Kuroka unleashed a barrage of mixed magical attacks from all directions, each laced with illusions. But with a mighty sweep of his massive scythe, now cloaked in a menacing aura, Thanatos effortlessly neutralized the incoming assault.
"Then how about this, nya!?"
Kuroka followed up by generating a dense, pitch-black fog—an anti-Grim Reaper mist that completely obscured visibility within our combat zone.
[Hmph, poison? A bit prickly… Continuing to breathe it in would definitely be harmful. And it suppresses not only vision but also presence sensing. Still... it's too shallow.]
Thanatos swung his scythe again, launching a slashing attack straight at Kuroka's actual location.
"Nya!? How did you find where I was!?"
[You seriously didn't expect that? I'm a Grim Reaper. Seeing souls is basic instinct for us. This mist can't yet conceal the spiritual presence of a soul.]
Giiinnnnng!
While Thanatos addressed Kuroka, I snuck up behind him and struck. But he deflected my attack with ease. Not good—didn't even scratch him.
[So even a sneak attack like that doesn't work… But tell me, how are you able to track me in this fog? Did that feline youkai grant you some kind of counter-spell?]
"Nope. If you push hard enough with Senjutsu, even a human can sense souls!"
And so began our chaotic clash—my dual blades against Thanatos's colossal scythe—deep in the blinding dark.
Sight was useless, and even sound bounced all over this enclosed space, making it come from every direction. Thanatos definitely had the edge in soul detection, but the deadly aura of his Reaper scythe was so intense, it practically broadcasted his location in here.
Kuroka, meanwhile, was busy thickening the poisonous fog, which seemed to be slowing Thanatos down just enough for me to fight on even ground.
[Impressive for a human. But challenging a Grim Reaper in the realm of souls was your mistake.]
Suddenly, pain shot through my gut as I was blasted from the fog at incredible speed. I slammed into the hotel wall, crashing hard.
With me out of the way, Thanatos dispersed Kuroka's mist with a wave of shockwaves.
[You read my scythe movements well, but you couldn't keep track of me. I took advantage of that and kicked you away. Given your Sacred Gear's power, I avoided excessive damage… But it seems best to eliminate the black cat first.]
He was right—I got launched pretty hard, but the damage itself wasn't severe. It felt more like being pushed than attacked.
It did sting, sure, but using Vengeance on this amount of damage wouldn't do much…
At least, not with the old Sacred Gear.
Let's see how you like my new technique!
"[Unleashed Avenger: Vengeance Unbound!!]"
[Gahh!? What is this!?]
"So? How's the taste of God's Poison? Even if you're not a dragon, it's gotta hit hard, right?"
[!! I see now… Your Balance Breaker's forbidden ability!?]
Bingo. When I activate Vengeance, the attack doesn't just return the pain—it injects Samael's divine poison directly into the enemy.
It's a simple tactic. I deliberately take minor damage, then reflect it back amplified, with poison included. Against most foes, it deals massive harm.
Against dragons? Unless they're Dragon King-class, they go down in seconds.
And the best part…
[This… This curse… it's flooding in without end…]
Exactly. Vengeance can't be dodged or blocked. And until my wounds heal, the poison continues to pour into the target.
My Sacred Gear's evolution prioritized compatibility with divine energy, so the amount of poison may be lower, but the quality? Absolutely lethal. Even someone with god-class power like you can't ignore the damage.
Yeah, this Sacred Gear's insane now! Maybe it's finally time to stop calling it useless! (Flag!)
I'll never call it a junk skill again! (Flag!)
It's brutal! It's unstoppable! I fear no enemies now! (Flag!)
Evil Dragon Army? Samael's poison'll erase their souls! (Flag!)
[Tch… I came here to retrieve Samael, only to be taken down by him…]
Thanatos groaned in pain just as Pluto descended nearby, along with the rest of their squad.
Looks like Siegfried lost two of his dragon arms to Yuuto. Not bad.
[Lord Thanatos, you've been thoroughly bested. It seems both the Governor-General and the Red Dragon Emperor exceeded expectations. The surrounding Reapers have been wiped out, and the others have joined the fray. We couldn't complete the mission. We should retreat and regroup.]
Looks like Issei avoided a direct hit from the Death Scythe thanks to backup from the rest of the team, even though Kuroka's fog made it hard to coordinate at first.
[Also, we've received new orders. By causing chaos across the Underworld, an opportunity may yet arise. If you don't suppress Samael's poison soon, it may kill you.]
[…Very well. We retreat.]
"Hold it right there!" Azazel pointed his glowing spear at the two retreating foes. "You said something about collapsing the Underworld? What the hell do you mean by that?! What did you do!?"
Even with the skull mask covering his face, Pluto's mocking smirk was obvious.
[Indeed. As a reward for your valiant efforts, allow me to show you the beginning of our little spectacle.]
Pluto activated a communication spell. Moments later, a teleportation magic circle appeared behind him.
From it emerged a high-ranking Grim Reaper, with an ominous aura far beyond the mid-level ones we fought earlier. Beside him was a dark-skinned child—
"Leonardo!? He was on a separate mission! You kidnapped him!?"
[Yes, well… consider it a penalty for letting Samael fall into your hands. Not that we weren't planning to take him anyway. Now then—begin.]
Leonardo didn't react to anything around him. He was likely brainwashed.
The high-ranking Reaper pulled out a pistol—the barrel was fitted with a long injection needle.
"You even brought that!? He's still a child! That drug's going to wreck him! You have no idea what side effects it'll cause!"
Siegfried shouted, but it was too late. The Reaper jammed the needle into Leonardo's neck.
Leonardo immediately writhed in agony as dark veins bulged across his face.
"No way I'm letting you do this, nya!"
Kuroka launched a full-scale barrage, but Pluto casually erased the attack.
[We're not done yet. Watch carefully.]
As he spoke, a smaller magic circle activated near Leonardo. That's when the boy began to scream.
"UAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
With a soul-tearing scream, Leonardo's shadow rapidly swelled into a towering humanoid form—at least 300 meters tall, though still incomplete.
And it didn't stop there. Multiple 200-meter-class monsters emerged around him.
They were larger, stronger than the ones from the original plan. Likely a side effect of the enhanced drug.
This is bad—really bad. In the original timeline, those monsters alone nearly brought ruin to the Underworld. Now? The damage could be apocalyptic.
[Leonardo specializes in creating anti-monsters. So we had him create anti-demon monsters—no, anti-Underworld weapons. Lord Hades detests both devils and fallen angels. He wishes for them to perish. Consider this step one.]
"Are you insane!? If those things go wild in the Underworld, they'll destroy everything—innocent children, peaceful devils who want no part of war!"
[Like I said, Red Dragon Emperor. Hades hates devils. That's all the justification he needs. Now then… It seems the space here won't hold much longer with these monsters summoned. Until we meet again.]
With that, Pluto bowed mockingly and teleported away with Thanatos and the elite Reaper.
At the same time, teleportation circles appeared beneath the feet of the colossal monsters.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!"
Azazel's desperate roar echoed as we all launched simultaneous attacks.
Even Issei's brute force, Kuroka's barrage, and Azazel's divine strikes only managed to scratch them—and those wounds healed immediately.
"Then let's try this! Asia, healing support! [Ittou Rasetsu!]"
ZUBAAAAAAAAN!
I slashed with my Sacred Gear, now enhanced into an Over-Edge form. The strike cut cleanly from the creature's foot up to its armpit, toppling it backward—but the wound regenerated almost instantly.
That kind of durability... It's practically immune to damage.
And this was with my full strength, both hands on the blade. I guess it's time I started training two-handed swordsmanship seriously. Good thing I've been practicing with a wooden sword lately…
While I was slightly escaping reality with that thought, Georg moved to recover Leonardo, who lay unconscious. Siegfried stood beside him.
"They forced an incomplete transformation using both the drug and a chaos-inducing spell. Leonardo might be permanently damaged from this… I was planning to train him carefully, but now… Damn it."
"Siegfried, let's return to headquarters for now. He's not completely lost. If we act fast, we might still save him… though I wouldn't bet on it."
With a swirl of mist, Georg and his group teleported away, followed by the monsters, despite everyone's efforts to stop them.
"Damn it! Everyone, destroy the Ouroboros statues—now! We're leaving this space! If those anti-monsters are unleashed, the Underworld really will collapse. We must stop them—no matter what!!"
"Yes, sir!!"
Thus began the monstrous uprising—an event that would plunge the Underworld into chaos and despair.
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