Sirzechs' smile was warm, but his eyes were steady and uncompromising.
"I will fight. I will protect them all, even if it costs me my life. Besides… if my little sister and her fiancé are out there fighting, I'd look like a pretty pathetic older brother if I just sat here, wouldn't I?"
"Fiancé, huh? Well, that's basically a done deal. Once this war is over, you'd better make him call you 'Big Brother.' I've been hearing the words 'Brother' and 'Sister' a lot lately. Tell me, Sirzechs… is the sister-complex contagious?"
"Hahaha! Of course! I'm looking forward to the day he calls me 'Onii-san'! Or even 'Onii-tama'—I'm not picky!"
Sirzechs gave me a thumbs-up and a wink.
Yeah, I'm the idiot for asking, I thought. He was just as bad as Serafall. It was actually impressive—even in the face of total annihilation, his obsession with being a doting brother didn't waver.
As I was processing that, a figure appeared before us. A blonde girl with blood-red eyes. She cast no shadow, and her presence was unmistakably that of a vampire.
I knew her. In fact, I'd been waiting for her.
"Good to see you, Elmenhilde."
Elmenhilde Karnstein gave a stiff, formal bow. She was the daughter of the Karnstein family from the Carmilla faction. When we were negotiating with the vampires in Kuoh, she was the haughty girl who acted as our guide.
But her arrogant attitude was gone. She looked fragile, almost haunted.
Her homeland had been devastated; they were rebuilding from zero. Things were so desperate that Carmilla herself was begging for aid from any source. This girl had been sent out as an envoy, and the stress was clearly taking its toll.
"Well?" I asked.
Without a word, she handed me a small memory drive.
So… I was right.
"It's exactly as you suspected, former Governor," Elmenhilde said. "We found the research data that Marius Tepes had kept hidden."
I had been searching for it—information on the Holy Grail that even Rizevim didn't know.
Marius, the vampire prince, had been the one researching Valerie's Grail. In the end, he was just a pawn for Rizevim, a man of limited vision.
But I couldn't believe a pure-blooded vampire prince would hand over his life's work to another race so easily. Even if he cooperated, I suspected he would hide the core findings.
I had dispatched investigators to work with the local Carmilla faction, scouring every corner of the Tepes palace and even the private lives of Marius's inner circle.
My hunch had paid off.
"Marius Tepes's 'food supply'… one of the humans who provided blood to the royal family… was carrying the data," Elmenhilde explained. "The information was engraved directly into the person's body as a magic formula."
"Clever. Hiding the data as a living seal on a servant."
"Yes. He dismissed the servant and exiled them from the country just before Rizevim was invited in. It made tracking them down incredibly difficult."
"That's thorough. I guess Marius wasn't a total fool after all. Thank you, Elmenhilde. You've done us a massive favor."
I looked at the drive, then back at her. A thought occurred to me.
"Do you want to go see Issei? He's in a nearby hospital. Still unconscious, though."
Elmenhilde's face turned a violent shade of crimson.
"Wh-wh-why would you bring up the Red Dragon Emperor?! Th-that has nothing to do with me!"
Oh, this is a fun reaction. I'd heard things were "eventful" when she and Issei crossed paths earlier in the year, so I decided to poke the nest.
Did that kid seriously charm another girl from another race? Devils, Angels, Fallen Angels, two princesses from another world, and now a Vampire?
Say what you will about the guy, but Issei has a ridiculous level of pull. I've heard he even has a secret fan club back at the academy.
Elmenhilde regained her composure, bowed again, and hurried away.
As she left, Sirzechs turned to me. "I'm going to go speak with my peerage."
"And I'm going to check on the kids," I replied.
I was worried about Issei. He'd been asleep ever since the fight with Rizevim. He used a nonsensical amount of power; the strain on his body must be immense.
I parted ways with Sirzechs and let out a long sigh.
Time to get to work. Let's see what secrets this Grail is hiding.
[Azazel side out]
[Third Person POV]
"I didn't expect you to be the one to initiate contact."
Apophis spoke the moment they arrived.
Trihexa and its army had pulled back from the Norse realm. Their plan was to let the Holy Grail recover from its temporary exhaustion before beginning the next stage of the invasion.
But those plans had changed—all because of an encounter with the god of Ast-Arde, Asem.
"Well, you certainly are putting on quite the show," Asem said, his voice light and airy. "You're much more straightforward than old man Rizevim, but that just makes your brand of violence all the more intense. The world is in total chaos."
"You did not come here merely to offer commentary," Apophis countered. "...Where have you brought us? This is not the world you came from."
Asem had led Apophis and his cohort to a place the dragon had never seen before.
That was only natural.
Because they were in a completely different world.
"Of course not," Asem smiled his usual enigmatic smile. "Ast-Arde isn't nearly this desolate. This place is—"
Asem began to explain the nature of their surroundings. His words described a reality that exceeded even the imagination of a legendary Evil Dragon.
"To think such a thing was possible... I see. So this is the power of a god from another world. Tell me, why have you approached us? I can guess the general reason, but I want to know: what do you see at the end of this war?"
Asem's goal wasn't to destroy the world or even to rule it. He had no interest in such trivialities.
Asem looked up at the sky—a sky the color of fresh blood—and laughed at himself.
"My wish? It's something so sentimental you'd probably laugh in my face. The world isn't a kind place; I know that better than anyone. And yet, I moved. I'm betting everything on a single, tiny possibility."
"And does that possibility involve the current Red Dragon Emperor?"
Asem simply smiled in response. Apophis didn't press the matter further.
"I want you all to cooperate with me for a little while," Asem said. "In exchange, we will provide you with absolute support. A head-on, total war against the gods of this world, their legendary warriors, and their heroic spirits. Join hands with me, and I promise you this: this war will become far more intense, and far more fun. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"
A total war against every pantheon. Currently, it was a global crisis, but it was still a series of raids—not yet a synchronized world war.
More intense. More fun.
The strongest warriors from every corner of existence, gathered to wage a war like nothing the multiverse had ever seen.
With Asem's help, that could become a reality. This god seemed to understand the nature of dragons far better than Rizevim ever had. And after seeing him dismantle the Realm of the Dead single-handedly, his power was beyond doubt. If it was Asem, he could truly assemble a force of that magnitude.
The words of the Otherworld god were more than enough to stir the blood of the strongest Evil Dragon.
"Very well. Let us hear the details of your proposal."
"Aha! That's what I like to hear ♪"
[Third Person side out]
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