— — — — — —
The instant that voice rang out, a flash of irritation crossed Katerea's mind. But she didn't hesitate. Her claws shot forward, aiming to kill Sirzechs in one decisive strike.
"Interesting."
With that casual remark, her attack met nothing but air.
The Sirzechs in front of her vanished in a way she couldn't comprehend.
Katerea whipped her head around, only to find Ryo calmly holding Sirzechs up with one hand.
"So even after I mocked you to your face, you tried to kill Sirzechs first?" Ryo finally gave her a proper look. "Guess you've got at least a bit of a brain."
"Damn it!"
The failed ambush made Katerea grit her teeth in frustration.
She had been so close. Just one step more and Sirzechs would have been dead. And yet, that single step had been ruined by someone appearing out of nowhere.
The urge to kill surged uncontrollably inside her.
"If you're so set on saving him, then you can die with him!"
Anger flared. She bent her knees, ready to lunge at Ryo.
"Calm down, Katerea! Look to his right!" Creuserey shouted from the side.
Her charge faltered. She glanced toward Ryo's right—
And froze.
A gothic girl with waist-length black hair stood there, staring at her with empty, unfathomable eyes.
Katerea's pupils shrank.
"Ophis!"
Ophis lifted her head slightly and glanced at her.
That single look was enough.
Katerea stumbled backward, fear written all over her face. Her courage collapsed instantly under that gaze.
"My apologies for failing to welcome you at once, Lady Ophis," Creuserey said, dropping to his knees with utmost respect.
No matter what, Ophis was the leader of the Khaos Brigade, acknowledged as the strongest being in the world.
Even if Creuserey served the faction leader Rizevim, as long as the faction heads still recognized Ophis as their supreme leader, he had no choice but to obey her.
Even if she rarely gave orders.
"My deepest apologies, Lady Ophis," Katerea echoed, lowering her head and kneeling as well, trembling.
She didn't know who Ryo was, but standing beside Ophis already made one thing clear: He was not someone she could afford to provoke.
No matter how badly she wanted Sirzechs dead, as long as Ophis remained silent, she wouldn't dare act rashly.
While the two of them knelt there, shaking, Ryo took a moment to study Katerea.
The crimson patterns covering her body and her pitch-black skin radiated a dense, ominous aura.
It was a power completely different from the power of Little Garden, yet strangely similar.
So this is the "demonization" Algol mentioned…
Ryo recalled the term from their correspondence.
This power was precisely what he and Algol were after. A force capable of corrupting all the gods of this world.
From what he understood, it had reached the stage of creating new races, but human experimentation shouldn't have started yet.
If it had… then he would need to speed up his plans for conquering this world.
With that thought, he asked. "Where did the demonic power in your bodies come from?"
Katerea trembled slightly. She glanced at Ryo, pressed her lips together, and stayed silent, instead looking toward Ophis.
Seeing that, Ryo turned to Ophis.
Ophis blinked, then looked at Katerea and repeated in the exact same tone. "Where did the demonic power in your bodies come from?"
The word-for-word repetition made Ryo's mouth twitch slightly.
After a brief hesitation, Katerea clenched her teeth and answered. "It was Euclid. Euclid Lucifuge. The five Progenitor Crystals we possess were all provided by him."
"As payment, Lord Rizevim promised to save his older sister, Grayfia, from the Devil progenitor."
"…What did you just say? From who?" Ryo asked, his expression turning strange.
"From Lilith," Katerea replied, giving him a puzzled look, as if wondering why he suddenly couldn't hear properly.
Ryo's expression became even more bizarre.
Taking someone from Algol's hands… even if he only considered brute force, not even he could manage that.
He couldn't help but sigh. "Kids these days… their bragging just keeps getting bigger."
Even though Rizevim was centuries older than him, Ryo had to admit—his guts were something else.
Creuserey, who had remained silent, stole a glance at Ryo.
He couldn't recall any known powerhouse matching this man. Yet judging by how he stood beside Ophis, Ryo was definitely no weakling.
Perhaps… an even older monster than Rizevim.
If he had time to properly gather intelligence, he might have discovered that Ryo was the new Governor-General of the Fallen Angels.
But events had unfolded too suddenly. The peace talks between the three factions came out of nowhere, followed immediately by the Khaos Brigade's assault. There had been no time for intelligence gathering.
They had no choice but to rush in and reveal their trump cards, aiming to sabotage the talks in one decisive move. Because if the negotiations succeeded, the truth of God's death would inevitably be exposed to the various pantheons.
Plus, once the three factions formed an alliance, Rizevim's anti-establishment faction among the devils would be pushed into a corner.
Rizevim wasn't ready to confront the three great factions head-on. So while cursing Sirzechs as a fool, he sent them to destroy the talks and keep the truth hidden.
And he was confident.
Because Ophis had moved.
That was why the devil faction of the Khaos Brigade had mobilized most of their forces, bringing the secretly obtained Progenitor Power to Kyoto.
Their goal: assassinate Sirzechs and Ajuka while they were lightly guarded.
To them, this was a gift from the heavens.
If they succeeded, control of the devil race would return to their hands. The descendants of the old Satans would reclaim their ancestors' glory and become the new Four Great Satans.
But a single, casual sentence shattered all of those fantasies. "Ophis, order them to kneel and surrender."
"…What?"
Katerea and Creuserey looked up in shock.
At that moment, Ophis suddenly appeared right in front of them. Her hollow eyes regarded them indifferently. "Kneel and surrender."
"Lady Ophi—"
Katerea didn't even finish speaking.
The surrounding air suddenly grew unbearably heavy.
Boom! Boom!
In an instant, both Katerea and Creuserey were slammed to their knees, their bodies driven into the ground.
Their minds went blank.
.
.
.