— — — — — —
At the core of a massive starship, seated upon a towering chair forged from silver metal, sat a giant motionless figure.
The giant stood seven meters tall. His entire body was constructed from black-violet metal. Four eyes occupied the place where normal eyes should be, while his fifth electronic eye gleamed in the center of his forehead.
This five-eyed mechanical giant was one of the Three Evil Machine Gods of the ExE world's Evie Faction—Regalzeva, the Fierce God, also known as the Invincible Devastator.
After listening to the report from a subordinate mechanical giant, Regalzeva's metallic face emitted an electronic voice. "A newly discovered dimensional passage? And it leads to the world that's already been cataloged? Hmm... the designation uses that X-X format. So this world was probably discovered by my little brother Melvazoa, wasn't it?"
As he spoke, Regalzeva turned toward a two-meter-tall machine standing beside him.
The figure was Haz Ilyus, a Second Prime of the Ragou Shichou, created by Melvazoa.
"Yes, sir." Haz knelt respectfully and reported, "Lord Melvazoa intended to begin the invasion of the DxD world in thirty years, once sufficient data had been collected."
"Thirty years? That's not long." Regalzeva's tone remained calm.
Having invaded countless worlds, he considered thirty years an exceptionally short preparation period. Most of his own interdimensional campaigns took over a century before they even began.
Still, he was curious.
New dimensional passages were rare, and opportunities like this were precious. Usually, such worlds lacked overwhelming resistance in their early stages. Letting one sit untouched felt wasteful.
If possible, Regalzeva wouldn't mind lending his little brother a hand.
With that thought, faint light flickered within his electronic eyes as he accessed the empire's database.
"What?" After reviewing the records, confusion crept into his voice. "This world was discovered over four thousand years ago by Melvazoa. Then what's going on? Why hasn't it been conquered yet? Why is he still preparing for another thirty years?"
He looked toward Haz. On average, Regalzeva's fleet took five hundred years to fully conquer a world. That figure included everything: discovering coordinates, preparation, invasion, and postwar extermination.
Based on the date DxD had been discovered, he could have conquered at least five worlds by now.
"Did my little brother run into trouble?"
Haz's electronic eyes flickered. Then, with a bitter smile, he answered. "It's somewhat embarrassing for Lord Melvazoa, but yes. That's essentially what happened."
"The DxD world contains higher divine lifeforms. A dragon known as Great Red and a divine species called the Creator God caused considerable trouble. They repeatedly disrupted Lord Melvazoa's efforts, preventing him from fully locking onto the world's coordinates and gathering information."
"Furthermore, according to our latest intelligence, the Holy Mother Goddess, currently ranked sixth on our empire's most-wanted list, appears to have close ties to the DxD world. She's suspected of leaking a great deal of critical data, which has repeatedly prevented Lord Melvazoa from opening a stable world gate."
"...I see." Understanding dawned on Regalzeva. "So the rebels have joined forces with outside enemies."
Though the Three Evil Gods had already conquered most of the ExE world and exterminated nearly all organic life, turning it into a realm ruled entirely by machine lifeforms, several high-ranking spirit gods from Etouldes still continued to resist.
The Holy Mother Goddess was one of them.
"A bunch of remnants still dare to make life difficult for my little brother?" Regalzeva snorted.
Then he declared, "In that case, change our course. We're heading for the DxD world. We'll give those stubborn fools true despair. Hopefully this expedition can provide me with at least a little entertainment."
Haz immediately panicked. "My lord, our current mission is the invasion of the FxF world. If you alter the route without authorization, Lord Melvazoa will certainly question your actions again."
Regalzeva waved dismissively. "Little brother Melvazoa is as prideful as ever. But that's fine. I'm helping him whether he likes it or not."
"Ignore his opinion and do as I say." Then he raised a hand and issued a direct order to the helmsman. "Change course. Set destination: DxD."
[DING!]
The ship's main system immediately responded.
[Flight path updated.]
[Original coordinates 21351742 changed to 20253247. Route recalculation in progress...]
The starship trembled slightly before slowly veering onto a new trajectory.
Seeing that there was no changing Regalzeva's mind, Haz could only watch helplessly as the fleet turned toward the DxD world.
'Another long report to write afterward... and I'll have to document Lord Regalzeva's actions and transmit everything back home.'
'What a miserable job.'
Haz had no doubt whatsoever that Regalzeva possessed the power to conquer the DxD world.
His only concern was how displeased Melvazoa would be after someone else snatched away his prey.
'Being the liaison between those two lords really is a terrible position...'
As Haz silently lamented his fate, the fleet finished locking onto the newly formed dimensional passage and gradually entered the transfer phase.
...
..
Mount Meru—
A deafening roar echoed. Beneath the clouds, the sky fractured like shattered glass.
Countless cracks spread across the sky. And from time to time, fissures opened, revealing an abyss black as ink lurking beyond reality.
"Hmm. So it really was hidden within the dimensional gap." Ryo gazed upward and sighed.
The Creator God had gone to tremendous lengths to conceal Trihexa's body, hiding it in the very dimensional gap patrolled by Great Red.
Unfortunately, in the end, Rizevim had still managed to take advantage of the situation.
"It's coming," Ryo murmured.
The next second—
BOOM!
A dragon head dozens of meters wide burst through the boundary separating the dimensional gap from reality. Its crown was formed of seven horn-like spikes, and its appearance resembled an enormous lizard. The Emperor Apocalyptic Beast—666—had forcibly descended.
However, that single head was only a fragment of its true form. The full body of Trihexa was a colossal abomination composed of traits from countless beasts—lion, leopard, bear, dragon, and more. It possessed seven necks and seven heads, along with ten horns and seven long, thick tails of varying shapes.
Its upper body was that of a forward-leaning primate, covered in black fur and what appeared to be overlapping scales. Four massive arms extended from its torso, while its two legs were even thicker than its arms. Its sheer size stretched beyond several hundred meters, dwarfing even Great Red in comparison.
Cling—
At that very moment, a spear suddenly appeared beside Ryo. Or rather, what remained of a spear. Only the spearhead was left.
Within the hazy glow of holy light, the figure of the Creator God emerged.
At the same time, Great Red appeared beside Ryo in human form. Still not entirely accustomed to his humanoid body, the handsome dragon stared at the sky with a grave expression.
The two stood beside Ryo. Together, they looked upward.
Looked at Trihexa. And looked beyond it, where the outline of a starship could already be seen.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
In the end, Creator let out a regretful sigh, "So we couldn't avoid it after all..."
Meanwhile, Great Red turned toward Ryo and threatened him fiercely. "If you fail... if you get everyone killed... Um..."
Ryo's lips curled upward.
Oddly unconcerned, he teased him back, "Now that you put it that way, I'm suddenly tempted to give up to see what you will do."
"YOU!"
Great Red nearly exploded with anger.
Just then, Creator issued a warning, "They've arrived."
Above them, the starship behind Trihexa began to move.
.
.
.