"Honestly, for a demon who supposedly values contracts, you're remarkably bad at keeping the upper hand in them. Maybe instead of celebrating your big comeback, you should've gone back to 'Trainee Demon 101' and started over?"
[Hey! What the hell is with that fan!? Earlier it just said 'Unfortunate'! Who the hell makes props that are this tailored to mocking someone!?]
"Oh, this? This is a custom piece made by Azazel-sensei — the 'Interjection Fan'. It's voice-activated. You can program it to respond to situations with whatever phrase you like."
[That's not an interjection! That's self-scripting slander!!]
A perfectly valid complaint. The so-called "Master of Manipulation" can't even come up with a comeback anymore — pathetic.
"Anyway, while we were chatting, looks like the other mass-produced evil dragons have all been dealt with. Lardoun is defeated, Grendel's sealed... now it's just you left, Euclid."
As I gave the situation a quick check, Euclid — who had earlier been blown away by Kuroka — slowly shook his head, seemingly admitting defeat.
"Lord Rizevim. Even for me, it's impossible to take on everyone here by myself. What are your orders? Of course, if you say 'fight,' then I shall obey."
[Ahh, no need for that. You're too valuable to risk. Giving detailed orders without you around is a pain. Come on back... Oh! But wait, I almost forgot — didn't we have something special prepped ahead of time? Let's give our lovely D×D audience a grand finale]
"As you command."
Euclid bowed respectfully to Rizevim's screen... then raised one hand, ready to snap his fingers.
Ah... so this is the bomb they planted in the infiltrator mage.
"You bastard! What the hell are you pulling this time!?"
"Now, now, Red Dragon Emperor. Don't be so impatient. Allow me to show you."
Before Issei could react, Euclid snapped his fingers.
FWOMP!!
"...Huh?"
The next moment, a bound man teleported in front of Euclid and promptly exploded.
"EHHHH!?"
While everyone else stood in stunned silence, I—who knew this would happen—rushed through the flames, zeroed in on Euclid's presence, closed the distance, and slammed a fist into him.
Euclid, to his credit, reacted like the seasoned warrior he was, blocking with the gauntlet of his armor.
"Phew... that was clo—GBOOOGHHHH!!?"
Before he could finish, he convulsed, vomiting blood like he'd taken a direct hit to the gut, and collapsed.
"Urgh... khah... What the hell was that...!?"
"Sixth Secret Sword: Poisonous Moth. It forces shock damage into a target's internal point of your choosing. Basically, penetrating damage."
Armor won't help against that. If you want to block it, either create an external shield or train until your internal organs are made of steel.
"For now, go to sleep."
Since he'd be annoying if he recovered, I stomped on his head, poured in a good dose of evil energy, and left him twitching like a fish out of water, screaming:
"GUAAAAAH! Sister! Why!? Why with that man!?"
Kuroka set up an anti-teleportation field, physical restraints, and a soundproof barrier to shut him up. We left him like that.
"Oi, Ikki... is he gonna die like that? And what the hell was all that?"
"He's fine. I didn't pump in enough evil energy to kill him. But I did inject it directly into his brain… Didn't think it'd mess with him that much. Guess he'll be stuck watching nightmares on repeat for a while."
Like Tsukuyomi from Sharingan—"You will now eternally watch Grayfia and Sirzechs being lovey-dovey~"
For a sister-obsessed freak like Euclid, that's a nightmare straight outta hell.
Anyway, the plan was simple. I knew there was a traitor mage, but didn't know who. So I sent Izuna under the pretense of 'scouting after the teleportation,' after Agreas was warped away.
When Izuna got there, the traitor had already been subdued by Grendel and the others. But something felt off.
I mean, trying to betray people in a place filled with elite mages? They were meant to be caught. And the traitor had to know where Agreas would be sent—since they changed the destination.
So what was the point?
One conclusion: silencing.
I relayed that to Grendel and the rest through Izuna. They checked the body and discovered a detonation spell hidden inside—triggered by using the traitor's own magic power.
It couldn't be removed quickly, so they dumped the body somewhere isolated. But I had a hunch... What if we cast a teleport spell that'd activate right before the detonation trigger?
So we used a snap as the activation signal, and pre-set a transfer spell to intercept it.
You know how in real life, someone throws a grenade and it gets tossed right back at them? Same logic. It made for a beautiful surprise.
"Honestly, I was kinda hoping Rizevim himself would snap his fingers and go boom... But oh well. Guess that's all for today."
I opened my fan one last time.
"Ending with an explosion? Lame."
Hey, I couldn't think of anything better.
Unable to find words, Rizevim just glared silently. Then the transmission cut out.
And so... Auros Academy's peace was protected.
...Though I'm sure I've got another movie night with Azazel-sensei coming.
It seems Rizevim and his group retreated after that. The massive barrier surrounding the area dissipated. The forces, who had sensed the abnormality, arrived and helped with the cleanup.
While the academy was safe, the surrounding town of Auros was in pretty bad shape. As for Agreas, well, it literally vanished, so no reconstruction possible. But imagining the mountain of paperwork heading for Archduke Agares makes me feel kind of sorry for him.
We handed over the sealed soul gems of Walburga and Grendel to Dulio—the cheerful leader of D×D who arrived saying, "I'll handle the post-battle clean-up!"
Grendel's soul gem was to be sealed in a holy, heavily warded location in Heaven. As for the Holy Grail which had returned to our side—it made the most sense for Heaven to manage it.
Later reports said Walburga was now in prison, mentally broken. Euclid was so far gone that interrogation was impossible, so we sealed him up and handed him over to the Great Satan's army. The rest is up to Sirzechs, Grayfia, and their... enthusiastic interrogator.
Azazel-sensei showed up around then, too.
"Sorry, guys. I wasn't able to help this time."
"No worries. That whole battle happened in three minutes. Besides, you really helped."
That made him smile.
"Seriously? Nice! Glad I made it. Anyway, I've got two things to report. First — the role of Indra's vanguard against Qlippoth, originally filled by the first Sun Wukong... is now going to Cao Cao."
"WHAT!? CAO CAO!? I thought he got sent to Hell!"
Issei yelled, and the rest of us shared his shock.
"Apparently, they struck a deal. If he could escape Hell on his own, Indra would leash him as a servant. Even gave him back the Longinus. At least he won't act out in public. Indra may be a pain in the ass, but he's not evil, he just wants to fight Shiva. Better than dealing with Qlippoth, so let it slide for now."
Reluctantly, Issei nodded.
"Understood... I guess."
"Second report. We analyzed Rossweisse's thesis. It might be applicable to the Trihexa sealing formation. Even if that monster revives, we may be able to reseal it using magic based on her theory."
Everyone stared at Rossweisse in stunned awe.
"I see... So that's why Euclid went so far as to reach out to her in Tokyo. Her technique could help control Trihexa if Qlippoth revives it."
Rias mused thoughtfully.
But the truth? Euclid just saw a silver-haired beauty who reminded him of his sister. Perverted siscon.
...Well, maybe there was a bit more to it.
"Lastly, there's the stolen data from Agreas. That place held old Satan-tech. Who knows what they're after. I'll check with Ajuka, but don't hold your breath."
With that, Azazel turned to go.
"Anyway, I'm off to deal with more post-battle crap. Ugh, what a pain..."
He paused to glance back.
"Oh, and by the way. You all protected this academy. You've got a lot to think about — but don't go moping forever, yeah?"
Saying that as a parting line is just unfair.
After he left, we all began returning to our tasks... when Xenovia raised a hand.
"Actually, since we just protected the academy, this might be the perfect time. I have something to say to everyone—and something I want Rias-senpai's approval for."
She looked around and then declared:
"I'm going to run in the next student council election. I want to become student council president!"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!?"
Everyone's voice echoed in surprise as Xenovia smiled in satisfaction.
Looks like our eventful school life isn't calming down anytime soon.