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Underworld, Headquarters of the Devil Council
One after another, the pure-blood devils took their seats once more. Compared to the usual gatherings, attendance was abnormally high this time. Out of the council's 136 seats, 127 members had arrived in person.
"What's going on, Gremory?"
An elderly man with remarkably healthy skin glared at Zeoticus in displeasure. "You forcibly summoned us under the name of Satan Lucifer. Something major happened?"
"It's Lord Bael, huh… To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself." Zeoticus dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, sounding uncertain. "Sirzechs only mentioned that it had something to do with Ophis. As for the details, I really don't know."
After saying that, he turned toward the various family heads staring at him nearby and gave a bitter smile. "And stop looking at me like that. Just because my son is Lucifer, my wife is from the House of Bael, and my daughter is close to that alliance leader doesn't mean they tell me everything."
A chorus of annoyed tongue-clicking immediately echoed through the room.
My son's Lucifer. My wife's from the House of Bael. My daughter's joining the alliance leader's side.
This blessed idiot was bragging again.
"Ophis…" Lord Bael frowned, his tone turning uneasy. "Don't tell me the Dragon God escaped?"
He was aware of the plan to indirectly control the Infinite Dragon God through Ingvild. In fact, he himself had approved it behind the scenes.
Still, if he remembered correctly, the operation had only been intended as a test. A probe into Ophis's condition, and into the intentions of Ryo, the supreme leader of the Three Factions Alliance.
But now it seemed the other side might be using this as an excuse to make a move.
That was the best-case scenario.
The worst-case scenario was that Ophis had genuinely escaped.
And if that had happened, they were in serious trouble.
"The Dragon God escaped? Seriously? No wonder they called an emergency session. Are we about to face retaliation from the Infinite Dragon God?! Damn it, Gremory! This is your family's responsibility!" An old man shot to his feet in shock.
"Hey, hey, hold on now. Lord Bael was only guessing. Just guessing…" Zeoticus wiped even more sweat from his face.
Unfortunately, that reaction only reinforced everyone's suspicions.
To the other familes, it looked exactly like Ophis really had escaped.
"Allying with angels and fallen angels was a mistake from the beginning." Another hostile voice rang out. "And why is the leader of the alliance some newly appointed Governor General from the fallen angels anyway? Why not one of us? Even if Sirzechs wasn't suitable, there are still others."
"The angels and fallen angels were obviously plotting something. Ophis escaping was definitely their doing," someone immediately added.
The devil councilors completely ignored the fact that they themselves had tried to control Ophis. Instead, they shifted blame onto the angels, fallen angels, Sirzechs, and Ryo with practiced ease.
The argument grew louder and louder.
Then suddenly, a cold snort cut through the chaos.
"Silence."
At once, every pure-blood devil turned toward the four thrones at the center of the hall, the seats belonging to the Four Great Satans.
On the throne of Lucifer, positioned slightly left of center, sat Sirzechs in full armor, clearly prepared for battle.
"Sirzechs… Lucifer. That Gremory monster…"
Whispers filled with caution spread through the chamber.
Seated atop the throne, Sirzechs swept his gaze across the crowd before speaking, "127 people. More than I expected."
He paused briefly. "Forget the remaining nine. We won't wait."
The moment those words fell, the head of House Bael immediately frowned. "Your Majesty Lucifer, why exactly were we urgently summoned? Did Ophis truly escape?"
"Bael."
Sirzechs looked calmly at the head of the Bael Family, as though seeing an even older figure standing behind him.
"…Sigh."
Sirzechs let out a long breath before saying, "As you suspected, Ophis did indeed escape."
Before anyone could react, the corner of his lips curled upward. "Or rather… there was never any such thing as the Three Factions successfully capturing Ophis in the first place."
"What?!"
Several family heads, including Bael himself, cried out in shock.
At that exact moment— BOOM!
The sixteen enormous stone doors of the council chamber slammed shut simultaneously.
Lord Bael instantly rose to his feet, alarm flashing across his face.
"This is bad!"
Purple light flared across the walls, forming massive magical formations. The pure-blood devils immediately recognized the core symbol at the center.
Ajuka's personal magic crest.
"His Majesty Beelzebub's barrier?!"
"Why are we trapped in here?"
"Lord Sirzechs, what is the meaning of this?!"
Ignoring the barrage of questions, Sirzechs simply sighed and leaned back against the throne, looking strangely relaxed.
"Honestly, I never thought there'd come a day when your annoying voices would sound this wonderful."
The experienced devil lords immediately sensed something was very wrong.
The head of House Abaddon roared furiously, "Sirzechs! Aren't you afraid of Indra? Afraid the angels and fallen angels will take advantage of this?!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sirzechs smiled lazily and stretched. "You shouldn't ask someone uninvolved like me. Ask Ajuka. Or ask Alliance Leader Ryo."
"Oh, right. I forgot to mention something." Sirzechs stood up and stepped aside.
From behind the throne, Ryo emerged in a black tailcoat, leisurely walking forward before taking Sirzechs's seat and crossing his legs.
"Sirzechs seems to have forgotten to tell you all." Looking down at the gathered devils below, Ryo smiled. "He's abdicated."
"And now…"
His lips curved upward, "...I am Lucifer."
"Traitor!" Lord Bael glared at Sirzechs with a twisted expression. "This was never approved by council vote! This is illegal!"
Ryo looked at the outraged old fossils with complete disdain and casually clapped his hands.
A young girl in a black gothic dress stepped forward.
"That's—!"
The devils who had seen Ophis's intelligence reports immediately turned pale.
"Infinite Dragon God Ophis?! Why is she here?!"
"Ophis," Ryo called softly.
"Mm." Ophis nodded.
"A lot of people here wanted to control you." Ryo smiled faintly. "Why not let them try?"
"Okay."
Ophis raised both hands.
An overwhelming amount of power gathered instantly between them, so immense that even Bael and the other top devils could barely comprehend it.
In the blink of an eye, the massive black sphere of energy grew larger than the council hall's thirty-meter ceiling, crushing through the marble overhead inch by inch.
Possibly because of bad influences, Ophis had apparently also developed a habit of solving problems by throwing giant energy blasts at people.
Watching this, Ryo could only shake his head repeatedly.
"This scale… M-Monster…" Lord Bael stared in horror.
"Let's play." Ophis tilted her head and smiled innocently.
Then she swung her arms downward.
BOOOOOOM!!
A colossal explosion erupted.
Not far from the council chamber, Erebus and his infiltrators had secretly entered the Satan Beelzebub Castle and were searching for Ajuka's laboratory.
The instant the explosion went off, Erebus looked up in shock at the gigantic mushroom cloud rising from the direction of the council hall.
He hunched over against the shockwave, completely dumbfounded, "What the hell happened?! Who fired that attack?!"
"That shouldn't be possible. Who could fire off an attack like that?" One of the Greek monsters beside him struggled against the blast, frantically shaking its head in disbelief.
The shockwave came fast and faded just as quickly. And just as the aftermath began to settle—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The bells signaling enemy invasion rang throughout the castle.
Immediately afterward, a figure radiating immense demonic power shot into the sky.
Erebus looked up and realized it was Ajuka himself.
Then Ajuka shouted, "Enemy attack!! All devils, move immediately! Capture the assassin Erebus!"
'Who the hell is Erebus? Wait, no, I'm Erebus— What the hell is going on?!'
Erebus froze on the spot, his brain completely short-circuiting.
.
.
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