Instead of acting on the plan at once, Rosen returned to Komou Town and found Rias.
By now Komou Town had become the safest city in the entire island nation.
This wasn't because of Kokabiel's attack, but because of Rosen himself.
Anyone who had dealt with Rosen and Rias knew the latter was Rosen's close friend.
With Rosen now the Bible God of Heaven, both Heaven and the Netherworld had secretly stationed heavy troops to keep uninvited guests out of Komou Town.
This led Vali, who was with Azazel, to suspect that the Bible God must have learned of his contact with the Old Demon King Faction.
To avoid being strung up and whipped, Vali wisely chose to lie low for now.
Meanwhile—
Rosen found Rias inside the Occult Research Club, room six-five-seven.
Besides her, Koneko and Himejima Akeno were also in the activity room.
The moment they saw Rosen, the two girls hurriedly rose from the sofa, set aside everything, and watched him with respectful attention.
Though Rosen looked about their age, he was the true Bible God.
Even if Heaven and the Netherworld had once been at odds, they—like the Devil Kings such as Sergeks—could feel their own insignificance in his presence.
"Rosen, you're back?"
When Rias saw him, a faint smile touched her lips.
Though he'd been gone only a short while, she already missed him.
She couldn't name the feeling—surely it wasn't love?
She had even consulted Himejima Akeno, the self-proclaimed relationship guru, yet the usually perceptive Akeno had no idea where to begin with Rias's problem.
At first Rias found it odd, but quickly decided it made perfect sense.
To outsiders Rosen was the unreachable Bible God, but they shared a chat group; rather than seeing him as divine, Rias preferred to treat him as a friend.
Now, watching Rosen return, her heart beat a little faster and a hopeful flush crept across her cheeks—something she herself failed to notice.
After all, compared to that, Rias noticed the black-haired little girl beside Rosen who looked strangely familiar.
"Who's this?"
The moment Rias spoke, her eyes widened.
Though she'd never met her in person, the black-haired lolita in gothic black dress was identical to the Infinite Dragon God from the anime.
Rias knew Rosen had gone to find the Infinite Dragon God, but she never expected him to actually bring Ophis back!
"How did you manage it?"
"Simple: I used Great Red as leverage. Which promise do you think Ophis trusts—the Trouble Group's or mine?"
Rosen gave a straightforward answer.
Rias blinked, then scratched her head in disbelief.
She knew the Trouble Group had offered to help defeat Great Red in exchange for Ophis's backing.
But that promise had been nothing more than an empty check.
If even the Infinite Dragon God couldn't beat Great Red, adding a few more ants wouldn't change the outcome.
Ophis understood this perfectly.
Thus she left the Trouble Group and agreed to become Rosen's Familia Member.
"Well, that's that."
Rias didn't know how to evaluate Rosen's swift, decisive methods.
The Infinite Dragon God feared by the world had been so easily contracted into an obedient Familia Member.
If others learned of Rosen's method, they'd probably cry with regret.
Everyone treated Ophis like a scourge, fleeing at the mere sight of her—who could imagine peacefully getting along with her?
Because every faction met her with hostility and revulsion, no one understood Ophis's heart.
As long as you didn't court death and treated her as a friend, winning Ophis's favor was easy—even for the strongest being.
"If Hades found out you took her so easily, he'd probably drop dead on the spot."
Rias gave a faint smile.
In the plot, Hades coveted the power of the Infinite Dragon God Ophis, so he cooperated with the Hero Faction and brought out his trump card, the "Dragon Eater Samael," using its power to split Infinity and ultimately turn it into Ophis and Lilith, who already possessed all of Ophis's memories… but for now.
For Hades to snatch someone from Rosen's hands would be no different from an old man hanging himself—pure suicide.
Seeing Rias right in front of her, Ophis glanced up but said nothing.
Toward anyone besides Rosen, Ophis maintained her usual attitude.
"One more thing—I've roughly figured out where we can find Li Zevim."
"Where?"
Right now Heaven, the Netherworld, and the Fallen Angels had dispatched nearly everyone available to track Li Zevim's whereabouts.
Rias was also racking her brain for any place Li Zevim had appeared, but unfortunately she came up blank.
"Here."
Rosen stamped his foot.
Rias didn't understand, until Rosen said the word "Hell"; only then did the girl suddenly see the light.
"So you're planning to look for Li Zevim in Hell? If it's there, we might actually find him."
In the plot, the Underworld King Hades had extensive cooperation with Li Zevim.
The most typical example was Li Zevim's Artificial Demon laboratory built in the deepest part of Hell.
The primordial Divine Era 1.0.
Apart from Lucifer and Lilith, no other demons existed.
To strengthen the Demon Race, Lucifer first mated naturally with Lilith—later hailed as the Mother of Demons—and fathered Li Zevim.
But that method was too slow, so Lucifer began experimenting on Lilith, using her flesh to birth new demon species.
That was the main reason the Netherworld could expand so quickly.
And Li Zevim was a most filial son.
During the Netherworld Civil War he fled with his mother Lilith—reduced to a sliver of consciousness and flesh—and left the Netherworld. After striking a deal with Hades, he began researching Artificial Demons in the lowest level of Hell.
And the research subject was naturally his mother, a writhing lump of flesh…