[Quest "Assist Katerea in Founding Her Nation" has been completed.]
[Reward obtained: 100 Senzu Beans, Skill: Super Armor]
[Senzu Bean: Upon consumption, instantly restores all stamina and all internal and external injuries.]
[Skill: Super Armor (After activation, you will enter a Super Armor state for three minutes. During that time, you will be immune to all crowd-control effects, though you will still take damage. Cooldown: 24 hours.)]
[Note: Do you choose to be a coward for life, or a real man for three minutes?]
There was no need to talk about how absurdly overpowered Senzu Beans were, and the control immunity from Super Armor was just as broken.
Once Super Armor was activated, unless he chose to fall down himself, his body would not be affected by any outside force.
For example, if someone shot him, then under normal circumstances, the impact of the bullet would knock his body backward. But with Super Armor active, there would be no such recoil at all.
That immediately reminded Rod of those freakishly tough Black guys in America.
Charging straight through gunfire head-on. No wonder American police emptied the whole magazine the moment they ran into those guys committing crimes.
Otherwise, they really couldn't stop them.
"Mr. Rod, today is the day we leave for the Underworld. Is there anything else you need to prepare?"
Rod's train of thought was interrupted.
Standing before him was Koneko in her Kuoh Academy uniform, and beside her, Asia had changed into her school uniform as well.
Although Rias's first Rating Game wouldn't be until tomorrow, she had decided to return to the Underworld a day early so they could make preparations in advance.
And because Rod had been formally invited as well, they would not be using the Occult Research Club's magic circle this time, but instead would be entering the Underworld through official procedures.
The fallen angel trio and Walburga would stay behind to look after the house.
Rod, Lavinia, Kuroka, and Asia, meanwhile, would be heading to the Underworld.
The car driven by a familiar parked in front of Rod's house and picked everyone up, then headed for Kuoh Town's train station.
"Huh? Aren't we going to the Underworld? Why are we at the station, nya?"
Kuroka was crouched by the window, looking at the station's iconic giant clock tower with a puzzled expression.
"Because this time we're entering through official channels, so of course we have to use the proper method to get to the Underworld. Big Sis, you need to behave yourself in a bit."
Koneko warned her.
"What do you mean? Your big sister's been very well-behaved, nya?!"
Faced with Koneko's suspicion, Kuroka puffed out her cheeks in displeasure, then pulled out her handheld console and started playing by herself. Before long, she had already forgotten all about Koneko's warning and was happily grinning at the screen.
Soon enough, the car rolled smoothly into the platform area.
Because Kuoh Town wasn't some especially famous city, even its train station usually didn't have much foot traffic.
"Over here, over here!"
Rias and Akeno, who had already been waiting there, stood by an elevator on the platform and waved to Rod's group.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Rod suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu and couldn't help asking, "This isn't Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, is it?"
"Nine and Three-Quarters? No, this is just Kuoh Town Station. But the platform we're seeing right now is only for ordinary humans. There's a special area underneath this level that's reserved exclusively for devils."
"I think this trip is definitely going to be an eye-opener for you, Mr. Rod!"
Wearing a confident expression, Rias led everyone into the elevator, then lightly tapped a special card against the control panel.
With a soft beep, the elevator descended to an underground level that wasn't displayed on the panel at all.
When they stepped out, what appeared before Rod was a station platform several times larger than the one above ground, with an atmosphere that felt distinctly old-fashioned.
On the tracks in the distance sat a train with a sleek, sharp-edged exterior.
The paint on its body reflected a dim sheen, and its surface was covered in countless intricate patterns.
Lavinia analyzed them as spell circuits used to pass through the Dimensional Gap.
Such spell circuits were enormously expensive, yet the surface of this train was almost entirely covered in them, which said more than enough about how extravagant it was.
"Come on aboard."
Rias gave a light laugh and led everyone onto the train.
"Huh? We still have to take a train, nya? I thought we'd just be there in one shot, nya."
Kuroka looked astonished. After stepping into the carriage, she kept touching things here and there, utterly unable to sit still.
"How long does it take to get to the Underworld, nya?"
"About an hour."
"Huh? That long, nya? In one hour I could go back and forth a few hundred times, nya."
Kuroka looked genuinely shocked after hearing that.
At that, Rias gave a bitter smile. "Because this train crosses the dimensional barrier and enters the Underworld through proper legal channels. Normally, if you just used teleportation magic to go straight into the Underworld without permission, it would count as illegal entry, and if you were caught, you'd be punished."
"Mr. Rod, I'm very sorry, but those are the rules. Even my brother has to follow them. Though after this trip is officially recorded, things won't be this troublesome next time."
"No problem. It's a good chance to enjoy the scenery."
Rod waved a hand to show that he didn't mind at all. He had nothing else to do anyway.
Soon after, an elderly man who introduced himself as a butler emerged from the driver's compartment. After giving them a brief explanation, he began scanning everyone present with a device that had a small screen attached to it.
"This is a machine unique to the Underworld. It's mainly used to confirm passengers' identities. Since this is an official entry process into the Underworld, the consequences would be very serious if someone were impersonating another person."
The one who explained that was Akeno, seated in front of Rod.
She looked at Rod with a smiling gaze, her wine-red eyes taking in his whole face.
Rod nodded and chatted with her for a while.
But as time passed, drowsiness gradually crept up on him, and Rod began resting with his eyes closed.
Seeing that he seemed to have fallen asleep, Lavinia leaned her shoulder against him and used the two full, soft mounds on her chest as a pillow, supporting his face so he could sleep more comfortably.
Asia couldn't help curving her lips into a smile, while Akeno narrowed her eyes.
This woman was a formidable rival.
...
An hour later, the train officially passed through the dimensional barrier.
The view outside suddenly opened up.
Rod, who had taken a short nap, was now awake. Looking out at the bright scenery beyond the window, he found it completely different from the territory where Katerea's Old Maou faction was based.
Although there was still no sun, and the sky was still violet, the world was bright, lush, and full of birdsong and flowers.
By comparison, the place Katerea lived in was practically a wasteland where not even birds would shit.
If she hadn't been able to go to the human world at any time to obtain supplies, she probably would have starved there long ago.
No wonder Katerea had always wanted to return. Anyone forced to live in a place like that would hate the people who had exiled them there.
Still, according to her, she had already received a new kind of devil technology from Sirzechs and the others, one meant to improve the local climate and geographical environment.
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