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Just as Azazel said, the existence of the Longinus was like a glitch in the system.
The right combination of abilities could create a power far beyond the sum of its parts. And Mika could think of many such combinations.
"So... Gasper was captured?" Issei muttered, piecing together the events.
Suddenly—a wave of heat filled the room. Issei turned and saw Rias—engulfed in flames.
"Gasper, a member of my peerage, has been turned into a weapon by these terrorists. How did they get information about my servants? And to use him in an attack meant to disrupt this crucial meeting... this is a disgrace!" Rias's voice was filled with a cold fury, her Demonic Power surging.
She wouldn't tolerate anyone using her servants like this.
"If you're angry, then the rescue mission is yours, Rias," Mika said calmly, pointing a finger out the window. A golden light flashed—and the Magicians surrounding the new school building vanished, turned to ash.
It was a simple Light-Speed Punch, delivered with a flick of his finger.
"Leave it to me. I'll bring Gasper back—safely," Rias declared, her voice filled with a newfound resolve.
"I'll leave it to you, then," Sirzechs replied with a nod. He knew Rias's strength. After mastering Mika's Bloodline Awakening technique, her power had increased dramatically. Besides, she wasn't alone. Her peerage was just as powerful.
"Yes, Brother!" Rias replied, her earlier anger replaced by a determined excitement.
Meanwhile, Azazel—who had been observing Mika's earlier attack, approached him with a smile.
"Nice move, Mika."
"It was nothing special. Besides, it didn't even solve the problem," Mika said, his gaze fixed on the new wave of Magicians that had appeared outside the window, once again surrounding the school.
"They just keep coming," Azazel remarked, a thoughtful expression on his face. "And their timing, their methods...they know our internal affairs. We might have a traitor in our midst."
"Of course we do. If not for a traitor, they wouldn't be here in the first place. After all, the barriers around this academy were created by you three, weren't they?" Mika looked at Sirzechs, Michael, and Azazel, a subtle smile playing on his lips.
The three of them, the leaders of their respective factions, had personally overseen the creation of the barriers. Under normal circumstances, no one should have been able to penetrate them.
Hearing Mika's words, the atmosphere in the room grew tense.
"If there's a traitor... why don't we just escape?" Issei asked, his voice a whisper.
"No. As I said before, these barriers were created by the Satans themselves. They can't be deactivated without their combined power. And if we were to deactivate them, the battle would spill out into the human world. With so many Satan-class beings present, the entire world could be destroyed."
A single Satan-class being could easily destroy a continent. This was why Mika and Sirzechs had dueled in the Underworld; they couldn't unleash their full power in the human world.
"Then what do we do?" Issei asked, his voice filled with despair. The situation seemed hopeless.
"Relax, Issei," Michael said, his voice calm and reassuring. "While we can't escape, we can defend this position and wait for the mastermind to reveal themselves. After all, their target is us. And to defeat us, they'll have to show their face. Ordinary soldiers are useless against us. We simply need to defeat their leader."
"I see... I understand."
"Then let's split up," Rias said. "You all stay here and wait for the mastermind. I'll go and rescue Gasper."
"And how do you plan to get to the old school building? There are Magicians everywhere. And normal teleportation is useless here."
"I'll fight my way through," Rias declared, her voice firm.
"That won't be necessary. I can send you there," Mika said suddenly. "If normal teleportation doesn't work, then we'll simply use unconventional teleportation." Magic was useless here. But his Cosmo, a power from another world, wasn't bound by the same rules.
He waved his hand, and a dimensional rift opened before them.
"This is a spatial passage. It will take you directly to the old school building."
"I understand. Xenovia, with me." Rias, trusting Mika implicitly, stepped through the portal without hesitation.
She had also taken Xenovia with her.
While Rias was now an Ultimate-Class Devil, she was still primarily a mage. She needed a warrior, a front-line fighter, to protect her.
As for the others? They were needed here, on the main battlefield.
"Yes, Buchou!" Xenovia followed her, and they vanished into the rift.
"You have quite a few tricks up your sleeve, Mika," Azazel remarked, his curiosity about Mika growing.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Mika replied with a grin.
Sirzechs and the others chuckled, the tension in the room easing slightly. They had no doubt that Mika was telling the truth.
——
Their brief moment of levity, however, was short-lived.
A magic circle materialized on the floor, and the cheerful atmosphere vanished, replaced by a stunned silence.
The leaders of the Three Factions looked at the magic circle, their expressions a mixture of shock and disbelief.
It was a Devil's magic circle—one that could only be created by a pure-blooded Devil. Each family had its own unique crest.
And this one...
Azazel's earlier amusement vanished, his expression turning serious.
Sirzechs's face was a mask of pain. The appearance of this magic circle confirmed his worst fears:
The mastermind behind this attack was a Devil. The traitor was one of their own.
But it wasn't just any Devil. The crest on the magic circle...
"It's a Leviathan crest," Sirzechs said, his voice grim.
Leviathan—a name associated with Serafall, one of the Four Great Satans. However, they all knew he wasn't referring to the current Leviathan, but her predecessor, the one who had been stripped of her title after the previous war.
The one whose descendants were now known as the Old Satan Faction.
As the magic circle glowed, a figure materialized.
"Greetings," The woman said, her voice filled with a bold, almost mocking tone.
"Katerea Leviathan—the heir to the previous Leviathan. What is the meaning of this?" Sirzechs asked, his voice low and dangerous. He had a feeling he already knew the answer.
"The Old Satan Faction has decided to join the Khaos Brigade," she declared, her words a challenge.
"The Khaos Brigade...I see," Azazel murmured, his expression unreadable.
Hearing the name, the others looked at him, their curiosity piqued. They had never heard of this organization.
Azazel was their only source of information.
"The Khaos Brigade is a group I've been monitoring for some time. They're a dangerous collection of individuals from all three factions, including Sacred Gear users who have achieved Balance Breaker. We've even confirmed that some of them wield Longinus-class Sacred Gears. And their leader...is rumored to be a dragon far more powerful than the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor."
"The Infinite Dragon God?"
The room fell silent as they considered the implications. To face such a being... it would require more than just courage.
"So, Katerea, is it true?" Sirzechs asked, his voice filled with a cold fury. As a Satan, he wouldn't tolerate such a betrayal.
"More or less," Katerea replied, unfazed by his anger.
"The old and new Satans at odds—it seems the Devils are having a tough time," Azazel chuckled, his earlier seriousness replaced by a familiar amusement.
Sirzechs's expression hardened.
"So, this is a coup, then?" he said, his voice now devoid of all emotion. He had already passed judgment. Katerea, as the instigator of this rebellion, was already a dead woman.
"Why, Katerea? Why are you doing this?" Serafall asked, her voice filled with a genuine sadness.
"We simply want the opposite of what this meeting is trying to achieve. With God and the original Satans gone, it's time for a reformation. That is our conclusion." Her words dripped with a venomous hatred.
Mika, listening to her, finally understood. Serafall had inherited the title of Leviathan, and Katerea—was the heir to the previous Leviathan.
Their rivalry was inevitable.
"Reformation? Hahaha!" Azazel burst into laughter. Even Mika couldn't help but smile.
To reform the world, one needed power. Did the Khaos Brigade truly possess such power? While their leader was Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, Mika knew she was merely a figurehead, her power a tool to be used by the true leaders of the Khaos Brigade. And Ophis wouldn't be easily controlled.
Mika didn't know the full story of the High School DxD world, his knowledge limited to what he had seen in the anime and fanfiction. He couldn't rely on it completely. However, he knew one thing for certain:
The Khaos Brigade was destined to fail.
The thought made him smile, a bittersweet amusement at their utility.
——
Meanwhile, Azazel and Katerea's argument had escalated.
Having finally had enough of each other's personalities, they declared war.
"A descendant of the old Satan Leviathan, You'll make a worthy opponent, Katerea Leviathan. Care for a little apocalyptic battle?" Azazel's voice was filled with a bold, almost reckless challenge.
"I was hoping you'd ask, Governor General of the Fallen Angels," Katerea replied with a sneer.
They flew out of the lounge and began their duel in the sky above the school grounds, the heavens themselves seeming to tremble under the force of their attacks, the sky filled with a dazzling display of light and shadow.
"He's quick to act, isn't he?" Mika chuckled, watching Azazel.
He claimed to be tired of war, yet he was the first to jump into the fray.
How ironic.
Perhaps he hadn't completely shed his battle-loving nature after all.
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