A deafening silence engulfed the underground chamber, pressing against the eardrums of the two geniuses standing at the center of the unfolding catastrophe.
Ajuka Beelzebub and the cloaked figure of Jay stood frozen in a moment of perfect stillness, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
It is said that wisdom belongs to those who allow time to favor them. Those who rush forward without patience will find themselves standing before nothing but disadvantage. And both of them understood that very well.
But sometimes, wisdom is also…
Jay suddenly raised the obsidian scythe, Graffiacane, pointing the curved blade directly at Ajuka.
In the space between them, the air began to scream as moisture and ambient mana were forcibly condensed.
And from thin air, a sphere of black, viscous liquid gathered violently, swirling with a cursed pressure that seemed to draw the light out of the room.
'The Sea of the Damned!' Ajuka instantly thought, his mind flashing through his memories of the Malebranche's abilities.
And for Graffiacane the Dog Scratcher, the Sea Serpent of the End, it was a demonic cursed water capable of corroding and dissolving both spiritual and physical structures alike.
Ajuka reacted with the speed of thought, his hands swiping through the air to manifest hundreds of Kankara Formula magic circles.
The glowing green equations, in the form of magical circles, formed a wall that surrounded them, intended to intercept and neutralize the expansion of the cursed water before it could flood the entire underground facility of Agreas Island.
He calculated the volume, the pressure, and the corrosiveness within its liquid properties, preparing to render the threat into drifting mist.
But that was not Jay's true intention.
As Ajuka focused his Kankara Formula on the cursed water sphere, a giant dark purple spatial magic circle erupted into existence beneath Jay and the crimson dragon. Complex runes of teleportation magic spread across its surface.
Ajuka's eyes widened.
'He is going to teleport!'
The Maou found himself in a dilemma.
He had already committed hundreds of formulas to contain Graffiacane's cursed water to ensure the research facility wasn't drowned and corroded. To stop the teleportation, he would need to divert his mental processing power to construct another several dozen formulas to lock the surrounding space.
But even before Ajuka could finalize a new equation to nullify Jay's teleportation circle, he pointed the jagged black blade of Alichino toward him.
"Stop Moving."
SHYUUUT
The conceptual Desire of the sword slammed into Ajuka.
'Shit!'
He was momentarily suspended, his body stalled by the absolute command of the Desire. In that heartbeat of forced stasis, Jay didn't even let him a room to breath as Draghignazzo unhinged its massive jaws, the internal glow of its throat illuminating the dark runes of the teleportation circle.
ROARRR
"Dracarys."
FWUOOOM
The command was a roar that shook the chamber.
The room was instantly filled with a torrent of hellfire. Crimson flames reflected in Ajuka's eyes as the heat rose to a level that threatened to incinerate the very air. The Maou was forced to make a definitive choice between his own survival, the protection of the facility, or capturing Jay.
And with a surge of pure demonic power, Ajuka shattered the stasis.
A dozen Kankara Formula circles appeared in an orbiting shell around him, nullify the Desire from his body instantly, allowing him to regain his movement even as the fire licked at his barrier.
And with a violent swipe of his hand, another dozen formulas bloomed, and the overwhelming crimson flame was instantly converted into superheated steam, exploding outward in a white shroud that filled the chamber.
The sphere of dark cursed water followed suit, its physical and magical properties rewritten by the Super Devil's equations until it drifted away as nothing more than a harmless mist.
It was a display of absolute authority over the phenomenon in the world by Ajuka Beelzebub.
But as the steam and water vapor cleared, the space where Jay and the crimson dragon had floated was empty.
The spatial magic had completed its casting and teleported them elsewhere.
"Tsk, he got me!" Ajuka cursed, his voice echoing in the empty, scorched chamber.
He realized now the brilliance of that sequence.
Jay had presented him with three hard choices... let himself be consumed by the crimson hellfire, let the underground facility be drowned by the corrosive black water, or allow the teleportation to proceed and let him run away.
Any sane man, and certainly an analytical one like Ajuka, would prioritize his own safety and the safety of this place over the capture of a single man, despite his status as a criminal.
Jay forced Ajuka to follow his rationality, and won.
But still, for a Super Devil, an existence of absolute authority and a pillar of the Underworld, letting an SSS-rank criminal slip through his fingers was a bitter pill to swallow.
And it was not even the first time the Satans had let this man escape.
But then, the air began to vibrate with a secondary frequency.
An immense, terrifying surge of demonic energy began to gather outside Agreas Island. The pressure was so immense that, even through the thick layers of reinforced earth and magical shielding, Ajuka could still feel it.
His blood ran cold as a new realization struck him.
"No... Don't tell me he is not running away! What is he planning to do..."
Outside, hovering near the jagged edge of the floating Agreas Island.
Draghignazzo, the thirty-meter crimson dragon, flew through the sky, its black scales reflecting the artificial afternoon sun of the Underworld with a metallic sheen. The beast's wings beat slowly, evaporating the air with every flap.
Atop the dragon's neck stood the black cloaked figure of Jay.
His hood remained up, and his cloak fluttered violently in the high altitude winds. Below him lay one of the most prosperous and modern cities in Devil society. Agreas was a marvel of engineering, a bustling metropolis and a premier tourist destination.
From this height, the city lights glimmered like a sea of fallen stars, showing a world of vibrant life and activity.
But the thousands of inhabitants below were utterly ignorant of the doom that was currently gathering above their heads.
Jay raised the scythe Graffiacane toward the sky.
A violent, enormous aura of dark purple, nearly black demonic energy began to flare from its blade.
A concentrated mass of spite and ancient power so immense that anyone in the city with even a rudimentary sense of mana would feel the atmospheric pressure shifting.
And then, the sky began to darken as the energy distorted the light.
Jay didn't care if they sensed him.
Whether they realized the danger or remained in their blissful ignorance would change nothing about the outcome.
Graffiacane's ability, Sea of the Damned.
An ability that also makes him known as the Swarm Lord.
One that drowned the world.
Jay took a deep breath, the sky beginning to crackle with concentrated demonic energy.
As he whispered.
"Embodiment of Ev—"
Before the final syllable could leave his lips, several spheres of concentrated black and crimson energy rushed toward him from the horizon.
They trailed streaks of red lightning that crackled across their surfaces, traveling at the speed of sound.
The sheer magical energy behind the projectiles was staggering, consuming and destroying every particle of air around them.
With a quick glance from Avesta, the internal structure of the incoming attacks was revealed.
Jay recognized the signature of the magic immediately, a power of destruction capable of annihilating anything it touched.
"So he is finally here..."
'Sirzechs Lucifer.'
Jay had no choice but to abort the activation.
He was almost certain that his defenses could not withstand a direct hit from the Power of Destruction. Draghignazzo reacted with instinctive precision, flapping its massive wings and banking sharply to the left.
And in a flash of red and black, the dragon repositioned itself hundreds of meters away in a single, fluid motion.
Despite its massive body, Draghignazzo moved through the air with the nimbleness of a hawk.
From beneath the dragon's previous position, a figure ascended without the need for wings.
A handsome young man with vibrant red hair, dressed in his formal Satan attire, rose to meet him. Sirzechs Lucifer had arrived, his expression masked in a grim seriousness.
Floating slightly behind him, her gaze as cold and sharp as a winter frost, was the silver haired maid, Grayfia Lucifuge.
'Now, it is getting a little bit complicated...' Jay thought.
Sirzechs Lucifer narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight of the hooded figure.
He looked at the legendary dragon and the weapons gripped in the intruder's hands, his mind working through the implications.
He was analyzing every detail and every flicker of energy of the man.
"Sirzechs-sama... those weapons, and also that dragon. It was that, right..." Grayfia muttered.
There was a rare trace of unease in her voice. Seeing the most legendary and dangerous weapons of the Underworld gathered in the hands of a single individual was a sight that unsettled her greatly.
Sirzechs nodded slowly.
"Yeah... That is the Malebranche... Draghignazzo, Alichino, and Graffiacane," he muttered.
He looked up at the sky, feeling the residual enormous demonic energy that had been gathering over Agreas City. The pressure was slowly dissipating now that the spell had been interrupted.
'Was he trying to drown the whole island? No... If he is using Graffiacane, that cursed water would slowly corrode the entire structure into nothing. He is blatantly trying to destroy this whole thing,' Sirzechs realized.
The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.
The chain of attacks, from the terrorist attack during the Ruval and Roygun Rating Game to the chaos in Agares City, it raised many questions, particularly regarding the identity of the man beneath the hood, though his motive was clear now.
"So all of this chain of attacks and chaos you caused was just for those weapons, huh? Do you feel no remorse for killing thousands of people just for power?" Sirzechs asked.
His voice was sharp, carrying a deadly edge that cut through the air, reaching Jay clearly even across the hundred-meter gap between them.
Jay did not answer.
He remained a silent atop his dragon.
"Refusing to talk, huh," Sirzechs muttered.
He felt a rare feeling blooming in his chest.
He frowned, his brows knitting together.
He was angry.
But he hated that he was angry not because of the thousands of people the figure before him had killed in pursuit of those weapons.
Even though Sirzechs despised him for it, that was not the source of his anger.
He was angry because he remembered Ravel crying in front of him.
Seeing the little girl weep over the loss of her brother pierced something deep within him. It hurt him more than it should have.
Perhaps it was selfish, perhaps it was un-Satan-like for him to ignore his responsibility for his own kind, yet he could not shake the memory.
And in that moment, he thought of himself in Ravel's place.
What would he have become if he had lost Rias? He did not know. The thought unsettled him in a way he could not ignore.
Suddenly, a green magic circle flickered into existence nearby, and Ajuka Beelzebub appeared, taking his place beside Sirzechs and Grayfia. Sirzechs sent a brief glance toward his friend.
"Ajuka... from your expression, it seems like you have met him already," Sirzechs said.
"Yeah... Careful, Sirzechs, Grayfia. Although he hasn't shown his full capabilities yet, he has full authority over those weapons," Ajuka warned.
The words sent a shock through both Sirzechs and Grayfia.
"Full authority over the Evil Claws? How is that even possible?" Sirzechs muttered. He turned his gaze back toward Jay, his eyes narrowing, hardening with suspicion and disbelief.
"He is the hooded man, isn't he? The one responsible for all of this…"
"The probability is high, though we can ask him ourselves if we catch him here," Ajuka said, his green aura beginning to hum.
Sirzechs nodded, his own aura beginning to flare.
The sky around them began to crackle and groan as two of the most powerful beings in Underworld prepared for battle.
Ajuka's aura shone with a brilliant shade of bluish green, while Sirzechs was enveloped in a dark, pulsing crimson light that seemed to eat the very fabric of space.
Sirzechs Lucifer moved with a fluidity that was almost terrifying to behold as he clasped both his hands together in front of his chest.
And as he drew them apart, a concentrated sphere of dark crimson energy manifested between his palms.
It was the Power of Destruction, a conceptual force that represented the absolute elimination of anything.
"Ajuka, help me," Sirzechs muttered.
His voice was devoid of its usual warmth, replaced by the cold, iron resolve of the Crimson Satan.
"Of course."
Ajuka Beelzebub did not hesitate.
He raised both of his hands, his fingers dancing through the air as if manipulating the very fabric of reality.
Jay, watching from atop Draghignazzo, felt the shift in the air immediately.
He recognized the precursor to Sirzechs' attack.
'Hm?' Jay raised his eyebrows, his eyes narrowing behind the shadow of his hood.
Before he could command the dragon to dive or initiate a maneuver, hundreds of green Kankara Formula magic circles erupted into existence, surrounding Jay and Draghignazzo in a spherical cage of glowing equations.
The air around them suddenly surged in density, becoming thousands of times denser in a fraction of a second.
It was the same air manipulation Ajuka had utilized in the underground chamber.
As Jay struggled against the crushing weight that pinned his limbs and grounded the dragon's wings from moving.
Sirzechs' eyes darkened as the crimson sphere between his hands thrummed with a low crackle.
"Ruin of the Extinct," Sirzechs whispered.
SHUUUUNG
The sphere shot forward at an incredible speed, as if it had erased every trace of air resistance in its path.
Jay saw the incoming sphere of destruction and immediately attempted to initialize a teleportation circle beneath his feet.
However, just a few dozen meters before the sphere reached them, it erupted violently in an instant.
The small sphere of destruction expanded into a fifty-meter-wide sun of crimson elimination, radiating Sirzechs' raw power of destruction.
CRACKLE
Within the sphere, Jay's teleportation circle was instantly deleted, the mana consumed before the spell could even form.
His heavy black cloak, the garment that had hidden his identity for so long, was slowly disintegrated, turning into nothing as it was erased from existence by the very concept of elimination.
Draghignazzo let out a pained, guttural roar that shook the sky of Agreas Island.
Its obsidian scales, the very armor that made it known as Lucifer's Dragon Armor and famed for their incredible durability cracked and began to crumble under the relentless force of the sphere's concept of destruction.
Ajuka, watching the spectacle from his vantage point, allowed a small, triumphant smirk to pull at the corner of his mouth.
'Got you...'
For a moment, it seemed the battle was over.
No entity in the Underworld, save perhaps him and Serafall, was expected to survive a direct hit from Sirzech's Power of Destruction.
But in that final fraction of a second, as the crimson sphere threatened to consume everything inside it.
The hooded figure whispered-
"True Cross."
FWUOOOOM
A sudden violent burst of black flame erupted from the center of the crimson sphere.
And what followed was a sight that Ajuka and Sirzechs had never, in their long lives, thought possible. The black flame did not burn Jay, nor did it harm the dragon. Instead, it instantly annihilating the Sirzechs' Ruin of Extinct, reducing it to nothing.
The legendary Sirzechs Lucifer's Power of Destruction, the power that he mastered to an overwhelming level, capable of erasing anything it touched, was being reduced to ash by a black flame.
The sheer impossibility of it left them utterly stunned, their minds struggling to comprehend what they were witnessing.
"No way, Your power... it is being destroyed," Ajuka muttered, his eyes widening in genuine shock.
He stared, frozen, as the black flames flickered and disappeared after consuming Sirzechs' attack as a whole, leaving the air empty.
But contrary to his friend, what surprised Sirzechs the most was not the destruction of his attack.
His heart nearly stopped as the remnants of the cloak vanished, revealing the figure that had been hidden beneath.
The destruction had done its work on the fabric, stripping away the mystery and leaving the intruder exposed to the afternoon sun.
"There is no way. It was really you..."
Sirzechs' voice was a breathy whisper of denial.
He tried to reconcile the image of the young man he had met briefly in the hotel of Bucharest. He wanted to believe it was impossible for that person to be the K that Ravel had spoken of with such fear.
That human.
The Draconic Deus Slayer.
And yet, there he was. Jay stood tall atop the dragon's neck, his black hair whipping wildly in the high-altitude winds.
His dark hazel eyes were unreadable as he stared down the two most powerful beings in the Underworld.
His left eye, the golden X ignited within the iris, burned with the unmistakable light of the Avesta.
It was the same gaze Sirzechs had seen before.
Grayfia, usually the very embodiment of stoic composure, stood frozen, her eyes wide as she took in the face of the familiar young man.
The tense silence was then broken by Sirzechs' voice.
"Zayyn Illya Kovalenko."