Sirzechs' speech ended quickly; he was not a man for long-winded rhetoric. Formalism held no sway here, especially among a crowd of pragmatists who had no use for hollow posturing.
"Lord Odin, if there are no objections, please press your seal upon the Tablet of Vows."
"Very well."
Facing Sirzechs' inquiry, Odin, the Chief God of the North, nodded immediately. Having decided to attend this banquet, these matters had been settled in advance. The ceremony was merely a formality to ensure the younger generation understood the context of the peace. Otherwise, while the leaders signed treaties, the subordinates might continue to slaughter one another in the streets.
Just as Odin's hand reached for the greyish-white obelisk on the stage, a sharp, piercing cry of "Objection!" shattered the solemn atmosphere of the hall.
Odin paused, following the voice to its source with an expression of weary resignation. "So it is you... you foolish boy."
Above the banquet hall, black and blue magical energy surged as a vertical magic circle manifested. It split down the middle like a pair of double doors, and from within floated a young man with long, pale blue hair and a sinister, ethereal aura.
The god looking down upon the gathered leaders sneered. "I am the true God of the North, Loki."
Shemhazai, the Governor-General of the Fallen Angels, smirked. "Quite the uninvited guest."
"Lord Loki, even as a Norse god, you have no right to cause a disturbance here," Michael stated firmly, his voice full of condemnation.
Loki's expression remained arrogant. "The sight of our Chief God associating with other mythologies is a pain I cannot endure."
"Loki, return to Valhalla this instant and I may still grant you mercy," Odin warned, his voice flat.
"Grant me mercy? Don't make me laugh, you old fossil."
Odin didn't argue further; he simply watched Loki with a calm gaze. While the Chief God remained composed, Rossweisse, standing nearby, was far more agitated.
"How dare you speak to the Chief God that way!" she cried.
"If we establish peace with other mythologies, then the Ragnarök we were meant to welcome can never be achieved, can it?" Loki replied as if stating the most obvious fact in the world.
To Loki, the pursuit of chaos was paramount. He personally declared his desire for Ragnarök, and nobody in the room was truly surprised. In this era, where humanity was becoming the dominant force, the internal squabbles of mythical factions were no longer secrets.
Ethan suspected that the true reason these factions sought peace was to artificially extend their own era. If they allowed conflict to continue, the Age of Silence would soon descend, and all supernatural beings would inevitably fall into a deep slumber. Those with immense power might find a way to revive in the next age, but those who were weak would simply vanish from existence.
Of course, this was just Ethan's speculation. From the overall state of the world, things seemed to be at a peak, with geniuses and powerhouses appearing everywhere. Perhaps Michael and Sirzechs simply loved peace, and Ragnarök was just a convenient excuse for Loki and the Khaos Brigade to stir up trouble.
"Hey, I've heard that line somewhere before," Shemhazai remarked, glancing at Loki. "You're in league with the Khaos Brigade, aren't you?"
"I admit we have a mutually beneficial relationship," Loki said, making no effort to hide it. Since he had shown up to oppose the treaty, he was fully prepared to burn every bridge. He swept his right arm through the air and shouted, "Come forth, my dear children!"
A blue-black magic circle crackling with lightning appeared. This time, a massive, wolf-like demonic beast stepped out. Unlike a normal wolf, it had a pair of jagged, bull-like horns protruding from its back.
"Attack!"
At Loki's command, the beast lunged. Faced with the assault of a god, the younger generation was almost powerless. Even Rias's team, though moving at Devil King levels of speed and power, could do little more than protect themselves and cover Sona Sitri's group.
Seeing Loki shamelessly target the youngsters, the leaders of the Three Factions were incensed. Baraqiel alone stepped forward, his lightning easily halting the rampaging wolf.
"Full of openings," Beelzebub, another of the Four Devil Kings, huffed with disdain. With a casual flick of his wrist, he warped space, trapping Loki within a pocket dimension.
Ethan, monitoring the situation through his Soul Network, saw that the farce at the banquet had reached a temporary standstill. Though he didn't know exactly where Beelzebub had sent Loki, it was clear the god wouldn't be causing more trouble in the hall for now.
"Time's up. I'll play with you two some other time."
Ethan had spent the entire fight merely defending, while Kuroka and Mayuri (Bikou) exhausted themselves with frantic attacks. It was a display of absolute dominance; they didn't have even a sliver of a chance of winning.
As Ethan sensed Loki's sealing, Bikou also received word through the Khaos Brigade's communication channels. He had been hoping Loki would provide reinforcements, but now... he summoned his Somersault Cloud, grabbed Kuroka, and prepared to bolt.
"Wait, wait. I said I'd play with you next time, but I didn't say I was letting you go today."
Ethan watched the cloud with curiosity, but even its legendary speed was nothing compared to Ethan when he finally got serious. Just as the two were about to vanish into a teleportation circle, Ethan blurred into motion, snatching the black-haired, busty cat-girl right into his arms.
Kuroka tried to struggle, but against Ethan, she was as helpless as a kitten.
"Behave," he commanded.
"Mew..." Kuroka's lush, curvaceous body stiffened, and an unnatural blush crept across her face.
Ethan gave her long, pale, supple thigh a firm, possessive squeeze before shouting toward the vanishing magic circle: "Bikou! Tell Vali that Kuroka is mine now. Tell him not to worry—I'm just reuniting two sisters."
He didn't care if Bikou heard him. He carried his "prize" over to Koneko. "Koneko, she's yours now. You can let her go if you want, but I'll leave the family business to you."
Kuroka was drained of both magic and stamina, making her no match for a fully recovered Koneko. Ethan handed her over, leaving the two sisters to settle their grievances.
"By the way, Koneko, you don't need to involve yourself in the next part. Just take Kuroka back to the human world."
"What about you, Senior Ethan?" Koneko asked, supporting her suddenly silent sister.
"The Khaos Brigade is handled, but there's still one very troublesome guy we haven't dealt with."
Through the Soul Network, Ethan kept his eyes on the hall. Loki's exile was not the end. A god of his infamy wouldn't be handled so easily. Sirzechs and the others were waiting for Odin to retrieve Mjölnir—the specific anti-Loki artifact—to suppress him once and for all.
By the time Ethan arrived back at the scene, the banquet had been dismissed. Only the faction leaders remained, frowning at a green pyramid that contained Loki's seal. The structure pulsed with magnificent magical light. This was the work of Ajuka Beelzebub, whose emerald demonic power was currently holding the god at bay. However, even he could only maintain the seal for about a day.
"One day? That's all?" Rias frowned, her voice laced with concern.
Because she lacked the status, she only learned the details of the conversation through Ethan. Though Ethan was technically her familiar, his status as the Red Dragon Emperor and his sheer power allowed him to stand as an equal among the gods and kings.
"Yes," Ethan explained. "They say if Loki breaks out and attacks again, a direct confrontation will be unavoidable. But if the Devil King-class leaders move to intercept him, it will trigger another Great War. It will be exactly the Ragnarök Loki wants."
Rias crossed her arms over her chest, her breasts heaving slightly with her breath. "So, that's how it is?"
"Exactly. The chaos generated by war—the beginning of the end. Just as the Khaos Brigade desires," Sona Sitri added, her eyes sharp.
"If only Mjölnir would arrive in time," Akeno murmured.
Rias looked at Ethan. "Is there no other way?"
"The battlefield this time isn't an isolated dimension. If I step in with my full power, the collateral damage alone would start the war they're trying to avoid." Ethan wasn't sure of Loki's exact power level, but he knew the god wasn't on the level of Ophis. If he were, Mjölnir wouldn't even be a threat.
Ethan had offered to suppress or kill Loki himself, but the result would be the same. He was too closely tied to the Gremory family. A battle of that scale would be the fuse that lit the world on fire.
"Actually, there is one way," Ethan said after a moment of hesitation. "We can enter the barrier to delay Loki. As long as we hold him until Odin returns with the hammer, we win. But the barrier can only hold those below God-class, and no more than ten people, or Ajuka's seal will collapse."
Ethan had hesitated to mention this because he knew Rias would insist on going. But even if he hadn't said it, she would have come to the same conclusion and volunteered. Even a sealed Loki was incredibly dangerous. Going in to interfere with him was essentially a suicide mission to buy time. If Ethan didn't have the Soul Contracts as a safety net, he never would have allowed it.
Predictably, Rias immediately demanded to see Sirzechs. Sona joined her. To Ethan's surprise, Sirzechs and Serafall actually agreed.
The final team consisted of seven young women: Rias, Akeno, Xenovia, Sona, Tsubaki, Irina, and Rossweisse. Rossweisse, as a Valkyrie, donned her specialized combat armor. In true Valkyrie fashion, the armor was designed to be as erotic as it was functional, hugging her curves and exposing her skin in a way that would make any man's blood boil.
Of the seven, only Rossweisse and Sona lacked a Soul Contract with Ethan. Knowing this, Sona was given the three bottles of Phoenix Tears for emergencies.
"We're fighting together again, Xenovia," Irina said, winking at her friend.
"Yes," Xenovia replied, hesitant. "Though, coming from a Devil like me, it sounds strange... but this is dangerous."
"You're worried about dying, aren't you?" Irina chuckled. They all knew the revival effects of the Soul Contract, but no one wanted to test it if they didn't have to.
"Sona, are you sure about this?" Tsubaki pulled Sona aside. "You haven't dual-cultivated with Ethan, and you don't have a Soul Contract. If something happens..."
"Tsubaki, I know you're worried," Sona said firmly. "But to achieve my dream, this is a step I must take."
Ethan's curiosity was piqued. "The President's dream?"
"To build a Rating Game school in the Underworld that even low-level devils can attend," Tsubaki explained softly. "Many devils think her dream is foolish because our society is so strictly hierarchical."
Ethan nodded. "I see. Peace makes that possible."
He didn't try to stop them. They just needed to stall. With the Phoenix Tears and Sona's tactical mind, a total wipeout was unlikely. And if it came to it, Ethan was prepared to tear the dimension apart to save them, regardless of the political consequences.
"It's time to go," Rias announced.
The green pyramid pulsed with a violent surge of magic, and the seven women vanished into the seal.
Floating in the center of the barrier, Loki looked down at them as he drained the seal's energy. Rossweisse was the first to speak. "Lord Loki, pointing your blade at the Chief God is unforgivable. You should state your grievances in a proper forum."
Loki ignored her. "A Valkyrie following Odin? I heard you were talented, but you are a far cry from a god."
"Is he not listening to a word?" Rossweisse gritted her teeth.
"Hmph. You are a meager appetizer for Ragnarök."
Loki waved his hand, summoning his monstrous army. First came the Great Wolf Fenrir, followed by his sons, Hati and Sköll. Then, with a flash of blue lightning, a serpent the size of a mountain appeared.
"The Midgard Serpent... Jörmungandr," Rossweisse whispered, her face pale.