AN: Four months. Semester's finally over. Here have a chapter.

Guest: Touma x Koneko? Right now, Issei x Koneko is basically set in stone. Can't really do anything about that.

Thereisaperv: Good work is tough to keep up, but doable. Doing that with a consistent schedule though? Sorry lol.

FabledLife: He does go through a lot, doesn't he? Poor dude. As for girl trouble...well. You know.

Guest the Fan: Thor meeting Thor has been a little thing I just wanted to do for laughs. If they were to fight now though, it's very obvious who would get pile-driven into the ground.

xchrispx: Offscreen Testament. Real talk though, Kami-yan disease didn't really hit her that strong. You just got a good old sibling-like bond there.

Ylnadiir: "Panic" Anyways, thanks for your praise on the last chapter. Everything has been slowly building up to take that action and the result of it will flow over to this. The key word is culmination. Harnessing Kamachi energy is slightly poisonous for me, but I'll try to mantle him just a little.

Guest: Nice.

Cheesecake244351: Hm. I'm not sure how to respond to this review without giving away anything interesting, but I appreciate it all the same. I can say that my plans for Cao Cao were thought up on the spot and I'm actually proud of them. He didn't forget the favor. He just couldn't sit still. You will never guess the first person that chops off the hand.

patiphat1998: Enjoy some more when they come.

Chapter 7: Abyss

"Cao Cao, where are you going?" The leader of the Hero Faction was sitting on a stool, contemplating his next move. In front of him was the hazy True Longinus that was beginning to dissipate again. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't actually scowling at a critical loss to his power, only emotionlessly acknowledging it.

He has no choice but to revise many of his plans that hinged on its power. He already tested Ophis's snake. Unfortunately, it alone can't make up for the the crucial component that's lacking. It needs something pivotal, something more foundational to supplant for what's been destroyed.

"Hm? Why are you asking that?" Cao Cao responded with a question to his subordinate and fellow Longinus user, Georg.

"Well, you sent a message to us basically stating that you were going to be away for a while, so I'm intercepting you. Who's going to take charge while you're away?" Cao Cao accepted Georg's explanation.

"I'm going to recover my Sacred Gear's power." He nodded to himself, before pausing and looking upwards at his subordinate. He just remembered something quite important. "I nearly forgot about administering punishment to everyone but Jeanne because you lot cleverly ran away and left that dragon god for me to deal with all alone."

A mocking smile was all that Cao Cao had the humor to make at this moment in time.

It was fortunate for him that Georg delivered himself right to Cao Cao. The criminal disguised as an official and getting caught anyway sounds like a humorous whim of fate, so the leader began chuckling ominously. That frightening sight forcibly made the elite magician pale.

He continued on, ignoring Georg's change in complexion. "The problem is that I don't know what would be the best punishment for all of you. It has to be a team building exercise because you all ran away as a team, right? Georg, what do you think would be the best?"

"Uh, well, you see…" His mind went into overdrive, attempting to conjure up an excuse, like how he conjures up his spells. His possibilities were being eliminated quicker than his hopes at getting out of this situation until he eventually stopped thinking and prepared to accept his painful fate.

It was then that his eyes widened from the results of a legendary epiphany, one that he would never experience again. Even if it was wasted on this event instead of having a magical breakthrough, Georg would say it'd be worth it right here and now.

The wielder of Dimension Lost gave a small cough to recompose himself and then spoke with the greatest confidence he's ever felt in his life.

"I believe that it's best to give us no punishment actually because it would lower everyone's morale. If the lower ranking subordinates saw us doing something humiliating, they might feel discouraged. Instead, it would be best to assign all of us an important mission, so we can succeed and raise everyone's spirits."

"I see." The leader nodded and briefly took Georg's opinion into account.

He rolled a thought around in his head for a bit.

"Toilet scrubbing duty. All of you. You can deliver the mission you all need to succeed at to your comrades who thought it was funny to leave me and poor Jeanne all alone to suffer. If those toilets aren't clean enough to eat out of by the time I return, do it again. After that, grab Arthur for some politicking around the Old Satan Faction."

George was struck by a dismaying lightning bolt that nearly sapped his soul. Cao Cao was leaving with a hand already on the door when he spoke without turning around. "You and Siegfried will be in charge while I'm gone. Our of everyone, you two are the most loyal and the most intelligent members, so I trust you won't screw this up."

Cao Cao left and didn't hear Georg's weak response.

"Y-yes sir..."

Outside, he once again summoned his Sacred Gear. There was something greatly bothersome about the fact that it could still be called upon and maintain its form of a weapon at all. The leader of the Hero Faction narrowed his eyes at this impossible puzzle.

"What's still holding this here? Is it my soul that's keeping it from vanishing completely or is it something else?"

He shook his head. He'll take it as his fortune and put that to the side for now. For the mission of reclaiming its power, there's only one thing he can think of.

He needs to journey to the origin of this spear: the final battle in the Great War between the Angels, the Fallen Angels, and the Devils. Where the Abrahamic God met his end. There must be something there that can power up this spear of his.

He just has that gut feeling that has saved him so many times in the past.

"Even with that though, I'll still have to change my plans." He sighed and left the room. Now he just needs to arrange a way over to that cursed location.

A legendary spot with little notoriety. The Norse equivalent would be Ragnarok, however, this location was treated as just another zone of tragedy and given no honorable mention that would in any way glorify it.

Cao Cao's lips upturned into a vicious and confident smirk.

"Red Dragon Emperor. White Dragon Emperor." He'll fall behind like this. He won't be able to be the shining ideal for humanity to dominate over the supernatural and live up to their full potential.

"Kamijou Touma…!"

He'll be back on the battlefield soon enough.

Kamijou Touma felt like throwing up.

That may've been a slight exaggeration, though he still felt an overwhelming sense of nausea pervade his senses and force a hyperbole like that to come to mind.

Currently, he was standing on a train because all the seats were filled. The bullet train hadn't embarked yet, but he gripped the straps to keep himself standing. The poor boy was pale and sweaty and those near him just chose to stay away in case they got hit with something green and disgusting.

"Maybe I should've stayed a little, just to make sure I recovered." He grudgingly admitted to himself that there was probably a better call to make, but he didn't regret it.

The train started moving, slightly shaking while doing so.

He might have regretted his choice a little now.

No, he can't think like that. He came out here because he had to go on the offense if he were to find a way to get home. Hoping for a solution to fall into his lap is hopelessly naive and more than anything, a method that he disdains to say the least.

Kamijou is still irritated at this crappy feeling he has currently though. He can only posit one cause behind this sudden sickness. The wounds that should've been perfectly fine weren't actually that and he only noticed when he started moving his body more.

He then recalled something as he started at his bandages. Azazel did mention that the Phoenix Tears from before can do targeted healing, which they did use for his stab wound that Cao Cao randomly decided to inflict upon him.

Kamijou knows that Imagine Breaker only negated what it touches. Nothing else.

'So why did it not work all the way then?'

All the miserable boy could do was internally bemoan his misfortune because he got a shoddy Phoenix Tear. He would love to speak to the manager behind the production of those tears and request another one, not knowing that the prideful producers would beat him up for implying that any of their products are half-baked.

He wanted to sigh, but he might actually throw up if he does. He looked out the window, anything entering his eyes becoming a blur as the scenery was sped by. It was a pretty nice day out if he had to be honest.

"The ride should be around two hours give or take…" he muttered. Kamijou was beginning to feel a drowsiness overcome his mind. It was the train inflicting that status effect. The monotonous sound of the vehicle riding over the tracks produced a kind of feeling that loosened the boy's self-restraint.

Sadly, the boy doesn't have the talent yet to fall asleep while standing unless he's dead-on-his-feet level tired.

The tired teenager let out a useless yawn. He's only feeling slightly tired, which means there's no sleeping in this position for him.

"Would you like to take my seat?" Right when he started believing he was destined to suffer like this for the next two hours, a kind businessman in front of him offered up their seat for his sake. His widened eyes seemed to be asking a question, which the man responded to with grace.

"Your complexion seems to be quite sickly, and I don't really need to sit down."

"...Thank you so much." He was nearly brought to tears when the man stood up.

"It's no problem really."

He took that warm seat with delight and sunk into it. "Thanks," he said again, absentmindedly.

"So," the man standing up began, curious enough to start a conversation. "Where is your destination?" The boy was just starting to get comfortable, so he didn't even feel like holding back his plans.

Plus he seems like a nice guy to Kamijou, if a bit odd with the silver hair being a very noticeable giveaway to him being a foreigner.

"I'm going to Tokyo." He's feeling a little better now that he's sitting down. The queasiness is present, but not as unabating as it was before.

"Curious coincidence. Our destination appears to be the same." The man nodded to himself mumbling words that went unheard of by the high schooler.

The boy was a little uncertain when the conversation abruptly died like that, but it was just fine for him. He closed his eyes and started to doze off when the nausea strengthened itself.

He put a hand to his mouth when he felt his gag reflexes kick in, but nothing came out. It was like preparing for the sneeze, but the body stopped before anything was released. That feeling carried the same inconvenient annoyance as what Kamijou felt right now. It was relieving and dissatisfying at the same time.

He would've felt better if he just vomited right there, but that would've been rude to the man in front who was no longer paying attention to him. The black-haired boy visually traced the gray-suited man's sight to the briefcase the man was looking through.

He quickly unzipped it and turned around to look at the window and then shifted his clean sleeves to view the time on his wristwatch.

Kamijou eventually got used to the irritating nausea and closed his eyes. He slightly dozed off whilst thinking about Academy City. That rambunctious place he calls a home is a place he misses dearly.

Even if he fails to find a way back, he can at least count on Thor and Othinus to get a way back. They're a lot more experienced on this matter than he is and Thor was the one who caused this in the first place. Though that isn't an excuse for him to get lazy and slack off.

Knowing those two, or at least the battle-hungry blond, he'd get distracted by some tough opponents. Kamijou knows they exist after experiencing battles against powerful opponents he had no right surviving.

So many new things in this world. So different from his old world. The two worlds are so different to Kamijou that he could refer to it as a dichotomy. One that fuels his desire to return no matter what and as soon as possible. The halcyon days of making food for Index, going to school, making food for Index, hanging out with friends, making food for Index, doing painful homework and losing it, and making food for Index.

Did he mention making food for Index?

He let out an amused snort, which snapped him out of his bittersweet thoughts. He then remembered that he felt like crap and instantly desired to go back to daydreaming. Unfortunately, he couldn't capture that rapturous state again and was left suffering for two whole hours, not even able to nap because of the unabating nausea pulling him back from the barrier between rest and sleep.

As a result, he felt even more exhausted when the train ride stopped. It felt more like he ran for two hours instead of on a seat for two hours.

He sluggishly stood to his feet and began walking out of the train. He prematurely covered his mouth before an obnoxious yawn could escape.

"This Kamijou needs to find a proper place to rest soon…" But he also needs to get to work as soon as possible as well. He stretched his arms and got the blood flowing.

"That feels a lot better," he spoke with a good deal of energy. The moment he got on his feet, the nausea faded away. He achieved homeostasis through finally moving his body and making everything flow like a well-oiled machine.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice attached to a hand that patted his shoulder. The boy turned around to see who it was and it turned out to be the businessman who offered up a seat to the boy.

"Oh. Is there something important?" He didn't want to be rude, but he came to Tokyo for something pretty critical if he said so himself and he would like to get going now.

The silver-haired man didn't change expression but unzipped his briefcase. He took out a sheet of paper, a flyer it looked like to Kamijou's eyes and presented it to him. "I'd like you to keep this offer in mind. My boss was working me to death to find people to throw a banquet for."

The black-haired boy nodded. A standard businessman normally working to earn a living. He can definitely respect a position like that instead of magical cabal bosses who break into his home or board chairmans who make ridiculous plans.

"So, what's the banquet about?" The spiky-haired normal boy took and gave it a cursory glance. The moment he saw that there would be free food, he felt a sudden pull.

He might check it out. Maybe.

"My boss wants to establish himself in this city and getting the common citizens' approval is 'paramount' in his words. I merely extended an invitation to you because you looked miserable."

The boy nodded to this explanation though it seemed a little weird and…

'Did I really look so awful that he'd take pity on me?'

Kamijou looked him in the eyes. "Alright, I won't let your kindness go to waste. Thanks for the invitation...uh?" He just realized he was unaware of his name.

For the first time since he saw him, Kamijou saw the man smirk. If the smirk was just a bit more smug, the boy would believe it to be the most fitting expression on his face.

"Euclid Lucifuge. As you may have already noticed, I'm a foreigner." He spun on his heel and continued to speak. "Since I'm busy, I'll possibly see you later." He left in a suave manner as Kamijou stared at his shrinking form.

He shook his head and pocketed the flyer after folding it into a small enough shape. "Well, there are some things I need to do, like searching for a way back."

The instant he said that with a hopeful expression on his face, he felt slightly unsure of himself. Will he really find a way back through such a seemingly mundane place such as this?

No, he can't think like that. Whether there's a chance of a way back here or not doesn't matter. He has to put in effort to get back or else he won't find anything. Hoping and wishing will solve nothing at all.

Normal days accompanying his normal self. He couldn't protect or uphold his way of life in a place like this.

"Let's do this." He pumped himself up and pulled out his phone.

The phone was showing eight percent battery life yet and his spirit nearly wilted from that alone. "W-well, I don't actually need all of it! Just a map will do." He has the crappy type of phone that will randomly turn itself off once it goes below ten percent and he doesn't know why.

Probably because it's been put through nearly as much damage as the owner.

The black-haired boy went to google images and zoomed in on Japan. The spot where Academy City would be in this other-world Japan would be… "The Urban Employment Area."

He grinned complacently. He at least had a small lead, which he'll follow all the way through. His memorization skills aren't nearly as good as a certain freeloader nun, however, they're good enough to burn the rough location of an area into his brain.

He turned off his phone to conserve its battery life. It'll take him about an hour on foot if he walks, so he decides to jog over there, uncaring about how out of place he looks.

A bandaged person out on the streets is enough to stand out in Japan, but Kamijou didn't realize or care because of the fact he lived in Academy City: the place he stood out the least because he was a normal person there.

"Oh. Damn traffic." A minute after he ran lightly, he had to pause right before a crosswalk. He felt like an old man complaining about the newer generation switching to vehicles. "Well, I'll get there eventually."

"Finally almost there!" said a panting boy. It's been roughly the duration of the train ride it took from Kyoto to Tokyo according to his internal clock and he's a little bit ticked off to say the least.

Traffic being more obnoxious than it probably usually is, watching out for falling objects from multi-storied buildings, someone getting hit in a car accident and everything had to pause (Kamijou felt sorry for that guy), but he's finally almost there.

He felt relief well up within him at the last stretch of his jog. His attention slipped and he accidentally bumped into someone. It felt like he crashed into a wall and he nearly fell on his butt.

"My bad! Didn't mean to run into you there."

He caught himself and looked at the other party to make sure they didn't fall over. He made sure to apologize in case they decided they were secretly an electromaster that felt trigger happy.

What greeted him was yet another silver-haired person who stared vacuously at him, not really comprehending that he was bumped into. His balance was as stable as a mountain.

How many silver-haired people is he going to run into?

"Ah." He finally acknowledged Kamijou. "No problem." He appeared to be slightly older than Kamijou, yet they shared the same height.

A very small part of the younger boy took a minuscule amount of pleasure in the fact that there was a guy older than him, yet not taller than him.

"I'll be off now." Touma motioned to move, but a powerful grip on his shoulder stopped him in place. He slowly turned his head toward the stoic teenager, intuition feeding him a feeling he usually gets when he's roped into something magic-related.

"Wait a second."

"What is it? Wait, hold on!" The rude guy instantly rummaged in his right pocket and yanked out a folded piece of paper. Without even unfolding it, he dangled and shook it from two fingers and questioned Kamijou in a calm voice.

"Who gave you this?"

"Why does that matter to you?" Kamijou was starting to get slightly annoyed now. He apologized already. It almost seems like he's fishing for a way to claim insurance money because his arm was 'broken' by the impact.

"Just answer me and I'll let you go." The boy sighed, not seeing what the big deal was. He doesn't want to make this an even more annoying mess, so he chose the less bothersome route.

"A hard-working businessman named Euclid Lucifuge." Silver guy loosened his grip from the answer and he quickly unfolded the piece of paper.

"A banquet invitation from that fucker? Don't make me laugh." His crushing grip on both sids of the paper wrinkled it with ease.

"Huh?" The black-haired boy was confused at the other's sharp words. His face twisted into an ugly grimace the moment the name reached his ears.

"You're late to this crap anyways. Surprised that you managed to ignore a devil's compulsion, his of all people, that was littered all over this. I'll keep this and you go do whatever you were going to do."

"Seriously?" Instead of words expressing utter confusion at the older boy's words or irritation from having something just straight up taken from him, the spiky-haired boy expressed exasperation.

That sight mildly surprised the rude one. Though it wasn't as surprising as hearing his next words.

"Another devil? I didn't expect to run into one randomly like that. I also missed the invitation for free food? My luck really is in the pits…"

"Wait? What did you just say?" He attempted to get the complaining boy's attention.

"Huh? About my luck being in the pits?"

"No not that, I'm talking about you knowing what a devil is. Are you telling me you actually know about…" He trailed off and realized he was still standing in the middle of a street. "Come with me."

"Hah?" First, the other boy stops him while there's some place he needs to be. Second, he takes the flyer from his pockets establishing himself as someone who has no consideration for others. Third, he expects the person he messed with to follow him like a duckling.

That's three strikes. He formed an X with his arms. "No way. I'm doing something right now. It's me time." That garnered a twitch from the grimacing boy.

"This is super important. I'm not screwing around, you need to follow me right now."

"Hell no." Kamijou obstinately stared the other person in the face and spoke resolutely. "I've had a pretty shitty day to say the least and what I'm doing is extremely important to me. I'm not gonna follow your damn whims." And with that he walked off.

He put his desires above a random person's.

Under normal circumstances, he would've definitely heard him out, but he's not under normal circumstances. The urge to return back is growing stronger day by day within him. This world is totally abnormal to him. Even if some of the people are kind, the growing sense of rejection to this place is starting to make him fray at the nerves slightly.

'I wonder if Thor would call me pathetic for acting like this?' He shrugged his shoulders at that thought and couldn't bring himself to care.

"Wait!" He heard a call from behind him that made him hesitate slightly, but he took his next step.

He heard faster steps catch up to him and the next words made him pause completely.

"Hold on...please." He turned around from hearing that, the last word sounding especially forced out. The rude boy had many emotions dance on his face.

Kamijou's face became strained. He was so close to the Urban Employment Zone! Just a couple more blocks then he would've been inside and roaming around to see if there's anything that could net him a way back.

"Alright." He rubbed the back of his head. "Where should we be having this conversation?"

The silver-haired grouch clicked his tongue, showing no sign of relief on his face for having convinced Kamijou. "Annoying that my team isn't around for this, but it'd be too dangerous for them anyway. Just follow me for now."

Kamijou reluctantly obliged and followed his quick pace. It seemed bringing up the name of the businessman greatly startled this teen.

Judging by how he reacted, Euclid is most likely a devil and this guy walking in front is at least a part of the supernatural in some way. The misfortunate boy let out a sigh, understanding and accepting that he's been caught up in something again and his goal is being put on halt.

It's not like he regrets it that much. He's just a little annoyed is all. He saw a person who needed help and they truly sounded like it too, so just had to lend a little helping hand. He doesn't think that Euclid guy is a bad person, but who knows for sure.

He already knows that trusting random people isn't the best thing to do, even if it's a nice guy who gives up their seat for him.

"Hey. What's your name." Kamijou didn't expect the other boy to speak up. He thought he was going to spew out a bunch of stuff the moment they reached a quiet location, but surprisingly he appears to be reasonable.

"Kamijou Touma." He nodded.

"Vali Lucifer." Kamijou's nod stopped halfway.

"Wait, Lucifer? If I remember correctly from Index speaking about Christianity when she was bored, that name came up a bit. Something about an angel that fell?"

"I don't know who this Index is, but you got it right on the money. The way you worded that makes it seem like you're not that knowledgeable about the supernatural side of things though. You new to this?"

"I wish I didn't get into this to be honest. I just want to go to sleep in my bathtub again."

"What kind of poor person are you…" The man muttered. If Kamijou heard that he probably would've gotten annoyed about it, saying something like "I'm not poor, I'm just considerate for others and frugal" even though he's actually poor.

"Well is that all you have to say about my heritage?"

"Ah." He didn't piece that together. "I didn't know that Fallen Angels could have kids...how does that work?"

Vali snorted. "Not Fallen Angel. Devil. And it works like how humans do it. When two people love each other very much…" he said mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. This Kamijou is a total noob when it comes to this supernatural stuff. Now are we there yet?"

"Don't worry." He quickly grew serious and ceased with the joking. "We're already here."

Right in front of them was a seven-story tall building that seemed normal.

"This place is a little weird," Kamijou abruptly spoke up.

"I'm a little surprised someone as average as you noticed that, but I guess being so normal lets you pick out what isn't normal much easier. Now tell me everything that transpired between you and the Euclid right now."

"Well, we were both on the same train here. I was feeling sick, so he let me have his seat. We got off and then he handed me a flyer." Kamijou received a scoff in response to that half-baked answer.

"Come on that can't be all there is to it. The fact that he handed you one means he's handing random people those flyers are well. Shit they're probably already in here. Does he care nothing for revealing the supernatural to the world?!" Kamijou didn't say anything and merely waited for Vali to calm down.

"Tch." That sounded very familiar but the black-haired boy ignored it. "I'm going inside. Who knows what's happening in there?"

Kamijou could've brought up multiple things, like the fact that not many people would visit a place just because a random person gave them a flyer or the fact that some people may show up late, but he didn't care about that.

A devil invited people, which is suspicious alone and this Vali seemed to be extremely worried, which is another cause for concern. He put a hand on the aggravated boy's shoulder.

"Let's go and find out right now." The descendant of Lucifer scoffed at the mere implication that he'd need help from a normal human without a hint of magical power detectable by his expert senses.

"Can you fly?" Instead of shooting barbed words, he asked a simple question. When the human boy shook his head reluctantly, he nodded to himself. "You'd just be baggage then. Wait right here, or go back to whatever you were doing. It doesn't matter."

And with that, Vali opened the door to the building and went inside. In response, Kamijou had a conflicted look on his face.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh, what do I do now?!" It was a meaningless question to ask, for he already knew his next course of action. If he went back to his current objective, his mind wouldn't be in it. Not giving his goal a hundred percent is pathetic, so he'll at least have help set this right.

"Even if I am useless, I'll feel terrible if I don't even attempt to help out at least."

He motioned to follow after the silver-haired boy, but something odd occurred when he placed his hand near the door. A ghastly purple mist made itself apparent and actively retreated away from Kamijou's right hand, like it was deathly terrified of it.

Hesitation filled the spiky-haired boy's head, but he stamped it out before twisting the doorknob with resolve and pulling open the door. He entered with his right hand outstretched to serve as a metaphorical lamp banishing away the darkness. He went deeper in and the purple mist began to cover up where the boy trod as if it were swallowing him into an abyssal hell.

In the mountains, a bit out of the way from civilization, there was a bored monkey youkai sitting cross-legged. The chinese armor he wore gave him a certain majesty, but the way he was peacefully meditating was at odds with that image.

"Eh? Vali's aura just went and vanished." This was Bikou, a member of Vali's squad and he was currently practicing senjutsu due to the fact that he had nothing better to do.

Arthur was being bossed around by Cao Cao for something, his sister was doing her own thing, Kuroka was doing her own thing, and he had no mission now. So, here he was, face in his palms while wondering what he should do.

"He's pretty strong, but I'm also bored. On the off chance that he gets into a fight, I'd be depressed if I missed out on some fun like that." A vulgar smile made its way on his face. "Well, it can't be helped. Vali did say that because there was nothing for me to do, I could do whatever I felt like as long as it was within reason."

And what he's considering right now he believes to be within reason completely. Backing up his boss and maybe stealing the show along with his fights sounds like a great time to him and if Vali complains?

Well, he should've just given him a mission to do.

The monkey youkai stood up and summoned a golden cloud. "It felt like it was in a city. Probably Tokyo. Wonder what he was doing there in the first place." He hopped on the cloud and commanded it to float on over there.

There was no need to rush. He meditated on the cloud with a slightly troubled smile on his face. "The natural flow of the world has felt a little off for a bit now." Anyone who's practiced senjutsu would notice, however it wasn't anything alarming.

It just felt as though things shifted. Connecting to nature didn't get easier or harder, it just felt odd, like he was wandering in something hazy and undefinable. Bikou let out an uncharacteristic sigh.

"Meh. I'll just meditate some more and eventually I'll have an epiphany on what's strange sooner or later."

"...The hell?" Kamijou was awarded with a perplexing view for his resolve in the following after Vali. Even though there wasn't a large interval in time at the different periods they entered, the grouchy boy was nowhere in sight.

"I feel like I'm being watched." An invisible gaze that made him shiver. He distracted himself from it by analyzing the place he strolled into haphazardly.

A relatively large interior, completely at odds with the structure of the building from the outside. A medieval structure at odds with the modern sensibilities of today. The space was definitely warped by magic and…

"I can't touch it." He tried placing his hand on the ground to dispel the barrier, but the mist hastily retreated, revealing the normal floor beneath. It was much too agile and fearful to be caught by the aggressive right hand. The boy took that same hand and rubbed it through his hair, failing to bite back a complaint.

"I really got myself in a situation now…" The boy let out a troubled breath. "Let's get this over with, so I can go back to my search."

First things first. He has to search for Vali. "There's a bunch of doors to places and some stairs," he thought to himself while on the floor, tapping the ground with his hands.

"...?" A rumbling sensation moved its way to Kamijou's hands and then he put his ear to the ground. There was something or someone coming. No, it was multiple people coming. Two possibilities entered Kamijou's mind. They're either more devils, or there's the more unlikely possibility of them being humans enjoying a party.

He quickly escaped into a door, so he wouldn't be seen. He closed the door with his back and let out a relieved sigh with his eyes closed.

The voices of the people who almost caught him entered his ears through the thin door. "Would it be too much to hope that they were just enjoying a banquet…?" he whispered to himself.

"Where did he go?" one of them queried. "Another person came through here and we still haven't found the first one much to Lucifuge's displeasure." Another person sighed in response.

Kamijou stopped paying attention to their voices. He could hear them, but he couldn't recognize them any longer, for all his attention was being taken up by the sight engulfing his mind. It absolutely was too much for him to cling on to a dull hope.

About a dozen people — young, old, male, female — hung up on the walls, palms as they were pinned to the wall by thick needles jammed through them.

Blood was slowly dripping from the plugged holes. Kamijou traced a rather ordinary droplet falling at what seemed to be an infinitesimally long amount of time. His vision was overtaken by a red the same color as the blood that fell.

He wanted nothing more than to exit the door and beat the shit out of those devils standing out there and then ask questions later, however, he can't handle multiple targets like that. He was barely able to calm his restless heart.

All he could do was impotently clenched his fists and tightly grit his teeth until he could hear a crack.

"We got here quick enough that the second one would still have to be on this floor. Let's check the entertainment chambers."

'E-entertainment chambers?!'

Needless to say, Kamijou Touma was exceptionally pissed off.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" So, when he heard yells filled with genuine pain and fear followed by explosions, he couldn't bring himself to feel bad. He tried gently opening the door to see what caused it, but it slammed open and knocked him flat on his ass.

"Oof." The identity of the person who opened the door didn't really shock the fallen boy all that much.

"You came in after all?" Vali sneered at the other boy's figure on the ground. "Since you're here, you might as well follow me, so you don't get caught and strung up like the rest of these poor guys."

"Wait!" He instantly sprung up to his feet and pointed at the victims of a cruel crucifixion. "We should at least take all these guys down. Leaving all them up there is completely out of the question." The silver-haired boy sighed.

"So in other words, you want me to fly up there and pull them down one by one because you can't do so?" The words were pointedly sharp, but Kamijou just nodded in response.

"I know I'm useless here. All I can do is rely on you because I can't do anything here, so please help them. A normal person like me can only beg for help pathetically like this." He bowed his head, showing not a hint of pride.

Vali studied him for a long minute, before letting loose a short sigh. "Fine. I'll have to go through each and every one of these entertainment chambers annoyingly enough."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm only doing this because it'll most certainly piss off that trash Euclid. There's no doubt in my mind that he's doing this because of the whims of a certain bastard.

"That took much longer than I'm comfortable with. Come on, let's go already." Vali motioned to leave the room and expected Kamijou to follow after, which he did after making sure all the crucifixion victims had steady breathing.

The black-haired boy loudly shut the door behind them. "I thought Euclid was a nice guy. Now I can only go easy on him with the first punch for lending me a seat." His voice was even.

That only meant he passed the absolute limit of his rage. It transformed into a tranquil fury.

"Hm. I'm changing my mind. This took too long, so I refuse to go through all the doors to take down everyone. We're going to go straight to the source and dealing with that before he can get away and cause anymore trouble." He didn't bother asking if the human boy was fine with it or not. He was stating his intentions and following through on it regardless of if Kamijou would acquiesce or not.

The spiky-haired boy merely walked ahead of Vali. He rigidly walked up the steps, almost leaving Vali behind in the dust. He turned back to look at him. "I thought you wanted to go straight to the source? What are you taking your time for?"

Vali gave a savage grin in response as he instantly made his way ahead of Touma, utilizing supernatural speed to do so. "Don't get so cocky, fool. You're just a normal human. Anger won't do you any good, unlike me."

Kamijou broke into a dash to keep up with him. They made their way up multiple floors, finally running into some more devils on the sixth floor. The more doors Kamijou saw, the more he wanted to punch Euclid with all of his strength.

"Stop them!"

[Divide]

Vali grew a pair of translucent, pale-blue wings, which carried a terrifying voice of absolute supremacy. The magical flames, bolts, ice, and darkness were all literally halved out of existence.

The devils paled and changed their target to someone who looked easier to deal with. The ordinary high school boy merely held out a hand, which was all it took to negate the continuous barrage of magical attacks.

Vali appraised this bizarre power with an evaluative glint in his eyes. He couldn't sense anything from it and he doubt Albion could either.

"Hoh? It seems you aren't normal at all then even though you called yourself one and carried yourself that way. Whether you're a wolf in sheep's clothing or a deluded fool who truly believes themselves to be normal matters not to me. I'll show you the power of the White Dragon Emperor." He can't fall behind. His pride won't allow it.

The wings began to shimmer and glow. Tremendous magical power compared to the rest of the devils gathered in the silver-haired monster's hand. He fired off a beam of pure energy, which blew through some of their bodies and sent the rest flying.

Kamijou immediately reacted to that gruesome act.

"Damnit, you don't have to kill them!"

"If you think devils would die from injuries that humans would normally die from, you're dead wrong. Also, you still care about their lives even after their inhumane acts?" Kamijou gave a strong nod as the two continued onwards, climbing up the final set of stairs.

"Obviously. They still need to pay for their crimes. How are they going to do that if they're dead? People can't do anything if they're dead. Killing...is wrong." Those are his honest feelings.

To Kamijou Touma, killing is an abnormal act that's a result of hatred or a lack of care. It cuts someone off entirely, creating the ultimate kind of despair through destroying the hopes and dreams of a person.

"The only life a person has a right over is their own."

The only sound between the two were the footsteps. After a moment, Vali spoke.

"Don't care."

"Then don't ask," said Kamijou helplessly.

Their encounters with other vile devils who got in their way ended the same way. They ran through the halls of the final floor to the end where there was a door in front of them. Even a normal human without any supernatural senses could feel the utter wrongness emanating from beyond the door.

"So, he's here." Without a word of preparation or anything to psyche himself up, he kicked open the door and displayed his power with a shockwave of magical force. Kamijou followed him with a much more lackluster show of force, but not falling behind in the intensity of his gaze.

"Euclid!" The two yelled in unison.

The man in person turned around. The room they were in was comparable to one of the "Entertainment Chambers" except this one was far more gruesome. Kamijou instinctively realized it immediately, even before Vali did.

The people in this room were beyond saving. All the hair on his body stood up on their ends at the absolute insanity it would take for a person to conjure up a nightmarish torture festival like this. Impaled to the ground instead of the walls, blood that has ceased flowing, the churning mist engorged on the malice by the limitless malice of the room.

Euclid Lucifuge called it a banquet, but he never said who it was a banquet for. A sight like this... Kamijou deterred himself from that line of thinking and put all his focus on the person behind this act.

"Young master Vali...and you? I didn't expect the sick one to make it this far." He spoke in a joyful manner. "Truly, it really was a curious coincidence."

Those same words he said to the spiky-haired hero on the train: he recalled them and he superimposed the image of the considerate businessman on this monstrous devil.

Lucifer's descendant took a step forward. "Euclid. Where is Rizevim? A dog like you would never act without his permission."

The insult didn't make the calm man's countenance waver in the slightest. He merely smiled...and ignored Vali completely.

"Young man, what is your name?" Kamijou flinched for a moment, but reaffirmed his resolve. He knew what he came here to do. He balled his right hand into the shape of a fist.

"Kamijou Touma." The Lucifuge ran a hand through his hair and donned a smug smile that fit him perfectly.

"Now. A question to the both of you. Would you consider turning back and pretending this never happened? Or maybe you would like to join us in our revelry, though I would have to turn Kamijou into a devil. Or-"

"Shut up you piece of shit." Vali coldly interrupted him. "If you think that I'll ever willingly join you, you're out of your mind. I'll rip you apart and deliver your body to Rizevim."

The White Dragon Emperor took a powerful, rebellious step forward.

"Balance Breaker." A draconic transformation akin to the one Kamijou saw Hyoudou in before. The colors are different, but the dragon's might is the same.

"I'm going to kill you." A powerful aura emanated from the boy, shaking the barrier covering this building from the senses of everyone outside.

Right after Vali said that...

"Heheh... heh hahaha... Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Euclid Lucifuge broke out into a maniacal cackle unlike anything ever seen before. His stoic facade and kind gentleman-like aura were torn like a flimsy, paper illusion. His body shook and contorted with each new fit of laughter and it. The length of it unnerved Kamijou, yet fueled the fury of Vali even further.

It was like he was noticing Vali for the first time.

"Haha, I see. This is your choice. I understand. What bravery and justice burning through your heart! You believe yourself able to kill me? With righteous anger setting you aflame? Wonderful, delightful, exquisite! Rizevim-sama's little project with you was truly founded upon studying the minds of humans and their limitless potential for ideals! Ah, I understand now completely. You truly believe in yourself and you desire my death."

He quickly turned to the other boy. His excited, no, his maddened eyes peered straight through his soul.

"Kamijou Touma, what is your choice? Do you also desire my death? Please tell me what you truly want."

The boy took a deep breath and held out his clenched fist in front of him. That was all he ever needed. He was sublime with his words, but there were even times where actions spoke louder than words.

Euclid understood the message and gave a please smile. "Very well. I now understand the two of you have come here with strong resolve. There is nothing tainted about you two, pure beyond all belief." He held a hand to his mouth, like he was trying to prevent himself from having another fit of laughter.

Vali had enough.

"What is your choice, Rizevim-sama? Your grandson would love to see you."

Before the boy encased in white and sapphire started going on the attack, a name was spoken that froze him in place. The gears in his mind stopped turning for that small moment in time.

Before the two boys entered this room they noticed an evil aura pouring from it. That feeling remained the same even after entering. Now...

That feeling that could both be quantified and qualified magnified into something that could only be described with the word 'bottomless.'

The malice started condensing, drawn in to the area behind Euclid. A black hole that sucked in despair and then...somebody appeared from that hole in reality.

A magical circle appeared right behind Euclid and a powerful monster in the shape of a man exited from it with a playful grin on his face that didn't match his regal attire and his tangible power.

"My choice? My dear pal Euclid, you of course know what I'll do when I see some good entertainment in my sight! I play with the toys till they break. Come on Vali, grandpa's got some free time to play with you!"

His gaze. Kamijou recognized it. The slimy feeling on his skin came from this devil.

A man with silver hair of a darker shade than Vali's and an average stature for a fully grown man that still towered over the two boys. His physical features, such as his beard and skin tone were all indescribable to the menacing feeling he gave off just by breathing and speaking. His hazel eyes examined the wretched room with delight. This guy has to be...

"Oh, we even have a new face here. It seems I have to be a well-mannered gentleman and introduce my self. I am Rizevim..."

He was the boss that Euclid was referring to. A person with an even mightier presence than Cao Cao.

"Yes, Rizevim Livan Lucifer at your service! Don't be so scared. I'm just your unfriendly neighborhood devil!"

Out of the two boys that were thoroughly frozen by the devil's advent, one started to move very slightly. It was a natural and uncontrollable bodily reaction from the venomous words spewing out of Rizevim's mouth.

With every word he spoke, the son of Lucifer sent tremors through the great-grandson of Lucifer. He was shaking, but not from fear.

"Rizeviiiiiiiiiiiiiim!" The armored boy roared like a dragon that pulled itself out of the depths of hell.