Chapter 271: The Battle Begins and Zolgear Appears
When Michael got serious, the pressure he exerted on Haruto was even greater than Sirzechs', but that was only natural.
He was the chief of the Four Great Seraphs, a top-tier powerhouse who had survived the Great Three Faction War.
Moreover, the entire Heavenly System now revolved around him. It was unthinkable for him to be weak—he had at least Super Satan-Class strength.
In fact, Haruto vaguely felt that both Sirzechs and Michael possessed strength beyond Super Satan-Class. However, any further escalation would cause too much destruction across the Three Factions, which was why they had always restrained themselves.
Even though the Khaos Brigade had displayed terrifying power, Haruto sensed no trace of panic from either of them.
The gentle and handsome man's expression turning stern and murderous seemed more like he had recalled something, rather than being due to Ornis appearing as an enemy.
Gazing at the mechanical monster whose style was completely different from everyone else present… Well, for Michael's sake, he'd temporarily call it a mechanical angel.
Even without a smile, Michael, with his shimmering golden hair, still looked like a male lead straight out of a shoujo manga.
To be honest, disregarding gender and focusing solely on appearance, Haruto found Michael more attractive than Katerea.
But that was like choosing between chocolate-flavored feces and feces-flavored chocolate—either way, he'd refuse.
Haruto stared at the mechanical angel for a while, feeling a vague sense of familiarity. Yet, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't recall such a character appearing in High School DxD.
Shemhazai was unwilling to engage further with Kokabiel, but Michael seemed to have a lot to say.
"Ornis, have the Ten Great Gods allied with the Khaos Brigade?"
Michael's voice was low. "Or… is this only the will of a portion among you?"
"Hmph, I have no obligation to answer a traitor who mingles with lowlifes." The mechanical angel's muffled, metallic reply echoed.
"Ten Chief Gods?" Haruto raised an eyebrow, suddenly connecting some dots.
He asked quietly, "Lord Michael, among the Ten Chief Gods, is there a divine-level powerhouse named Freyja?"
"Yes, the deity codenamed Freyja was one of the original Ten Chief Gods."
"Codenamed?"
"The Ten Chief Gods operate on a succession system, having gone through several replacements..."
Michael briefly explained about the Ten Chief Gods.
Similar to how Sirzechs and Serafall inherited the titles of Lucifer and Leviathan, the Ten Chief Gods followed the same principle.
Divine-level beings weren't immortal either, and due to certain circumstances, the Ten Chief Gods had already undergone multiple generational changes.
Haruto wanted to learn more, but time wasn't on their side.
The battle maniac Vali had long grown impatient. Seeing Michael and Ornis finish speaking, he eagerly launched his attack.
With the White Dragon Emperor making his move, the other three had no choice but to join the fray.
4v4 - two devils, one fallen angel, and one angel on each side.
Without needing discussion, the eight Satan-Class fighters instinctively sought out their respective opponents.
Lucifer versus Lucifer, Leviathan versus Leviathan. Even while holding back, neither Vali nor Katerea gained any advantage against Sirzechs and Serafall.
Vali, empowered by the White Dragon Emperor, could absorb half of his opponent's power through contact with his Sacred Gear, the Light Wings of the White Dragon Emperor, allowing him to trade blows evenly with Sirzechs.
But the dark beauty had it rough. Even after unleashing her abyss-corrupted ominous power, she was still being overwhelmed by the busty, twin-tailed beauty of a Devil King.
After just a few exchanges, Katerea's rectangular glasses were sent flying, her tightly bound hair coming loose.
Had Serafall not seemed reluctant to deliver a killing blow, the fight likely would have ended within minutes.
Shemhazai and Kokabiel were evenly matched. Though Shemhazai appeared scholarly, he was a veteran warrior who had fought alongside Azazel through life-and-death battles.
Kokabiel, being a war fanatic, possessed considerable combat prowess himself, but as a newly promoted Satan-Class, he ultimately couldn't compare to the established veterans.
In another battlefield brimming with holy power, the mechanical angel was completely outmatched by the gentle pretty boy.
However, the mechanical angel proved incredibly durable - despite several crater-forming impacts, its energy showed no signs of weakening.
Haruto glanced around and realized this battle had nothing to do with him.
Their side held overwhelming advantage!
The same thought occurred to the silently protective silver-haired beauty, Grayfia. As Sirzechs' queen, renowned as the Underworld's strongest queen, her power firmly placed her at Satan-Class.
But she maintained a low profile, especially when Sirzechs and Rias were present, strictly adhering to her maid protocols, causing everyone to overlook her.
When the attack occurred, Grayfia's primary mission became protecting Rias' safety.
During the stalemate, she had attempted to construct a teleportation magic circle, but the Khaos Brigade had already set up sealing barriers, making any teleportation magic unusable until broken.
Seeing the battle was under control, the silver-haired beauty breathed a sigh of relief, a small silvery light sphere forming in her hand surrounded by rotating bands of magical runes that constantly shifted and changed.
Grayfia continued working at full capacity to break the spatial seal, while Haruto admired the world-shattering battle between the Devil Kings while being responsible for protecting the women's safety.
Bzzz—
Suddenly, right near Haruto, a dark purple magic circle rapidly materialized.
Haruto frowned, his internal alarms ringing loudly.
"Get back!" he shouted while quickly forming a barrier from demonic energy in front of himself.
Boom! A violent explosion erupted, with dust and smoke forming a small mushroom cloud that completely enveloped Haruto.
The massive commotion attracted the attention of the eight Satan-Class powerhouses fighting in pairs in the air. Seeing the explosion site, Sirzechs and Serafall felt their hearts sink.
Due to the intense battle, magical energy had long been in chaos. Before the smoke cleared, they couldn't confirm the safety of Rias and the other women.
"Cough cough..."
Haruto lowered his left hand, which had already manifested the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, waved away the smoke, and remained cautiously on guard.
"Haruto, are you okay?" Rias' worried voice came from behind.
"I'm fine, President. You all need to be careful yourselves. I might not have time to protect you from now on."
Thanks to Haruto's timely warning and defense, Rias and the other women only suffered minor injuries.
However, Grayfia's progress in breaking the seal was forcibly interrupted, and it would take considerably more time to completely dismantle the spatial seal here.
"Worthy of praise for blocking this old man's attack."
An old devil with peculiar devil horns appeared before Haruto—the one who had launched the previous attack.
Looking at this devil with white beard, completely bald head, yet tall and upright posture, Haruto grinned slightly while quietly activating his Sacred Gear's doubling ability.
No wonder the Khaos Brigade members weren't anxious at all—they had reinforcements on the way. In just this short time, another Satan-Class powerhouse had arrived.
Grayfia also sensed the new enemy's strength and said, "Lord Haruto, I'll—"
"Miss Grayfia, I can't break sealed barriers. If we delay further, the enemy might get more reinforcements."
If possible, Haruto wouldn't want to constantly fight bosses above his level, but if they delayed any longer and one or two more Satan-Class opponents arrived, they would be in real trouble.
The silver-haired beauty fell silent for a moment, then bowed slightly. "Lord Haruto, please be extremely careful."
After saying this, she stopped wasting time and focused entirely on breaking the sealed barrier.
"Zolgear, you've finally arrived."
In the sky, Vali and the others who were at a disadvantage used this opportunity to regroup. The dark beauty, filled with pent-up frustration, said irritably, "Stop wasting time over there and come help me deal with Serafall quickly."
Shemhazai looked toward Sirzechs. "Another one of your devils. If we get another chance in the future, I suggest all four Satans attend meetings together."
"Zolgear, so not only have you broken through to Satan-Class, but you've also connected with the old devil faction..."
Gazing at Zolgear's aged face, Sirzechs slowly sighed.
Another devil surviving from the previous era would be lost today.
Devils lived extremely long lives, yet even so, Zolgear was nearing the end of his lifespan—proof of just how long he had lived.
The devil horns on their heads were also proof. Devils of the new era, even those like Vali and Katerea who carried the bloodline of the old Satans, did not possess devil horns.
Damn!
Listening to the conversation in the sky, Haruto cursed inwardly.
No wonder he had found the old devil across from him somewhat familiar earlier. It was one thing for Ornis and the Ten Great Gods to get involved, but how had even that old bastard Zolgear shown up?
Dammit, he hadn't even succeeded with the Naruse sisters yet, and now the mastermind had come knocking?
Speaking of which, if he killed Zolgear here and eliminated this "experience package," he wondered what would happen to Ryou later...