Lilith was taking Shido and Maya to where the Demon King Beelzebub could be found.

After a bit of a discussion, Maria and Marina decided that it would be best for only the two of them to go with Lilith. Having less people along would make it easier for her to keep them hidden, and as they weren't planning to start a fight, having just Shido and Maya along was the minimal team.

Everyone else stayed behind tidying up the base so that they could leave right after Shido and Maya returned. No matter how much they insisted, Lilith wouldn't come with them, so they decided to leave it at that.

" "

Lilith was singing, and that was making use of her ability to keep them hidden from the Nibelcoles.

According to her, the Nibelcoles were everywhere, and it would be wise to assume that they were observing Shido and the others' base. Lilith could make up some excuse, but not if she was seen taking Shido and Maya to Beelzebub.

So, by using her voice, Lilith was manipulating the monsters around them to provide cover, and so they were slowly making their way to Beelzebub.

They had been going for over an hour now. While they weren't moving at full speed, they were still going at around the speed of a car.

Still, both Shido and Maya couldn't help but be impressed at Lilith's control over the monsters. If they could get her on their side, the Neighboring World would become much safer… or maybe not, since the Demon Kings and Nibelcoles might become more active in the monsters' place.

In any case, they continued making their way towards Beelzebub. After almost two hours, they finally arrived.

"There she is, Beelzebub-chan."

"Woah…"

"This is…"

Shido and Maya couldn't hide their surprise. But that was completely understandable.

A few hundred meters ahead of them was a woman with a slim body and short ash gray hair. The clothes she wore were somewhat resembling of a nun's habit, with pieces of paper making a cross in the center. There were thorny red halos floating above her head and around her neck.

In her hands was a book. The book was open and its pages were flipping and flying out of the book, literally.

After they began to glow, each page became a Nibelcole, and so they flew off somewhere. Probably, there were hundreds of Nibelcoles being created each minute.

Beelzebub herself was as immobile as a statue. She might have even been able to pass for one if not for the occasional bopping. Maybe a more accurate depiction would be to say it was like she was in a trance.

"Is she always like this?"

"She does move when called for, but otherwise she just stays like this."

Shido wasn't sure which was more scary, that or the sheer number of Nibelcoles flying about.

Even just three of them gave them trouble when they appeared with Tenka. There's no way they could handle them all with their current power, even if Beelzebub herself did nothing.

"Anyway, for now I guess we just collect information. Maya."

"... O-oh, yeah."

Maya seemed a bit distracted for a bit, but she soon recovered. Shido gave her his hand and she took it.

Shido then expanded his Territory in Beelzebub's direction. He was careful so that they wouldn't be noticed, though that did come at the cost of the amount of information that they could learn.

For a few minutes, Shido and Maya slowly combed through all the information they were able to gather with the Territory without being noticed. Maybe it was just his impression, but Shido felt like he could somewhat understand Maya's emotions as she processed the information.

He couldn't really explain it, but if he had to say anything, he would say that Maya had some idea of who Beelzebub really was.

"... Alright, done."

"... Maya, maybe it's just me, but… do you know who Beelzebub is?"

Maya seemed a bit surprised for a second, but then she simply showed a smile on her face.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It seems that sharing a Territory gives us a deeper connection. While we were searching for Lilith, I could tell whenever Shido would get excited from feeling the girls with your Territory."

"Eh?! You could?!"

"D-did you think I was rubbing against you because I was getting horny?"

Shido didn't even try to deny it, there would be no point in that. Still, he felt like there was something not quite right there. Although Shido could somewhat tell what Maya was feeling, he didn't feel it himself, so it doesn't make sense that it would be different with Maya.

… Maybe she was a bit too eager to deny her getting horny and using the situation in her favor. Although Shido thought of that, he figured it was only polite to pretend to not notice it.

"Anyway, I guess I might as well say it. I'm not completely sure, but I think I know who she is, or at least her pen name. She's Souji Honjo. I met her once at a bookstore and ended up figuring out her identity."

The name didn't sound strange to Shido. He tried to think about it for a bit, and then something clicked on his mind.

Souji Honjo was the pen name of a fairly well-known mangaka. No one actually knew what they looked like, but it was a fact that they worked on all sorts of mangas, from action to drama to everything else. Even Shido had read a number of their works, though only casually. But then, one day, they simply stopped publishing new chapters.

Of course, Shido had trouble convincing his mind that the woman he had been calling Beelzebub was actually Souji Honjo, and all he had to go for it was Maya's word, but it was worth at least an investigation.

"Are you two done? We should get back soon."

Shido and Maya nodded to Lilith's words. And so they made their way back to their base.

"Lilith, since you don't want to go with us, I'd like you to keep this. With this, we'll be able to find you more easily next time."

What Shido gave to Lilith was a small Realizer device that, for all intents and purposes, acted like a GPS. As he said, it would make it much easier to find her next time.

"Thanks. And, before you leave… could I ask you to kiss me again?"

Lilith asked while touching her lips. Shido couldn't help but feel drawn to them.

He still didn't really understand what had happened yesterday, but he somehow didn't feel like resisting or objecting in any way. He simply did what Lilith asked of him.

Once again, he got that warm feeling in his body. There was no way it could be just her saliva, it felt like it was heating up his whole body. Luckily, Shido was able to keep his consciousness and ended the kiss before things got out of hand, though Lilith seemed a bit unsatisfied because of that.

"And you were saying you weren't a playboy. You even managed to get me. I'll ask for more next time, okay-?"

Something caught Lilith's attention. Shido turned around to look, but he ended up only hearing a dry slap sound. Only a second after did he notice that Miku had slapped him.

"You animal! Do you just go around kissing girls left and right?! You-!"

"Miku-chan!"

Before Miku could continue, Lilith stood between her and Shido.

"Miku-chan, I know that you told me that you weren't too good with boys, but Shido isn't a bad person. I know that, so you should too."

"That's…"

"And besides, I was the one who asked Shido for that. You can't blame him."

"I know, but…"

Miku hung her head down. She really seemed sorry about it, but it was as if she was struggling with the words. Lilith took Miku away somewhere and they spent a few minutes talking. After that, Miku walked up to Shido and apologized, then quickly left.

It didn't seem like Miku was being controlled by Lilith power. It seemed like a pure and sincere apology. Shido tried asking Lilith what they talked about, but all she told him was that it was up to Miku to say it, and that Shido should stick with her despite the difficulties.

And just like that, with a few more question marks above his head, Shido left the Neighboring World along with everyone else.

By the time Shido and the others returned to the NWET headquarters and gave their report to Mio, it was already night. Everyone was tired, but it was important that they discuss things as soon as possible.

"Well… it wasn't exactly as I imagined it, but the mission was quite productive. Good job, everyone."

Of course, there was too much data and it all needed to be analysed carefully, but there was something that had a more immediate importance.

"It's just supposition on my end, but I believe I know who Demon King Beelzebub actually is. I believe she's the mangaka Souji Honjo."

That was something Maya had left out of the report, after all, it's merely what she believes. But everyone had discussed it on the way back and they agreed that Maya should present her theory to Mio.

They also tried getting Miku to talk about Lilith, but she simply wouldn't say anything, so they decided to stick with just Beelzebub.

"I also have something to add. It seemed like… when I used my ability on Lilith, her memories seemed to come back, at least a bit."

For some reason, Mio looked at Shido strangely when he said that.

She grabbed some documents from her table. Shido and the others had gone through a quick checkup after they came back. What Mio was looking at now were the results of Shido's exams.

The way she looked at Shido made it look like she was seeing something she didn't like. But she hid that well and no one really noticed what she was thinking.

"Those are both interesting points. I'll have Maria and Marina investigate this mangaka, and I guess it's nice to know what effects Shin's ability has on the Demon Kings. But what are you trying to get at?"

"I think we could organize some kind of rescue operation. Lilith said Beelzebub doesn't move much, and if my ability really can restore their memories, then-"

"Rejected."

Mio quickly shot Shido down. It was so fast that even Shido was stunned speechless.

Mio let out a sigh. She knew she couldn't just say that and leave it, she needed to properly explain what motivated her decision.

"We don't actually know if Shin's ability has that effect on the Demon Kings or if it was just a coincidence. She also seemed to recognize the song Miku sang, right? And that was before. Regardless, there are two things that make a rescue operation impossible. One, you lack the combat power. Two, can Shin really use his ability just like that?"

Neither Shido nor anyone else could say anything back to Mio. They understood perfectly well what she was talking about.

Just three Nibelcoles very nearly defeated them before, how could they hope to fight hundreds or thousands? At the very least, it wasn't possible with a standard CR-Unit.

Then also came the matter of Shido's ability. Beelzebub was basically immobile, meaning Shido would have to take care of everything himself. He hadn't thought about it before, but he would, for lack of better words, basically have to molest her. And even then, there's no guarantee that it would bring back her memories.

These two points essentially came back to Shido's ability. In summary, there's not enough confidence that he can use it enough and properly for this operation to be greenlit.

Just when Shido and the girls could do nothing but hang their heads, Karen and Ellen came to the rescue.

"Well, the problem with combat power can be easily suppressed with the Spirit CR-Units."

"Those Nibelcoles didn't seem particularly strong. I can beat you kids into fighting shape."

Although Mio didn't seem exactly happy, she couldn't really ignore her secretaries' words.

The first problem was addressed. And now Maria and Marina came to address the second problem.

[Although we can't be sure of how Shido's abilities affect the Demon Kings, he has been making progress in getting used to it.]

[Just look at the recordings from their stay in the Neighboring World. Shido was so embarrassed and held back on the first day, and by the end he was milking them like cows.]

"Huh?"

"H-huh?!"

"..."

"Ara."

Shido, Tohka, Origami and Kurumi seemed surprised to know that they were being recorded. Shido and Tohka blushed in embarrassment, Origami continued being expressionless, and Kurumi seemed more like she had just heard a curious fact.

Incidentally, what Marina was referring to was the fact that Shido enjoyed playing with their breasts more than anything else.

Mio let out a sigh. It seemed like everyone was trying to convince her to greenlight the operation.

It's not as if she didn't want to do it. There's no reason for them to be against the rescue of a Demon King and further exploration of Shido's abilities.

"... Let me think about it over the night. I'll tell you my decision tomorrow."

That was the best answer they were going to get that day. And so, Shido and the rest of the Spirit Team were dismissed.

Mio continued to discuss things with Karen, Ellen, Maria and Marina for the rest of the night. None of them went back home.

Ultimately though, Mio made a decision. She would give the Spirit Team a test. If they cleared it, she would allow them to try and rescue Beelzebub. If not, then she wouldn't.

Although, Mio had a mischievous smile as she planned the test.