Purple energy gathered around Diodora's hand. The power was immense. Overwhelming.
"Goodbye, Red Dragon Emperor."
The energy shot forward.
Aimed directly at Issei's heart.
He couldn't dodge. Not injured. Not from this distance.
This was it—
A barrier exploded into existence.
The purple energy slammed into them and scattered harmlessly.
"What—" Diodora's eyes widened.
A figure dropped from above. Silver hair flowing.
Rossweisse.
She landed between Issei and Diodora, her hands glowing with magic. Multiple magic circles rotated around her.
Diodora and his subordinates stopped as they stared at the new arrival.
"Rossweisse-san!" Issei gasped.
"Are you alright, Issei-san?" Rossweisse didn't take her eyes off Diodora.
"I'm—"
"Good. Stay behind me."
More figures appeared around the room. Koneko Toujou, Rias Gremory and the entire Gremory peerage.
"Diodora Astaroth. What are you doing?" Rias said, her voice icy.
Diodora's expression shifted. The cruel smile vanished. Replaced by the gentle, concerned facade.
"Rias-sama. Thank goodness you're here." His voice was smooth. Earnest. "This is all a terrible misunderstanding. The Old Satan Faction—"
"We heard everything."
Diodora froze, his mask cracked. Then Diodora's gentle expression twisted. His subordinates tensed.
"I see." His voice lost all warmth. "How unfortunate."
"Unfortunate?" Rias' power intensified. Her smile was dangerous. "You traitor. You attacked our friends. Planned to kill Issei-kun. And you think this is just unfortunate?"
"You have nowhere to run," Kiba said, his swords pointed at Diodora's subordinates. "Surrender now."
Diodora looked around and then he laughed.
"Surrender?" He raised his hand. The mark on his palm glowed—Ophis's Snake. "Do you have any idea how much power this gives me?"
Energy exploded from his body. The pressure was immense.
"I am Diodora Astaroth. Descendant of one of the original 72 Pillars. Blessed by the Infinite Dragon God herself." His eyes gleamed with madness. "You think you can stop me—!?"
CRACK.
A fist slammed into his face with devastating force, the sound of impact echoing through the entire chamber like a thunderclap.
Diodora's head snapped back violently, his words cutting off mid-sentence as blood sprayed from his now-broken nose in a crimson arc.
He stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock.
Rossweisse stood where Diodora had been a second ago. Her fist still extended. Her silver hair flowing behind her.
Her expression was utterly cold, filled with undisguised disgust as she looked at the man before her.
"You talk too much."
"You—" Diodora started.
Rossweisse didn't let him finish his pathetic attempt at a retort.
She moved then another punch. This one to his gut.
Diodora doubled over. The air left his lungs.
She didn't stop. She pressed forward.
Before he could recover, Rossweisse was already there. A spinning kick caught him in the ribs.
CRACK.
Bones broke.
"Impossible—" Diodora gasped. "I have the Snake—the power of Ophis—"
Again before he could continue, Rossweise striked again.
Another punch. His jaw.
Another. His ribs.
Another. His stomach.
Each strike was vicious. Brutal.
But to be honest, Rossweisse could have killed him on the first strike. She was more than capable.
But she didn't all because she didn't like his face.
And that smile. That smile that hid something rotten underneath.
He looked more perverted than Odin. And she'd dealt with Odin for years.
Nothing like her beloved Leon.
Leon with his beautiful, perfect face. His strong, perfect body. His kindness. His strength.
Not this... this scum.
This disgusting devil who preyed on innocent girls like Asia.
Her fist connected with Diodora's face again.
CRACK.
His nose broke. Again.
Diodora hit the ground hard.
His subordinates moved to help him.
"[Touki]!" Koneko appeared beside them. Her small fist glowed white.
BOOM.
Three subordinates flew across the room. Unconscious before they hit the wall.
"Don't even think about it," Koneko said quietly.
Akeno's lightning crackled. "Ara ara~ You boys should stay down."
Her magic struck. The remaining subordinates collapsed. Paralyzed.
Kiba's swords gleamed. He positioned himself between the fallen devils and Asia's unconscious form.
"No one touches her," he said firmly.
Diodora struggled to his feet. His face was a bloody mess. His ribs broken. His body trembling.
But the Ophis Snake on his palm glowed brighter.
Purple energy surged around him. His wounds began to heal.
"You... you dare..." His voice shook with rage and disbelief. "I am Diodora Astaroth! I will not be—"
Rossweisse's expression didn't change.
But she was done playing now, magic circles appeared. Not one. Not two.
Dozens.
They rotated around her. Runes blazing with power.
"[Valkyrie's Judgment]."
The air itself seemed to freeze.
"Wait—" Diodora's eyes widened in genuine fear.
Too late.
The magic struck.
Magic tore through Diodora's barrier like it was paper.
The magic pierced directly through his chest.
Straight through where his heart was.
Blood sprayed outward in a geyser of crimson.
Diodora staggered backward, his trembling hands clutching uselessly at the gaping wound in his chest
The Ophis Snake glowed frantically, pulsing desperately as it tried everything within its power to heal the catastrophic damage.
But Rossweisse's attack was not simple anymore. It was destruction aimed at the very soul itself, erasing existence on a level that even infinite regeneration couldn't overcome.
It was manipulation of causality itself, the rewriting of fundamental reality to declare that Diodora Astaroth's existence had reached its absolute and irrevocable end.
Her powers as the Virgo Hektos—the Divine Maiden of Punishment, one of the twelve Zodiac Pieces that Leon had forged—granted her authority over judgment and finality that transcended normal magical boundaries and entered the realm of divine authority.
Not even Hel herself, the fearsome Norse goddess of death who ruled over the realm of the dishonored dead with absolute dominion, had been able to nullify Rossweisse's unique abilities during their confrontation, much less actually defeat her in combat when Rossweisse wielded the full extent of her Zodiac powers.
The goddess of death had been forced to acknowledge that there were forms of ending that existed beyond even her considerable jurisdiction and control.
Of course, what Diodora possessed was merely a fragment—a tiny, incomplete piece of Ophis's vast and infinite power, not the Dragon God herself with all her overwhelming might.
A Snake given freely but representing only the smallest fraction of the Ouroboros Dragon's true capabilities.
Something that Rossweisse, armed with her Zodiac authority and Leon's training, was able to deal with almost effortlessly, her powers specifically designed to counter and overcome such borrowed strength.
The fragment tried desperately to save its host, purple energy flaring and sputtering like a dying star, but it was ultimately powerless against the absolute judgment that Rossweisse had delivered.
"Stop…" Diodora's voice was fading.
"The world will be infinitely better off without your continued existence polluting it."
Rossweisse's eyes were completely merciless, showing not even a flicker of compassion for the dying man before her.
Diodora collapsed heavily to his knees, blood pooling rapidly beneath him and spreading across the floor in an ever-widening circle.
Rossweisse's final magic circle appeared directly above Diodora's kneeling form, glowing with the brilliant light of absolute judgment.
Diodora looked up with eyes that were already beginning to glaze over, finally comprehending his own mortality and the terror that came with it.
"No... wait... please don't do this—"
The magic struck downward with the inevitability of fate itself.
Diodora Astaroth's physical body began to disintegrate from the point of impact, breaking down into individual particles.
Turned to nothing more than fine ash that scattered across the floor.
Completely and utterly gone from this world.
The room fell into absolute silence.
The ash that had once been Diodora Astaroth scattered across the floor, drifting through the air in the aftermath of Rossweisse's devastating final attack.
Rias's crimson eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and profound respect as she took in the destruction that Rossweisse had delivered.
Rossweisse had completely and thoroughly dismantled Diodora Astaroth—a devil who was, by no means whatsoever, weak or inexperienced in combat.
Diodora was one of the most famous young devils in the entire Underworld, known throughout devil society for his power, his prestigious lineage, and his considerable magical abilities.
And yet Rossweisse had dispatched him as easily as someone might swat away an annoying insect, barely even breaking a sweat throughout the entire one-sided beatdown.
Rias felt a chill run down her spine as she truly comprehended, perhaps for the first time since meeting the silver-haired Valkyrie, just how formidable Leon Mishima's personal secretary and right hand truly was beneath her normally composed and professional exterior.
She had known, of course, that Rossweisse was strong anyone who served as his closest assistant would have to possess considerable power and skill.
But seeing it demonstrated made Rias realize that she had been drastically underestimating the former Valkyrie's true capabilities this entire time.
Rossweisse had saved them earlier when they were first attacked by Old Satan Faction forces who had been specifically targeting Gasper, clearly planning to capture him and use his powerful Sacred Gear for their own nefarious purposes.
Thankfully, with all the intensive training they had received from Leon over the past months, Rias and her peerage had managed to defeat the initial attackers and hold their own reasonably well against the continuous waves of enemies.
But then Rossweisse had appeared on the battlefield and had easily dispatched the remaining attackers with a level of skill and power that had left Rias's entire peerage feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison.
"Rossweisse-san," Rias said. "That was amazing."
Rossweisse's cold expression softened slightly as she turned to face the Gremory heiress.
"It was necessary to eliminate a threat to those under Leon-sama's protection. Koneko-san especially."
There was something in the way she said it that suggested Rossweisse had taken particular interest in ensuring the Nekoshou's safety.
"Speaking of Leon-sama," Rossweisse continued. "Where is he?"
Issei, who had been gently checking Asia's pulse again to reassure himself she was truly alright, looked up.
"Leon-san is over there, he was dealing with the main force of the Old Satan Faction."
"I see." Rossweisse's eyes narrowed with determination as she made her decision immediately. "Then I will be returning to Leon-sama's side to provide support. He may require assistance."
"We're coming with you," Rias said firmly
Rossweisse studied them for a moment, assessing their condition and readiness then she nodded in approval.
"Very well."
"I'm bringing her somewhere safe first," he said, his voice leaving no room for debate. "Then I'm joining you."
"Understood," Rossweisse acknowledged. "There should be a secure room two corridors west."
It didn't take long for them to find Leon.
They rounded a corner and emerged into a massive open area that had once been an elegant conference hall but was now a devastated battlefield.
And there, in the center of the destruction, was Leon.
His armor blazed with power, Laevateinn burning in his grip with white-hot flames that made the air itself ripple and distort from the sheer heat.
Then they saw his opponent.
A young man dressed in elaborate Chinese attire layered over what appeared to be a modified school uniform, his black hair tied back in a traditional style, moved with fluid grace that spoke of absolute mastery in combat.
In his hand, a spear radiated holy power so intense and overwhelming that it made Rossweisse's skin prickle with instinctive wariness despite her divine heritage.
The True Longinus.
The spear that had pierced the son of God himself.
The weapon universally hailed and feared as the strongest Sacred Gear in existence
The God Slayer.
Seeing this legendary weapon in action, watching it clash against Leon's Laevateinn with earth-shaking force, Rossweisse felt a familiar sensation creeping into her chest.
Fear.
The True Longinus was no ordinary Sacred Gear—it was divine judgment made manifest, a weapon that could pierce anything, destroy anything, kill anything if its wielder possessed the skill and will to use it properly.
But then her eyes returned to Leon, taking in his unwavering stance, the confidence and the absolute lack of fear in his eyes despite facing such a powerful opponent.
Her beloved Leon, who had never once failed to overcome whatever challenge stood before him.
The nervousness in her chest was tempered now by something stronger, something more fundamental.
Trust.
Rossweisse's hands clenched at her sides as she watched him with unwavering faith as the strongest human alive faced down the world's ultimate weapon.
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