At last, the day of the decisive battle had come.
After loafing around at the Church for a while, Issei returned to the old school building.
"Senpai... it's done."
"Then..."
"Yes!"
In the end, once Issei pulled it off, Rias hugged him with a delighted expression. Then—
"Wahaha, Senpai's chest! It's touching! Ah..."
He blurted out his inner thoughts before he could stop himself, and hurriedly covered his mouth, but—
"Ufufu, you did something that made me this happy, so a little chest contact is fine. If Issei wants, I can do even more. Here."
Rias said that as she placed Issei's hand on her chest. Then Issei—
"!! C-can I knead them?"
"Eh, of course."
"Then I won't hold back!"
"Ehehe, could you be a little gentler?"
"Yes!"
Having even received a reward on top of the whole setup, Issei melted into a dazed grin as he savored Rias's chest. He had only ever imagined it with his own eyes, like a dream he could never touch, but now that he was actually feeling it, he was so happy he nearly cried, wishing this moment would last forever. But—
"Oh my, oh my."
"H-Hi, Himejima-senpai!"
"A-Akeno!?"
Before they knew it, Akeno had arrived at the clubroom, and both Issei and Rias panicked and quickly put some distance between them. Then—
"Th-this is..."
"Ufufu, the club president is at that age, after all."
"A-aha! So, Akeno, are you ready to go?"
"Yes, President~"
Akeno seemed to be enjoying the situation, so Rias cleared her throat and changed the subject. Akeno still looked as if she had no idea what she was thinking, but she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Issei, is that person here?"
"He's right outside. Shall I call him?"
"Phew... yes, call him."
Rias took a deep breath and steeled herself. It made sense; the being about to appear before her was the one who had stopped the legendary existence rampaging through the Demon World. If she provoked him and turned him into an enemy, it would be disastrous, so she forced herself to stay sharp.
"This is the first time I've seen Senpai this tense... Maybe I should make the others like this too..."
Rias, who thought she was mentally prepared, was now as nervous as a job seeker waiting for an interview, and in its own way, that was adorable. Then, with Rias's signal and Issei's shout—
"You may come in!"
"Ohhh, so you are the devil girls this boy is fond of."
A middle-aged man who looked surprisingly casual for someone of his stature appeared.
.
.
.
.
.
- The Demon World
At the promised place, at the promised time, dozens of high-ranking devils had gathered. Every one of them was famous enough that no one in the world did not know their name, and powerful enough to match that fame.
One of the former Five Great Dragon Kings, the Dragon King Tannin.
Sairaorg Bael, said to be the strongest among the young devils.
Grand Duke Agares.
Lord Astaroth, head of House Astaroth.
Lord Gremory, head of House Gremory.
Dheuzer Belial.
Roygun Belphegor.
Badze Abaddon.
Runic Phoenix, an original character set up as Riser's older brother.
Rudiger Rosenkreutz, and others.
Along with the current Four Great Demon Kings: Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, and Falbium Asmodeus.
All of them were names belonging to the upper echelons of the underworld.
As most of the Demon World's forces gathered in one place, Sirzechs Lucifer sensed it first and braced himself.
"He's here."
"Oh? There are quite a few capable ones here. It's not Hashirama-level, but this should be entertaining enough."
"He's here..."
At the man's voice, which suddenly rang out from atop the hill, everyone's attention snapped toward him. There stood the legendary Uchiha man: black hair falling to his waist, red eyes, and red armor.
"You're Uchiha Madara!?"
"I have no name worth giving to the likes of you."
With Madara's appearance, Runic Phoenix, Riser Phoenix's older brother, looked down at him arrogantly.
"As expected of a human, you're unbearably arrogant! But since I can commend the courage of a human who dared declare war on us devils, I, Runic Phoenix, shall personally erase you!"
Just like Riser's brother, he was arrogant to the core. Ignoring the other devils, he confidently spread his flaming wings and launched a bare-handed preemptive strike, relying only on his regeneration ability. But—
"Pathetic."
"Guhk!"
Madara waited until he was right in front of him, then casually lashed out with a kick and smashed him in the face, sending him flying through the devils and burying him in the ground.
"Runic Phoenix was taken out in one blow... So the rumors weren't false after all."
"Yes. Underestimating him because he's human is a mistake."
"He really could wipe out Astaroth's territory by himself."
Sairaorg, Tannin, and Ajuka Beelzebub voiced their admiration as Runic collapsed unconscious from a single hit.
"However! I, as one of the former Dragon Kings, will not be looked down upon, human!!"
Tannin, the former Dragon King, unleashed flames from his massive body toward Madara.
"So the Dragon King name isn't just for show. In that case—Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Flame collided with flame, and at the point of impact, even rock began to melt. Despite the scene resembling hell itself, the devils did not budge an inch. As expected of those standing at the summit, they were not so easily shaken. And while Madara was locked in a contest of power with Tannin—
"Sorry, but I'll have you disappear here!"
Taking advantage of the moment while Madara was focused on his jutsu, Sairaorg's fist struck true. But Madara, still spewing flames, slipped past the attack, seized Sairaorg by the elbow, and hurled him straight into Tannin's breath attack. Sairaorg, suddenly suspended in the air against his will—
"!!"
—was directly hit by Tannin's attack, but—
"...Hoo."
He stood there unharmed, his body surging with violent magical power. Then he charged at Madara and—
"Hraaaah!"
—threw out the strongest straight punch packed with his maximum magical power. A gale strong enough to swallow a mountain crashed down on Madara.
"You've imbued your punch with attribute magic, huh? But..."
The blue giant that rose around Madara easily blocked the wind pressure.
"It's useless before this [Susanoo]."
"As expected... you're no ordinary man."
Having his trump card blocked, Sairaorg admitted it honestly.
"I have no more business with you."
"Ghk! Th-this is..."
Before he could even react, he was impaled by a blue light from [Susanoo]'s arm and collapsed.
"Are you all planning to come at me one by one? None of you are even a warm-up! Come at me all at once!"
"He's completely looking down on us!"
Still, as high-ranking devils, they all wanted to preserve their dignity and fight one-on-one. But Madara's taunt toward the entire group was too much, and some of the devils, insulted by being dismissed by a human, began to lose their composure.
"If dying is what you want, I'll kill you quickly!"
"Die!"
In the end, the high-ranking devils rushed in from all directions.
"Good! That's the spirit!"
With the perfect environment for enjoyment finally in place, Madara thrilled at the sight and leapt straight into the swarm of devils.
"Chaos! Buster!"
"Disappear!! Scarlet Flash!"
"Cut everything in two! Sunlight Annihilation!!"
Attacks capable of blowing away an entire territory rained down from every direction, but—
"Your spirit is good, but your skill is lacking."
They could not pierce Madara's [Susanoo]. The result was the same every time.
[Wooooooong]
The high-ranking devils' attacks were simply blocked by [Susanoo]'s shield. Madara did not miss the opening, slipping through the gaps and flinging [Susanoo]'s magatama in all directions, instantly rendering them combat-ineffective.
"Ghk!"
"Damn it!"
The sounds of bodies collapsing echoed from all around, and with the devils' relentless wide-area attacks and [Susanoo]'s magatama, the surrounding area was rapidly reduced to scorched ruin. But—
"Grr... I won't go down like this!"
"You human bastard!"
Even so, they rose again, as befit high-ranking devils.
"Endless."
For Madara, once he had fought them and beaten them down, his interest had already cooled. Watching them rise again like zombies and charge back in was starting to irritate him. Then Sairaorg, who had seemed to be out of the fight, suddenly stood up.
"I never expected to find someone this strong... I'll have to bring out everything I have!"
With Sairaorg's aura surging, an ominous magical power began to churn so violently that the surrounding space seemed to tremble. The devils all hurriedly put distance between themselves so they wouldn't get caught up in it.
"My lion! King of Nemea! You who are called the Lion King! Become armor through my valor—Rrrrrregulus Nemea!!"
Golden magical power blazed from Sairaorg, wrapping around his body and forming armor that resembled a golden lion, covering him from head to toe.
"Oh? There was someone quite usable after all. It's not just spirit—show me more!"
"You don't need to tell me twice!!"
The moment Sairaorg shouted, the ground beneath his feet shattered apart, and he shot forward at a speed that surpassed Madara's own before swinging his fist. Madara thought,
'Fast! If that lands, even my bones won't be left intact. But!'
Even if the speed was too much to follow physically, the [Sharingan] saw through everything. And the instant Sairaorg came within arm's reach—
[Tsukuyomi]
Though he possessed absolute defense and overwhelming offense, his mental fortitude was another matter. The moment Madara's [Sharingan] changed form, Sairaorg's movement froze.
"Ghk!"
He suddenly retched and collapsed.
"I'll acknowledge your physical ability. If I took that hit, I wouldn't come out of it unscathed either. But the problem was that your opponent was me."
"To let your guard down in front of us? You've got guts!"
With the overwhelmingly powerful Sairaorg down, the devils' arrogant attitudes vanished. They drew out their trump cards one after another and began attacking in groups. But Madara—
"You won't satisfy me like this. It looks like I'll have to weed out the trash here."
—settled into stance and formed hand seals. A giant with faces and arms protruding from both front and back manifested, blocking every attack the devils threw at him. And in that instant, the giant formed hand seals as well. It was ninjutsu performed through [Susanoo]'s hand signs rather than Madara's own, and not long after he completed them—
"What is that...?"
"A-are you a god or something...?"
"How are we supposed to stop a monster like that...?"
"..."
Seeing what had appeared in the sky, they lost the will to fight.