Now's the time. Withdraw the knights, Lion King.
"Is this your script, ####?"
I'd like to say it's mostly correct, but not quite. The defeat of both Beast Ds was unexpected. Though there's a contingency, it's a hassle. As expected of Solomon.
"You claim this is all Solomon's doing?"
Of course.
Solomon is exceptional, even among those I've blessed. But… his values are sometimes incomprehensible. The Queen of Sheba matter is one, and his odd actions—like reviving Lilith. Needing a strong body is one thing, but clinging to what Adam discarded? In some timelines, it could destroy the world.
"If the world ends, that's your fault. Without you, Solomon wouldn't have created Truth."
Not quite. I admit I'm a factor, but the origin lies 4,500 years ago with this world's Hero King—no, that's irrelevant. A shameful stain on this star, a failure born of the gods' inferiority.
And let's not say Truth would destroy the world. It's the opposite. Without Truth, this world would've perished long ago. The gods here, blind to that, don't deserve to rule primates. Solomon built Truth with near-fraudulent claims because of that. This warped cosmology, with clashing myths, barely holds together thanks to Truth. What Solomon and I do is correction. There's no reason to be blamed.
"Disgusting. Utterly disgusting. In my ideal city, a being like you has no place."
Haven't I told you repeatedly I'm essential for the future?
You and the Knights of the Round Table replace angels, Goetia and his ilk replace Devils, and I become God. A goddess, you say? You're an upstart, too fragile to be a pillar. Goetia's sturdy but too mixed. Ophis has not just "infinity" but "chaos." Trihexa's obvious. Great Red can't bear more burden.
By taking our rightful seats, we balance the world—holy, demonic, and more. Originally, angels, Devils, and Demon Gods were to be unified, but your arrival was a pleasant miscalculation. The more pillars, the better.
I owe thanks to the dream demon who wove your arrival. An apple, perhaps… or are those plentiful in that fairy realm?
"No thanks needed. For them and me, your spectacular failure is the greatest reward."
That's impossible. At this point, my ascension to godhood is set.
"Oh? I haven't heard the specifics. How will you become a god? Your authority rivals a god's, but your kind can't become one by nature. If you could, the Three Factions wouldn't be in a cold war."
Simple. The method to revive the God of the Bible, passed to Rizevim via Belial, can truly resurrect the One God. But it's me who'll rise, not the God of the Bible. I tampered with the System long ago. The God of the Bible's body will be restored, but I'll inhabit it. The next One God won't be Michael, Solomon, or Lucifer—it'll be me. Had Separation occurred, this wouldn't work.
Take that, God. This is your punishment for what you did to me. Gnaw your navel in the Spear. Cocytus lacks entertainment—that's its biggest flaw. Sending only my consciousness is tiring, and I'm sick of "acting pained."
If Michael and the angels were more competent, we wouldn't need to summon you or Goetia from another world.
"…What a farce."
Indeed. Post-Belial angels are too useless. I had to go to such lengths just to revive one god.
You being stolen by fairies is another example. Not just Arthur—had Moses or Charlemagne been fed to the System, preparations would've finished sooner. Richard and Jeanne fell short of excellence. In the end, Solomon's was the only quality corpse. Joshua and Georgius were adequate but weren't used due to errors.
The greatest failure was that "child" called the Messiah meeting such an end. Why do the gifted ones always rebel? If they understood my goal, why not cooperate?
"You'll never resolve this until you see why."
I don't know what you mean, but it's about to begin. A grand fireworks display.
"Fireworks?"
The massive fireworks I've awaited for three thousand years, celebrating a new god's birth.
In a dilapidated house, a boy awoke.
"…Where am I?"
Vali Lucifer, freshly freed from the curse of rampage.
"Hey, Vali. Recognize me?"
"Morning, Leader!"
In his blurred vision appeared a monkey and a cat youkai.
"Bikou, Kuroka…? I was…"
Trying to recall, Vali was hit with a sharp headache and chills.
His latest memory was of a divine weapon's full power. Overwhelming. A body that morphed freely, with astonishing mobility. It turned sand into countless legendary weapons—demonic swords and holy spears—raining them down like carpet bombing.
Even Vali, of Satan blood and the strongest White Dragon Emperor, and Bikou, Sun Wukong's heir, couldn't counter such violence. A dragon touched by its reverse scale was exactly that.
"What happened to me?"
"Looks like you don't remember. I don't know details, but you were injected with Ophis' snake—way bigger than what the Old Satan faction or Hero Faction got. You've been rampaging until now."
Hearing this, an image of a sleazy man's smirk flashed in Vali's mind—a mage-like figure covered in flowers. A face not in his memory, yet somehow vivid.
"…Albion."
"Good to have you back, Vali. Sorry to jump in, but big news: the lingering thoughts of past White Dragon Emperors are gone."
"Gone?"
"Caught in that strange power used to subdue this generation's Ddraig. That girl's ability seems to seal or pacify. To calm you, the past emperors' thoughts were a hindrance, wiped out like pathogens."
Checking his Sacred Gear, the presence of past emperors was indeed gone.
"Next, the power of Ophis' snake you were given—it's still there."
"What?"
"Check your body closely."
Indeed, his body felt foreign yet familiar, the power integrated.
"How much time has passed?"
"About three months. We've been worked to the bone by Solomon, the fox lady, and Trihexa. We finally slipped away."
"Trihexa?"
"We'll explain later, nya. We're free now, nya! …Gotta grab Hakun before the Underworld burns."
"????"
Vali couldn't grasp the situation. Even a genius couldn't deduce the world's state from their sparse words. Things weren't moving on the small scale of fighting strong foes.
"So, what's your plan, Leader? The Khaos Brigade is in shambles."
"Also, the Old Satan faction's wiped out, Ophis and the Hero Faction joined the Demon God Pillars, and Arthur and Le Fay went to the Lion King, nya."
Judging by their demeanor, with the Dragon God and major factions in such states, others likely weren't functioning either. Vali joined for strong opponents, not attachment.
"…Right."
He recalled the mud doll's onslaught. Normally, it'd be traumatic, making one avoid them. But this battle maniac was different. The pride of the strongest, born with prodigious talent, couldn't accept such a defeat.
"I'll challenge Kingu again. I don't like losing."
"No growth at all. What did you learn from defeat?"
A sound like a sword piercing the floor rang out, and Death appeared.
A giant in a skull mask, wielding a massive sword, clad in black—a true reaper. The aura of a warrior who'd mastered combat. One moment of carelessness, and your head was gone.
Bikou and Kuroka had faced this reaper while serving the fox. They knew the gap in strength better than Vali, who was meeting him first. They'd seen him free the mightiest beast from Truth—proof of his otherworldly power.
"Gah! This old man's bad news, Vali!"
"Why are you here…!?"
Ignoring their fear and shock, the reaper wove his words, a death sentence.
"White Dragon Emperor, where do those borrowed wings aim?"
Demonic wings? Your despised grandfather's and father's legacy. White dragon wings? A fluke of power. Dragon God's power? Proof of your folly.
Where can such things take you?
"To the depths of a hell where no wildflowers bloom?"
The strongest seat? Battles with titans? Settling with a rival? The true White Dragon God Emperor?
What you wanted wasn't that. It was something more common.
"Fool. Offer your neck."
At the Lion King's command, the Knights of the Round Table withdrew from the human world and Underworld.
In one Underworld battlefield, a warrior's life was fading.
Siegfried, the Demon Emperor Sword, the Sigurd Institution's masterpiece, fell to Arthur's holy sword. Limbs severed, right eye crushed, head shattered, abdomen torn open. Too late for Valerie or the medical team, who'd likely choose euthanasia.
His demonic swords, including Gram, were destroyed. Arthur was gravely wounded, too.
"Siegfried, how ironic. A bringer of death meeting death himself."
Watching over him was Demon God Phenex, split from Clan Calatin. Arriving as aid, he was too late. Though he governed life and death, he couldn't shed healing tears like the sacred Phoenix or grant immortality with his blood.
Had they allocated forces to the Underworld from the start, things might've differed, but the Round Table's intervention was unforeseen, expected at the summit.
"Sorrow/Question/Is he evil? No, no, no, he is nature."
To live is to die. His life ended here, free of regret or lingering attachment.
"Thus, near-inevitable equivalence/Siegfried≒Phenex."
Unlike Evil Dragons craving endless battle or Masaomi Yaegaki with unresolved grudges, Siegfried wouldn't answer Valerie's Holy Grail. In his fight with the ultimate swordsman, he burned out.
"I/Wished not to die in life. He/Born not for life but for death."
His life was short. He wanted it to end meaningfully, not pointlessly. That's why he left the Church to aid Cao Cao's ideals. In this era, a warrior like him couldn't leave a mark. He wanted to be a hero, leave something behind, even through defeat.
"Mandate/Our existence is contradiction. Hold absolute unfulfilled desires!"
"I've always thought your poetry's sense is hopeless."
His face was fulfilled. It was the greatest battle of his life.
"Any last words for Freed or Lint, your siblings?"
"Siblings? Those two? Don't be ridiculous. They're not fit for Demon Gods. They're failures, not reaching the feet of a masterpiece like me. Nothing to tell failures."
Siegfried emphasized their difference.
"As a success, this is my end. Failures like them can't be expected as warriors. They should live and die as humans."
Siegfried, claiming it was fine to end here, drew a jealous growl from Phenex.
"A finite life. How enviable."
Phenex might be right. If he couldn't leave a name, he wanted to leave nothing. Nothing to burden those left behind.
"What an infuriating living being. What an infuriating way to die."
Truly enviable, Phenex growled again.
"Thus, I won't let you die easily."
"Huh, what's your plan for a half-dead like me? No Holy Grail revival, thanks."
"I'll deliver you to Valhalla."
Behind Phenex appeared a beautiful valkyrie with silver hair—Rossweisse, serving Odin.
"We've met once, right, Phenex-san? I don't recall, though."
"I apologize for that, Valkyrie Rossweisse. And thank you. Without that, we'd be gone. Complete annihilation suits me, but not as a misused end by a flawed god."
Siegfried was lost.
"What's—"
"Kingu revealed other worlds at the summit. From that, Odin, Norse wisdom god, deduced Niflheim's Hel is linked to us. He negotiated: cooperate with our plan, and offer a hero's soul."
Even Odin couldn't negotiate that fast, implying prior preparation.
"As a former Church warrior, your soul would fall to the Christian hell—the Underworld—if you die. But it'll soon be incinerated. A literal dog's death. We'll use you effectively."
Leaving nothing and having nothing left are different.
"Go to Valhalla. Being summoned there proves you were a hero. You aimed to be one, right? No complaints."
"…Haha, used to the end, huh? Fine, I'll accept that."
As Phenex turned to leave, he said to Rossweisse:
"Take care of our accomplice."
"Of course. I won't mistreat a hero who died in battle."
Rossweisse's words reflected Norse values: dying in battle is the highest honor; anything else is disgrace.
"Now, brave hero, to our Valhalla—"
The hero's completion was fulfilled, ending the Sigurd Institution's research.
"—That concludes Flauros' report."
"Goetia confirms: the Beast of Expectation is defeated. This world's human worth is proven. Before the King of Magecraft's revival, the Lion King's interference, or the Satans' countermeasures, we shift to the next phase."
"Zepar reports Hyoudou Issei didn't go to the Time Temple but to Rias Gremory."
"How does that happen!?"
"You're hopeless at negotiating!"
"What blunder did you make now!?"
"This Zepar-whatever!"
"Shut up already!"
"How about improving my treatment!?"
"Quiet, I said! Peh!"
"Improve treatment? Your mistake caused an extra Beast! Peh!"
"Not just you, it's our collective mistake, peh!"
"We're struggling with timing, peh!"
"We'll fix it later, so shut up, peh!"
"We don't even have mouths, peh!"
"It's just a mood thing, peh!"
"Peh!!"
"It's getting worse, not better!?"
"Peh!"
"Even Ophis!?"
"Stop, Ophis. It's bad manners."
"That's the issue?"
"Isn't Zepar the bad influence on Ophis' upbringing?"
"You're worse for education!"
"Naberius reports notifications to the heads of hells, starting with Hades, are complete."
"Kimaris reports no suspicious spells or devices found in the Underworld, Dimensional Gap, or Time Temple."
"Astaroth reports nothing found in our bodies or Sacred Gears. No risk of energy theft."
"Phenex reports notifications to non-hell collaborators complete."
"Forneus reports no obstacles from other factions detected."
"Aloce reports …all possible salvations done. Further reincarnated Devils must be abandoned."
"Furfur reports countermeasures against Lion King and King of Magecraft interference deployed."
"Amon reports recalculations confirm sufficient energy resources."
"Berith reports no issues with Noble Phantasm deployment."
"Raum reports partial Dimensional Gap lockdown complete."
"Andras reports no special resources in the Underworld, aside from rare metals destroyed by the Lion King."
"Gremory reports no anomalies in the Spear's seal."
"Bifrons reports light band recovery preparations flawless."
"Andromalius concludes: repeated talks with Satans leave no room for debate."
"Barbatos summarizes: all conditions met."
"On behalf of the 72 Pillars, Baal requests: Control Bureau, authorize the third Noble Phantasm."
"Goetia to all kin—"
Less than half a year, yet it felt as long as those three thousand years to reach this point.
"—We now burn hell."
Third Noble Phantasm, Ars Almadel Salomonis: The Time of Birth Has Come, He Is the One Who Masters All, activated.
***
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