By holding the sisters of the Demon Kings Leviathan and Lucifer hostage and stealing the Church's Holy Swords, Kokabiel believed that if he could use the Holy Swords to kill them with his own hands, the Underworld and Heaven would surely not ignore it. The balance of the cold war would be instantly shattered, and the war that had been paused for a thousand years would reignite. Just the thought of a great war between the three factions made Kokabiel's blood boil.
As for whether he could achieve his goal? Kokabiel never even considered that question. He was an executive of the God-Child Monitors, a Fallen Angel who had fought the God of the Bible in the Great War and survived. His power was among the strongest in all three realms. What did it matter if Leviathan's and Lucifer's sisters were pure-blooded High-Class Devils? With his power, he could kill more than ten High-Class Devils with one hand.
As for the previous failures of those Fallen Angels, Kokabiel completely ignored them. The lowest-class Fallen Angels didn't even have the right to meet with him. In a war, they were just cannon fodder to fill the ranks. It didn't matter if they died.
After his thoughts settled, Kokabiel's figure vanished from the spot. The rogue priests and Ghouls below only dared to get up and leave long after he was gone.
On the other side, since parting with the Hōzuki sisters, Luo Guang's contact with them had increased. Given the unique nature of the Body Snatchers, Yayoi Hōzuki would send Luo Guang an email every night. The emails had no set topic and could be for reporting a situation or just for trivial matters. Luo Guang would quickly skim them, and if they weren't important, he would just send a simple reply.
Besides the matters of the Body Snatchers and Kokabiel, Luo Guang also spent more time each day clearing the remaining souls in his Sacred Gear's inner space. Even though he had temporarily lent out the Myriad Souls Banner, he had other methods. The lingering souls of the past Red Dragon Emperors were, in essence, a type of curse. Luo Guang had now fully mastered his senjutsu. While it would still take him some time to understand more complex techniques, at least removing a curse was no longer a problem.
Time passed day by day. On the night before Saturday, in the deepest space of the Red Dragon Emperor's Gauntlet, Luo Guang finally purified and removed the last wisp of the Red Dragon Emperor's resentment. Just like a video game, the final wisp was more resilient than all the others, but it couldn't stop Luo Guang. It took him half an hour of attrition with his senjutsu and life aura before he finally succeeded.
At that moment, Luo Guang's fiery life aura, which had been as radiant as the sun, began to fade. The piercing, intimidating presence he had before was replaced by a calm, ethereal aura, giving him a more otherworldly presence. The change was so obvious that even Luo Guang himself could feel it.
"Luo Guang, you... you feel a little different? Is something wrong?" Asia asked worriedly.
"Did you... get hurt by wine and women? It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have become like this." At that, Asia became dejected, blaming all of Luo Guang's changes on herself.
"It's not your fault." Luo Guang was in a good mood, as this was a sign of his senjutsu advancing. His life aura had been as bright and dazzling as the sun, but through his days of using senjutsu to purify the lingering souls, it had evolved. It was now internally refined, not only strengthening his organs but also greatly increasing his lifespan to at least several millennia.
"Really?" Asia stopped her worrying, afraid that Luo Guang was just comforting her. But seeing the look in his eyes, the girl automatically believed him.
"Come here, Asia."
"Okay." The girl's eyes began to glaze over.
The spring breeze blew gently, and the flowers and plants on both sides of the road bloomed competitively. Luo Guang went to visit Eriri again, as she had requested.
"Come in, come in! Eriri has been waiting for you in her room." Sayuri Spencer Sawamura took the gift he brought and welcomed him warmly. "I won't bother you. It'll be a while until dinner." She pushed Luo Guang toward the second floor, then stood at the bottom, giggling behind her hand. But looking at his tall back, Sayuri herself felt a little tempted, then she immediately scolded herself in her head. After all, he was her daughter's boyfriend. As a mother, how could she have such thoughts?
On the second floor, Luo Guang knocked on the door, and Eriri's voice came from inside: "Is that you, Luo Guang? Just come in, the door's unlocked."