Chapter 168: What Exactly Was the Final Battle Between Gods and Humans?
Boom—!
The once flat, open area instantly turned into something resembling a crater.
At the center, the metallic monster with its insect-like carapace—its remains must have been completely pulverized.
This was the power of the holy sword Durandal, wielded by the blue-haired girl with a strand of green hair at her forehead, Xenovia Quarta. Its nature is destruction and slashing.
"It should be dead now."
The hopeful voice belonged to another holy sword wielder—Irina Shidou, who possessed the Mimic Holy Sword, capable of freely changing forms.
Normally, she kept it transformed into a ribbon for easy carrying, which also gave the illusion to enemies that she was unarmed.
So, that metallic monster should be dead now.
Although it wasn't particularly strong, its inability to die and constant pursuit would have drained their energy if it continued. Eventually, they might have truly been killed by this monster.
Hmm, it seems like—
Ugh—!
"No way."
Irina's face fell as she saw some worm-like wriggling things, though they weren't actually insects. These things were rapidly gathering together as if about to revive.
"Alright, if that's how it is!"
Xenovia raised her holy sword high, taking a slight deep breath. She intended to cause greater destruction, even if it might affect the surrounding area, but there was no other choice at the moment.
After all, this thing was too dangerous.
Suddenly, she immediately abandoned her attack and quickly moved away from her original position along with Irina, whose face had changed color. A bolt of lightning nearly struck the spot where they had just been standing.
"Boom——!"
Both of them stared coldly at a figure—a figure with devil wings spread behind its back.
They had some information about this person: she was Akeno Himejima, a servant of Rias Gremory, the next head of the Gremory family.
"You two are the holy sword wielders from the Church, right? What are you making such a racket in our territory so late at night?"
Hmm?
Akeno's pupils slightly contracted as she noticed something unusual.
That silver metal shell? And the wriggling structure inside it.
There was no mistaking this thing!
Without hesitation, she pointed sharply toward it, and a terrifying pillar of lightning descended.
When the lightning faded, the thing seemed not quite dead yet, so she struck again.
After five or six lightning pillars, the thing finally appeared completely motionless, but Akeno still faintly sensed that it was alive.
So this time, she released ice, freezing these things solid.
"Where did you bring this thing from!!!"
As she spoke these words, her expression had turned exceptionally cold.
"Hmph, what are you talking about? Making it sound like that thing is our companion. Are your eyes working properly?"
Irina retorted sharply.
"Now, immediately, right away, explain clearly how this thing came to be!!!"
Her voice was as cold as a polar storm, while Akeno released dense magical power, with terrifying electrical sparks gathering in her hand.
"Hmph, a threat? Who..."
"Enough, Irina!!!"
Xenovia stopped her companion. Now was not the time to clash with the Gremory family, who managed this city.
Moreover, they were indeed at fault, as this thing had followed them into the city.
However, it was interesting—the other party seemed to understand what this thing was, which explained such an intense reaction.
So, she explained the situation but chose to conceal some details: that the metal monster was likely pursuing the girl they had rescued.
They didn't mention that they had accidentally discovered and saved the girl, as it appeared this girl held some secret that needed to be kept from falling into devil hands.
As for their purpose in coming here, there was nothing to hide: a holy sword had been stolen by an apostate, and according to intelligence, they had fled to this city.
Now, she had one request: she hoped the devils would not interfere in their conflict with the fallen angels, as it was a fallen angel organization that had stolen the holy sword.
"Ara? Is that all?"
"That's it."
"Is that so?"
Akeno smiled meaningfully. It was normal for the other party to be hiding something, but what was interesting was that these two seemed unaware that a three-faction meeting was about to take place here.
That made sense—they had probably departed before the decision to hold the meeting here was finalized.
As for that unconscious girl, she seemed quite suspicious. Could it be that the metal monster was chasing her?
I really wanted to just grab her and wait until she woke up to ask questions, but unfortunately, I couldn't confirm whether there was any connection right now. Moreover, with the three factions about to gather here, this wasn't the time to clash with the Church.
Ara? How interesting. This unconscious girl is waking up.
"This is..."
"You're awake? Are you okay?"
Irina asked with concern.
"Hurry and stop the final battle between gods and humans, otherwise the demon gods, evil gods, and devil gods will..."
After urgently saying this much, the awakened girl fell silent and passed out again.
This left Xenovia, who had been preparing to knock her out, stunned.
What was she talking about? The final battle between gods and humans? What is that?
The next second, Xenovia released an intense fighting spirit and abruptly pointed her sword at the devil, sensing that the devil was about to make a move.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to take her away. I just hope you can give us an explanation when the time comes."
After leaving these words, Akeno simply turned and left.
...
Thus, back at the Occult Research Club.
"Sigh, can't we ever get a break?"
Rias rubbed her temples with a headache.
While returning home, Akeno made an unexpected discovery that prompted her to immediately summon her own servants and Sona's group to gather at the Occult Research Club.
"This appears to be from the same source as those mechanical monsters. This thing has super regenerative abilities, though it doesn't seem to be unlimited. Its energy is probably almost completely depleted."
The one who said this was Sona.
The thing Akeno had captured had just been unsealed for a brief observation before being frozen again.
And now the most important piece of information—
"The final battle between gods and humans—what exactly is this?"