Edited by: Priapus, UwU, Marethyu

After Rias' match with Sai, we were given a small break, seeing that the fantastic show of Sairaorg vs Ichiban was a bit more explosive than expected, even considering the open arena they got.

I think it's because they damaged the dimension during their fight, so they're taking some time to fix it, which does make sense. Ten minutes to fix a whole dimension, even that tiny, is pretty impressive. It's not even like they have a power that's purely designed to create dimensions, like my dungeon skill.

Despite the feeling of being edged, a twenty-minute intermission between Rias' match and ours isn't all that bad. It's just enough time to build up the anticipation for our own game since I don't plan to finish off Diodora instantly.

I have to wonder what the Old Satans would do if I knocked him out before he got a chance to use the snake's power.

This break gives me a chance to explore. I found a small cafe earlier this morning, and they have things I never thought existed. Tea made from the leaves of trees found in Elysium? I'd be insane not to try that.

Speaking of Elysium and drinks…

"Sorry, a bit unrelated, but I have a question," I tell Sona after sipping from my tea. It tastes like caramel, mango, cherry, and coffee. It's an odd mix, but I like it. "Does ambrosia exist? And I'm not talking about the dessert. The actual thing. Food of the gods."

"It does." Sona nods, holding a cup of regular black coffee. Boring. "And it's no different than what it does in the stories."

"So it can turn you immortal," I mutter. Interesting. "How does that work?"

"Well, it's not true immortality. It only makes you stop aging once you reach your prime and de-age you back if you're past it. It heals all wounds and grants immunity to natural diseases as well, though I'm not quite sure about that." She explains. "You can still die, however, and it doesn't make you any stronger than you already are."

"Being unable to age is still pretty cool," I point out. "So, how can I get my hands on it?"

"Unless you somehow become part of the Greek pantheon, you can't." Sona immediately shoots down my hopes. "Both Lord Zeus and Lord Hades aren't willing to sell or gift it to anyone besides other highly trusted gods, with a contract saying not to give it to a mortal under any circumstance unless they were given permission."

"Because gods are naturally ageless?" I guess.

"Correct. Meaning it doesn't affect them." She confirms. "To them, Ambrosia is a glorified fruit punch. To anyone else? A treasure to die for."

"Hmm…" I don't hide my disappointment with that hum. "And how does one become part of that pantheon?"

"As far as I'm aware, marrying into it is your only chance." Sona shrugs. "Though, from what I've heard of them, not even Ambrosia is worth the trouble."

No doubt about that. I'm not marrying into their fucked up family of petty losers and gross perverts for something I can steal anyway. Or replicate. I'm not even twenty years old yet— I can figure out a way to achieve immortality in a few years if I really want to.

But for now, it's not a priority. Maybe once I feel comfortable pouring all my resources into it as a single project. Right now, I have too much on my plate to worry about something like type 1 immortality.

"I'm going to make a wild guess and say it's Zeus?"

Sona grimaces.

"Thought as much."

"Don't get it twisted; he's nowhere near as bad as the stories say he is. He's just… so childish for a chief god. Annoyingly entitled." Sona sighs. "But the whole thing with him being an unrepentant rapist? That was Lord Loki playing a prank on him by changing every record about the Greek pantheon without anyone noticing."

"Seriously?!" I laugh. "No way that's true!"

"The incident nearly caused a war to break out." She adds with an amused smile. "Though it happened hundreds of years ago, I'm unsure if any of what I said is accurate. It's what Serafall told me."

Damn, a whole war? I mean, I get it. I'd be royally pissed, too, if someone ruined my reputation like that. But a war, huh? I wonder…

"Who do you think would win in a war between the Norse and Greek?" I ask.

"Hmm… It's hard to tell." Sona hums thoughtfully. "Both have tools that can counter each other relatively well, but if I were to guess… I believe the Norse pantheon would barely be able to win, but that mostly depends on Thor keeping Hades distracted."

"Why not Odin?" I raise a brow. "Isn't Hades one of the most powerful beings in the universe? I'd imagine the All-Father himself would do better."

"Thor is stronger than Lord Odin." Sona corrects me. "Much stronger. He's the only one who could match Hades head-on."

Interesting. So, not counting the strongest in each pantheon, Sona implies that the Norse pantheon edges out by a fraction. This is good information to keep in mind. Obviously, She could be wrong, but she's still much more informed than most, so I'll take her word for it.

But for Thor to be stronger than Odin and equal to Hades… How strong is he?

"We should start moving," Sona says after checking the time on her watch. "Our match is about to begin. Speaking of, what's the plan? Any suggestions?"

"Same as always," I say. "I'll knock him out as soon as the match starts."

"Akane…" She frowns.

"I'm kidding." I roll my eyes. "Obviously, I won't do that, but I'm going to force him to use that weird power immediately. That way, he doesn't get to save it."

"Alright." She nods. "Though, please be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Aw, Sona~" I link our arms together and lean on her. "I didn't know you were worried about me so much."

"Stop that." She says with a blush, not stopping me. "I just don't want to see you get hurt the way Seekvaria was. Humans aren't as resilient as devils."

"Oh, come on, I'm not that fragile."

If only she knew what was about to happen. I almost feel bad, but really, it's ultimately a good thing, isn't it? And it's not like I'm going to let harm come to her or any of my friends here. Plus, they can take care of themselves just fine.

I imagine this whole invasion won't even take that long. We have so many heavy hitters here that it's not fair. Besides the four satans, there's still Sairaorg, Ichi, Akiyama, and even my mother. They might need to have Ophis on their side to stand a proper chance.

I'm waiting to eat those words because she might actually fucking show up, but it's okay. I don't care if she does or not. As long as I get to use Devour on at least one person who doesn't die by being glared at too hard, I'll be satisfied.

Maybe my first target should be Diodora himself. This 'Charm' clan trait might come in real handy.

– Diodora –

Watching the enemy team on the opposite side of the Coliseum, he frowned, spotting the human girl now sporting the strange mechanical armor that had been following her around. Her infuriating smirk never left her face despite the crowd's vocally less-than-favorable opinion of her. In fact, her reaction to being booed was to give the middle finger to the crowd, showing zero respect to anyone.

Ever since he'd seen the girl, she had been smugly grinning like she was better than everyone around her. It was aggravating. The way she acted pissed him off, even though he wouldn't show it. She was always ending her match as quickly as she could, seemingly ignoring Sitri's orders and doing whatever she wanted.

Who did she think she was? Looking down on them like that. Just because she was the daughter of a yakuza didn't mean anything. She was still a human— the lowest lifeform in existence. Her being powerful and lucky meant nothing.

Which is why he found it very odd that she was apparently a person of interest to the Old Satans. What could they want from an uninteresting human like her? Perhaps she was to be used as leverage against the Tojo Clan? That was the only reason he could think of.

If so, were the Tojo Clan really that dangerous? He knew they had some of the most powerful humans in history, like Taiga Saejima, but surely they couldn't pose a threat to someone like the son of Lucifer, right?

Well, whatever it was, Diodora didn't care. He'd simply do his job and signal for the attack. Using the snake to put the bitch in her place sounded tempting, though. After all, they said they needed her alive, not unharmed. So perhaps he could thrash her around and not get in trouble for it.

She could be as strong as she wanted to, wear whatever armor she wanted— she stood no chance against him with Ophis' blessing. He would do the audience a favor by breaking her cute little robot armor and her spirit.

And when that was done, it'd be pretty easy to slip by the enemy in the chaos and get to the blond nun. He couldn't get her in Italy the first time because of the Grigori beating him to it, but this time, nobody would stop him. Considering her Twilight Healing, she'd be an excellent addition to his collection.

As the two teams were teleported into the newly fixed arena — at the top of a tower in a dark medieval fortress from what he could tell — Diodora quickly ordered his dolls to scatter, attempting to surround Sitri's team and overwhelm them. He knew that wouldn't work— his peerage was nowhere strong enough to do that, but he couldn't act too suspicious now.

Unfortunately, though, as soon as they moved, all of them were suddenly turned into ice statues by a wave of frost magic. All of them except Diodora himself, who flinched at the surprising display of power, spotting Akane Amamiya on the opposite side of the tower.

"All of Diodora Astaroth's peerage has been eliminated."

Shit. He grimaced.

"Yo." She greeted with her infuriating smirk. At his surprised look, she rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can't say you didn't expect me to do the exact same thing I did in my last two matches."

"C-considering how annoyed the audience seems to be with you," Diodora cleared his throat and took a step back. "I expected you'd want to give them at least a show to make up for it."

"Please, they can cry and complain all they want." She snorted. "I didn't come here to play around. I came here to win. And winning is what I'm good at."

So arrogant. Diodora seethed inwardly. She needs to be taught a lesson.

Which he'd be happy to deliver if not for the fact that he was beginning to realize what kind of monster he was up against. Seeing her win those matches with ease was one thing, but now that she wasn't hiding her energy anymore, what he sensed was another story entirely.

Why did her magic feel so heavy? The attack that had wiped out his entire peerage felt like something from a Satan-class combatant. No wonder she'd effortlessly won all her matches. This was absurd.

"Besides, everyone knows it's the finals that really matters." She added. "The other matches are like the appetizers before the main course."

I'm an appetizer to her? Diodora's eye twitched. The nerve of this human.

"Agree to disagree." Diodora struggled to keep being polite, fists behind him clenching. "So, why haven't you decided to freeze me with my peerage? Or is this all you wanted to say to me?"

"Don't play coy with me. It makes you look an idiot." She continued with her insults. "Use that little power-up you nearly killed Seekvaria with."

"What power up?" He tilted his head, feigning confusion. "I'm afraid I—"

Diodora couldn't even finish that sentence before Akane vanished and reappeared before him, mere inches away. He flinched and expected to be knocked out right there, but instead, she whispered very quietly in his ears.

"Ophis' blessing. Use it." She said, making his eyes widen in shock. Her following sentence made his blood run cold. "Go on. Call your friends here already."

He'd caught the grin on her face before he did just that, but unlike before, where it had been playful and cocky, this time, it was knowing and sinister. Diodora had no time to question how or why, and so he did as he was told, feeling the snake's energy coursing through his veins.

The explosive energy of the ouroboros dragon pushed her off him, no doubt surprising the human girl as pure power crackled and sparked around Diodora. The dark mark of infinity shimmered on the back of his hand as snake-like markings covered his face.

The signal had been given, now the course of the invasion was out of his hands. His ties to the New Satans were practically over anyway, so while waiting for his allies to make their appearance he might as well do whatever he could to teach the bitch in front of him a proper lesson in respecting her betters.

And with an endless pool of magic to draw power from, this should be easy.

"I've suffered your insolence long enough, human." He growled, dropping his gentlemanly persona. "I'll show you what happens when you—"

He couldn't even get that sentence out before Akane smashed her armored fist into his face, launching him off the tower. The surprise attack was much more painful than he had expected, preventing him from countering in time as the human girl slammed him with a massive ice hammer, sending him to the ground.

Diodora gasped, blood seeping from his mouth and head. As he tried to make it out of the crater he was in, he glared at the smirking Akane in the sky with a mixture of anger, shock, and genuine fear. He had no idea what was happening— how could she even do that?

"Surprised?" She asked, floating down toward him.

"H-how…?" He growled. "How are you so—"

"Strong? Because I'm just better than you in every way imaginable." She said, still maintaining her arrogance. "I mean, come on, take your head out of your ass for a minute and look at yourself! You're at the bottom rung of high class, and your peerage is so weak they can probably be killed with normal guns. Honestly, it makes me almost feel bad for you."

Diodora clicked his tongue and tried to use his clan trait to hypnotize his enemy by making eye contact, but to no avail, as Akane simply chuckled, opened the palm of her right hand, and released a plasma shot at his face. The Astaroth devil held his broken and burnt nose in pain before quickly releasing a powerful omnidirectional demonic blast, which she evaded by backing off.

This gave him just enough time to get back on his feet, gathering more of his energy before charging at Akane with a snarl. With unlimited energy, there was no worry about running out of mana or getting tired, meaning there was no reason to hold anything back.

He went on the offensive, throwing demonic blasts constantly and everywhere as he tried to catch up to the human girl, who laughed and effortlessly danced around his attacks, not getting hit even once.

The reckless usage of this power meant that the entire fortress was annihilated in seconds, as explosive, demonic energy scattered all around the pocket dimension, but not like it mattered. If anything, it meant that he might've hit one of Sitri's peerage members, which was good enough for him.

What wasn't good enough, however, was the fact that he couldn't land a single attack. Every blast and wave was either swiftly evaded or blocked with her ice. Seeing this angered Diodora— how was she able to do this? How could a human like her be so powerful?!

"Stop dodging, you coward!" He roared as she avoided another punch, backing off slightly.

Akane's smirk widened, showing that she was enjoying this very much.

"Okay~" She complied, crossing her arms.

Ticked off by her not taking him seriously, Diodora launched another full-power blast, and to his shock, instead of dodging, she simply smacked it away with her arm without any struggle, showing the massive difference in power.

"See? I'm just better." She reiterated, her one visible eye shining with a dangerous glint. "But if that wasn't enough to convince you…"

Like before, Akane opened her palm, and this time, Diodora was shot with a much larger beam that almost fried him whole as it sent him crashing into and through a few walls. He eventually got back on his feet as he reached the edge of the dimension, growling at the human girl who approached him slowly.

But then Akane paused, raising a brow at him.

"You… You human bitch!" He screamed, not giving her a chance to speak. "I swear to Lucifer I will—"

"Diodora."

He froze at the familiar voice, turning around to see Shalba Beelzebub looking down at him with a judging expression. With his superior present, nearly all the rage he had felt toward the human girl was replaced by anxiety and dread.

Why was he here? And alone? According to him, Shalba would initially head directly towards Ajuka, defeat him, and reclaim the title of Beelzebub. The yakuza girl couldn't be so important as to change their entire plan, right?

"L-Lord Beelzebub, sir." He said. "You're here. Then that means that the attack—"

"We are currently invading Lucifaad, yes." He confirmed, glancing at the human girl. "So that's her, hmm?"

"Yes, but I assure you I can defeat her myself." He promised. "If you'd let me just—"

"What? Why would you need to do that?" Shalba cocked an eyebrow. "You already did your job. Getting the girl was never one of your orders."

"A-ah…" Diodora composed himself. "Right, of course."

"Your display in battle was rather pathetic, however." He added, making Diodora flinch. "I'd understand if you couldn't defeat her in your normal state, but to be so thoroughly beaten even with Ophis' snake?"

"I-I…"

"I don't want to hear excuses. They only make you look worse." Shalba cut him off. "Leave. I'll handle this."

As he said this, a dark portal next to Diodora made him swallow dryly.

"Yes, sir."

With that, Diodora glared at the human girl one last time, going through the portal and ending up in the middle of Luucifad. True to Shalba's words, the city was under attack by thousands of Old Satan devils as well as…

Robots? Of a kind he had never seen before, holding energy guns that held considerable power as they tore through even High-class devils' defenses. From where had they acquired such technology? Was it from the same people who'd supplied them with those energy-masking chips?

Watching as the other tournament participants, winners, and losers, protected and evacuated the civilians, he'd decided to lay low and look for the blond nun, deactivating the snake's power.

He wasn't sure if everyone was aware of his affiliation with the Old Satans yet, but he'd rather be safe than sorry.

– Akane –

And here it is—at last, no more edging. A little sad that Diodora got away before I devoured his soul, but oh well. He was nothing at the end of the day, and I doubt Devour would count his funny little power-up since it's not even his in the first place.

I'll admit, though, I did surprise myself with how easily I beat his ass. I expected something of a challenge, but he was just so weak. He got a blessing from Ophis, and he still couldn't even reliably land a hit.

Granted, the boost in power was pretty impressive in a vacuum. Besides the big increase in stats, I checked with Observe and noticed that it also gave him infinite MP, which was huge. Had he faced Sona, he might've given her a little trouble, but me? Well, I had better magic, Touki, and mecha armor that practically nullified everything he tried to do. I had too many advantages for him to pose a threat.

He couldn't utilize that infinite MP because his output was meager compared to mine, like comparing a small glass to an ocean. I was toying with him the entire time, and even considering my low durability, my armor could tank anything he threw at me.

He never stood a chance.

This other dude, though…

He's trouble.

"What's going on?" Sona asks, getting next to me as we stare at Shalba. "Where's Diodora—"

She freezes as she sees the Beelzebub descendant, her face going pale. It's evident that she knows who this dude is, but why wouldn't she? He's one of the Old Satans, after all. Still, I'm the uneducated person in this scenario, so…

"What is he doing here?!" She quickly gets into combat position as the rest of her peerage does the same.

"You know him?" I ask.

"He's a prominent member of the Old Satans." She answers something I already know. "Shalba Beelzebub."

Name: Shalba Beelzebub

Title: Fifth King of Flies

HP - 500,000

MP - 640,000

SP - 200,000

Race - Pure-blooded Devil

LVL - 621

STR - 4402

END - 4221

DEX - 3245

INT - 2530

WIS - 2120

CHA - 1940

LUK - 100

Much weaker than Kokabiel but more than twice as strong as Ophis-empowered Diodora. I only have him beat in the mental stats, charisma, and luck. All his physical stats are higher than mine, but that's about it, so it still doesn't change the fact that beating him, even by myself, is very doable.

"What is he doing here?" Sona wonders out loud as he walks toward us slowly. "What did he do to Diodora?"

"He opened up a portal for him," I answer. "Heard them talking about an invasion?"

"An invasion?!" Sona exclaims in horror. "That can't be! In the middle of the festival?!"

"Implies that Diodora was in on it, but we'll talk about this later," I respond calmly. "Focus on the enemy. We'll take him out and get our answers from him."

Because I'm really questioning how we've not been pulled out of the dimension yet, but I'm going to make a wild guess that it's that guy's doing. How? I don't know. I didn't even know you could hijack dimensions like this.

Whatever he and his group did made it so nobody could interfere, but I imagine this won't last forever. After all, Ajuka is present, and everyone keeps telling me that he is the most intelligent magician of the current age. I think they know that, too.

So if he wants to kidnap me, he's going to have to do it quickly. Unfortunately for him, I won't make it easy.

As I conjure up an ice sword in my hand, I stare down Shalba, who stops once he is within close enough distance. But instead of immediately attacking, he speaks first, mainly referring to me.

"Akane Amamiya." He starts. "Put your weapons down and come with me, and I promise I will bring you no harm. An ally of mine wishes to speak to you."

"Eh?" Sona blinks in confusion.

"Oh really?" I scoff, remaining cool and collected. "Is that why you're invading Luucifad?"

"My request to you is in no way related to that," Shalba responds. "You attending this tournament came as a surprise to us as well."

"How is she in any way important to the Old Satans?" Sona asks, getting in front of me. "She's a human."

Aw, look at her trying to defend me. Cute.

"Important to us? You misunderstand me. Personally, I see no worth in her." He shakes his head. Damn, okay. "As I said, my ally is interested in her, you see."

Pretty much confirms my suspicions. They are working with the Amon clan. Humans who want me specifically? They're the only faction I can think of. However, it does make me curious about one thing. Last night, didn't he say that Rizevim would be interested in my participation?

Could he be lying here, or is there something I'm missing?

"And this 'ally' of yours couldn't show up themselves why?" I ask, feigning ignorance. "Bit rude to ask someone from a different faction to be a messenger, yes?"

"What a coincidence. I thought the same." He says with a smile. "Alas, orders are orders, and I'm loyal to the true descendant of Lucifer."

So Rizevim wants me so he can give me to the Amon? That's the logical conclusion, but the way he's phrasing his answers, plus what he said last night, feels like the son of Lucifer himself wants something from me.

"If you come quietly, and if they do not put up a fight, I promise I'll send your friends back to their homes unharmed," Shalba adds. "After all, I do not wish to hurt my own kind."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to drag you by force." He shrugs, taking a step forward.

"Oh yeah?" I smirk. "Try me~"

As Sona, me, and the rest of the girls prepare for battle, Shalba narrows his eyes as what looks like black smoke begins to form all over the dimension. I'm confused for a little while, and this confusion continues until this 'smoke' heads toward us.

Only then do I realize it's not smoke but swarms of millions and millions of gross insects, making me flinch and quickly cast a dome of ice around us before shuddering in disgust. You must be kidding me…

"Ew ew ew!" Ruruko shares that disgust with me. "I think I saw a cockroach there!"

Oh, hell no. He's the king of Flies. Of course, Beelzebubs have control over bugs. I completely forgot about that.

"Please say you're joking." I almost beg her. "Oh, god, of all things, this gotta be the worst fucking clan trait."

Seriously, why can't it be spiders or something? At least those are somewhat cute in some bizarre way. No, instead, I'm dealing with the most disgusting and unsanitary lifeforms in this entire universe. And mosquitos. I hate them, too.

The only good bug is a dead one.

…But also bumble bees and silk moths. Those are kind of cute.

"Agreed." Tsubaki nods. "I'd rather fight Sirzechs-sama with my arms tied behind my back than deal with this."

"Seriously?!" Sona looks at us in shock and exasperation. "We're being invaded, and THAT is what worries you most?!"

Before any of the other girls could quip, hundreds of insects dig up from beneath us, causing me to freeze the ground solid immediately. I don't know how dangerous this power of his truly is, but if he's creating these bugs, then they're no joke.

"Girls, get close to me," I order, and everyone obeys.

With one touch, I cast thick ice armor around every one of them, leaving no crevice exposed. At the same time, I create over a hundred ice troops wielding an ice flamethrower. A frostthrower one could say.

"Focus on fire magic and cover us," Sona says. "Beelzebub bugs may be constructs similar to golems, but they're still weak to fire. Akane and I will take care of Shalba."

"Yes, ma'am!" The girls respond.

"If your armor starts breaking apart, touch one of my ice soldiers," I add. "They'll turn into new armor for you to wear."

As I see some of the bugs breaking through the dome and frozen ground, I put on my mechanical helmet, then clench my fist, making the ice dome above us explode and freeze everything outside. Then, alongside Sona, we rush Shalba, who doesn't seem surprised at our resistance.

Since we're a little wary of him, we keep our distance, bombarding him with ice and water spells as he tries to overwhelm us with his disgusting bug magic. These pests try to dig through my armor, but the barriers I installed occasionally release a pulse of magic that pushes them away, making it impossible for them to do any lasting damage.

Whenever the bugs chew deep enough into Sona's ice armor, I simply pat her on the back and recast the spell, repairing said armor instantly. It seems that he's using his insects as a damage-over-time type of deal. There is no doubt that without any armor, we would've gotten consumed or poisoned damn near instantly.

But with our defensive capabilities, we perfectly counter the bastard's awful clan trait.

Honestly, his very existence, and by extension, the Beelzebubs', is an affront to everything good and holy in this godforsaken universe. How could anyone allow something like that to exist and thrive?

Personally, had I been Lucifer, I would've wiped them out and started over. Maybe give them Arachnid control instead. This reminds me to ask him what the fuck he was thinking when he made that shit trait.

As our battle takes to the skies, it becomes clear that while Shalba is stronger than either of us individually, our combined might make it hard for him to actually do any damage. Granted, we're also having trouble landing any hits as he's more agile, so it's a stalemate.

But if it's speed that I need, then I can simply use Touki for a split-second and catch him off-guard. I need to get close enough for this to work. Otherwise, he'd see it coming. The problem is that he's keeping his distance and trying to outlast us.

Unfortunately for him, I have one more trick up my sleeve.

I cast more and more ice spells and plasma blasts from the palms of my armor's gauntlets, overwhelming his bugs through explosive projectiles that take out hundreds of thousands of them. Bombs, missiles— you name it. Regular ice spells won't do, so focusing on AOE should do for now.

I continue looking for an opening, sharpening my focus while trying to keep the bugs off me. Thankfully, catching on to what I'm trying to do, Sona responds to my need by casting a colossal water dragon that consumes and destroys all the bugs in its path, forcing Shalba to move out of the way.

I smirk, take out my mother's holy revolver, and pull out the trigger. The tiny silver bullets that are loaded in it utterly tear through all of Shalba's defenses, shocking him greatly. Out of the four bullets, only one of them hit their target in the thigh, making him cry out in pain and giving me ample opportunity to use Touki.

I get close enough and slash him across the chest with an ice sword, but he quickly regains his composure and doesn't let me land another hit, grabbing my arm and releasing a regular demonic blast at my stomach.

Thankfully, the armor does protect me from most of the damage, and this distracts him enough for Sona to strike him from behind using sharp knives made of water. Shalba responds by spinning around and kicking her, throwing her to the ground and cracking her ice armor.

As he tries to order his bugs to attack Sona, it's my turn to attack him, kicking him in the head in an attempt to throw him off balance, which works to my advantage, seeing that his magic requires constant concentration.

He grunts as all the bugs in the dimension stop for a moment, helping Sona get out of the way and avoid being eaten to death by insects. Shalba growls and tries to punch me, and with the difference in speed, it's much harder to avoid.

So, instead, I let him hit me in the chest before I hold onto his arm, freezing it completely. He tries to destroy the ice with his demonic energy, but because of how strong it is, it takes him considerably longer than he expects, making him wide open for me to wail on.

But he's not entirely defenseless as he manages to respond pretty well considering his current situation, countering with his own punches, kicks, and demonic blasts, and I can tell that, without my armor, they would've hurt a lot.

So much so that my armor has been warning me about its energy levels. From 92% to below 20% merely by being hit a few times? It may not be my most incredible creation, but it's still powerful in its own right.

Instead of blocking, I barely evade one of his punches by weaving after activating Touki for one second. I counter with a solid hook to his side and follow up with a shot of plasma from the palm of my hand, making him grunt and gasp in pain.

To my surprise, even with how painful it was to get your side practically burned off like that, he immediately answers to that with his own hook. A strike so powerful that it goes through the kinetic absorption of the armor and the energy barrier as the visor of my helmet actually cracks, making the energy levels go from 20% to 10% in one hit.

He follows up with a demonic blast, but fortunately, two of my perks activate. One makes everything slow down, while the other shows me a white thread leading to a critical hit. I smirk regardless of the damage I suffered and once again activate Touki.

As he aims his blast at me, I smack his arm away right before he shoots, then conjure up a sword that I plunge deep into his chest, successfully dealing immense damage as he gasps and cries out in pain.

Before I back off for a breather, I freeze both of his legs into the ground and fly away, watching another water dragon three times the size of the previous one hit him directly, followed by several other spells from the rest of Sona's peerage.

I help them out by using most of my MP for a barrage of ice spears, showering the devil with hundreds of spells. All the while, I keep his status page open, eyes widening as I see his stats suddenly increasing at an alarming rate, not unlike Diodora's power-up.

I knew it. He had a snake, too.

Once again, the perk that slows down time activates again as an enhanced demonic blast comes toward me, but I'm too slow to avoid that even with the perk's help, so I use whatever MP I have to cast several shields in front of me.

But the attack tears through them like wet tissues, hitting me square in the chest and sending me to the other side of the pocket dimension. Thankfully, it doesn't fully penetrate the armor and kill me. Unfortunately, it still hits me directly, and it fucking HURTS.

I choke in pain, holding my chest as I fall to the ground, grunting and groaning in pure agony at what feels like getting hit by a flaming battering ram. I struggle to breathe for a few moments before gasping, getting my breathing under control.

"Fuck…" I curse, taking a look at my HP. Half of it is gone. "Shit. Okay, focus…"

I use my only other ki skill and convert some of my stamina to health after taking a deep breath.

Last time I ever felt anything this painful was when I pulled Excelsis. Fuck me…

"Had enough?" Shalba asks, landing in front of me.

I flinch and get back up, growling at him. His stats tell me that I don't stand a chance against him, and neither does everyone else, as the massive wall of bug swarms blocks them off. I can hear and sense them doing their best with their spells to break me out, but with him amped like this…

"You've fought very well. You've surprised me, in fact. But you stand no chance against me when I'm like this." He says. "I'll give you one more chance. Come quietly, and I will not hurt you."

That fear in the back of my mind finally starts acting up, making me put my back against the invisible wall of the dimension. I don't know what to do— my armor is out of power and damaged, and I barely have any other tricks I haven't already used. I've basically lost the fight.

All because of his stupid little power-up. This is bullshit. We were winning handily without it, but now…

I notice the slight trembling in my hand before quickly clenching it. No, I refuse to bow down out of fear. I promised myself I'd never let this control me or make decisions for me.

"Go fuck yourself, you cockroach fucker." I remain defiant, hiding my revolver behind me.

Shalba sighs, but before he can do anything else, the dimension suddenly shakes, and in the next second, it starts to unravel itself, showing us the coliseum of the real world, giving me hope that we might be out of this.

I just have to slip away, take a few souls, and then gut him in round two.

Once the dimension shatters, I stomp on the ground, cast a huge ice wall with whatever MP has already regenerated, and fly away as fast as I can, but Shalba seemingly knew what I was planning and got in front of me, grabbing me by the arm and clicking on what looks like a detonator button.

I don't get a chance to process what happens before a bright light blinds me, and once I readjust my vision by blinking a few times, I see that we're not in the coliseum or the Rating Game arena, and instead, in some strange dimension with pitch-black skies and pure white floor stretching as far as the eye can see.

I push Shalba off me and get in combat position again, not knowing where we are but understanding that he had 'successfully' kidnapped me. Fuck. Goddamn it.

"I didn't expect them to get through us that quickly." Shalba snorts, smirking at me. "But I'm afraid they're too late."

"What the hell is this place?" I snarl. "Where did you take me?"

"This? A pocket dimension within the gap." He answers, making me freeze. "A creation of our human allies."

"Oh?" Lucifer raises a brow, and honestly? His presence makes me feel a lot better. "Fascinating. To create such a thing is no easy task."

"Marvelous, isn't it?" He says, waving the detonator thing. "Truly, I'm beginning to understand Rizevim's fascination with you lot."

"Bullshit," I call him out. "If this was the dimensional gap, we would've been torn apart."

"Indeed." He agrees. "However, whatever they did, they've somehow managed to stabilize the space in this particular subdimension. Even a fly can exist in this place unharmed. Though, I'm unsure why they told me only to use it when necessary."

As I'm about to ask more, a sudden guttural and earth-shattering howl echoes all around, accompanied by a mind-boggling energy I've never felt before. The very space we're in shakes under that power, nearly tripping me.

"What the hell?!"

"Roar of the Great Dragon of Dreams." He answers. "Hopefully, that's enough to convince you?"

I give Lucifer a quick glance, and he nods.

"That is the Great Red indeed." He confirms before smirking widely. "You're quite lucky, I've noticed."

Lucky?! What the fuck is he talking about?! How am I lucky being here, in a dimension OUTSIDE our fucking universe?! How am I going to escape?! No body would be able to get to me here or break me out! Why would that be…

Wait a minute. Outside the universe, like my dungeons. Which means…

Oh…

Oh.

"And how are we supposed to leave?" I ask, fishing for information. "Are we stuck here forever?"

"Once I press this button, of course." He waves the detonator. "And with that… I shall take my leave. Don't worry; the Amon clan will be here to pick you up."

Shalba presses the button again with a smirk… but nothing happens.

He blinks a few times and presses it again, and again, nothing. Slowly, his face begins to grow paler as he continues pressing the button, prompting me to start laughing loudly. This catches him off guard as he stares at me like I'm a lunatic.

Oh, it's so over for him.

"What's so funny?!" He asks with a scowl.

"You're stuck in here with me, idiot!" I continue laughing. "Holy shit, not even Ichiban is that gullible! Do you trust everyone you meet, you dipshit?!"

"And you think that would end well for you?!" He screams in a mixture of rage and panic as the snake's power explodes. "I'm still more powerful than you are! And with those human vermin breaking their promise… I will break mine as well!"

I can't help but laugh harder at that.

"Enough!" He demands. "Cease your mockery or I swear I will—"

"Oh, you dumbass…" I try to get my breathing under control after that laughing fit. God, my sides hurt. "Didn't you hear me?"

Shalba narrows his eyes as I take off the rest of my armor, leaving myself with the black bodysuit. The armor is too broken to be of any use anyway. It served me well enough, but now? Now it's time for something I've longed to test out.

"Let me say it slowly so you shit-for-brains can understand," I smirk widely, rolling my neck. "I'm not stuck in here with you."

I take Excelsis out of my inventory, immediately exploding with power as the sword engulfs me with dark and demonic mana of the likes Shalba has clearly never seen before. His eyes widen in a mixture of shock and terror as my energy continues soaring by the second.

I take a step forward, grin turning sinister, and point the sheathed blade at him.

"You're stuck in here with me."

– Bonus Scene –

– Euclid –

"Euclid." The leader called out. "Euclid!"

Within the dimly lit research room of the Old Satan's palace, Euclid Lucifuge sighed deeply, feeling the headache coming from a mile away. He didn't know what that man wanted— it hadn't even been that long before he asked him to look for some mythical creature he came up with, and now there wasn't a minute of the day where he wasn't bothered for whatever inane bullshit Rizevim fancied.

It was almost like he was intentionally messing with Euclid, and knowing the guy, that was probably the case. He would've quit his research had Rizevim not sworn by the existence of this mysterious beast. It was NOT worth the trouble or headache.

Euclid was very loyal to Lucifer and, by extension, his son, but by everything unholy, Rizevim was making it insanely hard to stay that way. The man was an absolute genius when it came to it, but he was equally annoying.

"I know you can hear me, young man!"

"No, sir, I still haven't found it." He responded. "Ask again after three hundred years, and I might have a different answer."

"That's not it, though it's sad that you haven't found it yet," Rizevim said, entering the room. "Anyway, have you seen Shalba? I looked for him everywhere, but he disappeared."

Euclid glanced at his leader— far from the full-blooded devil he used to know, for half of his body was now mechanical. The right side of his chest, arm, and eye were all made of dark-colored metal. Although his power hadn't diminished at all, it was rather pitiful to see.

Left in a state so terrible that he couldn't heal after a fierce battle more than a decade ago, he needed help to be rebuilt. Their human allies had created his mechanical body parts, though none of them knew for what reason. The Amon clan was an opportunistic bunch— abandoning the Old Satans was something they all expected to happen.

But it seemed that they still needed them for something. Or rather, Rizevim had somehow charmed them enough for them to save him from certain death. The old coot was still a charismatic one, as insane as he was.

"Did you forget?" Euclid raised a brow. "He said he was going to attack Sirzechs and his band of idiots today."

"Ah, that's right!" Rizevim snapped his fingers. "The gathering festival! Silly me, it had completely slipped my mind!"

Euclid stared silently for a second.

"...He did tell me to relay a message for you." The younger devil added. "The Amamiya girl was apparently participating."

"Was she?!" Rizevim grinned. "What a shame. Had I known, I would've attended the tournament myself, you know?"

Euclid grimaced.

"I don't know if I said it already, but I always found your obsession with the Amamiyas…" He paused, trying to phrase his following sentence politely, then remembered who he was talking to. "Really weird and gross."

"How could I not be obsessed?" His grin widened. "Her father was a great warrior, Euclid. He did this to me, Euclid! Imagine that?! Me, the son of Lucifer himself!"

He pointed at his mechanical part.

"And with that girl being part him, part Amon…" He giggled madly. "I shudder at the thought of the monster she could become. So much potential…"

Creeped out by his obsession with these humans, Euclid tried to change the subject.

"Right, well, that's great and all…" He cleared his throat. "You haven't told me why you're looking for this… beast of apocalypse you keep talking about."

"Ah, that?" Rizevim crossed his arms. "Well, my boy, I suppose I should tell you my true motives."

Now that, Euclid was highly interested in.

"You see, since I was born, I followed my father's example." He started. "His last words to me were to be a creature of chaos. Of malice and evil. To destroy and conquer all who oppose me, for that is why we were made. It is in a devil's very bones. And for a while, I did just that. I killed, violated, destroyed— I became everything my own father was."

The younger devil remained silent but fully understood what his leader was on about. Creatures of evil— that's what devils were. Even though the newest generations were unlike the originals, born with far less evil and chaos, that trait remains dormant and waiting to be awakened.

Lucifer had made them embody everything his father had hated about humanity. Greedy, cruel, violent— evil itself turned into what people now call devils. The bane of all that is good and holy. The enemy of all and the conquerors of the universe.

For someone like Rizevim, a second-generation devil, this trait of evil had always been active, explaining why this man was as insane as he was today. If one were to ask who was the most evil today, Rizevim would always be the first answer.

Naturally, he'd want to use the power of this supposed beast of apocalypse for himself to conquer all realms.

"But then, once upon a time, I thought to myself…" He continued, making Euclid pause. "...Is this who I truly want to be?"

…What?

"This evil, evil man. This terrible destroyer and conqueror!" Rizevim shook his head as tears ran down his one good eye. "Is it truly… who I am?"

"Um—"

"Of course not! I am better than such a selfish, cold-hearted devil!" He proclaimed. "And then an epiphany struck. It made me realize what I truly want to be, and that, my dear Euclid… is a hero."

"A-a hero?"

"Yes." His insane grin returned. "A hero beloved by all. A hero destined to save this world from its inevitable destruction. That is who I'll be."

"A-ah…" Euclid blinked, unsure if he was being serious or if this was one of his jokes. "I see…"

"And you and Shalba shall be my sidekicks." He nodded, looking proud of himself. "We shall save this damned world together."

"Are you being serious right now?" Euclid had to ask. "All this to be a hero?"

"Yes," Rizevim confirmed. "Because you see, my boy…"

Rizevim leaned closer.

"Only I decide when this world gets to be destroyed." He said with a chuckle. "And it will NOT be by the Evies."

Rizevim was an insane as well as an infuriating leader who only ever did whatever he desired that particular day.

But damn if he wasn't a charismatic one.

Check the pa tre on for more chapters. Five more, to be exact. I promise they're peak.