(The illustration shows Caterea.)
Of course, considering there were still plenty of men present here, Sai Akuto understood that getting Caterea to strike that "classic composition" was not realistic.
All in all, Akuto was quite satisfied with this initiative of Caterea's.
...
That's right. The other faction leaders had no way out, but Caterea was different. She still had Akuto as her fallback.
Right now, it was obvious that the Reformist Maou wanted to build Akuto up as a benchmark, in order to attract the devils of the Old Maou Faction to defect to their side.
Yes, specifically the devils of the Old Maou Faction: those who had Maou bloodlines, but whose potential and qualifications lagged behind their faction leaders.
As for the leaders of the Old Maou Faction, their crimes were unforgivable. Even if they surrendered, they would have all their authority stripped away and might even be executed. So they had no choice but to fight to the bitter end.
Caterea, however, was different.
Having surrendered of her own will, at worst she could still preserve her life.
As for the authority that would be stripped from her?
The other Old Maou leaders did have to worry about such things, but Caterea had no need to.
Even if her power was temporarily taken away and all the devils under the Old Maou Leviathan faction were transferred under Akuto's command, she would still be able to make a comeback.
Therefore, the "Leviathan clan" brand carved into Akuto was something that could never be erased, no matter what.
From this point on, Akuto alone could represent the entire Leviathan clan. The prosperity and might of Akuto alone would not only be seen as his individual strength, but also as the strength of the whole Leviathan clan.
And aside from Akuto, the strongest of the Leviathan clan was Caterea herself.
Under such circumstances, as long as she remained alive, she would be able to glimpse the former glory of the Leviathan clan once more.
Even if her authority was stripped away, as long as Akuto still existed, then as time passed, she would eventually be able to regain what she had lost, and perhaps... even obtain power and status above that.
After all, Caterea could not see any limit to Akuto's power at all.
For devils, submitting to the strong had never been a humiliation. It was an absolute and natural order.
So, with all of her escape routes cut off, and realizing that she no longer had any right to chase after Akuto, a feeling called "submission" was born in Caterea's heart.
Driven by that feeling of submission and her own rational judgment, Caterea knelt down before Akuto and finally compromised.
She let go of the staff in her hand, dropped to both knees before him, pressed her forehead to her clasped hands, and let her smooth knees be stained with dust. It symbolized the complete end of the Old Maou Leviathan faction.
...
"Caterea! What do you think you're doing?!"
Seeing Caterea kneel, Kreuzel's lips twitched, and a bad feeling surged up within him.
Damn it! Was Caterea about to sell him out?!
Kreuzel's guess was not wrong. Strictly speaking, Caterea had no intent to "sell him out," but the consequences of her actions were more or less the same as selling him out.
Amplifying her voice and spreading it outward, Caterea opened a communication line to all devils of the Leviathan clan:
[All my fellow kin of the Leviathan clan, as pure-blood devils, we should revere our bloodline above all.]
[Now, the Sai Akuto standing before us has already surpassed our first ancestor.]
[I believe that, together with the Leviathan clan, he will usher in an unprecedented new glory.]
[The crime of betraying the devils lies with me alone. I was the one who lured every devil of the Leviathan clan into this.]
[I am willing to accept the judgment of the devil race and bear the consequences of my mistakes. As for you, you need only lay down your weapons and embrace Akuto, the strongest of the Leviathan clan.]
The reason Caterea dared say this, dared to accept the Reformist Maou's judgment, was because she knew that, after surrendering of her own accord, there would be no threat to her life.
And as long as her life was safe, she would have a very high chance of making a comeback.
All things considered, even Caterea herself had to admit that becoming the number two figure under Akuto's leadership had far brighter prospects than being the leader of ten different devil organizations.
Without a doubt, this was the conclusion Caterea had reached after combining her "bloodline intuition" and her rational analysis.
...
On the other side.
After receiving Caterea's order, the mostly female devils of the entire Leviathan faction all laid down their staffs.
They understood very clearly that Caterea was choosing to shoulder all guilt in order to wash their sins away. While they might not be able to walk away completely blameless, they would certainly not face any harsh punishment.
You could only say that, long before Caterea, many within the Old Maou Leviathan faction had already begun wavering.
If not for Caterea obtaining the Evolution Core and Ophis's Snake, giving them a final sliver of hope, there would have already been a mass defection from the Old Maou Leviathan faction.
Since they had long entertained the idea of defecting to Akuto, once Caterea's order arrived, the female devils of the Leviathan faction hardly hesitated. One after another, they adopted the same posture as Caterea, some kneeling on the ground, some kneeling in midair, all showing a state of complete submission.
...
Seeing the Leviathans submitting before him, Akuto could not help but shake his head.
"Heh... I didn't expect that, while Caterea's strength is nothing special, she actually has quite a knack for politics."
Akuto could tell that, for Caterea, the method she had chosen really was the optimal solution.
Whether the goal was to recruit the remaining members of the Old Maou Faction or to calm the Leviathan faction, the Reformist Maou would never execute a leader of the Old Maou Faction who surrendered voluntarily.
You could say that, from the Reformist Maou's point of view, Caterea's value as a defector was far greater than her value as a corpse.
Akuto's original plan had been to take Caterea off to the Akame ga Kill world for a few dozens of days, just like he had with Asia: first conquer her physically, then conquer her heart, and severely punish those traitors and rebels.
Now, it seemed that Caterea's status might be slightly higher than he had previously planned.
Simply having a clear sense of self was, in itself, a rare quality.
"With how these Leviathans are behaving, even if they return to the devil race in the future, they'll still maintain considerable respect for Caterea."
"With that respect from the Leviathans, as long as Caterea doesn't die, even if she gets completely stripped bare in this trial, she'll still have a chance to climb back up one day."
What Caterea understood, Akuto certainly understood as well.
Have you not seen how Puka treated his troops so well that, even after he was purged and thrown in prison, no one dared lay a hand on him?
A leader who shoulders the blame for their subordinates will always receive their spontaneous support.
...
"Caterea! You traitor!"
When Kreuzel saw the other Leviathans also express their submission, he finally couldn't hold back. What a fake woman! Just because she had a way out, she sold the entire faction out on the spot!
Just as Kreuzel was about to sneak-attack the kneeling Caterea...
"Fwoosh~"
A golden Holy Sword ripped through the void and pierced straight into his chest.
[Excalibur of the Heavenly Flash — load complete!]
[Excalibur of Transparency — load complete!]
[Excalibur of Mimicry — load complete!]
[...]
The "Esther clone" that Akuto had previously disguised and positioned to the side was activated. Using the abilities of Transparency and Heavenly Flash, it instantly accelerated to Kreuzel's side.
With the terrifying sharpness of a red-rank weapon, even though Kreuzel's strength had temporarily reached main-god level, his body still could not withstand even the slightest touch of the Sword of Salvation.
"This thing...!"
Kreuzel howled in pain, stretching his hand forward in an attempt to grip the Holy Sword and wrench it out.
At that very moment, Akuto had already taken a single step and moved directly in front of Kreuzel.
"[Explosion]!"
He extended his hand, and a pitch-black exploding sphere shot through with multicolored light instantly enveloped Kreuzel.
This exploding sphere was not large. In fact, it was not larger than an ordinary sphere at all.
Its only characteristic was compression. Extreme compression.
Originally, this Explosion spell could have easily blanketed several cities at once, but Akuto compressed it into a sphere only one or two meters across, just barely large enough to wrap around Kreuzel's body.
Because Akuto's control was so precise, Kreuzel had exactly one head left intact, measuring about 533 millimeters.
With the powerful vitality of a main-god-class powerhouse, even without any undead traits, losing all but his head would not cause him to die immediately.
Akuto grabbed Kreuzel's head with one hand and, like kicking a ball, sent it flying toward his own foot, where it sank into the rippling strata that melted beneath his sole and spread into the spatial coffer of the Seat of the Cosmos.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for completing the storyline quest: World Core Shard Collection.]
[Collection Target: Kreuzel Asgond (Gold).]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining one enhancement of corresponding rank.]
[Ding!]
[Weapon Conceptualization — Anti-Demon (Purple) has advanced to Weapon Conceptualization — Anti-Demon (Gold).]
...
At this point, even Maou Alice was shocked by the astonishing control Akuto had displayed.
"Hm? With this degree of fine control, there's no way that's just power forcibly drawn out with a divine hammer."
It was not as though she had never observed Akuto's battles. Akuto's usual fighting style centered around overwhelming force and battlefield awareness. Previously, Akuto had never shown any of the meticulous sculpting techniques of the Seat of the Cosmos.
For a simple reason: he had not been able to.
Both [Balance Breaker] and [Juggernaut Drive] were short-term power-explosion modes. When his power was in a state of eruption, it was almost impossible to finely control that very power.
Only after completely fusing the Balance Breaker mode could Akuto use all kinds of precision combat methods as freely as his own arm.
...
After dealing with Kreuzel, Akuto flashed over to Caterea's side.
"Caterea, if you really want to show your submission, then don't hold onto any thought of resistance at all."
Akuto leaned down slightly, raised Caterea's face, which was almost pressed to the ground, and activated his purification ability.
To purify the Evolution Core, its possessor had to either have all power of resistance stripped away, or have no resistance in their mind whatsoever.
This was the final test Akuto intended to give Caterea.
(End of Chapter)
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