The Underworld, Devil Territory—
A black swirling vortex appeared out of thin air at some point, rotating slowly. It did not emit even a trace of aura or fluctuation, as if "Nothingness" itself had manifested as a visible black hole. Not to mention ordinary devils, even if the Devil Kings were to come here, they likely would not have noticed its existence without seeing it with their own eyes.
Suddenly, several streaks of light flew out from the black hole, transforming into three figures of varying sizes appearing in the sky.
"Is this... the Underworld?"
At the lead was Leon, with twelve pitch-black devil wings unfurled behind his back. His left hand held the now-awake Kanna, while his right hand held the silent Stella. He cast a commanding gaze downward, observing the landscape of mountains and rivers for a long while before finally confirming their location.
"Ophis was actually thoughtful for once."
Leon felt that the fact that this exit connecting the Underworld and the Dimensional Gap appeared here was likely Ophis's intentional doing. Because he was a devil, Ophis had opened the exit on the Underworld side.
"Unfortunately, I don't want to return to the Underworld right now; I'd much rather return to the Human World."
Leon could only remark that the Dragon God's thoughtfulness was misplaced. He was currently more concerned about the summit meeting at Kuoh Academy and whether his peerage had already escaped the pocket dimension set up by the Hero Faction to return to the living world. He had little desire to be in the Underworld.
"Forget it, being able to come back at all is already quite good."
Leon quickly stopped dwelling on it. Compared to the Dimensional Gap, the Underworld was at least familiar territory. He could jump back to the Human World via a magic circle; it would just take some time. Compared to being trapped in the Dimensional Gap, this was nothing.
The urgent priority was to contact Yukino Yukinoshita and the others to see how they were faring. With this thought, Leon released Stella's hand and raised his palm, preparing to deploy a communication magic circle.
However, before Leon could contact Yukino and the others, someone else contacted him first.
"Leon! Are you back? Where are you right now?!"
The voice coming from the magic circle and the projected image belonged to none other than Sona Sitri. This usually calm and rational next head of the Sitri Clan was currently speaking with a desperate urgency, her composure uncharacteristically shaken.
The obvious worry and joy in her voice made Leon smile in spite of himself.
"Yeah, I'm back. I'm fine for now." Leon's tone instinctively softened as he spoke to Sona. "I'm in the Underworld and out of danger. Don't worry."
"The Underworld?" Sona relaxed visibly, as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. "That's good. That's good."
"How are things on your end?" Leon took the opportunity to ask. "Is everyone okay?"
"We're alright. At least no one was sacrificed," Sona said, having regained her composure. "That day, a thick mist suspected to be released by the possessor of 'Dimension Lost' filled all of Kuoh Academy. It forcibly teleported you and your peerage away but left us at the academy."
"Once the mist cleared, we were immediately attacked."
Sona seemed to have guessed that Leon had been cut off from the outside world and was eager to share what had happened that day. Thus, she briefly recounted the events, giving Leon a general understanding of the situation.
In truth, events had unfolded similarly to the original timeline. While Leon and his peerage were forcibly transferred to a pocket dimension to battle the Hero Faction, the Old Devil King Faction took the opportunity to strike. They attacked the school buildings and the guards from the Three Great Powers stationed at Kuoh Academy. After dealing with the guards, they launched an immediate assault on the leaders of the Three Great Powers, almost explicitly declaring that they intended for Sirzechs, Serafall, Azazel, and Michael to die there.
To this end, the leaders of the Old Devil King Faction—the descendants of the original Devil Kings—all joined the fray. Of course, that alone would have been expected, but what was surprising was that someone originally on their side also made a move—
"Vali Lucifer. That man had actually joined the Khaos Brigade in secret and was recruited by the Old Devil King Faction."
Sona spoke of this matter with a heavy tone. Fearing Leon might not know the inside story, she continued before he could respond.
"The Khaos Brigade is an underground power to which terrorist groups like the Old Devil King Faction and the Hero Faction belong. This underground power was established at some unknown time and has recruited restless and dangerous elements from various factions in the name of the 'Infinite Dragon God.' It quietly grew to a scale capable of influencing the world without anyone noticing."
"Especially within the three factions of Devils, Angels, and Fallen Angels, many who are dissatisfied with the status quo have joined this organization in secret. Figures like Kokabiel, who refuse to accept the current state of affairs and wish to incite war, are everywhere within it, as are many radicals and heretics from the Church."
"Before this, no one noticed the organization's existence. Only the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels sensed something was wrong and sent people to investigate in secret, eventually discovering it."
"As for us, we only noticed some clues and began investigating after the incident where Luffy Trix attacked."
At this point, Sona still felt a lingering fear. The fact that such a dangerous power could appear without anyone's knowledge was terrifying. Especially after learning that the leader of this faction was the "Infinite Dragon God" Ophis, not only Sona, but the leaders of all the great powers had undergone a drastic change in expression.
"However, Lord Sirzechs and my sister—Lady Serafall—seemed to have known something beforehand. Even when hearing Governor Azazel mention the 'Infinite Dragon God' and the Khaos Brigade, they weren't too surprised, though their expressions were quite heavy."
Sona's observation skills were meticulous, and she had noticed this at the time. She had found it strange but didn't speak up then. Mentioning it now as she recalled the situation, she brought it up in passing.
"And then? What happened after?"
Leon did not tell Sona that he had already known about the existence of the Khaos Brigade and Ophis, nor did he mention that the reason Sirzechs knew something was because he had deliberately warned him. After the incident with Luffy Trix, Leon had pointedly mentioned the "Ouroboros" symbol—an incredibly obvious hint—to Sirzechs. If Sirzechs still couldn't guess that Ophis was backing the Old Devil King Faction, he would be quite unfit to be a Devil King.
Regarding the "Infinite Dragon God" Ophis, Sirzechs could not ignore the potential horror hidden behind the matter and had clearly conducted a deep investigation afterward. Based on Sirzechs' previous attitude, he had likely investigated something along the line of the "Infinite Dragon God" and, much like Azazel, discovered the existence of the Khaos Brigade.
Sirzechs had actually intended to bring this up after the Three Great Powers decided on a peace treaty. Unfortunately, the attack came before he could do so.
As for Vali's betrayal and joining the Khaos Brigade, not only Leon, but even Azazel had likely anticipated it. The Governor-General of the Fallen Angels was incredibly brilliant, and since he had raised Vali himself, he was practically a son to him. How could he not have noticed something was off? Even if he hadn't detected any specific anomaly, Azazel would have suspected Vali might do something, because he knew exactly how much Vali loved to fight and challenge the strong.
Peace was something others begged for, but for Vali, it was akin to a death sentence. He didn't need peace; he only wanted to trade blows with the strong and enjoy combat to his heart's content. Consequently, since the Three Great Powers had decided on a peace treaty and would no longer target each other, Vali naturally wouldn't want to stay. Joining the Khaos Brigade to be an enemy of the Three Great Powers, or even an enemy of other mythological systems, was likely far more appealing to him.
Thus, Vali's betrayal and departure were foreseeable, and Leon didn't need to be surprised by it. He still wanted to know what happened next, to see if it aligned with what he knew.
"Afterward—"
Sona slowly recounted the events of that day to Leon.
Unlike the original story, because the attack was launched by the Old Devil King Faction and the other branches of the Khaos Brigade did not move against the Three Great Powers, both Sirzechs and Serafall felt that the Devils should take responsibility for dealing with the Old Devil King Faction. Therefore, Azazel, Michael, and the others became spectators and did not intervene.
At the time, Vali challenged Sirzechs, the strongest Devil King, in the name of Lucifer. The descendant of the original Leviathan, without saying a word, swallowed Ophis's "Snake" and attacked Serafall, the current Leviathan, igniting a war between the new and old Devil Kings. Under those circumstances, the Gremory and Sitri peerages present naturally couldn't stand by and watch; they moved to deal with the descendants of the other two original Devil Kings.
The Gremory peerage dealt with the descendant of the original Beelzebub. The Sitri peerage dealt with the descendant of the original Asmodeus.
The result was brutal. Neither the Gremory nor Sitri peerages were a match for the descendants of the original Devil Kings. The Gremory peerage, in particular, was in a far more dangerous position than when they faced Kokabiel. Because the descendant of the original Beelzebub was the strongest leader among the Old Devil King Faction, after obtaining Ophis's "Snake," their strength already rivaled the first-generation Beelzebub. They were not an opponent the Gremory peerage—who couldn't even defeat the sub-Devil-King-level Kokabiel—could handle.
Fortunately, Azazel provided support from the rear. His years of research into Sacred Gears had allowed him to develop some very practical tools, including a device that allowed Issei Hyoudou to forcibly activate Balance Breaker without paying any price. This allowed Issei to explode with a combat power exceeding anyone else in the Gremory peerage, narrowly managing to hold the line. Otherwise, the Gremory peerage likely would have collapsed and been wiped out by the descendant of Beelzebub.
The Sitri peerage was also in a dangerous state. If not for Sona's quick wits, it was unlikely they could have stalled a descendant of the original Asmodeus.
In the end, it was Sirzechs who, with matchless power, first defeated Vali, knocking him down before he could even activate Juggernaut Drive. He then went to support the Gremory peerage, saving them from disaster.
Serafall similarly proved herself as one of the strongest female devils in the devil world. Her Super-Devil-King-class strength was displayed to the fullest. The descendant of Leviathan, who had only reached the Devil King level by relying on Ophis's "Snake," was no match for her. They were frozen into an ice sculpture on the spot and defeated. After defeating her opponent, Serafall naturally rushed to save her younger sister and easily defeated the descendant of Asmodeus.
At the same time, Sirzechs also defeated the descendant of Beelzebub and captured them.
This outcome stunned countless people at the time. To those who didn't know the truth, the current Devil Kings were thought to be inferior to the descendants of the original Devil Kings in terms of bloodline and traits. Even if they had decent combat power, it was believed they would be lucky to reach a stalemate against the original bloodlines empowered by Ophis. How could they win so easily?
Not only others, but even Azazel and Michael thought this way. After all, they didn't fully understand the current Devil Kings' strength. To them, beings who had existed since ancient times and fought the original Devil Kings, the current Devil Kings—who were only a few hundred years old—were barely children. How could they fully grasp their power?
This was especially true for Sirzechs. He hadn't entered his Power of Destruction form since the Civil War. The specific details of that battle hadn't been leaked by the devils, so how could others know that this "young devil" who took the name of Lucifer actually ranked among the top powers in the world, standing on equal footing with the Chief Gods and God Kings of various mythological systems?
While Serafall was not as strong as Sirzechs, she was already at the Super-Devil-King level, her strength far surpassing the original Devil Kings.
Thus, the current Devil Kings were actually all "cheaters." Despite being only a few hundred years old, they had all quietly grown to a point that would make eyes pop out of their heads. This left the "old-timers" like Azazel and Michael, who were still relying on their ancient foundations, wondering where they stood.
It could be said that among the current Three Great Powers, the Devils' strength had already pulled far ahead of the other two. If the current Devil Kings weren't all easy-going types who preferred the status quo, loved peace, and didn't care much for power or status, the Devils might have already suppressed the Angels and Fallen Angels to the point where they couldn't lift their heads.
Therefore, as long as Sirzechs and Serafall were present, this crisis of the collective attack by the Old Devil King Faction was actually destined to be resolved without issue.
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