Reading | Chapter 52: Parallels - Part 5

NDT/A: Special thanks to Sir Seal and AidenJacksonSmithDSBB for being my beta readers and helping me with the corrections.

"So let me see if I understand, the underworld at this moment depends on a damned world-destroying beast that was evangelised by a Naruto-style talk?" Serafall asked, looking at the samurai as if he were crazy.

"It's a little more complex than that, but in short, yes," Shiro agreed.

"And how sure are we that he won't turn against us the moment he sees fit?" Azazel questioned.

"As long as Shirou has the rings, he should be fine."

"Should be?" Saber looked at him questioningly.

"Should be."

"We won't find out by sitting around; we'd better keep going," Michael declared, taking the book, with everyone tacitly agreeing.

It was time to see if this Beast was as dangerous as Shiro made he out to be.

Interestingly, instead of disappearing as usual, Shiro decided to sit next to Issei when the sofa magically extended.

He felt nostalgic, a nostalgia that wasn't his own, but nostalgic nonetheless.

No one questioned him, but his decision to stay did not bode well.

It was a white world between dimensions where only empty space existed. It was known as the Dimensional Rift, and the limitless energy that filled it was enough to crush any weaker being. However, High-Class Devils and their equivalents possessed a certain resistance due to their magical power and physical capabilities. This meant that Super-Class Devils and their equivalents would have no problem crossing it.

"You underestimate him. Even I feel a certain pressure when I enter that place." Sirzech shook his head.

The number of times he did it could be counted on one hand, but each time, he could feel a silent pressure threatening to crush him every second he remained inside.

Rizevim looked pitiful as he appeared, gasping for breath from a fissure created by his own power. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his hands trembled from a persistent cold that refused to leave him. No matter how fast he ran, he felt that he was still being watched and judged by the founders who together had transformed the Underworld into what it was today: the Seventy-Two Demons, the Guardian Pillars of the Underworld.

"Even in the dimensional rift?" Gabriel asked, disturbed.

So his omniscience wasn't limited to just the underworld?

The more they learned about this creature, the more they understood why it called itself a Beast.

With its large, tangled wings covered in reptile scales, feathers, or leather, it soared through the skies. With its power, it ruled the lands of Hell, governing as Princes, Kings, Archdemons, and Presidents, watching over and tormenting sinners.

Regardless of time or death, their existence was a scourge to Heaven. Not even the Angels, with all their power and glory, could quell the might of the Seventy-Two in the Great War.

"Yes, I have to admit that if it hadn't been for my father, the war could have gone either way." Michael's eyes glazed over at the memory.

The power that his former brothers obtained by immersing themselves in the corruption of the underworld, the energy that emanated.

It was something that could only be described as primordial.

The spears had been broken, the swords had been shattered, but the legend would live on.

From the hole that Rizevim had ripped straight from the Underworld, he could still feel the changes happening inside him as he spread his energy into a kind of spiritual consciousness.

He saw everything.

In the burning fields of the Deep Abyss, a monolithic being of ash and smoldering magma roamed the scorching plains, leaving dancing embers in its wake. Its body was covered in a white marrow like burnt coal and riddled with fiery cracks that contained the unbridled ferocity within.

"Metatron killed you, and they almost melted the polar ice caps during their battle," Michael murmured at the memory.

He did not attack the monsters spawned by Annihilation Maker, he crushed them in towering columns of hellfire.

Belial, Lord of the Blazing Flame.

Sirzech had seen members of the Belial clan use flames capable of harming even a Phenex.

But this?

This was the power of the ancestors

The Demons of the House of Belial flew through the air alongside their progenitor, the King of the Ranking Games, Dihauser Belial, acting as the vanguard.

"This must be the best day of that idiot's life," Serafall whistled, impressed.

She too wanted to fly alongside the Sitri pillar and crush monsters!

And she couldn't understand why that idiot decided to be extra fertile and put a bun in her oven after only one night!!!

Elsewhere, in the lands of ice and snow, the Great Leviathan emerged from the glacial cold, singing a rhapsody of death and icy despair. Its humanoid body, covered in permafrost, was shaped like a billowing cloak. The jeweled tiara it wore held long braids of pale silver hair, revealing deep blue pupils that glowed faintly amidst a turbulent storm.

The chill of an endless winter spread outside, blanketing the land in perpetual snow that seized the Jabberwockys' bodies, freezing them into ice sculptures. One flick of the wrist, and their forms shattered into jagged fragments that clanged across the ground.

"Better with her!" Serafall exclaimed, fascinated.

"Is it a 'she'?" Issei asked incredulously.

"Yes, can't you see the tiara?" Serafall replied as if it were obvious.

Further on, the Lord of the Flies began his descent.

Plague, hardship, disease, a plague of unholy locusts swept across the lands of the eastern underworld. Beneath the horde, a magic circle glowed before all eyes as a swarm of flies gathered and manifested in the form of an impassive man. He wore a black circle above his head, his body shrouded in a layer of purple mist. He appeared sickly, his cheeks sunken and his fingertips yellowed and stained black. Yet, the indifference in his gaze was unsettling.

Unlike Leviathan or Belial, the Jabberwocky and Bandersnatch that haunt the Underworld and breed others of their kind could sense an unparalleled danger lurking within the body of the Lord of the Flies.

"What Ajuka would give to be here," Sirzech said, feeling genuine pity for his friend.

The man raised a hand, and the eastern underworld was plunged into night and shadows. Whispers, light, and mystery echoed in everyone's ears. They spoke of passion, ambition, and ideals, but at the same time, they were imbued with a malice that eroded rationality. They said almost everything one wanted to hear, but they took away everything that truly mattered.

He spoke of cursed words and origins, of deceptions and lies.

"Wait, what words did he use? What spell was that?" Rin frantically drew every magic circle she saw while trying to read the Lord of the Flies' lips.

Was that a gig kur-ra-meš gu7-a u gig-gig-ba or a gu7-a u gig-gig-ba gig kur-ra-meš?

Ancient Sumerian wasn't exactly her area of ​​expertise!

Life fluctuated and faded before being extinguished completely. Soul-like shadows emanated from the Jabberwocky bodies and solidified upon the open palm of the Lord of the Flies, who promptly kept them.

A pact with a demon. A prince of the underworld, the demon Beelzebub.

Rizevim couldn't help but tremble when he realized that Beelzebub seemed to be staring languidly at him as his senses passed him by.

"Even across the dimensional rift?" Azazel wondered, puzzled.

Had that guy always had that ability, or was it something he acquired thanks to the Goetia merger?

Fuck.

Dark whispers suddenly began to ring in Rizevim's ears, and for an instant, he felt his head throb. He panicked and turned his senses elsewhere. He didn't dare inspect what was happening in the Western or Southern Section of the Underworld, for he could already predict who would be there

In the north was Leviathan, in the east, Beelzebub, in which case the west and south would have had to house the First Demon Lucifer and Lord Asmodeus individually. Leviathan and Beelzebub were one thing, but both Lucifer and Asmodeus were known to be far more violent than their counterparts, who made up the Four Great Satans of the past. No, the analogy was flawed.

"What's wrong? Too scared of getting scolded by Daddy?" Serafall asked mockingly.

"More than scolded, he'll probably be destroyed." Azazel chuckled softly.

Lucí always had a terrible temper, even when he was still an angel.

His transformation into a demon only made him more impetuous.

In the time of the Demons, the Four Great Satans did not exist. Instead, there were only the Pillars. However, the reason the Four Great Satans were derived from Leviathan, Asmodeus, Lucifer, and Beelzebub was because the bloodlines of those Demons were the strongest.

"Yes, I bet they're just as disappointed in their descendants," Sirzech said sadly.

Few direct descendants remained of the four strongest bloodlines, and none could even come close to their ancestors, to the point where even outside demons like themselves could claim their names and could do nothing but complain

Katarea was a prime example of this; if the Leviathan pillar had known her, she would likely have killed her herself to spare herself the shame.

Worse still, Leviathan and the others didn't fight alone. Their brethren were scattered throughout the Underworld, and the most important among them weren't even specialists in combat.

It was the Duke playing an ancient melody on an ethereal stage in the heart of the Underworld; his fingers dancing across imaginary keys to unlock the structure beneath the purple sky. It was not a castle, nor some kind of bastion, but an archive containing the world's records.

"Ironically, it's your descendants who are the most numerous left. I wonder what you think of them?" Sirzech wondered curiously.

It made sense, he supposed.

After all, they rarely went out onto the battlefield

The Duke did not possess the strength to rule tyrannically, nor did he possess the ability to alter the landscape; instead, what was granted to him by his dominion and authority was the right to oversee a key of wisdom.

Power didn't matter.

Influence didn't matter.

His only true duty was to act as the Guardian of all Knowledge.

Dantalion of the Forbidden Library of Bibliotheca.

"Knowledge so vast that even foreign gods of wisdom and knowledge have tried to steal it," Michael murmured apprehensively.

He still remembered the story of Nabu, the Mesopotamian god of wisdom.

The legends of how he tried to infiltrate Dantalion's library thinking it would be easy to subdue some demons

The last that was heard of him was that his compatriots still kept him sealed away, driven mad beyond all reason, babbling in languages ​​that would make even a supreme God bleed from his ears.

The power found through words and documented in ancient texts, forbidden or otherwise, resonated with the fundamental laws of the universe.

"So it was said, and so it shall be. Let this requiem of the past sound once more and grant you knowledge in life and in death." The Duke's voice echoed throughout the underworld, gentle yet laden with a deeper meaning that unveiled an aspect of the mind one had never even known. "The clamor of man striving for the betterment of society, the struggles for a higher power, and the wars waged, do they truly hold any real significance? I speak not of the paths of common thought, but of the knowledge of a thousand tomes."

"And will you share some with us here?" Rin asked, her eyes sparkling.

"I doubt it, they don't even give us important information," Azazel grumbled, still annoyed.

Details, they needed details!

Humanity did not reach the peak of its Golden Age through strength and skill, but through accumulated knowledge. The Duke's voice reached the ears of devils and demons alike, reinforcing their innate abilities and power through the root of all knowledge. Just as a weapon would only be truly lethal in the hands of those who knew how to wield it, Dantalion's words were like instructions that provided the answer to everything

Dantalion should have been the first demon Rizevim stopped at all costs, not only to prevent the Legions' reinvocation, but because of the very essence of his power. There was a reason the House of Dantalion had been considered the First Priority in the Great War, and the knowledge they possessed was precisely that reason.

"Dantalion is certainly weak in direct combat, but good luck getting to him," Azazel sneered.

Of course, by 'weak' he meant in comparison to the other demonic pillars.

Why, if compared to current devils, would it likely wipe the floor with most supreme-class devils?

Even if Rizevim wanted to stop Duke Dantalion, he wouldn't. He didn't want to take any chances. The fact that Leviathan and the others were only four of the Great Daemons that made up Goetia filled him with such terror that it was unbearable.

"There's also nothing to guarantee that he'll stay dead even if you manage to finish him off," Akeno remarked, amused by the idea.

"Shirou already brought him back from the dead once, and there doesn't seem to be anything stopping him from doing it again." Michael nodded solemnly.

Shiro wondered if he should say that with Goetia there, Shirou's intervention wouldn't be necessary, but decided to keep it to himself for now.

They've had enough surprises for now.

The situation wasn't turning out as he'd hoped. He thought he only had to worry about one Demon, not all Seventy-Two. If he didn't have such extraordinary self-control, he might already be tearing his hair out in frustration.

"Is that self-control?" Koneko asked skeptically.

He looked like he was about to have a heart attack

He could also sense events in the Human World due to his use of the Sephiroth Grail to resurrect Evil Dragons from various mythologies.

On the Earth's soil, the Pantheons had moved directly, unable to remain still due to the threat to humanity.

"It's about time," Issei sighed in relief.

For a moment he thought that only the three factions would do anything and that the whole alliance thing was useless

Rizevim had predicted such a move long ago since he broke the non-aggression pact in the Human World, and yet he was unable to implement any of his strategies after the appearance of Seventy-Two Demons took him by surprise.

"And what are those strategies?" Azazel grunted, knowing that he most likely wouldn't get anything.

Perhaps for that world it would be useless information, but for them it was invaluable in case Rizevim had already obtained the Grail.

Rizevim saw that in the city of Greece, people were screaming and running as the wyverns and members of the Chaos Brigade, under his command, killed and looted. At the head of the attack on Greece, the Evil Dragon Ladon, with his tree-like body, remained inactive until figures appeared among the clouds, one by one.

"Are there still members of the chaos brigade who serve him?" Rias asked, surprised.

"They're probably idiots who have no idea what their leader's real plan is," Serafall replied.

I bet everyone believed Rizevim was going to conquer the world and were already thinking about which country they were going to claim as their own.

A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, and the echo of thunder reverberated everywhere as a bearded man in a white cloak and wooden sandals manifested. Electrical arcs whirred around him, branching out into small bursts of light and static, like nets. The smell of ozone began to permeate the area as more and more people in Greece noticed twelve individuals floating freely in the air.

"Finally, you're moving. Is age finally catching up with you?" Azazel joked.

The Greek and Roman Pantheon: The Olympians whose images were eternally modeled in the purest marble sculptures.

Zeus, king of Olympus, stood at the forefront, his hand raised high as the heavens themselves seemed to roar with thunder.

"Go, Sparky, show them who's boss!" Go Serafall!

"So that's Zeus, huh?" Rin wondered for a moment what kind of pervert he was.

Before remembering that even in her own mythology he was already a great pervert

In fact, almost all of Greek mythology could be summed up as 'Then Zeus got horny and slept with the wrong person'

Zeus was the youngest of all the Olympians and the strongest of them all.

Son of Cronus, son of Rhea, his current fury knew no bounds.

Rizevim had not only unleashed the Evil Dragons upon the world, but to counter the Pantheons, he directly targeted many of their weaknesses. He knew his individual power would never be effective, so Rizevim sought the aid of old enemies.

"Old enemies?" Azazel looked more closely

If we were talking about old enemies of the Olympians, I could only think of one group

To the Hindu gods, they were the Demon Kings.

For the Greeks, the Titans trapped in the basins of Tartarus were the reason Ladon, a Greek dragon, was in Greece. His goal was to first free the Titan General Atlas, cursed to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. Zeus and the other gods didn't need to investigate to understand what was happening.

"So that's their plan," Azazel murmured, taking note of that.

Even powerful evil dragons couldn't do much on their own.

But if he used them to incite the natural enemies of each pantheon, things changed drastically.

Rizevim was originally supposed to return in time to help with the Annihilator Maker, but he was delayed. Therefore, the situation changed rapidly.

In Greece, the Olympians had already met.

"He planned to release the Titans and use their monsters to wreak havoc in Greece, so the Olympians would be too preoccupied to help once Trihexa was unleashed." Sirzech hated to admit it, but it was a very good plan, one that, if not for Shirou and Goetia, most likely would have worked.

"We'll have to contact the Olympians, find a way to inform them that someone will attempt to free the Titans," Michael concluded.

The best course of action would be to reinforce security and perhaps thereby gain Hades' trust so that he would betray the Chaos Brigade.

Zeus would not remain idle any longer. The lands of Greece and its neighboring countries were the last places where Greek culture and faith were preserved. None of the Olympians wanted to allow them to be harmed.

A storm broke out and the ground began to shake.

The wrath of Olympus is upon you! Tendrils of pure lightning have gathered in Zeus's palm. Feel his fury!

"As always, a drama queen." Muttered Azazel.

"There's a reason his son is the god of drama." Serafall snorted.

Zeus unleashed his power, and the world was illuminated with flashes of light that claimed the lives of countless enemies. Shockwaves and deafening explosions drowned out the hysteria of the media teams covering the events worldwide.

The Greeks themselves stared in disbelief. The marble statues of the Greek gods were carved in their likeness. It didn't take long for him to identify the Olympians fighting in the air.

"The biblical faction won't be the only one to gain a lot of new followers once this is over," Irina noted.

Blue and red chariots unleashed a deluge of divine arrows. They were the twin Olympians representing the Sun and the Moon.

Apollo of the Sun and Artemis of the Hunt.

"Well, we could really use a huntress to get rid of that," Xenovia said, pointing at the dragon that was still moving.

The other Olympians separated and covered their own grounds for defense.

Ladon bore the brunt of the assault; his numerous barriers barely managed to withstand the Olympians.

"He's not labeled an evil dragon for nothing." Kiba frowned as he watched the creature stand firm against an entire pantheon.

In the Aegean Sea, a humanoid figure plunged into the salty waters before forming a gigantic whirlpool that absorbed the energy of distant waves. Foam and sea creatures began to swirl in circles, forming a colossal mass of water that swept away any enemies attempting to cross the channel.

Poseidon, god of the seas and earthquakes, had arrived.

"Seriously, there were guys who thought it was a good idea to cross the water when they angered the Sea God by attacking his home?" Issei asked incredulously.

"Those who stayed with Rizevim couldn't have been the smartest," Akeno said, as if it were obvious.

Watching everything from the safety of the Dimensional Rift, Rizevim felt the blood drain from his face before he staggered.

Nothing went right from the start. The worst part was that, no matter how hard he tried to close the rift he'd created from the Underworld, he simply couldn't. The longer it remained open, the more likely they were to track him down.

"Well, it's you against seventy-two, good luck with that," Serafall mocked.

"Isn't it beautiful when nothing goes your way?" Azazel honestly hoped to ruin Rizevim's plans in an even worse way in his world.

He tried harder and harder without getting any results, until he finally realized who he was competing against.

I could see it out of the corner of my eye. The power of a True Demon figure, gathered from the wills of the Seventy-Two Pillars, was forcibly combining to maintain the rift between dimensions.

A beast of Humanity, Annihilation and Despair.

"A beast of humanity." Saber's eyes turned towards Shiro

A creature powerful enough to destroy the world itself.

And now he was helping to save him.

Look up and behold. He who changes the world at will. His power is absolute incineration.

The gods themselves could tear apart the seas and shatter mountains with their bare hands, but they could never wipe out all of humanity in a single blow. After all, humanity was the source of power for all the gods. The energy of faith gave divine meaning to their existence. Unlike the story of another world, where the gods completely separated themselves from humanity in ancient Sumeria, the gods of the present world remained whole and necessary. This was to maintain the balance of the supernatural.

However, Goetia could still exist even after the death of all humans. It had been ruthless. To save humanity, it had once decided to extinguish it completely.

"Truly a twisted form of love," Rin began to understand a little of what Blanc was talking about.

It could even be called.

Distorted.

Goetia's eyes seemed to mock Rizevim, belittling him for his true nature: a coward too scared to offer even a shred of resistance

Rizevim shuddered involuntarily; the panic he felt spiraled out of control at the thought of facing such power. His inability to close the dimensional rift he had created meant that Goetia could reach him at any moment.

"So he’s not really letting go of him completely," Rias sighed in relief.

"It's still dangerous; we don't even know where the Trihexa is sealed at this point," Sirzech said, still worried about that.

Luckily it didn't seem to be in the underworld, and if it was in heaven, Michael would know.

So all that remained was the human world...and the dimensional rift that was right where Rizevim was.

I honestly hoped it was in the human world, but thinking about it more deeply, what other place could contain a fight between the One God and a beast like Trihexa without anyone noticing what happened?

There was no escape. This was the Judgment of the Seventy-Two. The only thing that mattered now was when.

The desperation on his face caused fluctuations in his control of magical energy, powerful eddies that rapidly expanded outwards.

In the distance, the Great Red, the Red Dragon of the Dimensional Rift, opened one eye indifferently before closing it again. He breathed softly, and the eddies of energy that the Rizevim had inadvertently sent his way subsided.

"It would have been so funny if the big red one had killed him for that," Serafall lamented.

A man who planned everything so meticulously.

Killed by chance!

It would be pure and hilarious karma!

His mind blank, it wasn't until Rizevim sensed a new presence behind him that he turned toward the dimensional rift he had created. Right before his eyes, Shirou appeared before him.

"It's about time you showed up," Sona sighed with relief.

The more engrossed Rizevim was with Shirou, the less likely it was that he could break the seal.

I was hoping

"Yes, it's time to end this," Shirou declared resolutely.

“Marbas, are you alone?” Rizevim's tone was full of unease, as if Goetia were about to suddenly appear behind Shirou.

"I myself am more than enough to defeat you," Shirou replied, greatly relieving Rizevim of his inner fears.

"Relieved? Literally, God is against you," Irina said, looking at Rizevim as if he were an idiot.

"Yes, the only reason he was able to do anything earlier was because he attacked Marbas from behind, a Marbas who had deliberately lowered his power." Xenovia agreed.

What did Rizevim expect to do now, head-on?

If it was only Marbas, Rizevim was confident of victory. He had spent years analyzing the extent of the Demon Marbas's power in the Underworld Civil War. In fact, he was perhaps the most knowledgeable demon on the matter.

Marbas' overconfidence would be the root of the Civil War hero's downfall.

"Could it be that Rizevim is unaware of God?" Rias wondered.

"That's impossible. The fact that Shirou has God inside him is something that all the pantheons now know, and it even manifested in Kuoh during Kokabiel's attack. It's not exactly public information, but with the information network he seems to have, it's impossible that he didn't find out." Azazel shook his head.

Truly impossible

Right?

Rizevim smiled languidly, but didn't attack immediately. He waited a moment to make sure no one else was coming from the dimensional rift before acting

Pure magical power surrounded him in a protective shield as Marbas' demonic energy enveloped the area.

Rizevim groaned; the pressure of Marbas's energy was far greater than expected, but at least tolerable. His gaze was fixed entirely on the black stain that Marbas naturally released in every fight. In his analysis of Marbas, the only aspect that guaranteed defeat was the moment one touched the black stain of Marbas's demonic energy. The stain itself seemed to harbor a powerful curse that not even the Gods of Light could withstand. Worse still, sometimes the energy was difficult to detect before it surged up one's legs and incapacitated. That being the case, his original plan was to fight Marbas in the Dimensional Rift to begin with.

You do remember that this is mine, right?

" We don't know exactly who's in control right now, " Shirou pointed out.

Angra growled in Shirou's mind

He really wanted revenge for what happened last time, and nobody was going to take that away from him.

The Dimensional Gap was a white void. There was nothing but empty space and the invisible energy accumulated between dimensions that filled it.

It was virtually impossible for Marbas to catch him off guard and incapacitate him with demonic energy. He would realize it and react before anything like that could happen. If he was caught when he saw the black threads of curses approaching him, then he was, frankly, incompetent.

"Judging by how your plan is going so far, weren't you already?" Serafall mocked.

Well, not really, his plan actually seemed like it could work very well, the only thing he didn't take into account was the giant Deus Ex Machina that was Shirou

But there was no need to say that out loud, right?

Seeing the black threads of Marbas' demonic energy seeking to invade him from all sides, he pushed back with his magic power.

Unlike Marbas's other enemies, Rizevim treated him with extreme caution, to the point of avoiding any kind of close-quarters combat. At a distance, he could still dodge Marbas's cursed energy, but at close range, it was impossible.

"Pfft, is he really looking for a long-range fight with Shirou?" Rin snorted as if she found the idea ridiculous.

"I agree, Shirou is a great warrior with his swords, but his strength definitely lies in his bow." Saber nodded, almost boastfully.

There was a reason why his future self was summoned as an Archer and not a Saber.

The rest found this interesting.

They had only seen Shirou use a bow a couple of times so far, but it hadn't seemed like much compared to what he could do with his swords.

What was the secret?

That's why he had chosen Annihilation Maker. Instead of fighting Marbas himself, he contented himself with weakening him by sending conjured material into the attack.

"So you want to overwhelm him with numbers too?" Rin found this increasingly hilarious.

It was as if he was actively looking for ways to LOSE against Shirou.

If we were talking about numbers

No one, not even the king of heroes himself, could surpass Shirou

This was the optimal strategy he had devised after evaluating every battle Marbas had participated in. Unfortunately, it would have worked just as well if he had faced the Marbas of the past, who was limited by mental restrictions he was unaware of. Currently, those mental restrictions no longer existed.

"Information is truly power, but it can also be a downfall when it's incorrect." Azazel knew this very well.

The fallen survived so long among angels and demonic pillars thanks to that.

Dodging Marbas's demonic energy from a distance, Rizevim extended a hand and channeled magical power into his fingertips. The Magic Seal of Lucifer came to life.

"He asked if Goetia could do anything about it?" Michael muttered to himself.

Just as his father could take away the light from the fallen, couldn't Goetia also remove the demons' magic seal?

A somewhat heretical thought, but considering everything he had seen so far, it was something to consider.

Lucifer was the leader of the Seventy-Two Pillars. He was the strongest of the demons and hailed as the first fallen angel cast out of Heaven.

A potent magical energy permeated the bodies of House Lucifer to such an extent that even children could pose a threat to middle-class demons. This meant that if a Supreme-Class Demon were born into House Lucifer, one could only imagine the level of destruction and power such an heir would possess.

Rizevim was a Super Devil.

"More like a super coward," Serafall grumbled.

"His power is no lie either," Sirzech agreed with Serafall, but the title of super demon was not one to be taken lightly.

A low hum resonated as Rizevim's magical energy released tendril-like arcs of energy above the palm of his hand and exploded.

At first, it was nothing more than a small sphere, but it quickly expanded and grew to the size of a building. At the same time, Rizevim wished that the creatures he had created with the Annihilation Maker would launch themselves forward.

"Dangerous," Sirzech quickly realized the seriousness of the attack.

Even he in his true form would be seriously injured if he received that head-on

Marbas' demonic energy could not block everything.

As expected, when their magical blast struck Marbas's demonic energy, the two forces canceled each other out, leaving a temporary hole that the conjured invocation used to enter Marbas's attack range.

"Go ahead," Rizevim thought as he channeled the energy into a magic circle he had concealed within the body of one of his summons. The moment Marbas physically attacked, Rizevim would detonate the stored energy, delivering a direct blow to Marbas's body.

"Cowardly bastard!" Issei exclaimed angrily.

"So kamikaze monsters, not a bad plan," Azazel admitted with a frown.

Now, how would the boy respond?

Another discovery Rizevim made during his investigation of the demon Marbas was that there were reported cases of fainting due to his own power. He obtained this information by extracting it from the memory of a member of House Sitri who had been Serafall Sitri's personal guard.

"YOU!" Serafall exclaimed furiously.

How dare that worm touch his subordinates!?

If Marbas managed to defend himself against all the attacks, he would surely have to use his double-edged power more. In that case, Rizevim's victory would be even closer.

"Wow, he really has some very outdated information." Irina almost felt sorry for Rizevim.

Almost.

Come on. Do it. What are you waiting for?

Rizevim watched his opponent intently, feeling his hands wet with excitement

However, he stiffened when Marbas looked directly at him without a hint of emotion.

It was disconcerting and prompted him to hastily review everything he knew about Marbas.

"Which isn't much, apparently," Xenovia declared.

"Yes, too little," Azazel said, puzzled.

Did he perhaps stop gathering information after the war and not bother to learn what he was currently capable of, believing there would be no difference?

How could he be so smart and so stupid at the same time?

This won't fail. It can't fail.

Rizevim refused to believe that something so vital had been lost in his conflict with the demon Marbas.

He was wrong.

"I am the Bone of my Sword." Powerful words were spoken with an indifferent expression, distorting the air and causing the energy between the boundaries to erupt in excitement.

That's you.

"You'll have your moment." Shirou broke out in a cold sweat, sensing Marbas's hostility.

What did you want me to do?!

"That phrase gives me chills," Xenovia admitted.

Although, she didn't feel bad.

Parallel worlds existed. Rizevim had learned this concept before and set out to sow chaos in the realms as a True Devil. He later conducted numerous experiments with the Dimensional Rift to discover that each world contained a unique energy and set of laws. Within the boundary between dimensions, one could enter a parallel world by expanding one of these energies and forcibly following it back to its source. Rizevim called this energy "World Energy."

At that moment, Rizevim could sense the unique characteristics of a world taking shape. A world that seemed to exist with the Demon Marbas at its origin. World Energy fluctuated around Marbas in a storm.

"One world," Saber murmured with an ironic smile.

Yes, he assumed there was one there.

A world of endless blades.

Rizevim's magical blast and his summoned creatures were stopped mid-attack when steel swords manifested in the air and decimated them. As for Rizevim's magical burst, the attack was completely unimpeded and struck Marbas directly.

"Are we supposed to be worried?" Irina wondered.

She assumed it was something like the final battle, but honestly, she couldn't feel any pressure at all.

"If this were a story and not reality, I'd say the protagonist is way too overpowered for the final villain." Azazel yawned slightly.

It seemed like there were a few chapters left after this, so perhaps this is an epilogue to see how they fixed the mess the evil dragons made in the human world?

Far from showing satisfaction at having injured his opponent, Rizevim felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

"Steel is my Body and Fire is my Blood."

"Will you use it here?" Rin asked, puzzled.

Was it really worth it?

"Perhaps just a few verses," Shirou replied.

Honestly, it would have been more efficient to just use God's power to destroy Rizevim from the start, so he didn't know why he was going to so much trouble...unless, unless he couldn't

Are there any restrictions on wearing rings, perhaps?

The attack dissipated from Marbas's body like smoke despite the explosion that erupted around him. It created a backdrop of fire as Marbas's deep, bronze eyes gazed impassively at Rizevim.

"Body of swords?" Rin wondered.

Had he always been so powerful, or was it something related to Angra-Marbas?

"I have created over a thousand blades."

The energy swirled and manifested as swords, spears, and daggers that immediately surrounded Rizevim on all sides.

There would be no escape.

So that was it. Rizevim couldn't help but swallow hard as he observed the demon Marbas's impassive expression. It wasn't the demon Marbas who was overconfident, but himself.

"I'm sure that even during the civil war there must have been reports of Marbas summoning legendary swords and weapons," Sirzech murmured, puzzled.

So why did it seem that Rizevim didn't take that into account?

Perhaps he underestimated the power of Shirou's weapons and believed that the physical and magical defense of his creatures would be enough to deal with them?

This wasn't a fight. Perhaps it was never meant to be. The difference in strength was too great. Sure, if he were only facing the power of the Demon Marbas, maybe he would have stood a chance, but against the power surrounding him, there was no contest.

"W-What is this?" He stared at the weapons that imprisoned him in the center as he furiously activated the Annihilation Maker to counter each sword, spear, and dagger.

"You'll run out of magic before Shirou runs out of swords," Rin snorted.

It was then that the demon Marbas spoke solemnly.

"It's not enough."

"Not enough...humiliation? You can always run a sword across his head and make him bald," Azazel suggested

Isn't that enough? The words echoed in Rizevim's mind as he surveyed the thousands of invocations he had created. Each one remained in a defensive stance.

"Even so, it's a formidable army," Sirzech admitted.

Had he been the one in that position.

Could he win?

Perhaps with Ajuka by his side he would find a way, but alone...

He was starting to get depressed.

Rizevim's confusion and doubt did not last long.

"Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain."

"That verse again," Kiba murmured.

Was he going to complete it this time?

What kind of spell would happen if he did that?

The swords in the air doubled and then tripled until the entire space around Rizevim was nothing but a mass of steel. Worse still, holy and demonic swords were everywhere, their razor-sharp edges capable of piercing through even the toughest energy and materials.

Rizevim tried to resist with his overwhelming magical energy, but as if he were about to drive the final nail into a coffin, Marbas raised a hand. Five rings shone with a divine light that instantly annihilated Rizevim's magic.

It was the light of God.

"So you could have used that to finish him off the whole time, and you were just playing around?" Sona asked, looking at Shirou harshly.

"Most likely, I was making sure he didn't escape this time," Shirou replied honestly.

He gradually increased his attack until he blocked his exit, and when he realized he couldn't win, he would no longer be able to escape.

Either that, or Marbas had been influencing him more than he cared to admit.

Before the rings of the Grand Caster, all magic was nullified and worthless.

"All the magic?" Azazel asked skeptically.

"All magic, even divine magic," Shiro agreed.

At this point, nothing could surprise him anymore, but he kept doing it.

How did that work!?

"All the magic," Rin stared at the rings on Shirou's fingers, her eyes glazed over

All the magic.

"He's the Grand Caster for a reason," Akeno murmured in amazement.

Despair suddenly clouded Rizevim's eyes as Marbas raised a finger in preparation to attack; the swords obeyed Marbas's command

"N-no!" Rizevim cried out in panic. "If I die, I will release Trihexa!"

"What?" Serafall blinked, confused for a moment, not understanding.

"He's bluffing, isn't he?" Sirzech asked, sweating profusely.

"With a coward like him, it's best not to take any risks," Azazel said gravely.

They had thought he had to physically go to where the Trihexa seal was to open it, but if he somehow managed to modify it and be able to open it remotely, it made sense that a rat like him would use his life as a detonator so they couldn't kill him.

"In that case, we just have to catch him, right?" Xenovia suggested

They could just finish him off later

Marbas paused for a moment.

Yes. This was an opportunity!

Rizevim was searching for solutions, but his last resort was to link his death to the release of the Trihexa seal. "See for yourself!"

Rizevim quickly activated a magic circle related to the security mechanism he had left at the Trihexa's resting place within a dimension parallel to Earth.

"Damn," Azazel sometimes hated being right.

Marbas's eyes narrowed as he examined the magic seal, seeing no deception in Rizevim's words.

"Then I will capture you." Marbas remained unperturbed, but it was as if a beam of light shone upon Rizevim from a deep abyss. Even if he were captured, as long as he was alive, that was all that mattered.

Rizevim was a coward and he knew it, but throughout history, those who survived were always those who reduced their losses the fastest. The cowards of the battlefield.

"At least it seems he won't resist anymore," Rias said with distaste.

"We're lucky to have the King of Magic on our side, aren't we? It's only a matter of time before Shirou deactivates that nasty thing, and then we'll send the imbecile to the guillotine." Serafall wasn't worried about that.

In fact, they might think of this as prolonging their agony, knowing that with each passing day their 'shield' was slowly breaking down.

"Will it work like this?" Shirou wondered.

Wasn't everything going too well?

The swords surrounding Rizevim swung forward, shattering all his defenses and striking him directly. He staggered, bleeding and bloodied, but his faint breathing indicated that the man was still alive.

The battle was over, if it could even be called a battle.

"It was a massacre, I don't think it lasted even five minutes." Azazel sighed in relief.

And with Rizevim defeated, the monsters he believed should soon disappear, which would ease the burden on the underworld.

Now all that remained was to get rid of the evil dragons and it would all be over.

For now.

Rizevim was inwardly distressed. If he had known the outcome of the fight would be like this, perhaps he would have changed everything

Goetia wasn't the only monster around.

Marbas, a trinity of three.

God. Demon. And Mortal.

Rizevim gasped for air and watched as Marbas approached him.

Yes. That was fine. As long as he lived, his life was what mattered most.

"Enjoy your life for now," Serafall mocked.

Letting him live was too dangerous; she had no doubt that as soon as they removed that device from his body, he would be executed.

And then something moved, fast, so fast that Saber only had time to react when he saw the object approaching out of the corner of her eye

Just as Marbas reached out to take Rizevim into custody, a mass of tainted black energy struck Rizevim on the forehead.

"W-what?" Rias asked, stunned.

"Marbas!?"

It wasn't me! I think… I'm not that stupid!

"This... this is just a misunderstanding, right?" Issei asked, his voice trembling.

Perhaps they were seeing things wrong; perhaps that didn't kill him but was only meant to knock him out.

Right!?

Michael, with trembling hands, picked up the book again to continue

Yes, this must have just been a mistake

Rizevim blinked once, then twice, before his eyes went blank and he had a bloody hole in his skull.

"Shit," Azazel muttered breathlessly, summing up the situation perfectly.

"Where did that come from?!" Serafall exclaimed in terror.

"I knew it, I knew we couldn't trust that thing!" Rin gritted her teeth in fury.

Why did she have to listen to her idiot about this?

"Rin, I don't think the attack came from Angra-Marbas," Saber said carefully.

That's right!!!

"How do you know that?" Rin asked, still furious.

That's true too! How do you know?

"The angle is incorrect; it came from beyond Shirou, and from what we've seen so far, Marbas can only extend his curses from Shirou's body," Saber explained her reasoning.

Rin sighed, trying to calm herself.

It was true, this had to be viewed with cold logic.

But if it wasn't Marbas, then where did the attack come from?

So, was this death?

In his final moments, Rizevim didn't understand what he had done wrong. Perhaps he never would.

"He died too quickly," Serafall complained.

"Does that matter now?" Sirzech asked gravely.

"No," Serafall gave a shaky sigh. "I guess not."

Rizevim collapsed into a heap, the magical energy surrounding him and protecting him from the dangers of the Dimensional Rift failing to activate. He was torn apart before Shirou's eyes.

Shirou felt his stomach sink, the One God within him turned solemn as the Trihexa Seal grafted onto Rizevim's soul shattered directly and released the Beast of the Apocalypse.

"The seal was grafted onto his chest!?" Azazel exclaimed in horror.

He thought it was just a mechanism to release the seal, not that he himself had become the seal!

"For a second, I hoped it was just one of his lies," Sona murmured bitterly.

It's not good. It's not good at all.

Shirou quickly turned in the direction from which the attack had come, only to hesitate.

Ayakoji?

"Saint Ayakoji?" Azazel asked, puzzled.

What was he doing there?

How was a human there!?

"His power over shadows," Rin murmured suspiciously.

The man didn't look well. He seemed to be in pain, his complexion pale as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Besides, how could Ayakoji, a human, possibly endure the harsh conditions of the Dimensional Rift?

"Ayakoji?" he called out carefully.

Ayakoji didn't answer. Instead, he grimaced and brought both hands to his temples as if he were in great pain.

"A human shouldn't feel pain in the dimensional rift; they should simply turn to dust," Azazel remarked, puzzled.

Even supreme-class demons can only hold out in that place for a few minutes, and Ayakoji hadn't demonstrated such outstanding power.

When Shirou listened closely, he heard Ayakoji murmur to him. It was difficult to hear him from where he was, so Shirou moved closer.

"Don't come. Don't come any closer."

There's something strange about this

"Do you believe it?"

I'm serious, this feels strangely familiar.

Shirou stopped momentarily upon hearing that

Familiar, to Marbas?

Ayakoji's murmurs finally reached his ears.

He stiffened and his gaze rose to observe Ayakoji's blackened eyes and trembling body

What Shirou didn't know was that years before his arrival in the modern world, Ayakoji and Griselda had encountered a cursed black mass during one of their missions for the church. Of the two, Ayakoji had been attacked by it, an attack that should have killed him long ago. However, he miraculously recovered, unaware that the black mass simply remained dormant within him.

"A...black mass of curses?" Michael asked.

All eyes turned towards the Shirou on the screen.

"That doesn't make sense. Shirou only arrived in that world a couple of years ago. How could they find traces of Angra Mainyu years before his arrival?" Sona questioned, confused.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the Fourth World War?" Rin wondered.

A war that occurred ten years before the fifth and where Angra Mainyu first manifested itself

But how was that possible?

What were they forgetting?

The moment Shirou sensed the entity controlling Ayakoji, the familiarity was unmistakable

The stain of the Holy Grail. One that was not subject to Angra Mainyu's control after having spent hundreds of years in another world to develop its sentience.

"Hundreds of years? How did that get there?" Rias didn't understand anything.

What was happening?

"It probably has something to do with all the time-traveling messes God made traveling from the past to the future and from the future to the past," Azazel explained doubtfully

"You don't belong here, and it's time you went back." The voice that came from Ayakoji's mouth was distorted and unnatural. It was the All the World’s Evil.

Suddenly, a crack opened beneath Shirou, pulling him in while he was off guard. Of course, he resisted, but he was too close to Ayakoji, who pulled him right in.

"How could a human push you?!" Issei asked incredulously.

"He must be empowered by the evils of the world, and I'm too unbalanced by what just happened," Shirou replied, scolding himself for such carelessness.

And where had they sent him?

His vision blurred, a white tunnel propelled him through the void before spitting him back into the sky above the familiar place where he crashed to the ground.

"We have been deceived." The voice of the One God echoed in his mind.

He didn't quite understand what the One God meant until he stood up and began to look around.

The sight was intimately familiar to three of those present.

Well, more like four of those present.

"Oh, go back to where you belong," Rin said, realizing where Shirou was.

"Japan?" Koneko wondered

"Not just Japan," Shirou told him with a touch of nostalgia.

He froze as his eyes widened when he saw a red bridge over a wide river.

He cleaned the dirt and grime from his body before taking a breath. After all this time, he had returned.

Fuyuki City.

"Did it send you back to your world?" Michael asked hesitantly.

That was...very kind for all the world's evils.

"He sent him back so he wouldn't interfere anymore." Azazel quickly realized the plan of the evils of the world.

"But God already brought him once, didn't he? What's stopping him from doing it again?" Serafall questioned, not understanding what her point was.

"Perhaps he hopes that now that he's back in his world, he won't want to return," Xenovia suggested.

"If it thinks it's so easy to get rid of Shirou, then that thing doesn't know him at all," Rin snorted.

Although personally, she would prefer that he did

In the world of Gods and Demons, no matter where anyone was, in Heaven, Earth, or the Underworld, everyone could feel it. An aggregation of potent energy that traversed across all of existence

It was a power that swallowed up the lesser pantheons in an instant; the low-level gods were immediately annihilated.

"He annihilated gods with his mere presence?" Gabriel murmured in disbelief.

Father, had you ever faced that?

From Greece to Spain, to Russia and all over the world, the gods trembled.

The Seal of Trihexa was unleashed.

Deep within the Underworld, the Seventy-Two Pillars suddenly ceased their movements simultaneously. With Bandersnatch and Jabberwocky virtually eliminated, the Underworld's safety was now assured. Under the gaze of all the demons, the Demons of the Seventy-Two closed their eyes and began to merge into a single entity.

"That's right, you didn't say that guy can beat Trihexa?" Issei asked hopefully.

"Yes," Shiro agreed.

"But he also said that the two of them fighting would destroy the world," Azazel pointed out

"That too." He nodded again.

"Oh, shit," Issei swallowed.

This was not good.

Goetia took form once more, and this time he did not remain in the Underworld. With a touch of his hand, a path to the mortal world opened before him.

The demons looked at each other before silently following one another, with unwavering faith in their progenitors.

Goetia didn't waste a single second.

"Please don't destroy the world," Asia pleaded, clasping her hands together.

Upon entering the Human World, he gazed at the converging mass of energy where the bonds of Trihexa were breaking layer by layer. He had a premonition that the situation would reach this point. He had learned, from his experience facing the human Master of Chaldea, to expect the worst in any situation.

"I wonder, who was that master?" Rin said to herself.

Someone she knew, perhaps?

There was also that name, Chaldea.

The one with the Marisbury notes.

Was it just a coincidence or something more?

He had lost contact with Shirou and suddenly found himself alone.

"At least he stayed." Sirzech breathed a sigh of relief.

The worst-case scenario was that with Shirou's disappearance, Goetia would also be unsummoned, leaving no one to fight against Trihexa.

This was one of those occasions. Therefore, he had been preparing from the beginning. This was already his second life, however impossible it seemed.

The moment had arrived.

Once a destroyer of worlds, now he's trying to save one.

"Does that sound familiar?"

Shut up

The bands of light around the Earth converged with him at the center

He took a deep breath, channeling his strength from within.

'The end of a journey and the beginning of a path that would remake the history of the planet.'

"One might wonder which of the two is the monster here," Akeno remarked, disturbed by Goetia's appearance.

"Both are," Shiro replied matter-of-factly.

Except now one of them was a monster ready to fight for the world

Light shone from the eye on his chest, the thorns of the crown on his head, shaped like antlers, emitted a low hum.

He was the one who mastered all.

Ars Almadel Salomonis.

"Ars Almadel Salomonis. The third Noble Phantasm of Goetia and the most destructive, comparable even to a full-power blast from Excalibur, then Excalibur are nothing more then mere firecracker,” Blanc explained before anyone could ask

Or at least it would be, if Goetia carried it properly

Which generally required the sacrifice of all humanity

"Mere firecracker?" Saber murmured, gripping the hilt of her invisible sword.

So that was the strength of a Beast.

"And he planned to destroy Goetia with that?" Azazel asked.

"No, at least not right now." Shiro shook his head.

The energy released by Trihexa was suddenly offset by the emergence of an equal power that erupted to oppose it.

"He's using it to counteract the power of Trihexa and prevent it from causing more destruction," Gabriel said in amazement.

He was trying to protect the world.

"I thought he only cared about the underworld," Michael muttered, embarrassed.

The original purpose of creating Goetia was to protect humanity.

This time he would do it on his own terms and without the prejudices of his past life.

In response to its energy, the seal of Trihexa was completely broken, making direct contact with Goetia's energy in a clash for dominance.

When the seal was broken, the light once again blinded everyone, preventing them from seeing the beast's form.

Which didn't bode well

It was the first battle between two apocalyptic entities from different worlds.

A great battle on a scale never seen before.

One fought for the sake of killing everyone, and the other fought because he now understood the meaning of life.

"I wonder if that master gave Goetia the 'I used to be like you' lecture," Serafall murmured.

"I don't think there's anyone like Goetia in any other world," Sirzech remarked.

And in any case, shouldn't it have been Solomon who did it?

The Beast of the Apocalypse vs. The Beast of Humanity's World Order Project.

May Solomon’s light guide the way.

"Beast versus Beast, the clash of monsters from two worlds." Azazel closed his eyes, hoping for the best.

It was not lost on the fact that they did not show the form of Goetia until the very end.

Now the question was.

What role would Shirou play in all of this?

NDT/A: And well, here's chapter 52

What did you think? Did you like it? Were you fascinated? Did you hate it?

Well, regardless of that, I'm here to let you know that unfortunately, the frequent updates have stopped.

I've been on vacation these last few weeks, so I had plenty of time to write, but I go back to work on Monday, so I'll return to my previous writing pace of one chapter per week or week and a half.

With this chapter, there are only 10 chapters left until the end, and possibly when there are 5 or maybe 3 left , I'll start the poll to decide the next book on my Patreon.

Don't miss it!

And well, without further ado, bye bye!

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