Among the inhabitants of the Underworld, there also exist distinctions of strength and dominance. Just looking at how they manufacture souls into Megalos makes this clear—Megalos are not used solely to deal with Magical Garment Girls; they are perfectly viable for warfare and other purposes as well.
For example, they could also be used during pursuits and assassination attempts against Eu.
Over the long years, even Eu herself no longer knew how many souls her scythe had devoured as nourishment.
This Hell Scythe had been given to Eu by someone she could no longer remember clearly. Who was that person? What did they look like?
Eu directed these questions toward the vague, indistinct phantom in her memories.
"Eu..."
Within a pure white space, she seemed to hear a call filled with joy and delight. In her hazy consciousness, Eu saw Raize smiling at her and extending his hand toward her.
Only, this Raize—how should she put it—seemed more weathered and mature, somewhat different from the Raize in her memories.
Yet the girl was inexplicably certain that this was the existence she loved.
In Raize's other hand, he was also holding a beautiful girl. Eu had no chance to think much about it, nor could she see her clearly—her current state of consciousness did not allow it.
While Eu was still confused and not fully conscious, before she could see clearly, a gentle pulling force came from her waist, drawing her—who did not resist—toward Raize.
This sensation also caused Eu to relax, because it felt exactly the same as when Raize hugged her in his rather forceful way.
While feeling shy, she also felt very reassured.
Looking closely, it was a pure white serpant flicking its crimson tongue, gently pulling the girl forward with its body.
Upon reaching him, the trust she had in the one she loved led the girl to extend her small hand toward him.
---
In the deep space of the dark subconscious, this was the deepest layer of Raize's heart—the other shore of the heart.
Nep within Raize's body was now in the form of a mature and beautiful goddess, wearing a complicated expression as she looked at her host whose essence had undergone a fundamental change at its very root.
She was dressed in a black, solemn evening gown. Possessing a dignified yet mysterious aura different from Sei's, she appeared somewhat dreamlike and illusory.
The goddess's body rested upon the body of a pure white serpent, its two coils wrapping around her graceful form, as she raised her slender hand to gently stroke the serpent's head before her.
The two pure white serpant in front of her flicked their tongues, gazing at Nep with a pressure-filled, almost higher-dimensional stare.
Yet Nep felt no discomfort at all. She looked straight through the eyes of the serpant, gazing into a far more distant other shore.
Deep within the serpents' pupils, there was a handsome man with long, smooth hair, who nodded politely toward her with a gentle smile.
"So that's how it is? As expected of the one I chose. It seems it won't be long before I can begin my revenge."
"Even if all that remains of this body is residue, I still cannot forget the hatred of betrayal."
Nep's light-blue eyes flickered with divine might resembling streams of data. With neither sorrow nor joy, she glanced to the other side, where two light orbs—one yin, one yang—floated, radiating brilliant light.
Within those two orbs of different hues and meanings, Eu and Sei appeared like infants, curled up and sleeping.
After carefully examining the consciousness body of the God of Bible, streams of law-like data suddenly appeared at Nep's pale fingertips. Cold light and hesitation alternated in her eyes, but in the end she sighed softly and let her emotions return to calm.
She gently patted the pure white serpent beneath her. The two white snakes immediately understood, released Nep, and opened their mouths toward the yin–yang light orbs containing Eu and Sei, gently swallowing the orbs whole.
Dense blue data streams suddenly appeared behind Nep. As the data light curtain dispersed, a brilliant throne appeared—connecting upward to the boundless heavens and downward to the other shore of Raize's heart.
Like dawn breaking through night, that enormous, system-like mechanical throne shimmered, data-pattern circuits glinting faintly across its surface.
"What a busybody. Supervising whether Raize goes astray is my responsibility. Since when did a mere component get the right to meddle?"
Seated upon the throne, Nep's gaze was indifferent. Clusters of data streams transformed into objects resembling complex circuit boards, appearing before the goddess.
The objects before her functioned like a computer, calculating something. Nep rested her fair cheek on one hand, while casually lifting the other as if plucking the strings of an instrument, adjusting something at will.
"This growth direction is the one I'm most satisfied with. Although there was a slight deviation, as long as the overall course doesn't change, it's fine."
"I hate people who can't afford to play 'games'. Using cheats deserves a permanent ban."
---
The next day—
From the direction of Raize's home came a terrifying fluctuation that no anomalous existence in all of Chiba could possibly ignore.
A soul-devouring, grotesque killing intent tore through everything, smashing through the barrier set up inside the house by the Biblical Loli God, and spread throughout the entire city. Fortunately, it only lasted for one or two seconds before vanishing.
But within those one or two seconds, everyone in Chiba involuntarily shuddered with an intense chill.
In some densely populated areas, people noticed the same reaction on others and found it utterly unbelievable.
One person shivering could be dismissed, but how could it be that almost everyone in Chiba shivered at the same time?
No matter how one thought about it, it felt extremely strange.
As a result, this peculiar phenomenon was spread online by some people.
It was described as a bad omen, or speculation that there might be an infectious disease going around Chiba recently, or even that a major earthquake was coming.
On the internet, all kinds of wild rumors labeled it an urban legend—and it even made it onto television.
For other beings, however, it was far more than just a shiver.
For example, Fafnir, who had been playing games, felt as though someone was about to attack him. Startled, he instantly transformed into a dragon inside his house.
As a result, Takiya's home suffered catastrophic damage. Fortunately, Takiya happened not to be home, otherwise his life might have been endangered as well.
At present, repair efforts were underway at Takiya's place.
The other dragons were the same. Tohru, who had been humming while washing dishes, crushed a plate in her hand. Kanna, who had been eating snacks, suddenly bristled, shouted "Majiya Bakune," and ran behind Kobayashi.
Rias, who was handing out devil flyers and expanding business, and Sona as well, did not fare much better. They all felt as if Chiba could turn into a battlefield at any moment.
However, they had no time to worry about that now.
Because by noon, Rias and her peerage had been walking and chatting on the field, heading toward their activity room—but along the way, several figures appeared that Rias did not want to see at the moment.
Even though there were other students still on campus, this stretch of road suddenly had no students at all.
Rias, Akeno, Koneko, as well as Kiba and Issei, all wore grave expressions as they looked at the two figures who had appeared before them.
One of them was a silver-haired maid wearing a solemn and proper maid outfit, her face cold and expressionless.
She was Rias's sister-in-law, her brother's wife—Grayfia.
At the same time, she served as the maid of the Gremory Clan and the queen of the current Satan Lucifer.
She handled matters with extreme seriousness and strict separation of public and private affairs. Her severe aura forced all of Lucifer's peerage members—and even Sirzechs himself—to obediently listen.
She was known as the strongest queen among all devils in the Underworld, nicknamed the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation.
At this moment, she was radiating an icy, murderous aura as she stared coldly at the heavy-hearted Rias.
Because of the trouble caused by her husband's younger sister, the devil side of the Underworld had been thrown into considerable chaos.
And the cause of it all was Rias's willfulness. It would be strange if Grayfia were in a good mood.
Standing beside her was a man with a playful demeanor and well-defined features, dressed in a red suit. Compared to Grayfia, his attire was far less meticulous.
He wore no tie, and his shirt was open down to the chest. Judging by his appearance, he looked to be in his early twenties.
Riser stood with his hands in his pockets, exuding the air of a delinquent rich boy. Standing beside Grayfia, he examined the solemn-faced Rias with a mocking, amused gaze.
He was the fiancé Rias often mentioned—the third son of the pure-blooded high-ranking devil Phenex Clan.
Possessing all the traits of a phoenix—immortality and instant regeneration no matter what kind of attack he suffered—he had never truly lost to anyone of his generation, relying on his immortal body.
"Rias, haven't you had enough? It's time for you to return to your territory, isn't it?"
Under Riser's watching, mocking gaze, Grayfia questioned Rias coldly, releasing a trace of pressure.
Not long ago, an invasion by otherworldly forces had erupted here, nearly causing Sirzechs and Serafall in the Underworld to go berserk on the spot.
Worried that something might happen to their sisters, they were about to rush to the human world regardless of consequences.
Fortunately, a servant of that Highness from the Pandevilium suddenly appeared and stated that Rias and Sona were safe, telling them not to act recklessly in the human world.
That Highness of Pandevilium was now somewhere in this city, responsible for negotiating with otherworldly beings.
Sirzechs remained in the Underworld, while Serafall had already arrived in the human world—likely scolding her own troublesome younger sister as they spoke.
Rias also roughly understood how worried her brother must have been, and how much trouble she had caused the Underworld. Knowing she was in the wrong, Rias sighed and said:
"Grayfia, did my brother send you, or is this the decision of the entire family?"
As she spoke, she glanced at the Phenex beside Grayfia—her fiancé in name.
Most of the reason she had taken such actions lay with this man. Her brother had not appeared, yet he had—did that mean...
"All of it. Do you think your actions were trivial!?"
Grayfia answered without hesitation, her response making Rias's heart sink.
"My dear Rias, your willfulness has truly reached an incomprehensible level. Many devil families in the Underworld already know about what you've done."
Cold light and anger flickered in Riser's eyes as he looked at Rias's beautiful face, irritation rising uncontrollably. He spoke arrogantly:
"Thanks to your actions, you've shamed both the Gremory and Phenex Clan. You and I have both become laughingstocks among other devil families."
Rias's unscrupulous attempt to escape the marriage had shamed the older generation of the Gremory Clan and angered them, while also displeasing the Phenex Clan.
More importantly, it had humiliated Riser himself. His fiancée went to such lengths to avoid marrying him—how would other devils of the same generation view him?
That was why he said Rias's willful actions had disgraced both families.
"I know my actions have caused trouble for others, but I don't regret them at all. Not fighting back at least once wouldn't be in my character."
The disgust on Rias's face when she looked at Riser was unmistakable. Faced with the mockery of the fiancé she despised, she showed no weakness in returning the favor.
Completely different from her heavy demeanor when facing Grayfia, she felt no regret whatsoever about her actions toward Riser.
Issei was completely unable to interject in this situation. The atmosphere was far too tense. Aside from the people directly involved, no one else dared to speak under Grayfia's oppressive authority.
Anyone with eyes could see that Grayfia's tone was hostile and that she was angry. Speaking up or acting rashly now would only add to Rias's troubles.
"Heh, you've got quite the nerve. I look forward to seeing if you can still say that to those old fogeys once you return to the Underworld."
Riser sneered with a fake smile, already used to Rias giving him the cold shoulder.
Once they were married, there would be plenty of ways to "educate" this woman. The sight of her resisting yet powerless would surely be amusing.
Just imagining it made Riser thrilled.
Although he had been shamed by her attempt to escape the marriage, he was eager to see whether Rias could still be this tough in front of the Underworld's old conservatives.
Whoosh!
As he thought this, undying phoenix flames ignited in Riser's hand. The scorching heat swept through the surrounding air, making it even hotter.
Bathed in firelight, Riser's cold smile reflected as he stared at Rias and the others.
"Enough. I don't feel like wasting words anymore. Come back to the Underworld with me. If you resist, I'll kill all of your peerage."
A blazing killing intent instantly spread over the peerage standing beside and behind Rias.
Feeling that very real killing intent, it was clear that Riser was serious. And Grayfia beside him did not speak up to refute it, as if tacitly approving his approach.
Rias's face darkened, her expression extremely unpleasant. Akeno still wore her usual smile, but a faint chill radiated from her.
The others all glared at Riser with hostility. Issei raised his hand and directly manifested the Boosted Gear.
This caused Grayfia to glance at Issei, Rias's new pawn. Facing an existence with such an overwhelming power gap as Riser, he could still suppress his fear and take such a stance—he was not bad.
In terms of peerage quality, they were on par with her husband's side.
But just as the atmosphere reached an extreme tension, a teasing, alluring laugh came from above.
"Nyah~ Did I come at a bad time? Such a tense family matter is actually quite interesting~"
The voice carried a playful tone mixed with a hint of coldness. All the devils present looked toward the sound, and especially upon hearing this familiar voice, Koneko's body trembled instinctively.
In disbelief, Koneko looked up along with the others and saw a cat-eared beauty dressed in a black kimono.
Wearing a rather revealing black kimono that exposed her snow-white shoulders and ample curves, Kuroka sat casually on the railing of the school rooftop. Her long, fair legs were crossed, and she swung her delicate feet leisurely.
"Oh! A cat-eared, black-haired, long-legged onee-san—so cute, and her boobs are huge!"
Issei looked up at the seductive figure with her alluring body and instantly got excited, blurting out his honest impression without thinking.
"Hehe~ Thank you for such a straightforward compliment, little guy. I'll gladly accept your praise."
Kuroka smiled at Issei. She felt no particular aversion toward his unhidden desire and bluntness—people like that were easy to understand.
But she had important business here today. The moment she arrived and heard someone threatening to kill her little sister, a grotesque killing intent began brewing in Kuroka's heart.
"Sister!"