In the skies above the Underworld, he gazes down at the scorched earth.
"…"
At the end of his gaze lies what was once Shalba Beelzebub. Stuffed with countless Phantasmal Beasts, he had long reached his limit. Driven solely by hatred for the new four Satans, he burned out the moment he killed Sirzechs. Like the Underworld itself, he was consumed to ashes.
"…"
No life remains—neither devils, fallen angels, nor any other creatures, not even a single blade of grass. Goetia, who incinerated the Underworld, the Servants who aided him, and Trihexa have all withdrawn. The new Satans, who returned to save the Underworld from crisis, are annihilated.
This world holds no life. Not just desolation—the future itself has been severed.
"…Zumzumuiyan."
Confirming this reality, he—the True Dragon Great Red—returns to his abode in the Dimensional Gap.
Smiling with satisfaction, like a human who completed their task.
In the mountains of a certain country.
"—Looks like we managed to escape."
"Seems so."
"Phew, I'm beat."
Three boys sigh and speak, sitting on nearby rocks while staying alert.
"Déjà vu, huh… What is it? Feels like we've been through this before…"
Cao Cao, leader of the Hero Faction; Freed, a survivor of the Sigurd Institute; and Savior, a visitor from another world. The three have just succeeded in fleeing from Asia Argento's healing.
Naturally, they too heard Solomon's curse. They also heard the voice that stopped it.
"…Looks like Goetia didn't take us to the final battle."
"Don't jinx it. Besides, it's not the final battle, is it? The Lion King or the Calculator Knight or whoever's still out there. The bosses aren't irresponsible enough to dump everything on us, right?"
"Freed-senpai. It's the Lion King and the Knights of the Round Table. Planning to count coconuts or something? Get their names right—it's rude otherwise. Trash devils are one thing, but…"
"…You've got a weirdly sharp tongue when it comes to devils."
They know little of his life, but even that fragment justifies hating devils. It's natural, yet his words seem deliberately harsh.
"It's, well, because I've reflected."
"Reflected?"
Cao Cao tilts his head at the slightly off-context word, and Savior gives a wry smile.
"I couldn't properly hate the devils, the Three Factions, or the Bible. Because of that, the Bible walked the path of destruction. Labeled with the worst stigma, no excuses allowed."
Not bestial, not original sin, but he too bore a sin.
A sin unique to a Savior. Killing a god didn't save the world or humanity.
"You didn't hate the devils?"
"Solomon's accomplices, the original Asmodeus and Belial, wished for a world where humans and non-humans could be family. Even if distorted, that was their true desire. To spite Solomon, I tried to create a place for them in a godless world."
"Them, meaning…?"
"Yes. Devils, angels, and fallen angels."
Cao Cao and Freed catch their breath. They swore to destroy them. Wished to kill them. Hated them until their souls burned. Yet this Savior swallowed it all. Not just his own hatred, but he wished it for other humans and non-humans too.
"I offered my lifespan. Drank poison, had my organs devoured, eyes gouged, wandered a labyrinth, showed resolve. Sold my life and afterlife. I persuaded every god, Satan, and human outside the Bible."
Don't be bound by hatred. Don't sink into anger. That's the mistake Solomon made. We must walk a future different from what the King of Magecraft wanted.
"I'd do anything."
It was a feat greater than god-slaying.
"Man, you're something else."
Despite being praised by his idol, Savior's face is grim. Understandably—despite all his efforts, emotions, and preparations, he ultimately failed.
"The first World Mythology Summit after the god's fall. I attended as humanity's representative. The Three Factions' representative was Rias Gremory, who inherited the Satan throne from her brother. The outcome seemed set. The Three Factions gained a place in the new world, and we could move forward without being bound by hatred. An unfairly equal treaty was to be signed. It was supposed to end there. But then, a problem arose—Issei Hyoudou's intrusion."
"What? Didn't that world's Issei Hyoudou say he was killed by Samael's poison or something…?"
"He was revived. Somehow, someway, Great Red brought Issei Hyoudou back."
"Huh? Did I mishear? Sounded like an out-of-place name."
Freed's confusion is shared by Cao Cao. Why does the True Dragon's name come up here? Reviving Issei Hyoudou, no less?
"No one understands Great Red's thoughts from start to finish. No one's ever gone to protest."
"Well, that's impossible in every sense…"
The True Dragon Great Red, also known as the True Red Dragon God Emperor DxD. Harmlessly swimming the Dimensional Gap, its full nature is shrouded in mystery. Only Ophis and Trihexa are its equals among this world's native lifeforms. No record exists of communicating with it, and even if communication were possible, so what?
"So, your prized retainer came back, and what did that woman say? She said we decided to forgive you, so don't hate us either. Pointing at me, what do you think she declared to the surrounding gods and Devils?"
Cao Cao and Freed offer different guesses.
"Grudges, right? If they feel harmed by humans, they'd see the gods and Devils on humanity's side as enemies."
"Begging for mercy, obviously! Crying 'Help me!' pathetically, right?"
"I wish it were that."
She said this, Savior recounts—the words of the woman who sealed the doom of the devils, the Three Factions.
"Hear that, everyone! This is humanity's true nature!"
"Together, we must punish this fool!"
"Sanction the sinful humans who stole what's precious from us non-humans!"
"—What?"
Words fail. Thoughts can't catch up, refusing to comprehend.
"No, no, no! Hold on, that's way too absurd!"
"Non, non, non. Absurd? All you can do is laugh, right?"
It's not just a lack of guilt. It's beyond not feeling remorse.
"The Cleaner I became said it: after the evil god's retreat, the God of the Bible destroyed every mythology! The Bible should've earned every mythology's hatred."
"Yes, that's true. Devils, angels, and fallen angels were the exception in that madness. Devils and angels forcibly reincarnated humans with valuable abilities under the guise of protection. Fallen angels, alongside Lahmu, slaughtered every lifeform. That resentment piled up enough to burn a star, to kill a god."
"Then—!"
"Even so, that woman—the last Satan of our world—insisted she was the victim. To the very, very, very end."
They saw the gods and Devils they tried to destroy with malice as allies, as fellow victims like themselves? They didn't realize the world, every lifeform, hated them?
What kind of nonsense is that?
"Every god and Devil there snapped. The Three Factions did that much. As God's agents, they directed malice at every mythology. As the beast's pawns, they killed humans, spirits, and monsters. The fury of the Far East's youkai princess was insane. In our world, Rias Gremory preserved Kyoto's youkai to—"
"Please, stop there."
"…Sorry. I'll skip this part."
It's not that he didn't want to hear. He didn't want Savior to say more, to bear more pain as if the devils' atrocities were his own sin.
"So, I was held responsible. I was punished for wasting gods' and Satans' time and making them hear such nonsense. —I destroyed the devils, angels, and fallen angels."
The god-slaying hero became a bloodstained Savior, realizing a peaceful world through slaughter.
Some remain, but even those few are barely granted the right to survive. Debates rage over killing, using, or consuming them.
Exceptions exist: Mephisto Pheles, who sided with humans during the God of the Bible's revival; the two Transcenders born from Solomon's use of the Devil mother Lilith, who joined Savior; the House of Phenex, tied to the immortal bird Bennu.
But the world still cries out that devils must perish.
"I wanted a peaceful world. To prove Solomon wrong, to fulfill the ideals of his betrayed accomplices, Belial and Asmodeus. So, what went wrong?"
How could we have joined hands?
The Savior tried to forgive devils, angels, even gods. When he shouldn't have. When their forgiveness was unforgivable. Above all—they didn't think they needed forgiveness. They didn't see themselves as perpetrators.
His outstretched hand was slapped away, branded the root of all evil.
"You didn't do anything wrong. Blaming the devils—you won't accept that, will you? Yeah, it's just… bad timing."
"Bad timing?"
"Yeah. No one's really at fault. Everyone's paths just didn't quite align. So, your—"
"We should start treatment immediately."
The voice from behind is sudden, but they know it's her. Even a self fallen to hell couldn't forget. How could a living self not recognize it?
Her voice trembles with anger. Naturally—they did such things.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Cao Cao, Freed, and Savior nod to each other without looking toward the voice.
"Split up and run!"
"Got it, Leader!"
"No grudges, no matter who gets caught!"
It's a strategy like impalas fleeing a lion.
It was sudden.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Issei Hyoudou screams.
"Ngh!?"
"Ah, aaah…!"
Akeno Himejima, Kiba Yuuto, Gasper Vladi, and even Vali Lucifer clutch their heads, groaning. Azazel and Rias are unaffected.
"Shut up, Solomon! What are you?! What do you want from us?! Enough already! We've had enough pain! Humans have tried hard enough! And yet, yet, yet, you—!"
Suddenly, Issei stops.
"Haha, no need, huh? Yeah, you're right. But, Solomon aside, I have my own duty. Things I want to do, Zepar."
With ghostly movements, he turns only his head toward Rias and Azazel. His armor hides his expression, but the distorted emotion is unmistakable.
"So, I'll end it. Everything ends here…!"
"Got it. Here I go, Issei Hyoudou! No—Solomon!"
Sensing Issei's killing intent, Sairaorg Bael charges instinctively.
Lacking the House of Bael's Power of Destruction, with magic power inferior to mid or low-class devils, Sairaorg climbed to the strongest young devil through blood-soaked physical training.
His goal: become a Satan, creating a society where anyone with strength is recognized. A Underworld where even those without magic or high-class blood, like him, can aim high. His peerage is captivated by that dream.
He wields a subspecies Balance Breaker of the Longinus Regulus Nemea, Regulus Rey Leather Rex.
His opponent: the Red Dragon Emperor, Issei Hyoudou. They met recently at a young devils' gathering. Both lack magical power, so Sairaorg hoped for a pure fight if they battled. This confrontation feels almost regrettable.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"What's wrong, Issei Hyoudou? Taken over by an evil king, huh? We've only met once, but I felt the same stubbornness in you. Your will, your loyalty to Rias, your bonds with your comrades—they're not weak enough to lose to a three-thousand-year-old ghost!"
Golden aura bursts from Sairaorg, charging at Issei.
"Unyielding Great King. What do you adorn with the lion's hide stripped from the dead? The heads of kin felled by force?"
A defective product only good for swinging fists, calling itself a Great King or Satan—laughable.
For example, in a recent match among young devils, Sairaorg crushed Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas, leaving him incapacitated. Many devils fell before his fists.
You could create a society where strength is rewarded. But without strength, you're kicked down; without violence, you're crushed. That's the only Underworld you could build.
"GYAAAAAAA!"
"Ngh!"
The red dragon roars, grappling with Sairaorg. Shockingly, it overpowers even Sairaorg in his lion's hide.
"Holy-Demonic Sword, lend me strength!"
Kiba Yuuto summons swords in both hands.
Balance Breaker, Sword of Betrayer. A sword wielding both holy and demonic power—the Holy-Demonic Sword. A miracle unique to Kiba Yuuto—Isaiah—born with demonic sword power and used in holy sword experiments. It even defeated the Star Buster Star Blaster, though imperfectly.
A dragon-slaying sword would be ideal, but his skill can't produce it. That's fine. This fight isn't to kill an enemy but to save a friend.
"Here I go, Issei-kun! Haaa!"
Using his speed, Kiba strikes from behind, opposite Sairaorg.
"Holy-Demonic Sword. What do you cut with a blade that can't even reach balance? The future entrusted by fallen comrades?"
Do your swords carry the emotions of your fallen comrades? No one wanted revenge. They just wanted to live. Even one of them. Who ruined their prayers?
You sought revenge yet lived lazily. Never investigating the experiment's mastermind, hating swords instead.
Even without God—you're alive because of your comrades.
"—I said stay out of my way!"
As Kiba's attack nearly lands, pteranodon-like wings sprout from Issei's back, swatting Kiba away.
"Aaah!"
"Guh!"
Kiba is blown back, and Sairaorg loses the strength contest, slammed into the ground. The dragon raises its claws for the finishing blow, but a swarm of bats blocks its vision.
Gasper Vladi's doing.
"Annoying!"
The dragon unleashes aura, obliterating the bats. Gasper's transformation breaks, but someone seizes the moment's gap.
"…Ha!"
Koneko Toujou.
She delivers a brute-force blow befitting the Rook.
"Nekomata. What do you achieve with a body that abandoned senjutsu? A shameful failure to grasp anything?"
You didn't want to become like your sister, consumed by power. So you honed pure physical combat, not senjutsu.
But if there's a risk of losing control, you should've faced senjutsu. Nothing's more dangerous than a bomb you don't know how to detonate.
This is the result. This is the outcome.
A small frame hiding senjutsu's power can't reach a dragon crying for salvation.
"—Did you even do anything?"
"S-Such…"
Koneko's full-force strike causes no pain, leaving her stunned. The dragon, unfazed, bares its fangs to devour the frozen cat.
"Thunder!"
Akeno Himejima is desperate.
Her father, the fallen angel cadre Barakiel of Lightning, is dead. She blamed him for her mother's death, believing his black wings caused it. Deep down, she knew he wasn't at fault, yet they never reconciled, and he was killed by an evil king.
That's why she must stand now. She can't lose her beloved man too—!
"Thunder Priestess. What do you illuminate with lightless thunder? A path mistaken beyond love and hate?"
If you hate your father, if you reject his lightning, why use it half-heartedly?
You know, don't you?
Your birth caused your mother's death. You killed her.
"Wake up, Issei! Please…! If you're my proud servant, don't lose to Solomon!"
The crimson-haired princess reaches out, believing their bond will work a miracle.
Gremorys are Devils of affection. Even if their bond is only six months old, it's absolute. It won't lose to a wretched king's curse!
"Crimson-Haired Ruin Princess. What have you saved with power that only destroys? Pride locked in a sandbox?"
Playtime's over. Children's tantrums end here. Was your buddy game fun? It was only fun for you.
Face hell. Know the truth.
If you won't look or wake up, you end here.
***
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