Before reaching God-level, the Boosted Gear functioned as a stable force multiplier. Combined with Ethan's absurd combat instincts and natural talent, it allowed him to effectively jump two entire power tiers.
As for after he reached God-level...
It was unlikely he would encounter enemies an entire realm higher than him at that stage. Once one enters the Divine domain, the population of practitioners decreases exponentially. Out of ten God-level experts, perhaps only one reaches the Sub-Dragon God level. And out of ten Sub-Dragon Gods, barely one might break through to become a true Dragon God.
At those heights, open warfare becomes rare. A true battle to the death between such beings would bring cataclysmic destruction to the Three Realms; nobody wins a war that destroys the world.
Thus, Ethan set a small goal for himself: become a God-level powerhouse. But first, he needed to officially reach the Satan-Class.
He turned his gaze toward the weakened, unconscious Katereia Leviathan.
"I've used my dual-cultivation ability for a long time, but this is the first time I've had to use force," he mused.
The thought was unexpectedly stimulating. However, before he could start, he needed to find a way to permanently suppress this "black beauty" once her strength began to return.
Sirzechs and Serafall watched Ethan holding Katereia. They opened their mouths to say something, but upon meeting the resentful, pouting glares of Rias and Sona, the two Satans immediately rubbed their noses and looked away.
As the leaders of the Devils, they technically should have protected a pure-blooded descendant of the original Leviathan. However, Ethan clearly didn't intend to kill her. There was no need to offend the Red Dragon Emperor and their own little sisters over a traitor.
Ethan's irritation with the two Satans dissipated as he dragged the broken Katereia back to Rias and the other girls. They began to whisper about how to properly imprison a Satan-class powerhouse and turn her into a resource to be taken at will.
Whether the leaders of the Three Factions signed the peace treaty or went home to deal with their internal drama was no longer his concern.
The white-hot battlefield suddenly grew quiet. Having successfully repelled the invaders, the ranks of Angels and Fallen Angels separated into two distinct, wary groups.
"Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels fighting side-by-side," Shemhaza remarked, watching the soldiers in the sky with a faint smile. "Peace really has arrived, hasn't it?"
"Indeed," Michael replied. "As for Kokabiel, his actions were my failure. Upon my return, I will have him cast into the Eternal Frozen Hell to atone for his sins."
Michael and the Satans understood that failing to sign the treaty now would only play into the hands of the Khaos Brigade. Even though their cooperation was forced by a common enemy, it was a solid foundation for propaganda.
"The matter with Katereia and Zorga is our burden to bear," Sirzechs added. "We will handle the fallout in the Underworld."
"And the issue with Vali was my oversight," Shemhaza conceded. Since the White Dragon Emperor was closely associated with the Fallen Angels, he took the blame to balance the scales. It wouldn't look good for the Devils to take the fall for three different traitors at once.
Michael, the gentle blonde archangel, resumed his "nice guy" persona. "The Ten Gods seem to be restless again. I hope that after the treaty is signed, we can keep a close eye on them together."
"Are those stubborn fossils still obsessed with the idea of enslaving all of humanity?" Serafall asked with a look of disgust. "They taught the Hero Clan a few tricks eons ago and now they think they're the masters of the world. What strange pride."
Michael sighed. "The 'Ten Gods' have cycled through many generations. There have been some who identified with humans and shared our goals, but..."
Ethan pricked up his ears. He understood the High School DxD world, but he was still piecing together how the elements from The Testament of Sister New Devil fit into this reality. One of the mysteries was the relationship between the Ten Gods and the current Three Factions.
As Michael continued, the history became clear. The Ten Gods were beings who appeared after the true "God" vanished, functioning similarly to the automated "System" remaining in Heaven. However, they possessed true life, consciousness, and distinct personalities.
Unfortunately, they were still bound by the rigid, mechanical rules of the System. This made them fanatically hostile toward Devils and Fallen Angels, and led them to view the humans of the new world as disposable servants.
They played the role of high-and-mighty deities to the extreme, but in reality, they were just God-level beings with significant limitations. Eventually, the Three Factions and the human Hero Clan had driven them into a corner of the Celestial Realm, where they could no longer interfere with the world's direction.
But the Ten Gods never wavered. They viewed the Khaos Brigade as a bunch of "low-born mutts," even if their leader was Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God. Thus, the two groups never officially merged.
Aulniss, the bizarre mechanical angel Ethan had seen earlier, was the creation of the Ten Gods—a substitute for the traditional Angels they could no longer produce without the full System.
Because the Ten Gods were replaced over generations, some occasionally broke free from their programmed instincts, particularly those who mastered powers related to positive emotions.
"Like Raphael and Aphreia," Michael noted.
But those who "awakened" were a tiny minority. If their peers discovered their transgressions, they were stripped of their divinity, tortured, or imprisoned for eternity. Execution was rare, as killing a fellow "God" might shake their absolute authority over the mechanical angels.
This explained why Mio Naruse's surrogate mother, Raphael, had been stripped of her godhood and tortured rather than killed.
Ultimately, the leaders of the Three Factions signed the Peace Treaty. But the shadows of the Khaos Brigade and the Ten Gods meant their headaches were far from over.
As for Ethan and Katereia, everyone collectively chose to "forget" the incident. Even the reason for Zorga's defection was glossed over; the Gremory family's ties to the Wilbert clan were deep, and Mio Naruse was a potential Satan-class asset who was firmly on the Gremory side. Her foster parents were already living as servants in the Gremory estate, receiving "protection."
Late at night, the heavily injured Katereia finally groaned and woke up. "Ugh... where am I?"
She was lost for a moment in the unfamiliar surroundings until the memory of that brutal red dragon claw flashed through her mind. Her beautiful body trembled uncontrollably as she recalled the agonizing sensation of her bones being crushed and rearranged.
It took a long time for her to calm down and observe her environment. It was pitch black—so dark that even her Devil night-vision was useless. Judging by the echo of her breathing, the room was small, perhaps only a dozen square meters.
Then, she focused on herself. Her Satan-class regeneration had healed most of her physical wounds, but she felt utterly drained. She couldn't even muster the strength to snap the ropes binding her wrists and ankles.
Worst of all, she realized she was completely naked. Every time she writhed or curled up on the floor, the cold touch of the stone sent a wave of shame and fury through her.
Recalling Ethan's words during the battle, she felt a surge of panic. She carefully shifted her bound body to check the state of her "lower gate," feeling the rough hemp ropes tied in a lewd, restrictive pattern across her crotch.
"Phew... thank God..." She didn't feel any lingering soreness or foreign wetness. She was still intact.
"Heh..."
Ethan's mocking laughter rang out from the darkness. "I wouldn't have thought a 'Great Satan' like the descendant of Leviathan would care so much about her virginity."
Being addressed by her title gave Katereia a flicker of pride, but it was quickly snuffed out by the grim reality of her situation. What mortified her most was that Ethan had been watching her—watching her struggle and check herself—and she hadn't sensed him at all.