The days passed without any significant incidents. At least, on the surface.
I continued my routine as usual, but I deliberately created some distance. I slowed my communication with Rias and Akeno. I even skipped the cooking practice I usually attended.
This was for the best.
What happened a few days ago was far too complicated to simply ignore. And although I was still active in open areas, I was confident my disguise was neat enough. However, there are beings that cannot be deceived by ordinary means.
Especially beings of the Dragon God class.
In human mythology, she is associated with a lost zodiac constellation—Ophiuchus. That is where her name comes from.
Ophis. The Ouroboros Dragon.
Her appearance resembled that of a small child, wearing gothic clothing that was revealing and impractical. A choice that, objectively speaking, raised many questions regarding human social safety.
Our meeting began while I was chopping firewood for supplies. With my enhanced power, I had constructed a protective dome with a one-kilometer radius around the hut. A simple boundary, sufficient to filter out most threats.
Yet she passed through it.
Without damage. Without ripples.
She appeared in front of the fence, standing still, looking at me.
At the time, I was preparing lunch. Ophis stood not far away, from the beginning merely watching me cook without any reaction.
"What do you want?" I asked, offering her a bowl of soup.
She did not answer. Her expression remained empty. Hard to read—or perhaps there was nothing to read at all.
I decided to ignore her. I ate. She watched.
Only after I began spooning the soup did she speak.
"Who are you?"
Finally.
"Cheon Ma," I answered calmly.
"Liar."
An accurate assessment.
"You are not like that."
I paused for a moment.
"Beings with energy like yours once existed," she continued. "But they disappeared together with the same group, thousands of years ago. You are different. There is something strange about you."
That empty black gaze remained fixed on me.
"Ahem… in that case," I said at last, "just consider me an Outer Being."
That was not a lie. I did indeed come from another dimension, having moved and taken residence in this body.
"Satisfied?"
"Mm…"
She processed my answer.
"An outer being," she murmured. "Not a perfect fit. But it explains things."
Then she pointed toward Maw—who was calmly eating at the time.
"He is also dangerous. Different from Ddraig and Albion."
Maw merely trembled faintly, giving minimal response to the direct acknowledgment from a Dragon God.
"Yes," I said. "We are anomalies."
I then added, half-jokingly, "By the way, isn't Great Red curious about me?"
"He has not noticed yet."
I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You noticed, but that Dream Dragon didn't?"
"That is because of Vali," Ophis replied. "He told me. He is looking for you. To fight."
"I see," I said. "So Chaos Brigade is interested in me as well?"
It was a reasonable question, considering the leader of that group was standing right in front of me.
"Yes," she answered. "But not now."
She turned her head slightly, as if listening to something only she could perceive.
"I must go. Many are panicking."
"That's obvious," I replied briefly.
Before leaving, she looked at me once more.
"An interesting human," she said. "I will be watching your movements. Be careful of my group."
The statement sounded neutral, but its meaning was clear. Even though she was the creator of Chaos Brigade, even Ophis herself did not fully trust those who acted under her name.
"Yeah," I said. "Thanks for not stalking me."
She did not respond. However, from the way she looked around, it was clear she was aware of the barrier I had set. Not as an obstacle—but as a marker of my presence.
Perhaps I did not need to hide myself that thoroughly after all.
Ophis left just like that, disappearing with a gust of wind, without spatial distortion or lingering energy pressure.
Strange.
I had just faced a Dragon God directly, yet there was no sense of oppression. No spike in danger instinct. That gave rise to one possibility that could not be ignored.
What came just now… might not have been her true self.
A clone. A projection. Or a partial manifestation.
Whatever the answer, one thing was certain—for now, I had no need to worry.
At least, not yet.
...
Somewhere in Japan, hidden from the human world, stood the Fallen Angel headquarters.
Inside the main chamber, three figures had gathered—Tobio Ikuse, Vali Lucifer, and Lavinia Reni. Each of them was a bearer of a Longinus-class Sacred Gear, rare and dangerous existences.
Meanwhile, Azazel, the Governor General of the Fallen Angels, was speaking through a magical communication circle.
"I haven't received any reports from Heaven," he said with an unhappy tone. "But intelligence from the Underworld mentions something that makes no sense."
The figure within the magic circle—Shemhazai—shook his head slowly.
"I haven't gotten anything either. This situation is confusing. Hundreds of years have passed without anomalies like this."
"Exactly," Azazel snorted. "Michael is silent as well. No warning from Heaven's Sacred Gear management system. Something like this shouldn't be able to slip through."
The room fell silent. Only Azazel stood, accompanied by his trusted aides.
"Keep monitoring," he ordered at last. "Check every possibility."
"Understood," Shemhazai replied before the communication cut off.
Azazel then turned to the three youths in the room.
"Alright. Since it's rare for us to gather like this," he said shortly, "I'll get straight to the point."
He paused.
"It has now been confirmed that a new Longinus user has been born."
"What do you mean?" Tobio frowned.
"Literally," Azazel replied. "A Sacred Gear has evolved into a Longinus."
The expressions in the room changed.
"The timing coincides with the Kokabiel incident," Azazel continued. "When he attempted to trigger a war in Gremory and Sitri territory."
He turned to one person.
"Vali. You were closest to the location. Yet you reported nothing."
All eyes turned to the wielder of Divine Dividing.
Vali snorted softly.
"Hmph. Don't accuse me recklessly," he said. "I was indeed annoyed at someone. And from what I've heard, that person is the new Longinus user."
A thin smile appeared on his face.
"And that… is interesting."
"Interesting?" Azazel repeated, his tone rising. "This is absurd! I've studied Sacred Gears my entire life—and I have never heard of a Longinus with the ability to reverse phenomena!"
He clenched his fist.
"Reversing cause and effect, nullifying events, toying with concepts—that's not just powerful," Azazel emphasized. "That violates the rules of the Sacred Gear system itself."
The room sank back into silence.
"If that's the case," Azazel continued with a long sigh, "then this means one thing. The system in Heaven that governs the development of Sacred Gears… may have reached its limit."
He crossed his arms.
"Haah… whatever. Sooner or later, I'll find out who that person really is. Including a full report of what happened at the site."
His tone hardened.
"I was the one who gave the order to stop Kokabiel. Yet that task was taken over by another party."
Vali showed no interest in responding. But before he could ignore it, Albion spoke up.
[Azazel… we were intercepted at the time.]
"What?" Azazel lifted his head. "Albion?"
[Listen, Vali. This is a serious matter for me as well.]
Albion rarely spoke without reason. And the abilities Azazel was talking about—however not yet fully verified—were enough to shake even the White Dragon Emperor.
"I see…" Azazel muttered. "So you think that black armor was the manifestation of his Sacred Gear?"
He narrowed his gaze.
"What did it look like?"
[His entire body was enveloped in jet-black armor. The helmet covering his head formed the face of a ferocious beast—sharp jaw, aggressive angles. From behind it, a pair of glowing red eyes shone fiercely.]
Azazel nodded slowly.
"I understand. A full-armor type, just like the two of you. In that case, that form is most likely his Balance Breaker."
[That was my impression as well.]
Azazel then turned to Tobio.
"A month ago, the person you fought—was his appearance like that?"
"NO," Tobio answered firmly. "He wore a mask. And as I've said before, his clothing looked like murim-world cosplay."
Azazel fell silent for a moment.
"I see…" he murmured.
Lavinia finally spoke, her eyes widening slightly.
"Then… are you saying—"
"Yes," Azazel cut in. "That person uses two different appearances."
He looked at them one by one.
"And the name he uses… Cheon Ma."
The pieces that had long been scattered finally came together.
//--//
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