"Eh?!"
"What?! What did Akuto-kun just say?!"
It was only long after Akuto had left that Rias finally processed what his words actually meant.
The current Lucifer Maou… was her sister? Her name was Alice?
The "older brother" she had always believed in was actually… an older sister?!
"So… does that mean House Gremory never actually broke the family's fate after all?"
If she could, Rias would have wanted Akuto to explain everything to her in person. But with Akuto already gone to another world—and the soonest he could return being two or three days—Rias could only ask someone else.
"Since Akuto-kun told me to go find Onee-sama, that means Akuto-kun already knows Onee-sama's identity, and Onee-sama also knows Akuto-kun knows it."
"That's outrageous. This is completely outrageous!"
She was the actual little sister, yet Akuto learned the truth before she did.
"Anyway… my odd title is 'Kusaka,' right?"
Rias decided to talk to Grayfia first.
Because she suddenly realized that the person who should be most shaken by the fact that Lucifer Maou was a woman… wasn't her. It should have been Grayfia.
Now Rias understood everything—why Grayfia never married Lucifer Maou, and why Lucifer Maou had never had any children all these years.
So that was it…
Because "he" was a girl from the start.
…
Very soon, Rias connected the call to Grayfia.
[Rias: Grayfia, Akuto-kun just told me something enormous. Before I tell you, can I ask you one question?]
[Grayfia: Please speak freely, Rias-sama.]
Even as she said that, Grayfia could already hear it in Rias's tone. Rias had figured something out.
[Rias: All right, then I'll ask. Grayfia, the reason you've been focusing your work on Akuto-kun lately… was that Lucifer Maou's intention?]
[Grayfia: Rias-sama, as a member of the Lucifuge family who serves Lucifer Maou, whenever it is official business, I represent Lucifer Maou.]
[Rias: Grayfia, if I'm asking you like this, that means I'm not asking about official business.]
[Grayfia: ....]
After a long silence, Grayfia finally replied.
[Grayfia: Rias-sama… is this about House Gremory's family affairs?]
[Rias: Yes. Akuto-kun told me Maou Alice's real identity.]
The moment the name "Maou Alice" was spoken, all probing became meaningless.
[Grayfia: Yes. That's right, Rias-sama. It was Alice-sama who assigned me to Akuto-sama's side, and she also instructed me that my work focus would be on Akuto-sama from now on.]
Grayfia's explanation was far too official, and that was precisely what made it sound like guilt.
She hadn't done anything wrong. She had only been assigned to work there. She had never deliberately tried to seduce Akuto.
And yet, right now, Grayfia felt strangely like a mistress being caught by the proper wife, and her emotions turned subtly complicated.
In truth, Grayfia understood very well that something abnormal was beginning to change in her own heart.
But knowing it was one thing. Matters of the heart were still matters of the heart. In terms of action, she had never done anything she couldn't stand behind.
At most, every night she would give Akuto a dedicated report on the day's progress, so he would have a "good night" excuse to… force a kiss on her.
That sort of thing didn't count as "fate," did it?
Ahem.
It… it shouldn't, right?
…
Even though Grayfia felt her behavior could not possibly be called seduction, she still wanted to make it up to Rias.
So when she heard that Rias wanted to cultivate "Fate Overlap" with Alice, Grayfia immediately took responsibility for arranging it.
[Rias: Mm… then I'll have to trouble you, Grayfia, to speak to Onee— Onee-sama for me.]
Because she had only just shifted her understanding, Rias still wasn't used to the title "Onee-sama."
After some more small talk, Rias ended the call with Grayfia.
From that call, Rias confirmed not only that "Grayfia already knew Maou Alice's true identity," but also something else.
Grayfia's attitude toward Akuto-kun was… off.
Normally, her relationship with Akuto-kun should have been purely professional.
But from Grayfia's words, Rias could hear traces of dissatisfaction toward Akuto-kun.
The problem clearly wasn't with Grayfia herself. Aside from Akuto-kun, Grayfia treated everyone else normally.
Which meant…
Could it be that Akuto-kun had done something disrespectful to Grayfia?
For Grayfia to show this kind of petty, girlish side, the only "disrespect" Rias could think of was that kind of thing.
"Akuto-kun… don't tell me you're planning to make a move on Grayfia?!"
Reaching that conclusion left Rias feeling both amused and at a loss.
Under normal circumstances, she should obviously oppose Akuto making a move on Grayfia.
But wasn't the current situation already abnormal?
After all, even if Maou Alice stepped down and the truth from back then finally came to light… who would dare marry Grayfia, the woman who had nearly married Lucifer Maou?
To marry a devil of Grayfia's caliber, one's family standing would have to be at least above the "Maou, Duke, and high nobility" tier.
And clearly, those with the power and pedigree wouldn't marry Grayfia, while those without the power and pedigree wouldn't even dare to dream of it.
Taking everything into account, Akuto—who never drew the line between "this" and "that"—really did seem like the optimal solution, which was exactly why Rias felt so conflicted and absurdly amused.
"In any case, I'll just leave it to fate and watch how Akuto-kun behaves. From Grayfia's attitude… there's clearly a reaction."
Rias understood very well that the opposite of "like" wasn't "hate," but "indifference."
The fact that Grayfia could show so many emotions she never showed in ordinary circumstances was proof in itself of Akuto's special place in her heart.
…
Meanwhile.
On Akuto's side.
A little over ten minutes earlier, while Akuto was holding Rias—still intimately joined—he heard the system's notification tone.
[Ding!]
"Mm. Activate it directly."
Akuto had been itching to open the system's "Fusion" function.
[Ding!]
[Detected host combat power at Chief God level. Drawing advanced instance world…]
[Congratulations to host for unlocking Advanced Instance: Campione! World (First Half).]
[Would host like to enter the instance world now?]
"Hm? Campione! World?"
Akuto raised an eyebrow.
"I just obtained 'Sever Fate' not long ago, and it can already be put to use this quickly?"
When most people mentioned the Campione! world, they thought of things like "Heretic Gods," "Campiones," "divine realms," "goddesses," "the Last King," "a nouveau-riche production base," and so on.
But the first thing Akuto thought of was "the Goddesses of Fate."
The greatest enemy in the Campione! world was not the Heretic Gods, nor other Campiones, nor even the Last King.
It was…
The Goddesses of Fate.
Even the Last King, Rama, was merely a tool under fate's manipulation.
"If I can break the fate of the Campione! world, that can serve as a prerequisite experiment for breaking the fate of the DxD world."
"In the DxD world, the Holy God's cross-timeline pursuit, and that 'destined death'… those are clear signs of how deeply the enemy has already eroded that world."
"The only fortunate part is that the DxD world's Goddesses of Fate are not controlled by the enemy. Otherwise, DxD would become as troublesome as the Campione! world."
By "troublesome," he meant that the Campione! world's degree of fate-control was exceptionally severe.
In terms of solving the problem, the Campione! world was clearly easier than DxD.
With Akuto's current strength, he already had confidence he could resolve the Campione! world's issues, but DxD was still a far-off, uncertain horizon.
…
"Oh, right. System, what's with this 'Campione! World (First Half)'?"
[In the later part of the Campione! plot, there are events related to the divine realm and parallel universes. The difficulty and the scope of involvement extend into other worlds, so it has been split into two halves.]
[As long as the host completes the mainline tasks all the way through and ultimately completes the Last King-related plot, it will count as clearing the Campione! world.]
[As for the subsequent divine realm world and the parallel Campione! worlds, they are not included within the coverage of the 'third instance world.']
…
"So that's how it is."
"Indeed. If it involves the divine realm and those parallel worlds, then they aren't just branch-line parallels within a single world group, but something closer to a 'great world' that possesses its own independent world group."
Akuto knew that the "parallel Campione! worlds" the system referred to were not branch-line parallel worlds within one world group, but rather worlds closer to entirely independent world groups.
In theory, once an exclusive worldline and world group formed, it could be counted as a standalone instance world.
"Good. Send me to the Campione! world."
[Ding!]
[Entering Campione! World (First Half)…]
(End of Chapter)
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