"What in the hell…?"
Issei's voice echoing through the frozen room. He looked around with wide, frantic eyes. Everything, everyone, outside the meeting room was frozen mid-motion. Time was frozen for everything.
"They're frozen," Kiba said, a glowing holy-demonic sword that pulsed faintly in his hand. Xenovia stood ready beside him, her Durandal too seemingly having appeared in her hands, its polished surface reflecting the eerie stillness outside.
"Is it just me, or did time actually stop?" Issei asked nervously, his voice still too loud for the strange silence, the adrenaline masking a creeping fear.
"It appears so," Azazel replied casually, his arms crossed, his tone maddeningly relaxed, as if time-stopping were merely a minor inconvenience. He wasn't bothered, but he was fascinated by the sheer scope of the temporal displacement. "Fortunately, those of us with superior power weren't affected."
Vali smirked from where he leaned against the wall, radiating smugness and confidence in his power. "Thank our dragons for that," he said, "They protected us. And the heavenly bunch over there were shielded by their Holy Swords." He nodded toward Kiba, Xenovia, and Irina. The Holy sword they wielded seemed to have been what saved them from being like the others.
"I'm okay, Issei… thanks to you," Rias said softly, relief washing over her face. She had been holding tightly to him, having reacted instantly when Kenji had warned that something was coming. It seemed that making contact with his scared gear allowed her to not be frozen.
A thunderous BOOM shook the building, followed by immediate shockwaves as massive explosions ripped through the sky outside. The group rushed to the window just in time to see hundreds of cloaked figures descending from a massive, ominous magic circle that pulsed above the hotel.
"Who are those freaks?" Issei shouted, staring at the dark silhouettes. They were garbed in deep grey robes, faces concealed by hoods, looking less like soldiers and more like a cult preparing for a ritual sacrifice.
"Magicians," Serafall answered with a dramatic, exaggerated pout, twirling her staff with an unnaturally cheerful demeanor. "Rude magicians! I'm a real-life magical girl, and yet they're flat-out ignoring me!"
Michael moved closer to the window, his expression grave. "But what is this power…?"
"It's the half-vampire boy," Azazel confirmed, looking out as spells began to rain down on the hotel. The building's inherent defenses and quickly raised magic circles were blocking the relentless magic shots. "Yes, he must have already fallen into their hands and been forced into creating Balance Breaker conditions for them, amplifying his Sacred Gear far beyond its normal limits."
"G-Gasper?!" Xenovia gasped, recognizing the name of Rias's shy, time-manipulating Bishop. The thought of the timid boy being forced into such an overwhelming act of destruction made her clench her fists. She liked the kid.
Sirzechs nodded grimly, his blue-green eyes fixed on the chaotic scene outside. "He has the power to stop time, so it's safe to say it's him. Gasper has fallen into enemy hands."
"Oh no," Kiba whispered, worried for his friend, the weight of the situation settling heavily on his shoulders.
"THESE terrorist magicians dare to hurt a member of my household? THEY WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Rias roared, her crimson hair seeming to flare with incandescent demonic power as her fury mounted. Her frustration was palpable, her friend, her family, was being used as a weapon against her.
"Our guards are disappearing," Michael said, watching as angels and devils in the sky, caught in the temporal trap, vanished mid-air.
"Teleportation magic," Baraqiel deduced, his gaze sharp, "That means someone is connected to the gate within this barrier. They must have established an internal anchor. And unfortunately, our magical transport troops are completely sealed off from us," he added seriously. The temporal barrier was acting as a perfect isolator, preventing all outside reinforcements from entering the zone.
"Yes, their timing and use of Lady Gremory's Bishop could not have been more perfect," Michael said grimly, recognizing the calculated strategic brilliance behind the attack.
"We'd been betrayed," Irina whispered, turning to look at Xenovia before quickly avoiding her ex-best friend's stare, still angry at her friend for leaving the church and joining the devil's side.
"I recommend we take action soon," Sirzechs warned, his tone dangerously cold, "If they have somehow found a way to make Gasper stronger, none of us will survive this."
A heavy silence descended.
Then—
Kenji let out a sharp, loud snort.
God, Kenji just couldn't help it. He was genuinely offended by the dramatic posturing. Was this man serious? Sirzechs was one of the strongest beings in the world. If he could remember correctly, he was around 6th or 7th, and he was acting like a slightly amped-up time-stop ability was the 'end of the line.' He just couldn't help but laugh, drawing all attention.
He kept his eyes on the Crimson King, a lazy, contemptuous smirk on his face.
"Are you," he drawled slowly, "seriously trying to sell me the idea that this situation is dangerous? That you, the literal embodiment of destruction, are worried about a few costumed hobbyists and a time-locked?"
Confusion, mingled with indignation, filled the room.
Kenji gestured dismissively toward the intruders outside.
"That," he said, flicking his finger toward the magicians, "is not an army. That's a collection of mid-class cosplayers with delusions of grandeur. They are cannon fodder used to draw out a reaction."
Gabriel looked genuinely confused, unable to reconcile Kenji's dismissive attitude with the threat he seemed to be ignoring. Serafall blinked, her pout deepening, annoyance at the insult.
Kenji continued, his voice rising in volume, laced with challenge and impatience.
"You're telling me that you, the most destructive beings in this entire faction, who could delete this entire city with a sneeze, are 'concerned' about a few dozen mid-class when your entire guard detail is being whisked away?"
He snorted again, shaking his head with exasperation.
It felt like watching six Level-100 raid bosses pretending to struggle against a few Level-1 slimes. The absurdity was staggering. Their hesitation even more. Like, it was like if a few chunins attacked Madara and the five kages, and they started discussing how serious it was and shit like that.
"But it's not that simple," Gabriel began, trying to inject sense into the moment, likely gaspers capture.
Kenji cut her off sharply, his golden eyes narrowing. "Of course, it is. You've been attacked. You have the power to end it immediately. What exactly is stopping you from doing so? What are you doing, writing a war script monologue? The time to be polite ended when they kidnapped one of your own."
Even Azazel looked momentarily embarrassed at how accurate Kenji's assessment of the situation was. He knew Kenji was right, they were all overthinking.
"Are you going to actually tell me that you can't handle this easily?" Kenji challenged, his golden eyes blazing with silent contempt. if there was one thing kenji hated it was things like this, if you notice he doesnt waste time when he fights prefering to end things quick, or maybe he had an actual reason like testing him self, but everyother time it was quick, just see kokabiel and that yokai whose name he'd even forgotten, he went for the kill when he could and finished it.
He could kill most of those magicians without even standing up from his chair, using only his gravity manipulation, and these Satan-class beings wanted to pretend that some wannabe mid-class fools could stop them.
People always preached that numbers mattered in a fight, and sure, they did, but only if the power difference was within reason. The difference between Mid-class and a few high-class soldiers and six Satan-class beings, including a Super Devil and an Ultimate-class Dragon Emperor, was not within reason. It was an extermination order waiting for a green light.
"Just forget it... So, where is this half-vampire?" he asked, realizing their dramatics were a waste of time. He knew about Gasper, Rias's Bishop, but now that they were all the way in Shizuoka, thanks to Azazel and the boy back in Kuoh, how was his power even reaching here?
"We left him back at the clubroom with Koneko," Rias said, biting her lip.
"Well, it seems they have gotten him and brought him close, else his power wouldn't have this much reach," Kenji stated, dismissing the possibility of long-range control. The kid had a lot of magic from what he knew in the light novel, but even he didn't have that much for his effects to reach across a city this early in the series.
He closed his eyes and immediately focused on his spatial awareness, expanding his senses, trying to search for the kid. He didn't know the boy personally, so he couldn't pinpoint him by signature, but he could still find the center of the temporal effect manually. He swept his awareness across the building, down the streets, through the frozen trees, tracing the subtle, vibrating fault line where time had been artificially paused—
Found him. The kid was terrified, being held in a crude magical apparatus. It seemed they also brought Koneko with them, just like in the canon. 'What is with bad guys and not just ending a potential problem' he thought as he shook his head.
"Found your bean," Kenji said lazily, opening his eyes. "He's about 200 meters out, northeast side, inside a temporary magical camp they seemed to have set up."
That information alone immediately derailed the group's entire strategy planning, confirming their fears that the enemy was operating inside the defensive perimeter.
Before they could revisit their plan, a glowing magic circle bloomed violently in the very center of the meeting room.
Sirzechs's eyes widened in recognition.
"I know this magic… but how?"
A woman stepped out, beautiful, regal, radiating a palpable aura of hatred and intense, demonic power, clearly of the Ultimate-Class tier.
"Katerea Leviathan," Sirzechs said coldly, his voice tight, instantly recognizing the member of the old Satan families.
"Well, if it isn't the unworthy devil kings, Sirzechs and little Serafall," she sneered, her voice dripping with disdain, her dark hair contrasting sharply with her pale, striking features.
Serafall pointed her staff at the intruder, her cheerful demeanor gone, replaced by the steely resolve of a true Maou. "Explain yourself, what are you doing here, Katerea!"
"I'm here," Katerea announced proudly, raising her staff, which crackled with condensed Demonic Power. "To bring destruction and chaos!"
A violent, condensed magical explosion rocked the room, aimed directly at the leaders.
Kenji casually put up a gravity bubble around himself, bored by the predictable opening move, while the leaders combined their power to shield everyone else. The combined barrier shimmered.
"Adorable," Katerea taunted, watching the combined shield shimmer. "The three great powers put up a defense barrier together. Adorable and pathetic."
"What are you thinking, Katerea?" Serafall asked seriously, the question a veiled threat.
"What I'm thinking is the exact opposite of everyone in this disgusting meeting. If God and the Devil King aren't around anymore, then there should be a revolution in this world," she sneered. She clearly felt entitled to the power vacuum created by the deaths of the original leaders.
"Serafall, you stole my Leviathan title and now question me? How dare you," she said angrily, her eyes flashing, before smiling cruelly. "Oh, but don't worry, Serafall. Today, I'll kill you at this place and take the title of Maou Leviathan for myself. The world will recognize the true bloodline."
"Of course, I suppose it's too much to hope that we're just caught up in a devil's coup d'état," Azazel said, rubbing his chin, looking more amused than concerned.
"I think it's more than that, her plan is more likely to take over the whole world," Michael said grimly, sensing the grandiosity and hubris in her.
Kenji nearly burst out laughing from where he had gotten comfortable enjoying the show. Take over the whole world?
The idea was so staggeringly idiotic, he couldn't help himself. What was she going to do about the other pantheons? Was she going to send a strongly worded letter to Shiva, who was said to be the strongest non-Dragon God entity in existence? In a world like this, one person couldn't just decide they wanted to rule, especially someone this weak. She was only Ultimate Class for God's sake, and she was dreaming of world domination against entities who could destroy entire continents. He let out a sharp, genuine laugh that echoed in the strained room.
"What's so funny, human?" Katerea snapped, her face twisting in pure fury at his obvious scorn. To be mocked by a 'lowly human' while making her grand speech was an intolerable insult.
Kenji wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye.
"You? Conquer the world? You're Ultimate Class at best," he laughed again at that, he just couldn't help it.
She snarled, lifting her staff higher, her aura becoming intensely volatile. "You dare—?! And who are you, human, to judge a Leviathan?"
"Kenji Takahashi."
Recognition flashed across her face, replaced by contempt and dismissal.
"Ah, yes, I've heard of you," Katerea spat. "The human who caused a ruckus with Kokabiel. Impressive for your race, but frankly, you're not my problem. I won't lower myself to waste time with a lowly human when I have two Maou to kill."
A secondary magic circle appeared behind her.
From it stepped nine figures, yokai. The leader was a large man whose face was twisted with absolute rage when he caught sight of Kenji. At his side stood a slender woman, equally furious, her eyes glowing.
"So," the large man growled, his voice a deep, unsettling baritone that seemed to vibrate the floorboards, "we finally meet, human."
Kenji lifted a brow, completely uninterested in the sudden, dramatic entrance. "Do I know you?"
"I am Tsuchigumo, loyal servant of Lady Gitsune. And you have something that does not belong to you. "
"Something…?" Kenji frowned, tilting his head. What was he talking about? Kenji had never met the woman they were talking about. he tried his best to remember what they were talking about.
The woman spoke sharply, her voice strained with anger, "Return the tail of our lady, meat bag, and your death will be less painful."
Tail?
Kenji blinked. Then it hit him, an embarrassing realization flooding his memory of the tail he found in his inventory after killing that yokai guy and taking everything that was in the cave.
"Oh."
He burst out laughing, a sound that was pure, genuine amusement. He had completely forgotten about it. He wanted to give it to Yasaka at one point for a favour, but he forgot.
And now, unintentionally, it had lured more prey straight to him.
Kenji grinned, it seemed not giving Yasaka the tail had brought him some bonus stats.
"Well, come and take it".
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