Emiya residence.
As far as I remember, neither the anime nor the novel specified the exact time after Issa's death when Rizevim attacked the Underworld using the dead Evil Dragons, reinforced by Ophis's clone. For this reason, I decided to devote time to other items on my rather short list, as I will find out about the attack anyway.
Hades and Indra are a given, and I will get to them anyway, but the main problem was Sephiroth Grail.
Among all the Longinuses created by the Biblical God, I considered him to be the strongest. This thing gave its owner the ability not only to resurrect the dead, even if at a certain price, but also to completely nullify natural weaknesses, such as demons' vulnerability to Light. But its main ability was still soul manipulation, just like the third magic.
I sighed and took a sip of coffee that Rea-chan had brought me.
And that's why there will be no compromise with this Longinus. I'll take it from Valerie, Gasper's friend, whom he will meet in the next arc, and then either destroy it or force the Biblical God to do something with it. Well, now...
My thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a familiar blue teleportation circle in my living room, from which, of course, Sona appeared.
- "Hmm, So-tan? Do you need something?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer to my own question.
- "What exactly happened there?" she asked rather demandingly, without even sitting down. "Rias and the others are devastated, and, as Yuto-san told me, Hyoudou..."
- "Well, you already know everything," I shrugged. "Why do you need me? I actually have things to do that..."
- "That's not like you," Sona interrupted me and sat down opposite me. "The probability that you simply let Hyoudou die is so negligible that I would sooner believe that sister threw away everything related to the magical girls."
- "And yet, it's not zero, is it?" I smirked. "You came to interrogate me, huh, So-tan?"
- "Yes."
- "Oh?"
- "Rias is my friend, as I said earlier, and now she... No. She has fallen into such a deep abyss of despair that even her parents, Lord Lucifer and little Millicas, can't do anything," she began. "Rias isn't eating or sleeping - she's just crying, locked in her room. And so is her entire entourage."
- "Wow, and it's only been a day."
- "Stop it! You're not like that!" Sona jumped up and raised her voice, causing me and even Rea-chan behind me to raise our eyebrows in surprise. "Yes, you like to make your stupid jokes, but to cause real harm, especially to those you like even a little? That's beyond the pale!"
- "Well, lately I've really started to like her. She does have charisma, after all, aside from her excessive zeal," I shrugged again. "But tell me, what were you hoping to get out of coming here? Answers? I like you too, but not enough to satisfy your every whim."
- "So that's how it is..." Sona whispered, lowering her eyes.
I raised an eyebrow.
No, no. Not that, okay? I'm not blind, I can see her emotions, and I'm not stupid enough not to understand what she's thinking. I wanted so much to see her as a friend, not... this.
And yet I wanted to say something. I liked her too much.
- "Not in this case," I added, and she froze for a moment, then raised her head sharply and began to stare at my face.
- "I understand," Sona said after a couple of seconds. "I'm sorry, sensei. I should have thought everything through before coming here, instead of letting my emotions get the better of me."
- "Oh, come on. It's fine," I waved her off. "Is that all you came here for?"
- "Yes," she nodded. "I apologize again for taking your time."
- "Yeah. No problem," I said, and when her teleportation circle was almost activated, I added, "And don't worry. Rias will be fine, but later, when the time comes."
- "Thank you," she nodded and disappeared in a flash of the magic circle, and now it was just me and Rea-chan in the living room again.
I guess Sona's visit had changed my plans a little, and now it would be a good idea to visit Goetia. I needed to settle the matter of her engagement once and for all, discuss with him a possible future attack on the Underworld, and find out what kind of torture Morgan had assigned him. And, of course, the last point is the least important. Yeah, right.
Well, let's not forget about the others.
- "Merlin."
- "Yes, Master?" Caster appeared immediately with his usual sly smile on his face. "Do you need something?"
- "I'm sure you know what happened, don't you?" I asked, and he nodded briefly. "Go to Indra and tell him I'm expecting him tomorrow."
- "Huh? Me? Are you sure?" Merlin bombarded me with questions, the smile instantly disappearing from his face. "Indra, the powerful Hindu god of war, storms, and rain, known as the 'King of the Gods' and one of the ten most powerful beings in the world. And you're sending little weak me to him with that message? Do you want me dead, Master? Why not send Assassin instead?"
Merlin was perfect for this task. No matter how eccentric Dick Wizard was, he possessed all the necessary skills in terms of escape, eloquence, and business, as befitted a court magician.
Could Indra kill him? Not in this case, because despite his childishness, sarcasm, and arrogance, he was generous, disliked chaos, and had no patience for those with evil intentions. And since Merlin was an ambassador, Indra would not touch him. Besides, he wanted to visit me himself, so everything would be fine.
- "You haven't atoned for your sin yet, Wizard of Members. Or should I use the Command Seal, huh?" I asked, removing my glove and exposing the seals.
- "All right, all right!" Merlin threw up his hands and puffed himself up. "I don't deserve such treatment..."
In response, I snapped my fingers and, as was tradition, Fou, who usually hung out with Archer, flew into Merlin's face.
- "Die, Merlin, Fou!" he croaked, slamming Caster into the wall and knocking out several of his teeth.
- "Keep an eye on him and hit him again if necessary."
- "Fou, kyu!" Standing at attention, Fou barked and opened a crack in space, disappearing into it along with Merlin.
- "Rea-chan."
- "Yes, my king?"
- "And you, go to Olympus. Hermes and Aphrodite already know you, so there shouldn't be any problems," I began. "Give them the same message. I want an explanation for Pluto's interference in our affairs."
Things went much the same with Olympus and Rea-chan, except for their escape skills. But I doubted that Zeus would really risk provoking me when his pantheon was at fault. In the worst case, Hermes, who was much smarter than the King of the Gods of Olympus, would undoubtedly intervene.
- "As you wish," she nodded and left through her teleportation circle, and I...
Well, Goetia. Wait for me...
-0-
The underworld.
I teleported to Lucifer's castle in the demon capital of Lilith, where I could sense Goetia. Strangely, he was hidden behind an incredible number of closed fields, and I could sense all seventy-two pillar demons, but not inside the Beast I, as usual, but outside.
And when I arrived at the place, in an extremely spacious room unknown to me, my jaw naturally dropped, falling onto the soft carpet with a crash comparable to a volcanic eruption.
Imagine a kindergarten. A very ordinary one, where a lot of four-year-old children, just beginning to discover the world around them, were running, crying, screaming, and making noise in every other way possible. It was chaos in its purest form, where the words 'order' and 'calm' did not exist. An endless sea of children's noise, human anarchy, and a mess of tears, snot, and saliva.
And in the midst of all this chaos and cacophony of different sounds stood Goetia. Tall, cold-blooded, and unapproachable. He was like a majestic castle on the highest mountain, from where its inhabitants could look down on others. He was like a shining god in the high clouds, whom no manifestation of the lower beings below him could shake.
I would compare the scene before me to a comedy film from the 1990s, where the main character was initially full of hope, then encountered some obstacle, both moral and physical, and was faced with a difficult choice, after which he heroically overcame himself and in the end achieved perfect balance and unity with the chaos surrounding him. But the reality before me was not a movie, because...
...it was Goetia, and the children were demon pillars that looked and acted like four-year-old human children. At the same time, Goetia was just 'Goetia', without any particular changes, but what about the children? On their bodies, I noticed symbols resembling those carved on Avalon and Excalibur, as well as traces of a certain mana resembling the Rhongomyniad in the form of a spell. This clearly indicated who had done this to them.
At that moment, with his completely empty eyes, he noticed me standing frozen at the door, forgetting even to laugh or mock, watching this unnatural, surreal, and somewhat comical scene, and the only thing that came out of his mouth was...
- "Fuck you, Romani. Fuck you and that witch."
-0-
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