"...Revenge, huh..."
Issei muttered in a conflicted tone.
Sister Griselda continued speaking, her voice gentle yet clearly intended to defend the Church warriors as well.
"Yes. Of course, many of them fought to minimize tragedy and protect others. However, I do not believe emotions such as anger are inherently evil. After all, anger born from seeing someone precious harmed can also be proof of how deeply that person was loved. —Though naturally, moderation is important. In my case, if I lose control of such feelings, I could fall and become a Fallen Angel, so I must be especially careful."
[Fufufu, Griselda. As someone capable of preaching love with such flexibility, your position as 'Q' is secure indeed. If one merely rejects negative emotions outright, they become cold-hearted. What matters is accepting those feelings and embracing them.]
Oooh, as expected of the Archangel. Truly broad-minded.
[However, naturally, not everyone could accept things so easily from the start. We sent them to fight on brutal front lines for years, only to suddenly tell them, "Do not fight anymore." On top of that, we concealed the truth of the Lord's absence from them... Even if they call us tyrannical, I cannot deny it outright. I do not believe our decisions were wrong, but... I still find myself wondering if perhaps there was a better way to handle things.]
Michael smiled bitterly.
Honestly, even outside organizations like Heaven, anyone carrying the title of "boss" probably shared that kind of universal headache to some degree.
"Tch. Guys who stand at the top of organizations like ours are always worrying about stuff like that. Or hey, Michael. why not step down from the top seat like I did?"
[Fufufu, I'll pass. Besides, looking at you now, stepping down does not seem to have changed much. You still attend every important meeting, after all.]
"...Don't remind me. Even so, I've got less paperwork than before."
Michael's counterattack landed perfectly, causing Azazel-sensei's shoulders to slump instead.
Well, he had just recently participated in meetings involving Nurarihyon and even the Japanese gods.
[Returning to the matter at hand, this incident originated from problems within Heaven and the Church. Therefore, we should resolve it using our own authority—]
"Hold it, Michael. You stay out of this."
Azazel interrupted before Michael could finish speaking as the leader of Heaven.
"Michael, you're supposed to stand as Heaven's symbol. Especially now that the God of the Bible is gone. And yeah, I agree that making a strict judgment here would be the correct thing to do. But considering how this whole mess started, if you forcefully suppress them, resentment will definitely remain. Right now, though, there's still a chance to settle this as nothing more than a fight between warriors. Am I wrong?"
[...Even so, the members of D×D have already carried burden after burden since before D×D was even formed. To force our internal conflict onto them as well would be—]
Michael worried about placing more pressure on us, but Azazel casually tossed the subject our way with a teasing grin.
"What about you guys? Are you backing out of this incident, or are you taking it on?"
At that either-or question, Rias-senpai shot Azazel a flat glare.
"Azazel... you already know the answer, don't you? —Michael-sama, now more than ever, it is vital for all sides to stand united with unwavering resolve. More importantly, since they delivered their challenge directly to us, I believe we should answer it head-on."
Rias-senpai really was hot-blooded at her core.
Then Irina stepped forward and spoke from the heart as well.
"Michael-sama. After the peace agreement, I was offered the honorable path of becoming your 'Ace.' But... if I had remained only a warrior of the Church, then perhaps I might have stood among those same Church warriors, venting my anger at Xenovia. If I can accept their feelings,their convictions—then I want to do so!"
...If Irina hadn't become Michael's "Ace," huh.
After the Kokabiel Incident, she and Xenovia had parted ways with Irina calling her a "traitor," without even understanding why Xenovia had become a Devil.
The peace conference itself required knowledge of God's death, so Irina never attended.
After that, they never truly reunited. The remaining Excaliburs were merged together and entrusted to Xenovia, while Irina could only follow events involving the Gremory peerage through newspaper reports.
And then, during Heaven's crisis on Christmas, it was not Irina but Xenovia, now a Devil and member of D×D, who fought once again simply because she happened to be there.
Yeah... if a chance came to directly clash with D×D, and by extension, Xenovia herself, I could absolutely see Irina joining the coup faction.
Not out of hatred.
More like wanting to vent her frustration directly at her best friend.
"See? The young ones are motivated. Besides, I'm personally curious. Do you really think Strada and Cristaldi are the type to get swept up by others into causing an incident like this? I've got a feeling there's something more behind all this. And honestly, you're sensing that too, aren't you?"
[Indeed. I have known both of them since they were children. They are devout believers of God, intelligent men, and natural leaders. I suspect they carry sincere feelings within them—ones that only appear roundabout on the surface.]
"Then all the more reason this challenge should be answered by D×D. You trust them enough for that too, don't you?"
[...Yes. You are correct.]
After briefly lowering his gaze, Michael looked back at all of us.
[Lastly, regarding Teodoro Legrenzi—he is an extraordinarily pure 'Miracle Child.' That is why he was elevated to such a position despite his young age.]
"A Miracle Child?"
"Issei-san, that refers to someone born between an Angel and a human."
Since Issei had a giant question mark practically floating above his head, Asia explained it for him.
Basically, it meant a half-Angel.
However, conceiving such a child required creating a special barrier and engaging in the act while completely eliminating all emotions other than pure love.
In other words, the difficulty level was absolutely insane.
Naturally, if lust exceeded a certain threshold, the Angel involved would immediately Fall, making the entire process absurdly restrictive in every possible sense.
At least I'd fall instantly.
I mean, I spend my days drowning in lustful paradise with Kuroka and the others, okay?
Honestly, before I finally crossed the line with Kuroka, there were countless times I nearly achieved enlightenment just trying to endure it.
Well... maybe comparing normal people to Kuroka's nonstop erotic teasing wasn't exactly fair.
[Speaking of which, have you two been properly using that room? I must admit, I have rather high expectations.]
As if the topic of Angel-human children reminded him, Michael suddenly directed a question toward Issei and Irina that absolutely did not sound like something the leader of Heaven should ask.
The two in question nearly choked on the spot.
Once she recovered, Irina face burning bright red— houted her answer to her superior.
"I-It's only a matter of time! Ever since Christmas, I've secretly been calling Issei-kun so this is basically guaranteed already!"
"What exactly is guaranteed!?"
[I see. Excellent.]
Michael nodded in satisfaction.
Apparently, he hadn't heard Issei's protest at all.
"Well, anyway. Sorry for always sticking you guys with the short end of the stick, but we'd like your help again this time. Think of it as cleaning up Heaven and the Church's mess."
Azazel-sensei wrapped things up while Michael bowed his head toward us.
And just like that, D×D officially became involved in the matter.
For this duel, those directly involved in the Kokabiel Incident and the peace conference would participate: the Occult Research Club members, the Sitri peerage, Irina, and Dulio as representatives of the local Church faction supporting the alliance.
Griselda would also bring several members of Heaven's Brave Saints.
As for Sairaorg and Seekvaira, they would remain on standby after only being informed of the situation.
The reasoning was that conservative noble Devils would likely never cooperate in Church affairs to begin with—and more importantly, pulling even the two defenders of the Underworld into this conflict would be dangerous from an anti-Qlippoth standpoint.
Man, noble Devils really weren't trusted at all.
Kuroka declared, "I was just lazing around at home during both the Kokabiel Incident and the peace conference anyway, so I'll handle support from the rear this time, nya~," but honestly, I couldn't help suspecting she was just being lazy.
Well, considering the Grim Reapers were supposedly making moves too, maybe not.
Besides Kuroka, Le Fay, Fenrir, and the members of Slash Dog would also handle support roles.
As for Vali, everyone worried that if he participated, things would escalate way too far.
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it—he wanted to focus on training and searching for Agreas, so he was rejected from joining.
Instead, Arthur was the sole member of Vali Team participating, lured in by the titles of "strongest Excalibur wielder" and "Durandal wielder."
At least if we warned Arthur beforehand that genuine killing was forbidden, he'd obey.
If it were Vali instead, the moment things got exciting, he'd probably throw the agreement out the window and start yelling, "Let's fight to the death!"
Afterward, schedules were adjusted, and the duel was set for three days later.