Jay stood motionless as his gaze fixed on the spot where the towering, crystalline figure of Malacoda had stood only moments before.
Nothing remained of him but fine ash that the breeze of the sanctuary began to scatter across the vibrant grass. Jay's expression was unreadable.
Lavinia slowly stepped forward, her blonde hair shimmering in the surreal light of the sanctuary as she came to a halt beside him.
She looked at the fading ash with confused look.
"Those last words... what did he mean by that?" Lavinia muttered.
Even Jay, with Avesta and Soul Reading power of the Grail at his disposal, couldn't offer an answer. He had been introduced to this Supernatural World only about a year ago.
He was still new to a stage where others had been playing their roles for thousands of years. How could he possibly understand the words of a being that had spent centuries in solitary confinement, sealed in the deepest part of the Underworld.
"Hm... it doesn't matter," Jay said, finally breaking his gaze away from the remains. "Let's just take the Ars Goetia and get out of this place."
He spared one last, brief glance at the ash of Malacoda before he and Lavinia turned toward the shrine. They stepped forward, leaving the flowery yard behind as they entered the pristine white structure.
Inside, the shrine was a jarring contrast to the bloody landscape of Malebolge. The walls were smooth, polished, devoid of any ornaments, inscriptions, or furniture.
And at the center of the vast, echoing hall, a wide staircase carved from the same white stone led downward into a yawning basement.
"The book should be there..." Jay noted.
They descended the stairs, the sound of their footsteps clicking rhythmically against the stone. The deeper they went, the more the air began to hum with a low-frequency vibration that resonated in their very bones.
Finally, they reached a dark subterranean chamber.
In the center of the room, a floating crimson orb of concentrated energy illuminated the darkness. It pulsated like a living heart, and suspended within its translucent depths was an object.
A pitch-black book.
The Ars Goetia.
Its cover was plain, wrapped in leather that seemed to absorb the light around it. On its spine and front, several words were embossed in an unrecognizable ancient language, script that seemed to shift and squirm if stared at for too long.
Despite its legendary status, the book emitted no magical pressure and no grand aura. It looked remarkably ordinary, like a common ledger lost to time.
"So that is the Ars Goetia..." Lavinia whispered, her breath hitching.
They walked forward, stopping just a meter away from the humming energy orb. Jay's Avesta ignited, the golden cross in his eyes glowing in the dark as he subjected the orb to a rigorous structural analysis.
"This is a seal," Jay concluded.
"Can you open it?"
"Hmm… I could use Avesta to break the seals one by one," Jay muttered, his eyes narrowing as he studied their complexity.
"But this is more complicated than I expected. It would take too long to undo them that way. So…"
Jay reached out and touched the surface of the orb. A flicker of black flame danced across his fingertips, and in an instant, the dark fire engulfed the crimson sphere. There was no explosion as the seal simply ceased to exist when the black flame touched it, erased into nothingness.
"This is far more efficient," Jay said calmly, reaching into the space where the orb had been and grasping the book.
"Um... you almost burned the book, Illya-kun," Lavinia chided him playfully.
"I won't," Jay replied shortly.
The Black Grail manifested at his side, its dark flames dancing on its rim. Jay held the Ars Goetia close to it, allowing the Grail to read the soul and the history contained within the unassuming pages of book.
As the information began to flow into his mind, Jay's eyes turned sharply serious, his brow furrowing as he processed the revelation.
Lavinia noticed the shift on his expression almost immediately.
"What happened, Illya-kun? Did the Grail fail to locate the rest of the Books of Solomon?"
Jay shook his head, his grip on the leather cover tightening.
"No... the Grail is working. I know where the rest of the books are stored," Jay said.
At his words, Lavinia's expression brightened with a sudden, radiant excitement. The weight of their mission seemed to lift, if only for a second.
Their efforts in the Underworld, the attack on the stadium, the kidnapping of a Rating Game Champion, the battles against the Malebranche, and the risk of facing the Four Satans had not been in vain.
"Then, where is it?" she asked eagerly.
"It is in Egypt, somewhere in a place called Mount Sinai. It was sealed there by Solomon, the King of Israel, thousands of years ago," Jay explained.
"Then it's decided! We should go there next..." Lavinia started to say, her voice full of momentum.
However, she stopped when she saw the lingering shadows in Jay's eyes. He wasn't celebrating. She slowly leaned closer to him, her voice softening.
"What's happening, Illya-kun? Is there something else?... Something wrong?"
Jay took a slow breath, his voice dropping into a somber tone.
"The Book of Lucifer that Azazel and Malacoda mentioned... the book of genesis for the Devils. That book... is in the Realm of the Dead, the realm that is under the rule of Hades," Jay explained.
"That's interesting and all... but why do you seem so concerned?" Lavinia asked.
"Because that book right now is in the hand of Rizevim Livan Lucifer," Jay said.
The name hit her.
The man who could render her Absolute Demise useless, the same man behind the Holy Grail War and the chaos in Romania, the same man who had reduced their teacher to her current state.
Lavinia's breath caught.
If that man possessed the primordial record used to create the Devil race, especially considering that one of the Grails was still in his hands, then the implications of the horrors destined to follow were immense.
But before they could deliberate on their next move, a low, tectonic rumble groaned through the basement. The ground beneath their feet began to vibrate violently.
"Hm... what's happening?" Lavinia asked, bracing herself against a marble pillar.
The Grail at Jay's side flickered frantically, sensing a massive shift in the ground.
"Shit... Lavi, we need to get out of here!"
In a blur of motion, Alichino, Ame-no-Habakiri, and the Ars Goetia vanished from Jay's hands, stored safely within his pocket dimension. Jay then lunged forward, grabbing Lavinia's hand firmly as the white floor beneath them began to spiderweb with massive cracks.
"W-wait, what happened Illya-kun!?" she cried out as they scrambled toward the stairs.
"It seems like the Ars Goetia was used as the core construct to create this Shrine," Jay shouted over the growing roar of collapsing stone. "
Jay focused his spatial magic and in a flicker of purple flame, their figure disappeared from the collapsing chamber.
Jay and Lavinia reappeared outside, near the flowery gate where the crimson dragon, Draghignazzo, was waiting. The beast was already restless, its wings unfurling in alarm.
They turned back just in time to see the white shrine groan and buckle. The alabaster walls crumbled like dry crackers as its entire structure collapsed into the earth. The lush green grass and the ivory flowers were swallowed by the shifting crimson ground of Malebolge.
And within seconds, the shrine was gone, replaced by a crater of jagged red rock and dust.
"Woah~, it really collapsed just like that..."
Jay looked at the site for a few seconds before turning his attention to Draghignazzo. The crimson dragon remained calm, as if he were merely observing his new master.
"Let's just get out of this place, I'm afraid Sirzechs and Ajuka already know that something is wrong," Jay said, his voice tight.
He raised his hand, intending to envelope them both in a shroud of purple flame to initiate a long-range teleportation. However, as the mana began to gather beneath her feet, he suddenly paused. His brow furrowed, and the energy in his hand flickered and died.
"Hm... What happened, Illya-kun?"
"Lavinia... Did you notice there is something wrong with your teleportation spell?" Jay asked, while Avesta scanning the air around them.
Hearing his warning, Lavinia immediately attempted to weave her own teleportation circle. The white mist gathered around her boots, and the intricate runes of her magic began to spin, but before the spell could reach its activation point, she gasped. Her sapphire eyes widened in realization as the magic stalled.
"No... The coordinates. I can't change the coordinates to anywhere but one specific place," she whispered, her voice trembling with the realization.
Jay's Avesta ignited, his vision piercing through the crimson sky. High above, he saw them, faint glowing runes stretching across the horizon like a spider's web. The intricate lines of magic converged into equations that trailed all the way back to the entrance portal of this realm.
"It seems like we've already been trapped..."
Jay's mind raced. He realized he had overlooked something.
'I almost forgot that the one who sealed the Ars Goetia here must have been the last person to use it, which also the same person who sealed the portal connected to this place. It was none other than...'
"Ajuka Beelzebub."
Hearing the name, Lavinia widened her eyes.
"Don't worry, Lavi. It should have been a given that the Four Satans would notice the moment we broke that seal. I expected it... though, I am just a little bit surprised that his Kankara Formula can be used on this scale," Jay admitted.
A power capable of influencing and rewriting the very phenomena of the external world through complex magical equations. By altering the formula governing the space itself, Ajuka had effectively transformed the entire Eighth Circle into a funnel that converged toward a single exit.
"Then, are we both going to be criminals officially?" Lavinia asked. Despite the gravity of the situation, there was a strange spark of excitement in her voice.
"No, not you... When we go back to the portal, I will destroy Ajuka's Kankara Formula and use that chance to teleport away," Jay said firmly.
Lavinia's face immediately turned serious.
She stepped forward, her fingers pressing into Jay's hands with desperate strength.
"No! There is no way I will let you face one of the Satans alone!"
"Lavi... Precisely because I am fighting one of the Satans, I can't let you stay," Jay said, his voice softening but remaining unyielding.
Lavinia fell silent for a moment, her grip loosening as she slowly released his hands. She looked down at the crimson ground, her shoulders slumped.
"Am... I useless to you, Illya-kun?"
Jay fell silent for a moment before stepping closer to her. His movements were gentle as he drew her into his arms, pulling her against him. He leaned down, his lips hovering near her ear, his warm breath brushing softly against her skin.
"No, not like that... You are strong, Lavi. Even if you were fighting Serafall Leviathan, there is still a chance that you might win. But Ajuka Beelzebub and his Kankara Formula... just like Rizevim, he is the worst possible opponent you could face. He can render all of your ice obsolete and turn it against us in a second," Jay whispered.
He remembered the display of power the Maou had shown during the stadium attack. Facing him was not a matter of strength and power, but of resisting a rewrite of reality itself.
"But... I can't let you bear something like this by yourself. Not again... especially after we promised that we were going through this together," Lavinia argued, her voice cracking.
Jay pulled back slightly, putting his hand on her face and tilting her chin up so their eyes met.
"Lavi... trust me just like you always have."
And then, before she could protest further, Jay kissed her. It was a sudden, firm move that made Lavinia's eyes widen in surprise before they slowly fluttered shut. When they finally separated, the air between them was heavy with tension.
"Besides, I have a plan... I won't throw myself into a fight that I can't survive," Jay reassured her.
"So… can you trust me?"
Lavinia lowered her head in a long, pained silence.
Finally, she gave a faint, reluctant nod.
Jay reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a heavy, dark cloak. He threw it over his shoulders, pulling the hood low to obscure his features, and then took Lavinia's hand once more.
"Let's go… As I said earlier, when we reach the portal, I'll rush out to nullify his magic circle. The moment that happens, use the chance to teleport away immediately."
They hopped onto Draghignazzo's back, and with a thunderous roar, the dragon took to the sky, flying with supersonic speed back toward the entrance of the Malebolge.
***
Meanwhile, inside the Eighth Circle Chamber in the Underworld, a stark silence reigned.
A man with emerald-green hair stood at the center of the room, his eyes fixed on a massive intricate magical circle that spun with dizzying speed in front of him.
And ahead of him lay a yawning, abyssal hole in the floor, engulfed in an unending darkness, the portal to Malebolge.
"So… this is what they were aiming for. All the chaos and attacks in Agares City were just a diversion to gain access to Malebolge. But to break my seals this cleanly… that person must be one of the greatest magicians in the entire Supernatural World."
That man was none other than Ajuka Beelzebub.
Right now, he was using his Kankara Formula to manipulate all the space coordinates within Malebolge, redirecting them to this location. It was the most effective way to trap intruders without them realizing they were caught, rather than hunting them personally across the vast realm.
And this wasn't the first time he had employed a technique on such a scale across the entire Malebolge. After all, he was the one who had originally sealed this place.
But unbeknownst to him, Jay could see through his Kankara Formula using Avesta.
And there he was, patiently waiting for the mouse to step into the trap.
Suddenly, Ajuka felt a surge of violent presence rushing from inside the portal. His eyes widened.
'Hm! He's not trying to teleport out… but back here instead!?'
Ajuka reacted instantly, his hands glowing with a green light as he manifested hundreds of smaller magic circles. He constructed a layered, multi-dimensional barrier around the mouth of the portal, intent on confining the intruders the moment they emerged.
Suddenly, a burst of crimson flame erupted from the darkness of the hole as the massive form of the dragon, Draghignazzo, surged into the chamber. From atop its back, the hooded figure of the rider raised a hand toward Ajuka.
And in a heartbeat-
CRACK
The massive magic circle Ajuka was using to redirect coordinates shattered into a thousand glittering pieces as its effect vanished instantly.
The hooded figure immediately activated a magic circle to teleport away, but the Super Devil was not so easily outmaneuvered. And with a sharp flick of his wrist, he reapplied the Kankara Formula to the cloaked figure.
As the dragon and its rider were engulfed in the dark light of spatial magic, the space itself folded around them. In an instant, they reappeared in the center of the chamber, as if their path had been a perfect circle leading straight back to the Maou.
Meanwhile, Jay finding himself unable to run even after destroying Ajuka's spell, looked down at his feet. A flicker of purple flame was all that remained of Lavinia's presence as Jay had successfully used that split second to teleport her away to safety from inside the portal.
Relieved, Jay turned his full attention to the Maou standing before him. He stood tall on the back of Draghignazzo, who hovered over the dark abyss of the portal, its obsidian scaled wings creating a wind in the chamber.
Ajuka's voice rang out, calm, yet carrying the authority befitting a man of his stature.
"Show yourself, Terrorist."
Jay said nothing as he summoned the jagged black Sword of Desire into his hand.
He stood there, his face hidden by the deep shadows of his hood.
No longer Zayyn Illya Kovalenko, but the Underworld's most wanted SSS-Rank criminal.
The Hooded Man.
K.
_____________
I want your guys opinion on the Malebolge part because mostly it is a completely original setting, though its based on real canon place.
Do you like it? Or it was boring?
After the time skip in this arc IV, i'm actually planning to do another one of something like this.
Which is the Arc V .... and The Game of Gods. Which will include a few canon characters, but on the hand the majority will be other phanteon gods.
But, i need your guys opinion.
If you guys really like these type of original settings. If you guys don't, i'm fine with skipping that arc.
Just lmk.
Thanks.