"This… I thought it was too quiet for a Sacred Gear extraction, especially one as dangerous as the Longinus. But I never imagined something like this could actually happen."
"Sensei, did you figure something out?"
"Yeah. It looks like Valerie's Holy Grail… she actually has another one inside her. It must be a variation that manifested within her at birth. A naturally occurring variant of the Holy Grail. Removing even half of it put her into a suspended state, but if we return this one, she might fully recover."
Multiple Holy Grails? Variants? How the hell did it get that twisted? … No, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is—Valerie's still alive!
I didn't pay the shadowy beast-form of Gasper any mind as I rushed toward him and called out.
"Gasper, that's great news!"
"Yeah… thank you, Issei-senpai. Although, it's kind of funny… Azazel-sensei realized the Grail had multiple forms after a quick inspection, and yet Marius—the one who bragged for years about studying it—had no clue."
Seriously. What kind of self-proclaimed Holy Grail researcher misses something that big? Pathetic.
While Azazel-sensei prepared to return the Grail to Valerie, I stayed with Gasper and talked.
Apparently, Gasper's current form housed a fragment of the consciousness of Balor, a demon god said to have been destroyed long ago. It had somehow fused with his Sacred Gear.
"So, should I be calling you Balor now?"
"No, Balor's long gone. And now that my power's been released, the 'me' who was born as a half-vampire and the 'me' that's part of Balor's consciousness have completely merged. I'm Gasper Vladi."
Yeah. That's right. You're still my adorable junior—nothing's changed.
"This form is the result of a fusion between my Sacred Gear and Balor. It's both a Balance Breaker and not. I guess I'll name it... 'Forbidden Invader Beast of the Eclipse, Balor the Beast.'"
After saying that, Gasper called out to everyone—Ikki, Kuroka, and the rest—even those not present, and thanked them with a gentle smile. Then the darkness lifted, his body returned to normal, and he collapsed.
Looks like he exhausted himself. Just before he completely fell, Rias caught him in her arms lovingly.
I thought that was the end of it—until Azazel-sensei, who had just finished returning the Grail to Valerie, muttered something troubling.
"…Strange. There's no sign of consciousness returning. Is something still missing?"
The moment he voiced his doubt, an unsettling, obnoxious laugh echoed through the chamber.
"Hyahahaha! Maybe… that's because you haven't returned this yet."
The one who appeared was—Rizevim.
But even more shocking than his presence was what floated beside him: another golden chalice.
Another Holy Grail?!
"You thought Valerie's Grail variant came in a set of two? Sorry to disappoint, but the correct answer is three! I secretly took the third one earlier. Honestly, Marius' incompetence gave me a good laugh. He might've made a better clown than a researcher."
Three?! Just how absurd is this girl's body?!
Then, Rizevim began mocking Vali, who for once looked truly enraged. According to Azazel-sensei, Rizevim had once ordered Vali's father to abuse his own son—and even killed him afterward simply because he found him "irritating."
"What do you want with that Holy Grail, Rizevim? You claimed not to care about ruling, yet here you are organizing terrorists, keeping a fragment of Ophis at your side, reviving Evil Dragons, and causing chaos throughout the world. What are you really after?"
"Hyahaha! Wanna know? Fine, I'll tell you. A while back, some shocking information surfaced in certain circles—a brand new god, unaffiliated with any mythology… That's right! The 'Bust God' from an alternate world—whom the Red Dragon Emperor here allegedly communicated with during his fight with Loki!"
Wait. That voice we heard during the Loki battle—from the girls' breasts?! That was real?!
"An unknown mythology! A whole other world! When I heard that, my heart fluttered like a schoolboy's. And I thought—'Why don't I destroy it?'"
What kind of leap in logic is that?! How does discovering a new world equal 'let's destroy it'?!
"But sadly, I can't reach that world. A certain dragon blocks the dimensional gap—the mighty Great Red. And I'm not stupid enough to fight him. Even with the Evil Dragon army or my transcendent power, I wouldn't stand a chance. Only a full-powered Ophis might've managed it, but thanks to that idiot Cao Cao splitting her power in two, that option's off the table. So I thought: Why not recreate the Apocalypse?"
Azazel-sensei's eyes widened in horror.
"…The Apocalypse… Trihexa?!"
Trihexa?
"Bingo! Ten points, Azazel-kun♪ Want a prize? A round-the-world cruise maybe? Hahaha, you're a great audience."
"Sensei, what's Trihexa?"
"…It's the beast behind the number 666, the so-called 'Number of the Beast.' A creature referenced alongside Great Red in the Bible. The Apocalyptic Beast—Trihexa."
So it's on Great Red's level?!
"No one's actually confirmed it exists. Even the gods have debated for ages without reaching a conclusion."
So it's more of a legend even to the divine? Makes sense why it's never been discussed.
"But we found it. Using the Holy Grail to dive into the laws of life, we discovered the creature… at the edge of a forgotten world. But someone beat us to it—a being who sealed Trihexa away with forbidden techniques, so dangerous even a god would die from the backlash. Wanna guess who did it? The original God of the Bible!"
"What?! The God of the Bible sealed it?! That makes sense, though… the Grail was his creation, so he could've found Trihexa first."
"Correct! That old man left hundreds—thousands—of deadly seals over the beast. It might've even killed him. I could never replicate it. So right now, I'm busy breaking the seal slowly, using the Holy Grail and the Holy Cross★."
If that thing escapes… the entire world could be destroyed!
"You'd risk that for the sake of destroying another world?!"
"Don't be so dramatic. This is the first dream I've had since becoming an old man. And remember—I'm a devil. Evil. Malicious. That's our essence. It's our duty to spread malice, even if we have to work for it!"
I couldn't stand it anymore and launched a Dragon Shot—but it vanished the moment it hit him.
According to Sensei, Rizevim has a unique power: Sacred Gear Canceller. Even Kiba's Holy Demonic Sword couldn't touch him.
Even my Cardinal Crimson Promotion and Kiba's enhanced blade can't get through?!
"Then I'll cut him with a Holy Sword!"
Xenovia fired a blast of holy aura from Ex-Durandal, but Lilith, standing near Rizevim, casually deflected it.
Even without Sacred Gears, he's protected. And apparently, he's classified as a Transcendent, a being beyond even Maou-class devils. No wonder Vali hesitated all this time.
Seeing us at a loss, Rizevim smirked.
"Well, now that you've learned how pointless fighting is, allow me to show you something."
A massive screen appeared behind him, showing live footage of a town—Carmilla's.
"A quaint little snowy town, isn't it? But with one snap of my fingers—bam! Instant chaos. What's it going to be? Destruction? Explosions? Let's find out."
He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
"…Hmm? Just wait a sec, it should start any moment now."
Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. Thirty. Still nothing.
Rizevim's grin twitched into a frustrated grimace.
"Hey, what the hell?! Why isn't anything happening?!"
He flipped through the footage—showing several massive Evil Dragons collapsed on the ground.
Dead? No… they're breathing. Knocked out?
Did Rizevim intend to attack Carmilla with mass-produced Evil Dragons created from vampires using the Grail—but they all just… boycotted him?
"What the hell?! I tweaked those vampires into dragons! Did I mess something up?!"
"Wait… those are vampires?!"
He did that during the Grail enhancements?!
While we recoiled in horror, Rizevim scratched his head and snarled.
"Dammit! This is such a pathetic ending! Wait, don't tell me—it happened in the other town too?"
He switched screens—to Tepes—and sure enough, an entire horde of Evil Dragons lay unconscious.
"…So this town was affected too. Most of Tepes' soldiers must've been altered through the Grail. If even a fraction of those dragons had rampaged, it would've been a massacre…"
"Exactly! That's what I wanted to see! So why did it FAIL!?"
The middle-aged demon stomped like a child throwing a tantrum.
Then Azazel-sensei burst into laughter.
"Pffft—ha ha ha ha! I recorded that priceless look on your face! Wanna know why it failed? Because a washed-up devil like you can't beat the true evil overlord."
Wait…!
"Was it… Ikki?!"
"Technically, Ikki and Kuroka. Remember when I mentioned he used Ittous Shura while you were talking to Gasper's father? Everything was just a setup for this."
I didn't get all the details, but apparently, my best friend had been working behind the scenes to save the day in a huge way.
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
55+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon.com/Veltoria