The Gremory peerage stood in the Satan's mansion, facing Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the direct heir of the former Lucifer.
"Nice to meet you, Rias Gremory, and your peerage. I'm Rizevim Livan Lucifer, son of the former Satan Lucifer… Ugh, let's skip the formalities! I'm not good with that stuff, uhyahyahya!"
Despite seeking protection from the current regime, Rizevim and his attendant, Euclid Lucifuge, were under soft confinement. Given their strained relationship with the current government, this was expected, but the lack of physical restraints or strict limits hinted at the leniency of Sirzechs and the other Satans.
"Especially you, Hyoudou Issei-kun. Seems my grandson Vali-kun caused you trouble. Sorry about that!"
"N-no, don't worry about it."
"Really? Wow, this generation's Red Dragon Emperor has a big heart! That's a relief!"
"Seriously, I'm counting on you, Red Dragon Emperor-kun, for this mess!"
Issei could only manage a wry smile at the Satan's heir's casual demeanor.
"Anyway, we've got time before Sirzechs-kun or Azazel-ojisan show up. Wanna chat? Got any questions? I'm a Satan's son, so I'm surprisingly knowledgeable!"
"Yes, I have one, can we be effective in this fight? We've encountered three Demon God Pillars—Gremory, Glasyalabolas, and Zepar—all immensely powerful. Even Glasyalabolas, the weakest, held its own against multiple top-tier Three Factions members. Zepar only fell because Issei-kun awakened an extraordinary power. Gremory overwhelmed Kokabiel, a Fallen Angel cadre, and even Rias-sama's Power of Destruction was ineffective. There are still Pillars who defeated the original Satans, and we haven't heard of others being defeated."
Rizevim responded with exaggerated gestures.
"No worries, no worries! I, Sirzechs-kun, and the others will handle Solomon and the Demon God Pillars. We need you young Devils to deal with the grunts."
"Grunts?"
"Solomon wiped out the Old Satan Faction and seems to have taken over Khaos Brigade. Besides Ophis and the old faction, there's the Hero Faction.".
"Exactly! Descendants of heroes and those inheriting heroic souls—human-side heroes, basically. Some even wield Longinus. They might be brainwashed by Solomon into becoming his vanguard. We need you youngsters to handle them."
"The Hero Faction…"
Rias rallied them. "Don't worry. With Issei back, we won't lose. We lost to Riser, but that was his game experience. In real combat, we've hunted stray Devils—we're not inferior. I'm counting on you, Issei. With your Longinus, those self-proclaimed heroes are nothing. Let's crush them with our power!"
"You got it, President!"
"What a beautiful master-servant bond."
As he spoke, Azazel entered, likely fresh from a meeting.
"Hey, Lilin, don't mess with my students."
"Scary, scary, Azazel-ojisan! I'm just an old guy exploring the potential of these promising youths!"
"Yeah, right."
A magic circle suddenly appeared, signaling an urgent message. Despite Rizevim's presence, Azazel deemed it critical and answered. It was Shemhazai, Grigori's vice-leader.
"What's up, Shemhazai…? Barakiel and Sahariel, what!? That bastard! I'm heading back to Grigori HQ now. He won't get away with this!"
His face was etched with fury, unmistakable to all. Akeno Himejima, catching a name, asked with concern, "What happened to him?"
"…Akeno, stay calm. Barakiel—"
"Fallen Angel cadres Barakiel and Sahariel are dead? And it's being pinned on us?"
"Technically, on Solomon, who they mistakenly think controls us.".
News of Solomon's revival via the ring had reached the Temple of Time.
Only the Three Factions' leaders and select top figures knew of the King of Magecraft's return. His revival wasn't something to publicize. His deeds were too monumental, his sins too grave.
"What's this Solomon's true intent?"
A fundamental question. Unlike a certain king, he didn't seem to want a second life as a normal human. His actions were too bold, too extreme.
"This Solomon slaughtered Devils and Fallen Angels in his time."
"He deceived not just the God of the Bible but all mythologies' gods, creating the Truth formula."
"A king who knows only rage, feared by every mythology's leaders."
"His rage targets all non-humans."
"To secure humanity's future, he deceived gods, used Satans, and rewrote the world's laws."
"His body was consumed by the System, so revival should've been impossible."
"Yet he prepared a loophole."
"Sealing his soul in the ring."
"The rings should be in Heaven. Whether one was stolen or swapped is unclear."
"Combining all intel, this Solomon knows of our Incineration of Humanity."
"He knows our sins."
"He likely knows of our plan to incinerate the Biblical system."
"If he's as the intel suggests, he's deduced our goal."
"Our ideals likely don't fit his purpose."
"But we can't accept condemnation."
"Even if it's a Solomon other than that man."
"He's an enemy, like the God of the Bible or the Lion King."
A king who loved humanity yet knew only rage toward non-humans. A mage who defied gods and rewrote cosmic causality. A pioneer who gave humanity a future.
If that man had freedom, would he have raged at human tragedies like this king?
"How does that man appear to this Solomon?"
"What do I feel about that world's Solomon? Jealousy, obviously. In life, we weren't so different, but in death? Total opposite. My ethics are broken, sure, but I wanted to meet a humanity-loving Master, a beautiful partner who's an old man inside, or a boy worthy of the world's future. Especially those seventy-two Pillars—damn, I'm jealous. What are those kids? Too serious, sure, but beasts so full of love they fell to it. I'd trade them for these pests any day. I tried making something with the ring's power, but with this mindset, they'd just be dolls. I couldn't make fakes as convenient pawns in life, and I won't now."
Atop a skyscraper in some city, Solomon stood with a man—a Servant summoned from "the other side," an Archer-class. Cloaked, bandaged, his face obscured, only his voice marked him as an adult male. Beside him stood a massive coffin.
"You liked Goetia and them? Surprising. After your first meeting and clash, I thought you despised them."
"I don't hate non-humans or killers. I just wanted a future for humanity. I hated those who crushed that possibility."
"And that led to Truth?"
"Go ahead and ask, Archer."
"Clairvoyance usually sees your world's possibilities—past, present, future, or parallel worlds. But not another universe. How did you see that world?"
"One correction: you can see this world from there now. The timing's right, like tuning a channel or raising an antenna."
Crossing over wasn't feasible, though. Heroic Spirit summoning worked via the Holy Grail, but Merlin, combining his Clairvoyance with Ophis's Reality Marble, was an exception.
"Now, sure. But three thousand years ago, how did you find that world? You modeled Truth after its mysteries, right?"
"My Clairvoyance is unique—not innate but crafted with the ring's power. To find a way to break from the gods, I explored other universes. That led to that world's discovery. I learned of the Holy Grail and Command Spells then. I can see this world's past and future, but only in fragments, as a byproduct."
"I see. Then why did you even think of severing the Age of Gods? Gods still walked among humans then. From your story, it wasn't inspired by that world. Couldn't humans live without Truth?"
Solomon scoffed, as if it were obvious.
"As I said, I wanted a future. I was born a king. A king must protect, guide, and shape the next generation. From childhood, I thought, 'If this continues, we'll be ruled by them forever.' I don't know what my father, King David, thought, but I wanted to change that fate. I worked hard, planning until my coronation. I'm glad I shaped it in time."
In one world, Solomon lacked humanity, missing a human life. In this world, he had humanity but, driven by a king's duty, sacrificed his human time.
He wanted to be a king who protected smiles, guarding them from non-humans. Fueled by rage against gods and Devils, he calculated and planned.
"I had humanity's greatest magical power, but lacked the means to use it fully. My abilities alone were limited, like moving dam water with a bucket. So, I asked God for the ring—His authority materialized."
Legend said Solomon sought wisdom, but he truly wanted divine authority. No matter his strength, a mortal couldn't touch gods or change the world. He needed a god's perspective, not a human's.
"With the ring, I proposed to gods worldwide: 'Let's make a world where faith decides all.' Even then, humans worshipped countless gods. Each wanted to be the sole deity. There's one sun, yet multiple sun gods, even within the same mythology. Gods and humans alike craved exclusive identity. Some gods resisted, but that's where my 'Wise King' reputation shone."
He didn't reveal everything. He explained the plan's details to the gods, except one: as time passes, the Age of Gods' tales would diverge from human perception.
He also included a condition: no one could remake the world. The God of the Bible wasn't alone in resetting the world—Zeus and Enlil caused great floods, and Indian mythology centered on creation-destruction cycles. Powerful gods, confident in gathering faith, accepted this, believing they'd never need to alter the world as the sole deity.
By dropping the vessel sealing the seventy-two Pillars into Babylon's abyss, Truth was completed.
"Devils have unique traits by bloodline. Truth needed not raw power but magical diversity. Maybe no one's realized that was the final piece."
"Maybe. If I wanted to weaken Devils, I'd have used the ring to make them self-destruct. Goetia sensed something off. Non-humans with time to think likely grasped your intent."
"Whatever. As long as no one interfered before the vessel hit the lake's bottom, I won."
Solomon triumphed over the Age of Gods, seizing humanity's future from the supernatural.
Except, the results weren't immediate.
He hesitated to destroy the gods in his lifetime, though it was possible with ruthless means. He left the final reckoning to posterity. His revival was to clean up—atonement for the Beasts harmed by his actions.
"Instead of accepting gentle extinction, Devils made Evil Pieces. Totally unexpected. Did they really think that'd solve their population issue? Entrusting the ring to Asmodeus was insurance against God's revival, but I didn't expect Devils to fall this far. Glad I didn't dream of a second life."
To him, the Old Satan Faction, striving for their demonic purpose despite doom, seemed wiser—perhaps biased by his accomplice.
"Thanks, Solomon. You cleared my doubts, and now I can kill those fools. Idiots who thought they were special, chasing impossible dreams. Hah! They never imagined their path led to a hell worse than ruin. That is their fitting end. But no need to drag Goetia into their mess. The Lion King can be handled by Goetia. Their journey ends here."
"I'll end it."
"I told you to do as you please, but answer one last thing, Archer."
"Why'd you make a contract with that world?"
Solomon ask with his face showing not rage but unmistakable pity.
"…I don't remember clearly, but I was probably asleep."
Archer shouldering his coffin and turning away.
"I think I was mumbling about wanting to be a hero."
***
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