"How much longer are you two going to stare and poke, Zeus, Poseidon?" Hades said coldly, watching the two 'younger brothers' who were looking him up and down and pinching his face.
"Because even if you say you're our big brother, I still can't believe it!!" Zeus and Poseidon said, pinching Hades's cheeks with expressions of utter disbelief.
Being poked and prodded by these two, his nominal, bearded 'old men' younger brothers, even the usually calm Hades felt inexplicably irritated. His face was covered in black lines and his fists were clenched tightly.
Thump! Thump!
Immediately after, two lumps appeared on the heads of Zeus and Poseidon. Smoke still rose from Hades's fists as the two old men fell to the ground in a strange posture. Feeling the familiar sensation on their heads, they said:
"Ah~! This familiar feeling... it really is Big Brother."
"Hmph~!" Hades looked at the two foolish old men lying on the ground, said nothing, and merely snorted coldly at them.
At this moment, Azazel, having slightly lowered his guard, stepped forward and asked Hades, "Hades, why have you gathered us here? Also, has the 'Great Eclipse' been lifted?"
"The 'Great Eclipse'... I have already dispelled it. I brought you all here simply to provide you with a good environment for recovery," Hades explained with relative patience.
Hearing Hades say the 'Great Eclipse' had been lifted, they all secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But why was Hades suddenly being so kind to them?
"This doesn't seem like you. You initiated the 'Great Eclipse' earlier to cleanse the world, so why the sudden benevolence?" Sirzechs stepped forward and questioned suspiciously.
Rhadamanthys answered Sirzechs's question, saying:
"That was a trial set by Lord Hades to test you all."
"A trial?" Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
Hades then spoke up: "Because I was somewhat uneasy about entrusting the future of this world to the young people of DxD, especially Issei Hyoudou. I simply don't have much faith in him."
"Why, out of so many people, is it me you don't have faith in?" Hearing Hades's words, Issei Hyoudou felt as if his heart had been wounded and spoke while silently shedding tears.
"Why?" Hades narrowed his cold eyes, his figure instantly appearing before Issei Hyoudou, staring at him with a gaze that could freeze everything. He said:
"I've seen many tainted by the sin of lust, but never one with as much as you. Moreover, your method of gaining strength is actually through... women's breasts. In my view, that is nothing but heresy and deviant practices."
Every word Hades spoke felt like countless arrows piercing Issei Hyoudou's heart.
"Furthermore, I personally think you are utterly unworthy of Asia Argento and the others. It's like countless beautiful flowers stuck in a pile of extremely foul-smelling manure." Finally, Hades delivered a critical blow, like a cannonball striking Issei Hyoudou.
Issei Hyoudou: (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)
Issei Hyoudou's body turned ashen gray. He knelt directly on the ground, crying and speaking sorrowfully:
"Wahhh... I'm really sorry... I'm a heretic, I'm really sorry... I apologize... Wahhh..."
Looking at the now black-and-white Issei Hyoudou, everyone was at a loss for words to comfort him. Azazel stepped forward and said to Hades:
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, Hades, didn't you say a bit too much?"
"A student reflects their teacher. Azazel, have you forgotten the reason for your own Fall and the romantic entanglements you left behind? What kind of character you are, everyone here knows perfectly well. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror." Hades immediately retorted.
Azazel: (╥╯﹏╰╥)ง
Originally intending to speak up for Issei Hyoudou, Azazel found himself inexplicably caught in the crossfire. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, black lines instantly covered his face, and he no longer wanted to speak.
"..." Seeing Azazel like this, no one else wanted to step forward to comfort him either, because the reason for his Fall was precisely to engage in relations with women, and he had even maintained a harem of hundreds.
Hades placed his hand on the chest plate of his underworld armor, tracing the crack on it, and said, "However, Issei Hyoudou, you did a decent job. You actually managed to leave a crack in my underworld armor."
After speaking, Hades wiped his hand over the crack on his chest, and the crack vanished as if it had never been there.
Hearing Hades's words, Issei Hyoudou's mood instantly improved considerably.
"Lord Hades, even if you intended this as a trial, why go to such great lengths and initiate the 'Great Eclipse'?" Having understood Hades's intention, Michael addressed him with an honorific and asked.
Hades looked at Michael and said, "If I had told you it was just a trial, would you have taken it seriously? That's why I initiated the 'Great Eclipse'—to give you a bit more motivation."
"We really thank you for that (⇀‸↼‶)," everyone said in unison.
At that moment, Vali remembered his main objective. He hurriedly ran up to Hades, placed his hands on him, and shook him, saying:
"Hades! Where is my sister?! Where is my sworn sister, Lavinia?!"
"Vali Lucifer!! You are far too insolent!!"
"Release Lord Hades immediately!!"
Seeing Vali's excessively disrespectful action, the Twin Gods immediately spoke up, even beginning to gather golden and silver energy spheres in their hands.
Slap!
Before the Twin Gods could act, Hades slapped Vali's hand off his shoulder. He looked at Vali with a cold, slightly angry gaze and said:
"Let go of me first. Your flaw is being too emotional. Your sworn sister is fine; I haven't done anything to her."
"All three of them are in that palace over there. Go and see for yourself. Remember, don't frighten the elf handmaidens here." Hades pointed to a white palace not far away.
At that, Vali shot off with a "Biu" sound toward the direction of the white palace, followed closely by Sona Sitri and Griselda.
The three of them instantly charged into the white palace, pushed open the doors, and shouted:
"Sister!!" (Vali, Sona Sitri)
"Lady Gabriel!!" (Griselda)
The moment the doors opened, a sudden burst of light made the three of them instinctively shield their eyes.
When the light faded, they opened their eyes to see the interior. The entire room was covered in fluffy, cute stuffed animals. The three women they were looking for were actually wearing different white, fuzzy animal-themed pajamas, munching on snacks like potato chips, holding laptops and watching shows.
It looked exactly like a college girls' dorm room, instantly leaving the arriving trio of Vali dumbfounded and speechless.
"Ah! Vali?" Lavinia, a potato chip stick in her mouth, looked at her sworn brother and said.
"Sona-chan?" The pair of white rabbit ears on Serafall's pajamas perked up as she looked toward the entrance.
"Griselda?" Gabriel, sucking on her finger, asked cutely and confusedly.
"What are you all doing here?" The three women, Serafall and the others, looked at the three stunned figures at the door and asked.
"That should be our line," the trio said upon hearing this, their bodies instantly going limp as if all the accumulated fatigue had erupted at once.
A short while later, the three women, now dressed in their original attire, came before the group looking rather embarrassed. They also offered explanations to Sirzechs, Azazel, Michael, and the others.
"So, while we were fighting desperately, you, Serafall, were just lounging around in Elysium, eating and drinking well?" Sirzechs lowered his head, his eyebrows twitching repeatedly.
"That's just too much," Michael said with a tearful face.
Hades, crossing his arms, then said to them:
"I think it's simply that your strength is too lacking. The reason Vali could defeat the Earthly Specters was only because Niobe and the others were too arrogant and complacent, underestimating their opponents."
"Uh..." Hearing Hades's words, Niobe and the others scratched their faces awkwardly. However, these words also struck a blow to the rescue team that had come to challenge the underworld.
Their sole victory was actually because the enemy had been careless and held back, which damaged their pride.
Snap—!!
Unmoved by the sight of everyone gradually losing their color, Hades simply snapped his fingers. A Dimensional Screen appeared beside them, and Hades said:
"Alright, the trial is over. It's time for you to leave. Step through there, and you'll return to the underworld."
"We apologize for the disturbance... Hades..." Hearing this, everyone, moving like zombies, staggered into the Dimensional Screen. Gabriel, Serafall, and Lavinia looked at Hades with a hint of reluctance.
-------------------------------
Hope you enjoy this fanfiction if you do and would like to read the next 50 chapters in advance, pls do check out my Patreon:
patreon.com/MariaLight
Also don't forget to give me a Power Stone if you do like this fiction. Your support really motivates me to continue doing my best in translating, Thanks!!