"I wonder why the Godslayer... wait, no, Dragonslayer is more suitable right now... and our Princess would call a humble man like me is a mystery. But this situation is seriously more concerning than I thought."
Azazel paced the length of the hotel room, his hands tucked behind his back as he examined the scene. He was accompanied by Penemue, both having arrived to inspect Glenda's condition at Jay and Lavinia's request.
Jay stood silhouetted against the window, his gaze fixed on the Bucharest busy street. Near the beds, Gasper remained a silent sentinel beside the resting Valerie, while Lavinia sat close to Glenda, her hand gently resting on her teacher's cold fingers.
After the devils had departed, Jay had attempted to use the Sephiroth Grail to diagnose Glenda. However, the artifact had yielded only a single, cryptic sentence.
Two souls should never exist in one body. The souls are merged.
It's very vague, but it's enough for Jay to get a rough idea of what happened.
"As you suspected, this was indeed caused by the water spirits the lady possesses," Azazel said, caressing his goatee as he leaned over Glenda. He shot a sideways glance toward Jay.
"But you said even the Grail couldn't determine exactly what is happening inside her body?"
"I told you what the Grail revealed to me," Jay said without turning around.
"It seems Glenda's soul has fused with the soul of her water spirit. However, it didn't give me the specific solution I was searching for." He continued.
"Hmm, I see. Well, technically, as you probably already know, two souls occupying one body is normally impossible. That is why it is so rare to see someone enter a soul-binding contract with another existence, or even a spirit," Azazel explained.
"But..."
"There are Sacred Gears," Jay interrupted.
"That's a bingo!" Azazel pointed a finger at Jay with a grin.
"Precisely. Most Sacred Gears... especially the independent avatar-types, though it isn't strictly limited to them, are designed to allow one body to host two souls simultaneously."
Lavinia's eyes widened at this revelation. She looked back at her unconscious teacher, a sudden realization dawning on her.
'So that is why Oshishou-sama focused her research so heavily on independent avatar-type Sacred Gears, and that is also the reason why she went so far as to seek the Sephiroth Grail.' She thought.
"If you say she was perfectly fine before this ordeal, it is probable that something caused or accelerated the process, whether intentionally or not," Azazel noted.
"Then it was probably that bastard Rizevim's doing," Jay said.
The mention of the name caused both Azazel and Penemue to freeze in surprise.
"Wait... what? You actually met him?" Azazel asked, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
"I thought the most surprising thing you told me would be that you had just killed an Evil Dragon, and not just any Evil Dragon, but the Zoroastrian Cataclysm itself, Azi Dahaka, after having killed a god not long before that. And on top of that, you're holding the Sephiroth Grail, meaning you possess two Longinus at the same time. But now you're telling me you met Rizevim Livan Lucifer?"
"Who else do you think is insane enough to revive an Evil Dragon in the human world for everyone to see?" Jay asked.
He had already told Azazel about the fight with Azi Dahaka, how he managed to kill it, and how he now held the Grail in his hand.
He also explained that there were actually three Holy Grails, and that another one was still inside Valerie's body, who lay unconscious beside Glenda at that very moment.
"So, the final Grail is in that man's hands?" Azazel asked, his face clouding with genuine worry.
"Yeah."
"Oh no." Azazel rubbed his temples vigorously.
His dream of establishing a lasting peace between the three biblical factions might now be facing yet another catastrophic threat.
A Super Devil, the descendant of the original Lucifer, and someone who possessed a device capable of resurrecting the dead.
"Rizevim might not be as strong as you think," Jay said.
"But Rizevim might not actually be as strong as you think. In my eyes, he's considerably weaker than Sirzechs Lucifer, at least in terms of raw power. That said, the Grail's power is still a serious problem." Jay said quietly, already certain of one thing.
The next time Rizevim showed his face in front of him, he would kill him.
"Wait, when exactly did you meet Sirzechs?"
"A couple of hours ago. Why?"
"Please tell me you didn't just try to kill him," Azazel said, his face twisting into a pained expression.
"I am not that stupid."
"That is a relief. I honestly thought you might have just rushed him. You know your goals will never be accomplished if you are dead, right?" Azazel sighed, leaning against a dresser.
Jay raised an eyebrow at the Governor General.
"What kind of people die when they are killed-type of statement is that? And why do you even care if I accomplish my dreams or not?"
"Well, let us just say I would be sad if one of the most interesting people I have ever met died before reaching his full potential," Azazel said with a wink.
Jay simply scoffed and turned back to the window.
"Anyway, how did you and the Princess even get involved in this messy war between the Church and the Vampires?"
Jay proceeded to recount the entire sequence of events from meeting Gasper, the search for Glenda, the slaughter of the Tepes nobility, and Rizevim's interference. He detailed how Marius Tepes had been granted a Grail before leading the charge into Carmilla territory. And also the rest of the war and his fight with Azi Dahaka.
"So, there are basically no vampires left. Haha..." Azazel gave a dry, hollow laugh.
'Yooo! This guy is serious… he might actually kill all the devils at this point.' A chill of fear crept into Azazel's mind.
"Gasper and Valerie are still here, and there might be one or two others left in the world, but the majority are gone," Jay stated matter-of-factly.
"Right..." Azazel gave a defeated smile.
He almost felt a twinge of pity for the vampires. They had existed for millennia as a dominant supernatural force, only to be rendered virtually extinct by a single human teenager.
"Anyway, back to the reason you are here," Jay said, turning away from the window.
"Got any idea how to separate the two souls?"
"Well, if we use the same principle as Sacred Gear extraction, it wouldn't work. As you likely know, even though a Sacred Gear contains two souls, they remain distinct and separated within the vessel. That explains why your Grail cannot simply pull them apart," Azazel explained.
Penemue stepped forward to elaborate.
"From our research, the reason a Sacred Gear wielder's soul does not merge is due to the design of the Gear itself. Every one of them is contained within a specific vessel inside the host's soul, basically we called it a soul-body, which is why they are called God's artifacts. But, that is not the case for Lady Glenda."
Lavinia lowered her head at the explanation.
'Oshishou-sama...'
Jay glanced at the watch Glenda had given him, already planning his next move. He had intended to accompany Lavinia to meet Glenda first, then head to the Underworld to begin his plan.
But now…
It was Lavinia who finally broke the silence.
"Is there really no solution for this, Governor General?"
"Hmm. I think it is possible if you can destroy the soul-binding contract that is merging the two souls. But that requires high-level spirit magic or a spirit weapon, neither of which I possess," Azazel said, shrugging his shoulders.
Jay considered his options.
'Can the black flame burn it?' he thought, remembering how he had separated Augusta from Lavinia's body.
Then he shook his head. He couldn't risk it. This was different from Augusta's soul magic, where two souls were still separated despite sharing one body, Lavinia's.
This spirit had completely merged with Glenda's soul. There was no clean division. No clear boundary.
He couldn't risk burning Glenda's soul along with the spirit, even if there was a chance he might succeed. It would be a fifty-fifty gamble.
And Jay never liked to gamble when there is a life was on the line.
"For a spirit weapon… it's a bit complicated. Spirits play a major role in the Irish faction, and that's probably where this lady gets her Water Spirits. They have a vast number of them there." Azazel explained.
"And from what I know, the great relics of their gods are all a Spirit Weapon. That includes the Stone of Fal (Lia Fáil), the Dagda's Cauldron (Coire An Dagda), the Sword of Nuada (Claíomh Solais), and lastly, the Spear of Lugh (Gáe Assail)," He continued.
"All of them are categorized as high-tier spirit weapons," Azazel explained.
"But the tricky part is that they are all in the possession of their strongest Gods. The sword and the stone belong to Nuada Airgetlam, the cauldron belongs to Dagda, and the strongest of them all, the spear, is owned by the Chief of the Irish Faction itself, the Sun God Lugh Lamhfhada. And i highly doubt they will let you borrow them."
"And just so you know, Lugh is said to be on par with or even stronger than Sirzechs," Azazel added.
"Are you kidding me?" Jay muttered. It wasn't entirely surprising, but it served as a grim reminder of how many monsters roamed this supernatural world.
"Then what about spirit magic?" Lavinia asked.
"Spirit magic is also the domain of the Irish Faction. The entire Arthurian legend is closely tied to it. Are you familiar with the legend of Avalon?"
Lavinia nodded.
"In the Irish faction, it is called Tir na nOg, a Divine Spirit Realm. That is a pinnacle of spirit magic. The Shinto faction is closely related to spirits, but they do not practice spirit magic, and the same goes for the Norse." Azazel paused, deep in thought, then suddenly clapped his hands together.
"Wait! Now that I remember, doesn't the man Solomon have authority over spirits?" Azazel turned to Penemue for confirmation.
"Yes, it was one of the divine revelations that Father bestowed upon him, it was called..." Penemue replied.
Jay spoke up, his voice calm.
"Ars Theurgia."
"Oh? You know of it?" Azazel asked.
"I read about it in a book," Jay said.
"Yes, Ars Theurgia. It is one of the five divine revelations that Solomon possessed," Azazel confirmed.
"Wait, there are five?" Jay asked. His books had only mentioned four.
"Indeed. There are Ars Goetia, Ars Almadel, Ars Paulina, Ars Theurgia, and finally, Ars Notoria," Azazel explained, leaving both Jay and Lavinia surprised.
Both the fact that there are five of them, and how Azazel is able to know all of this.
"Well, how do I know, you ask? It's because I'm actually pretty good friends with the man. Hahaha… good old times. He's the greatest human of all time, if you ask me. A man truly worthy of respect." Azazel laughed.
"You only say that because he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, Azazel-sama," Penemue muttered with a look of visible disgust.
"Now, now, Penemue-chan. That was certainly one of the reasons, but he was truly an amazing person. You should have met him in his prime," Azazel said, scratching the back of his head.
"You would probably have ended up joining his harem too. I know I would have if I were a woman."
Jay, Lavinia, Penemue, and even Gasper stared at Azazel with unfiltered disgust.
"Pause," Jay said flatly.
"Anyway, where can I find Ars Theurgia?"
"I don't know," Azazel said bluntly.
Jay's eye twitched, and he instinctively flicked a needle of light magic toward Azazel's head, which the Governor narrowly dodged.
"W-well! Why don't you use that Grail of yours to find the information?" Azazel shouted, waving his hands defensively.
"Find out where the Ars Theurgia and the other Divine Revelations were stored by Solomon before his death!"
"The Grail requires a medium or an object to gain specific information. I need something related to the Divine Revelations to find where the others are kept," Jay explained.
"Well, you are in luck. Because near the end of his life, Solomon no longer possessed all five of the revelations," Azazel said.
"What do you mean?" Jay asked.
"Long before the Great War and the formation of the Seventy-Two Pillars, the Original Four Satans actually took the Ars Goetia from Solomon. I think with a bit of intel, we can find out exactly where the devils are keeping it," Azazel explained with a proud, knowing smile.
Jay and Lavinia exchanged a silent look.
"Then..."
"Yes," Azazel nodded.
"You should go to the Underworld."