The Evil Dragon army, led by Ladon, blocked the gate to the Third Heaven.
It was right after Rias told me to go on ahead that the man reappeared.
A young man draped in a Hanfu. In his hand, a spear emitting holy energy, cloaked in an unusual aura.
The strongest Sacred Gear—the [True Longinus of Twilight].
I narrowed my eyes at the sight of him.
"—Cao Cao. I heard rumors, but you've really returned."
Yes, standing before us was the former leader of the Hero Faction—Cao Cao!
After his defeat at my hands, he was banished to the Underworld. Afterward, Sensei told me he clawed his way out of the Underworld and became a vanguard for Sakra Devanam.
He wore an eyepatch over the right eye I had crushed.
I questioned Cao Cao. "Why are you here? And how did you even get up here?"
He gave a condescending smile. "I thought I'd indulge in some Evil Dragon hunting. I came up through the Purgatory gate, just like them."
I see… Purgatory, huh? Is he saying he found a way to Purgatory while he was with Hades?
...Could Diarmuid also be coming up from Purgatory? She didn't say anything specific during the communication…
Cao Cao twirled his spear, pointing its tip at Ladon.
"I'll take on the Evil Dragons here too. But you are a hero—a 'Hero,' aren't you? Then you should defeat the villainous executives. Just like you defeated me."
"You weren't even a villainous executive. You were just an idiot who misunderstood the meaning of 'hero' back then."
Cao Cao gave a wry smile at my harsh comment. "Ah, you're absolutely right. I was bound by the blood of 'Heroes,' believing I had to be one. ...Though you shattered such notions."
"So? What are you now? Do you still call yourself a hero?"
If he still dared to call himself a hero, I would—right here, right now.
However, Cao Cao shook his head. "No, not after being told off by a true hero. —A brave warrior returned from another world. That's what you are, isn't it? No wonder I couldn't win. There's no reason for a crude imitation to defeat the genuine article."
Cao Cao unleashed a holy wave from his Holy Spear.
He aimed it at the Evil Dragon horde—and with a colossal explosion, the entire horde was instantly blown away!
As always... no, has the Holy Spear's power increased even further than before?
Cao Cao twirled his spear, saying defiantly, "Now, I am simply Cao Cao. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a human with human pride and the Holy Spear."
"Is that so? Then I'll leave this to you. Rias! Everyone! We're going on ahead!"
I declared this to everyone, then rushed forward with my peerage, Asia, Xenovia, and Irina.
As I passed by Cao Cao, he told me, "Next time, I shall challenge you as simply Cao Cao."
A challenge, huh?
Why do all the men involved with me keep challenging me?!
Well, even so—
"Alright, bring it on anytime."
▽
Passing through the gate, we reached the Third Heaven—the layer where Paradise resides.
We were running down the central street of the Third Heaven. If we go straight down this road, we'll reach the next gate!
Evil Dragons attacked us along the way, but—
"Get out of the way!"
—Alice's leading strike scattered them into pieces.
Evil Dragons of this level are no match for us. The other members, excluding Asia, also swiftly cut down the attacking Evil Dragons one after another.
The troublesome thing about mass-produced Evil Dragons isn't their strength. It's their numbers.
I don't know how the Qliphoth are producing them, but they're gushing out like water from a tap, one after another. Hundreds, thousands, even. If we're unlucky, tens of thousands might attack.
As we ran down the central street, Miharu spoke up. "Hey, isn't something a little strange?"
"Strange? What is?" Irina asked, tilting her head.
"Don't you feel like the number of attackers has been sparse, or unusually small, for a while now?"
She had a point.
Since they're coming in large numbers, the conventional strategy would be to gather their forces before attacking.
Yet, since arriving on this layer, the attacking numbers have been at most about ten. Unusually few.
Feeling a sense of unease, we spotted the next gate in our line of sight.
But—
"Ohohohoho♪ Hello there~♪ I've come to burn-burn-burn you up."
There stood a witch in a gothic lolita dress. It was the Crimson Flame Valburga.
"Still have bad taste," was Alice's comment upon seeing Valburga.
Ah, a vein throbbed on Valburga's temple... Does she dislike having her fashion sense criticized?
Well, I agree, that outfit is a bit much... And her personality is terrible too.
Another shadow appeared before us.
"And today, Crow-san has also come to join us~."
A man in a black coat stood beside Valburga.
—The Evil Dragon Crom Cruach.
Even with Alice and me together, we couldn't defeat him... No, we barely managed to wound him.
I see, so he appears here.
"Ohohohoho♪ Today, we'll be facing both of you~!"
We don't have time to deal with both of them here... but we have no choice, do we?
I don't know Crom Cruach's abilities, but he's simply strong. It would be difficult for me to win against him right now.
...Using EXA-form might work, but considering what comes after, using it so early is a bad idea.
Valburga's crimson flames are lethal to us devils. We have the worst compatibility.
The members present are me, Alice, Miharu, Ravel, Irina, Asia, and Xenovia.
At least the church trio—Irina, Asia, and Xenovia—I want to let them go on ahead.
At that moment—
"Naw, this looks like quite the pickle."
Appearing with a casual remark was—Joker Duilio! He flew through the air, wings spread!
Duilio flew down to us.
At his arrival, Valburga smirked. "Whoa♪ Could it be, Joker? Well, well, what a big catch we've stumbled upon♪ Hey, what about the Evil Dragon-kuns who were on this Third Heaven?"
Valburga asked Duilio.
Duilio then pointed into the distance.
In the far distance, a massive thundercloud was visible. From it, numerous violent lightning bolts were striking down.
"They're still being attacked. Some remnants might be left, though."
—!
Looking in the opposite direction, a giant tornado was engulfing Evil Dragons.
So, he was attacking a wide area with thunderclouds and tornadoes!
The strange feeling I had upon entering the Third Heaven was because Duilio was clearing out the Evil Dragons all by himself.
Duilio's Sacred Gear controls the weather. Its true power was being unleashed on this battlefield.
He's off the charts. Both his abilities and the skill of the man wielding them.
This is the power of Heaven's trump card—.
Duilio said to Valburga, "This is Paradise. We have to be quiet, or the souls here will be sad, won't they? They've finished their duties in the living world, so we have to let them rest peacefully here."
He seemed to be making a casual remark, but Duilio's eyes were utterly serious.
What Griselda-san had told me flashed through my mind.
'Duilio is an orphan of war. He lost his parents in a civil war in a certain country and lived in a church facility from a young age. It was around that time he awakened his Sacred Gear.'
Duilio's life changed dramatically after awakening his Sacred Gear, a High-Tier Divine Dividing. After awakening his power, he quickly left the facility and trained as a church warrior at a warrior training institution.
His extraordinary talent and abilities awakened the young Duilio as a warrior.
'In the church facilities, there are also children who are born with unique powers and have no resistance to them. Duilio, sharing their circumstances, dotes on those children, calling them "little brothers" and "little sisters".'
Some children with abnormal powers reportedly die from the curse of the power they possess before they can even grow up. And Duilio has witnessed this repeatedly.
'The biggest reason he became the Joker is... so he can meet the souls of the children who made it to Paradise. As the Joker, considered Heaven's trump card, he can step into that realm. That child is both the strongest in the Church and the kindest young man in the Church.'
Griselda-san told me this, tears streaming down her face.
Looking at Duilio again, he spread his wings, clad in a golden aura. It was a very quiet presence, but I could feel a strong will to stop his opponents—.
"I can't let you pass beyond here, you know. This is the only place where my little brothers and sisters can run around without suffering any hardships. So, I can't let you rampage here. —Paradise is worth guarding, by angels."
The next moment, Valburga's eyes glowed ominously.
Pillars of crimson flame erupted around Duilio—but Duilio froze them with a mere horizontal swipe of his hand!
Duilio said to Irina, "Alright, Irina the A. Go on ahead."
"Joker-sama! We also—" Irina must have wanted to say they would fight too.
However, I stopped her.
"Irina, you go on ahead."
"Issei-kun!? Why!?"
"What is it you should be doing right now? You understand why everyone let us go on ahead, don't you?"
"!"
The reason Rias and the others let us—let Irina—go on ahead was to save Touji-san.
Irina, as an angel, must protect Heaven. But now, as a daughter, saving her father takes priority.
Even if Heaven is protected, if Touji-san isn't saved, Irina will regret it for the rest of her life.
To prevent that from happening—
"Here—"
I wanted to continue by saying I would stay.
But my words were interrupted.
"We'll stay here. Issei, you go on ahead too."
Alice, Miharu, and Ravel stood before Crom Cruach.
All three radiated aura, clearly eager for a fight.
"Hey, hey..."
Alice twirled her spear and said, "It's not like this is the wrong choice, right? The Evil Dragon in front of us is on another level. We can't afford to be held back here."
"That's true, but..."
"Besides, even if we meet those evil god's servants, they're battle maniacs. They'll probably only challenge us one-on-one. Considering that... right?"
As Alice said, Raziel and his group are battle maniacs who desire to fight strong opponents. They wouldn't bother with the weak, only enjoying battles with the strong.
It might sound bad to say it, but at this stage, Raziel and his group probably wouldn't even spare a glance for Irina and the others.
Considering that...
I nodded.
"Understood. I'm counting on you all."
As I said that, Ravel spoke. "I don't know how far my power will reach, but I think I can manage support."
"Please do. —And don't do anything reckless, okay?"
"We know."
The three of them nodded at my words.
It's also the master's duty to trust their peerage.
Then, what I must do is trust them and move forward!
"Irina! Let's go! You're going to save your father, right!"
"U-Uh-huh! Thank you, everyone!"
Leaving those words behind, we dashed off.
Neither Crom Cruach nor Valburga showed any sign of chasing us.
Suddenly, the fierce sounds of battle erupted from behind us.
Duilio against Valburga, Alice and the others against Crom Cruach.
While Duilio isn't a concern, I am worried about Alice and the others... but I trust my peerage and push forward.
▽
Passing through the gate of the Third Heaven, we plunged into the Fourth Heaven—the Garden of Eden.
As far as the eye could see, vibrant plants and trees bloomed, and the distant hills and trees were a magnificent sight.
If it weren't for the ongoing battle, I'd want to lie down and take a nap. Such a quiet and beautiful place.
So, this is the Garden of Eden, famous from the story of Adam and Eve.
Upon entering the Fourth Heaven, what I felt was a sense of unease.
...It's too clean for Evil Dragons to have infiltrated it.
Griselda-san had said that the Qliphoth would likely be dominant from the Third to Fifth Heavens.
It's conceivable that the Seraphs who sortied from the upper layers might have annihilated the invading Evil Dragons, but that also seems unlikely.
There are absolutely no traces of battle in this Fourth Heaven.
What does this mean...?
Feeling a strange sensation, I looked around.
Then, not far from the gate connecting the Third and Fourth Heavens, I sensed a familiar presence.
This beast-like aura is...!
He's here—!
I glared in that direction.
There—
"Bell, you have ketchup on your mouth."
"Mmm... Thanks, Vika."
"Bell, you need to be a little more conscious of yourself as a woman."
"Hahahahaha! It's too late for that now! Besides, I want Bell to stay just as she is!"
There was a heartwarming family scene, spread out on a sheet, eating lunch.
THWACK!
I, Irina, and Xenovia performed a spectacular head-first slide onto the ground.
Only Asia looked bewildered, but...
"Are you guys having a picnicccccccccccccccccccccccccc!!"
Why... why does it always turn out like this...!
-------------------------------
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