In truth, the Michael who attended the World Mythology Summit was a fake. The Seraph Metatron stood in as his body double.
This wasn't a scheme by the Demon Gods or other mythological factions. It was a ploy by the angels, for the sake of Heaven—no, for the revival of God.
God's revival.
Ironically, the ritual for God's revival, passed down by Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the true son of the original Satan Lucifer, was feasible.
But it required the ring.
However, Michael and the others considered an alternative. Couldn't another holy relic created by God suffice? The ring was a fake. The Holy Spear's whereabouts were unknown. Only fragments remained of the true Holy Cross and Holy Grail, and their God-Slaying Gear counterparts were also missing.
Yet, Heaven still held many holy relics. Among them was one capable of surpassing even the ring's output—the legacy of the prophet Moses, the Ark of the Covenant. The angels rejoiced upon learning God's revival was possible, unaware it played into Samael's schemes.
Solomon, Samael, the God of the Bible. These three exploited, usurped, and crushed each other's plans.
The first plan, the reuse of the Evils of Humanity, was halted when Solomon passed his original sin to Trihexa.
The second plan, summoning Ritsuka Fujimaru through Azazel to chain-call resources from other worlds, was thwarted by a warning from the First Hassan.
The third plan, energy collection through Issei Hyoudou's rampage, was stopped by the humans guided by Goetia and his allies.
And this was the fourth plan: God's revival using holy relics and the System as its core. Ironically, this plan was the most fitting for God, with the highest chance of success. This fourth plan was the God of the Bible's—no, Samael's—true gambit to ascend as the One God.
The problem was that Michael concealed this plan from their allies in peace—the devils and fallen angels. If you deceive your enemies, start with your allies. What's unjust about deceiving foes?
The One God is absolute and supreme. Its absence is a loss to the world. What's wrong with deceiving fools who can't grasp that? Without God, the world has no value.
God is one. Our Lord alone.
"—Or so you lot must think. You said something similar when you destroyed our mythologies. It makes me sick."
"Guh, gah…"
"With such a flimsy trust, cooperation with other mythologies? Utterly foolish."
Blood-soaked Metatron.
Under the pretense of confirming Uriel and Raphael's safety, he fled the summit to return to Heaven. All for his master. To let the One God rule the world and reclaim paradise.
But as he left the venue, the evil god Loki awaited, as if Metatron's—no, Michael's—plan was an open book. As if Loki knew Metatron's true identity.
"You've had it rough, haven't you? Hiding your true self from the age of mythologies until today. I was skeptical, but to think it's really true."
"Demon God Pillar…? A backwater god-monster like you, knowing our Lord's plan—you were incited by them!"
"No. This Loki's actions have nothing to do with Goetia. He seems to have dealt with my daughter Hel, but that's irrelevant to me."
"What…?"
"Not just me. 'He' has spoken with Shiva and Mephistopheles. Odin and Indra, maybe, but Hades has likely seen his face."
"'He'?"
"A visitor from a world that could have been. Hearing that the contents of that coffin slaughtered your Three Factions brings some satisfaction. Even if our mythologies fall, something remains."
At Loki's side stood Fenrir, the mightiest beast, exuding the pressure befitting a god-devouring wolf, its jaws wide open.
"Forgive me, Sandalphon… Oh, my Lord… I lament failing to achieve your revival."
In his final moments, the archangel wove the name of his master, his twin brother.
"My apologies, Lord Samael…!"
"Farewell, serpent's pawn. Become blood and flesh for Fenrir."
With that, God's malice was utterly crushed.
"—I shall lead you to a future erased in pure white."
He reached it.
Vali Lucifer truly became a "Transcender."
The strongest White Dragon Emperor in history, Vali Lucifer. The bloodline of a Satan and the power of the White Dragon. Unmatched natural talent. And the infinite serpents of the Dragon God poured into him. Together, they birthed Vali Lucifer, the Transcender. In Sirzechs Lucifer's terms, he had surpassed even the realm of dragons.
His armor's form was closer to the standard White Dragon Emperor's Armor than its rampaging state, but the pressure it exuded was refined to a higher degree.
Yet Vali did not wield that power.
"No."
Something was wrong.
His body overflowed with immense power. He felt he could even reach Great Red or Ophis now. But the lack of fear toward the reaper before him wasn't due to this power. His mind, once maddened by fear and confusion, was strangely clear.
Yet there was no sense of achievement, satisfaction, or fulfillment. No emotions, no drive to fight. An all-consuming emptiness dominated Vali's spirit, as if cast into the void of space.
"…No, that's not it."
He knew from the start.
A nostalgic memory surfaced. From the days of abuse by his grandfather and father, his mother's pasta. Come to think of it, was she safe? Was she alive? It wasn't the time, yet he desperately wished to see her.
"Let me ask again."
The black-robed reaper bore no killing intent.
"White Dragon Emperor, where do you aim with those borrowed wings?"
Is that where you wanted to go? the reaper asked.
It was obvious. Reaching it made it so simple. From the peak of a high mountain, gazing down, everything became clear.
For a moment, Vali savored his past. His grandfather. His father. His mother. Azazel. Great Red. Lavinia. Tobio Ikuse. Ophis. Bikou. Kuroka. Issei Hyoudou. Kingu. And himself.
"I—"
"You should never have become a king."
Facing Raum's accusation head-on, Sirzechs stood unflinching, resolved to fight.
"I don't understand what drives you to such lengths. But as a Satan, I will defeat you, invaders from outer space, for my beloved people and family."
Known as a gentle king, Sirzechs hardened his gaze and raised his index finger.
"The malice you direct at my peerage, my sister, and Issei-kun deserves ten thousand deaths. I will eradicate you Demon God Pillars and the King of Magecraft Solomon from this world without hesitation."
"Is that so? Even now, you make such claims?"
Andromalius and Glasya-Labolas should have told Sona Sitri, but it seems the message didn't reach. Amon and Karna said something similar, but Sirzechs hadn't heard from his peerage.
Raum glanced at Tosca.
"Human. Human, false Satan. That's our motive. To you, we're uninvited guests—descenders. But we pitied this world's humans. We resolved to save them. For that, you were obstacles, harmful, and necessary."
At those words, Azazel's veins bulged.
"Calling it righteous indignation? Unlike our seventy-two pillars, you lot seem as fond of nonsense as Solomon."
"Silence. Be silent, you pests who keep averting your eyes from the truth…! It's time you understood, Azazel. You can save nothing."
"What would destroyers like you know! After God's death, how much heart and soul do you think we poured into maintaining balance between factions and the world? Save humans? That's rich coming from the lackey of a fraud who fled here after losing to humans. If you're with that conman, how about a better lie!"
"Fled, you say?"
Raum wondered if Azazel meant the five envoys who failed to escape the collapse of the Temple of Time, but his reasoning was unexpectedly inevitable.
"Kingu's story is done. Your king—that world's Solomon—used and destroyed everything on the planet, just like this world's Solomon. Defeated by the last Master of Humanity, he fled to this world, right? Two men with the same name teamed up here, deciding to destroy the world again. Conveniently targeting only our Three Factions, preventing cooperation. Corruption? Reform? Cliché, man. That's the line of the first villain to die. Don't underestimate this world's humans. They don't need meddling from the likes of you—the world keeps turning."
At that moment, Raum's Spirit Origin let out a distorted sound.
"——!"
Kingu's omissions were partly to avoid breaching the contract, but also to harass the Three Factions. Raum expected Azazel's misguided assumptions.
But he hadn't anticipated that Kingu withheld everything: that the God of the Bible planned revival using the Evils of Humanity, activated the System temporarily to summon Goetia and Kingu, and that they had achieved an "impossible revival" after complete erasure.
Trihexa had just declared the God of the Bible's revival plot, but Azazel hadn't connected it strongly to the Demon Gods or Solomon. He might have eventually, but time and evidence were lacking.
"—A grossly mistaken opinion. Displeasing. Utterly displeasing. A despicable sentiment. Such blasphemy against that man should be cut down. But let's clear the misunderstanding. Our Solomon didn't come to this world."
That man is gone. His record, severed, was erased from the planet. Like Goetia or Kingu, using this world's System might make it possible. But such folly is unacceptable.
"Moreover, that man had no part in the Incineration of Humanity there. He seemed incompetent and merciless, yet lacked the freedom to empathize with others' joys and sorrows or the right to rage at tragedy. A mere coward who yearned to be human could never align with our ideals."
To forgo that man's human choice—that is the final loyalty of the seventy-two pillars.
"And to add, the megalomaniac Solomon, your external enemy, is our enemy too. Kingu didn't say, but he didn't summon us directly."
"What…? Then who's your king? How did you come to this world?"
"The God of the Bible. And their king is called 'Goetia.'"
Before Raum could answer, before Azazel's question ended, the truth spilled from the mouth of the destruction god present.
"No, it should be said this way. The root cause is this world's King of Magecraft Solomon. The trigger was the God of the Bible. And the mastermind is the 'forbidden serpent' Samael."
Everyone was shocked by Shiva's words, who they thought would remain a bystander.
"Why do you know that, Shiva! You don't mean…!"
Accusing Shiva of colluding with the Demon Gods, Azazel was met with the destruction god's cool demeanor, truly that of a bystander. Though he spoke, he had no intention of intervening directly until all was done.
"I heard it. Before this summit, from a visitor of a certain possibility. Kingu's story held no lies. He kept his contract, disclosing the truth without mentioning the Demon God Pillars."
Implying it was misguided to blame Kingu, Shiva rebuked Azazel.
"Quite informed, Indian god of destruction. Your source is the Archer?"
"Archer?"
"The young man with a coffin, face scarred by burns. Or perhaps bandaged."
"The coffin, yes, but burns?"
Shiva and Raum realized their "coffin bearer" didn't quite align.
"A visitor from a possible world—a parallel world, you mean?"
Surprisingly, Azazel grasped Shiva's source from that alone. If visitors came from a wholly different world's laws, it wasn't strange for one to come from a slightly diverged yet similar world.
"You're quick on these matters. You should've broadened that perspective."
"Even so, why trust him? Why speak as if you're cooperating? Why not say so sooner? If Solomon or the God of the Bible is the enemy, all the world's gods and demons should unite!"
"I heard an amusing story about your Three Factions. Especially you, Azazel—your story was a masterpiece. Too hilarious to laugh at. In short, cooperation with you is impossible."
Killing intent and anger overflowed from Shiva. Not newly born, but suppressed until it reached its limit.
"In that history, Trihexa and Goetia destroy each other, and the God of the Bible revives."
Azazel and Sirzechs broke into cold sweats, wondering if the God of the Bible's revival, proposed by Rizevim as a counter to Solomon, had been exposed.
"The revived God of the Bible creates aberrations called Lahmu, ordering them to hunt humanity to extinction. Not just Lahmu—angels, devils, and fallen angels received the same order."
Azazel was curious about the Lahmu, but Shiva delivered a more shocking truth.
"And Azazel, you betray humanity."
"What?"
"Betray might be wrong. Abandon is more accurate. Not just you—all fallen angels slaughter humanity. The Nephilim, was it? Their heads were offered too."
"Hah! Impossible. Me, betray Tobio and the others?"
If that were true, Azazel started to say their bonds were underestimated, but Shiva cut him off, revealing a world's truth with contempt.
"The God of the Bible promised that once humanity's extinction was complete, you fallen angels would be restored as angels."
"—Nonsense! Return to God now, for what—"
"Azazel? Why—"
Akeno let out a pained cry.
"Why are you smiling?"
Hearing that he abandoned humanity now to reclaim his white wings of old, why was he smiling?
***
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