Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Lucy POV.
"How much longer?" Rebecca asked boredly. I hummed while glancing at the time on one of the screens.
"Give it five minutes," I hummed to myself as I continued spying through the cameras. I was sitting comfortably in a chair beneath the mansion. Several cables were connected to my body, the other ends connected to Ex-Machina units for my use.
The room was completely dark, except for the dozen holographic screens around me; keyboards, interfaces, and large blocks of code slid by at high speed.
My gaze was fixed on one particular screen. On it, I could see Kurome rushing through the mansion. All the rest of us had left the mansion under false pretenses, leaving Kurome completely 'alone' to act.
Especially Lucius, who had taken Akame with him for the next part of the plan he and Ravel had devised.
Now, Kurome, completely alone, was running through places 'forbidden' to her, opening room after room, impatiently searching for her target. She held Yatsufusa in her hand as she hurried along.
After several minutes, she stopped in a room. Inside, a huge red crystal was bobbing in the middle of the room, glowing faintly with magic. There were many runes marked on all the walls and floor, shining brightly.
Kurome didn't hesitate, drawing Yatsufusa and destroying the enormous crystal. The crystal slowly fragmented before shattering easily; the destroyed crystal seemed to explode in a magical shockwave as the runes on the ground slowly disappeared. Kurome smiled with satisfaction.
Then the room filled with a gas, startling Kurome. She immediately covered her mouth, but the small breath she'd taken earlier was enough to knock her unconscious. She hummed softly. She really hoped GLaDOS hadn't used her deadly neurotoxin and had simply kept something in place to let her sleep.
"The decoy is broken, partial defense lowered." I announced cheerfully before moving my hand and dispelling Pentagram City's fake shields. And the change was instantaneous. Thousands of teleportation circles began appearing over Pentagram City. Thousands of devils and Khaos Brigade members began appearing in the sky above Pentagram City.
"Enemies incoming, Lucius, all in position?" I asked easily. Lucius was in Evergarden; he could see the city map with ease.
"Everyone's safe," Lucius said easily.
"All civilians inside their homes. Home defenses activated normally; they will be impenetrable. Everyone should be safe." GLaDOS added, grimacing behind me. "I'm checking every street and doing a full population count. Everyone's been tallied." She added easily. I nodded, my fingers blurring as I tapped the keyboards in front of me.
"Ping sent. " I said easily, and just as I expected, the quickhack activated immediately, hitting one of the Khaos Brigade members before bouncing off and spreading through the crowd of terrorists.
I had changed Ping so that it bounced and started tracking all the allies of the person hit with the quickhack. That meant all members of Khaos Brigade and the Old Satans faction lit up like Christmas trees.
At least in my eyes, and in the eyes of all those allied with us. That meant us, the aurors, the flowers, and the stars. The marks should last for several hours, and that was more than enough.
The objective wasn't to identify the terrorists who had appeared, but rather those who were operating incognito within the city. Special forces began moving to specific locations to deal with them.
With that sorted, I moved the screens before looking inside Distracted Globe. A small army began to emerge from the portals as they crowded together. I moved my hand and another keyboard appeared in front of me, and I did the same.
I could see a figure step forward, almost arrogantly. The music and lights stopped immediately, before the entire Distracted Globe was fully illuminated as Syura smiled.
"Do you need backup?" I asked aloud, my voice carrying to the small earpiece in Freya's ear, since she, lacking the seal, didn't share the mental link with the rest of us. Freya emerged from the crowd and flew smoothly until she was standing in front of Syura.
"It's not necessary," Freya murmured. I simply nodded before the keyboard disappeared in front of me. I could only look at Syura, almost with pity. Almost was the keyword.
"You're trespassing on Distracted Globe's territory; please leave," Freya said easily. Syura laughed mockingly.
"Retreat? Who are you to force me to retreat? You're not even a devil; you disgust me. I am Syura, and I claim this place as mine. Serena Prince will die soon, and her Peerage as well. Kneel before me, and perhaps I will forgive you." Syura said mockingly.
"Arrogant, even more so than before; he's confident; he ate Ophis's snake." Lucius said aloud, to convey the information to Freya as well. She didn't answer; she only sighed. Her gaze hardened.
"This place belongs to Serena Prince, and I will defend it as such, once again. Retreat." Freya warned. Syura merely sneered. Freya shook her head, then unleashed her Arcanum. I could see Syura's eyes widen as he sensed Freya's divinity. Then I saw the glazed looks on the faces of the hundreds of soldiers and Syura as they succumbed to Freya's charm. "Everyone but you, commit suicide." Freya said coldly, pointing at Syura.
I watched as all the soldiers, some of them high-class devils or their equivalent, just grinned foolishly before taking up their weapons and stabbing themselves. Some cut off their heads, others plunged their weapons into their hearts, others used magic to blow their heads off, and one, unarmed, even used his bare hands to grab his head and rip it off in a disgusting motion.
Within minutes, the hundreds of Khaos Brigade members had committed suicide, their bodies floating in the zero gravity of Distracted Globe. And they weren't the only ones; the hidden members scattered throughout Distracted Globe, revealed by my Ping, had done the same.
Freya simply glanced at Horn behind her, who nodded, and in an instant, all the bodies vanished. Freya nodded contentedly before clapping loudly.
"I apologize to everyone for that disgusting sight. The problem has been resolved and the vermin disposed of. Please go about your day; no one will attack Distracted Globe again," Freya said, her voice booming. Everyone seemed shocked and suddenly very cautious. Although… they quickly went back to what they were doing.
Serena had placed some compulsions on the portals to the human world to prevent them from coming to the Globe today. That meant everyone present was part of the supernatural world. And all of them were accustomed to violence to a certain extent.
Perhaps they didn't want to see how a single person could so easily force hundreds to commit suicide, but no one wanted to get involved, especially after feeling that Freya was a goddess. So, besides appearing cautious, they paid no attention. I just shook my head in amusement.
Freya ignored everyone and returned to her platform. Syura foolishly followed her. Freya simply sat down and stared at Syura.
"Give me the Sacred Gear Shambhala," Freya said easily. Syura eagerly complied, handing the pendant to Freya without hesitation. Horn took the pendant and put it away. Freya just looked at Syura boredly. "And you... you've disappointed me. If you want to... regain my favor, you must do me a small favor," Freya said, looking at Syura.
"W-what do you want, my goddess?" Syura said without hesitation. Freya's gaze turned cold.
"First, cut out your tongue, pull out your fingernails, then pull out your teeth, and finally gouge out your eyes," Freya said easily. Syura grinned foolishly, then put his hand in his mouth and pulled out his tongue with a silly grin. He groaned in pain; his eyes began to water, but he still wore a silly, happy smile on his face. Then he started pulling out his fingernails.
Freya just hummed dully, raising her hand before Horn poured her a glass of wine. I just snorted, ignoring the slight chill in the scene. I moved the screen aside and focused on something else.
I looked outside into Pentagram City. The fight had started there too. Along with the members of the Khaos Brigade were all the other surviving members of Syura's group, Wild Hunt, and Esdeath's Jaegers. However, their numbers were dwindling considerably fast.
Ravel, Riveria, Rebecca, and GLaDOS were more than enough to control and eliminate all the attackers. But the Aurors had insisted on helping. So they were fighting too. Hood especially. In his uniform, with Arc's The Light enveloping his body, he tore through every devil in his path, and the others followed behind.
It was… boring to watch and monitor. Even if some of those leading the entire army had Ophis's snakes at their disposal, they were no challenge for the girls. Diodora could increase his power enough to overpower Seekvaira in direct confrontation, but not against Rias and Issei, and he definitely wasn't a match for the descendants of the old Satans after consuming the same snake.
That proved their power increase was proportional to their base power. And theirs was… disappointing at best. Or rather, the girls were really powerful compared to everyone else. I smiled slightly before continuing to monitor everything.
We had prepared everything in case it became necessary to reduce any of their stats or strength using Quickhacks, but it didn't seem necessary. Most of them had already been killed, some sealed away and sold to The Company, and their Sacred Gears had been stolen and sent to the mansion.
I moved my hand and easily pushed those screens aside again. That would eventually resolve itself without any problem.
So I focused on the next objective. I moved my hand, and several screens displayed the next scene. Bellatrix was flying calmly, looking down at Lucifad with a huge smile from high above.
"Do you need help?" I asked Bella; I could hear the mocking snort in my head.
"Of course not," Bella said playfully. I just hummed along and kept watching the screen. Bella's smile grew to an almost unnatural degree, then she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ESDEEEAAAATH, COME PLAY!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bella screamed maniacally and unleashed her demonic power in torrents, and blood began to gush out around Lucifaad. A vast amount of blood, enough to resemble a sea, then began to engulf Lucifaad.
Then Bella began to control the blood and started creating giant waves, as if a tsunami had formed above the earth and was trying to destroy all of Lucifaad below it, consuming it completely.
The waves grew so large that they covered all of Lucifaad, and then spread above and created a huge dome of blood about to consume the city, only for everything to freeze in an instant.
With her blood frozen, Lucifaad was locked inside the ice dome, though the city was now safe. Still, the plan wasn't for Bella to destroy all of Lucifaad; that was stupid. All she needed was to get Esdeath out, and she had.
Bella wore a huge smile as she watched Esdeath emerge from the dome at the only point in the sky the blood hadn't covered, and Esdeath looked at her with curiosity.
"You just attacked Lucifaad. You know what that means, right?" Esdeath asked, sounding genuinely curious. Bella just laughed slightly.
"It's just a little blood; I didn't attack anyone. By the way, thanks for stopping it just in time," Bella said mockingly. Esdeath frowned.
"Even so, it's considered an attack. Not even Prince's influence and her friendship with the Satans will be able to save you," Esdeath said dryly before smiling sadistically. "And no one will punish me for taking you on, right now," Esdeath added gleefully.
"I could say the same," Bella said cheerfully. "Joining the Khaos Brigade immediately labels you a terrorist. No faction will punish me for killing you; they might even forgive me for my 'attack' on Lucifaad when they find out I got rid of you." Bella said, her sadistic smile surpassing Esdeath's, and Esdeath froze, staring at her.
"Terrorist? Me? That's a serious accusation," Esdeath said coldly. Bella laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"You know. You shouldn't have met with Serena when she came to Lucifaad for the young devils' gathering. She was able to sense it. She felt Ophis' snake inside you. Possessing Ophis' snake, the leader of the Khaos Brigade, immediately classifies you as a terrorist."
"And the Satans trust Serena's senses; they won't doubt her word for a minute. I'm sure Lord Beelzebub will be more than capable of easily identifying whether Ophis' snake is present inside you or not. Or rather, was present once it's finished with you," Bella said playfully. Esdeath's smile vanished, and she looked at Bella coldly.
"I see," Esdeath said calmly. "I must admit, I underestimated that succubus. To be caught by something so... stupid is surprising." Esdeath said calmly. Bella shrugged.
"Sounds like a you problem." Bella teased playfully; Esdeath just shook her head.
"I suppose I have no choice but to kill you," Esdeath said easily. "You're right, I won't be able to hide from Lord Beelzebub, and that means I won't be able to get my revenge on Prince properly, but I could cause her pain by killing you. The Satans and the other leaders of the various factions must be busy right now, so they won't be able to come and help you," Esdeath said with a sadistic smile. Bella laughed softly.
"Do you really expect the Satans to come? It seems you have no confidence that the Old Satan faction and the Khaos Brigade can get rid of Sirzechs and Ajuka," Bella said playfully. Esdeath just shook her head.
"They're just idiots with delusions of grandeur. Sirzechs and Ajuka are monsters among monsters. Even with Ophis's help, the descendants of Satan will barely be a nuisance against monsters like those two," Esdeath said matter-of-factly. Bella just raised an impressed eyebrow.
"Wow, I really didn't expect that from you," Bella said playfully. Esdeath shook her head.
"I saw them fight during the civil war; they're in a—" Esdeath stopped abruptly, then looked down at the dome covering the city. She seemed to scan something as she frowned. "You… Lucifaad's guards and devils are dying; what did you do?" Esdeath asked incredulously before her eyes widened. "Najenda," Esdeath said, then glared at Bella. "Are you working with Night Raid?" Esdeath asked menacingly. Bella just smirked.
"I have no idea who those people are," Bella said, shrugging. "But it seems you have a few problems," Bella mocked. Esdeath didn't hesitate, descending at great speed, but Bella appeared beside her, her fist enveloped in Haki and a translucent sphere.
She struck Esdeath in the side, who shielded herself with a thick layer of ice. The blow landed; Lucifaad's sky seemed to crack, the shield shattered easily, and Esdeath was flung away. Bella began to give chase.
"HAHAHAHA! LET'S HAVE SOME FUN, ESDEATH! YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME IF YOU WANT TO GET BACK TO LUCIFAAD, COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bella laughed uproariously as she kept slamming Esdeath farther and farther away from Lucifaad. Esdeath finally grew tired of being treated like a puppet, and a huge icicle erupted, one large enough to completely cover Lucifaad.
"Enough! I'll kill you first!" Esdeath growled furiously as she launched her attack at Bella. Bella just smiled broadly.
"I hope so," Bella said, and they both launched into the fight. I just hummed and got comfortable while I watched the fight. This will be fun.
Author's Notes: Yay, happy second publication anniversary to me! Whew, it's already been two years since I started writing and publishing Serena (September 16th), and a month later, Izumi (October 18th). A long time! Honestly, I didn't think it would last this long, but here I am, after almost 2 million words between both novels, and I'm still going! I'm really satisfied so far, and I hope to continue writing!
Now, there's really not much to say. I'm truly more than satisfied with the growth and visibility of my novels across all platforms, so all I can say is, thank you for everything so far! First, thank you to Scott Fellman and Vongrak, my editors, who have been a huge help so far. And also, but no less importantly, thank you all. Thank you for reading, thank you for the comments, and thank you for all the support these novels have received so far! Thank you.
A/N: If you liked the story, join my patreon, patreon.com/Camellya_Addams, there are up to 10 chapters in advance, thank you. Or you can also visit my Ko-Fi, ko-fi.com/camellya_addams.