The giant cross splintered and decayed in seconds, the statues of angels and saints cracked and turned to dust while the many colors of the images depicted in the high windows desaturated and melted. Sirzechs' presence robbed this strange church of its holiness in seconds, turning even the remnants of light attacks into nothing as waves of crimson demonic power washed all over the devils and agents of the church alike.

Diodora Astaroth knelt. Not in the one-knee way for showing respect, but in that two-knee way people with little to no strength left adopted, unable to sustain their own weight.

Sirzechs looked at the young devil lord, at Rias' Queen who didn't have any visible injuries besides a few burns here and there. Some of them had glowed before, but Sirzechs' presence dispelled the lingering effects of the holy element in the air. So the young girl didn't have to worry about it.

The girl behind them stood ready, puzzled beyond her own comprehension. Sirzechs ignored her and turned to the farther side of the church.

His sister's Knight and Rook had been engaged in a fight against an exorcist, helped by another blond guy, and looking more injured than Akeno but still standing. Still fighting.

"No way—." The exorcist tried to speak, taking the moment of stillness that Sirzechs' appearance caused.

Yuuto Kiba stabbed him in the throat, motioning to open the throat completely and making the exorcist fall to his back. Struggling to keep the bleeding at bay.

The other blond guy flinched, obviously scared of the brutality the Knight showed. But it didn't end there. Yuuto stabbed the exorcist's heart, taking his blade by the hilt and driving it down like one would do with a pick, or perhaps like an executioner would go for the kill.

Sirzechs' mind cleared out a bit. Seeing Rias bleeding all over the place and struggling to tell him what happened had shaken him up to his core, and now realized he had left in such a hurry that he had expected to see the forces of Heaven at his doorstep. Ready to fight him off and drive him back to the Underworld.

The walls had started to crack and turn into dust, so he weakened his aura to stop himself from messing with one of the devils he came to rescue. It hadn't been his intention to intervene so suddenly, without really knowing what had happened. But he couldn't resist, and Rias' anguish for her peerage forced his hand in a way that no amount of logic could've prevented.

He sighed, and heard the wind whistle behind him the next moment.

The girl had flown to him, light spear on her right hand and a small smirk on her face. To her credit, she didn't throw the light spear, but intended to stab Sirzechs by appearing right behind him in an instant.

The spear dissolved into dust, still on her hand, as she swung her hand toward Sirzechs' neck. Making no contact and leaving the girl with dead momentum as she realized her weapon disappeared almost instantly.

The girl wheezed when Sirzechs grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, and augmented her momentum with demonic power before throwing her all the way to the other side of the church. Driving her into the weakened concrete like a shallow grave carved on the wall.

It didn't make him feel any better, Sirzechs still had this nervous energy that begged to be released onto someone. He wanted to put the blame of all of this on someone's head and execute them, yet years upon years of managing public relationships made him stay his hand.

His appearance on the human world would no doubt be troublesome enough, given how he basically desecrated a whole church in a second without any prior appearance in this world outside of Kuoh Town.

The girl finally fell back to the floor, dust blowing as her whole body collided with it without her hands intervention or anything. She struggled back to her feet, placing her hands below her and starting the painful process of getting to her knees and lifting.

Sirzechs was ready to drive her back down to the floor, but resisted the urge. He didn't like something about this, it didn't quite fit.

"Sirzechs-sama…" Yuuto Kiba approached him, limping and dragging his blade across the floor "I'm so sorry. This is…"

Sirzechs placed a hand on the blond's shoulder, giving him a strained smile that he hoped conveyed enough warmth for the boy.

"It's okay. I heeded the call for help. So tell me, what happened?"

"Yes. We were ambushed by a Miracle Child, had to fight him to a standstill to be able to retreat. Diodora-sama tried to send us back to the Underworld but we ended here instead…" The Knight suddenly turned his attention toward Rias' Queen and the other young devil lord.

Diodora Astaroth laid between Akeno's arms, as she shook him with small movements. Getting to answer from the young devil lord as she called out his name.

Sirzechs frowned. He needed to get them all out of there, get them help. He could tell Diodora was just barely hanging in there, alive but only just. So he raised a hand into the air and prepared to cast a teleportation spell to get them all out of there, church and all.

He wanted to have a word with this girl too. No reason to leave anything behind now that he had interrupted in this way.

A boy fell from the sky, hero landing on the center of the church covered in red armor.

Sirzechs recognized it, but couldn't help feeling awe all the same as the armor disappeared and a huge sword appeared on the boy's hand instead.

The Red Dragon Emperor, and with a sub-species Boosted Gear to boot.

Only Yuuto's reaction made Sirzechs shrug off the strange feeling. Almost like blowing steam of his face that prevented him from seeing right.

"It's him, isn't it?" Sirzechs' voice became cold. His emotions answered, because this guy did have to do with his sister's appearance. He didn't act on them, but he found it harder to ignore the urge to blast the child with a ball of Power of Destruction now that someone worthy of his anger was present.

"Sirzechs Lucifer. Lord Sirzechs Lucifer." The brown haired boy stabbed his blade-Sacred Gear on the ground, placing himself between the girl and the Demon Lord of Lucifer "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am—."

"Today's been a strange day." Sirzechs interrupted, beginning to pace around the church to keep his emotions from leaking too much to the outside. He didn't want to vaporize everyone in this place, after all "Full of work, full of people nagging about this or that… Pretty average, all things considered. And yet…"

He got to Akeno and Diodora's position, and lifted them both with one hand. With the Queen still shaking and having the young devil between her arms.

He saw Diodora open his eyes slightly and glance at him with a lot of effort. Sirzechs nodded.

The Miracle Child hadn't spoken through the pause. A part of Sirzechs wished he would have, it'd have given him a reason to drive the point home more… Forcefully.

He tried to relax. Sirzechs was one of the Four Great Satans. He just couldn't act on impulse any longer, it'd put a spot on everything they had worked to build since their rebellion.

"And yet, when my little sister comes crying and bleeding I can't help wonder where we all went wrong." Sirzechs scoffed, spreading his arms to either side of his body. Forcing the Miracle Child to take all of his surroundings in, to understand what had happened "So I come here, and lo and behold. My sister's servants are close to death, and a child that seems to have no manners shows up to make introductions."

Sirzechs walked back to the Red Dragon Emperor. He didn't hurry, he didn't make long strides or force them to kneel. He simply got to arms' reach of the Red one and stared him down with his cold eyes and a bit of demonic power leaking out.

"So tell me, child, what am I supposed to do now? How can I, in any way or form, be expected not to take this attack personally? Hm?"

The boy stared at the floor involuntarily, caught between Sirzechs' aura and the invisible wall behind him that he himself created. To his credit, he swallowed and sustained Sirzechs' stare the next moment. Summoning enough courage to keep standing his ground now that he was so close to the Demon Lord.

"I didn't mean for Rias to get caught up in the crossfire." The child stated bluntly, seriousness drawing lines on his eyebrows and lips.

Sirzechs had to take a moment to digest the answer.

"No?" He parroted in disbelief.

"Please believe me when I say that it wasn't my intention." The child nodded, perhaps encouraged by not being attacked then and there "Had I known, I'd have been more careful. But as things stand…"

"I see." Sirzechs looked around again, Rias' peerage was still injured. But he gave the kid a moment to realize it by himself. It didn't work, so Sirzechs spoke again "You almost killed my sister's peerage though. Was that, too, an accident?"

"I…"

"To begin with, what do I care about accidents and whatnot? Your power still crossed paths with my sister, you still fought her to the point she had to run away." Sirzechs didn't invade the boy's personal space, he wouldn't fall that low. Still, he spiked his aura slightly more. Just as little Sirzechs could.

It still made the Miracle Child start sweating drops of blood. Small enough to not be evident or hurt, but clearly enough that it startled him when he realized that he was bleeding. Not knowing from where, so checking everywhere for injuries.

The boy growled.

"Stop. Right now." His voice carried enough venom that Sirzechs wondered if he was doing some kind of magic, but couldn't tell due to his aura of Power of Destruction obstructing any kind of interference passively "I promised myself that I wouldn't be pushed around anymore. Not by my family, not by anyone. Not even if it's a Demon Lord or a God."

The boy took a step forward, his skin bristling as he took more of Sirzechs' aura straight on. His eyes started bleeding, and his nose ruptured inside for the same result.

"Back out. This all makes perfect sense. Let me explain, or I will have to retaliate."

Sirzechs' aura ceased. It surprised the Miracle Child, actually making him take the step back once he realized the oppressive force had ceased.

Another magic circle appeared behind Sirzechs, letting Grayfia enter the human world as she took everything with a stoic face.

"Grayfia." Sirzechs pondered his option, actively trying to remind himself that this wasn't over until everyone got back home safely "Take the kids home, see that they're healed. I'll deal with this."

"Your will be done." Grayfia bowed before using her demonic power to drag the reincarnated devils toward her.

The girl behind this Miracle Child tried to attack, but Sirzechs motioned with his hand and turned her holy power into nothing. Leaving her as startled as before and redirecting the attention toward himself.

"Sirzechs…" The brown haired boy started.

Sirzechs shook his head.

"There should be consequences to everything." The crimson-haired Demon Lord stated. It made the Miracle Child grit his teeth.

"Even for mistakes?"

"Especially for mistakes. How else would we learn from them?"

The girl behind the Red one surged, spreading her wings.

Grayfia snapped her fingers and pillars of ice erupted from the ceiling and floor and crossed themselves around her, encasing her limbs in solid ice as she yelped in agony due to being flash-frozen like that.

The Red Dragon Emperor made a noise, looking at his cousin, before rearing back and taking his sword-Sacred Gear from the floor.

"I don't want to do this!" His voice felt like a warning, but at this point Sirzechs had already made up his mind.

"That's what you should've thought before all of this." He raised a hand, and demonic power cracked between his fingers. More a display of power than anything else.

"Tch. Damnit it, Sirzechs!" The Miracle Child slammed the sword back into the ground, entering Balance Breaker and spreading his wings while releasing a massive chunk of holy energy. Boosting himself all the while, whereas Sirzechs simply took it all without moving a finger "So be it! Let us all lose here! I'll take the blame with you if it means you'll understand!"

A light of holy power erupted from the sky, opening a hole into the church and coloring the red armor's jewels with a pure-white light. Which shone so bright that Sirzechs had to blink a couple of times to see the child properly again. He could feel how the holy energy intertwined with the draconic one, and tied it all up in a kind of bondage that connected host, Sacred Gear, and Heaven.

The boy now hovered in the air, radiance changing colors as he reached out toward the sky with both hands.

"I, who is about to awaken…"

Crimson-red energy burst forth like a dam being released, making Sirzechs check if his wife had already left with the kids or if he'd have to protect her magic circle.

"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God."

The armor grew at an alarming rate, spreading bone-like wings that still looked mechanical all the same, showing more emerald orbs that turned into the same radiant colors that the rest of the jewelry had adopted.

"I laugh at the "infinite", and I fret over the "dream"."

Sirzechs sighed, feeling incredibly out of place looking at this painful transformation, hearing the boy's voice change and twist into something monstrous. Something more resembling to the original Welsh Dragon.

"I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination."

In retrospect, what did he expect? People with power would always choose to use it instead of talking. It's why the original Satans had been so bad at negotiations, why even Sirzechs struggled for the longest time in his new position once peace had been achieved.

"And I shall sink you to the depths of the crimson purgatory!"

Sirzechs eyed the other Miracle Child, seeing Grayfia's magic crack under the draconic power being released in waves. The girl had shaken herself free and now used a holy light shield to stave off the worst of the surge of energy. Covering her face by making an 'X' with her arms, only one eye open due to the painfully bright light being released.

Sirzechs straightened his back.

"Juggernaut Drive!"

"Maybe I went too far." Sirzechs murmured once the giant Balance Breaker armor opened its maw to bite down at him, boosting its power from the first instant the transformation completed "You are still a kid, after all."

Sirzechs put up his palm and pressed. Not physically, not spiritually. But in a way only he could understand.

A wave of Power of Destruction pulsed through the Juggernaut Drive, like an echo that existed only for an instant. Only to check on whether it was traversing solid matter or not.

The armor cracked. Huge amounts of blood and power spilled out as the body-sized fragments broke down and lost the cohesion that the boy's power gave them. Disconnected from the source, they turned to fairy-like dust as they slowly descended. Like feathers sinking in the air, weightless but for the power they still carried but lost within seconds.

The Miracle Child fell to the ground, lacerations all over the place but very much alive. Sirzechs stared him down as he laid in a pool of his own blood, head against the floor and limbs sprawled uselessly. Very much out cold.

The Demon Lord sighed. It still didn't make him feel any better.

"Now then." Sirzechs took another step forward, starting the girl that fell back to the ground on her rear, her back against the farthest wall once the Red Dragon Emperor's lost strength erupted like a localized natural disaster "I believe I'll need someone to help me make sense of all of this."

Another pillar of light landed on the ground, right behind Sirzechs. It actually released a strong presence this time, or at least of a different kind from the Red Dragon Emperor. He had to turn around and give the girl his back again, but at this point she had already lost all the fighting spirit she had.

Golden locks and pure-white wings greeted him. A stern expression on the angel's face while she took everything in.

The church was gone. The surroundings were too. Whatever had surrounded this place, had hid it from prying eyes, had ceased to exist with Sirzechs' last attack. Nothing was left for the Juggernaut Drive's detonation to destroy besides whatever had been salvaged by the girl's defenses. Which Sirzechs had mentally commanded to be left alone.

"Gabriel." Sirzechs stated, a bit glad that someone with any form of authority had finally showed up.

"My boy!" The angel flowed, for a lack of a better word, forward and cradled the brown haired boy between her arms. Heedless of Sirzechs, heedless of the destruction or lack thereof, heedless of the blood that she smeared all over her pure-white robes "What did they do to you?! Why are you so injured?! Mommy's here, don't worry!"

The disappointment in the Demon Lord of Lucifer's face could only be compared to how out of character this warrior-maiden from Heaven was behaving. How utterly baffling it'd be for anyone that crossed paths with this Archangel to see her behaving like this. Sirzechs had to hold back his reaction, swallow down the bitting comment he had in store. Messing around with the kids was one thing, but at this point he'd have to bring his A game if he wanted this to stay… Small-scale.

A whistle interrupted his thoughts, thankfully, and Sirzechs turned around to find Azazel landing on the ground alongside a fallen angel that looked like a knock off vampire wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses.

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that." The fallen angel with sunglasses looked way too pleased with himself, slurping from a straw to drink a cocktail that Sirzechs hadn't realized he had.

"Kokabiel, please don't make this any more difficult." Azazel didn't sound very concerned, but he still gave his companion a pointed look before greeting Sirzechs with open arms "Sirzechs! My man, it's been way too long. I believe since… Sodoma 2?"

Sirzechs chuckled.

"Something like that." At least personally. Messages were another thing entirely, but he didn't need to say it out loud in front of Kokabiel "What brings you here?"

"Oh, Bel got a hint that the Red Dragon Emperor was doing something stupid. She was super excited to find her rival, but something told me that getting her to rush this way without any backup or warning would be terrible." Azazel looked back to the girl, then to the boy and to Gabriel "Hey, sis! Are you still into opera and stuff?"

Gabriel glared daggers at the Governor General, but didn't attack nor did she use her angelic voice to make her point. It helped Sirzechs to start thinking of this mess as official business.

He sighed again.

"Shall we take this to somewhere more… Private?" He offered, and saw Kokabiel frown in displeasure.

He made a mental note of that, but kept an affable expression all the same.

Time to get back to work.