The Indian Pantheon—
A youth who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old was fishing, appearing as tranquil as the surrounding landscape.
However, a sound soon came from behind him.
"Quite leisurely, fishing here."
Rias sneered.
"I must do something to calm my boiling heart."
Shiva gave a warm smile and asked, "Want to join me?"
"You're fishing for fish, but it's the horse that's dying. Is it worth it?"
Rias said faintly.
"Haha, you're quite merciless with your words."
Shiva laughed loudly. "As I suspected, you're the one sent to deal with me."
"Your birth and the revival of the God of the Bible are definitely connected."
"So?" Rias was noncommittal.
"You are the reincarnation of the God of the Bible."
Shiva speculated, "His holiness was an undisguised holiness, while yours comes from the source itself; both are equally unfathomable."
Though he guessed wrong, it was expected that someone would make such a deduction.
"Just to confirm this, you, as the highest God of Destruction of the Indian Pantheon, supported those terrorists behind the scenes?"
Rias asked.
"For us, isn't that reason enough?"
Shiva said as if it were a matter of course. "Moreover, many gods have doubts about the current era; they've simply been suppressed by you."
To the gods, humans were insignificant.
But for some reason, the God of the Bible favored humans exceptionally, even standing on their side.
Although the current era could be considered a win-win for both humans and gods,
the rise of humanity still left those gods feeling displeased.
Humans had overstepped.
"Times are progressing. Although development has been a bit too fast due to His interference, it is all moving in a positive direction."
Rias said, "Individual evolution, technological advancement, enhanced quality of education, and the breaking of old systems—these combined bring the explosive power of civilization, rather than the monopoly and enslavement of a single pantheon."
"The happiness index and the value created by civilization far exceed the past. Although the gods are no longer high and mighty, they still have their place. Isn't such an era good?"
"It's very good, but it's not what we gods want."
As one of the oldest gods, Shiva had witnessed the development of various races and Pantheons.
Until now, the entire world had completely spiraled out of control, heading down a path they could never have imagined.
When gods are no longer gods, but merely powerful 'people,' then the existence of a god itself loses its meaning.
It wasn't about external threats or anything else; it was simply that their own existence and definition were being threatened.
Rather than coexistence, many preferred only themselves to be high and mighty.
It could be said that the God of the Bible in this world was fundamentally different from the other gods.
"You are very much like the First Generation Bael."
Rias sighed.
"That brat..."
Shiva said, then paused.
He understood what Rias was trying to say.
In the devils' reforms, Bael was the symbol of the old order.
A few years ago, while Shiva lamented the changes among the devils, he was also a spectator.
Now, in just a few short years, Shiva had become the one being watched.
Indeed, what goes around comes around.
As the former number one expert in the world, Shiva possessed the prestige and strength to become the symbol of the old era.
And this step was both Shiva's arrogance and the resistance of the old era.
Shiva, who seemed not to care about anything, was only interested in Ophis in the past because he was already the strongest in the world.
As the strongest, nothing was worth pursuing because everything was within his reach.
He seemed like a martial arts fanatic, but in truth, he was more arrogant than anyone, craved everything more than anyone, and stood higher than anyone else.
As the arrogance of a god, when the strongest was no longer the strongest, even Shiva's mindset became unbalanced.
Perhaps it was also because he had always viewed the God of the Bible as a rival; after working so hard to catch up and finally becoming the 'number one expert in the world,' the other's revival and subsequent display of power completely shattered his worldview, causing his mentality to collapse.
In short, he was another person who couldn't handle the changing times, couldn't accept others being stronger than him, and feared that more people would gradually catch up to him in the future, so he wanted to pull back the wheels of history.
Without even realizing his own limitations.
Or perhaps, was he deliberately seeking death?
"So, are you prepared to pay the price?"
Rias smiled.
"Naturally."
Shiva slowly stood up, a vertical eye appearing on his forehead, emitting a black light.
The light of destruction blossomed, and everything in the vicinity began to crumble.
"This time, a winner must be decided!"
Shiva's gaze was filled with battle intent.
"Even at the cost of your death?"
Rias asked again.
"I am the strongest!"
Even though he had seen the gap between himself and the God of the Bible, he understood that every step forward for him was immensely difficult.
Walking at the very forefront of the entire world, this world and this civilization no longer had the capacity to help him continue growing stronger.
He was the peak!
However, his peak was merely an individual combat power that surpassed civilization.
To Rias, he was just a slightly larger bug.
Perhaps Shiva also understood this; rather than waiting to be surpassed by the 'people' trained by the God of the Bible in the future, it was better to go out in a blaze of glory now.
"I see, what a pity."
Without any actual regret or even a ripple of emotion, Rias slowly raised her hand.
In that instant, Shiva felt as though he had become a weak human, standing on a crude wooden plank, surrounded by storms and tornadoes, utterly helpless in a violent sea.
An incomparably terrifying and holy existence, far beyond the scope of his consciousness, stood before him.
In a daze, Shiva felt the truth of the world.
And the truth—is Destruction!
A giant red hand emerged and tightly gripped him within it.
In the next heartbeat, Shiva's body was completely annihilated.
"Hmm?" Rias was slightly surprised.
In that last moment, his soul was teleported away?
A red light appeared in her eyes as Rias tracked the traces of Shiva's soul.
Crossing between worlds, while Shiva's soul was in transit, a crimson light flashed and vanished.
Equation of Destruction One: Destruction Demonic Eye!
In an instant, Shiva's soul was wiped out completely.
Tracing back through the teleportation channel, Rias projected a sliver of her consciousness into it, locking eyes with the highest-ranking Spirit God of the Other World.
"The last time, understand?"
Rias said faintly.
"Understood!"
With an impressive bosom, the seemingly pure but actually lecherous Holy Mother God nodded her head like a chicken pecking at grain, her chest heaving like turbulent waves.
Only when Rias's consciousness withdrew did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"A pity I couldn't save Shiva... well, no matter, compared to Shiva, that new god is so terrifying; our Spirit Race might finally be saved."
The Holy Mother God of the Other World, suspected to be the Virgin Mary of the Biblical Pantheon who had contacted the DXD world in the past, wore an expectant smile.
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