Chapter 675: A move that changed everything.
Baal was accompanying Diablo in a destroyed city, and next to him was Lilith, the mother of all demons, who was reduced to an emotionless robot.
"The preparations are almost done. All that remains is for you to give the order."
Diablo nodded his head lightly, "The angels are very quiet." He looked towards the destroyed city.
"I don't like it. They're not falling for my trap... It's like they're expecting something-." Diablo stopped walking suddenly.
"... Your Highness?" Baal looked at Diablo strangely.
A dark red miasma began to seep from Diablo's body, "H-He -..."
The sound of teeth grinding was heard as destruction began to happen all around them with just Diablo's presence.
The Demon King, who was always calm, lost his temper, his demonic face distorting even more into a form that would strike fear into any being.
This abomination was the very essence of what is called evil incarnate.
"ALUCARD!"
Diablo's distorted demonic voice echoed, destroying everything with pure demonic miasma.
Baal jumped back as he watched Diablo with a cold sweat breaking out on his face.
Lilith, who was standing in front of the demon, displayed a small smile, and her lifeless eyes had an unnoticeable sadistic gleam.
"Baal."
Feeling a shiver run down his spine as his master called his name, Baal replied:
"Yes, My King?"
"From now on, all those related to Alucard are enemies."
"If there are opportunities to kill them, kill them."
Baal very much wanted to question Diablo's order because he understood that people who were Alucard's allies were not beings that could be easily destroyed or thoughtlessly antagonized.
But with Diablo's current mood right now it was impossible for him to say that; he didn't want to be killed:
"Your wish is my command, My King."
...
A woman with long immaculate white hair opened her eyes, and her light green eyes were revealed to everyone. The woman got up from where she was sitting and picked up a sword with a white blade and golden runes.
Six wings opened behind the woman, and she proclaimed:
"The time has come."
"Lady Ariel, will you fight?" Daniel, one of Ariel's subordinates, asked.
"Yes, I will." Determination was noticeable in her tone of voice.
"...The demons' miasma must be purged, the scales must be brought back into balance, or it will be too late."
Ariel looked to the side and saw one of her brothers. Like most angels, he had golden hair, green eyes, his unique feature being the six wings behind him, and a tattoo of a star under his eyes.
"Cassiel."
Cassiel, the virtue of diligence, one of the seven virtues, and behind him were two women with their eyes covered by some kind of white mask that had the same symbol as Cassiel's tattoo.
"Just as our father predicted." Cassiel looked out over the horizon toward the miasma-filled lands.
"A new king of hell has emerged."
"Do we already know who it is?"
"We don't know exactly who it is... But our sister, 'Chastity', spoke a name that appeared in her visions."
"Azrael."
A chill was felt in all the angels present.
"…I- Impossible. Azrael would not betray our father."
"Our Azrael wouldn't."
"Sister, Azrael, quite broadly, is just another name for Death. You know our sister's visions are not very accurate."
"…Yes, only you can understand her somehow." Ariel spoke, "What does her vision mean then?"
"The king of hell is not an angel, but he is not a demon either. He is someone who walks the fine line of balance."
"The fine line called life and death."
"A unique existence indeed."
"..." Ariel narrows her eyes.
"For someone who shouldn't know anything, you seem to know something, brother."
"I just know what I know, I don't know what I don't know; diligence is the key."
'Ugh... And there we go again with those vague phrases.' Ariel really didn't like that.
"The new king of hell is not important. What he did to the old king is."
"With Biblical hell in possession of a new king, Diablo can no longer call upon lesser demons, and he has suffered a significant blow to his strength."
Ariel didn't comment on Cassiel's attempt to change the subject. She really didn't want to talk to her brother about what he knew. After all, she knew from experience that if he didn't want to say anything, only The Heavenly Father could force him to say it. Being the virtue of diligence, he is really stubborn.
"This is the perfect opportunity for an attack, the opportunity we've been waiting for."
The moment Cassiel finished speaking, all the angels heard a voice in their heads.
[Sound the trumpets, my children... Judgment day has arrived.]
Hundreds of angels flew in the sky with golden trumpets in their hands. Then, heeding the heavenly father's order, they blew their trumpets.
Soon, a sound that marked the beginning of the second total war was heard throughout the planet.
The heavens cleared, and five angels came out, the highest ranking angels.
The virtues, the elite of heaven.
"Come on, Sister. We must not keep Michael waiting."
"Yes."
...
Japan.
"Did you hear?" Jeanne asked.
"Yes, of course, yes, it would be impossible not to hear it," Morgana spoke with a drawn face.
"The trumpets marked the resumption of war, and the angels would attack in full force," Jeanne spoke.
"Something happened that changed the passivity of the angels."
"We need to know what's going on," Morgana spoke.
"I don't like being in the dark about this. I feel like this shit is going to involve all supernatural creatures."
"I received a contact from Amaterasu," Haruna said as she entered the place where Jeanne and Morgana were.
Behind her were Kaguya, Eve, Bruna, Maria, and Roberta.
Along with Kuroka and Genji.
"What did she say?" Morgana asked.
"To bolster the country's defenses. She will assign gods who are not hurt and who can fight as well."
"She also said that gigantic monsters are heading towards the battlefield."
"…monsters?" Jeanne asked.
"Mythological monsters."
"Kumbhakarna, or as he is known in the supernatural world, the ogres of the Hindu pantheon, he and his kind are heading towards the battlefield."
"As well as, Yamata-no-Orochi of the Japanese pantheon."
"Aren't those monsters supposed to be dead?" Jeanne asked, confused.
"Yes, they should be... But that's the problem." Haruna shuddered with disgust:
"Necromancy."
"They were revived as the undead."
"What...?"
"Kaguya, please," Haruna spoke gently.
"Okay."
Kaguya walked to the middle of the room and took an item from her shadows, she clicked on the item, and a hologram appeared in the room.
Everyone watched in silence as a being covered in miasma 'revived' a snake with eight heads and eight tails.
"Asmodeus …" Morgana snarled, "That bastard did he touch necromancy too?"
"I still don't understand. Isn't it just witches who can do necromancy?" Bruno asked.
"Necromancy goes far beyond using magic to reanimate a body and using that body to fight, or using the dead to try to divine the future as witches do."
"What do you mean?"
"Necromancy is an art that uses dead souls and prevents them from being judged or moving on. What Asmodeus is doing now is far worse than what witches do."
"He is using innocent souls to 'reanimate' this snake."
"He is committing one of the greatest sins of breaking a soul into a thousand pieces and preventing that soul from fulfilling its 'end'."
"If Diablo ordered this to be done to these two monsters, it's safe to assume that he did this to several other monsters as well." Eve began to speak.
"In every pantheon, there are thousands of monsters that were killed by the gods of the respective pantheons. If he went around the world, taking advantage of the fact that each pantheon wasn't guarding their territory... It's safe to say that he has an army of the undead."
A shudder ran through everyone present when they realized that he could have actually done this.
"We're also forgetting something. He annihilated an entire pantheon, and he might have used the monsters in that pantheon as well." Roberta reminded everyone.
"... He's in a hurry; it's obvious. Something is going on, something we don't know about." Jeanne spoke.
"My guess. It's hell." Morgana spoke.
"... We all know who Victor is. He won't just sit around waiting for God knows what to come to rescue him."
"True... My master is a very active person. If he is in hell, and with no one 'supervising' him, he will cause chaos." Kaguya had always watched Victor from the shadows, and she was with him during all of his 'night walks'. She understood well what kind of person he was.
"...Are you saying that Victor did something that unduly forced Diablo to act?"
"I know Victor is exceptional, but isn't that overkill?" Kuroka spoke.
The girls just looked at Kuroka with a neutral gaze, not blaming or indicating anything.
"You say that because you don't know him," Maria said.
"Master is exceptional, and I am not saying these words because I am his Maid but because it is a fact."
"I know he's exceptional, we all know that, but… It's hell, you know? It's a hostile place. Could he have done so much that affected the Demon King here in the human world?" Genji spoke.
"Yes, he probably did." All the women spoke at once.
Kuroka and Genji opened their eyes a little when they heard the chorus of voices.
"Okay, Victor did something. What did he do?" Morgana asked.
"Conquered hell?" The maids said at the same time.
Morgana felt her lips tremble a little, she trusted Victor, and she knew he was exceptional, but conquering hell was something very difficult to accomplish, you know? Hell has many elites who...
"Ah, that!" Morgana opened her eyes wide.
"What?" Jeanne asked.
"Victor conquered hell."
"… Why are you so sure about that?"
"All of Diablo's elites are here in the human world. In short, hell is wider open than a whore's pussy." She spoke with a big happy smile.
"..." Woman, do you have to be so indecent? Everyone couldn't help but think.
"Victor is a genius, and time in hell is pretty unstable. He's probably been there for several years already, and in that time, it wouldn't be surprising if he got stronger, strong enough to be unstoppable in hell without the strongest elites of Diablo."
The maids shuddered a little when they heard that Victor had spent years in hell already, worry filled their hearts, but they tried not to focus on that feeling right now, after all, they couldn't do anything about it right now.
"... We need to tell the girls this..." Jeanne spoke after some time in silence. Her eyes glowed blood-red, and it was fairly obvious that she was excited.
"If our guesses based on Victor's personality are correct, we can contact Victor in Hell."
"What?" A look of shock passed over the girls' faces, then all the girls looked seriously at Jeanne as all of their blood-red eyes sparkled.
"Explain, Jeanne," Kaguya spoke in a neutral tone.
"If Victor truly became the new king of hell, that means he has some authority in hell. Even if that authority isn't complete because Diablo is probably still in possession of the keys to the gates of hell, he might still be able to allow someone to 'open' a portal in hell. That way, we might be able to contact him."
"Alioth Clan." Morgana murmured.
"Yes, we need help from Alexios."
"Only he has enough power for that feat."
"We're heading back now." Eve declared with visible animation on her face, and the Maids, except for Kaguya, nodded.
"Girls," Kaguya spoke in a heavy tone.
"I know we're excited about what's happening, but…don't forget our allies."
"..." This made everyone stop and look at Haruna, who maintained a neutral expression.
"Don't mind me. You've done more than enough in this place." Haruna spoke calmly.
"Impermissible. This is a large-scale battle that could have consequences across the world. As allies, we protect each other." Kaguya rejected what Haruna said.
'Not to mention that if something happens to Haruna, I don't even want to think about Victor's reaction.' Kaguya thought.
"I will stay." Morgana spoke.
"Someone of my level needs to be here in case some god tries something funny."
"Me too." Mizuki entered the room; she was wearing a light pink kimono with red leaf patterns.
"Although I want to talk a lot with Victor, I have to protect my homeland."
"Where were you?" Kaguya asked.
"Dealing with some Oni's at Haruna's request." She looked at Haruna and continued, "The job is done; the head is with Yoichi."
"Thank you, Mizuki."
'To think that I would thank an Onmyoji, my past self would find that ironic.' Haruna thought.
"You Welcome."
"I will stay too," Kaguya spoke.
"...." The girls opened their eyes in shock as they looked at Kaguya.
Mizuki and Morgana weren't surprised they wanted to stay, but Kaguya? This was a shock.
"Are you going to stay...? Are you sure?" Jeanne asked.
Kaguya looked at Jeanne, "Yes. As Head Maid, Wife, and one who is in charge of Clan Alucard, I must prioritize my work and allies."
"I'm sure my master would want that… Just send me news of him."
"..." Jeanne nodded her head with a gentle smile on her face.
The maids looked at each other, and nodded.
"We'll stay too," Eve stated.
"… Eh?"
"Maids weren't taught to walk alone. If our Boss is staying, so are we." Maria laughed.
"Girls..."
"Fufufu, you won't get rid of us that easily, Kaguya." Bruno laughed.
"Thanks, Girls."
"Looks like I'm going alone, huh …" Jeanne spoke with the same gentle smile on her face. She really enjoyed seeing this 'companionship' that Victor's presence developed in the girls.
"Don't forget to send news," Morgana repeated.
"I know."
.....
