Truth be told, Vali was indeed powerful.
This was because his innate conditions were simply too exceptional.
As a half-human, half-demon hybrid, his human lineage had granted him a Longinus, making him the current White Dragon Emperor. This alone was a divine blessing, yet his devil bloodline was equally extraordinary, descending directly from a former Maou. The combination of these two factors brought him advantages that were visible to the naked eye.
Under normal circumstances, while a Longinus was undeniably powerful, it was extremely difficult for an ordinary person to master one.
Take Yukino Yukinoshita for example. At full power, she could temporarily suppress Sharon Holygrail and exert strength on par with an High-class Devil.
And how long had it been since she was reincarnated as a devil back then?
At most, a little over a month!
In just over a month, Yukino Yukinoshita had leaped from being an ordinary human to a being capable of wielding the power of a High-class Devil. This wasn't just because of her high talent or the fact that her demonic power was equal to a pure-blood devil upon reincarnation; it was also because of her Longinus, "Absolute Demise."
A Longinus existed to break the balance of power, capable of allowing a mere human to grow strong enough to rival Gods and Maous. This was why Yukino could unleash such a level of strength.
But what was the result? Yukino still nearly lost to Sharon.
Because she was still green at the time, her demonic power was only at the level of a Middle-class Devil, and her stamina was abysmal. She simply couldn't sustain the drain caused by the Longinus, leading to a lack of endurance. She was even lured into a trap by Sharon and nearly purified on the spot.
This issue wasn't unique to Yukino; every Longinus possessor faced the same problem.
During the incident with the Old Maou Faction, Mahiru Shiina relied on the power of the "Sephiroth Graal" to fight her way through, but didn't she eventually collapse in the later rooms due to exhaustion, failing to reach the central chamber?
Issei Hyoudou was considered weak even among Low-class Devils after his reincarnation. Thus, even though he possessed the "Boosted Gear"—a Longinus capable of infinitely increasing power—he hit a hard limit after boosting himself to a single strike comparable to a High-class Devil. After that one strike, he was completely drained and unable to continue fighting, which further illustrated the point.
In summary, a Longinus was powerful, but using it well required a heavy price. At the very least, one had to train until they could endure its consumption and activate its abilities at will before they could truly stand out.
However, such rules simply did not apply to Vali.
Due to possessing half of a Maou's bloodline, he was born with immense demonic power. Forget the standard abilities of the "Divine Dividing"—he could maintain his Balance Breaker for an entire month. He could even use the irrational power of Juggernaut Drive for several minutes purely through his vast reserves of demonic power. This was utterly absurd.
One must realize that among the past generations of the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor, no one had ever achieved this.
Many past hosts had reached the Balance Breaker, but Juggernaut Drive was a curse; no one had ever been able to control it with their own power.
In the past, if a Red Dragon Emperor or White Dragon Emperor activated Juggernaut Drive, there was usually only one outcome: a complete loss of control and a mindless rampage until everything in sight was destroyed.
By the time they stopped, it usually meant their life force had been squeezed dry by the Juggernaut Drive, leaving them with nothing but a slow death.
Even the original protagonist, Issei Hyoudou, completely lost control when he triggered an incomplete Juggernaut Drive, resulting in a significant reduction of his lifespan. Had Vali not intervened, and had it not been an incomplete version, he would have rampaged until his life was extinguished.
From this, one could see just how ridiculous Vali was for being able to forcefully use Juggernaut Drive for several minutes using his own demonic power.
Therefore, he was the strongest White Dragon Emperor in history, bar none.
With his current strength, even without Juggernaut Drive, he was already Maou-class just using Balance Breaker. How many such combatants existed in the entire Underworld?
Excluding the Four Great Maous who surpassed Maou-class and special existences like Grayfia, the known Maou-class powerhouses in the Underworld were few and far between.
They included the top-ranked players in the Rating Games and a few old fossils from the Seventy-Two Pillars who had survived since ancient times. That was it.
And even if these devils possessed the same Maou-class strength as Vali, could they actually defeat him?
Don't forget, Vali was the host of "Divine Dividing." Once given the chance to activate his ability, the consequences were unimaginable.
Halving an opponent's power every ten seconds—and being able to do so at will while in Balance Breaker—meant that theoretically, the moment Vali touched someone, they would instantly turn into a weakling, left to his mercy.
Even Leon didn't dare let Vali get close enough to use that ability on him. Anyone else would be even more wary and constrained.
Thus, in Leon's view, the current Vali was already powerful without Juggernaut Drive; with it, only the Four Great Maous in the entire Underworld could truly be his match. No one else was reliable.
This was the weight of the White Dragon Emperor plus the blood of Lucifer!
"As I thought, even you see it that way?"
Sirzechs' expression was somewhat complex.
He was very wary of Vali. After all, the boy's conditions were uniquely gifted, and he shared an inextricable history with his own family.
As a descendant of Lucifer, it was unknown whether Vali held any hostility toward him—the current Maou who had "usurped" the name of Lucifer.
As the current White Dragon Emperor, the boy was also the fated rival of a member of his sister's peerage.
One could say Vali's very existence was a threat, at least to Sirzechs and Rias.
If Sirzechs weren't so magnanimous, any other more suspicious Maou would have been so restless that they might have resorted to the classic "this child is too terrifying to be left alive" trope.
"Do you think Azazel has any other motives for bringing that one into Grigori?"
What Sirzechs worried about most was the Governor General of the Fallen Angels.
It couldn't be helped; as mentioned before, in the eyes of many, Azazel was a major antagonist. Every move he made was viewed as potentially hiding a conspiracy, forcing others to be on guard.
Vali's identity was so sensitive, his strength so great, and his potential so limitless. For such a being to fall into the hands of a "villain boss" made it hard not to worry.
"I actually don't think he has any strange ideas," Leon said, seeing Sirzechs starting to overthink. "Although it's my first time meeting the Governor General of the Fallen Angels, the impression he gave me—well, while he certainly is suspicious and has the aura of a schemer, one can still gather from many sources that he is more obsessed with researching Sacred Gears. He views himself primarily as a researcher."
"Besides, he's willing to hold a summit with us, which shows he doesn't want things to escalate, right?"
"Regardless of whether it's an act, this is a chance for the three factions to truly sit down and talk peacefully. If we really don't want to start another war, we should seize it and make our stance and our voices heard."
Hearing this, Sirzechs was stunned for a moment before his expression relaxed.
"Yes, you're right. I was being overly paranoid." Sirzechs laughed and said, "Things might not be as bad as we think. Since we have this rare opportunity, we shouldn't give up on it just because of suspicion."
"Thank you for reminding me, Leon."
At Sirzechs' warm words, Leon simply shook his head.
"I just feel that rather than worrying about the Governor General causing trouble, it's better to worry about other areas," Leon said pointedly. "After all, the current shared understanding among the three factions is to avoid another war to prevent a crisis of racial extinction. So, unless there's another madman like Kokabiel among the Fallen Angels, they likely share our consensus and won't want to fight."
"On the contrary, there are certain existences who have been hiding in the shadows all along. They certainly won't stand by and watch the situation develop this way."
"For example, the Old Maou Faction, or the Hero Faction."
Sirzechs paused, his face turning solemn again.
He knew Leon's warning wasn't baseless.
The ideology of the Old Maou Faction had always been pro-war. It was their desire to fight the Angels and Fallen Angels to the bitter end that caused dissatisfaction among the Reformists, eventually leading to the civil war.
Even now, the Old Maou Faction harbored hatred toward the current Underworld. They certainly wouldn't want to see the Underworld negotiating peacefully with their long-time enemies to discuss a grand plan for peace.
The Hero Faction was the same. According to the information Leon provided, they viewed all supernatural races as targets to be subjugated and defeated to prove human strength. How could such a group be willing to see the Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels hold a peaceful summit?
To these people with ulterior motives, the summit was not just something to be disrupted; it was perhaps an opportunity.
An opportunity to gather the high-ranking figures of all three factions in one place, eliminate them all at once, and completely throw the world into chaos.
Compared to the Governor General of the Fallen Angels, these people were the ones who truly required vigilance and caution.
"It seems we have a lot of preparations to make before the summit begins."
Sirzechs seemed to already have some ideas in mind.
"As long as you're aware of it," Leon said, nodding with satisfaction as he saw Sirzechs take his words to heart.
The two then unfolded magic circles in front of them and teleported.
Target: Kuoh Academy Old School Building, Occult Research Club.
At this time, the night had not yet ended, and darkness still shrouded the town of Kuoh.
So many things had happened tonight that even the ordinary residents of Kuoh had noticed some anomalies, including but not limited to the various commotions caused by the battle between Eligos's peerage and the Cerberus pack.
Specifically, the battle between Leon and the Cerberus King had set a mountain on fire and turned the area below into ruins. Combined with the various phenomena and strange noises appearing outside the town, all of Kuoh was in an uproar tonight.
To prevent the panic from spreading, the Underworld had already sent many people to handle the aftermath.
Some were there to repair the damaged terrain, while others were there to erase the residents' memories, striving to completely hide the events of tonight.
Some were dispatched to Kuoh Academy to carry out repairs. After all, the battle here had been fierce and the damage severe. If they didn't finish the repairs, the students of Kuoh Academy would surely panic when they arrived tomorrow.
The area outside the town also required processing. The impact of the battle between Leon and Vali was even greater than the one at Kuoh Academy. Leaving it alone would cause a massive stir in public opinion.
Thus, on this night, many unknown devils arrived in Kuoh, diligently working on the cleanup.
At this moment, the Occult Research Club room on the second floor of the Old School Building was still brightly lit.
Members of Eligos's peerage, Gremory's peerage, and Sitri's peerage were all gathered here, listening to Sirzechs' announcement.
"...And that's the situation. The three factions will soon hold a summit. As those involved in this incident, you may all need to attend to provide a full explanation and report."
As Sirzechs announced the news of the summit, everyone looked at each other in surprise.
"A three-way summit?" Sona Sitri pushed up her glasses, her face serious. "I didn't expect things to turn out this way."
The others also showed signs of apprehension.
The incident was massive, but no one expected the final result to be a summit of the three powers for leadership negotiations.
This was truly a historical first.
"The three factions that have been enemies since ancient times are now actually going to sit down and negotiate?" Rias murmured under her breath.
"This is an unprecedented turn of events!" Ravel also looked strangely nervous.
To this, Leon spoke in a calm tone.
"Not necessarily. Although a summit is indeed a first, the three factions have cooperated once in the past."
As he spoke, Leon turned his gaze toward one person in the room.
The others followed his gaze thoughtfully.
"Wh-what? Why is everyone looking at me?"
Standing in the corner with a look of confusion, Issei Hyoudou felt himself become the center of attention and suddenly became flustered.
Looking at the original protagonist, Leon smiled.
"Because the thing residing inside you is the very reason why the three factions cooperated for the only time in history."
Leon said.
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