The leaders of the three biblical factions gathered together once again in the underworld. The reason for the sudden meeting was the incident in the Vampire Clan Tepes's castle.
— So he's alive again, — the red-haired Satan said thoughtfully as he walked into the conference room.
Just forty minutes ago, Azazel contacted the Lords of Hell. The Fallen requested information on the Incinerator Hymn, and to the shock of the demons, the mechanism had long since disappeared from its place. During the investigation, it turned out that no one knew about the attack for a whole week. This happened because of the reports that continued to come in even after the death of the guards. Such an event is like a slap in the face for each of the Demon Lords. Someone easily manipulated their actions, and they can't even recognize the culprit.
Having confirmed the use of the missing Longinus, the Governor of the Fallen decided to find out the identity of the attackers, and at the same time try to capture the user of the Grail. Eventually, they encountered the "living dead". A fight ensued, during which Azazel lost his second arm. Gasper Vladi was captured, and the rest of the demons received minor burns, excluding Rias' "Knight". Most of Xenovia's body was covered in burns, but her life was not in danger. She should be able to fully recover soon.
— Azazel hasn't returned yet? — Sirzechs asked when he entered the room and didn't see the fallen angel.
— No. He's still in his workshop, — the sullen angel replied.
The room was silent for a while. Everyone was focused on their own thoughts.
— Here's Levia-chan! — the magical girl said cheerfully, throwing open the door.
Serafall had spent the entire time in the infirmary with her sister since the delegation's return. Unlike her charges, Sona was unharmed, except for a slight burn on her arm due to carelessness. The Sitri heiress looked after her servants, who had minor injuries from the Holy Power.
As soon as the demoness took her place, Azazel entered the room. Despite the loss of his arm, the fallen angel seemed to be in a good mood. A faint smile adorned his face.
— Now that everyone has gathered, let's begin our meeting, — Sirzechs decided to take the lead in the meeting. — And the main topic is the resurrection of Kiyoshi Zankoku. Does anyone have any ideas on this matter?
— Isn't this the work of the Grail? — Serafall asked. — I don't think it's a coincidence that he appeared in the Vampire Castle.
— I agree, — Azazel said, — but only that it's a mismatch. My subordinates have found out that Kiyoshi and Akeno were seen together a day ago in a town near the Tepes clan.
— So he was already alive, — Ajuka muttered. — Then there remains the question of the mysterious resurrection.
— Only if he really was dying, — the angel, who had been silent until then, took the floor.
— Can you explain your words, Michael?
— That's my guess, of course, but... — the seraph frowned, gathering his thoughts. — But maybe he didn't die then.
— Impossible! — the red-haired demon objected. — I personally saw how my magic destroyed him.
— Yes. Destroyed the body, — the angel agreed. — However, it could have been useless.
— What do you mean, brother? — the fallen one asked warily. — I personally saw how only the Sacred Gear remained after the bastard's death.
— That Holy Power surge just before the attack. That time, the Incinerating Hymn came out of the Heavenly System.
— What are you getting at?
— I believe that Zankoku merged with his Longinus.
— That... is not impossible, Azazel had to agree. — But how did you come to that conclusion?
— The very existence of a demon using Holy Power caused errors in the Heavenly System, and the Incinerating Hymn incident caused massive damage. Even our dimension was damaged, — this information made everyone surprised. — That is why I agreed to the plan to kill the Shinto representative. However, nothing changed after Zankoku died. The system continued to malfunction and deteriorate. If this continues, it may threaten to completely fail.
The revelation of the leader of heaven was a complete shock. Everyone in the room stared at the angel.
— Are you sure about this?
— Absolutely. Even before this, I was barely coping, and now it's getting worse with each passing day. In a month and a half at the most, I won't be able to keep it functioning anymore.
— Bad. What does this threaten?
— Many, and for angels, everyone, — Mikhail said gloomily. — The world will be in chaos when this happens.
— Can someone explain it to me in plain language? — Leviathan asked irritably.
— To put it simply: Heaven will fall, — Azazel said calmly. — All blessings, miracles, and so on were carried out due to human faith. Even Heaven itself is supported by faith, but after Father's death, the system that controls it began to work worse and the amount of faith reaching Heaven decreased. Only God knew and knew how to properly work with the Heavenly system. Michael only supported it from complete collapse, but without full access, his brother had to fence off or eliminate factors that affected believers. For example, the renunciation of the church, the deceased nun in Rias Gremory's retinue.
— So, if we do not get rid of Zankoku, the system will fail and the space where Heaven is now located will collapse?
— Yes. We will have to find a new home, — the seraphim confirmed. — But that's not all.
— True. In addition to the disappearance of Heaven and the ensuing consequences for believers, — the fallen one smiled bitterly. He didn't want such a fate for his former home. — There is a problem with the Sacred Gears.
— I understand, — Ajuka said with a trembling voice. — The thirteen Longinus with the ability to kill a god appeared as a mistake in the Heavenly System, and with its complete disappearance, the number of Longinus may increase many times over.
Serafall smiled to herself. She didn't care about the fate of the angels. She was even glad about the fate of the white-winged ones. If there were no problems for the demons, and especially the Sitri clan, then Leviathan didn't care about it. The possible appearance of new Longinus will only strengthen the faction, allowing them to turn into demons. Plus, some restrictions, such as mentioning God, will no longer cause pain to devils, and Sacred Items will have their effect reduced. The magical girl was looking forward to telling Kiyoshi about this conversation. She understood that it would affect the world stage, but Serafall had already come up with several plans to reduce the damage to the demons.
— Then we need to eliminate the source of the problem as soon as possible, — Sirzechs said and turned to Azazel, — What can you say about his strength?
— He's become much stronger than last time, — the fallen man looked at his new prosthetic. — He's now equal in strength to the Satan class, but far from super demons like Sirzechs or Ajuka, — the man thought for a moment. — Apart from Gram appearing in his hands, I didn't see anything new.
— The demonic sword Gram? — the angel was surprised. — It should be in Siegfried's hands.
— We all know about the attack on Kyoto by the hero faction of the "Khaos Brigade." Perhaps that's when they obtained this sword.
— The announcement of a price on the heads of all free descendants of heroes also allowed them to get several people under their wing and forced the "Khaos Brigade" to lie low.
— Let's get back to the point, — Ajuka decided to return to the original topic of conversation. — You mentioned that Akeno Himejima also survived and became a full—fledged dragon.
— That's right. I was surprised to see it with my own eyes, — there was admiration in the man's voice. — No traces of a demon or fallen angel, only pure dragon power.
— According to Rias, Akeno could easily transform her arms into dragon ones, as well as wings.
— Surprisingly, — the creator of evil figures understood that it was almost impossible to repeat the change of soul. — I wonder how she managed to do this?
— I'm more worried about the unknown dragon that disappeared before we arrived, — Azazel said. — Judging by the aura, he was not inferior to the dragon kings, and maybe even superior to them.
— Nonsense! All dragons of such power are known and either joined some faction, or do not interfere in politics.
— You're not quite right, Sirzechs, — Leviathan smiled. — We shouldn't forget about the evil dragons. For example, the tomb with the Thousand-Spell Dragon sealed inside was recently destroyed. The gods watching over the sealed dragon were unable to find the intruder or traces of Aži Dahāka.
— Are you saying it was Zankoku? — Mikhail asked incredulously.
— No, — the girl shook her head. — I'm just talking about other possibilities. We don't know anything about Crom Cruach. There are many options about who it could be, but none of them are favorable to us.—
— That makes sense, — the fallen one agreed. — A dragon as powerful as Aži Dahāka could have done something to Akeno's soul.
— Let's deal with the pressing issue first, Kiyoshi Zankoku.
— He must be killed, — Sirzechs was firm in his decision. — There is no other choice.
— I agree, but how do you propose to do it? — Serafall asked. — The other pantheons are hostile to us. After Shinto's instigation, our actions are being closely monitored. As soon as we openly attack the youkai, an alliance will be formed against the biblical faction.
— We definitely have to get rid of Zankoku!
— I don't deny it, but a direct attack should be left for last, when there is no other choice.
— Any ideas, Serafall?
— Of course! No one forbids acting from the shadows or through intermediaries, — a sinister smile appeared on the girl's face. — No one dares to go unpunished if they harm my little sister.
— Good. Let everyone prepare a plan to eliminate our target.
***
Three days have passed since the capture of the dhampirs in Romania. During this time, the Forbidden Gaze of Balor was extracted. One of the members of the five clans-protectors of Japan became the new owner of the mechanism. The young and talented youth managed to take control of his new power with some difficulty. Amaterasu's assumption was confirmed, but the remnants of the evil god's consciousness could not harm the new host and were sealed.
During the selection of the candidate, an attempt was made to teleport Gasper through his evil figure, but it was unsuccessful. An additional barrier, fueled by the Ley Lines of Kyoto, did not allow magical manipulation to take place.
Scientists also examined Valerie Tepes. To everyone's surprise, the Sephiroth Grail in the dhampir's possession had undergone a mutation. Instead of one cup, the girl had three, but only two of them fell into Shinto's hands. As it turned out: the missing Grail was in the hands of Rizevim. That is why he parted with Valerie so easily.
Kiyoshi took one of the two cups into his own hands. With the addition of the Grail, his holy attribute received a good boost. In addition, the phoenix gained some knowledge of soul management. With hundreds of legionnaire souls at his disposal, he focused on experiments. More than five dozen weak sinners were spent until Zankoku figured out the mechanism of the Sephiroth Grail. With new knowledge, Kiyoshi was able to strengthen his legionnaires. If before they moved like robots, now each warrior is able to fight using the skills acquired during life. Having acquired the ability to use reflexes and movements practiced over the years, each legionnaire turned into a more dangerous opponent. Unfortunately, Zankoku could not do anything about the fact that half of his physical strength was lost. The newly created body of the legionnaire cannot demonstrate all the capabilities of the original.
Phoenix managed to strengthen not only his own combat capabilities. He also did not forget about his family. With the help of the Grail, Akeno lost her weakness to Anti—Dragon Weapon. Having Gram at hand allowed him to study the aspect of the dragon slayer and learn to resist this effect. Kuroka, Shirone and Kumika received an increase in their own soul and the elimination of the weakness of youkai, as dark entities.
As the legends said, the Holy Grail had the ability to make a person immortal, but it only extended to death from old age. For the phoenix, this property of the mechanism was of great value. Now, he was not afraid to part with his family due to his unlimited lifespan.
With Ophis' help, Kiyoshi was able to find out the meaning of the mark that appeared on his shoulder. As Ouroboros explained: Akeno had placed the mark of her only partner on him. Now she could only be with him, even if he died. The newly minted dragon was confused by Ophis' explanation, but she did not regret her actions, stating it outright.
After receiving news from Serafall, Shinto increased its security, but Kiyoshi was not too worried about the upcoming assassination attempts. Phoenix was preparing to meet the shadow leader of the "Khaos Brigade". Ophis was happier to know that the son of Lucifer had finally decided to act. Her desire to trample Rizevim was about to be fulfilled, and to do so, she decided to use her friend's help.