"Kousuke! Get a grip! Are you okay?" Tsubaki asked while shaking his body. He was strangely quiet, as if whatever that witch had whispered to him had shaken him to the core. Just like Azazel said, the witch acted as if she knew him, intimately, at that.
Suddenly, the old building trembled as a powerful explosion rang out from outside.
"Such perfect timing… it must be the people working with the so-called Hero Faction," Sirzechs said as he stood up almost immediately. He wanted answers, and maybe to vent a little rage. After all, they'd just kidnapped a Satan's family right in front of said Satan.
"Xenovia, Irina—please," Michael called out to his angels. He didn't need to explain; they understood instantly.
"Yessir!"
The two rushed to the open window before leaping off the second floor and landing safely on the ground. They looked up at a small group standing in front of them, led by a prideful-looking man with intense pressure.
"Oh wow, are those Heaven's slaves?" Loki said, casually twirling his beloved dagger like a toy. The two girls frowned but didn't make a move, after all, the man in front of them wasn't just anyone.
He was Loki, the God of Mischief from the Norse Pantheon.
Still, the two girls materialised their Excalibur and stood firm with their holy sword raised to a defensive stand. Even if they stood no chance against the God before them, they won't go down without a fight.
"Now, tell me… where is Michael?" Loki asked with a wide grin as he slowly approaching them.
"Things have really escalated," Azazel muttered, rubbing his head in irritation. He, Sirzechs, and Michael teleported skyward in the blink of an eye. The moment they arrived, they realized something was off, they weren't in Kuoh anymore. Judging by the strange sky above them, it was likely another dimension.
Sirzechs turned around and saw the old Occult Research Club building had been uprooted and brought here with them.
"They were well-prepared," he said grimly, eyeing the group on the ground led by a god.
"What the hell is Loki doing here?" Azazel muttered. Just a few days ago, he'd been drinking with Odin. He didn't think the old man would side with the Hero Faction—Odin wasn't the type for that.
Which meant Loki was moving on his own.
"There you are! The stupid trio who seek peace by cutting off their fangs~" Loki called out, whistling as he spotted them floating in the sky. "Don't you know peace is for the weak? I thought as leaders of your factions, you'd understand that simple truth."
"Angels getting chummy with devils? Utterly ridiculous and disgusting. You should be fighting like cats and dogs since the beginning of time! And you, Fallen Angel! You've stopped instigating war and started investing your time in Sacred Gears? A worthless weapon made by the Biblical God for the weakest race of all—humans!"
"And that same God? Dead! He reaped what he fucking sowed! Hahahaha!"
"I'd heard the Norse Pantheon was full of brave warriors, a Heaven for Spartans, but I've never seen someone with the ego of a chihuahua. Especially not a so-called God of Mischief," Michael said coldly. "If my Father were alive, you wouldn't dare crawl out of whatever hole you came from."
"If mY faThEr wAs aLiVe~" Loki mocked in a childish tone. "I'd rate that 3 out of 10 ragebait as the humans likes to call it. No bite. No venom. You're truly a disappointment, Michael."
He grinned, flashing his teeth. "Maybe if your brain hadn't rotted, you wouldn't have thought of a peace treaty with them. I bet if the Biblical God were still around, he'd be waging war like a real God!"
"...Are you done buzzing like a fly?" Sirzechs cut in, and with a wave of pressure, the air around him changed. A chilling aura surged from his body, forcing everyone below to their knees, all except for Loki and a robed figure beside him.
"Where did you take my sister? Think carefully before you answer, because your life depends on it." His glowing crimson eyes locked onto Loki, exuding the raw power of the Crimson Satan.
"Hah! You think you can threaten me? A little devil dares bark at a true god?" Loki said with a sneer. With a snap of his fingers, a massive shape leapt from his shadow.
A ten-meter-tall giant wolf landed gracefully beside him.
"Fenrir, my son… show this devil the power of the God Devourer Fangs!"
Awooo!
Fenrir let out a bone-chilling howl before vanishing and reappearing beside Sirzechs in an instant, swiping its claws at him. The Satan barely dodged by pushing himself downward with flight magic, retaliating by hurling dozens of crimson spheres, each one pulsing with destructive energy.
"What?!"
But what he faced was no ordinary beast, Fenrir was one of the top ten most dangerous creatures in the world. The wolf charged through the barrage with a predator's grace, weaving past the orbs and slashing through the ones it couldn't avoid.
Sirzechs's expression hardened. 'Those claws and fangs… If even one hits me, not even my sturdy body be left unscratched.'
"Michael! Azazel! You two better help me deal with this mad dog!" he shouted, struggling to keep up with Fenrir's relentless assault. He wished he could just unleash all of his might, but he was afraid of hurting the people within the old building.
"I don't think even the three of us can take that thing down," Azazel muttered. Even from afar, he could feel Fenrir's terrifying presence. If that beast went unchecked, it wouldn't just cause a catastrophe, it could endanger the entire world.
"I concur. But we can't just stand and watch," Michael said, spreading his wings. The halo above his head flared, and a divine light shone down from the sky. He raised his arm, summoning a glowing spear of light.
"I'm sorry… but you must fall," he murmured sadly, hurling the spear at breakneck speed. But as if sensing it, Fenrir twisted its body at an impossible angle like a rubber, and struck the spear with its own claw, deflecting it with terrifying force.
Seeing even Michael and Sirzechs struggle, Azazel hesitated. He considered retreat—but with no way to tell where he was, or where his enemies might still be hiding, it was only a matter of time before he becomes their next target. In the end, the Grigori leader made up his mind to join them. Or… he would have.
But then he froze. Something in the air had changed. His eyes widened as a figure appeared behind Loki. It wasn't his sudden appearance that shocked Azazel, but his action.
A sword pierced through the God of Mischief.
The figures surrounding Loki collapsed to the ground almost simultaneously, blood pooling beneath them.
"Y-You… how?"
Those were Loki's final words before Kousuke twisted the blade. Flames burst from the sword, engulfing the Norse God in crimson fire until nothing was left but ashes.
Then, Kousuke turned his gaze upward to the sky, toward the raging Fenrir with neutral expression borderline stoic. Azazel felt it. That same madness in his eyes. The same pressure he'd felt when Kousuke fought Vali. No... it was stronger now.
That thing standing below Fenrir... was many times more dangerous than the God Devouring Wolf.