Finally, the day to attempt Beelzebub's rescue mission had come.

While Shido and the girls enjoyed their last break during the weekend before the operation. Mio, Karen and Ellen prepared the general plan for the mission. Once the day came, the Spirit Team members were debriefed on the strategy they should adopt.

It was nothing crazy. The general idea was for Maya and Shido to try and talk to Beelzebub, or rather Nia, to try and force some of her memories out, similar to what seemed to have happened with Tenka. Once there was enough of an opening, Shido would go in and use his ability to pull out the rest of her memories. The other Spirit Team members would focus on fighting off the Nibelcoles.

There really wasn't any way to make this any simpler. The only thing that Ellen stressed out was that they should keep as much of a margin of safety as possible, since she wouldn't be able to help them. Her CR-Unit still hadn't been repaired, since Mio had to focus on the Spirit CR-Units for a while.

Of course, Shido and the girls were aware of this danger and still chose to proceed with the operation, so there was nothing left to do but to get to it. As usual, Shido got changed first, and then the girls went. However, this time, Mio called him back to her office once he had changed into his plugsuit.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to congratulate Shin on a job well done. Even I didn't think that you'd get 9 out of the 10 girls their Spirit CR-Units this quickly."

"Wasn't that the objective of all those things you had Marina make us do?"

"That's a false accusation, she made all those choices herself… but yes. But I honestly thought that Shin would chicken out at some points, but you really surprised me. However… you seem to be more into young girls than I thought. As your mother I want to support you, but it is a bit worrying."

"P-please don't joke with that. It's not like I enjoy that kind of thing."

"If you say so. Ah, if only you had also gotten Miku her Spirit CR-Unit, it would have helped balance things and made everything nice and round. Having just one member not have their Spirit CR-Unit kinda bothers me."

Shido scratched his cheek, troubled in a different way from before.

"I think I've managed to get closer to Miku. At the very least, we don't really fight anymore. But I'm honestly not sure if I'll be able to use my ability on her the same way I do with everyone else."

It is technically not impossible for Shido to use his ability avoiding the perverted side of it, there is, for example, the matter of his Territory that they were still looking into, but nothing has been as effective as just direct contact yet.

"Well, let's have a bit of patience with her. She has her reasons, but it would be best if you heard it from the girl herself. You probably don't realise it, Shin, but you've been a great help to her already."

Shido didn't really get what Mio was talking about, but it didn't seem like she'd tell him more, with her telling him to hear it from Miku herself and all. He also remembered what Lilith said to him a month ago. Shido could only imagine that something had happened with Miku in the past that explained why she acted this way towards him today.

Shido thought that this was all Mio wanted to talk about, but then she said that there was one more thing, so he continued to listen to her.

"This is just rambling, something that you really should only pay attention to in a very unlikely event, but I guess I might as well say it. Let's imagine that something goes off, and the operation doesn't go as planned. What should you do in this situation, Shin?"

"Well, retreat, right?"

"Right. That's the absolutely correct response. But let's imagine that, for whatever reason, you can't retreat, you have no choice but to proceed. What I'm about to tell you might become important then. Please lend me your tablet."

Mio asked for it and Shido gave her the tablet he often carried around in the NWET headquarters. He didn't usually take it on missions, but he ended up grabbing it out of a force of habit today, but it ended up being useful now.

"Let's imagine… yes, let's imagine a different universe, a world where things are slightly different. Instead of being able to raise a person's compatibility with the Realizer, Shin has the power to seal Spiri- I mean, seal a special kind of power inside his body."

Manipulating the tablet, Mio made the image of what looked to be an empty container appear. After a while, she made the image of a full container appear.

"The empty one is Shin, the filled one is Beelzebub in this case. In this hypothetical scenario where you can't escape, your only choice is to fight, and there's no better way to do that than to lower the enemy's power and increase your own. How would you do that, Shin?"

"That's… I have no idea."

"Simple, just take Beelzebub's power."

Then, a connection appeared between the two containers, and whatever was filling the one representing Beelzebub began to flow into the one representing Shido.

"The question then becomes how to do it, how to create this connection. Well, it's obvious that it would be with a kiss. Smack, right on the lips. Oh, and we can't forget about where this connection is placed, after all if it's too high then very little power will flow into Shin. In other worlds you'd have to do something complicated like making them fall in love or something, but you're lucky that you only need to do perverted things. Just grope away and this goes all the way to the bottom."

By the time Mio finished explaining, the connection between the two containers displayed on the tablet's screen was all the way at the bottom. And by the end of that, the simulation finished, there was a balance between the containers representing Shido and Beelzebub.

But it seems that Shido was confused and didn't really understand what Mio was saying. Mio, however, seemed to not be worried about it.

"Well, this is just my rambling, don't worry about it too much. Just remember that, if you're in a bind, a good kiss and some groping will get you a long way."

"I'm not sure that's advice a mother should give her son…"

Mio shrugged her shoulders. Luckily for Shido, it seemed that the girls had finished changing, so he was let go.

Since Miku didn't have her Spirit CR-Unit, she still needed to be equipped with a normal one by Mildred. That said, it worked out nicely since Shido wanted to say a few things before they left.

"... We're going to do something crazy today."

As Shido began to speak, the girls turned their attention towards him. He couldn't help but also look at them.

Origami, with her white two-piece plugsuit. The top was like a sports bra and the bottom was like a highleg panties. Overall, it looked like a plugsuit that allowed for great mobility.

Tohka had her purple one-piece plugsuit. At first, she would easily get embarrassed because of the open center, which was very generous in showing her navel and cleavage, but by now she had gotten used to it.

Kurumi had her red one-piece plugsuit. Although she showed less skin than Tohka, she somehow looked more erotic, maybe because of the fact that her plugsuit was strapless and the sweetheart-style cut drew out the shape of her breasts.

"There's really no other way to think about it. But we're going to do it. We've been preparing for a month, so we're not backing out now."

Kaguya and Yuzuru, who had gotten Hod back after their punishment finished, had very similar-looking plugsuits. Both were composed of a shorts-style bottom and a breastband-style top. The biggest difference between them was that Kaguya's was a pinkish purple color while Yuzuru's was a blueish purple… that, and the fact that Yuzuru's breasts looked like they would burst out at any moment.

Maya had just gained her Spirit CR-Unit earlier today, and with it her new plugsuit. It looked like a sweater, but… well, let's just say that it seemed small and there were a lot of openings. Maya's back and sides were completely exposed, and while the front was perfectly covered, it looked small enough that it might go up with the slightest movement. In fact, from the back, over half of Maya's butt was exposed.

"If it was a few minutes ago, I would have said that I was a bit scared. But, looking at everyone now, I no longer feel that way. There's no reason for us to lose."

Kotori's plugsuit looked like a white kimono. Actually, the most accurate description would be a half-off kimono. Although that was apparently the normal look, Shido couldn't help but feel like it was about to come completely undone.

Yoshino's plugsuit looked like a nightgown or a particularly loose-fitting dress. Natsumi's was an almost full body leotard with some star-shape patterns on it. Although they seemed like the Spirit Team members that were covered the most, their plugsuits had a different problem from the others', they were basically transparent, which really troubled Shido when he looked at them.

"So let's do it. Let's go save our first Demon King."

""""""""""Yes!""""""""""

It seemed that Shido's speech, although improvised, had the intended effect. Even Miku joined in.

Miku had already equipped her CR-Unit, so Shido and the others did the same. They left for the Neighboring World with their spirits still high.

They quickly arrived and headed to where the base they had previously used was still set. From there, they followed Maria and Marina's directions to eventually end up where they had seen Beelzebub.

[You've arrived.]

[She's still in the same place, huh.]

As Marina had noted, Beelzebub was still in the exact same position as when Shido and Maya had seen her a month ago. It was honestly a little creepy.

Still, that was convenient for them, so they wouldn't look a gifted horse in the mouth. Shido nodded to the girls, who then split up.

The first step of their plan was to get the attention of the Nibelcoles. Shido, Maya and Miku stayed back while everyone else went forward. Shido and Maya had another role to play, and it was decided that Miku would stay back if possible due to her not having a Spirit CR-Unit, she would only join the fight depending on the situation.

"Sandalphon"

""Rapahel""

"Camael"

Tohka, the Yamai twins and Kotori summoned their Angels and then revealed themselves, catching the attention of the Nibelcoles.

"Huh?"

"Wait, that's the girl from that time with Nahemah."

"The other two are also from the other day."

"The little girl looks new."

"What are they doing here?"

"Doesn't matter, let's just get them."

The Nibelcoles launched towards Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru and Kotori, who used their Angels to defend themselves.

Yuzuru's pendulum struck the Nibelcoles from afar, Kaguya's lance pierced them as they got closer, and the ones that made it past the twins were cut down by either Tohka's sword or Kotori's battle axe.

Although the four of them were defending themselves fairly well, the limitless number of Nibelcoles was starting to become a problem. Their numbers were slowly piling up, putting pressure on the girls.

But they weren't the only ones fighting.

"Metatron"

"Zadkiel"

"Natsumi-san, copy me. Zafkiel"

"O-okay. Haniel - Kaleidoscope."

Origami, Yoshino, Kurumi and Natsumi, who were still hidden, also summoned their Angels and began to give support to Tohka and the others.

They were shooting from afar, but each shot was precise. Even if they didn't manage to take down a Nibelcole, they distracted them enough for Tohka and the others to take care of it.

Of course, once the Nibelcoles started being taken down, they quickly found Kurumi and the others. Obviously, they immediately shifted focus to target the long-range members.

But Tohka and the others wouldn't let them go this easily. It was their turn to charge after the Nibelcoles and protect the others.

Some of the Nibelcoles managed to get near Kurumi and the other rangers, but then they simply dodged and dispersed. There was no need to stay in one place after all.

The area quickly became an all-out battlefield, everyone was flying around everywhere and attacking each other. It was chaos.

"This is our chance. Let's go."

That was what Shido and Maya were waiting for. The battle had reached a point where even the newly created Nibelcoles were immediately rushing to help. There would be no better time for them to go to Beelzebub.

Still hidden, Shido, Maya and Miku approached Beelzebub. There was no way Miku could join the fight, but it would also be too dangerous for her to stay alone, there's no telling when a stray Nibelcole would appear, so she followed Shido and Maya.

They made their way right behind Beelzebub. They could easily reach her if they rushed towards her.

Shido nodded to Maya, that was their signal. Maya moved to a different spot so that she wouldn't prematurely reveal Shido, and then came out of hiding.

"Nia Honjo."

Beelzebub showed a reaction for the first time.

She moved to face Maya.

"That's your name, right? You're a mangaka."

"..."

Although Beelzebub didn't say anything, she kept her eyes on Maya.

"We don't know each other, but do you remember what I'm saying?"

"..."

The book floating in front of Beelzebub changed positions to face Maya, and Nibelcoles stopped coming out.

For some reason, Shido got a really bad feeling about this. He grabbed Miku's wrist.

"What's this for?"

"I don't know, but we need to hurry."

"H-hey!"

Shido pulled Miku along and they flew towards Maya. He couldn't explain it, but he just had a bad feeling, he knew they had to quickly get to Maya.

Pulling Miku along, Shido quickly made his way past Beelzebub and nearly reached Maya. He had a feeling that, if he could get her out of the way, everything would be fine.

But unfortunately, he was too slow.

"Ashufiriya."

Beelzebub let out her voice for the first time, and Shido, Miku and Maya's vision turned white. Beelzebub herself also disappeared from the battlefield.

It didn't take long at all for the plan to go completely off the rails.