As much as he feared the cleanup, Maou’s group didn’t actually have many things to address. Mostly, they needed to oversee Ignora and Camael to ensure they didn’t spark any more trouble. But after being run through with that holy sword of light, Camael’s holy force showed no sign of returning—and after she’d witnessed that, Ignora was in such a trance that she barely even bothered to move.
“…Should we restrain them?”
“With what, you think?”
Satan and Alciel exchanged somber glances as they watched the pair. Ignora hadn’t lost her powers (Camael was another story), so they weren’t sure tying them up or whatnot would accomplish much. Ignora hadn’t even fought, for that matter. Was anyone here capable of holding her back?
“Nyx is separated from her. But considering how Camael, Raguel, and all the other angels took orders from Ignora without question…”
It was an issue on Emi’s mind as well.
“Whether acting purely as a leader or joining the battle herself, we need to think of her as a primary threat.”
“But you saw how bold she acted once she was sure she’d won. And no matter how strong Nyx and Eleos are, Copyhara and Acieth can stem them off. So it’s no biggie if she causes a ruckus, is it?”
“Well, um, probably not, no…so, again, what’ll we do with them?”
They had captured the enemy ringleader—one more powerful than all the sorcerers on a single continent combined.
“I bet this is how Eme and her team felt when they captured Olba… You know, Devil King? I think we will need to restrain her somehow. If we didn’t come here to kill her, then maybe we can put her somewhere in heaven, or the demon realms…or someplace where she’d have no idea where she was…”
Emi, realizing she was starting to sound a tad abusive, trailed off before starting again.
“Just for now, you know? I mean, she did try to fight us…”
“Yeah, I mean… Sure, but…”
“No!!”
The protest came from a surprising source.
“Nyx?”
“I heard from Alas Ramus that Mommy was doing mean things to us…but to me, she’s the one who guided me when I was born! The Sephirah Malchut… A Sephirah that wasn’t supposed to produce anything but my big sister Eleos… It also made me, and it had a reason for it.”
“…”
“So please… I wasn’t born for no reason! Our Sephirah let me fuse with Mommy because it saw a good reason for it!”
“Now this is getting even harder to deal with. What do you think of that, Copyhara?”
“I’m not exactly the leader of them all or anything…but if Nyx says so, she’s probably right. She’s not lying, either. Eleos should’ve been guiding Alas Ramus and everyone else by herself, but a second Malchut was born ahead of Keter. Maybe…”
Copyhara looked through the hole Maou and Camael had made in the All a Lijeh wall, to the point far beyond, where the Tree of Sephirot grew.
“The Tree gave me Lucifer’s form, and…you know, maybe it had pitied the circumstances the angels were in. So when it comes to all the terrible things she and the angels did to Ente Isla… I’m not going to let that slide, but I hope you won’t go overboard with the punishment, either.”
“…This isn’t giving me much to work with. We didn’t come here to torture her to death, but we can’t just say ‘nice try’ and let her out, you know.”
“You were here to free the Tree of Sephirot, right? You even found more of Alas Ramus’s siblings. What more could you ask for?”
“A bright future for the kids. And she’s done a lot to threaten that over the years.”
“Huh?” Copyhara gave this a quizzical look. “Lemme just say, dude, you guys count as Sephirah, too, so you’re part of the equation. And if you’re a Sephirah, then you’re siblings with Alas Ramus.”
Maou turned back toward Emi, who, something dawning on her, manifested Alas Ramus.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah.”
Alas Ramus, capable of clear, grown-up intelligence during important battles, must have accurately understood Maou’s words and thoughts.
“This assault on heaven was meant to be a Christmas gift for Alas Ramus last year. We’re over half a year late on it, and now it’s also her birthday present. Along those lines, I really couldn’t half-ass this.”
“Oh… It was? Wow…” Copyhara fell silent. Maybe his mind-reading skill surprised him. “Well, in that case, there’s nothing else I can say. I’ll respect your decision.”
“Yeah, thanks… Hey. Ignora.”
Ignora surprised the audience by turning toward him.
“…Satan…”
“Please don’t start doing a Camael impression, okay? Listen, we’re not here to kill you, but if you’re gonna meddle with these kids, I can’t make any guarantees.”
“…”
“What was your endgame here anyway? It looks like your plan went off the rails somewhere, but if we let you live and the plan gets fixed somehow, you know that’s gonna be trouble.”
“…”
“And if you’re gonna stay silent, we’re not gonna be reasonable with you.”
“Mommy…”
Nyx’s concerned voice irritated Maou further.
“…Tch! Hey!”
“Hold on, Maou. Can you stop right there?”
It was Amane Ohguro who stopped Maou from grabbing Ignora and shaking her around.
“I’ll take possession of her.”
“Amane?”
“I looked around the shrine ruins a little, and I got questions I wanna ask about them first. Otherwise, we might have Acieth and Erone going out of control again.”
Amane was dead serious.
“Maou, Yusa… You know how you two treat Alas Ramus as your daughter? Well, I’m not heartless enough to abandon one of my own relatives to the wolves. Right, you?”
Amane grabbed Ignora by the collar, her cold eyes and voice upon her.
“We’re both grown women. Time to spill the beans, okay? And we’re all ‘separated’ from our parents, too. We aren’t gonna be as nice to you as Nyx, and we’re not gonna go easy on you like Maou’s group.”
“…Ah…”
“You better not think we’re gonna be like the kids you took control of.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Back at the plain with the Tree of Sephirot, they summoned Alas Ramus and Acieth in front of the flowering tree. The two sisters held hands as they looked up at it.
“Nyx, Copyhara…and stupid ol’ Malchut.”
“Who are you callin’ stupid?” Elos shot back.
Ignoring her, Acieth kept her gaze on the tree.
“Everyone… It will take the more time, yes?”
“Yeah. But I came out this fast, so I really don’t know what’s gonna happen next. It all depends on that planet.”
Copyhara pointed at the moon’s horizon—to Ente Isla, rising above the blue land in the starry sky.
“Hmm. Funny shape.”
“The Land of the Holy Cross… The land looks split apart because the Devil Overlord Satan’s disaster broke the moon and changed the tidal patterns, apparently. I’m sure there weren’t any civilized nations down there at the time…but to everything living there back then, it must’ve seemed like the end of the world.”
“Wow. So when demon realms come here, that not affect anything?”
“It’ll affect something, I’m sure…but based on how Ente Isla’s still flying around with its two moons, I don’t think it’ll be any kind of big disaster.”
“You heard him, big sis.”
“Mmm?”
“The big birthday present from Maou and friends… Maybe you have to wait long time for it, still.”
“No I don’t, Ash-eth.”
“No?”
“I know Mommy an’ Daddy love me a lot. That’s good enough.”
“Ooh. Maybe so, yes.”
Acieth smiled at her tiny big sister.
“So, you grow and get big now?”
“Yeh.”
Then, as if Acieth had just given the signal, Alas Ramus’s body began to glow. They had seen this phenomenon before, around when Maou had moved into Emi’s apartment—but the small toddler grew just a little bit larger in height, this time, before she stopped.
“Mommy, Daddy…”
Alas Ramus let go of Acieth’s hand, ran up to Maou and Emi, stopped, and stood up as tall as she could.
“Thank you for helping them all. I love you!”
For just a moment, Alas Ramus kept a stern look on her face. Then, her cheeks glowed as she broke into a big smile.