An alternate dimension.
The heart of the labyrinth.
The Master's Chamber.
In a place that had only become a battlefield yesterday, a magic circle appeared out of nowhere. Two figures stepped out of it.
"So this is where you were forcibly transferred yesterday?"
The moment he arrived, Sirzechs swept his gaze across the surroundings, carefully observing the entire Master's Chamber as if trying to discern something hidden within it.
"This is the core of the Labyrinth Space," Leo explained as he stood beside Sirzechs, pointing toward one of the newly appeared passageways. "It seems to be set up so that only the master of this alternate space can freely control it. Unless someone can break the space itself and interfere with it directly, they can't affect anything here or its operating mechanisms."
"These passageways only appeared after I killed Lafei Trix and became the master of this place. Whenever I thought about rushing to other rooms to support the others, they automatically appeared."
It was only then that Leo realized the Master's Chamber was the only room that could connect to every other room in the Labyrinth Space. The other rooms usually had just a single passageway, leading only to one specific room, with no way to reach anywhere else.
Put simply, this chamber wasn't just the core of the alternate space—it was its true center. Any room could lead here. As long as someone, like Leo, Rias, or Sona, cleared the trials of five rooms in one go, they could reach this place.
Unfortunately, the Old Maou Faction's attack had been fierce. Aside from Leo, Rias, and Sona, no one else made it past the third room. They never had the chance to reach this far.
Luckily, Leo defeated Lafei and gained control of this alternate space. Otherwise, the servants might really have died in this labyrinth, never able to return to the outside world.
"I think I understand the situation now."
Sirzechs walked around the Master's Chamber once before nodding.
"This alternate space was specially made. It doesn't use devil technology, nor that of Heaven or the fallen angels. It should be the work of Stray Magicians."
"And the Old Maou Faction has likely formed alliances with more mysterious forces we don't know about."
Sirzechs rubbed his temples and sighed.
"We were careless."
The fact that the Old Maou Faction managed to do all this right under their noses was, at its core, a failure on their part. They had been too lax with a faction that had laid low for centuries, never realizing it had secretly been in contact—and cooperation—with so many hidden forces.
And that wasn't even the biggest problem.
Based on what Leo had mentioned earlier, those hidden forces were likely backed by something terrifying beyond imagination.
As unwilling as he was to believe it, there was a strong chance that these people all belonged to the same organization.
That was truly bad news.
"Let's take a look around elsewhere," Sirzechs suggested.
"Sure," Leo replied without hesitation.
The two of them entered different rooms together, witnessing the trials within and personally experiencing the traps laid inside. If the devils of the Old Maou Faction, the Stray Magicians, and the many magical beasts hadn't already been wiped out, they might have felt firsthand the dangers Leo's servants faced yesterday.
Many of the corpses from yesterday's battle still remained. These became Sirzechs's main focus of investigation.
Leo didn't think there was much to learn from them, but Sirzechs examined everything with great care—and gained quite a few valuable insights.
"The origins of those Stray Magicians are still unclear. We'll need a thorough investigation to determine where they came from," Sirzechs said. "But as for these devils from the Old Maou Faction, judging by their demonic power traits and physical characteristics, some were loyalists from centuries ago. Others are Stray Devils who vanished long ago and have been on our wanted lists. And some… are devils from the current devil society."
Sirzechs's words made Leo pause, then understand immediately.
"You mean… there are devils in today's devil society who betrayed us and secretly defected to the Old Maou Faction?"
"Yes," Sirzechs replied with another sigh. "Though it hasn't been fully confirmed yet, that's most likely the case. Looks like things are going to get busy once we're back."
If traitors had appeared among their own people, it was obvious the devil world wouldn't know peace for quite some time. Sirzechs and the other Maou would definitely conduct a thorough investigation of the major devil families to see who else had betrayed them.
"What about those magical beasts?" Leo asked, his interest piqued by how much Sirzechs had uncovered. He pointed at the remains nearby. "Can you tell where they came from?"
Sirzechs was silent for a moment before answering. "These magical beasts show extremely obvious signs of artificial creation. I suspect they weren't captured elsewhere by the Old Maou Faction or the Stray Magicians. Someone created them and handed them over for use."
The moment he said that, something clicked in Leo's mind.
"Could it be… Annihilation Maker?"
"Annihilation Maker."
A Sacred Gear capable of creating all kinds of magical beasts.
Not only was it a Sacred Gear, it was also one of the four highest-ranking Longinus, on the same level as Zenith Tempest. It ranked third among the Longinus, second only to Zenith Tempest.
Its ability allowed the user to create various magical beasts through imagination alone. As long as the user was powerful enough, they could create an entire army of magical beasts and sweep through major factions.
Because of that, it was considered a world-altering Sacred Gear and was ultimately ranked third among the Longinus, becoming one of the four highest-tier Longinus.
"It's very possible," Sirzechs said gravely. "While there are technologies that allow for artificial breeding of magical beasts, producing such a massive number would require an enormous amount of resources."
"Only one of the four highest-ranking Longinus—Annihilation Maker—can create magical beasts purely through imagination, without consuming any resources at all. All it needs is a user with sufficiently rich and powerful imagination. That's what makes it truly terrifying."
"If the one supplying the Old Maou Faction with all these magical beasts is the host of Annihilation Maker, then it strongly suggests they're part of that mysterious organization as well."
This wasn't something that could be taken lightly.
An existence capable of casually creating an army of magical beasts joining an underground organization and becoming an enemy of the devil world was nothing but bad news.
Sirzechs knew he had to take this matter far more seriously.
"It was a good thing we came here to investigate," he said, turning to Leo. "Otherwise, we would've missed a lot of critical clues and intelligence. The ownership of this alternate space can be transferred manually, right?"
"Yes. It just takes a bit of work," Leo replied with a nod. "Are you planning to have me transfer ownership to you?"
"Exactly. I want to have more professionals come in to investigate it thoroughly," Sirzechs said honestly. "Of course, this alternate space is your spoils of war. I won't ask you to give it up for nothing."
"How about this: I'll have someone create another alternate space of equal value and exchange it with you."
Without any hesitation, Leo nodded.
"I agree to the exchange."
The Labyrinth Space was impressive, but it was ultimately something created by the enemy. Leo wouldn't dare use it casually.
What if there were hidden backdoors or unknown traps left behind? That would just be inviting trouble.
Even if Sirzechs hadn't suggested transferring ownership, Leo wouldn't have used this place lightly anyway.
Given that, exchanging something he couldn't safely use for an equally valuable space he could use with peace of mind was an easy decision.
At that moment, Sirzechs became the new master of the Labyrinth Space.
Leo immediately transferred ownership of the alternate space to him.
"Thank you for your understanding," Sirzechs said, his previously heavy expression easing as a gentle smile returned. "Just as Ajuka said—you're a very sensible kid."
"Oh?" Leo said in surprise. "Ajuka… Beelzebub-sama mentioned me to you?"
"Of course," Sirzechs replied with a smile. "The day you advanced to a High-Class Devil and awakened your mutated trait, Ajuka came to me personally. He was unusually excited, saying he'd found an interesting research subject. Your devil trait didn't just mutate—it also formed an unknown connection with the Evil Pieces he developed, causing mysterious changes in them."
"Since then, he's been secretly keeping an eye on you. Especially whenever you use Evil Pieces, he pays close attention and collects data."
"This time, he specifically asked me to remind you of one thing," Sirzechs added seriously. "Be careful. Don't let yourself be watched by someone with ill intent."
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Sorry for the delay
500 p.s for extra chapter
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You can read up to chapter 160 on patreon.com/NiaXD.