(TPD) Chapter 45: The Meeting (2)

Chapter 45: The Meeting (2)

Oshino hopped up onto the table, proceeding to sit down on it cross-legged and whip out a bottle of Soju from his shirt like a rabbit out of a magician's hat. "Would any of you care for some refreshments before we begin?" He offered, looking at each of them one by one.

"I would," Adaloth didn't hesitate to raise her hand. Even though her sense of smell wasn't nearly as refined as her brother's, she was like a bloodhound when it came to alcohol.

"Here ya' go," just as easily, he summoned a sakazuki (japanese drinking cup) and poured her a large helping of Soju.

Avalon shook his head. You better be careful waving all that alcohol-magic around, she'll start asking you to take her in as a disciple if you're not careful.

"I'm sure all of you are equally confused as to why the Greek Pantheon of all factions decided to get involved with the three of you, and the reasoning is quite simple really—this isn't a matter concerning the Greek Pantheon. It's a matter concerning Harmonia personally, and a matter that should concern all of you gathered here today."

He gulped down his cup in a split-second, already moving to pour himself another and earning a nod of approval from Adaloth all the while.

If only you could teach Avalon to drink like that.

"That's quite hard to believe, Meme-dono." Michael intervened, "If Zeus himself is backing this town's status as a neutral zone, then I can only interpret it as something that the rest of the Greek Pantheon has a stake in."

Azazel, Avalon, and Serafall all nodded their agreement.

"Zeus' backing simply exists to prevent the three of you from attacking one another, can you really say that such a concern is unreasonable?" The question was practically rhetorical, in hindsight—Oshino found the fact that they weren't already brutalizing one another a miracle. "Harmonia represents balance, and the world's balance right now is starting to unravel. That's why this meeting was convened."

"Oh? Do elaborate." Azazel leaned back into his chair, intently scrutinizing Oshino.

Oshino held his hand up, spreading his fingers in a manner that had one pointed at Azazel, and the other at Michael. "The Sacred Gears, especially the Longinus—are starting to slip out of your grasp. Now I doubt the weaker ones like Aegis Mineralization, Night Reflection, and Blade Blacksmith are terribly concerning to either of you. However, the same can't be said for Dimension Lost, and True Longinus now can it?"

Michael's posture stiffened, "Wait a minute, are you saying those two have already manifested again?"

Azazel sighed, "He's not lying. The Longinus Institute detected those two appearing some time ago, and if it weren't for a certain someone we'd still be able to monitor them." He shot an especially harsh glare towards Avalon.

"Don't look at me, you're the ones who started the war." He said in spite of knowing that not to be true.

The Governor slammed his fists on the table, "Bullshit! You know that isn't—"

Oshino clapped his hands together, "That's enough. We're here to be civil aren't we? So let's please remain as such."

Azazel reeled back with a reluctant look on his face, and Avalon did the same with a far more content one.

"You and Michael have done a good job securing Zenith Tempest and Divine Dividing, however, that alone isn't going to suffice as preparation for what's coming." Oshino turned to face Serafall and Avalon, "It wouldn't be a stretch to declare the Underworld as the strongest amongst you three. However, the problem you're facing is far greater than theirs combined."

Michael and Azazel's ears both perked up, listening to whatever Oshino was about to say intently.

"The Old Satan Devils, and their Malebranche."

Malebranche? Avalon scratched his chin, Sirzechs and Zekram mentioned something about that before we left, but I wasn't really keeping up with their conversation.

Michael's eyelids shot wide open, "Oshino—!"

"They're not awakened, if they were we wouldn't be sitting here merely talking about it."

Phew, the Archangel heaved a deep sigh of relief.

"As you know, the remnants of the Old Satans disappeared some time after your Civil War concluded, and you haven't been able to locate them ever since." He spoke with a sense of smug confidence.

"And you have?" Avalon raised his brow.

"Nope! But we know who's sheltering them."

"Please, keep us in suspense as long as you like." Azazel interjected sarcastically.

"The Infinity Dragon—Ophis."

An ice-cold chill crawled down the spines of everyone present, leaving them at an utter loss for words as their minds sprawled and deliberated as to whether that name had really been uttered from the representative's mouth.

All except for Avalon and his peerage, the King slowly raised his hand with a lost look on his face.

"What's an Ophis?" He tilted his head.

"You were never taught about Ophis?" Serafall asked with so much disbelief, that she completely forgot to speak in her usual sing-songy Magical Girl tone.

He shook his head with a clueless expression.

"I see that the Underworld's education department needs an overhaul," even Oshino was taken aback. "Ophis is one of, if not the strongest being in existence, Avalon. Even stronger than your older brother."

"Oh, that sounds bad."

"That's because it is," he deadpanned, wondering what part of "the strongest being in existence" Avalon didn't understand. "It's really bad, and it also means that the Old Devils that are harboring the Malebranche are now under Ophis' command."

"I don't understand, what possible reason could Ophis have to align himself with the Old Satan Faction? His power surpasses them a thousandfold at least, if he wanted to he could simply take it from them. They'd be powerless to stop him." Azazel surmised.

"And therein lies the issue," Oshino admitted with his head lowered. "None of us have a clue what Ophis' motive is, as powerful as Harmonia is—she obviously isn't capable of prying into the Infinity Dragon's head."

"So that's why you brought us here? So we can help you with this Ophis person?" Avalon chimed in, trying to get a grasp on what exactly was going on.

"Pretty much, Ophis' interference is a threat to the stability of everything and everyone. We're not talking about the balance merely being toppled to one side, we're talking about it being completely flipped on its head."

"Even so, if Ophis is stronger than my older brother then what exactly are we supposed to do?" He scratched his head, not sure how Oshino planned on tackling such a seemingly omnipotent character.

"We unite," he stated with firm resolve. "Even though they're hiding under Ophis, the Infinity Dragon himself hasn't actually made a personal move on anyone. Knowing that, we do have some room to work with—even if it is only a small amount, and incredibly risky at that."

"You want us three to work together?" Azazel scoffed, "Even after two of us have only just recently been at war with one another? I didn't take you for an idealist."

"Ophis aside, the Malebranche alone are more than enough to wipe all three of you out." Oshino steeled his gaze, staring a hole through Azazel's forehead. "Are you really fine leaving things as they are? Even if it could result in the destruction of all of us?"

"Don't misunderstand me, it's not cooperation itself that I'm against. However, convincing our people to work with one another is a behemothic task—and not one I think any of us gathered here are capable of bringing to fruition under such short notice."

"Great! Then we'll wait until we're all on the brink of collapse to come to an agreement, that's a splendid idea Governor." Oshino retorted sarcastically, causing Azazel to breath an uncomfortable groan.

"Meme-dono, we all understand the gravity of the situation. But Azazel has a point, uniting us isn't as easy as you make it sound." Michael surprisingly came to the Governor's aid, reinforcing his point. "You're asking our people to put away a millenia-old grudge, surely you understand how tough of a wall that'll be to climb?"

"If the circumstances differed, then putting away your grudge would indeed be a near-impossible task to achieve. But you all have the power of fear as your ally, as long as you can make your people understand there is no other option but death should they choose to remain stubborn. Success will become a possibility."

They also had the ability to name-drop Ophis, which was also quite the powerful persuasive tool.

"I think it's a good idea," Avalon spoke up, warranting the attention of the rest of the attendees. "If Ophis and the Malebranche could wipe us all out, then we can publicly vilify them as much as possible to our people. Make them appear like a universal doomsday that'll kill each and every one of us."

"Avalon," Serafall neglected to use the nickname she had conjured up. "We'll have to reveal the existence of the Malebranche to the public if we do that, I don't think that's a decision we can make on our own."

"Bah! So what if my wife and brother get a little cranky? This is the safety of the entire world we're talking about! Isn't that right Oshino?" He spoke in a fashion that suggested he was having a little bit too much fun.

"Yes, that's precisely right!" Oshino comically threw his arms up.

You can always rely on the younger generation to bring about needed change, good work—Avalon.

"Can I interpret that as the Underworld agreeing to Oshino's proposition? Lord Bael," Azazel inquired.

Serafall attempted to intervene, "No. We still need time to think on—"

"Of course you can! Let there be peace!" He cheered, completely overshadowing Serafall much to her annoyance.

You promised me you wouldn't get ahead of yourself! She grimaced inwardly, withholding the urge to facepalm with all her might.

What's your deal? First you come and provoke me without cause, and now you're agreeing to Oshino's idea as if it isn't any trouble. Azazel truly wasn't sure what to think of his former enemy.

"What about you, Governor-General?" Oshino asked him.

"As much as I'm in favour of peace, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to make the idea of a united front work."

The people responsible for killing three of his friends, and taking their strongest member were standing right beside him after all.

"I suppose that'll have to be enough for now," he looked at Michael and Sylvia. "How about you?"

"We can't guarantee anything either, the response to your proposal is going to be—rough, to say the least." Sylvia nodded in agreement, not even sure how to begin relaying what she had learned to the Church.

Devils, Fallen Angels, and Angels all working together? That was far fetched even for a fairytale.

But the threat of Ophis and the Malebranche wasn't something they could just ignore, there wasn't a single person here who didn't understand that.

Except for Avalon, who didn't really know what either of them were, and funnily enough was the first person to agree with Oshino's vision.

"Then how about we call this meeting to a halt for the time-being? I imagine you all could use some time to talk with one another to plan out how you're going to proceed from this point onward."

He was given a round of approving glances in return, everyone having been given quite the amount of information to brood over in a short span of time.

"Great, then let's—!"

Chills!

Oshino, Jin, and Avalon all froze up. Their eyes all widened as much as they possibly could, with Avalon not hesitating to remove his blindfold in spite of his lasting fatigue.

A terrible presence had made itself known in Naoetsu, a presence that felt like winter itself had invaded its way into their bloodstream.

Oshino jolted up right, rapidly assuming a battle stance.

A bright-green aura the size of a skyscraper exploded from Jin's being as he went to join him.

And Muramasa appeared in Avalon's hand, his eyes locked onto the ceiling as they darted from side to side—predicting the trajectory of whatever was about to come their way.

[Uncontrolled Release Activated.]

Boom!

Their response time had been so rapid, that only once something crashed through the ceiling did everyone else realize what was happening.

"Haha! This is quite the response! I'm flattered!" A cheerful voice belonging to a mature woman resounded, the figure being entrapped in between the three of them.

Like Vali, she sported light-silver hair and bright-hazel eyes. Alongside an extremely curvaceous body, reminiscent of Zekram's—especially with her heavily pronounced chest.

Her attire consisted of armor befitting a high-class noble, similar to Sirzechs' save for a light-blue and silver color scheme in lieu of a black and gold one.

"YOU!" Vali bellowed, his sclera turning bloodshot as the wings from Divine Dividing protrude out of his back. The soles of his feet kicking off the ground as he rushed towards the woman.

"Vali! Don't!" The shock of seeing the figure in front of him had caused Azazel to hesitate, preventing him from reaching out and holding Vali back in time.

But much to his fortune, a set of threads sprawled from the walls out of nowhere, binding Vali in place as he struggled in an attempt to break free.

"What is this?! Let me go!"

"Wait a minute, don't I know you?" The woman took notice of Vali's struggling figure, observing him in an attempt of recollection. "Aren't you supposed to be my grandson or something? No, I think I killed my grandson. Hold on, did I? I'm not sure." She started mumbling to herself, all the while holding off Oshino, Jin, and Avalon with both her hands and one foot.

Oshino scowled at her, "I'm not sure whether you've heard the news or not, but this is a neutral zone. Rizevim."

She was Rizevim Livan Lucifer, the former Crown Princess of the Underworld, as well as Vali Lucifer's grandmother.

"A neutral zone? Ah, Zekram mentioned something about that, didn't she?" She released her guard without a moment of hesitation, uncaring of whether the three of them used it as an opportunity to attack her. "I just came here to meet her husband, speaking of which." Her eyes fixated onto Avalon, whose blade was held right up to her neck. "You've got a blindfold around your neck, so I'm assuming that's you."

"What of it?" He slowly pulled his sword back, the fact that she completely outclassed him having been made immediately clear.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you, being Zekram's husband isn't a role just anyone can fill in." She leaned closer to him, the violet and hazel hues emanating from their pupils being within millimeters of one another. "Your face is a little droopy, but in a cute way—kind of like Ajuka." She put her hands on his cheeks, squishing them together.

"Stop that."

"Why?"

"I don't like it."

"Why not?"

"It's annoying."

"You're annoying."

"I'm not annoying."

"Do you have factual evidence to back that claim?"

"I have physical evidence right in front of me to prove the opposite, now take your hands off my face."

"Hmph, how dull." Rizevim pouted, holding up something in her hand and looking around the room. "Where's Serafall? I heard she was here as well, and I need her to sign something for me."

Hold on a second! Could it be—!

His mouth went agape, disbelief instilling itself within him as he observed the divine item in her hand.

A limited edition, 1/100000, Magical Girl Levi-tan Christmas Edition Plushie.

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His long-lost Levi-tan sister in arms!