Thanks to Sona Sitri's detailed explanation a few days ago combined with his own fragmented memories, Ethan was the first in the room to realize what was happening.
He had naively assumed that without Gaspar Vladi's Time-Stopping Evil Eye and with the summit being moved up, the Khaos Brigade wouldn't show their faces. He was wrong. No matter the circumstances, the Khaos Brigade would never stand by and watch the Three Factions achieve peace.
If they didn't have time for a subtle plan, they would simply brute-force it. While the Khaos Brigade didn't have the numbers for a full-scale frontal war, they never backed down from a high-stakes skirmish. Their core membership was small, but their top-tier powerhouses were just as numerous as the Three Factions'. They weren't bound by race or mythology; as long as you desired chaos and the destruction of the status quo, the Khaos Brigade welcomed you.
In every faction seeking peace, there were hawks—radicals who lived for conflict. When these warmongers were pushed out by diplomacy, the Khaos Brigade was there to absorb them as fresh blood. They weren't just here to sabotage the summit; they were currently wreaking havoc in Norse mythology as well. They were a collective of lunatics who believed that only war and blood could bring true meaning to the world.
Outside, the mass-produced magicians and soldiers continued to grind against each other. There was no gore; the clones simply dissipated into beautiful sparks of light and basic elements upon death. However, this "harmonious" battlefield quickly turned into a visceral scene of war as the primary actors took the stage.
Sirzechs suddenly turned his head toward one side of the room. "This magic circle... could it be...?"
Before he could finish, the circle flared to life. A dark-skinned beauty with square-rimmed glasses and dreadlocks appeared before them.
"Greetings, current Satan Sirzechs-sama, and Serafall-sama," Katereia Leviathan said, placing a hand over her heart in a mock aristocratic bow. She looked like a dignitary coming for an audience, but no one in the room was foolish enough to believe she came in peace.
"She is a descendant of the original Satan Leviathan, Katereia Leviathan," Sirzechs explained to Rias and the others, who looked confused.
Grayfia and Sona instinctively moved away from the magic circle, drawing closer to their respective Satans. Serafall, who had been maintaining a rare professional demeanor, finally let her true nature slip. Her bubbly, high-pitched voice rang out in surprise. "What are you doing here, Leiya-chan?"
Facing the pigtail-wearing, busty Satan, the dark-skinned beauty raised her staff, a twisted sneer on her face. "For the sake of the world's destruction and the ultimate chaos, of course."
With a flick of her staff, she unleashed a wave of energy. The villa they were in was instantly reduced to rubble.
Amidst the soaring flames and dust, Ethan subtly cancelled the defensive spell he had been prepping. Sirzechs, Michael, and Shemhaza had acted faster, combining their powers to manifest a circular barrier. Katereia's attack hadn't even caused it to flicker.
"The leaders of the Three Factions joined together to cast a shield..." Katereia covered her mouth with one hand, letting out a mocking, gleeful laugh. "What a pathetic sight."
Inside the barrier, Shemhaza glanced at Sirzechs and Serafall. "It seems the signing of the peace treaty will have to be delayed."
"What is your goal, Katereia?" Sirzechs asked calmly.
"Nothing much. I simply hold the opposite opinion of this summit," she replied coolly. "Since the original Satans and the God of the Bible are gone, this world needs a revolution."
Serafall pressed her hands together over her chest. "Leiya-chan... please stop. Why do you have to be like this?" She looked less like a powerful Satan and more like an innocent girl-next-door. Ethan couldn't help but steal a few extra glances at her heaving chest.
Katereia didn't stop; if anything, she looked more enraged. "Serafall! You dare speak to me like that after stealing the title of Leviathan from me?"
"I didn't..." Serafall's voice trailed off, her tone heavy with some unspoken secret, but she couldn't bring herself to say more.
"Don't worry. I'll slaughter you here today and restore the true glory of the Leviathan name myself." Katereia began bombarding the barrier with renewed confidence. Unfortunately for her, a shield maintained by the leaders of all three factions was an immovable object.
Once Ethan confirmed they were safe, his mind began to race. It was fascinating that the powers of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels didn't conflict, allowing them to create a unified barrier. Then again, if they could interbreed and produce hybrids, it stood to reason their energies could harmonize.
But he had more pressing concerns. If the Khaos Brigade chose a direct assault, they wouldn't just send Katereia. There were four Satan-Class powerhouses here. Katereia couldn't win a 1-v-1, let alone a 1-v-4.
Wait... Ethan looked at the restless Vali. Make that 2-v-4. Because it was a frontal attack, the battle-hungry White Dragon Emperor wouldn't bother with an elaborate ruse. But even at 2-v-4, the odds were still heavily against them.
As Ethan was contemplating the balance of power, Vali decided he had waited long enough. He struck from the inside.
Because Vali attacked the core of the barrier, the three leaders were forced to drop the shield and scatter. Ethan moved quickly to shield Rias and the girls from the fallout. Luckily, the four Satans were top-tier for a reason, and Vali didn't dare get pinned down in the middle of them. After shattering the barrier, he flew out into the open sky.
Sirzechs and Serafall covered Rias's group as they retreated to a safe distance. This level of combat was far beyond their reach; even the shockwaves could be fatal. Michael and Shemhaza didn't continue the unified defense; their priority shifted to retaliation.
With the White Dragon Emperor's betrayal, all eyes turned to Shemhaza. The white-haired scholar's lip twitched. He had been enjoying the drama on the Devil side a moment ago, only to find the fire in his own backyard.
"Vali... so you truly have joined the Khaos Brigade?" Shemhaza asked, before explaining Vali's true identity to the group.
Vali Lucifer was a descendant of the original Satan Lucifer, born to a human mother. It was that human half that allowed the Divine Dividing—the wings of the White Dragon—to anchor to his soul.
"That's right. My father was the son of the True Satan Lucifer. My mother was a mere human," Vali declared. As if on cue, his magnificent white dragon armor sprouted several pairs of slender, jagged black protrusions—the wings of a High Devil.
Ethan watched from below. The dragon-devil hybrid look is actually pretty cool, he thought. I wonder when Rias and the others will develop more wings? Having sex in devil form with multiple pairs of wings... that would be an experience.
"I see..." Sirzechs said heavily. "No wonder we had no records of your existence."
The devil wings vanished, leaving only the wide, brilliant blue light-wings of the dragon as Vali hovered alongside Katereia.
"Ethan Uesugi." Vali's arrogant voice boomed from within his helmet. "I am the strongest of this age, born of the Satan bloodline and granted the power of the Dragon. But you? You are a commoner. Before your reincarnation, you were nothing but a mediocre high school student."
"In other words, you are nothing without the Boosted Gear."
"It's boring. Truly laughable. They call us fated rivals, yet there is a natural, heaven-sent difference in our innate strength..."
Ethan, who had been trying to keep a low profile, felt a wave of secondhand embarrassment. Vali, with his Balance Breaker, was indeed at Satan-Class—stronger than a typical devil. But Ethan had already taken down Azazel when he was only S-rank. Now that he was SSS-rank, the gap was much smaller than Vali realized.
More importantly, Ethan was standing next to four heavyweights. He wasn't sure about Michael or Shemhaza, but Sirzechs and Serafall were definitely "Super Satan-Class." Ethan's plan was to just chill and protect his harem while the "big brothers" handled the trash, but Vali just had to keep dissing him...
Has this guy not checked my track record? Is he just a pure meathead battle-junkie?
Vali finished his monologue about how "lonely it is at the top," only to realize that everyone below was looking at him with a very strange, almost pitiful expression.
Ethan sighed, stepping forward. "You talk a lot for a guy whose best move is 'I'm half-human.' Do you want to keep jerking yourself off in the air, or are we going to do this?"