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"You bear the name Lucifer, yet you use the Bael family's Power of Destruction. That is exactly why you are an existence we must eliminate!"
Shalba Beelzebub spoke with righteous conviction.
A mere outsider who borrowed the power of Bael dared to overstep his place and rise from high-class devil to Satan?
For someone as bound by old tradition as Shalba, that was absolutely unacceptable.
The difference in ideals was the hardest thing to reconcile.
It was also the root of their conflict.
This time, they had all jumped out together precisely to completely change that situation.
Originally, as someone with at least a little cunning, Shalba would not have revealed himself at this moment.
However, after Ophis disappeared, he clearly understood one thing.
If he did not act now, everything would be over.
Without Ophis as a symbol of power, those who lacked confidence in following them in rebellion might collapse directly.
Even if the news did not leak, once the snakes were exhausted and Ophis still could not be found, the result would be the same.
If they acted together, their success rate would definitely be much higher.
At the very least, if they killed Sirzechs and Serafall first, facing the remaining two Satans afterward would be much easier.
Perhaps the method in the original timeline, where they delivered themselves one by one, was the truly foolish approach.
The descendant of Leviathan appeared during the three-faction meeting and was killed by the Governor-General of the fallen angels.
The descendant of Asmodeus came forward during Diodora's reversal and was killed by Sirzechs.
Shalba Beelzebub, the descendant of Beelzebub, had the worst fate. He teleported Asia away, thinking he had merely removed a weak pawn, only to be crippled directly by Juggernaut Drive.
Even then, he had not died completely. When Samael, the fallen angel, appeared later, his head was finally taken.
Only Vali Lucifer remained alive, because he knew those people had neither power nor correct ideals. He chose to act on his own, and in the end, nothing happened to him.
He could even rely on his relationship with Azazel and his good relationship with the Underworld's future, Issei Hyoudou, to whitewash himself directly.
Perhaps...
That was the gap between them.
Sirzechs looked at Shalba, who clearly would not listen to anything, and shook his head slightly.
If Shalba was unwilling to accept being eliminated by the times and unwilling to change himself, then Sirzechs would help him along.
"That is the thinking of the old era. If you face the new era with that mindset, you are destined to be eliminated."
"I apologize, Shalba. As a Satan, I must remove you."
Sirzechs spoke words that were practically taboo to the Old Satan Faction.
What they hated the most was exactly this.
In their eyes, the people who had usurped their positions were now standing before them, saying that they had become Satans for the sake of the Underworld's future.
"Disappear, Sirzechs! The bloodline of the true Satan shall judge you!"
Terrifying demonic power gathered in Shalba's hand.
This was already power comparable to the original Satan, Beelzebub.
In his view, resolving this should have been extremely easy.
Unfortunately...
Reality was very far from what he imagined.
Boom!
Red Power of Destruction surged around Sirzechs and gradually swallowed his body.
Space trembled faintly, as though it would be easily consumed by this Power of Destruction condensed to its utmost limit.
"This is...!"
Indra abruptly stood up.
He felt it.
This red-haired young Satan had reached the same level as him.
He had surpassed the limits of his race and turned his very body into the Power of Destruction.
At this moment...
He was destruction itself.
"When did the devil race produce another devil with this level of strength? And he definitely did not break through just now."
"In other words, has he been hiding his strength for a long time?"
Indra was very interested.
Every transcendent had something unique about them. Even among transcendents, there were no small differences.
For example, Rizevim was one of the weaker ones.
The reason Sirzechs interested him was Sirzechs's special nature.
Destruction.
That unique trait, extremely similar to Shiva the God of Destruction, filled Indra with interest toward Sirzechs.
Indra still did not know that he no longer had the luxury of being interested in others.
If he had left the moment he entered at the beginning, perhaps he might still have succeeded.
But now...
He no longer had any possibility of leaving.
Aside from Indra, everyone else showed expressions of great surprise.
Mm.
They only showed those expressions.
Because if they did not, the fact that they had already known about Sirzechs's strength would be exposed.
Of course, there were still genuinely shocked people.
"What?"
Shalba's expression changed drastically.
He felt power within Sirzechs that could crush him completely.
When had Sirzechs obtained power at this level?
"Haaaaaah!"
However, he had no path of retreat left.
He chose to strike first.
His entire body was wrapped in a terrifying number of magic circles as he charged directly toward Sirzechs.
"Be destroyed."
That was the answer he received.
It was not that Sirzechs had spoken those words aloud and caused the current situation.
Rather, that kind of concept flowed out from the mass of Power of Destruction that Sirzechs had become.
All who came into contact with him would inevitably move toward destruction.
Reality was indeed just as that will declared.
Shalba collided with the Power of Destruction that had been refined to the extreme.
Hiss!
That sound was left in the air.
Then...
The existence known as Shalba vanished from the world.
What remained in place was only a mass of Power of Destruction, pure and powerful to the extreme.
...
As the fluctuations of the Power of Destruction gradually calmed, a humanoid life-form condensed once more in place.
Sirzechs's figure emerged from within it.
Looking at the vanished old Satan, he gave a soft sigh.
This...
Was perhaps their fate.
"I have made Lord Indra witness something unsightly."
Sirzechs smiled as he spoke.
"No, no, how could that be unsightly? To see that among you bats, a powerful and special Bat King has finally appeared, I am far too happy to laugh at it. Hahaha!"
Indra laughed happily.
Although...
There was absolutely no sense of respect in his words.
"Then, please continue to witness what comes next, Lord Indra."
Sirzechs smiled, seemingly not caring at all about Indra's words.
After all, in his eyes, Indra was already destined to be dealt with. Why should Sirzechs bother acting personally?
Would it not be better to preserve most of his strength and watch the show?
That was right.
He did indeed have confidence in acting against Indra.
There were great gaps between different transcendents, and even among transcendents, his ability's nature belonged to the most powerful group.
He would not say he could definitely defeat Indra, but making the other party suffer, or even leaving him covered in dirt and humiliation, would be simple.
"As for what comes next, I will leave it to Anos."
Sirzechs looked into the distance.
Right now, it was a night as dark as it could be.
However...
Tomorrow's morning sun might carry a different meaning from the morning suns of the past.
That was what Sirzechs thought.
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