“Hrraaahhhh!!”
“Speed and power are important…but without technique and a cool head, the moment you are surpassed, you lose.”
“Ohh?!”
Acieth unleashed a flurry of fists, faster than even Satan could keep up with. But Eleos stopped them all then pulled Acieth’s leg out from under her.
“You see? If she wasn’t fighting me, Acieth would be in trouble.”
And so Eleos lunged for Acieth’s wide-open side…
“Hyee-hee-hee-hee-hoo-hee?!”
…and nimbly began tickling her.
Even as she dopily laughed, Acieth’s face twisted in anger, her arms blindly swinging around. But she never had any chance of hitting Eleos that way.
“Acieth. If you are a child of the Sephirah, you have to realize—there is no point fighting Ignora any longer. Da’at has already given his judgment.”
“Who cares?! My sister, how long was I separated from you?! Gevurah, Erone, how terrible was it for them? I know you know!”
“…”
“If you help angels, then you betray everyone! Eleos! If you not join us, at least let me hit this angel!”
“No.”
“Why?!”
“Acieth. Have you seen a mirror?”
“Huh?! What is…?”
“If Yesod, with its astral energy, is as polluted with demonic force and negative emotion as your eyes are, any Sephirah would stop them.”
“What?!”
“You have a deep affinity for that demon. If Yesod is taken by negative emotion—the hatred that drives the power of any demon—it will hurt all of the Sephirah. No matter how much I hate the angels, if I let you have your way right now, you and that demon may destroy all of them.”
“So what?! I use this hand, and I take them all…!”
“Da’at has chosen the form of Lucifer. If you are Yesod, then please consider that. Listen to me, Acieth the Yesod…!”
“Gah…!!”
Without any advance warning, Eleos brought her palm to Acieth’s forehead. That was all she needed. Acieth’s vision faded with her consciousness, the power draining from her body.
“Our Sephirot has chosen Lucifer. Angels shall be the ‘humanity’ in Ente Isla.”
“What…are you…!”
“And I can’t have a Sephirah like you kill the angels when they’ve only just been chosen.”
Just before the light fully faded from Acieth’s eyes:
“Mm?”
Her body disappeared.
Eleos looked away. Satan was there, hand in the air. Fusing with Acieth, he was half-Satan, half-Maou again, his glowing red eyes glaring at his foes as he growled.
“You… What the hell are you doing to our girl?”
“She is my sister first.”
“Shut up. Ignora, the Ente Isla humans… Even you Sephirah… You all look down upon us, don’t you?”
Spitting out some blood from the side of his mouth, Maou readied himself.
“Why are you guys actin’ all bossy after choosing Urushihara, of all people?! Why’re you leavin’ the future to some guy who sits in the closet in the middle of summer and plays games all day?!”
“Mngh!”
With an explosive sound, Maou shot off from the rubble and lunged for Eleos.
“I know the truth! No matter what kind of special power you guys, or the angels, or I, or the Hero have…!”
“Ngh… This power…!”
“You all still have to eat and sleep to be healthy! You’re all just humans!”
“What are…you…!!”
“And humans shouldn’t dare look down on other humans! You’re just a little brat lettin’ the angels use and abuse you!!”
Maou grabbed hold of the right side of Eleos’s head and slammed it against the ground. The powerful, deafening force put a small crater in the hard surface of All a Lijeh.
“Kahh!”
“Wait… Maou, it is too much…!”
“This is still the only way I know how to make a bratty kid listen to me!”
“No, but…”
“I want to know some other way, but all these bastards…!!”
“Ngh!”
Before Eleos could get up, Maou shot back into the sky and confronted Camael.
“These kids keep getting into trouble because you’re not setting a good example for them! If you’re gonna try conquering worlds, do it without enslaving these goddamn kids!!”
“Silence, Satan! It all began when Satanael sided with you demons…!!”
“You got a beef with my dad, so you’re gonna make little kids settle the score? Don’t give me that shit!!”
Weaving out of the way of the golden trident’s tips, Maou connected his fist cleanly with the chinstrap of the helmet. With a surprisingly soft sound, it came flying off.
“Gnnnh…!!”
Under it appeared, for the first time, the face of a crazed archangel—a stout, masculine man, with silver hair and red eyes. Nearly half of it was covered with painful-looking burn scars.
“So the helmet hid that? If you’re gonna explain, now’s the time!”
“You… Satan… Satan!!”
“If this is about some battle in the past, I’ll hear you out after it’s all over! I just wanna get this over with, go home, eat, take a bath, and go to bed!!”
Camael, deflecting Maou’s follow-up punch, swept ahead with his recoiled trident. Maou stopped it with his re-manifested holy sword.
“So I guess you’re Malchut’s latent force? Well, I’m Yesod’s latent force. We’re even. Right, Camael?!”
“Satan! I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!!”
“Yeah! Do it! And let’s hope this is the last death duel this world ever sees!”
Satan’s holy sword and Camael’s trident collided, a murderous clang echoing across the starry sky.