Asmodeus City!
Named after the same surname as the handsome, brown-haired man from the castle.
Once the digit-filled ribbon appeared and magical fluctuations surged, Vitan and Radix were teleported into the city.
But unlike before, where civilians remained calm in the face of magical unrest—
The moment Vitan appeared, everything stopped.
Pedestrians halted.
Shopkeepers stepped out of their stores.
Even the children, previously pushed indoors, now peeked out their windows, curiously watching the man who stood in the center of the street.
"Lord Vitan, are you inspecting the capital today?"
The question came from an elderly gentleman in a suit, with white hair and a monocle.
"Oh, it's you, Liwell."
Vitan's gaze slowly swept over the old man before he gently nodded.
"A distinguished guest will be arriving soon. Have everyone in the organization retreat from here."
The old man immediately placed one hand over his heart and bowed slightly, demonstrating an extremely standard noble etiquette.
"Yes, Lord Vitan!"
This old man was a long-standing subordinate of the Vitan family. His ability to handle matters had earned the trust of two generations of the Asmodeus clan's patriarchs.
The townspeople retreated swiftly. Whether children, youths, the elderly, or women, none showed resistance to the red-haired man. Under the leadership of Liwell, they left the street in an orderly manner with remarkable speed.
And just at the moment the street fell silent—
From the eastern corner, the hazy silhouettes of a man and a woman began to appear.
Normally, at such a distance, it would be impossible to see their features clearly—at most, only their outlines.
The two figures seemed to have also noticed Vitan and Radix standing there.
And then, an astonishing scene unfolded.
Behind the man and woman grew wings of flesh that resembled those of bats. With a gentle flap, their feet left the ground as they shot through the air toward Vitan.
They flapped their bat-like wings and slowly landed in front of him.
The man had short, emerald-green hair and bright blue eyes, with a face that leaned toward a somewhat otherworldly beauty.
—Ajuka Beelzebub
The woman wore a light-colored gown, with long, silvery hair that glimmered like a galaxy. Her tall and voluptuous figure seemed to emanate a chill more biting than absolute zero.
—Grayfia Asmodeus
Two of the Four Great Satans who currently ruled the Underworld and all devils.
That's right—this world was the setting of High School DxD, a fan-service heavy, action-packed anime that Vitan, the transmigrator, had once watched back on Earth.
He had arrived in this world thirty years ago and was born into the Asmodeus family—one of the 72 pure-blooded devil clans.
In the original series, the Asmodeus clan had already gone extinct. Among the 72 devil houses, it had ranked 32nd.
To be honest—
He was quite troubled when he arrived in this world.
Because the usual benefit of foreknowledge that most transmigrators enjoyed was unavailable to him.
After all, he'd only watched the first two seasons of this fan-service anime. After it was banned online, he never saw the rest.
As for the novel version? He hadn't read that either.
The reason? Well... those who know, know.
Furthermore, the reality of this world didn't exactly follow the anime.
Take, for instance, the silver-haired Devil King in front of him—Grayfia Asmodeus.
In the anime, he remembered that while she was indeed powerful, her identity was as the wife of Sirzechs Lucifer, Rias Gremory's older brother—a queen, essentially.
The Devil King named Asmodeus was supposed to be a bald muscular man.
But in this world, Grayfia had not married Sirzechs and instead replaced the bald man to become one of the Four Satans.
So after learning that much of what he remembered no longer applied, he stopped relying on the original story's plot.
"So, what brings you two to my territory today?"
His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant—very unlike typical devils who would bow and scrape before the Satans.
"Hmm, just wanted to talk about some matters. Aren't you going to invite us into your castle?"
As expected, Ajuka showed no displeasure at Vitan's irreverence. His face bore a warm smile, as soothing as a spring breeze.
Grayfia, standing beside him, remained silent—maintaining her aloof and elegant demeanor.
"Alright, just don't resist."
With a helpless sigh, Vitan activated a black ribbon marked with the number "7" to envelop the four of them.
"Then we'll be in your care."
Ajuka responded while also deactivating his protective magic, allowing Vitan's energy to surround him.
—Scene shift—
The setting changed to the reception hall of the Asmodeus Castle.
When it comes to devil architecture, one word describes it best: grand.
The Underworld's geography is not quite the same as the human world's.
In terms of land area, the Underworld and the Human World are about the same size.
But the Human World is two-thirds covered in ocean, making much of it uninhabitable for humans.
The Underworld, however, has no oceans—only land. Yet, only two intelligent species live in the Underworld:
Devils and Fallen Angels.
Both are species with extremely low birth rates. Their population was already small to begin with.
A few centuries ago, the devils fought a three-way war against angels and fallen angels, backed by the Biblical Faction.
After that war, instead of recuperating, they plunged into a civil war between the Old Satan Faction and the New Satan Faction.
These two devastating wars wiped out over half of the 72 pure-blooded devil houses.
Even regular devil soldiers were heavily depleted.
Because of this, the population of these two races became so scarce that it led to the awkward situation of vast land with few inhabitants.
A single pure-blood devil house could rule over territory comparable to a small country—all solid land.
Among the 72 houses, the Asmodeus family, a royal house commanding 72 legions, ruled an immense domain.
Their land was as large as the entire country of Japan.