News of Odin being attacked quickly reached the ears of the Underworld government.
Sirzechs immediately called to ask about Odin's condition, and only relaxed after learning that he was unharmed.
He was extremely surprised to hear that the culprit had been Loki.
At the same time, he ordered security in Kuoh Town to be strengthened even further.
Even after the peace talks between the Three Great Factions, Kuoh's security had already been upgraded once, yet Loki had still managed to sneak in.
And Loki was no Kokabiel.
He was a bona fide chief god of Norse mythology, with unfathomable strength, no weaker than any of the current Maou.
It was one thing if nothing happened. But if something had gone wrong, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
To put it bluntly, it was fortunate that Loki's only target had been Odin. If he had targeted Rias or anyone else instead, there would have been no chance to save them.
Sirzechs hoped that Odin would strictly follow a fixed itinerary for the time being, and also made it clear that he would assign additional guards to him. More than once, he strongly hinted that Odin should stop visiting red-light districts. Those places were crowded and chaotic, and the guards could hardly follow Odin into a private room while he enjoyed a "special massage."
In those assassination movies, how many politicians and VIPs got killed while enjoying a massage, simply because their bodyguards were waiting outside the door?
But Odin rejected Sirzechs's suggestion outright.
"Heh, this old man is not so timid. If Loki keeps hiding, am I supposed to keep hiding forever too? That would not only damage the dignity of a god-king, it would also seriously disrupt the progress of my long and arduous journey here to exchange ideas with you all."
Hearing such righteous words, Rossweisse was instantly moved.
So the god-king truly did have proper matters on his mind.
"More like you're worried it'll interfere with the number of massages you can get."
Rod's disdainful voice drifted over.
"I hear Kyoto has lots of hotels offering special services. There are compensated-dating girls everywhere."
"Oh? Is that true? Then no matter what, this old man has to go take a look!"
At once, Odin's eyes lit up.
"It's true. Schoolgirls, career women, nurse outfits, swimsuits, all kinds of cosplay. Once night falls, the streets are full of women like that."
Rod said with a grin.
"Wonderful! Wonderful! In that case, this old man absolutely must go!"
As he spoke, Odin even made a pair of lewd hand gestures, his face splitting into a shameless grin.
Smack!
Rossweisse finally snapped. She brought her folding fan down hard on Odin's head.
At a time like this, he was still being an incorrigible old pervert. If she had known Odin was this kind of shameless dirty old man, she never would have worked so hard to qualify as a Valkyrie in the first place.
"That is enough, Lord Odin!"
It was not just her. Rias, Akeno, and the others were all looking at Odin with complete disdain.
After only one day in his company, the halo they had once placed on the title of god-king had been utterly shattered.
At first, they had all been nervous and deferential. As Upper-Class Devils, none of them had ever imagined they would one day serve as Odin's guards.
But after spending a full day with him, every ridiculous thing Odin had done had completely demolished their image of him as a majestic ruler.
By comparison, even Rod's habit of occasionally auto-locking onto their chests now seemed downright innocent.
"Ahem!"
Odin coughed violently a few times, finally realizing that Rod had completely baited him into that mess.
He was just about to stubbornly defend himself when Rod spoke again.
"Even if Odin really is a dirty old man, he's not wrong. Loki won't just pop up tomorrow if Odin hides indoors forever."
From the way Loki had spoken before, it was obvious how deeply he hated the Biblical faction. Ever since the Bible had been brought into the Norse lands, he had loathed the Biblical powers with all his heart.
Yet back then, Heaven had been at the height of its power. With God personally presiding over it, every mythological system in the world had had no choice but to grit their teeth and allow Biblical missionaries into their territories.
For a god who could nurse a grudge for a thousand years, calling him petty was honestly giving him too much credit.
So there was a very real chance Loki would strike again soon.
"In that case, let's just turn the tables on him. Use Odin as bait and lure Loki out."
"Ahem. Exactly. That's what this old man had in mind all along. As for going to those places, that too was merely part of the plan to draw Loki out."
Odin shot Rod a grateful glance.
Though the brat liked to mess with him from time to time, at least he knew how to pull him out of a hole after shoving him in.
Once this was over, Odin decided he might treat Rod to a two-man massage session.
His treat, Rod's bill.
After setting the broad direction of the plan, everyone decided to work out the details the next day.
Rossweisse and Odin were moved to the Underworld first for safety.
As Rod was about to leave, the Gremory teleportation circle in the Occult Research Club lit up.
The one who appeared was not anyone else, but a butler from the Gremory household.
"Miss, the master and mistress have said that they want you to return to the Underworld and take shelter for the time being."
"Father? Mother? How did they already hear about this? I get it. It had to be my brother."
Rias was surprised at first, but quickly pieced it together.
However, Rias had never been the obedient sort, and she rejected the order from home on the spot.
"No. I'm not going back. Kuoh Town is my territory. There's no way I'm going to hide like a coward while an outside enemy invades."
Hearing that, Rod privately approved of both her courage and her attitude. Setting strength aside, Rias really was a qualified lord.
And when this part of the story came up, Rod suddenly remembered something.
In the original plotline involving Odin's attack, even after knowing full well that the enemy was Loki, they still assigned Rias and the others as Odin's bodyguards. Rod really had no idea what the Underworld had been thinking.
First, just compare their fighting strength.
In the original story, Odin's guards were Azazel, Baraqiel, and the protagonist's group.
But because the plot had changed thanks to Rod, during Odin's stay in Kuoh, his guards were just Rias and her people.
Now compare that to Loki's side.
Besides Loki, the Norse chief god himself, he had also brought along a dog.
No, not a dog.
A wolf.
And not just any wolf. Its name was the famous Beast of Slaughter, Fenrir.
In Norse mythology, Fenrir was the first child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda.
The World Serpent Jormungandr and Hel, goddess of death, were his younger brother and sister.
And the reason Fenrir bore such an infamous title was simple. During Ragnarok, he had slain the god-king Odin.
That fact alone was enough to show how terrifying his strength was.
And in the world of High School DxD, Rod did not know exactly what Loki's background was, but Fenrir undeniably possessed true Transcender-class power.
Under those circumstances, Rias and her group still being assigned as Odin's guards and ordered to participate in an operation against Loki was honestly baffling.
All Rod could say was that, in the original story, her family sure had a lot of nerve. Whenever something happened, they just shoved their own child to the front lines.
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