— — — — — —
The Himejima Estate, inside the detention area used for punishing clan members—
Ryo received a report that was, frankly, exactly what he had expected.
"The Khaos Brigade made contact with Ophis? And Rizevim showed up in person?"
A glowing screen floated in the air before him. On it, Ajuka nodded with a grave expression. "Ingvild reported the incident. It happened about half an hour ago on the shopping street below Yasaka Shrine. Sirzechs has already gone to verify it, and we've confirmed traces of Rizevim's demonic power in the area."
Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
The son of the original Lucifer and Lilith.
In a sense, he was the most legitimate heir to the title of Satan Lucifer.
Hundreds of years ago, the Devil Civil War had essentially been a clash between Rizevim's Old Satan faction and the reformists led by Sirzechs and Ajuka.
Rizevim's side sought to preserve the authority of the original Four Great Satans and maintain the devil world's law of the jungle.
The reformists believed that after the death of God, devil society needed to change. Rather than continuing a brutal system where only the strong survived, they wanted a new age guided by aristocratic governance and economic development.
To put it simply, it was a civil war born from ideological conflict among the pure-blood noble families.
Both sides fought fiercely, winning and losing battles in turn. For a long time, neither could gain a decisive advantage.
Then Lilith herself suddenly appeared. She publicly denied Rizevim's legitimacy as her son.
Not long afterward, Rizevim vanished without explanation.
The reformists seized the opportunity, declaring that he had been an impostor whose scheme had been exposed. With their enemy gone, they inherited the Old Satan faction's political assets almost effortlessly and rose to the highest levels of power.
That was also why, even after Sirzechs and Ajuka took power, the Old Satan faction and the Devil Council still retained considerable influence.
The reforms had never been fully completed.
At the height of the conflict, Rizevim's disappearance had handed Sirzechs and Ajuka victory on a silver platter, but it had also left behind a host of unresolved problems.
Only after Ryo took power and ruthlessly wiped out the Devil Council, conveniently pinning the blame on the Greek Pantheon, did the reformists finally gain complete control.
Which was exactly why Rizevim's reappearance made Ajuka uneasy.
At a time when the Old Satan faction and the devil aristocracy had been completely marginalized, the return of their de facto leader was impossible to ignore.
It was hard not to suspect some kind of conspiracy. Especially since he had shown up specifically to contact Ophis.
"Ophis says Rizevim approached her to invite her back to the Khaos Brigade. She responded by telling him directly that the organization should be dissolved." Ajuka's expression grew increasingly suspicious. "My informant within the Brigade also reports that they've reorganized under a new name, Black Root, with Rizevim acting as leader. I strongly suspect something is going on."
His distrust was obvious.
In Ajuka's eyes, Rizevim was a complete lunatic. The fact that he'd apparently accepted Ophis's decision so easily, dissolved the Brigade, and immediately formed a new organization was suspicious beyond belief.
They couldn't afford to let their guard down.
"And?" Ryo lounged lazily in his chair. "What exactly is the conspiracy?"
Ajuka looked slightly embarrassed. "We don't know yet. Our informant's rank isn't high enough to get close to Rizevim."
That part was frustrating.
Anyone embedded within the Khaos Brigade had trouble getting near him. The man regularly purged his own subordinates on a whim.
There was genuinely something wrong with his head.
A powerful enemy wasn't necessarily terrifying. A powerful enemy whose thought process nobody could understand was another matter entirely.
The reckless feared the insane, the insane feared the suicidal, and even the suicidal feared those who were beyond sanity.
To Ajuka, Rizevim belonged firmly in that last category.
"So you have no intelligence at all?" Ryo sounded mildly speechless.
Without evidence, claiming the other side was plotting something was basically just scaring yourself.
"I'll have our people continue gathering information." Ajuka rubbed his forehead awkwardly.
Truthfully, he had contacted Ryo based largely on suspicion. There was definitely an element of overreacting involved.
"Don't worry about him." Ryo waved it off. "Let him jump around as much as he wants."
With that, he ended the call.
The screen vanished.
Ajuka sat silently for a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Don't worry about him..."
Ryo had said it so casually.
Honestly, Ajuka was a little jealous.
Being overwhelmingly strong really was convenient. You didn't even have to worry about lunatics.
After some thought, he moved Rizevim's file into the secondary-priority category.
Ryo might not care, but Ajuka couldn't afford not to.
If Ryo ever asked about Rizevim later and he had nothing to report, that would be a problem.
Some intelligence gathering was still necessary. Just not a top priority.
With that matter settled, Ajuka looked at the mountain of paperwork still covering his desk, sighed deeply, and returned to work.
...
..
Himejima Estate, Underground Detention Facility—
After ending the call with Ajuka, Ryo closed his eyes and muttered,
"Even Ajuka can't get any information on Rizevim?" He smiled faintly. "Looks like they're really working on something confidential."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a peculiar fluctuation of spirit power entered his senses.
It was a unique signature produced by the secret communication spell Indra used to contact Loki.
Ryo's expression immediately turned strange.
Then he accepted the transmission.
A moment later, a screen materialized before him.
Indra appeared on it, dressed in monk's robes and looking every bit as crafty as ever.
"Loki, I need your help."
"Go ahead," Ryo replied, his expression increasingly subtle.
A certain suspicion had already begun forming in his mind.
"I need the data you used to create Midgardsormr."
Indra got straight to the point.
His relationship with Loki was unusually close in some respects. Both held leverage over the other, so neither worried much about betrayal.
As a result, there was no need for polite formalities.
"What do you need that for?" Ryo asked.
Indra smiled. "I won't hide it from you. I've already formed an alliance with Vishnu of Hinduism, Angra Mainyu of Persia, and Rizevim of the devils."
"We've decided to establish an Alliance to counter the ever-expanding three-faction."
Ryo listened quietly.
Indra continued. "The dragon-creation data in your possession is a crucial resource. Rizevim has obtained an enormous quantity of high-quality dragon power in Kyoto. Using that energy, we can revive and control the legendary dragons that have already died."
"They'll become one of our most important trump cards against the three factions."
Then his tone turned earnest. "Loki. Join us."
"The growth of the three factions benefits neither of us. I can guarantee you the position of vice leader within the Alliance. Your authority would be second only to mine."
Ryo's expression became indescribably complicated.
'I knew it.'
Just moments ago, he'd been wondering whether the conspiracy Ajuka couldn't uncover might end up falling directly into his lap through Indra.
And sure enough, it had.
Leader of the three factions. Vice Leader of the Alliance that was opposing the three factions.
Wonderful.
.
.
.