The Underworld
Issei Hyoudou and the others had arrived at the 3rd Circle, the Dorime Ring. It was an enormous, ancient Greek-style palace, with statues of two Griffins crouching on either side of the entrance.
Upon seeing the statues at the entrance, Azazel immediately knew which of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Underworld guarded this place. He was the first to step forward, shouting to his companions behind him:
"Be careful, everyone!! The guardian here should be Minos!! That guy's moves are incredibly treacherous!!"
"T-teacher... when you say treacherous... do you mean like this..."
"My body... won't obey me..."
As soon as Azazel finished speaking, Rias and Himejima Akeno's voices came from behind him. Everyone's gazes turned towards the two of them.
Rias and Akeno seemed to be under some kind of control, their bodies beginning to dance involuntarily. Both were goddess-level beauties, and their partnered ballet dance was an absolutely beautiful picture.
As the two women danced, Azazel noticed the glinting, transparent threads on their bodies. His eyes and expression immediately turned fierce as he looked towards the Dorime Ring and shouted:
"Minos!! I know it's you!! Stop showing off with those threads of yours!! Get out here!!"
"Hahaha~~!! I was wondering who it was, turns out it's my Fallen Angel puppet." At that moment, a Specter wearing underworld armor with giant wings walked out from the Dorime Ring, his right hand lightly raised, his five fingers constantly trembling up and down.
With every twitch of Minos's fingers, Rias and Himejima Akeno changed their dancing pose.
"Minos!! Let go of my daughter!!" Baraqiel concentrated his own lightning and light powers, forming a spear of thunderous light, which he then hurled at Minos.
"Idiot!! Did you forget what I just said!!" Azazel roared angrily at Baraqiel beside him. He had personally experienced Minos's terrifying power.
"Hmph~!!" Minos snorted coldly in response, then extended his other hand. A purple Cosmos erupted from his palm. Under the pressure of this Cosmos, Baraqiel's lightning spear was shattered by the Cosmos released by Minos before it could even touch his body.
"Cosmic Marionettion!!" As the lightning spear shattered, countless invisible threads extended from each finger of Minos's left hand, each one wrapping around Baraqiel.
"Damn it!!" Azazel inwardly cursed, sensing things had gone wrong.
Minos moved his left hand and fingers, saying to Baraqiel: "Come, dance for me. Dance the dance of Death, my loyal puppet."
After speaking, Minos moved his fingers like a conductor wielding a baton.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Several crisp sounds of bone fractures rang out. All these sounds came from Baraqiel. His face was twisted in agony as every joint in his body began to break one by one, along with the five pairs of black wings on his back.
"Father!!" Himejima Akeno, still dancing ballet, could only watch helplessly as Baraqiel's joints were gradually broken, shouting with worried frustration.
The process was excruciating, but Baraqiel endured the pain with great fortitude. Strangely, however, his face showed a slight flush of... excitement.
Minos seemed to notice the look on Baraqiel's face. His expression immediately turned to one of disgust. He retracted his threads and even shook his hand as if he had touched something repulsive.
"Are you okay, Baraqiel?" Azazel stepped forward and asked with concern.
"I-I'm fine..." Baraqiel managed to say with difficulty, though the flush on his face hadn't faded.
"Senior Rias! Senior Akeno! Uncle Baraqiel!" Issei Hyoudou shouted, looking at the two being controlled by threads and forced to dance, and at Baraqiel whose body was almost completely broken.
"Blazing Fire!!" Then, with a swing of the boosted gear on his left arm, he released a dragon flame of terrifying temperature, burning through the threads on Rias and Akeno.
Although Minos's Cosmic Marionettion threads wouldn't break even if they pulled on stars, they were extremely vulnerable to absolute zero freezing air and phoenix fire. In this world, Ddraig's "Blazing Fire" could serve as a substitute for the phoenix fire of the Saint Seiya world.
Ddraig's strongest dragon flame burned away the Cosmic Marionettion threads, finally freeing Rias and Akeno from their ballet.
Seeing Minos's threads burned away, Azazel's lips curved into a smile and he laughed heartily: "Hahaha~~!! You finally have a nemesis, Minos!! Didn't expect that, did you? My student's dragon flame specifically counters your threads!!"
"You have no other moves besides those threads, do you!! Hahahaha~~!!"
Minos paid no heed to Azazel's infuriating laughter, his expression unchanged as he smiled calmly. "I truly didn't expect the Red Dragon Emperor's dragon flame to be capable of burning my threads."
"But don't think for a second that I, Minos of the Griffon, Celestial Noble Star, have only the Cosmic Marionettion technique!! Now, feel the gale stirred by the Griffon's giant wings!!" Minos's tone suddenly shifted. A purple griffon figure with blood-red eyes materialized behind him.
"Gigantic Feather Flap!!" The wings on Minos's underworld armor flapped powerfully, stirring up a hurricane of enormous scale, its winds strong enough to blow away everything in its path.
Within the hurricane stirred up by the griffon, the group could not advance. They could only plant their feet firmly, bracing their stances to prevent themselves from being blown away.
Watching the group struggling to steady themselves, Minos revealed a dangerous smile and said, "It seems you're all having quite a hard time. Let me lend you a hand."
Then, Minos began to chant an incantation of summoning:
"The shadowy curtain rises, where life and Death converge, the Demon King who rules the earth descends upon this world!"
BOOM————!!!
A violent explosion occurred on the ground behind Minos. When the pitch-black smoke cleared, a tall, terrifying figure appeared.
His appearance was extremely similar to Obelisk the Tormentor from the Cocytus Ring. The difference was that Obelisk the Tormentor was filled with divine majesty, while the figure before them possessed only the dreadful demonic nature of a demon. His purple muscles bulged, and he had demonic blue wings and a tail, with sharp white claws.
"Phantom Demon Emperor Raviel" (Level: 10 / Attribute: Dark / Race: Demon / ATK: 4000 / DEF: 4000)
"ROOOAR—!!!" Upon its descent, the Phantom Demon Emperor Raviel clenched its fists and roared towards the sky. Its roar carried immense majesty, exerting a powerful bloodline suppression on demons like Rias, akin to commoners beholding a king.
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