While the angels in Heaven were happily handling matters concerning the Resurrection Spring, the devils of the Underworld were in no mood to celebrate.
What had happened this time was simply too serious!
Aside from the heads of a small number of noble houses who had only been wounded, the vast majority of the nobility had suffered devastating losses!
Both the heads of their houses and their heirs had perished in the assault.
Only after questioning the devils who had escaped did they learn that the culprit had been an angel with thirty-six wings!
Without question, it was the Scribe of Heaven...
Metatron!
Although Sirzechs had tried to overestimate Metatron's strength as much as possible, he ultimately discovered that he had still underestimated her.
How long had the Four Great Satans been fighting Michael?
Even with the most generous estimate, it had only been a little over an hour!
Yet Metatron had managed to reach the territories of so many noble houses and eliminate them in such a brief period...
And that even included the time spent traveling!
There were more than seventy devil noble houses in the Underworld. Assuming the entire operation had taken an hour and a half, that meant Metatron needed only around two minutes to eliminate the head and heir of each noble house.
Was that not far too terrifying?
Fortunately, amid all this misfortune, the families of Sirzechs and the other three Satans had not suffered any truly disastrous consequences.
Although Sirzechs' father, Zeoticus, was the head of House Gremory and had also been attacked by Metatron during the assault, he had only been gravely wounded. His life had not been in danger.
Under normal circumstances, Sirzechs would have been consumed by rage if anything happened to his family.
But now, compared with the devil nobles who had been completely wiped out, Sirzechs felt that his own family had gotten off lightly. At the very least, Heaven had not exterminated them to the last member, had it?
The families of the other three Satans were in much the same condition as Sirzechs'. Although they had been gravely wounded, the Underworld's medical technology had managed to save them.
"Since the nobles are gone, let us begin the meeting directly."
Sirzechs swept his gaze around the room, but most of the seats were completely empty.
They had prepared such a large conference room, yet in the end, only the Four Great Satans were present...
That was right. Previously, because the noble faction had restrained them, the Satan faction had possessed authority but could not make every decision on its own.
After this angelic assault, however, the nobility had effectively ceased to exist. Naturally, the Four Great Satans now controlled the entire voice of the Underworld.
Although many devils had died or been wounded, from a certain perspective, the Satans might even have to thank Heaven.
Without this assault, the Satans might never have obtained the authority they now possessed.
"What are your thoughts on Heaven's attack?"
"Should we surrender to Heaven or not?"
The other Satans already had answers in their hearts regarding Sirzechs' questions. However, since this was still a formal meeting, they needed to discuss the matter and explain its advantages and disadvantages.
"Although Heaven has done many unpleasant things, and my family was also dragged into the conflict, I am still more inclined to surrender, Sirzechs."
Within the Underworld, Serafall was usually responsible for diplomatic affairs.
Although negotiations with Heaven had been relatively rare, she had still participated in quite a few. Compared with Sirzechs and the others, she might understand the angels better than any of them.
Moreover, not only she but all the other Satans understood the meaning behind Heaven's actions.
Heaven must have known about the relationship between the Satan faction and the noble faction, which was why it had chosen to launch this war.
Aside from greatly weakening the Underworld's military strength, Heaven had also unified its voice and reduced the devils' resistance.
That was not all. After all Four Great Satans had been defeated, the devils beneath them had undoubtedly witnessed Heaven's power. Many of them would certainly favor surrendering to Heaven.
Although Metatron had attacked the devil nobles, she had not attacked middle-class or low-class devils.
If the Satans chose to surrender, those devils might not do anything. But if Sirzechs chose to continue the war, the devil race would inevitably descend into civil conflict.
Given Sirzechs' personality and strength, he could unquestionably suppress such unrest, but he would never do so.
So many devil nobles had died only recently. If civil war broke out now, it would undoubtedly bring disaster upon the entire race!
Should the forces of another pantheon seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, the devils would truly be finished!
Therefore, Serafall believed that surrendering to Heaven now was unquestionably their best choice.
"That isn't the only reason."
Ajuka picked up where Serafall left off and continued her argument.
"Although we haven't personally witnessed the God of the Bible's strength, that angel... none of us had ever seen her before."
"The angels of the past were all created by God, and we had seen nearly every high-ranking angel. But that Metatron..."
Just as Ajuka said, they had never seen or even heard of a thirty-six-winged angel existing anywhere in the world!
Unless she had never revealed herself to anyone before. But was that possible? Considering Heaven's former strength and aggressiveness, Ajuka did not believe Metatron would have remained hidden without ever appearing.
That left only one possible answer!
Metatron was an angel who had only recently been created!
She was a Super Devil among angels, created by the God of the Bible at tremendous cost after her resurrection!
Even without using holy light, she had easily suppressed Sirzechs' Power of Destruction!
Could the God of the Bible, who was capable of creating such a powerful being, possibly be weak?
Of course not!
And even if she truly was, she could simply continue creating angels like Metatron!
For a moment, Serafall imagined a sky filled with countless Metatrons descending upon the Underworld...
There probably would not even be ashes left behind!
"Then is there really any need for us to discuss this?"
The final Satan spoke at that moment. He was also in favor of surrender. After confronting such a terrifying angel directly, he naturally understood the difference between devils and angels.
Besides, if even Super Devils like Sirzechs and Ajuka were helpless, what could an ordinary Satan like him possibly do?
He would probably be obliterated the instant he charged forward.
The Four Great Satans sat in their seats and looked from one another to the next, seeing the same helplessness and concern in everyone else's eyes.
Heaven was simply too powerful!
However, if Heaven truly had no intention of exterminating the devils, submitting to it was not entirely unacceptable.
After all, even if the sky collapsed, the God of the Bible would be there to hold it up!
In the future, all the Satans would need to do was properly govern the devils and prevent their subordinates from causing trouble.
"Then this meeting is concluded."
The devils chose submission.
...
The Underworld was, in fact, what people commonly referred to as Hell. However, unlike Earth, its land did not exist upon a single plane but was instead composed of multiple layers.
The layer inhabited by most devils and some fallen angels was merely the surface of the Underworld.
Beneath this so-called Underworld, however, lay another place known as the Realm of the Dead.
Its creator was Hades, one of the three principal gods of Olympus, the renowned faction of Greek mythology.
To separate and collect souls, Hades had established a temple within the Realm of the Dead. It also served as the base of operations for both him and the many Grim Reapers under his command.
Within that temple, a skeleton dressed in ceremonial robes and wearing a crown sat upon an ornate golden throne.
He was the ruler of this place.
Hades, God of the Dead!
Although no expression could appear on a skeletal face, his continuously trembling hands said everything.
The God of the Dead was clearly in a very poor mood.
"You're saying... the angels have already attacked the devils of the Underworld?"
"And not only that, but the fallen angels have completely defected to Heaven?"
What in the world was going on?
When Hades first heard the news, he thought someone was playing a trick on him. However...
Soon afterward, a violent disturbance erupted throughout the Realm of the Dead!
For some unknown reason, a massive crack had appeared in the ceiling of the Underworld layer where Hades resided. Not only that, but the opening continued to expand as time passed!
Crack! Crack!
Within a few hours, the fissure split open completely. Countless Grim Reapers, along with Hades himself, stared at the scene in shock...
It was water!
A seemingly endless torrent of white water poured down from above, instantly causing the entire Realm of the Dead to shake violently!
As the ruler of the Realm of the Dead, Hades could sense the tremendous power contained within that water!
Countless weaker Grim Reapers would likely be dissolved merely by coming into contact with it.
Barring any unexpected explanation, the powers contained within the water had to be holiness and light...
"This was unquestionably Heaven's doing, wasn't it? Only they possess power like this! What in the world did they do to the devils?"
Only then did Hades truly begin to panic.
He lived right next door to the devils! If they fell, would he not be the next target?
"No. I must think of something immediately!"
Hades suddenly sensed an impending crisis.
He had heard long ago that the God of the Bible had returned, but for reasons unknown, she had remained in Heaven without making an appearance.
As the days passed, Hades' vigilance toward Heaven had gradually diminished.
He had assumed matters would continue that way indefinitely. Yet no one could have expected Heaven to launch a surprise attack on the Underworld at this particular moment.
Although Hades also greatly disliked those crows and bats and had long wanted to eliminate them, various circumstances had prevented him from acting. He had never expected the God of the Bible to beat him to it.
"The fallen angels have already submitted, and the devils are only a matter of time... I am so close to the Underworld. Could I be the next target?"
Such concerns inevitably arose in Hades' mind. Although he was extremely powerful and one of the three principal gods of Greek mythology, he still had little confidence in facing the God of the Bible.
After all, she could already be called a living legend!
"If there truly is no other choice, I can only use that method..."
The flames representing his soul flickered twice within Hades' empty eye sockets. He then turned his gaze toward the deepest reaches of the Underworld.
A monster was still sealed there!
...
The scene returned to Heaven, where Elise was staying.
"Even after all this time, the required energy is still insufficient?"
Although Elise had remained busy absorbing crystallized faith, what she was doing at that moment had little to do with faith.
"Ever since leaving that world, you've remained like this. No matter how much energy you absorb, it seems impossible to fill your stomach..."
Elise toyed with a special "toy" in her hands. From the outside, it appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary dark-purple sphere, but only Elise and Est knew what lay within it.
To replenish the energy of this dark-purple sphere, Elise had expended considerable effort in the world of DanMachi, yet nothing had produced any effect.
At the time, because she had been unable to use the power of faith, she had temporarily set the matter aside.
However, after arriving in the world of High School DxD, Elise discovered something unusual.
No matter what kind of power she used, even the power of faith could not provide it with enough energy.
In other words, simulating other forms of power with Sacred Speech was completely useless. The sphere simply would not consume them!
However, after considering its characteristics, Elise knew that the dark-purple sphere would absorb only one kind of power: pure darkness!
It accepted nothing but pure darkness!
"That suits your identity surprisingly well."
"I wonder what you'll be like when you finally wake up?"
The image of someone appeared in Elise's mind, and a smile rose to her lips.
She had many reasons for attacking the devils and absorbing the fallen angels and devils into her rule.
Whether it was unifying the biblical pantheon, laying the foundation for conquering the world, developing new Sacred Gears, or strengthening Heaven's power, every objective ultimately served the purpose of gathering enough faith.
Only one of her objectives had little to do with the power of faith: the dark-purple sphere in her hands...
"Once all the devils of the Underworld have submitted, I'll have to venture deeper..."
"Only the deepest reaches of the Underworld should contain darkness of the highest quality, right?"
However, Elise remembered that the Realm of the Dead seemed to lie beneath the Underworld.
Its ruler was said to be Hades of Greek mythology, a fellow who liked scheming behind the scenes.
Moreover, he possessed strength ranked among the highest in the world. Ordinary angels would have no chance of defeating him.
Metatron could do it, but Elise could not possibly leave every matter to her, could she?
"If there is no other choice, I'll handle it personally this time..."
"As the God of the Dead, Hades should possess exceptionally powerful darkness, shouldn't he? But if he doesn't..."
Elise suddenly clasped her hands together and began to pray.
"Then I can only sacrifice all of you, my dear gods of Greek mythology!"
After finishing, Elise once again embraced the dark-purple sphere against her chest.
"Don't worry. You'll return very soon!"
Only because she was holding it at such close range could Elise sense the continuous sounds emerging from the sphere's core.
Thump! Thump! Thump...
It really did sound exactly like a heartbeat!