Without Rhode needing to lift a finger, Lavinia had already manifested a defensive barrier around the two of them. Even so, Rhode could feel an indescribable "tide" of energy sweeping across the surface of the barrier.
The tidal wave covered the entirety of Kuoh Academy. Every living thing swept by the tide was frozen in place, like a movie paused mid-frame, maintaining whatever posture they were in.
Simultaneously, Rhode noticed the high-level members of the Three Factions—Michael, Azazel, and Sirzechs—instinctively release their own power to neutralize the tide the moment it touched them. Thus, the only people in the room still capable of free movement were the leaders, Rhode, and Lavinia.
Rias and Sona had stopped moving, but Sirzechs and Serafall quickly cast magic circles on their respective sisters, allowing them to regain their mobility.
"What's happening?" Rias gasped as she came to. As a High-Class Devil, she wasn't unlearned; she had felt the grip of an external force just before the time-stop.
Before anyone could answer, hundreds of teleportation circles suddenly appeared in the air outside the new school building. A group of roughly a hundred mages, hooded and dressed in black robes, emerged from the circles. Without a word or a moment's hesitation, they unleashed a compressed flood of magic toward the building.
Hundreds of different-colored beams of energy shot toward them. If they hit, the building would undoubtedly collapse instantly. However, before the impact, Michael and Sirzechs raised their palms. Crimson devil power and golden holy light formed two massive defensive screens. The mages' barrage hit the screens and vanished like stones sinking into the sea, failing to cause even a ripple.
"I suppose in any era, whenever powers try to sign a peace treaty, someone will try to stand in the way," Sirzechs remarked.
"Those should be mages," Azazel noted. "Sorcery and magic were re-engineered from the demonic power system by the legendary Merlin Ambrosius. Judging by the power of that volley, they're at least at the level of Middle-Class Devils."
"But that's not the point," Azazel continued. "The point is that the Longinus of Lucifer's sister's subordinate was clearly hijacked to trigger the time-stop. This school was protected by powerful barriers we set up in advance, yet these terrorists teleported in with ease. That means... there is a traitor among us."
As he spoke, Azazel looked at Rhode, half-intentionally. He didn't want to target Rhode specifically, but Rhode wasn't part of the Three Factions, and he had a mage companion by his side. Although Vali had been helped by this woman before, it didn't mean Lavinia was a "good person." For a top-tier mage, analyzing a barrier and providing internal coordinates was child's play.
Everyone in the room caught the subtext of Azazel's words.
"I believe Mr. Rhode is not the traitor."
To everyone's surprise, Gabriel was the first to speak up. She looked at Rhode with eyes full of gentleness and trust. Rhode was a partner of her subordinate, Sister Griselda, and after years of collaboration, Gabriel felt Rhode's thoughts were quite simple. He completed his missions perfectly, and aside from being quite "earnestly lecherous," he had no bad habits. Her meeting with him yesterday had only confirmed this. Even without evidence, Gabriel trusted him instinctively.
Hearing this, Rhode couldn't help but complain internally: Great. First, eliminate one correct answer.
After all, he was a member of the Hero Faction, a member of the Chaos Brigade, and a partner to the Old Maou Faction. Of course, while he had many identities, he actually hadn't leaked the coordinates.
"I also believe Mr. Rhode is not the traitor," Rias stepped forward to back him up. "If he wanted to disrupt the meeting, there was no reason for him to save Sona and me. If we had died, the Underworld and Fallen Angels would have gone to war for sure."
"That is true. Mr. Rhode cannot be the traitor," Sona Sitri adjusted her glasses and added.
Seeing so many people stand up for him, Rhode was deeply moved. He had actually been hoping a high-reward quest would pop up when he contacted Katereia. If his task had been to help the Old Maou Faction disrupt the meeting instead of helping Katereia become a Maou, he might have taken it if the reward was good enough. Instead, he had ended up with a quest completely unrelated to the main plot conflict.
Rhode felt a bit annoyed. If the quest had actually made him the traitor, he really would have wanted to see the look on Rias's face when she realized he was the mastermind.
Azazel understood the logic as well. If Rhode really wanted to cause trouble, he could have just let Kokabiel kill the sisters of two Maous. Besides, there was no way a mole would be this obvious; with this brat's devious mind, if there were a plot, it wouldn't be this simple.
Meanwhile, Rias was trembling with fury, realizing the terrorists had used her own servant. Her emerald eyes burned with a rage that looked ready to spit fire.
"Using Gaspar, whom I left in the Old School Building, as a terrorist weapon? Where did they get information about my servant?! To use him to sabotage such an important meeting... this is a supreme insult!"
The girl was surrounded by crimson energy, clearly pushed to her limit. While her anger was justified, it made Rhode almost lose his composure. Leaving such a ticking time-bomb at the site of a summit between the Three Factions without moving him first... one could only say that one shouldn't fear a god-like opponent, but a pig-like teammate.
The Chaos Brigade and the Old Maou Faction were also quite straightforward. They had to choose the moment all the high-level leaders were gathered to strike. If it were Rhode, he would have stolen Gaspar in advance, brainwashed him, and used the time-stop Longinus elsewhere; the margin for error would have been much higher than an on-site kidnapping.
Thinking about this, Rhode felt that not being a villain was a total waste of his talents.
At that moment, two magic circles appeared simultaneously on the floor of the conference room. Rhode didn't recognize one, but the other was identical to the pattern on the badge Katereia had given him.
Two figures in extravagant clothing emerged from the circles. One was a man named Creuserey, and the other was a mature, brown-skinned woman dressed in a luxurious, regal gown.
The main attraction had finally arrived. Whether this would succeed now depended entirely on Katereia's acting skills.
---Support me here: https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
High School DxD : Reincarnated into the Multiverse, but it's High School DxD (256 Chapters – Ongoing)
Join the journey and become part of the story!