the residents here were alive again and the buildings had been repaired, there were some that didn't come back to life and they could see that. Hence, why the mood in the realm was horrible right now.

"…Why don't you use your music to soothe their hearts?" I asked her. Cana looked at me for a few seconds before she nodded.

She took out her harp and began to play a soft melody. A crowd of tired residents began to sit around her and listen to her music that would heal their souls. I took this time to dash around and gather up the ones I couldn't bring back to life. These were people I didn't interact with much, but I did speak to them a few times.

I decided to leave Miss Zuzanna and Nessa's family as the last ones. I wanted to mentally prepare myself before I restored their bodies to what they used to look like. However, that time quickly approached as I went over to Zuzanna's home first. Áine hadn't moved from the spot as she held onto Zuzanna's body.

I walked over to her and touched Zuzanna's body and restored it. Even when I did her body was still cold.

"…Áine, we have to—"

"I know, please let me bring her over there," she said and I let her.

I had gathered the bodies in the town's graveyard. I only briefly visited it in the past, because I didn't have any business there, I didn't stay too long. But now I do and I plan on burying all of them before the day ends. I also still had Grigori to go to.

As we walked through the town, Cana's song was heard throughout. It sounded both hopeful and sorrowful. The town's people were enthralled by it as they listened in as they silently cried or openly wept.

Once in the graveyard again, I clicked my fingers and expanded the area. After that, I created new holes to put the recently deceased in. Next, I created coffins for them and gave them different styles based on the clothes they wore. Most of them were very colorful, and I added their names to the front.

After that, I put them all into their coffins, then made gravestones with their names on it and any information needed was put on them. Since I spoke to these guys at least once or twice, I put a small quote about them on each of their gravestone.

I went over to Áine and handed her a piece of paper and a pen. "Write down what you want me to put on her gravestone…I have three people left to get," I told her and she accepted the items.

Once I arrived back at Nessa's home, Brigid, Dian Cecht, Nuada and Lugh were there. They had lined up the three family members for me while they covered them in a blanket. I walked over to them, knelt down and restored their bodies.

After I did that, I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. Their grip was quite tight. When I looked back at them, it was Lugh. He looked extremely angry and depressed. "…Team [DxD] is going after them, right?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Take me with you, I want revenge," he said. "This is our realm, our people. The fact that they randomly attacked us like this…is unforgivable. The number of lives lost today…including Nessa's family and someone I loved…" His grip tightened even more and he bit his lips drawing blood.

"…Very well. Once we find where they are, we'll be launching an attack on them. Grigori was also attacked, but there were fewer casualties because they chose to kidnap certain people," I told them.

"W-what?! Grigori was attacked at the same time?" Nuada asked shocked.

"Yeah…after I finish up here, I'll go over there. We just need to increase the defense and I'll unseal Áine's powers afterward. I'll take the blame for this because if I had just done that—"

"No. It's not your fault, Jin. It's the terrorists. If they weren't so selfish, if they didn't pursue chaos and destruction…none of this would have happened," said Dian Cecht.

I didn't answer him and finally gathered up the new family. My heart broke when I picked up the newborn baby, Sheila. I hadn't even met her yet. I only found out about the little girl's name when I came by to give her family some money. I don't know how she felt about our relationship, but to me, Nessa was a good friend. We bantered a lot about the gods of our country and how drunk they were every time I visited.

I met the husband twice and he seemed like a good guy too. However, having their family be killed like this…I took a deep breath and sighed. I arrived back at the cemetery and found that Cana had also arrived there with the rest of the town's citizens.

Áine gave me the piece of paper and what she wanted me to put on it. I designed the gravestone as such and buried Miss Zuzanna and erected the gravestone. Next was Nessa's family. Nuada gave me a piece of paper as well as Cana. It seems like Cana spoke to them this morning since she added a small note to the quote she gave Nessa.

I finally finished burying them and Cana brought out her harp again and began to play a sad melody. Everyone there silently cried for the deceased, and I stepped away.

"…Aaron. Please get them back," Áine said to me.

"Yeah, we will," I replied. "I'll get going then. I need to check Grigori."

…

Azazel's Soliloquy

…

Once we arrived in Grigori…the destruction caused wasn't as devastating as I anticipated. However, there was still quite a bit of it and the immediate team scattered to go help everyone here. My first stop was to check on Shemhazai. I haven't heard anything from him since Tamiel was the one who contacted me.

I checked my office, he wasn't there, then I checked the places he was frequently at, but he wasn't there. Finally, I checked his home and found it was also destroyed, but I saw Luneala there with Shemhazai and their child. She had given birth to their baby a month prior.

"Oi, Shemhazai!" I shouted and flew over to them. Shit! He was badly hurt, he had a couple of broken bones, and several holes on his body, he was bleeding profusely, but…it's amazing that he's still alive.

I created a magic circle beside me and contacted Asia. [Asia, are you busy? We need you down in the residential district of Grigori!]

"I-I'm currently busy healing many fallen angels, Azazel-san. But Ingvild-san is on her way with Beru-san," she told me. Before I could reply, Ingvild arrived with…a shadow soldier?

The insectoid knelt down and his hands began to glow green and the wounds around Shemhazai's body instantly vanished and he slowly sat up.

"This is Beru. He's a great healer like Asia. We'll be going then, Azazel-san. We have more people to help," said Ingvild and left with the shadow soldier.

"Shemhazai, are you alright? How do you feel? And if you're up to it, can you tell me what happened?" I asked him.

"Azazel…I think it would be better to tell all of Team [DxD] this once we gather in one of the meeting rooms," he said tiredly.

"…Right, right, you're right. Alright…uh, you two make your way there, it seems like Luneala unharmed, the same with the baby," I commented and looked at his wife and child.

"Yes…Jin's protections also worked on me when they activated, but Shemhazai was too far to be affected…no, he protected us and that's why he was like that…those things were too fast for him," she said and wept.

"…You don't need to say anymore for the time being. Please make your way to the main meeting room. We'll have a discussion there soon," I told her and the two slowly made their way there.

Shuri, Baraqiel, Mittelt, Tobio, Sae, and Penemue were kidnapped. I'm curious as to how they managed to get Tobio since he's quite powerful. The same with Sae, although she's pregnant so she doesn't move around too much, but I'm also worried that she may go into early labor because of this…

'Shit…! These assholes are seriously pissing me off!' I quickly made my way to the Himejima's household and when I got there, Lavinia, Suzaku, Asia and Akeno were there as they stood around looking at the destruction.

Looks like Asia-chan was finished healing the fallen angels then. I walked over to Akeno-chan and found a lot of blood. Shit, who—

"It's dad…" she muttered and then pointed…at an arm? "It's the clothes he always wears at home."

"Lavinia, can you—" before I got to finish, she came over and encased the severed arm in ice. "Thanks…whatever happened here, it seemed personal since his arm was torn off. Baraqiel is a fighter, so he won't bleed to death," I told them. "…Anyway, let's go we can talk about this more once Jin arrives."

They left the area in an almost trance-like state. I don't know what was going through their heads, but violence was definitely one of them. As I walked around my organization, I found Avezza with…Meruem? I walked over to them and…

"He's been like that since I found him," she told me. His face just seemed blank, but it was clear that he was a blocked pipe waiting to burst too, like Jin.

I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me with the same blank expression. "We're about to discuss a plan of action and a way to locate them. Go to the main meeting room. You know the way, right?"

He blinked at me a few times before he nodded, got up and left. I had kept an eye on him and Mittelt over the last few months since he came here and those two have undoubtedly built a bond that I don't understand, and the things Jin told me about him…this definitely hit him hard.

Though, whether or not he deals with this in a healthy way or not, is entirely up to him. I guess he'll need his 'father' to help him out now, but he's also quite unpredictable right now too.

As Avezza and I were about to walk away—the various buildings and structures around us began to repair themselves, as if the time here began to rewind.

"So he made it, huh? Alright, let's do one more check and meet up in the meeting room. I'll go tell Jin about it," I told Avezza and she quickly left.

I myself flew around until I found him…at Shuri and Baraqiel's home. This wasn't repaired yet to my surprise, he stood over the same bloody patch that Akeno was standing over not too long ago. When I looked at his face, I still couldn't read how he felt.

"Oi, Jin, come here I need to tell you about what happened…wait no, we can go over it in the meeting room, let's go," I told him.

He glanced at me with those sharp pupils of his. He then nodded and walked over to me. He put his hand up and the previously destroyed home was repaired. We left the place and on our way to the meeting room we came across Ezeri and Kishku with Sofiel. Two of his subordinates, both had a look of regret on their faces.

"Jin-sama, I—"

As Ezeri began to speak, Jin walked over to him but Sofiel stood in front of him with her arms open, stopping him.

"It wasn't their fault, it was mine! I was nearly taken too, so Eze came to rescue me! If you want to punish anyone, then please do it to me! T-the same with Kishku-san, he protected the exiled clan members from being taken away. Atsutarou also helped him!" Sofiel shouted as she trembled in front of Jin.

He reached out and put a hand on both Sofiel and Ezeri's heads. "…Good job on protecting her. It would be terrible if she was taken again. The same with you, Kishku, good work. We'll get them back…so don't worry about it too much," he told them. "Let's go. You can tell me and Team [DxD] what happened in detail."

Jin then walked away with all of us following behind him.

Once we arrived in the meeting room that was expanded by Jin since there were a lot of us in it, the [Brave Saints] also joined us, as Dulio was up in Heaven when all this happened. He hadn't come with us during our talk with Ajuka.

"So, who wants to start?" Jin asked.

Shemhazai put his hand up and said, "I will. It happened suddenly—"

…