— — — — — —
"Sorry for the intrusion!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Hades spun on his heel and bolted. In the blink of an eye, he had already plunged into the pitch-black passage.
He moved so fast it was almost dizzying to watch.
"Faster… faster! I need to go even faster!"
Right now, Hades could only curse his parents for not giving him a few extra legs at birth. Thankfully, he still had divine power. The moment he activated it, four additional limbs sprouted along his skeleton. With six legs driving him forward, his speed skyrocketed.
"Why... why was Ophis there?"
Even now, Hades couldn't believe what he had just seen.
Leaving aside Ajuka and Michael, who had defeated the descendant of the old Satans—
Just the sight of Ophis going berserk, attacking her subordinates, and then standing obediently beside a strange, mysterious man… that scene alone was enough to scare the soul out of him.
It was obvious from the situation that Ophis was now on the Three Factions' side.
Could he, little Hades, defeat Ophis?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, all six of his legs instinctively sped up.
In barely an instant, he had already returned to the Underworld under his control, the Realm of the Dead.
...
At that moment, Thanatos—the strongest Grim Reaper—was still in the middle of seeing Hades off.
"You harpies, what are you waiting for? Go prepare Pluto's favorite wine! Do you want him to come back victorious and not even have a proper drink?"
Thanatos barked at the trembling women.
Only after driving them all off to prepare the banquet did he stand in the palace corridor, sighing to himself.
"That guy Pluto… who knows how he managed to cozy up and just inherit Lord Hades' name and position outright. Back when Lord Hades failed his challenge against Lilith, why didn't I think of something like that?"
"And now I'm still just the strongest Grim Reaper, while Pluto's already the God of the Dead…"
The original God of the Dead, Hades, had once ranked sixth among the world's strongest.
But over a hundred years ago, after losing his challenge to the Devil Progenitor Lilith, he not only ended up as Ajuka's research material—his very name and position were seized by his subordinate, Pluto.
Now Greece had lost a top-tier powerhouse, and "Hades" had become a second-generation title. His influence had shrunk drastically, and he didn't even dare compete with the devils for territory in the Underworld.
As for Thanatos, he had gone from colleague to subordinate. Every time he saw Pluto, he had to call him "Lord Hades." It couldn't get any more miserable than that.
"That bastard Pluto… talking about attacking the Three Factions Conference to 'rescue' the real Lord Hades. Isn't he just trying to snatch more of Hades' body from Ajuka to devour?"
Grumbling, Thanatos stomped hard on the red-carpeted floor.
At that exact moment, a blurry figure flashed past him with a whoosh, slamming into him and sending him flying to the side.
"What the—?!"
"What just happened? Did I just see Pluto with… six legs?"
Thanatos stood there, completely bewildered. By the time he regained his senses, the entire Realm of the Dead had already activated a green defensive barrier.
At the same time, Pluto—who had inherited the name of Hades—issued an order. "From this moment on, the Realm of the Dead is closed to all visitors. Without my command, no one is to leave."
"What's going on here?" Thanatos muttered, utterly confused. "Wasn't he supposed to go rescue Lord Hades? Why'd he come back so fast?"
But Hades paid him no mind. He focused entirely on reinforcing the Realm of the Dead defenses, terrified that the devils might show up with Ophis in tow.
The former Hades had dared to challenge Ophis because he was a top-ten powerhouse in the world.
But he wasn't.
Now he huddled nervously inside his palace, afraid those devils might come knocking at any moment.
As for Thanatos' questions… no one was going to answer them.
...
..
Kyoto, within a separate dimensional space—
Ryo looked up at the sky as the cracks slowly repaired themselves, his expression puzzled.
"Who was that just now?"
"That was Pluto. Though it seems he's inherited the name Hades and he's now the God of the Dead there."
Ajuka casually tossed Euclid, whom he had been carrying, onto the ground before walking over to explain.
"Hades, the God of the Dead?"
Ryo looked surprised.
The Hades he remembered was the one from Little Garden—famous for his mild temperament, yet absurdly powerful.
But seeing this version of Hades from the DxD world…
What was this supposed to be? Even accounting for differences between worlds, the gap felt way too big. At the very least, Ryo couldn't imagine Little Garden's Hades turning tail and running like that.
"Looks like Pluto came for the original Hades I have in my possession…"
Ajuka adjusted his glasses and asked, "Should we pursue him?"
"Forget it…" Ryo waved it off, clearly uninterested.
He had no grudge against Little Garden's Hades. There was no reason to bully this weaker counterpart.
After all, once observation was complete, all possibilities in this world would be reported back to Little Garden's central system.
At that point, Hades himself would become aware of everything that had happened here.
If Ryo, someone from above, went around picking on the weaker version, it would reflect poorly on him.
That was precisely why, after defeating the original Hades, Algol had handed him over to Ajuka instead of finishing him off herself. Against someone of equal standing, even Algol maintained a certain level of respect.
Of course, that respect was for Little Garden's Hades.
As for this one… he wasn't even worth stepping on.
"If that's your decision…"
Ajuka glanced at Sirzechs, who was still under control.
Now that the situation was secure, Sirzechs had stopped trying to break free of the progenitor Power. Instead, he was focusing on comprehending it.
Ajuka didn't know what to say about that.
The strongest of the devils had been taken down by a dirty trick—it was undeniably embarrassing.
Choosing not to wake up and instead use the opportunity to study the progenitor power was understandable. Opportunities like this were rare… and, frankly, it spared him the humiliation.
But the real headache wasn't that. It was someone else.
Thinking of this, Ajuka pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Ryo-sama… how should we deal with Euclid?"
Euclid—Grayfia's younger brother, current head of the Lucifuge family, and the one responsible for leaking the progenitor power, leading to Sirzechs being ambushed.
Handling him was extremely delicate. It would inevitably involve Grayfia, a close attendant of the Devil Progenitor.
Among those present, only Ryo—who had a close connection to Lilith—could handle it appropriately.
Faced with the question, Ryo didn't even spare Euclid a glance.
"Inform the Underworld."
Ajuka's expression sharpened instantly. He understood right away.
"Ajuka, wrap up what needs wrapping up. Detain everyone who needs to be detained. I'll wait for your full report."
"Yes, sir!"
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