After the battle, it was time to deal with the situation in Auros.
The town…had been utterly ravaged by the Evil Dragons, with the area around the school particularly hard hit. There wasn’t a fully intact house or undamaged field to be found.
The school itself was half destroyed, probably due to Euclid’s last attack… It had stood just to be laid to waste at the very end… If there was a silver lining to be found, it was that the buildings hadn’t completely collapsed.
Soldiers dispatched by the underworld authorities were investigating the debris littering the school grounds and the surrounding neighborhood. More than three hours had passed within the barrier, but it seemed barely three minutes had transpired on the outside. How had Rizevim’s people managed to compress an entire hour into just one minute…?
The main culprit behind the attack—Euclid—had been transferred to the Demon Kings’ territory. He had been wearing that annoying smirk of his right up to the very end… I guess all we could do was leave him to Sirzechs from here.
Apparently, the witch with the True Cross—Valburga—had made a quick getaway with Azhi Dahaka and the remaining mass-produced Evil Dragons using a teleportation square… That Holy Relic user made for a powerful enemy as far as we demons were concerned. We would be in a real bind if we couldn’t come up with a better strategy against her moving forward…
After Asia had treated their injuries, Saji and Sairaorg, along with the parents who had fought alongside them, were transferred to a hospital by a medical team. From what I heard, none had sustained life-threatening injuries, but they would need to remain in hospital while they recovered.
…Saji, Sairaorg, the parents—they had given their all to protect the school. It was thanks to them the children—the underworld’s hope for the future—were safe. That was one thing we could be proud of.
Having unlocked his Balance Breaker, Saji was utterly drained, losing consciousness the moment he dispelled his armor… After all, he had just gone toe-to-toe with Grendel, pushing himself far beyond his limits.
The children, their parents, and the townspeople began to emerge one after the next.
“That was quite the show!” sounded a familiar voice—Azazel. “Sorry I couldn’t make it in time.”
I shook my head.
“No. No one could have guessed it would come to this…”
Rizevim’s people were so good they had taken the entire city of Agreas in one fell swoop. From what I heard, the residents had all been safely transferred to the surface, so it was only the floating city that was snatched away.
“What do they want with the aerial city?” I asked Azazel.
Agreas was said to utilize technology from the old Demon King era, many aspects of which remained unexplained. Chairwoman Sona and the others believed Rizevim, as the son of the original Lucifer, might hold the key to some of those secrets.
Azazel breathed a sigh. “Part of me wonders if it houses a superweapon, or if it transforms in some way… Ajuka Beelzebub was in charge of the place, so he might know something. I’d try asking him.”
Not even Azazel knew the answer.
…I hoped it wouldn’t transform into a giant robot or something…
Their goal was Agreas and Trihexa. That was why Euclid had mentioned Rossweisse’s research paper.
Azazel must have been thinking the same thing, given his next words. “I’ve been able to clarify Rossweisse’s research, at least to some extent.”
“…It was about the sealing method used on Trihexa, right?”
“Huh? Did Euclid say something? Yeah, that’s right. Her research wasn’t about breaking the seal, but about understanding how the method worked. She’s the real deal, that girl. I dipped my toes into the topic out of curiosity once, but she really delved into all the possibilities.”
…So it wasn’t about breaking the seal, but understanding how it had been applied? In other words, if there was any indication Trihexa might come back, might Rossweisse’s research help us put a new seal in place?
“…Her analysis is going to hold the key. Which is why she’s going to be a major target from now on… Who would have thought she would end up being our trump card? You never know what life has in store, do you?” Azazel said with a sigh.
Right. Rossweisse might be the one to turn this situation around. Honestly, the members of this Familia were nothing if not incredible…
Azazel reached out to ruffle my hair. “I’ve got a message for you from Sakra… The old Sun Wukong led the fight against the Khaos Brigade with the Heavenly Emperor, and now his successor’s been announced. It’s Cao Cao.”
—. So he was back, was he…? Then that spear… He must have been the one who shattered the barrier… In that case, we would no doubt be bumping into him again soon.
“Don’t let your guard down just because you beat Euclid. You need to tap into more of your Red Dragon Emperor powers if you want to defeat Crom Cruach and the others… Though I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
If Azazel thought I was up to it, I would take that as a confidence boost.
…Hey, Ddraig? We’ve still got room to grow here, yeah? Those bastards tried to take something they shouldn’t have, so we’ve got to be ready.
…There’s no way I’m forgiving them.
“Yeah, no problems there,” he answered confidently. “Let’s go wild together. That’s what the Red Dragon Emperor lives for.”
We could do it. So long as I had my friends and Ddraig by my side, I could pull through no matter what was needed…
“…Now we just need to see if those responsible for this latest incident realize that, too,” Azazel said with a stern look.
…Those responsible. Yeah, it was strange how everything had gone so smoothly for Rizevim and his people. For now, we had managed to secure the sole surviving mage who had tampered with the teleportation square, who had pulled through thanks to imperfections in the explosion spell.
I couldn’t help but think the lack of counterterrorism measures in Agreas and the fact that Auros was chosen to host the mage conference were connected. Without those two factors, this elaborate scheme wouldn’t have been remotely possible. On top of that, the culprits were very careful to seal Gondul’s magic, along with that of the other mages.
We could only assume they had planned this in full knowledge of Team DxD’s capabilities.
…In other words, they had an inside source close to the underworld authorities.
There are those for whom our current peace means endless torment.
All at once, something Vali said not too long ago sounded in my mind.
The next moment, Dulio rushed over, out of breath. “Sorry I’m late! Er… Let me take over from here!”
Not even Heaven’s trump card could respond in time to what had ultimately been just a three-minute event.