Jin's statement—about his "involuntary representation of humanity" and possession of information about a traitor—hung in the Summit hall like a storm cloud before a tempest. Dozens of eyes, belonging to the most powerful beings of the three factions, were fixed on his figure. Sirzechs Lucifer, Archangel Michael, Governor General of Grigori Azazel—all of them, accustomed to diplomatic games and hidden threats, now faced something completely different. The direct, almost brazen confidence of a young man whose power was obvious, but whose nature was completely incomprehensible.
Kuro, the coal-black rabbit with crimson-tipped ears, sitting on the windowsill next to where Jin had just stood, twitched his nose nervously. His ruby eyes intently watched his master, and his ears trembled slightly, as if picking up invisible vibrations in the tense atmosphere. Gasper Vladi, pale and still frightened but standing resolutely among Rias's entourage, looked at his "Aniki" with reverent horror and secret delight. He did it. He intervened.
Azazel, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head, was the first to break the prolonged silence. His usual crooked smirk grew even wider, and curious lights danced in his eyes.
"Izayoi Jin," he drawled, his voice oozing with poorly concealed interest. "The anomaly my researchers whisper about. The one who made Kokabiel tuck his tail and the White Dragon take notice. And now you've decided to play oracle? Well then, surprise us. What 'big mistake' are we, old and foolish, about to make, in your opinion?"
Jin slowly swept his gaze over those present. His violet eyes, cold and piercing, expressed neither fear nor servility. Only a slight, almost imperceptible boredom and a shadow of contempt.
"This whole gathering is just to sign another useless scrap of paper you'll call 'peace,' right?" he began, his voice rolling evenly through the hall, making even the powerful Satans involuntarily tense up. "Dividing spheres of influence, promising each other not to attack first... until one of your own ambitious puppies decides his piece of the pie is too small."
He gave a barely perceptible nod towards Akeno Himejima, standing behind Rias. Her face remained impassive, but she felt his gaze on her. "You have a clear example right here," Jin continued, "a hybrid of a demon and a fallen angel. Living proof that your racial prejudices are horseshit. And you still divide the world by this idiotic principle? Your millennia-old feud is just legalized chauvinism, covered up with pretty words about 'light' and 'darkness'. Everyone has their cozy little worlds—Hell, Heaven, Grigori... And you're ready to tear each other's throats out because someone was born with the 'wrong' set of wings or aura color. Stupidity."
Archangel Michael frowned slightly, his bright aura flickering almost imperceptibly. Jin's words were blasphemous, but they contained a grain of bitter truth that was hard to deny. Sirzechs Lucifer listened with an inscrutable expression, but interest flashed deep in his eyes—he knew Jin wouldn't speak for nothing. Serafall Leviathan stopped smiling, her childish face becoming serious.
"And while you play your political games," Jin raised his voice, cutting off an attempt by one of the demonic aristocrats to object, "someone is already preparing a 'surprise' for you. Think all your enemies are sitting quietly and afraid? There will always be some 'true' Leviathan or 'heir' of Lucifer who decides it's time to bring back the old order. Or just some fanatic who finds life boring without a big war. And while you're dancing around here, someone will definitely take advantage of your blindness and mutual distrust..."
At that very moment, his speech was interrupted. Rudely, unceremoniously.
The protective barriers enveloping Kuoh Academy shuddered from a powerful magical strike. The blue light of the dome, maintained by Sona Sitri and her mages outside, flickered, becoming covered in cracks. The lights in the Summit hall went out for a moment, and then emergency magical lamps flooded the room with an alarming crimson glow.
A roar full of rage and hatred was heard from outside, followed by a series of explosions.
"What is with today?" Jin's face twisted with obvious annoyance. He didn't like being interrupted, especially when he thought he was saying something important, albeit in his unique manner. "Can't even calmly point out idiots' stupidity without another fanatic barging in with their 'grand plan'."
In the center of the hall, where a moment ago there had been an untouched floor, a huge magic circle with the symbols of one of the ancient, now almost forgotten, demonic clans flared up. From it, shrouded in dark, seething energy, appeared a woman. Tall, stately, with long jet-black hair in which sea shells were tangled, and eyes the color of a stormy sea. In her hand was a massive trident emitting icy cold and an aura of ancient, unbridled water magic.
Katerea Leviathan. One of the descendants of the original Satan Leviathan, leader of the remnants of the Old Satan Faction.
"Traitors! Usurpers!" her voice, amplified by magic, thundered under the vaults of the hall. "You, pathetic imitators who dared to appropriate the names of the True Rulers of the Underworld! Today your fake world will collapse! The true Leviathan will reclaim the throne!"
She raised the trident, and water tornadoes mixed with sharp ice shards swirled around her. She clearly intended to attack Sirzechs and Serafall, the current bearers of the Lucifer and Leviathan names.
The faction leaders reacted instantly. Sirzechs and Michael created protective barriers, Azazel snatched out some artifact resembling a small staff. Their guards prepared for battle. But Jin was faster.
"I'm bored," he tossed out curtly and disappeared from his spot.
Before Katerea could unleash her attack, he was already standing right in front of her. His movement was so rapid that even Vali Lucifer, the White Dragon Emperor, squinted almost imperceptibly, trying to track his trajectory.
Katerea, seeing an unfamiliar young man blocking her path, was taken aback for a moment, but immediately her face twisted in rage.
"Out of the way, whelp! Don't interfere with the execution of justice!"
She pointed her trident at Jin, and a powerful stream of icy water, capable of freezing and crushing any middle-class demon, burst from its tip.
Jin didn't even try to dodge. He simply reached out and grabbed Katerea's trident by the shaft, just below the deadly prongs. In the same instant, the magic raging around the weapon just... vanished. The icy stream dried up, the water tornadoes fell, leaving only puddles on the floor. "Code: Unknown" in action.
Leviathan's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Her strongest attack, her family artifact... simply stopped working in the hands of this insolent brat.
"I-impossible... My power..." she stammered.
Jin, still holding the trident which she instinctively continued to cling to, turned sharply, using her as a counterweight, and slammed her with force into the nearest wall.
CRASH!
The stonework cracked, plaster showered down. Katerea went limp, her body sliding to the floor, leaving an ugly mark on the wall. She was unconscious, possibly with several broken bones. Her trident remained in Jin's hand. He twirled it, measured it with a contemptuous look, and then, with an ease any blacksmith would envy, bent the massive shaft in half and threw the twisted metal into the broken window with disgust. "Playtime's over," his voice sounded cold and distinct in the ensuing silence.
He slowly turned to the stunned leaders of the three factions. Sirzechs, Michael, Azazel, their entourage, even Vali—everyone looked at him with a new mixture of amazement, respect, and... wariness. He had just single-handedly, playfully neutralized one of the most dangerous terrorists of the Underworld, whose attack could have led to serious consequences. "And this is what you call a threat to the Summit?" Jin swept a contemptuous gaze over them. "Are you serious? A bunch of weak mages and one lady who overestimated herself, unable to even hold her weapon? Your security level is simply laughable. You truly have forgotten how to fight. Or just got too used to hiding behind the backs of your armies and barriers."
His words were like slaps in the face. No one dared to object.
Jin took his place again as if nothing had happened. Kuro on the windowsill squeaked approvingly, his ears turning bright pink for a moment.
"So, about what I was saying before we were interrupted by this... amateur hour," Jin continued his tirade as if nothing had happened, although the atmosphere in the hall became even more tense. "Your internal squabbles are one thing. But you are overlooking those who really want to start a big war, using you all as cannon fodder."
He shifted his gaze to Issei, who was still standing with his mouth open, and then to Vali, whose face was inscrutable, but cold calculation could be read in his eyes.
"Take, for example, your vaunted Heavenly Dragons. Eternal enmity sealed in artifacts. And every time you wait with bated breath for the next hosts to begin their deadly dance, destroying everything around. Stupidity raised to the absolute. This cycle of hatred is just a convenient tool for those who want to maintain tension. Their current owners are just as much puppets of this cycle, even if they think it's their own feud."
"And while you divide the legacy of dead gods and demons here," Jin continued, his voice becoming more and more caustic, "a new coalition of scum is already forming. All sorts of retired 'monkey kings', 'stray cats' who ran away from their masters, knights without fear and reproach but with a hole in their head, juvenile mages who imagine themselves omnipotent. And all of them will gladly join anyone who promises them chaos and the opportunity to kick the 'old order'."
He didn't name names, but the hints were transparent enough for those in the know about the shadow world. Azazel rubbed his chin thoughtfully, Sirzechs listened attentively.
Then Jin slowly turned his head and his violet eyes bored straight into Vali. The White Dragon Emperor didn't flinch meeting his gaze, but his aura changed imperceptibly, became more tense. "And, of course," Jin uttered with an icy smirk, "there will always be some ambitious 'descendant of the greats' who decides he is the new messiah or just strong enough to lead this rabble. Someone who seeks 'strong enemies', not understanding that he himself is merely a tool in someone else's hands. Someone ready to cooperate with anyone just to quench his thirst for battle. Even with those who dream of 'silence' at the cost of destroying all existence." The last words were a clear hint at Ophis, the Ouroboros Dragon, and her initial motives.
Vali Lucifer could no longer remain uninvolved. Jin's words were not just analysis—they were a direct challenge, almost an accusation. He realized this stranger knew or guessed a lot. About the Khaos Brigade. About his connection to Ophis. And he wasn't going to stay silent. Vali's initial plan—perhaps to attack Azazel or Issei under the cover of chaos created by Katerea—now looked inappropriate. Jin had seized the initiative. White dragon aura flared around Vali, his mechanical wings spread behind his back, emitting a blue glow. "You talk too much, stranger," his voice was cold as ice, but poorly concealed rage could be heard in it. "And know too much. Let's see if you are as strong as you claim!" Without waiting for an answer, Vali rushed forward, his fist wrapped in the white energy of Divine Dividing aimed straight at Jin's face. He decided to act. Immediately. Eliminate this unpredictable variable.
Jin didn't even blink. He easily, almost lazily, raised his hand and caught Vali's armored fist.
CLAP!
The shockwave from the collision of their powers made the walls of the hall tremble, and the magical lamps flickered again.
"See?" Jin smirked, his fingers squeezing Vali's gauntlet with such force that the metal began to creak. "I told you. Old grievances, blind rage, predictable attacks. You're no better than the rest."
He looked at Vali, then at the broken window through which Katerea's twisted trident had just flown out.
"Let's continue in the fresh air," Jin suggested, his eyes glinting dangerously. "It's too stuffy in here from your hypocrisy. And a bit tight for a real dance."
With these words, he yanked Vali toward himself with incredible force, and then, turning around, hurled the White Dragon Emperor like a rag doll straight into that same broken window.
The ringing of shards, the crack of a breaking wall—and Vali Lucifer flew out of the Summit hall onto the territory of Kuoh Academy, still shrouded in Sona's protective barrier.
Jin calmly dusted off his hands and looked at the stunned leaders.
"Apologies for the mess. Seems I have urgent business. Don't disperse, the most interesting part is just beginning."
And without waiting for their reaction, he stepped towards the breach in the wall, intending to follow Vali.
The Summit was completely and irrevocably disrupted. And on the grounds of Kuoh Academy, a battle of two monstrous forces was about to begin.