Different Dimension, Labyrinth Nexus, Hall of the Sovereign.
In this place that had just become a battlefield yesterday, a magic circle appeared abruptly, and two figures stepped out from within.
"Is this where you were forcibly transferred yesterday?"
As soon as Sirzechs appeared, he scanned the surroundings, observing the entire Hall of the Sovereign as if trying to discern something.
"This is the core of this labyrinthine space. It seems to be set so that only the Sovereign of this different dimension can control it at will. Unless someone can break the space itself or possesses the power to intervene in spatial dimensions, they cannot interfere with any part of this place or its operating mechanisms."
Leon accompanied Sirzechs, explaining while pointing to the various passages appearing nearby.
"These passages only opened after I killed Luffy Trix and became the Sovereign here. When the thought of wanting to reach the other rooms as quickly as possible to support the others arose in my mind, they appeared automatically."
It was also at that moment that Leon realized the Hall of the Sovereign was the only room capable of leading to any other room in the labyrinth. The other rooms usually only had a single passage, leading only to one specific adjacent room with no way to bypass others.
In other words, the Hall of the Sovereign was not just the nexus of this dimension, but its literal center. Any other room could eventually lead here—provided that, like Leon, Rias, and Sona, one passed the trials of five rooms in a row.
Unfortunately, the Old Satan Faction's assault had been fierce. Aside from Leon, Rias, and Sona successfully passing the five trials, the others had reached the third room at most and never had the chance to reach this place.
Fortunately, Leon had defeated Luffy and gained control over this dimension. Otherwise, the various peerage members might have truly been sacrificed in this labyrinth, never to return to the outside world.
"I understand the general idea."
Sirzechs walked around the Hall of the Sovereign once, nodded, and spoke.
"This different dimension was likely specially crafted. It doesn't use our Devil technology, nor the technology of Heaven or the Fallen Angels. It should be the masterpiece of Stray Magicians."
"The Old Satan Faction must have established a cooperative relationship with a certain Stray Magician faction, and perhaps even made agreements with more mysterious entities that we are unaware of."
"Honestly, we were careless."
Sirzechs rubbed his brow and sighed.
The Old Satan Faction being able to do so much right under their noses was, in essence, a failure of duty. It was because they had been too negligent and lowered their guard against the Old Satan Faction, which had been resting and recuperating for centuries, that they failed to notice the faction had established contact and cooperation with so many mysterious beings in secret.
That wasn't even the biggest problem.
The biggest problem was that, according to Leon's previous hints, these hidden entities were likely supported by an unimaginably terrifying figure.
Though he was reluctant to believe it, these people might very well belong to the same organization, the same power.
This was truly terrible.
"Let's look around elsewhere."
Sirzechs suggested.
"Alright."
Leon had no objections and walked with Sirzechs toward the surrounding passages.
Together, they visited different rooms, witnessing the trials within and personally experiencing the traps. If the Old Satan Faction Devils, Stray Magicians, and numerous monsters weren't already gone, the two might have experienced the same ambushes the peerage members faced yesterday.
Of course, the corpses of the Devils, Magicians, and monsters that died in yesterday's battle still remained in some places, all of which became objects of Sirzechs's investigation.
Leon felt there wasn't much to investigate, but Sirzechs was extremely thorough and even made significant findings.
"The origins of those Stray Magicians are still unknown; a detailed investigation is required to understand exactly where they came from. However, looking at the nature of their demonic power and physical characteristics, some of these Old Satan Faction Devils were die-hard loyalists from centuries ago, some were Stray Devils who had vanished for centuries and were on our most-wanted lists, but others... were people from the current Devil World."
Sirzechs's words caused Leon to startle before he realized the implications.
"Are you saying that within the current Devil World, there are Devils who betrayed us and secretly sided with the Old Satan Faction?"
Leon understood Sirzechs's meaning.
"Although it hasn't been finally confirmed, it appears to be so." Sirzechs sighed once more and said, "It seems I'll be busy for a while after returning."
With traitors appearing among their own people, one could imagine that the Devil World would certainly not be peaceful in the coming days. The Satans, led by Sirzechs, would definitely conduct a thorough investigation of the major Devil Houses to see who else had secretly joined the Old Satan Faction.
"What about those monsters?" Seeing Sirzechs easily uncover so much, Leon's interest was piqued. He pointed at the remains of a monster and asked, "Can you tell where they came from?"
"...These monsters bear very heavy traces of artificial creation." Sirzechs remained silent for a moment before saying, "I suspect they weren't captured from elsewhere by the Old Satan Faction or the Stray Magicians, but rather someone created them and gave them to the Old Satan Faction to use."
As soon as those words were spoken, Leon immediately thought of something.
"Could it be—'Annihilation Maker'?"
"Annihilation Maker," as the name suggests, is a Longinus capable of creating all sorts of monsters.
It was not just a Sacred Gear, but one of the four High-tier Longinus like "Zenith Tempest." It was ranked third among the Longinus, second only to "Zenith Tempest."
The ability of this Longinus was to create various monsters based on the wielder's imagination. As long as the wielder was strong enough, they could completely create a monster army to sweep through major powers.
Therefore, this Sacred Gear was considered capable of influencing the world, eventually being ranked third and becoming one of the four High-tier Longinus.
"Very likely." Sirzechs spoke with a heavy tone. "While technology for artificially breeding monsters exists, trying to breed such a massive number of monsters through technology alone would consume an absolute fortune in resources."
"Only the 'Annihilation Maker' among the four High-tier Longinus can create monsters purely through imagination, requiring no resources other than the wielder's own rich and powerful imagination. This is the most terrifying aspect of that Sacred Gear."
"If the host of 'Annihilation Maker' is the one providing so many monsters to the Old Satan Faction as combat support, then it proves that person is likely also a member of that mysterious organization."
This was no laughing matter.
An existence capable of creating a monster army at will had joined an underground organization and become an enemy of the Devil World; that was definitely not good news.
Sirzechs felt he had to take this matter much more seriously.
"It's a good thing we came here to investigate; otherwise, many key clues and intel would have been missed." Sirzechs turned to Leon and asked in a consultative tone, "The ownership of this different dimension can be manually transferred, right?"
"Yes, it just takes a bit of operation." Leon nodded and said, "Do you intend for me to transfer ownership to you?"
"Yes, I want to have more specialized personnel come and investigate," Sirzechs said without hiding anything. "Of course, this dimension is your spoil of war, and I won't ask you to transfer it for free."
"How about this: I'll have someone craft a different dimension of equal quality to exchange with you. What do you think?"
Upon hearing this, Leon did not hesitate and nodded directly.
"I agree to the exchange."
While this labyrinthine space was very good, it was ultimately something crafted by the enemy. Leon didn't dare use it casually. What if they had installed a backdoor or some unknown trap? If he were to take ownership without precautions and use it like a treasure, wouldn't he be giving others a chance to screw him over?
Therefore, even if Sirzechs hadn't proposed the transfer of ownership, Leon wouldn't have used the place easily.
Under such circumstances, being able to trade something he couldn't use for something of equal value that he could use safely—what reason did Leon have to hesitate?
Immediately, Leon transferred the ownership of this dimension directly to Sirzechs, making Sirzechs the new Sovereign of the labyrinthine space.
"Thank you for your understanding." The heaviness on Sirzechs's face finally eased, and he regained his gentle smile. "Just as Ajuka said, you are a very sensible child."
"Oh?" Leon said with some surprise, "Ajuka—Lord Beelzebub spoke to you about me?"
"Of course. On the day you were promoted to High-class Devil and awakened your mutated trait, Ajuka mentioned you to me." Sirzechs looked at Leon and laughed. "That day, it was rare to see him so excited. He came to me saying he had found an interesting research subject whose awakened Devil trait had not only mutated but had also developed an unknown connection with the Evil Pieces he developed, causing a mysterious change in those pieces."
"Since then, he has been keeping a secret eye on you, especially when you use the Evil Pieces; he pays close attention every time and collects data."
"Coming here today, he specifically instructed me to remind you to be careful of the prying eyes of those with ill intentions."