The Infinite Dragon God Ophis!
"Impossible!! How could it be her..."
Mammon, listening in, gasped upon hearing the name.
Meanwhile, Ravel's face turned deathly pale, her eyelashes trembling slightly.
Even Ajuka Beelzebub fell into silence.
Seeing their reactions, Megumi Kato, who had been quietly observing, leaned towards Luo Shu and whispered:
"That... Ophis, is she a very powerful person?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu turned to look at Megumi before explaining:
"Ophis is likely the strongest being walking the earth in their world. Conservatively estimated, she might be at the Angel Rank."
At the mention of Angel Rank, Megumi immediately fell silent, her gaze shifting subtly towards Ravel.
Having an entire race targeted by an Angel walking the earth was no trivial matter.
According to the information Yukino Yukinoshita had compiled on the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System, Angels were terrifying beings who had already attained a preliminary form of divine authority and could alter the world's laws.
In reality, Angels could already be considered deities.
'Being targeted by a deity... this...'
Megumi felt it might be better for Miss Ravel to postpone her plans to return home.
Just then, after a long contemplation, Ajuka Beelzebub asked Luo Shu:
"Is the intel reliable?"
In response, Luo Shu reassured him:
"Lilin invited Ophis to join the Khaos Brigade on the condition of helping her deal with the Dragon God Great Red."
Hearing this, Ajuka's pupils constricted sharply. He scrutinised Luo Shu's expression repeatedly, confirming he wasn't lying, then remained silent for several seconds before stating:
"Beyond our earlier agreement, I owe you a personal favour."
The news that the Infinite Dragon God was collaborating with Lilin against Great Red was critically important - enough to potentially sway Ophis's stance.
After all, whatever terms Lilin could offer, he and Sirzechs might well match.
Having received such valuable intelligence, Ajuka naturally considered himself indebted to Luo Shu.
Yet upon hearing Ajuka's words, Luo Shu's expression turned slightly peculiar:
'Well now, not only did I get free stuff, but he's also owing me a favour? Am I scamming people with information asymmetry here?'
While Luo Shu acknowledged his intel was significant to Ajuka, obtaining a personal debt with just a few words was unexpectedly advantageous.
Having committed to this debt, Ajuka saw no reason for further concealment and disclosed directly:
"The Council has prepared a demon legion as vanguard forces this time."
"Approximately 1,500 in total."
"Including three Ultimate-Class demons, twelve High-Class demons, with the remainder being Mid-to-Low-Class demons."
"They'll descend after I activate the Cross-Dimensional Channelling Ritual, carrying materials to construct dimensional channels, infiltrating your world to prepare for large-scale passage creation."
Hearing only the vanguard numbers, Luo Shu raised an eyebrow and asked:
"Just one vanguard force?"
Invading another world with merely 1,500 demons seemed rather dismissive of this world's capabilities.
After all, the Five Great Powers were already fielding ritual legions at combined brigade strength!
To this, Ajuka responded impassively:
"I never said the cross-world channels were safe enough for casual traversal."
Luo Shu's eyebrow arched higher as he shot Ajuka an amused glance.
The implication here was that Ajuka never intended for these vanguard troops to survive.
With the vanguard carrying the materials for constructing the passage all dead, could the subsequent invasion forces still proceed as ordered?
This was an uncertain question.
But with the Four Great Satans dragging their feet, the likelihood of the Demon Council abandoning the invasion was relatively high.
However, compared to this, Luo Shu was more curious about why Ajuka was being so ruthless:
"Are you certain this action of yours aligns with the stance of Satan Beelzebub?"
Sacrificing 1,500 demons and annihilating an entire demon legion to stop an invasion—if you, Ajuka, were that saintly, would you still be a Satan of the Underworld?
At this, Ajuka glanced at Luo Shu and then said:
"Three years ago, someone from your side broke into our world and injured Sirzechs."
"By my calculations, that woman should have already advanced to Demigod by now. After all, she had said herself that she was only one opportunity away from that step."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression turned exceedingly subtle.
From what he understood, Sirzechs Lucifer, as a Satan-Class Transcendent, seemed to possess a strength ranking within the top ten of many mythologies in the High School DxD world. Though it was said to be at the lower end of the top ten, to injure him before even reaching Demigod—whose subordinate was this?
And a female Demigod at that...
Twin-Wings Edelweiss? Or that so-called witch from Europe?
Regarding this, Luo Shu looked at Ajuka and asked:
"You're worried that after invading, you'll face retaliation?"
Ajuka chuckled at this, his tone calm as he replied:
"That is inevitable."
"After all, isn't that organisation called the Onmyou Agency in your world's Japan already preparing for this?"
Luo Shu was slightly surprised to hear this.
Then, Ajuka calmly explained:
"The Shaman Class pioneered by Hao Asakura allows one to control Guardian Spirits in battle, and the best spirits are those of pureblood demons."
"Since ten years ago, that Great Onmyoji has been making preparations for war."
"If even he is like this, needless to say, that witch in Europe is no different."
"Many of the rituals to plunder demonic bloodline to strengthen oneself developed by Truth Astronomy were created by that Witch of the Notaria."
Witch of the Notaria...
Luo Shu's face twitched at the name.
This title seemed to belong to Aya Tokoyogi, Natsuki Minamiya's close friend, didn't it?
Luo Shu remembered that Aya Tokoyogi and Natsuki Minamiya had been on good terms before falling out later. He had no idea how things stood in this alternate world.
But if that witch affiliated with Truth Astronomy in Europe was indeed the Witch of the Notaria Aya Tokoyogi...
Well, well, so Natsuki had a Demigod-level witch as a close friend?
Hearing these unintentionally leaked tidbits from Ajuka, Luo Shu had ten thousand complaints in his heart, but he couldn't help laughing:
"So, both sides are actually preparing for war, is that it?"
No wonder Ajuka was willing to sacrifice an entire demon legion on his own side to prevent the war from starting.
On one hand, the demon legion belonged to the Demon Council, his political enemies. On the other hand, he clearly understood the opponents' strength.
With two orthodox Demigods like Hao Asakura and Aya Tokoyogi, the demons of the Underworld would have more than enough headaches.
Moreover, there was the organisations under their command, which the two of them had jointly modified.
Shamans needed to kill pureblood demons, seize their Spirit Bodies to create Guardian Spirits and grow stronger.
The Demon Warlocks of Truth Astronomy sought to plunder demon bloodlines to transform themselves.
One targeted the flesh, the other the soul—it was all neatly arranged.
Beyond these two, there was also Twin-Wings Edelweiss, whose stance remained unclear, but who had previously clashed with Sirzechs, along with her Seven Knights Alliance.
At a conservative estimate, these were two major mystic-side organisations led by Demigods. If Twin-Wings joined in, that would make three.
As for the SDS, given Lacus's temperament, she would undoubtedly intervene upon learning of the demons' invasion of the human world.
And if Lacus acted, Luo Shu naturally wouldn't stand idly by.
In other words, Ajuka might have underestimated the combat strength of the Hidden Management Department and the SDS.
Even excluding the SDS's forces, if war truly broke out, at least two of the Four Satans would likely fall.
With this in mind, it became clear why Ajuka would oppose the war, even going so far as to wield the blade against his own side.
Did the lower ranks really think they could force the higher-ups into war through their actions? What kind of reckless insubordination was this?
"It seems even the Satans have it tough," Luo Shu mused aloud before glancing at Ajuka with a faint smile. "Need me to deal with those advance forces for you?"
"Captives or kills?" Ajuka asked bluntly.
In response, Luo Shu countered, "Which do you think is more appropriate?"
Ajuka fell silent for a moment before replying, "I'll provide you with a list of their values."
'Meaning he'd set the ransom prices in advance and leave the decision to me?'
'No—Ajuka might even squeeze an extra payment from the Demon Council. After all, the only one among the demons likely to possess cross-dimensional communication methods was this very inventor...'
Realising this, Luo Shu smiled. "Then I'll look forward to your reply."
Hearing this, Ajuka returned the smile. "Pleasure doing business."
"A pleasure indeed!"