The appearance of the Maou caught Rod completely off guard.
His first thought was that this might have been Rias's doing, but judging from how strongly both she and Sona reacted, it probably was not their idea either.
At the very least, there was no way Sona would let her sister Serafall come out to meet people dressed like that.
"Big Sister! Why didn't you tell me in advance that you were coming?!"
After great difficulty pulling the clinging Serafall off her, Sona said with an extremely displeased expression.
"I discussed it with Sirzechs, and we decided to give you and Rias a special surprise! Hehe!"
As soon as Serafall finished speaking, she tried to hug Sona again, only to be held back by both of Sona's hands.
But Sona clearly refused to accept that explanation.
"How is this a surprise? It's obviously a scare! And even if you were sneaking over, could you please not dress like this? It's one thing in private, but we're entertaining guests right now. Even if you're not wearing your formal Maou uniform, at the very least you could have worn something normal!"
Hearing that, Serafall looked utterly baffled.
"Huh? This is already very formal clothing for me! I spent a long time picking it out specially so I could meet little Sona's savior!"
Faced with Sona's questioning, Serafall merely struck a cute cosplay pose.
Of everyone present, only Rod, whose interests were unusually broad, found Serafall cute.
Everyone else had been thoroughly rattled by the identities of the two who had arrived.
Even Lavinia was no exception.
As a witch, dealing with devils was nothing out of the ordinary for her. Back in the day, she had even signed a contract with a devil from the Underworld, though that contract had long since been voided and the two sides no longer had any dealings.
But this was still the first time Lavinia had ever seen a currently reigning Maou.
Kuroka's reaction was even worse.
The moment the other party announced her identity, she no longer dared bother her little sister Shirone.
At this point, she was practically on the verge of entering hissing mode. She was only one step away from going full spiny-backed-dinosaur mode.
But seeing her tail trembling nonstop, Rod knew she was definitely panicking inside.
Xenovia and Irina reacted just as strongly.
They had thought this was just an ordinary gathering, but they had never expected to end up face to face with a reigning Maou of the Underworld.
After all, as Holy Sword wielders, the education they had received in the past had always taught them that devils were evil beings, and a Maou was the king of evil itself.
A Satan. The greatest of evil fiends, and an existence only a Seraph like Michael could stand against.
And given the current circumstances, their experiences also differed from the original story. They still did not know that God was dead, so the two of them were hardly any calmer than Kuroka.
Xenovia even reflexively drew her hidden Holy Sword, Durandal.
This was the legendary Holy Sword that stood alongside the Holy Sword, Sword of the King.
If one spoke only of sharpness, then Durandal was the greatest of all Holy Swords.
After all, the instincts of a Holy Sword wielder were warning her that the enemy before her was no ordinary opponent, and that she had to strike with full force.
And yet, even so, both of Xenovia's hands were trembling violently as she gripped the sword.
All the devils present felt a stinging pain on their skin from the holy aura radiating from Durandal.
But Sirzechs's expression did not change. His face remained as gentle as ever as he looked at Xenovia and said, "That is the Holy Sword Durandal, isn't it? A powerful Holy Sword, famous alongside the Sword of the King that was shattered back then. I never expected you to have already found its inheritor."
"But you don't need to be so nervous. I bear no ill will toward the Church. Besides, today I'm here in the capacity of Rias's elder brother."
"Put it away, Xenovia."
Rod placed a hand on Xenovia's shoulder.
The girl hesitated for a moment, but in the end she still put Durandal back into the separate space specially used to store Holy Swords.
She did not trust devils like Sirzechs, but she did trust Rod. After all, he was a comrade she had fought alongside, and also the one currently feeding and housing both her and Irina.
"Everyone, sit down. It looks like you haven't finished eating yet. Serafall and I just happen not to have had dinner either. Rias, you don't mind if I join you, do you?"
Sirzechs said with a smile.
"There aren't any seats left!"
Rias shot her brother an annoyed look.
He had not given any notice at all before coming. What if Rod misunderstood and thought this had been her idea, and her favorability with him dropped because of it?
Once her brother went back, she would have to explain it properly to Rod. She absolutely could not let him misunderstand.
"It's fine. We can squeeze in."
Sirzechs did not mind at all.
In the end, Sirzechs and Serafall still managed to take their seats.
After all, neither Sona nor Rias could really make them stay standing.
Not to mention that these were their older brother and older sister, even based on their status as Maou alone, they could not possibly do such a thing.
The banquet, which had originally been arranged specially for Rod, continued in a rather strange atmosphere.
Although both Sirzechs and Serafall said they wanted to properly blend into the atmosphere of the younger crowd, no one else could possibly relax completely and speak freely.
After all, age and status really did create a gap.
And as the central figure of the evening, Rod naturally became the main focus of the two Maous' attention.
"So you're the human who killed Kokabiel back then? You're much more younger and handsome than I imagined. I originally thought you'd be some old man."
Since the first report Serafall had heard back then was that a powerful human had killed a fallen angel executive, her first reaction had naturally been that.
After all, among humans these days, most of the younger generation had already joined one faction or another. A human like Rod, who had not joined any faction at all, was rarer than anything.
Not to mention being this strong on top of that.
"Big Sister, could you show a little more respect when you speak? Mr. Rod is my savior!"
Sona was extremely displeased.
To think her sister had imagined her savior as some old man.
Rod could be said to be the most proper looking man Sona had ever met.
"I only just found that out, didn't I? It's fine, little Sona. And compared to that, you're the one who was even worse. You had already investigated the fallen angels' movements, so why didn't you tell your big sister? And when Kokabiel attacked, you didn't contact me right away either! When I heard about it later, the shock nearly made me march on Grigori on the spot~"
That's exactly why I didn't want to notify you, Big Sister?!
Sona screamed inwardly.
They were both Maou, so why was her sister the only one who was this unserious?
After hearing all that, even Rod found it hard to hold back.
From an outsider's perspective, a personality like Serafall's might really not be all that suitable for the position of Leviathan Maou.
Even setting Katerea aside, Rod still remembered there was a female devil named Grayfia.
She was about the same age as Serafall, and her strength was not the least bit inferior to Serafall's. During the Underworld civil war, the two of them had been archenemies.
Thinking of that, Rod found it a little strange. Logically speaking, every time Sirzechs went out incognito, he would bring Grayfia with him.
So why was she nowhere to be seen this time?
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