Edited by: Priapus, Marethyu, UWU
– Sirzechs – Minutes before Sitri Vs. Astaroth –
As the match drew near, the anticipation for the battle in the grand coliseum was palpable. The audience, already seated, was eager for the battle to commence. They were expecting Amamiya to bring a swift end to the match, a prospect that, if realized, would undoubtedly be a disappointment.
Sirzechs was acutely aware of the audience's expectations. They were not here for a one-sided beatdown but for a battle of equals, a spectacle of power and strategy. The character dynamics and strategies during the battles were what truly engaged the audience, as they yearned to witness the pinnacle of the new generation's prowess.
Akane, and by extension, Sona's team, simply wanted to win—nothing more and nothing less. And they did win, but in a way that left the viewers highly disgruntled. Ending matches so quickly wasn't common in Rating Game tournaments. Even when the gap in strength was That was the case for the Championship League at least.
But because it wasn't so common, it made the audience cheer… for the first match. No one had expected it— even with her newfound fame as the Killer of the Warhawk, nobody had thought Akane would be so quick to defeat the enemy king in a matter of minutes.
But then the same thing happened in their second match, and the audience quickly grew less fond of Akane's apparent arrogance and lack of respect for her rivals. Sirzechs understood that well, as he did Akane's intent in her attitude. True, her cockiness may not be a front she put on, as she very truly believed herself to be superior to her competitors, but it served another purpose.
Keeping your cards close to your chest was an elementary tactic implemented by nearly every Rating Game player in their society. After all, you didn't want your enemies to read you and counter you when you faced them. Wild cards should only be revealed when you had no other choice.
However, as previously mentioned, Akane did not care about the audience's opinions of her. Instead of prolonging the match for their enjoyment without showing her hand, she'd end it before the enemy team even had a chance to cast a single spell.
It was a brash way of hiding her trump card. A trump card that she had seemingly decided to use against Diodora.
Sirzechs frowned in thought as he saw the two teams enter the coliseum, spotting the yakuza princess in her white mechanical armor. Naturally, despite her appearance, the crowd booed, to which she responded in a vulgar manner that made Sona, who was next to her, sigh tiredly.
Interesting. Sirzechs thought to himself. So she's using it now?
He had seen that suit of armor following her around like a bodyguard, and at first, he'd thought it was a robot made by the yakuza to keep her safe, just in case. He understood why, of course. He'd do the same for Rias if the roles were reserved.
But wouldn't an actual yakuza be better for the job? Perhaps Goro Majima or someone at that level. Sirzechs knew that Akane's mother was a combatant, but as far as he knew, she had gotten much weaker over the years, no? And wasn't Ichiban her personal bodyguard in the first place?
It made him curious enough to ask Daigo about it, who responded by telling him that it wasn't a bodyguard or a mere robot but a suit of armor made by Akane herself. Sirzechs was fascinated— since when had she been capable of building such intricate machinery by herself?
"Hahaha!" Serafall chortled at the display of disrespect. "Ms. Emo is so fun! She seriously couldn't give a crap!"
Ajuka, as usual, remained dead quiet, watching the combatants intently. Grayfia, on the other hand, couldn't hide her disdain, whispering her disapproval.
"Such insolence. From a mere human…"
Sirzechs resisted a sigh. He loved his wife dearly, but sometimes, she could be a little… old-fashioned.
"Showing some sportsmanship would've been admirable," Sirzechs admitted, briefly glancing at the snoring Falbium. Still napping… "A little respect doesn't hurt anyone."
"Wow, what's that armor she's wearing? It's so cool!" His son exclaimed, excited. "I've never seen anything like it before."
Sirzechs couldn't help but smile at the boy, happy that, regardless of how some of the matches went, he was still enjoying himself. Though, with the previous explosive game of Rias vs. Sairaorg, how couldn't he?
In all his years, it was probably one of the best displays he had seen in the Young Devil Gathering. Ironically enough, the star of the game was a human, which he didn't mind. He was a good friend of Rias', and having powerful friends was still an achievement.
And he was very pleased that his sister had won the match.
"Who do you think is winning this one, Zechs?" Sera asked. "My money's on my sister!"
"Certainly. I believe Sona would be victorious, especially with Ms. Amamiya's help." Sirzechs nodded. "Frankly, I almost regret letting Rias invite Ms. Amamiya to the tournament. It feels unfair to the other competitors."
"The fact that a human can enter at all is baffling." Grayfia voiced her disapproval, glaring at her husband. "I would understand letting other underworld denizens enter, but them?"
"We've been over this, my love," Sirzechs said firmly. "Peace is the only path to a brighter future. That includes humans, angels, and everything else."
This mini-argument between them caused their son to tense. Still, the atmosphere was thankfully saved by Serafall, who threw his wife an annoyed glare before continuing with the earlier conversation.
"To be fair, the other competitors should've trained harder." Serafall shrugged. "I mean, look at Rias and Sona. They've broken through the High-class barrier. They've become Ultimate-class in strength; no Sacred Gear needed."
"That is true. Their growth has been incredible recently." Satan Lucifer agreed. "I do find the current generation's tendency to slack off a little frustrating. I'm glad Rias has started taking her training seriously."
"Exactly!" Serafall nodded with a cheerful smile. "Now, here's hoping Ms. Emo's beating can get Diodora to stop being so lazy."
Sirzechs frowned as he refocused on the match, eyeing Diodora suspiciously. There was still no news about his strange power-up — he had sent video footage to Azazel, but the Grigori leader had yet to respond. Naturally, it would take him a while since the power-up was brief, and it was impossible to sense energy through footage.
But he'd tried to buy as much time as possible, even shuffling the matches so Rias and Sai had a go at it first. However, now that the game was upon them, there wasn't much he could do. The excuse that they needed twenty minutes to fix the dimension worked well enough, but now…
He truly hoped that he was just being paranoid.
A glance at Serafall told him that she was feeling the same way, as her smile dropped, replaced with an equally thoughtful frown as the two teams were teleported to the arena— a medieval fortress at nighttime.
As usual, while the rest of her team dispersed, Akane made the first move, appearing in front of Diodora's team and freezing his peerage. Diodora was visibly frightened at how quickly his team had been taken out, stepping back.
"Yo." Akane greeted with a smirk. "Come on, you can't say you didn't expect me to do the exact same thing I did in my last two matches."
Diodora was very clearly intimidated by the gap in power between them, taking another step back.
"C-considering how annoyed the audience seems to be with you, I expected you'd want to give them at least a show to make up for it." He responded.
"Please, they can cry and complain all they want." She rolled her eyes. "I didn't come here to play around. I came here to win. And winning is what I'm good at."
"Pfft!" Sera giggled. "She's so much fun~!"
"Tsk." Grayfia, however, wasn't as amused.
As the two continued their banter, with Diodora becoming more and more annoyed at Akane's apparent lack of respect for him, Sirzechs suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, prompting him to pull it out to see a message from Azazel.
He quickly opened it, pausing in a mixture of confusion and dread.
Azazel: How'd he get in contact with Ophis?
Ophis? Sirzechs frowned. The Ouroborus Dragon?
Sirzechs: What do you mean?
Azazel: That's the Power of Infinity. I've only seen it once— during its battle with the original Lucifer, but I'm sure of it.
Azazel: Somehow, your devil boy acquired a piece of its power.
He had no idea what this meant. Diodora, wielding the power of Ophis? But how could this be? And where had he got that power from? When had he encountered the Infinity Dragon, and why didn't he tell anyone?
Sirzechs: Could it be a blessing?
Azazel: Possibly. Ophis may not be a Deus, but it still has its own version of Divine Authority.
As he read this final message, he focused on the match once again, seeing Akane getting very close to her enemy and whispering something to him. None of them could hear what she said, but whatever it was, it made Diodora's power explode again. Just as Azazel suspected, the Astaroth devil now had an infinity mark on the back of his hand as snake-like markings covered his face.
…But even then, surprising all of them, Akane was still effortlessly dominating him. Diodora tried and tried but couldn't reliably land a single hit as the yakuza princess toyed with him, verbally berating him for being weak and destroying his self-esteem to the point where his fear had started to overpower his anger.
It was indeed a spectacle. For once, during this entire tournament, Akane was prolonging the match instead of immediately ending it. But even then, it was a pitiful display. It was too one-sided to be any fun.
Then, all of a sudden, the screens went black. Not just theirs, but every showing of the match simply stopped working, alerting the new Satans as they quickly realized that something was very wrong.
Sirzechs' fears came to pass as a loud explosion hit the stadium, portals being opened all over Lucifaad with hundreds if not thousands of enemy troops invaded the city. Robots, magicians, and devils began an attack, making Satan Lucifer scowl as he understood what was happening.
"Rizevim…!" He growled, feeling his anger bubbling up as he and the rest stood up from their seats. "Grayfia, take Millicas and go to the palace. Do NOT engage unless necessary."
"But—"
"Go." He insisted firmly but gently. "We'll take care of this."
"Father, what's happening?" His son asked with a tense expression.
"It'll be fine, Millicas." He assured him. "Stay with your mother."
He stared at his hesitant wife, but thankfully, she didn't argue and nodded as she took the cowering boy into her arms before walking out of the viewing room.
Only for a sudden rain of mighty holy magic to rain down on them, tearing the building apart like it was paper; thankfully, Falibum reacted quickly enough, creating a large barrier that protected them all.
"W-what?!" Falbium's eyes widened as he struggled to keep his magic up. "What kind of power is—
Then, a strong spear pierced through their defenses before he could finish that sentence. Thankfully, all of them dodged the attack, but the overwhelmingly intense light of the spear began to burn at their skin, prompting Falbium to focus more demonic energy on thick shields surrounding their bodies.
And yet, even that was slowly but surely burning away, as this was no ordinary spear. It was none other than the most powerful holy weapon in the universe.
Sirzechs couldn't believe his eyes as the enemy human pulled the True Longinus off the floor, the back of his hand glowing with the power of the Infinity Dragon. He met their gazes, giving the Satans a confident smirk.
As the spear began glowing, none of the four Satans could've prepared themselves for what happened. They suddenly fell down, their power reserves vanishing in an instant as most of their strength left their bodies.
"What's going on?" Serafall questioned. "I can't move…"
None of them knew the answer to her question. None except Ajuka, that is.
"True Longinus' Truth Idea." He said, glaring at the human, who was looking down at them with a wide smirk. "The miracle worker. But something like this isn't easy to maintain, is it? You're using the snake's power to fuel it."
The stranger blinked in surprise.
"Correct. I suppose there's a reason they call you one of the greatest geniuses in history. To figure it out so quickly." He confirmed. "Though nothing short of Ophis could resist or bypass the Will of God. Not even you, Ajuka. I'm afraid you lost the battle before it even began."
"Why are you doing this?" Sirzechs growled. "Who are you?"
"Does it even matter? You'll die anyway." He snorted. "Ah, whatever. My name is Cao Cao, and I'm only doing my part of the deal."
"What deal?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Cao Cao raised a brow. "The Old Satans, or some of them at least, want you four publicly executed, but they know they couldn't defeat you simultaneously. They'd need armies just to face Sirzechs alone."
"You work for them?" Grayfia asked, holding her son tightly.
"I work with them." He corrected. "If it's any consolation, I'm not a fan of this plan myself. As much as I hate you devils, having to use that disgusting snake… It makes my skin crawl."
"Not disgusting enough to fight us fairly, huh?" Serafall called him out.
"Make no mistake, I'd love to tear you apart by myself, but they were so infuriatingly insistent." He snorted. At Sirzechs' angered scowl, Cao Cao rolled his eyes. "Don't worry; your wife and son will be spared. Well, I don't know about that traitor, but I'm not so heartless as to kill children. I'll make sure no harm comes to him."
Sirzechs had decided that once they were out of this situation, he'd put much more effort into eradicating the Old Satans.
This was the last straw.
– Katerea –
Observing the battle unfold from above one of the tallest buildings in the city, she had to admit Amon's work was very impressive. Although she and the other leaders of the Old Satans faction had worked with them for a little under two decades now, they had never seen that lot involve themselves in big battles like this. Relatively speaking.
The last time she had seen them get personally involved was when Rizevim had decided to challenge Tatsu Amamiya to a 'duel', which had ended horribly for the old bastard. They were impressive then, just as they were impressive now.
However, this time around, they didn't send any of their agents. Instead, they opted to supply them with these 'Nanodroids' they'd recently invented. And while Katerea never liked these stupid tech toys, credit where credit was due. Those things were not a joke.
Given highly advanced weaponry laced with anti-magic tech, they tore through most defensive spells, dealing severe damage to High-class combatants and even injuring the Ultimate-class. What was even better was how they quickly repaired themselves when damaged.
What looked like millions of tiny robots worked together to immediately fix whatever damage they suffered. While this was not absolute, as they could still collapse and break from too much damage, it made putting them down for good that much harder.
And according to the Amon leader, they hadn't even perfected Nanotech yet, which made it all the more terrifying. There was no telling how much more dangerous these things could get. As helpful as they had been, these humans were a massive threat. They couldn't be trusted, though Rizevim probably knew that. As big of a… 'fan' as he was.
But she digressed. These Nanodroids were doing their jobs, and that was all that mattered.
However, getting the troops was one thing. Getting inside Lucifaad and invading it without warning required an entirely different group. After looking around for a solution, Shalba had encountered a recently-formed faction called 'The Khaos Brigade' created by those who followed the example of Kokabiel.
People who were against the growing alliances of other mythologies. Those who thought that peace couldn't and shouldn't be achieved. Humans, devils, fallen angels— every race dissatisfied with the current state of affairs, banding together to, as the name suggested, bring chaos to the world.
When they'd met Cao Cao, who was apparently the wielder of the True Longinus, they'd thought he'd be the leader. Human or not, he had one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe in his possession. Surely, he'd be the one leading such a powerful group, right?
Katerea couldn't have been more wrong, as their true leader was none other than the Ouroboros Dragon itself. Taking the shape of a small girl, it spoke nothing of its goals, adding to the mystery. As far as they were aware, Ophis never got involved with anything, and throughout the years since it had first showed up in the mortal realms, its public appearances could be counted on one hand.
Barely anyone knew what it desired, but Katerea couldn't care any less. When Ophis approached her and a few others, offering its blessings, they'd all accepted with great enthusiasm and without question.
With that, they went from being confident to being sure of their victory. Although she hated to admit it, Katerea didn't think she'd stood a chance against that monster Serafall. But with the snake and the infinite energy it provided? That made things different.
Though, the main reason they'd decided to work with the Khaos Brigade was because of that George boy of theirs. Dimension Lost made infiltrating the city with such massive numbers a straightforward task. The blessings were merely a bonus.
She took her gaze off the battlefield, glancing at the box of holy barriers where the New Satans were, and then clicked her tongue in annoyance. Initially, the plan was for her, Shalba, and Cao Cao to attack the leaders together. Cao Cao would use Truth Idea's miracles to paralyze them while she and Shalba publicly executed them, but everything changed when they learned of the Amamiya girl's involvement.
Tatsu's daughter was of top priority to the Amon, so unless they followed through with their end of the bargain, they wouldn't have any of their support. Seeing the girl's absurd power, either Shalba or Katerea would have to get the girl, and her co-leader had volunteered to do so.
They couldn't begin their execution until he finished the capture, so they were stuck with Cao Cao using his Truth Idea to hold them back.
The fact that he was forced to use the snake… She thought with an annoyed frown. How hard is it to beat a few teenagers, Shalba?
She had no idea what he was doing now that his energy signature had vanished with the girl's, but what was taking him so long? Was he really having so much trouble against her? Despite who her parents might be, she was still a child. Shalba couldn't be losing with the snake.
"Hm?" Katerea blinked and raised a brow, catching a glimpse of something below her. Her eyes widened, not expecting to see her here. "Well, I'll be…"
Fighting through the Nanodroids and Old Satan devils with a very familiar Sacred Gear-wielding freelancer was Rin Amon— or Mizuki Amamiya as she went by these days. They were told about Tatsu's daughter being here, but his wife?
After that incident, Katerea thought she'd more likely try to assassinate the devil leaders. Hell, Katerea was waiting for it to happen. Instead, she was here attending one of their festivals.
"She's here?" She muttered to herself quietly. "I never thought I'd see the day."
This was a surprise. To think she'd see that cowardly, traitorous Amon whore again after more than ten years…
I suppose I could have a little fun myself~ Katerea grinned, spreading her wings before gliding down toward them.
Using some of her demonic magic, Katerea launched a powerful blast of energy at the panicking crowd, which Shun Akiyama intercepted. He deflected it with a kick before it could hit the ground, releasing his gear as gentle flames surrounded him.
In truth, she'd known that that would happen. While she had never met him personally, Akiyama was rather well-known as one of the best wielders of Suzaku. She wouldn't expect less from the likes of him.
But what really interested Katerea was Tatsu's wife, who froze in shock as their eyes met. She loved that look of rage on the traitorous Amon, knowing full well how she felt about the Old Satans for what they'd done to her beloved husband.
"You…" She growled, clenching her fists as the air started to freeze.
"Long time no see, Rin~" Katerea chuckled, floating down to the ground as Akiyama got in front of Tatsu's wife. "Never expected I'd see you in Lucifaad of all places."
At her mocking tone, the former assassin's eyes turned blue, and her hair became white— unimaginable power on the verge of exploding as she barely contained her fury. Even after so long, her powers hadn't gotten any weaker, had they?
The strongest warrior the Amon Clan had ever conceived and one of the most dangerous warriors alive—destructive powers rivaling even that of Transcendent-class combatants. Someone even a madman like Rizevim would think twice before opposing.
All contained within the coward who'd lost her edge after falling in love. From a merciless, unfeeling killer with an impressive body count to a soft housewife. And to think she'd been the only human Katerea had ever respected… It made her feel sick.
Attempting to rush towards Katerea, the enraged Mizuki was quickly stopped by Akiyama, t Though, it pleased the Leviathan descendant to see that she hadn't completely lost her ruthlessness.
"What are you doing, Mizuki-san?" He asked, giving her a quick glance.
"Out of my way, Akiyama." The former assassin demanded. "If she's here, then Rizevim's close by."
"Unfortunately, the old bastard isn't here," Katerea said. "Only Shalba and I. He was never interested in reclaiming the capital."
"Then I'll just have to beat his location out of you," Mizuki said, creating a sword of ice in her hand.
"Now's not the time for that," Akiyama said, putting his arm in front of her.
"It's them." She growled, the floor freezing solid as her magic continued to leak. "The bastards who took Tatsu from me."
"I understand how you might be feeling—"
"Move, Akiyama." She said. "Or I'll make you."
"We don't know where Akane or Asia are." He reasoned, keeping his eyes on Katerea. "They could be in trouble, Mizuki-san."
The mention of her daughter seemed to have calmed her down a little as she paused. And although her yokai heritage hadn't lessened, it appeared that the leaking magic had stopped, making Katerea scoff. And here she thought she'd get to see the legend back in action…
"Let me handle this." He told her. "Remember what you promised."
Mizuki looked at him in concern before nodding, reluctantly backing down, and letting Akiyama face her instead. Although the glare felt like it was directed at Katerea's very soul—with hatred burning in her eyes and killing intent that could knock out those with the strongest of wills—she listened and left.
Katerea didn't know what this 'promise' was about, but it seemed very important if it could calm her down so easily.
Akiyama stepped forward, getting into a combat stance as the flames of Suzaku burned. Katerea wasn't very interested in this human garbage, but she might as well do something until her partner was done with his job.
"I don't know what you think you're doing, human." She started, glaring down at him. "To challenge me so readily? You must have a death wish."
He might've been a possible threat had she not gotten a snake, but with an infinite pool of magic, Katerea could even take on Serafall. What did he think he could possibly do to her? Their battle would end in ten seconds flat.
Akiyama's frown turned upside down at that before he moved, so fast that Katerea suddenly found herself launched in the air as her face erupted in pain. Before she could comprehend what had happened, he kicked her again, sending her further away from where they were.
Katerea quickly regained her balance, struggling to keep an eye on the human bastard as he moved far faster than she'd expected, delivering more kicks to her head and body. Each hit flared, a searing feeling washing over her as each hit left a burn mark.
Even her defensive barriers did nothing to stop this onslaught of superheated kicks, so Katerea did the only thing she could and unleashed the power of infinity, boosting her strength and reflexes enough to allow her to dodge one of his kicks.
She tried responding by blasting his smug face into oblivion, but he was still more than quick enough to avoid her magic, side-stepping and backing off as he chuckled. Katerea glowered in fury, not believing what she was seeing.
How was a mere human this powerful? To match her even with the power of Ophis coursing through her veins…
"I'll make you bleed, human." She promised with a growl.
"You can try." He challenged, his eyes glowing a fiery color.
Once she was done with him, that idiotic magical girl was next.
Assuming Shalba was done by then.
– Mizuki –
To think those bastards would be so bold to attack like this, practically showing themselves to the world.
For decades—ever since she'd been born—they had remained hidden, valuing secrecy and obscurity nearly as much as their own strength. Knowledge was power, so being unknown meant having no weakness. They were a clan of assassins. Killers that chose their targets very carefully.
And nearly every time they took a job, they'd send a single agent for it. No more than two if a target was particularly difficult to take out.
It was drilled into every agent's head to keep their anonymity no matter the cost. On the off chance that an agent was captured or killed, a microscopic bomb attached to their heart would blow up and wipe out an entire country if needed. They'd rather kill their own and possibly millions of innocent people than reveal a name.
The one thing that may contradict this was how they were secret allies with the Old Satans, but those were the exceptions to the rule. For a good reason. Purely because Rizevim had somehow convinced her father to work together temporarily after showing him that Sacred Gear disabler ability.
With that tempting ability as well as Rizevim's silver tongue, the Amon Clan made allies for the first time since their conception. But again, they were the exception to the rule. Nothing more and nothing less.
That was how things had worked under her father's leadership. But that didn't seem to be the case for her twin brother. To create an entire army of these robots meant he was ready— or rather willing to show himself.
She didn't understand why. Jo very much understood how powerful anonymity made them. They had been working in the shadows since their conception— for centuries, a hundred years before the Edo period in Japan.
To throw all of that out of the window for what she assumed was Akane… What was he planning? What did he want from her daughter? She knew her absurd and unnatural level of growth was one of a kind, but to sacrifice what made them powerful in the first place?
And she knew it was them. She was sure of it. Those robots were new, but they shared the same design philosophy as their training bots, only with what looked like nanotechnology, something her father had been trying to figure out for years.
She'd expected a more stealthy approach— perhaps the weakening of the Tojo clan by assassinating the higher-ups until they were sufficiently crippled. But he didn't seem very interested in bringing them down, even though they warranted that response since Tatsu and Kiryu had defeated them in the late eighties.
Instead, they, or rather Jo, never concerned himself with that at all. Granted, he used to be obsessed with defeating the fourth chairman, but ever since the Azure Dragon of Dojima passed away, it was almost like he'd instantly lost all interest.
A move like that almost made him feel like he knew something big. From abandoning his humanity, turning himself into a robot, and embracing the technology fully, then compromising the Amon Clan's anonymity… just what did he know?
What was so frightening that it had completely changed the worldview of one of the most stubborn people she knew?
Mizuki shook her head, avoiding all confrontation by slipping through small cracks and crevices in the tighter streets of the half-ruined Lucifaad, looking for Akane and Asia. Her daughter's signature still came from inside the arena dimension. And that meant that the dimension had been hijacked, meaning none of them could enter it until they took back control.
But Mizuki had faith in Akane. She looked like she was manhandling that Diodora idiot, even with that strange power-up of his, so the first thing she needed to do right now was find Asia. They had been separated in the chaos after the first blast hit the stadium, and with so many energy signatures cluttering her senses, it was hard to pick up on the blond's Sacred Gear.
That was until the battlefield began to clear up a little. Mizuki felt Asia's energy close by, prompting her to double her sprinting efforts. Eventually, she found a glimpse of the blond nun unharmed and simply standing there in Lucifaad's housing district.
"Asia!" She called for her. "Thank goodness you're—!"
Mizuki got a full view of the district, and her eyes widened when she saw Diodora next to her, holding her hand and one of Amon escape devices. As the devil bastard spotted her, he froze, for Mizuki was already above the circle next to them, landing a strong punch to his face that sent him crashing through a house.
The device dropped on the floor, where Mizuki quickly destroyed it before she turned around and grabbed Asia by the shoulder, shaking her gently.
"Asia, are you okay?!" She asked before blinking, noticing that her usual green eyes were now bright pink. "Asia?"
The blond wasn't responding.
She's under a charm spell. Mizuki realized. I just need to—
Mizuki was about to shock her out of the spell by sending a wave of ki through her body, but reacted just in time to push Asia out of harm's way as a blast of demonic energy hit her back, causing her to grunt in pain before turning around to face Diodora.
"You know…" He chuckled, walking out of the rubble, the strange snake-like marking glowing on his face. "I'm very glad that you're here."
Mizuki said nothing.
"I was just lamenting the fact that I couldn't teach you a lesson before I took off with my new toy." He glanced at Asia's motionless body. "But now… Perhaps I'll make you an honorary part of my collection. It was about time I spiced it up a bit."
The implication did not go over her head, but Mizuki was used to threats like these, so she paid it no mind. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, calming her simmering rage.
Remember what you promised. She reminded herself. This isn't worth it.
Especially seeing how young this one was, barely any older than Akane and Ichiban. Whether he was helping the Amon Clan, part of the Old Satans, or just out for himself… He wasn't guilty of the things that had been done to her.
But if he was here, then what happened to Akane? She thought to herself.
"I don't want to kill you." She said, casting an ice barrier over Asia. "Answer a few of my questions, and I'll pretend we never saw each other."
"Kill me? You?!" Diodora laughed. "Some random old hag? Get over yourself, human. You're in no position to demand anything from me."
"You don't want this, Diodora." She warned him, walking closer.
"Oh, but I'm pretty sure I do~"
With that, he extended both arms and started blasting her with demonic energy, but Mizuki had seen toddlers who were more skilled than him. With minimal movements, she avoided the projectiles by tilting her head or shifting her position, continuing her slow stride towards the Astaroth Devil.
She pointed at his chest and shot it with a tiny ice pellet, surprising him greatly as it forced him back a few steps. He didn't learn his lesson, though, as he kept throwing his magic around very recklessly, for some reason not caring about conserving his energy at all.
So Mizuki shot him again with more pellets, doing her hardest not to overcharge her spells as the unbridled storm of power raged inside her body, demanding to be let out and freeze half of the underworld.
But here was not the place to unleash that storm.
Unfortunately, due to the immense concentration required to keep that power in check, a few blasts of his managed to land, striking her in the shoulder, chest, and head, but she was more than durable enough to withstand such attacks.
And as painful as they were, Mizuki didn't even wince.
She suddenly dashed forward once she closed enough distance, using a little of her ki to enhance the palm strike she landed on his chest. Diodora gasped, forced to step back a few paces before charging at her angrily, swinging his fists around like an amateur.
Although he was clearly much faster and stronger than her, Mizuki was vastly more skilled. She used his inexperience against him, easily predicted his movement, and avoided most of his attacks.
She redirected one of his straight jabs over her shoulder, countering with two quick punches to the jaw before backing away and dodging more of his sloppy punches. With each attack he threw, Mizuki would respond with three lighter punches to the body or head, slowly wearing him down.
Getting annoyed, Diodora tried incorporating his demonic blasts into his close-quarters-combat, but that didn't help him as much as he thought, as Mizuki circled around him and grabbed him by the neck, putting him in a chokehold.
The devil boy coughed and choked, desperately trying to get out of it by elbowing her side a few times, but she didn't budge. Not with her absurd pain tolerance.
Having had enough, Diodora roared and released his energy in every direction, forcing her off of him from the shockwave. His energy burned her skin, but Mizuki wasn't given a chance to worry about that as the devil was already back on his feet and throwing a punch.
One that landed, hitting square in the nose. Mizuki dragged her feet across the stone ground to prevent herself from flying away from the area, knowing the bastard would use any chance to take Asia with him to who knew where.
But surprisingly, it seemed that Diodora was focused solely on her as he landed another punch. And another. Over and over, Mizuki was having a lot of trouble defending herself. He had her on the back foot using his pure speed and power advantage.
Though, that didn't last long, as he left himself full of openings. One which she exploited, weaving under one of his hooks before swiftly stepping behind him and smashing his face into the wall, kicking the back of his knee to break his balance and make him fall, then stomping on his head.
Diodora, however, wasn't so easily put down, and he quickly tried countering by shooting more demonic blasts at her head, which she easily avoided. She didn't avoid the much smaller beam that pierced her chest, though, narrowly avoiding her heart.
The bigger blast was a distraction. Her frown deepened.
Mizuki created an ice shield over her upper body to block more of those smaller beams, but then Diodora charged and threw a kick, which shattered said shield and the windows nearby, sending her deeper into a dark alleyway.
"Now I know why your ice magic felt so familiar." He growled, having cornered her as Mizuki backed up into a wall. "You're related to that other human bitch, aren't you?"
Mizuki said nothing.
"A mother or a sister." He guessed. "Not like I care."
Diodora stepped closer.
"Once I'm done with you…" He hissed angrily. "Oh, I'll have so much fun showing your broken body to that arrogant whore."
Once again, Mizuki said nothing, eyes fixated on Diodora as she created a dagger in her right hand behind her. On the other hand, she created a few throwing knives, which she used as a distraction.
Throwing the knives at Diodora, Mizuki charged forward as he blocked her projectiles. He quickly tried to deal with her by blasting her with magic, but she tapped her foot and froze the ground underneath him, encasing his legs, stabbing them, and destroying his balance.
With him in a vulnerable position, Mizuki slammed him onto the wall and used the dagger to stab his arm, pinning it to said wall. Diodora tried to escape, but then his entire body, barring his head, froze, stopping his movement.
"Are you ready to talk?" She asked coldly.
He panted, clearly exhausted and too injured to continue the fight, but the anger and hatred in his eyes never left.
"You… You think this can stop me?!" He yelled. "I'll show you!"
With another roar, Diodora's energy exploded, shattering the ice that was keeping him in place with ease. He giggled madly as his wild eyes bore deep into Mizuki's cold gaze, clearly ignorant of something that was becoming clear to her.
"I'll parade your broken, filthy body all over the underworld." He swore, walking closer to her while gathering more and more energy in his hand. "Inflict every violation you could imagine."
"Don't try anything stupid." She warned. "Stand down. Now."
The veins in his forehead throbbed, angered further by her demanding response.
"I'll kill you…" He growled. "You will die by my hands!"
As he charged at Mizuki, Diodora suddenly stopped, frozen in his tracks as his eyes widened. Before long, he started coughing violently, vomiting his own blood as he fell to his knees, the strange and almost divine power leaving him.
"W-what…?" He muttered, staring at his bloodied hand. "What's happening…?"
"You're too injured." She explained. "Your body can't handle the power you were using anymore."
"But that's…!" He coughed. "They—they told me it was absolute!"
"There's no such thing as absolute power," Mizuki told him. "Not one without sacrifices. You're paying the price."
Diodora remained silent, trembling and panting heavily as he tried to get his breathing under control.
"If it makes you feel any better," Mizuki said. "You're not going to die from this. You'll be fine as long as you get enough rest. Now tell me everything you know."
Once again, Diodora said nothing, almost as if he wasn't listening to her, making her sigh. With his mana all messed up because of the power-up and his body seriously wounded, he was probably on the verge of passing out anyway.
Kill him.
Mizuki's hand twitched as she stared at the boy, all beaten and pathetic. Maybe she should lend a helping hand and put him out of his misery. It wasn't like it would matter to anyone— he was clearly one of the Old Satans, as young as he was. Nobody cared about him anyway. A weakling like him deserved it.
Kill him now.
She shook her head, getting those thoughts out of her head. No— he was already beaten and defenseless. Killing him now wasn't justifiable in any way. Mizuki had promised herself she'd never kill pointlessly again.
Taking pity on him is a mistake. Kill him.
And this was the definition of a pointless kill. She would never let those disgusting thoughts poison her mind.
Coward. You'll come to regret this soon enough.
Mizuki gave the boy one last glance before making her way out of the alleyway, thankfully still sensing Asia's energy where she had left her—
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Mizuki quickly turned around as she sensed the attack before his scream, but it was too late. Diodora, having forced that powerup state into activation, lunged at her with an open palm filled with energy, which he blasted point-blank at her stomach, piercing it.
Her eyes twitched at the searing sensation, but that was all the reaction she had as she countered with an ice dagger that she used to stab him upward through the lower jaw, penetrating his brain and puncturing the skull before freezing his entire head off, shattering it to pieces.
Mizuki fell on her rear and pushed Diodora away, coughing up a bit of blood as she could only hear her own breathing and a painful ringing in her ears. She held a hand over the wound, knowing that while it wasn't immediately lethal – to her at least – she'd need to stop the bleeding.
Which wasn't much of an issue for her as she froze the wound using her ice, clumsily getting up on her feet as she stared at Diodora's corpse, the ringing growing louder by the second. Mizuki leaned against the wall, unable to take her eyes off the dead body, hearing someone's laughter.
His laughter.
Horrified and sickened by the enjoyment she felt in killing, Mizuki shut her eyes and covered her mouth, trying to stop the bile from rising up her throat. She did her best to keep her breathing under control, trembling as she tried to silence the giggles of that monster.
"See?" She heard him say. "I told you."
Mizuki said nothing.
"Your own carelessness nearly had you dead." He continued. "Unless… that's what you intended?"
She didn't know what he meant as she slowly opened her eyes, looking at her father grinning at her, blood pouring from the bullet-shaped hole in his forehead. A monster she hoped she'd never see again, even in her own dreams.
"You let him attack because you wanted an excuse to kill him." Sou accused with a chuckle. "To avoid the consequences of breaking your promise. To stay on that moral high ground you so desperately cling on."
"No…" She denied it with a whisper.
"Yes." He insisted. "You want to continue killing, to embrace who you really are… but you also don't want to prove me right that you're nothing but a murderous, sadistic monster looking for her next prey. Just like the rest of us."
"That's not true." Mizuki denied it once again. "I–I don't like this. I changed."
"No, you didn't." Her father said. "You may have found love, had a child, and quit being the killer you once were, but deep down in your core, you're the same. Your priorities may have changed, but you haven't. You could never change."
Mizuki tried to ignore him, tripping up and falling to her knees as she put her hands over her ears, but she could still hear him very clearly, his voice echoing in her mind despite the painful ringing. The ground and buildings slowly froze over as her chaotic magic began breaking the seal down more and more.
"If you truly want to protect your beloved daughter, then you'd let go of these arbitrary moral restraints. You know that, don't you?" She felt his hand over her shoulder. "You'll need to kill for her sake. You've accepted that ever since she was born. You fight to protect her, don't you?"
Mizuki looked down, seeing her distorted reflection on the glass of the shattered window. A much younger version of her— the one that used to go by Rin, staring back at her with the same blank look most Amon agents had.
"So why does it matter if you enjoyed it?"
The soulless, heartless monster she used to be.
"Mrs. Amamiya!"
Mizuki flinched, shaken out of her daze as she quickly whipped her head at the redhead devil— a little injured if her torn clothes and scratches over her face were an indication. Behind her was Asia, who was up and conscious, looking at her in worry, and the Abaddon girl.
The ringing quieted down, and there was no sign of any of her hallucinations. Just her, Diodora's corpse, and the three girls.
"Can you hear me?" Rias asked. "You're hurt."
"I–I'm fine." Mizuki quickly said, standing up. "I'm—"
Mizuki nearly collapsed, underestimating the wound in her stomach. Thankfully, she was caught by the Gremory devil, who lent her a shoulder for support.
Asia approached her and activated her Twilight Healing, the ring on her middle finger glowing green. With no energy to argue, Mizuki let it happen, feeling the hole in her stomach closing up almost immediately, a testament to the blond's skill and experience using her Sacred Gear.
She then melted the ice covering the wound, and after recomposing herself, she addressed them, not wanting to dwell on what she had just experienced. This wasn't the first time it happened, and it certainly won't be the last. Her father's ghost would continue to haunt her until she drew her last breath.
"What's the situation?"
"We're still fighting. My peerage and the rest of Sai's are covering the Eastern and Western fronts, respectively." Rias answered. "Sai himself is taking care of the central part with Kasuga."
"And Akane?"
"They hadn't left the dimension yet," Kuisha said grimly. "And whoever they are, they're preventing me from using my portals to infiltrate."
"The Satans?"
"Take a look for yourself." Rias pointed at Lucifer's palace.
Mizuki looked up, seeing the huge box of holy power encasing a chunk of the castle, seemingly trapping everyone inside it. She didn't know how powerful something like that had to be to hold all the new Satans at the same time, but it was clear that they needed backup.
But how could they call for it? Teleportation circles were very clearly not working if the portals from Kuisha were what was needed to evacuate them—
Mizuki stopped, realizing something crucial.
"You." She looked at Kuisha. "If you're here, then can I assume you've evacuated everyone?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Can you open portals to other dimensions?"
"I can." She confirmed again.
"Good," Mizuki said. "I have a plan."
And that might be the only thing that could save them.
– Ichiban –
"What the hell are these things?!" He exclaimed as the robot he punched into pieces repaired itself in less than a second. "No matter how hard I hit, they keep coming back like it's nothing!"
And to make matters worse, there were so many of them everywhere. What looked like thousands of these strange plasma rifle-wielding robots were invading the city and shooting indiscriminately. He had no idea where they were coming from.
A little while after he'd woken up from his little nap, it was right before the match between Sona and Diodora had started. So he freshened up, met up with his team, and watched the game together. It was a game he was looking forward to seeing because Akane had finally decided to use the armor she had brought with her.
And for a while, it was as great as he expected. Akane was winning – obviously – but to see that armor in action was awesome. He was so very glad that she'd finally decided to drag out the fight to display her power and skill, even though it was still very one-sided.
Honestly, he didn't know why she never bothered to do that when she loved being smug. Considering Akane, one might expect her to toy with her opponents and humiliate them instead of just beating them instantly in a boring show.
So, seeing her flexing was fun.
That was until the screen suddenly went black.
They weren't given a minute to process what had happened before portals showed up all around Lucifaad, where these robots, devils, and human magicians had come from. Immediately, they'd started just shooting and targeting everyone, from combatants to innocent civilians.
Thankfully, the response to this sudden attack was quick— devils, tournament participants, and every other able combatant began fighting back, prioritizing the safety of those who couldn't fight as they led an evacuation procedure.
But this wasn't so easy. The enemy devils and humans were straightforward to deal with, but these regenerating robots? Well, they were almost impossible to put down for someone with zero magic talent and only the knowledge of how to punch very hard.
Hell, even basic demonic magic was having trouble destroying them. To defeat them successfully, they needed to utterly disintegrate them. Or use something similar to Rias' destruction magic.
Worse yet, they weren't weak either— their plasma rifles and energy swords packed a punch, easily tearing through high-class defenses and rivaling ultimate-class combatants. Just what was going on? Whose robots were they?
What kind of technology were they up against?
As Ichiban relied on dodging more than recklessly blocking literal plasma shots and swords, he was starting to get overwhelmed while he waited for his gauntlet to activate another boost. He was already surrounded by dozens of those robots, trying to do any lasting damage to them, but all he could do was slow them down as each one of his punches would at least blow them to small pieces before they regenerated.
He wasn't sure what to do— he had no spells he could use like most of his allies. He was seriously trying his best to avoid getting killed, not having anything in his arsenal that could help him fight back properly.
As the robots ruthlessly closed the distance, a blast of golden energy tore through some of them like wet tissue, reducing them to nothing. He looked at Sairaorg, one of the few combatants who had no problems taking these robots out.
"Are you okay, Kasuga?" Sai questioned, slashing an incoming enemy devil with his axe, killing them instantly.
"Yeah, thanks for the help." Ichi said, getting next to him. "Where's the rest?"
"Rias and her peerage are covering the east of the city while Kuisha is helping with the evacuations." He answered. "But Sitri and your human friend still haven't got out."
"What?! Are they being attacked, too?!"
"I don't know, but highly likely." He nodded grimly. "Whatever these invaders did, they've somehow hijacked the battlefield dimension. They're stuck in there. No way in or out until we take back control."
Fuck. Ichi clenched his fists tighter in frustration. You've gotta be kidding me.
"Who are these people?" He asked, kicking one of the approaching devil enemies back. "Where did they come from? What do they want?"
"I don't know about the humans and robots, but this is definitely the Old Satans' doing," Sairaorg said. "I never thought they'd get the courage to invade Lucifaad so blatantly."
The Old Satans? Those guys that followed the code of the original Lucifer? If he remembered correctly, they embodied everything they thought a devil should be: Ruthless, heartless conquerors and destroyers.
But that didn't explain where they'd got these robots from. Weren't the Yakuza the only faction capable of producing and distributing such tech? Just where had they found these things? Who was helping them?
Despite the several questions running through his head and his immense worry for Akane, he didn't let it deter him as he focused on the fight.
And so the battle raged on, with Lucifaad's defense force doing relatively well considering the abruptness of this situation. There was a lot of struggling, of course, and many of their allies lost their lives. Thankfully, the civilians seemed to have been safely evacuated with very minimal casualties.
Though, Ichiban was confused— where were the leaders? Shouldn't they be here helping out? Were they being held back by something? As far as everyone told him, the current satans were supposed to be the strongest devils alive. What gives?
That was when Sona's energy signature suddenly appeared in the coliseum.
"Sitri?!" Sairaorg exclaimed, equally shocked. "They're back! That means the dimension was destroyed! But—"
"I can't sense Akane," Ichiban said in horror. "This— this can't be happening."
What happened? Where was she? Was she hurt? Had they somehow defeated her? No, that couldn't be true. Akane was too powerful to be beaten by them. Something else must've happened.
Ichiban had to investigate. Sona probably knew what was going on.
"Wait— Kasuga! Look out!"
As Ichiban tried to make his way to the coliseum, Sairoarg pulled him back by the collar, helping him avoid being stomped on by an enemy robot. His jaw clenched as the smoke cleared, showing a different type of enemy.
Unlike the rest, it was much larger, perhaps three meters tall, holding a giant hammer, and had metal wings protruding from its back. It was clearly a much stronger variant, and with how it pointed its hammer at him, he knew he couldn't leave until he dealt with it.
And this one looked much stronger than the rest.
"Focus on your surroundings, Kasuga." Sai reprimanded. "I know you're worried, but that's not an excuse to be so reckless."
"...You're right." Ichiban nodded, looking slightly apologetic. "But I can't let that thing stop me. I need to go."
"Yeah, I know." He replied. "I think it's about time we stopped holding back."
Ichiban knew what he meant, and he fully agreed. Due to his not mastering the form, he knew he couldn't use his balance breaker carelessly. Certainly not in a situation like this where the answer wasn't 'punch harder'. But not anymore.
Not when his best friend's life was on the line.
As the two boys stood side by side, they released their true powers— red and gold auras tearing the ground apart as their combined power cleared the clouds. Even if that robot was ten times stronger than the other ones, it wouldn't stand a chance.
They got into their stance, preparing to attack before the robot raised its hammer to the sky, a maneuver they didn't expect. The two tensed as the hammer began glowing, getting ready to defend themselves, not knowing what to expect.
Then, the hammer released a shockwave, which wasn't harmful, strangely enough, as it passed through them without doing any damage. It stretched across the central sector of Lucifaad, engulfing everything in the vicinity. For a second, the two were slightly confused, not knowing what that was supposed to accomplish.
Until suddenly, Ichiban's red cape and Sairaorg's golden armor vanished, taking their power with them. Their eyes widened in shock and horror as they tried and failed to call upon their Sacred Gears, incapable of even summoning their primary states.
"W-what the hell?!" Sairaorg looked down at his hands. "Why can't I activate it?! Regulus?!"
What's going on?!
I don't know. Ddraig said. Something is blocking my flow of energy, partner. I can't force the Boosted Gear to activate either.
Ichiban didn't know what that meant, but he didn't even have the time to think about it as the robot rushed toward the two, swinging its hammer at Sai and striking him true in the chest, making the devil's eyes almost bulge out of his skull as he flew across the city, smashing through several buildings.
Ichiban gasped and tried to defend himself, barely being quick enough to put his arms in front of his face right before the hammer hit him. He was sent tumbling backward, grunting in discomfort as his arms trembled in pain.
The attack brought him to his knees as Ichiban continued his attempts to activate his Boosted Gear but to no avail. This was very bad. Without his boosts, he was outmatched by nearly everything and everyone on the battlefield.
Ichi got up, gritting his teeth threateningly and fixing his footwork. Had he not activated Touki in that instant, he might've lost both limbs.
The hammer-wielding robot rushed at him again, but this time, Ichiban was prepared. He evaded its swing by ducking before dashing toward it, destroying its leg with a kick. He then spun around and kicked it again in the head, smashing it to pieces.
But just like the other robots, it easily repaired itself. Thankfully, Sairaorg quickly returned to the fray, ramming the bastard with his shoulder and pushing it back. But even he knew that this wasn't enough to put it down.
As the robot started repairing itself in the distance, it charged once again, this time aiming for Ichiban as he tensed. This time, its wings-like jetpack activated, emitting blue flames and increasing the speed at which it slammed into him before flying upward, penetrating the clouds and into the underworld's upper layers.
Ichiban smashed his fists into it, but he wasn't strong or quick enough to damage it before it fixed all the damage he caused, making him panic. Sona had told him that the underworld had a ceiling– Ramming into it at this speed would kill him.
"Let me go!" Ichiban roared in a state of fright and desperation, trying to get its steel-like grip off him. "Damn it all!"
Thankfully, before he met a most gruesome fate, Sairaorg managed to catch up, flying above them and smashing his feet into its head, stopping its momentum and forcing it to relax its grip on the human boy.
However, due to his inability to fly like the rest of the people he knew, he was helpless as gravity brought him down to the ground. On his way to the ground, he watched as Sairaorg tried to save him from a fall that would surely hurt before the regenerating robot hit him in the back with a hammer.
The heavy strike caused Sai to fall at a much quicker velocity, leaving Ichiban alone and defenseless as the robot charged at him, preparing a finishing blow.
His mind raced to find a way out of this. He was helpless— in the air, unable to maneuver out of the way or dodge in any capacity, and without his Boosted Gear. He couldn't do anything to save himself.
But he couldn't let it end like this. Not so soon. There were a thousand other things he wanted to do before he died— hell, he hadn't even joined the Arakawa family yet. This wasn't his fate.
His story didn't end here.
With the lack of options but the determination to survive no matter what, Ichiban put his hands in front of his face and was about to do what he'd seen Sai do in their match— sloppily increasing the output of his Touki to dangerous levels for more power.
Until a massive water dragon interrupted the robot's attack as it swallowed him whole— the extreme pressure within it crushing the bastard and its hammer into small metal bits. Ichiban was then gently caught by the collar. As he turned to see who it was, not yet processing the powerful water spell that had saved his life, it was none other than a smiling Sona Sitri, who was a little bruised and bleeding from her head, her glasses nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, thank god, you're here!" Ichiban exclaimed in relief, not noticing her flinch slightly. "What happened in there?"
As they landed on the ground, Sona answered.
"We were attacked by one of the Old Satans' leaders." She said. "Shalba Beelzebub. Once we were out, I surveyed the situation and ordered my peerage to help with the inner defenses and evacuations."
"And Akane?" He quickly asked. "I can't sense her anywhere— where is she?"
At her grimace, Ichiban's blood ran cold.
"I don't know." She responded, looking very grim. "Right before the dimension was closing, Shalba grabbed her and used a device to teleport away."
"And you let that happen?!" He yelled.
"What do you expect me to do about it?!" She uncharacteristically snapped, glaring at him.
"I don't know— Not letting him kidnap her?!" He glowered. "Did that cross your mind?!"
"Are you daft?! Do you not know how powerful Shalba is?!" Sona scowled at him. "And to make things more hopeless, he used that same power-up Diodora had— We didn't stand a chance!"
"Enough!"
The two looked up at Sairaorg, wounded but still alive, as he glided down next to them.
"Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves." He said, remaining level-headed. "We're still under an invasion— We can worry about Amamiya later, alright? If she'd been kidnapped, then it's for a reason. She might still be alive."
Influenced by Sairaorg's logical reasoning, the two calmed down and nodded, throwing each other apologetic glances before the bastard robot rose again in a pristine condition, which greatly surprised Sona.
"What? But I didn't hold back when casting my Water Dragon spell." She noted. "Is this another one?"
"No, it's the same bastard," Sairaorg answered. "They repair themselves lightning-quick. They're almost impossible to put down. More than that, it somehow stopped our Sacred Gears."
"You can't be serious…" Sona was shocked.
"How the hell are we meant to destroy it like this?" Ichiban asked, the worry imminent in his tone.
"Why, you let yer superiors handle it, of course."
Before any of them could turn around to see who it was, a vaguely familiar knife flew toward the robot, stabbing it in the head. A storm of purple flames then engulfed the robot as it desperately tried to repair itself, failing right in front of their eyes.
The eye-patch-wearing Yakuza entered the battle, casually walking past them as all robots in the vicinity momentarily froze up and began backing off at the sight of him. Even the one they had been fighting stopped its movement. Although, unlike the rest, it had a lot of difficulties to move, stuck under the intense heat of Majima's fire.
Ichiban and everyone else felt immediate relief as they saw one of the strongest Tojo clan members arriving. He didn't know where he'd come from, seeing that teleportation circles were ineffective for some reason, but finally, with someone like him around, they could turn the tides.
Hell, a single attack from Majima had rendered this robot powerless as it began slowly melting away by the fierce purple flames of his magic. Ichiban didn't know what kind of spell that was, but in a way, it felt a little similar to Akane and Mizuki.
"Yo." Majima grinned at them.
"Majima-san!" Ichiban was thrilled to see one of his idols here.
"Majima?" Sairaorg blinked before his eyes went wide. "You're Goro Majima?! The Mad Dog of Shimano?!"
"How did you get here?" Sona asked. "Lucifaad is currently under an imprisoning ward cast by the invaders."
"Dunno. I was watchin' my favorite movie before a portal suddenly showed up in my room." He shrugged. "Mizuki-chan came out of it askin' for help."
"A portal?" Ichiban wondered out loud.
"Kuisha's?" Sairaorg guessed.
"Yeah." Majima nodded. "Guess these dumbass old fucks got a little too overconfident and forgot to ward off her magic."
As the robots began teleporting away one by one, each engulfed by a blinding light before disappearing off the face of the battlefield, the one melting in front of them was doing the same, preparing to get away as the Mad Dog hummed in amusement.
"Tryna run away?" Majima asked with a tilt of his head. "Too bad~"
With a snap of his finger, the flames' intensity grew a thousandfold, burning the bastard to ashes in mere seconds and preventing it from escaping. At that sight, Ichiban couldn't help but fall to his knees and sigh deeply, relieved that it was over.
They'd done it.
They'd won the battle.
Ichiban scowled, clenching his fists tightly.
Yet there was still no sign of Akane anywhere.
Don't forget the pa tre on. Not to spoil, but something lewd happens there