After watching the Archer's body fully dissolve into ether and vanish, Cao Cao turns to the mysterious boy.
"So, who are you—"
But the boy is no longer where he stood. Instead, he's sizing up the Hero Faction members, standing in front of Leonardo, measuring their heights with his hands.
"Whoa, crazy! Leonardo's shorter than me! Seven years ago, huh? Makes sense."
"Uh…"
"Aaahhh! Jeanne-san and Georg-san are here! Oh, and you're Heracles-san, right? I only saw you once!"
"Hey!"
"Oh, Xenovia-san! Wow, amazing!"
"Hey, hold on!"
"There's a lot of people I don't know. May I have your names?"
"Sure thing! I'm the great Perseus—"
"Listen to us!"
The Hero Faction recoils at the boy's inexplicable enthusiasm.
"For starters, could you tell us your name?"
"Oh, I haven't said yet, have I? …Haha, it's weird that you all don't know my name. Feels kind of lonely. Makes me realize I wasn't around when your fight began."
There's no need for him to feel guilt or responsibility. After all, Cao Cao and the others failed to reach the God of the Bible, causing him to lose everything. Yet, he inherited their will and resolve.
—But just as the Hero Faction doesn't know the boy, he doesn't know this version of them. He doesn't know them laughing so freely.
"Sorry, I won't give my name."
Surprisingly, his declaration stirs no shock or irritation.
"If I told you my name here, it'd create a 'connection.'"
"A connection, huh?"
"Don't get me wrong—I don't think meeting you all is unfortunate. It's the greatest luck. But living as an ordinary human, not shouldering titles like hero, king, or savior, and passing away as one… that's valid too, right?"
The Hero Faction can't deny it.
Because that's a life they couldn't live. Not one they didn't choose or abandoned, but one they had to give up due to fate's whims or others' schemes.
Surely, the "him" in this world won't have to become this "him."
"So I won't give my name or say who I am. But if you meet someone who might be me, please be kind to them."
"Got it. I promise."
"Thanks. Just call me Savior."
Claiming the title of savior is bold, but it's fitting. He's a hero who slayed beasts and gods.
"First, I need to explain why I came here."
"Wasn't it to meet that Archer me?"
"No, no. Meeting him was a coincidence. Coming to this world was just a detour after destroying the 'Path' from 'C.' I only recently noticed he was here."
Savior waves his hand dramatically.
"Preventing the incineration of the Underworld, stopping Beast X's manifestation, killing Issei Hyoudou before he opens the 'Gate,' eating pancakes—there's a lot to do, but the main thing is about Solomon."
Savior arrived in this world before Goetia and the others were summoned by the System. More precisely, he traced the signs of the System activating the summoning ritual for the Evils of Humanity. He could sense its precursors.
"In our world, Solomon died three times. First, as a human, burned by the System for incurring the God of the Bible's wrath."
This is shared with this world. The God who sought to remake humanity and the King of Magecraft who forced humanity forward clashed head-on, resulting in execution at the soul level.
"But he revived using a ring in the body of Asmodeus's descendant. His second death was as a beast. Nine rings were taken down with Goetia's first Noble Phantasm, and the last one—sealed and disconnected from the others—was destroyed by our Cao Cao."
In this world, too, Solomon revived with a ring, taking over Cruzelei Asmodeus's body. But the destroyed ring was a fake, and he revived again using it.
"And the third death. He somehow revived, merged with the God of the Bible, Lucifer, and Samael, and died. I dealt the final blow, but it was our collective victory."
He's proud, and rightfully so—it's a monumental feat.
"So we couldn't let Solomon find us, no matter what. With all the rings destroyed, we needed to figure out how he revived. …It was tough. I had to secretly meet and convince Hades-sama, Loki-sama, and Shiva-sama. I'd only heard of Hades-sama and Loki-sama through stories."
Spilling too much about parallel worlds could be risky. Information about who he relied on could reveal who died in his world, potentially disrupting alliances.
"Could the destroyed ring have been a fake?"
"Unlikely. I confirmed it with a holy relic."
Savior gestures to the coffin on his back. The relic must be the Holy Spear, Holy Grail, or Holy Cross—perhaps even the Holy Nails or Shroud.
"It's to prevent his third revival here and to stop another in our world."
"Less like a monster's revival and more like a pandemic outbreak."
"Well said."
Trihexa's destructive antics seem almost endearing compared to Solomon's nuisance of a mindset. Though Cao Cao and the others, spurred by that dangerous ideology, have no right to complain.
"There's more I want to ask, but do you have any questions?"
"Well… like I said, there are people here I don't know. Could you tell me everyone's names?"
"…Got it."
The boy mentioned earlier that, date-wise, he meets Cao Cao and the others six months later. Not recognizing many faces here makes sense.
Then let's introduce them. The reliable comrades he doesn't know, the proud allies.
"First, that guy over there—"
The boy points to Cao Cao's side.
As Cao Cao turns, his body sways. The damage and fatigue from the battle have piled up. No surprise. He nearly collapses, his legs failing, but someone lends a shoulder, keeping him from hitting the ground.
"Whoops, sorry—"
Realizing who it is, Cao Cao's expression freezes.
"That sharp-eyed blonde beauty over there—who is she? Is she Asia Argento, who I've heard about so much?"
"Let's talk after treatment."
Deeper than the Underworld, in Cocytus, the lowest layer of Hell in the Netherworld, Hades walks, accompanied by three top-tier reapers: Pluto, Orcus, and Thanatos.
"By now, the bat and crow must be burning as kindling. As a god of death, it pains me to see beings of our world slaughtered by those from another universe."
His tone betrays unhidden glee, though the three reapers don't point it out. While Pluto and Thanatos might not care, the moderate Orcus has his reservations.
Arriving at a prisoner's cell, Hades taunts.
"How's the condition, crow—oh, my apologies. Even fallen, you were a key figure of a major faction. Shall I call you by name, Kokabiel?"
Fallen angel executive Kokabiel, who opposed the Three Factions' peace and was half-killed by the Demon God Pillars, a fallen angel from the Bible.
"What do you want, you rotting skeleton?"
"It seems the God of the Bible has revived."
Hades deliberately omits "in a parallel world."
"…What?"
Kokabiel's reaction is dramatic.
"Not only revived, but he's decided to exterminate humanity. Apparently, once humanity's gone, you lot can return to God. All your leaders, including Azazel, are on board. Don't you find it shameful as a fellow fallen angel?"
It's not even this world's event, and the timeline is jumbled, but Kokabiel can't know that. Hades himself knows he doesn't fully grasp the truth.
"Fuhaha, fuhahahahahaha!"
A roaring laugh. Not mocking his comrades' disgrace, as Hades suggested, nor raging in anger.
"Finally! Finally—the God has realized we are worthy to stand beside Him!"
Pure, unadulterated ecstasy.
"…You really said it."
Though warned of this reaction, Hades is genuinely surprised. A fallen angel who lost his white wings, reduced to a bundle of approval-seeking. To speak so boldly before Hades, lord of the Netherworld, with no means of escape.
"If there's no God, we had to keep the world turning! But if He's revived, that changes everything! Not Michael! Not Lucifer! Certainly not Solomon! I—we fallen angels—are the ones worthy to stand by God! We'll return to our one true Father!"
Zan! Three scythes swing in unison.
"Fafafa, when was the last time you three aligned your blades?"
"Please don't jest, Lord Hades."
The Netherworld isn't monolithic. Pluto, Hades's confidant; Orcus, the moderate; Thanatos, the militant. They've clashed often since the age of myth. This unity is rare.
"That boy's words hitting so accurately is almost terrifying."
A boy with an otherworldly aura, carrying a coffin, claiming to be from a parallel world. He revealed the truth of the Evils of Humanity's manifestation and the world's collapse, and the madness of those in the Bible.
"A parallel world where the God of the Bible revived… Even I, Indra, and Angra Mainyu perished. Yet some survived and defeated the God of the Bible again. Amusing. We must ensure it doesn't happen here."
The boy's exhausted aura wasn't imagined. Even with the great threat gone, problems pile up.
They challenged the God of the Bible with surviving humans and aberrations, but with the common enemy gone, conflict is inevitable. History shows they'll hurt and heal each other, growing through it.
"That Benniar-tan survived in that parallel world is my salvation."
Orcus mutters, as if that's his only solace.
In fact, the boy's existence was a hidden factor behind the World Mythology Summit.
He didn't share parallel-world information only with Hades. But he was vague about who received what, likely wary of problems from "knowing too much." The summit was partly to verify this. When Trihexa and the First Hassan intruded, Hades observed the gods' reactions. Those reacting like him were likely visited by the boy.
When an organization stirs a war to shift the power balance, cooperate with those gods. If they move, they're a threat to be recognized.
"Now, Goetia. After wiping out the bat and crow, what will you do?"
Don't make a fool of yourself, sinking into madness like some king.
"But, well, fine. Beelzebub doesn't matter! Too bad, Goetia. The one true God's revival is near, carried out by my loyal servants, Sandalphon and Metatron!"
Seraphim Sandalphon and Metatron. Twin angels, said to have once been human. Their true nature: traitorous angels who sided with Samael's ideals.
"Kuhahaha! Since losing Adam, an eternity has passed. Prophets, King of Magecrafts, saviors, saints—not one understood my ideals or affirmed my paradise. Look at the state of the world the God of the Bible made. If I ran it, Trihexa wouldn't have grown."
The architect of the Fall claims he could've created a perfect utopia.
"Don't let a venomous snake deny my child's existence."
"Don't call me a child, you idiot king!"
"Didn't you just call me Father?!"
"Shut up, idiot king! Don't talk to me! Die in agony! Goetia, let's have a campfire! He's the kindling!"
No need to point out a world-scale campfire's already happened. Goetia glares at the two obstacles to eliminate.
"Indeed. No more wasting time. No need for answers. Clear that trash, collect the Underworld's light bands, burn Heaven to ash—and this time, we will reach the pinnacle."
"That's impossible, didn't I say?"
Samael shakes his head at the fool, his earlier rage toward the original Beelzebub replaced by confidence and glee.
"This body may not fully handle you, but it'll buy time until Sandalphon and Metatron succeed. Come at me."
"Bring it, you damned snake!"
The Beast of the Apocalypse. The embodiment of mud. Born of human sin, taught the karma of human history, the greatest disaster abused by it. Born from the King of Magecraft's wrath, inheriting his wish, Beast D/R. The mightiest demonic beast with a blasphemous number. That is Trihexa.
Normally, Trihexa has two Noble Phantasms. One, a gate to other worlds, summoning even outer gods freely: Apocalypse Now, the Final Judgment. It vanished when Trihexa ceased being a Beast. But the other remains.
"My wrath never ceases. My life never ends."
This Noble Phantasm prevented Trihexa from even committing suicide.
Its true form: the heart of the mightiest monster. An infinite, illusory energy core that rejects defeat. The reason Trihexa stands equal to True Dragons and Dragon Gods. Literally, its flame won't die until he does.
"Flame of the Covenant, Baal Zebul!"
Baal Zebul.
An old name of Beelzebub, erased because it evoked a holy king. The name means "Lord of the Mansion" or "King of the Temple." No need to say which king it recalls.
"Using that name? What a tsundere!"
"Don't say creepy stuff!"
***
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