The bathroom's sterile light flickered faintly as Sirzechs pinned Grayfia against the cool tile, his body a furnace of intent. His hands slid down her sides, bunching the fabric of her blue and white French maid uniform at her hips, and he found the hem of her dress. With a practiced flick, he lifted it, revealing the damp gusset of her black lace panties.
"Sirzechs… the party–" she started, but her protest died as his fingers hooked into the lace and pulled it aside. His other hand gripped her thigh, lifting her leg against his hip, exposing her slick folds to the cool air.
His cock sprang free, already hard, the head glistening with precum. He aligned it against her wet slit, dragging it through her moisture, teasing her clit with the swollen tip.
Grayfia gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders as she tried to hold back. "Someone might come in–"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!
An enormous explosion tore through the distance.
The entire castle shook from the force of it. Every window shattered at once, sending glass raining down across the halls and balconies. The floor trembled beneath everyone's feet, and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling swung violently as cracks spread along the walls.
Both Sirzechs and Grayfia looked completely bewildered.
The two of them left the bathroom immediately and headed toward the main hall of the castle. Grayfia's maid uniform fluttered slightly as she moved with perfect control, but her eyes were sharper than usual. Sirzechs walked beside her, his calm face hiding the heavy pressure beginning to rise around him.
When they reached the main hall, chaos had already erupted everywhere.
The elegant party had completely collapsed. Nobles were shouting over one another, servants were rushing between broken tables, and guards were trying to force everyone away from the shattered windows. Glass covered the polished floor like glittering ice, and several chandeliers above were still swinging from the force of the explosion.
"What happened?!"
"Was that an attack?"
"Where are the children?"
"Secure the exits!"
Magic circles flashed all over the hall as noble guards formed barriers around their masters. Some younger devils were panicking, while the older ones tried to keep their composure, though even they couldn't hide the tension in their eyes.
Sirzechs flew out through one of the shattered windows heading straight toward the source of the explosion. Behind him, several high-class devils followed immediately, including lords from some of the highest-ranking noble families in the Underworld.
Below them, Grayfia took command of the main hall with cold efficiency. Every devil below ultimate-class was ordered deeper into the palace, away from the windows and outer walls. Guards escorted the younger heirs, servants, and frightened nobles toward safer rooms protected by heavy defensive barriers.
"Remain calm," Grayfia ordered, her voice cutting through the panic. "Do not leave the protected area unless instructed."
Meanwhile, Sirzechs and the others crossed the sky at terrifying speed. The closer they got to the source of the blast, the hotter the air became. Smoke drifted upward in thick waves, and the smell of burned earth filled the night.
Then they reached the destroyed area.
Several devils froze midair, their eyes widening.
Where a large forest should have been, there was now only a massive crater.
It stretched for kilometers, no smaller than three to four kilometers in radius. The ground had been carved open violently, leaving behind a blackened pit surrounded by broken earth and burning remains of trees. The entire landscape had been erased in a single attack.
Smoke and dust covered the area like a storm. A huge mushroom cloud slowly rose above the crater, spreading across the sky before beginning to fade into the night.
A figure suddenly shot out of the smoke.
He crashed through the dust cloud like a cannonball, coughing violently as burning air followed behind him. His body was still covered in the crimson Scale Mail of the Red Dragon Emperor, but the armor looked terrible. Parts of it were glowing from the heat, and some sections looked like they were starting to melt from the impact.
The helmet was already gone.
Issei's face was exposed as he desperately sucked in fresh air, his eyes wide and his expression full of pure disbelief.
He hit the ground hard, rolled several times across the burned earth, then finally came to a stop near the edge of the crater. For a few seconds, he just lay there, staring at the smoky sky above him while his chest rose and fell heavily.
Then the Scale Mail disappeared from his body in flashes of red light.
Sirzechs's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Issei?"
Issei slowly lifted one trembling hand and pointed toward the center of the crater, where the smoke was still thickest.
Then he screamed with everything he had left.
"You fucking Lunaaaatiiiiccc!"
Suddenly, crazed laughter echoed from deep inside the crater. It rolled through the burned wasteland with an almost inhuman excitement, sending a chill through everyone who heard it.
"What amazing power, Aurephion," Adrien said, his voice carrying clearly through the smoke. "I didn't expect it to be this potent… and that's with only around twenty percent of your power."
A second later, demonic energy gathered in both of his hands. The energy crackled violently, distorting the air around his palms. Then Adrien slammed his hands together in a single, powerful clap.
CLAPP!
The sound burst across the crater like a shockwave.
The clap was so powerful that all the smoke hanging in the air was blasted away at once. Thick clouds of dust were scattered across the surrounding area, revealing the full extent of the destruction below.
Everyone's eyes immediately turned toward the center of the crater. Adrien was standing there.
His clothes fluttered lightly in the lingering winds, and his expression was calm, almost amused. The ground around him was blackened and melted from the heat of the impact.
Beneath him lay a charred corpse.
No features could be made out anymore. The body had been burned so badly that it was little more than a blackened mass. There was nothing recognizable left in its remains, not even enough to clearly identify who it had once been.
Adrien shifted his attention to the group of devils floating in the sky.
"Oh, hey there."
Adrien's voice echoed casually from the center of the crater, completely out of place compared to the destruction around him.
He looked up at the devils floating above the battlefield, then glanced around with a faint frown.
"Hmm? The space barrier isn't there anymore. Guess Kuroka managed to escape."
The surrounding devils stayed silent. No one knew what to say.
Adrien lowered his gaze to the blackened body beneath him. What remained of Bikou lay motionless at his feet, burned beyond recognition by the force of the attack.
Adrien had poured every bit of power he could pull from the ring into that single attack. The flames of Aurephion had been compressed, condensed, and then released all at once as a falling meteor of pure destruction. It had not been a casual spell or a normal fire attack.
It was the strongest burst of phoenix flame Adrien could currently force his body to handle.
And the cost was obvious.
His breathing was slower than usual. His shoulders felt heavy, and every muscle in his body screamed from the strain. Even standing straight took effort. The power inside the ring was far beyond what his body could safely use, and dragging out that much of it in one attack had pushed him close to his limit.
Above him, Sirzechs stared down at the crater with unreadable eyes. Grayfia had not arrived yet, but the high-class devils who followed him looked shaken.