"An explanation? What explanation?"
A calm, gentle male voice rang out. The question sounded perfectly ordinary, yet it instantly put everyone present on edge. The voice did not belong to any of them.
"Whoosh!"
The moment they realized that, everyone abandoned their bickering and attempts to shift the blame. They turned toward the source of the voice in unison, readying themselves for battle in case the unknown intruder attacked.
"Hmm!"
"Hmm?"
No one vanished the moment they turned to look, nor did anyone take advantage of their distraction to launch a surprise attack. Epsilon and the others saw the source of the voice without incident.
It was a young man dressed in a silver white formal suit, with a faint, warm smile on his face. At least, he looked like a young man.
Despite his smile, the unfamiliar youth tilted his head slightly and widened his bright eyes, as though he were genuinely curious about what the conversation between Azazel, Giada, and Serafall had meant.
Unfortunately, no one present volunteered an answer. Instead, the group fell silent once more.
The amused smile Giada had worn while stirring up trouble was gone. She looked expressionlessly at Serafall and Azazel, who wore equally blank expressions. With that single exchange of glances, the three confirmed that they had all recognized the youth's true identity.
When they thought about it, that was hardly surprising. The only time this being had appeared in battle, he had made no attempt to conceal himself. Given their respective positions, there was no possibility they would fail to recognize him.
Serafall was one of the Four Great Satans and one of the four leaders of the Underworld Government. She was chiefly responsible for foreign affairs. Naturally, she would recognize the ruler of one of the world's largest factions, one of the strongest beings publicly known, and the man responsible for the profound humiliation of costing the Underworld its title among the Four Great Satans.
Azazel, the Fallen Angel Governor General, would obviously remember the leaders of other factions and anyone who held the title of "World's Strongest." Otherwise, he might accidentally offend one of them someday and trigger a war between their factions.
As for Giada, she was the Third Primogenitor, one of the world renowned Three Primogenitors.
That was not the important part, however.
The First Primogenitor had once accidentally fought this being. His supposedly invincible immortality had met an invincible enemy from beyond the heavens. He had been killed in a single blow and sent into a resurrection match, even losing one of his seventy two Beast Vassals in the process.
Giada, the Third Primogenitor, was well acquainted with the other two Primogenitors. Unlike the First Primogenitor, however, she did not possess a single resurrection type Beast Vassal that could give her another chance at life.
Such Beast Vassals were little more than curiosities to the Three Primogenitors. Only the First Primogenitor, who possessed so many Beast Vassals, happened to have one that unusual.
In any case, people of their standing could easily recognize the great figure before them.
Roland Augustus, the Netheril Emperor, Lord of the Magic Network, and bearer of countless other illustrious titles.
"Are you not going to answer?"
As though he had grown impatient, the black haired youth raised an eyebrow.
Before Giada and the others could speak, several figures shot past them and landed in front of Cid, dropping to one knee.
"My Lord!"
"Your Majesty!"
The instant they spoke at the same time, Epsilon and Aya Tokoyogi discreetly glanced at each other, both realizing that the other had managed to keep pace with her.
"Rise..."
Cid casually dismissed Epsilon and the others, then continued watching Serafall's group.
They were clearly harboring different thoughts, studying one another and seemingly plotting all manner of schemes.
Cid narrowed his eyes, raised one hand, and opened his palm toward the sky.
"Earth!"
While everyone was still wondering what he intended to do, Cid softly uttered a single word. He slowly turned his open palm downward.
A small, glowing Magic Circle appeared beneath it.
Then he pressed his hand down.
"Boom!"
Gravity intensified to a terrifying degree in an instant, slamming Serafall and the others to the ground.
The ruined earth around them immediately began to crack. The rubble was flattened as though struck by a dimensional reduction weapon. In the blink of an eye, it had been compressed into paper thin sheets and forced into the gaps along the ground's surface.
"Ugh!"
The gravity had transformed the surrounding terrain with ease. The pain it inflicted upon their bodies was many times worse.
Giada could clearly feel her internal organs crying out in agony. The immense gravity alone placed an unbearable burden on their normal functions, making her feel as though a massive blunt weapon had struck her directly in the abdomen.
"Mm..."
Cid gave a faint hum and completely ignored their sounds of pain.
To be honest, he still had no idea what had happened. His sincere question had also been ignored.
But that no longer mattered.
The moment he arrived, he had seen Azazel's group using their superior numbers to bully Epsilon and the others. Failing to intervene would have wasted such perfectly arranged circumstances.
He might not know what was going on, but suppressing everyone first and forcing them to speak properly could not possibly be the wrong decision.
Even he could tell how many different factions were entangled in this affair. If he let them continue unchecked, there would undoubtedly be endless arguments and attempts to shift responsibility.
Cid was certain of that.
When dealing with riddlers, fools, and politicians, all you had to do was beat them before beginning the conversation. Then they would speak to you properly.
Truthfully, he had already held back considerably. He had adjusted the gravity according to each person's strength.
Had he unleashed its full force, Azazel and the others would already have been reduced to puddles of flesh.
"Stop."
Deciding that enough time had passed, Cid lifted his hand and released Rias and the others from the gravitational pressure.
It had only been a show of force to stop them from ignoring him, after all.
"May I ask whether you are now willing to explain what happened here? And what does it have to do with my... subordinates?"
His manner was perfectly polite. He sounded like a young man who genuinely knew nothing about what had happened.
Rias and the others, however, had no intention of regarding the black haired youth as a good person.
What kind of good person knocked everyone down before starting a conversation?
"It was nothing particularly serious. A group of terrorists launched an attack, and your subordinates courageously stepped forward to stop them. Unfortunately, a momentary lapse and several unexpected complications temporarily interrupted their efforts. We were just discussing how best to reward your subordinates..."
Azazel wiped away the cold sweat that had formed from facing Cid. Choosing his words carefully, he spoke in a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing.
He was actually telling the truth?
Cid examined Azazel's words and was surprised to find no lies in them. At least, he could not detect anything that represented falsehood.
Of course, Azazel might have been using some verbal trick, revealing only half the truth and concealing the rest, like the evil scientist who had appeared before Cid earlier.
Still, Cid did not believe Azazel possessed enough skill to deceive him.
He was using Magical Power right now, after all!
In other words... this had nothing to do with Epsilon.
She was still a good person?
Cid discreetly glanced at Epsilon.
For a moment, he had suspected that his childhood friend had fallen so far that she had become some sort of supervillain bent on destroying the world. He had even considered whether he should turn against her for the greater good.
But this outcome... was not so bad, was it?
"Not bad."
After offering that brief response, Cid shifted his gaze toward Giada, who stood nearby with a blank expression, doing her utmost to reduce her presence.
Their eyes met.
"...Greetings, Your Majesty Roland. Thank you for stepping forward and saving this world from disaster. I, Giada Kukulcan, offer you my gratitude on behalf of the other two Primogenitors and the Chaos Zone, the Dominion behind me."
When the black haired youth's gaze fell upon her, Giada's expression stiffened slightly before quickly relaxing.
There was no point trying to hide from him. She might as well face him directly.
Besides, it was an undeniable fact that he had just saved her life.
"The Third Primogenitor?"
Cid had not expected Giada to reveal her entire identity so obediently after a single glance.
Her swift surrender left him somewhat speechless. He had actually been looking forward to matching wits with them.
Even so, the tense atmosphere his presence had created was extremely satisfying.
It proved that his earlier approach had been correct.
If these people had still entertained a few schemes when they first saw him, they were now terrified that he might suddenly lose his temper and slaughter them all.
"!!!"
The black haired youth seemed to be muttering under his breath, but to someone of Giada's caliber, his voice was as clear as a needle striking the floor.
Even the heart of a Vampire Primogenitor skipped a beat.
"I know you. I remember... I once fought the First Primogenitor, who shares your title..."
"..."
Hearing the young man mention that incident, Giada nearly suffered a rush of blood to the head and fainted.
This was exactly what she had feared.
The reckless actions of one of her companions might implicate her, causing this man to take offense and casually erase her from existence.
If that happened, she would have nowhere to seek justice.
"Ha, that bastard Ki has caused more than a few problems whenever he gets carried away. Please do not take his offense to heart, Your Majesty Roland. If he caused you any trouble during that incident, feel free to make any request. We will compensate you..."
The full extent of the trouble the First Primogenitor had caused amounted to breaking in, being defeated in one strike, and then winning his resurrection match in the Lost Warlord's Realm.
Giada no longer cared.
As long as this man did not kill her simply because he found her irritating, she would accept almost anything.
Dying like that would be far too unjust.
"It was nothing important. I only wanted to ask whether what he said was true."
Cid ignored the perfect opportunity for extortion and spoke at an unhurried pace. As he did, he glanced at Azazel.
It was obvious that "he" referred to Azazel.
"...It is true. The Devil on the ground is the chief culprit behind this disaster. There was also a mad scientist who acted as her accomplice, but I already burned him to death."
Without hesitation, Giada abandoned her earlier plan to stir up trouble for entertainment and firmly placed all the blame on Katerea.
There was no trace of her previous attempt to hint that Serafall could shift the blame onto Aya Tokoyogi.
The speed of her reversal left both Rias and Serafall stunned.
Giada noticed their looks but merely glanced at them before looking away.
This was no time to keep fanning the flames. She might genuinely burn herself to death.
A proper thrill seeker would never do something so irrational.
Besides, whether Serafall and the others still had the courage to shift the blame was another question entirely.
Kanon's uncle died that quickly?
Cid spared Katerea, who was pinned to the ground like a dead dog, only a brief glance. His attention immediately shifted to the evil scientist Giada had mentioned.
He instinctively thought of Kensei Kanase, Kanon's uncle, whom he had encountered not long ago.
To be honest, Kanon's uncle was truly bizarre.
The amount of hatred the world had accumulated toward him surpassed that of anyone Cid had ever seen.
It was absurd. Truly absurd.
Cid had wandered into all sorts of places, including the core laboratories of factions such as the Fallen Angels. Even the researchers there who conducted human experiments on Sacred Gear bearers had not accumulated that much hatred.
Kensei Kanase seemed more like someone who had committed some world threatening atrocity, such as dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean or performing some other act that violated the natural order.
Otherwise, he could never have attracted so much hatred.
Well, he was probably already dead, so there was no point thinking about it.
Cid returned from his reflections on the world's strange inhabitants and sighed unconsciously.
Then he noticed that the atmosphere seemed rather odd.
Why was everyone staring at him?
"Miss Serafall, it appears His Majesty is dissatisfied with your proposal. Could it be that taking this criminal back to the Underworld is merely a pretense, while your true intention is to shield her?"
Aya Tokoyogi spoke before Epsilon could, addressing Serafall in a hostile tone.
She did not know why His Majesty had sighed after Serafall requested permission to take Katerea back for judgment. However, it was obvious that His Majesty had rejected Serafall's plea.
In that case, they could simply refuse her outright.
"Exactly. This terrorist was one of your Devils to begin with. Who knows whether an infiltrator among you might attempt to rescue her? She may even have been acting on your behalf. After all, the Underworld cooperated with the Hero Faction last time."
Epsilon's expression stiffened when Aya Tokoyogi stole her chance to speak, but she quickly recovered and sternly rebuked Serafall.
"...That is slander!"
Serafall desperately wanted to ask who would dare release someone who had nearly destroyed the world.
The previous incident had been caused solely by one fool accepting a bribe. It had nothing to do with the Devils as a whole.
Repeated investigations had also confirmed that no Hero Faction infiltrators remained within their ranks.
Unfortunately, their previous record left her rebuttal lacking in conviction.
"Hah. Slander..."
Epsilon let out a mocking laugh and prepared to continue ridiculing the Devils. Their dark history was practically endless.
Before she could continue, however, Cid stopped her.
Everyone immediately turned their attention toward him.