"Do you know about schistosomiasis japonicum?"
That's how Asia Argento began.
Xenovia, caught off guard by the question, faltered.
"N-No, sorry. I've never heard of it."
Wondering how things came to this, Xenovia reflected on the past few days. The first memory that surfaced was the mocking laughter of a Biblical Fallen Angel.
"Not just the Satan—God is dead too."
God was dead. Their Lord, their Father, the Creator of all. The God of the Bible had perished. If He died during the great war, He was long gone by the time Xenovia was born.
Her life was meant for God. Her body was for the Church, her existence for reaching Heaven. She believed the God of the Bible was absolute, wielding her sword in faith of His mercy and love.
But she was wrong.
There was no God. Her prayers were futile, her oaths meaningless, her wishes empty. What was her life for? What would have made it worthwhile?
In her despair, Xenovia was picked up by the faction of the flesh pillars—or, as they called themselves, the Demon God Pillars.
Her assigned task was to guard a group of women. Guarding, or perhaps monitoring. More precisely, she was to report immediately if they seemed likely to cause trouble. The Demon God Pillar giving her this order radiated an overwhelming sense of melancholy.
The group Xenovia was nominally tasked with guarding could be summed up as a nursing corps, but one imbued with steely conviction. Their intensity would make even seasoned exorcists flee barefoot. Incidentally, three members had already collapsed from overwork—one nearly to death.
Among them was Asia Argento, once hailed as a saint in the Church but exiled as a witch for healing a Devil. Knowing God's absence, Xenovia initially felt sympathy and kinship with her plight. She quickly retracted that. The Asia she'd heard of was nothing like this—she was far too formidable. A saint? More like a superwoman.
As an aside, one Demon God Pillar had ranted about Asia: "What's this about a frail girl who wouldn't hurt a fly?! She's got more than enough potential to be a lunatic! Was Flauros blind?!" At first, Xenovia didn't understand, but after a few days, she got it all too well.
(By the way, why do they—the Demon God Pillars—use the names of the Seventy-Two Pillars? Their forms are too different to be descendants of Devils. A codename, maybe? But it feels too natural for that.)
When their medical work paused, Xenovia tried to connect with Asia. She wasn't exactly a smooth talker, so her question stemmed from Asia's background.
—Don't you resent the Devils, or the Church?
She assumed Asia did. Asia apparently knew of God's absence, so resentment seemed natural. Their "medical treatments" even included exorcism-like acts.
But Asia's response was that question about schistosomiasis japonicum. Xenovia could tell it was some kind of infectious disease, but it was truly new to her. Caught off guard by the unexpected reply, she wondered if she should've spoken to the "teacher" instead, then reconsidered—that was a bad idea.
"It's an infection that's been eradicated."
Famous infectious diseases include malaria or dengue fever. In Japan, such cases are rare, but infections aren't absent, nor has Japan avoided fighting them.
"The Miyairi snail, also called the Katayama snail, is a freshwater mollusk that serves as an intermediate host. Infection with Schistosoma japonicum causes the disease."
Xenovia, not quite grasping the point, listened intently.
"People back then eradicated schistosomiasis japonicum by exterminating the Miyairi snail."
"That's impressive."
Asia, with a serious expression, asked, "So, Xenovia-san, were the Miyairi snails evil?"
"W-Well…"
Plainly, the snails weren't at fault. They were merely intermediaries. The snails themselves posed no direct harm to humans.
It's like saying selling canned drinks is evil because people litter the cans. But it's also true that if canned drinks weren't sold, littering would decrease.
"That's the thing, It's not about being evil, hating, or resenting."
It's not about hating the existence itself but the harm it causes.
"I don't hate the creatures you call Devils, nor the Church."
Her actions truly held no trace of personal vendetta for her past treatment.
"But for the sake of humans, I'll eradicate them. For the sake of patients, I'll reform them."
Asia Argento would no longer err. She understood that her mistakes could cost lives. She had no choice but to pursue uncompromising righteousness.
For me, Hyoudou Issei, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Well, ever since becoming a Devil in spring, it's been nonstop chaos. Doing Devil jobs, President Rias's marriage game getting canceled, training, weird monsters rampaging in the Underworld, my childhood friend returning only for holy sword and Fallen Angel cadre drama to erupt.
Azazel, the Governor of the Fallen Angels, had been posing as a client for my Devil jobs. I thought he was a great customer—paying well for games or fishing—but I never expected to meet him like this.
On a student council request, we cleaned the pool and got to hold a private pool party for the Occult Research Club. I got to rub oil on President Rias's body. The memory of her smooth skin still lingers on my fingers. Man, her skin was perfection.
At Kuoh Academy's parent observation day, Satan showed up. Not just President Rias's brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, but the Student Council President Sona's sister, Serafall Leviathan. Honestly, she wasn't what I expected from "Leviathan." I pictured a sultry, cool beauty, but she's a magical girl—or rather, a Satan girl. Sounds confusing? I'm confused too.
I met President Rias's sealed peerage member, the "Bishop," Gasper Vladi. Turns out, he's a cross-dressing shut-in. Looks like a beautiful girl at first glance, which makes it worse. Give me back my dreams! His Sacred Gear is apparently too powerful for him to handle, but with Kiba awakening his Balance Breaker, President Rias's reputation rose, so Gasper might be unsealed soon. We're working hard together.
Archangel Michael gave me Ascalon, a holy sword, as a gesture for the upcoming peace talks.
Now, the three factions' summit is about to begin. On the Devil side: Sirzechs-sama, Leviathan-sama, me and the rest of the Gremory peerage (minus Gasper), and the Student Council President Sona. On the Fallen Angel side: Azazel and the White Dragon Emperor, Vali. On the Angel side: Michael-san and a beautiful angel companion.
"Everyone here knows of God's absence."
That's how the meeting started.
First was Kokabiel's incident. President Rias testified about it. Kokabiel, half-killed by that flesh pillar, is now imprisoned in Cocytus, the lowest level of Hell, apparently forever. A fitting end for that battle-crazed nuisance.
The Fallen Angels took responsibility for Kokabiel's mess, and with that settled, the topic shifted to the flesh pillars.
"What we know is they're hostile to the Bible, strong enough to easily kill the original Seventy-Two Pillars, and—they're usurping the Seventy-Two Pillars' names. From this, including the individual my sister encountered and those in the Underworld, there could be seventy-two of them."
The thought of seventy-two of those grotesque monsters sends shivers down my spine.
"So, the one Sirzechs' sister and the Red Dragon Emperor met called itself 'Gremory,' right? Why the hell are they stealing the Seventy-Two Pillars' names?"
"Let me be clear, the 'Seventy-Two Pillars' are undoubtedly Sirzechs and his kin. As one who's fought since antiquity, I testify in God's stead."
Azazel and Michael both declared the flesh pillars impostors, which is obvious. Michael's eyes burned with fury.
"If they dare aim for God's vacant throne, we have no choice but to oppose them. In God's name, we'll destroy them."
"I agree, If their goal is as Sirzechs' sister heard, it might not concern Fallen Angels. But they're too dangerous. We need to deal with them before we're dragged in. Problem is, Fallen Angels alone can't fight them."
Then Azazel made his pitch.
"That's why we should form a peace treaty and a united front."
Everyone was shocked that Azazel proposed it, but it was approved. That was the summit's purpose, after all.
After the treaty was settled, Azazel revealed the existence of an organization called the Khaos Brigade. The Fallen Angels had been preparing forces against it. Its leader is Ophis, a dragon stronger than the Two Heavenly Dragons, supposedly the world's mightiest being. Recruiting the White Dragon Emperor was part of their countermeasures. Azazel suspects the flesh pillars are tied to the Khaos Brigade.
Sirzechs and Michael grimaced at this dangerous group. Azazel, quite the informant, continued.
"There's this guy in Kyoto calling himself Kingu."
I was thrown by the sudden mention of Kyoto. President Rias, who loves Kyoto, looked the same. But the name Azazel dropped caught my attention more.
"King? Like a ruler?"
I thought maybe some High-Class Devil moved to Kyoto, but Azazel shook his head.
"No, not King—Kingu. A Mesopotamian god destroyed long ago… Well, I'm not sure if you can call it a god, but there was something with that name. Probably just a coincidence, though."
Mesopotamia, huh? One of the four great civilizations, right? I vaguely recall learning about Sumer, the oldest human city or something.
Ignoring my mental history lesson, Azazel continued about this Kingu or Pingu or whatever.
"Looks human, but its race is unknown. Long green hair, androgynous appearance. Insanely strong. It's a guest of Kyoto's fox leader but treated as more. They might even plan to make it the fox leader's adopted son-in-law. That's the info I got through roundabout channels from Kyoto."
Vague information. I couldn't grasp why Azazel shared it.
"The issue is where this thing came from. There was no trace of it until recently. Suddenly, rumors popped up, but nothing before that. Don't you think it's tied to the Khaos Brigade or those flesh pillars? Their race is unknown too. Maybe it's a flesh pillar in human form—that's my hunch."
"Indeed, the timing is suspicious, what about Mesopotamian gods?"
"As if a Fallen Angel Governor could just call up gods from another mythology."
I thought, why not go to Kyoto directly? But Azazel, looking annoyed, continued.
"Kyoto's open compared to other parts of Japan. With permission, you can go almost anywhere. But Kingu's got a special status there, so we can't approach carelessly. I sent subordinates, but they couldn't dig up more than this."
"I see, Serafall and I have connections in Kyoto. We even run a hotel there. But with these monsters, we haven't gotten this info."
"Hey, Sirzechs-chan, shouldn't we standardize what we call these flesh pillars, monsters, or fake Seventy-Two Pillars? It's getting confusing."
She had a point. Even Kokabiel called them "unknown creatures." Flesh pillars, tentacle monsters—everyone uses different names, and even I get confused.
"How about Lemegeton, since they're claiming the Seventy-Two Pillars' names, even if they're fakes?"
"The Lesser Key of Solomon, huh? Fitting, but even if we use that as a collective term, what about individuals?"
"The one that called itself Gremory can be 'Fake Gremory' for now. Let's go with 'Fake [Name]' moving forward☆."
As Serafall finished speaking, the whole room suddenly grew heavy, and at that moment, a red eyeball filled with murderous intent appeared at the window.
"We are the Demon God Pillars. We are the true Seventy-Two Pillars. You're the magical girl impostor, Sitri's counterfeit."
***
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