An Angel Has Appeared
"I received a report that an angel has appeared...."
Golden eyes turned toward Demogorgon.
"There's a demon here as well."
During those two short sentences, neither Dobiel nor Demogorgon could move. They wanted to, but they simply couldn't. Their instincts were screaming that any slip-up would mean instant death. Even as high-ranking angels and demons, they had no choice but to feel that way. What had appeared before them was the most powerful Archdemon in Hell, the master of the inverted kingdom, and the one served by the three mythical Beasts of the Apocalypse.
Nahen stared at them quietly. That alone carried an overwhelming sense of pressure. It might have been less noticeable to humans or demons where the power gap was too vast, but to angels and demons, his full might was completely palpable.
In the tense atmosphere, Demogorgon was the first to speak. He struggled to move, then knelt on the floor.
"G-great master of the kingdom, I greet you."
"You."
"...Yes?"
"Are you from the same faction as the demon who came last time?"
The demon who came last time. Demogorgon immediately realized he meant Abaddon, who had vanished not long ago. It seemed Abaddon really had been killed by him.
"...That's correct. I am Demogorgon, Lord Golab's most loyal subordinate."
"Seeing that you've come again without getting tired of it, the example must not have been enough."
"By example, you mean... so Abaddon was..."
"It looks like Golab won't come to his senses until he loses every last one of his subordinates."
Demogorgon flinched, his shoulders trembling.
"It will be different from Abaddon's case."
"What do you mean?"
"Unlike Abaddon, I am Lord Golab's direct adjutant. He might overlook losing Abaddon, but if I die, even my master won't be able to let it slide."
Demogorgon was a high-ranking demon unlike Abaddon. Their power levels weren't even comparable, and naturally, the importance Golab placed on them differed.
"If Lord Golab comes personally to meet the great one, we cannot guarantee the safety of the Demon Realm."
It was similar to what Abaddon had said before. However, Nahen listened to Demogorgon's words more carefully this time. First of all, unlike Abaddon, Nahen could sense that Demogorgon's power was overwhelmingly stronger. Therefore, it was highly likely that Golab truly valued him.
If he killed Demogorgon here and Golab really came, that would definitely cause problems. Even if Nahen could subdue Golab, the process would inflict massive damage on the Demon Realm.
"I'll listen to the rest of what you have to say later."
The answer Demogorgon had hoped for came from Nahen's mouth. Demogorgon cheered inwardly but didn't show it as he replied.
"...Yes, O great one."
"First, what I need to deal with is..."
The golden eyes shifted. They turned to Dobiel, who had been so crushed by the pressure that he hadn't even considered moving.
"An angel stepping foot into the Demon Realm can be taken as meaning they want to die, right?"
"...D-do you think it's fine for you to be in the Demon Realm?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Nahen snapped.
"I haven't planned any invasion of the Human Realm or Heaven from here, nor have I pulled any schemes. So why is it not fine?"
"Are you saying that because you don't understand your own power...?"
Dobiel was arguing that Nahen's mere presence here was something to be condemned. Nahen let out a hollow laugh, as if the logic was absurd.
"It's not like I've destroyed the Demon Realm with this power. And the one constantly provoking the other side right now is..."
A creeping black mist revealed itself behind Dobiel. Feeling the ominous presence, Dobiel turned to find a massive white whale with its mouth gaping open.
"...Heaven, not me."
A powerful holy energy descends upon the Beast of the Apocalypse.
Boom──!!!
A powerful divine force slammed down onto Leviathan's head as it tried to swallow Dobiel whole. The holy power of a high-ranking angel was not something even a Beast of the Apocalypse could ignore. Struck by the divine energy, Leviathan had no choice but to close its mouth and stagger backward.
"It didn't work...!"
Of course, it hadn't inflicted a proper wound. Taking advantage of Leviathan's momentary stagger, Dobiel pulled something out. It was the escape tool Kamael had given him to use in emergencies for this mission.
"I wondered what gave you the confidence to come to the Demon Realm. So you brought something like that."
Nahen's voice came from behind Dobiel. The time it had taken Dobiel to strike Leviathan once and pull out the tool hadn't been long at all, yet Nahen was already standing right behind him.
"Using magic would leave traces, so..."
Deciding he couldn't use magic, Nahen simply reached out with his bare hand.
Crack!
He tore the escape tool away along with Dobiel's entire wrist.
"Aaaargh!!!!!"
It was pure grip strength that had ripped an angel's body apart. But Nahen wasn't finished. He drove his fist forward immediately.
Bam───!
Dobiel's screaming body flew helplessly through the air. Leviathan, shaking its head to regain its senses, swallowed the body in one gulp.
Nahen pulled the escape tool from the severed hand, then fed the wrist to Leviathan as well.
Witnessing a high-ranking angel—a direct subordinate of an Archangel—turn into whale food in an instant, Demogorgon's pupils trembled. It wouldn't have been strange if his whole body was shaking, but he held even that back.
Regardless.
Nahen examined the escape tool Dobiel had tried to use. It looked familiar. After all, this was a consumable item that could be used directly in the game.
"So angels could use this tool too... No, it would be more accurate to call it an item from Heaven."
It was the 'Dimensional Travel Stone,' an item with limited acquisition opportunities in every game route. No matter which route you played, you could only obtain it exactly three times throughout the entire game.
So that's why it was so damn rare.
He had never understood why a teleport item that would be common in other games was this rare, but it seemed there was this kind of background behind it.
Thinking it might be useful someday, Nahen slipped it into his pocket and looked at the remaining demon.
"Demogorgon."
"Y-yes, please speak...!"
"Tell Golab this."
Though he spoke as if making a request, this was no request. Behind Nahen, Leviathan had appeared and was staring at Demogorgon with the clear intent to swallow him if he refused to listen.
"Stop paying attention to me. I'm also devising my own methods, so tell him to leave me alone. If you repeat this kind of thing again..."
The eyes of the most powerful and fearsome Archdemon in Hell glowed with a chilling light.
"I'll show you what I'm capable of."
"...I-I will convey it exactly as such."
Demogorgon bowed as deeply as he could, then quickly vanished from the 72nd Floor.
Nahen, who had been quietly watching the spot where he disappeared, let out a sigh.
Time isn't exactly plentiful....
This incident would definitely push the Heavenly Demon War forward a little more. After all, an angel had died in the Demon Realm. Even if he hadn't killed Dobiel, the mere fact that Nahen was in the Demon Realm becoming known could trigger an immediate declaration of war.
As Nahen pondered how to handle the upcoming Heavenly Demon War, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"...The Heavenly God?"
He realized there was another way besides the alliance with Gremory. Couldn't they simply direct the Heavenly God's attention somewhere other than Hell?
And if there was a place besides Hell that the Heavenly God paid attention to....
Nahen smiled.
"There's one."
"Hey, Nahen!!"
There was a woman making a racket in the usually quiet Demon King's castle on the 69th Floor these days. No one could complain even if she turned the castle this noisy. It was only natural. The woman with wavy blonde hair that flowed down to her slim waist and a voluptuous figure full of allure was the sole ally of the Devata faction.
"Nahen!!!"
The woman who slammed open the door to Nahen's office with a loud bang was none other than Sitri.
Nahen looked at her with an expression that said, Here we go again with the dramatic entrance.
"What is it this time?"
"What do you mean, 'this time'! Why didn't you tell me anything?!"
"Huh?"
To Nahen, who asked what she was talking about, Sitri shouted in disbelief.
"You said you're forming a new alliance!!"
"Ah, that matter."
"You should have told me! Have you forgotten who your ally is??"
"There must have been a reason I didn't say anything. I didn't mention it because nothing was confirmed yet."
"Don't lie! I heard everything about Gremory coming here!"
Nahen narrowed his eyes.
"How did you find out? I didn't leak any information externally."
"Uh... H-how I knew isn't what matters, is it?"
"It does matter. Don't tell me, Your Majesty, that you've planted a spy in our Demon King's castle?"
"T-that's not it at all! The 55th Floor kept conquering the lower layers, so I investigated to see what was going on. Then I noticed they had far too much contact with you, so I made an obvious guess!"
Nahen nodded as if he understood Sitri's explanation. From her perspective, with the 55th Floor continuously conquering lower layers and rising through the Demon Realm, she must have felt uneasy and looked into it. In the process, she would have learned that the 55th Floor had made contact with Seere's side.
"Soon Gremory will come personally to speak with Seere. Then the alliance will be finalized."
"That's exactly why I'm asking why you didn't tell your own ally and just did whatever you wanted...!"
"It's true that I was wrong not to inform you ahead of time. I apologize."
"Uh... Huh?"
"I'm sorry."
When Nahen apologized so readily, Sitri stared at him with a stunned face. This wasn't what she had expected. She thought he would argue back, but his immediate admission left her with nothing to say.
"Is that all you came to say?"
"Um..."
"You've come after a while, so let's do some training before you leave."
"Again with making me fall over? No way!"
"Why not?"
"Can't you see I'm dressed up? I can't ruin my clothes!"
Nahen finally took a proper look at Sitri's outfit. Indeed, she had put far more effort into it than when she usually visited him.
"Are you going somewhere?"
"Eh? Not really..."
"Then why are you dressed up?"
"...That's my business."
Nahen looked at Sitri with a slightly dumbfounded expression. She stood there confidently, as if asking what the problem was. Nahen let out a small sigh and spoke.
"Then let's do something else."
"Huh? Something else?"
"You've gotten to the point where you can at least stand inside my magic power recently. It's about time you learned something different."
"Are you going to teach me ancient magic too?"
"What?"
Nahen looked at Sitri with an expression that said he had no idea what she was talking about. Sitri spoke as if it was unfair that he only taught Seere.
"I'm an ally too, and you said you'd help me regain my power! We agreed to train for that purpose. So isn't it fair that I learn a few ancient spells? Don't just teach Lady Seere—teach me too!"
"......"
Nahen pondered. Was it really right to teach ancient magic to Sitri? Of course, it was true that in the original game, Sitri was a steadfast ally who stayed with the protagonist's party until the end. Strengthening an ally would be beneficial, but....
...The rarity of ancient magic is precisely what makes it harder for opponents to handle.
Just look at Seere. When she used ancient magic, enemies were thrown off at first. If more users appeared, information and rumors about ancient magic would spread further, which wasn't the direction Nahen wanted.
"Then teach me just one today! You're not going to say you can't even do that, are you?"
When Sitri stepped back considerably and made the suggestion again, Nahen let out a small sigh. She wanted it this badly, and if Sitri grew stronger, it wouldn't be a loss for him or Seere.
Yeah... Adding one more user shouldn't spread the rumors too much.
Nahen nodded.
"Alright. I'll teach you one."
"Really? Ah, but you can't teach me something useless, okay?"
"I don't do such petty things. Do you think I'm you, Your Majesty?"
"W-when did I ever do anything petty!?"
Leaving the grumbling Sitri behind, Nahen opened the office door. Together with her, he headed for the training grounds.
Someone was watching the pair from a window. It hadn't been intentional—they had simply happened to glance over when Nahen passed by....
"...Teacher?"
It was the master of the 69th Floor Demon King's castle and the Demon King who loved Nahen more than anyone else.
"Where are those two going?"
It was Seere.