You can skip this chapter.
Story will start in the next chap,
Mc is not issei, he will appear in chapter 4.
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Thousand Destruction. A certain great disaster that occurred a little over two years ago.
Composed of archipelagos in the southern hemisphere, declared independence during the Cold War, with Zaia Corporation as its de facto patron, and a powerful nation that even repelled the United States. Its name: the Sauzer Archipelago Federation.
The headquarters of Zaia Corporation in its capital was suddenly destroyed in a massive incident.
This great destruction is being covered up as a meteorite crash or something, but the truth is vastly different.
...In this world, gods and devils actually exist.
Not only the God, angels, devils, and fallen angels written in the Bible, but also various mythologies like Norse and Greek mythology. Even vampires and monsters - beings called aberrations exist while hiding their existence from human society.
These beings have secretly made agreements with human governments, and while human magicians sometimes work directly under the government, each faction has faced each other in an isolationist and Cold War-like manner.
In the midst of this, half a day before Thousand Destruction, a certain leak was brought to the Vatican and the Underworld.
"Zaia Corporation is plotting to reveal the existence of aberrations to the entire world and wage war to destroy aberrations as evil."
While utterly absurd, there was more than enough reason to be cautious.
If the existence of aberrations were revealed to human society, great chaos would be born, which would only be harmful to both sides. This is the fixed notion throughout aberrant society regarding their relationship with humans. And the human side understands this too, with government leadership agreeing to hide aberrations from general society.
In this situation, the Sauzer Archipelago Federation was where the government leadership itself showed hostility toward aberrations.
At the same time, Zaia, which possesses Esperanto - superhumans who utilize the new particle called Astral - and Progrise Keys developed through cutting-edge science and technology, is said to have a chance of winning even if they started an all-out war with the United States.
If they really intended to start a world war considering anti-aberration measures, they would be hiding even greater power. And they had enough power to be convincing when told so. To make matters worse, if they included biased reporting in how they revealed things, it would be possible to confuse many humans. Most troubling of all, the information sent only to the Three Great Powers contained literally world-overturning, top-secret matters that the Three Great Powers were concealing.
Therefore, the Three Great Powers prepared themselves while half-believing, half-doubting, but Thousand Destruction occurred due to a mysterious attack faster than that.
This caused Zaia Corporation to suffer a major blow, losing its entire leadership and even various data. At the same time, all the leadership of the Sauzer Archipelago Federation fell into vegetative states, and the Sauzer Archipelago Federation suffered an overwhelmingly huge blow.
In just a little over two years, the archipelago federation lost its previous momentum and weakened to the point of being essentially just a resource-rich country, though militarily powerful.
And the Three Great Powers, arriving late, were shocked to see the facilities hidden in Zaia Corporation.
Gathering orphans from around the world and subjecting them to Esperanto procedures was just the tip of the iceberg.
Measures that raised humanitarian concerns were implemented - embedding AI chips in brains to acquire the ability to operate special equipment.
And furthermore, materials left at Zaia Corporation revealed that they were the ones who had been causing certain rituals around the world.
Heroes who once existed and left their names in history. Their remnants possessing tremendous power - Servants.
The advantage that devils have as a physical function - magical power. The factor that produces magical power from life force and exercises it as power through incantation and ceremonial equipment - Magic Circuits.
A ritual where those with Magic Circuits summon Servants to fight each other, and the winner gains tremendous power to grant wishes by using the dead as sacrifices. These have been sporadically occurring around the world for about a thousand years, each time causing some kind of chaos in the human world and among aberrations.
Its name is the Holy Grail War. Data on the Holy Grail, which is its core, was discovered from Zaia, though damaged.
They had been causing something for over a thousand years. That much was clear, but it was obviously unnatural.
From that thousand years ago, several mysterious things had been happening in the world.
One of them was Astral.
A new type of energy filling the atmosphere. While the only method of utilizing it was Esperanto, which the archipelago federation had recently devised, it had suddenly appeared a thousand years ago, as if there was some kind of connection.
The numerous aberrations who grasped this would struggle for the next few years precisely because of this.
Holy Grail Wars, which used to occur maybe once every few years, began happening several times a year.
Suddenly, like divine revelation, the knowledge of Esperanto and the manufacturing method of the alloy Adamantite for its operation would lodge in people's heads.
Moreover, Raiders - superhumans who transform using the combination of Progrise Keys and Raidrisers, weapons that the archipelago federation monopolistically operates - would appear out of nowhere, especially to dangerous individuals who would create their ideal world even if it meant making enemies of nations.
This caused both human society and aberrant society to rapidly descend into chaos.
Yes, it wasn't strange or anything here either -
"Create, the stars drawn in heaven - we are the shining shooting stars"
"RAIDRISE!"
As those words and voices echoed, gunshots rang out continuously.
The location was a corner of a certain regional city in Japan. It was a room in that apartment building.
A gathering place for a dangerous ideological group that not only enjoyed homeless hunting with glee, but actually believed that legally eliminating the homeless was the right thing to do.
There were actually people who had risen to politicians and police organization executives, and they had rushed to arrest them after discovering them through investigating police corruption, but it had turned into this large-scale battle.
Were they seriously considering a coup? A considerable number of people had gathered in this dangerous group. Naturally, the police deployed SAT, but the situation was completely overturned.
"We are revolutionary army of earth"
Resisting Ant Raiders wearing ant-modeled Ride Models. The main reinforced armor of the Sauzer Archipelago Federation that suddenly appeared sporadically around the world after Thousand Destruction.
With this, the unit that had entered immediately withdrew from the simultaneous firing of light bullets equivalent to large-caliber rifle rounds.
By immediately throwing flash-bangs, they were able to create an opening for just a moment, so there were zero deaths.
However, since the head unit instantly prevents excessive light and sound, it only created a literally momentary opening.
And troublingly, one of the enemies was an Astral Player.
Even at average levels, they can run at speeds over 100 km/h. Additionally, with high self-repair abilities, they have the capability to single-handedly defeat even infantry fighting vehicles.
And Raiders also reach tank-equivalent levels in both offense and defense. Moreover, the Progrise Keys and Raidrisers needed for transformation can be deployed with concealment roughly equivalent to being slightly bulkier than a pistol.
To face the enemy's leader who combined both of these would require several tanks and an equivalent accompanying infantry unit.
Above all, Ant Raiders basically manifest eight humanoid drones called "Resisting Army" to guard themselves.
They demonstrate firepower equivalent to hunting rifle rounds with the feel of squad support weapons, can operate rifle grenades in emergencies, and their ultimate technique "Resisting Bolide" fires two shots with anti-tank missile-level firepower. On top of that, eight Resisting Army units provide additional firepower without the ultimate technique.
With six of these appearing, it was already a threat, and combined with Astral Players, it was nothing but troublesome.
SAT immediately decided to deploy their final measure against an enemy that seriously required company-scale military power.
"Contact the Grigori unit! Hurry and send backup - "
" - There you are."
At that moment, they were discovered by the Astral Player Ant Raider of all things.
Astral Players are superhumans. While they must possess specially tuned alloy called Adamantite as a medium for resonating with Astral, if they can achieve that, they demonstrate overall performance superior to Ant Raiders.
Physical strength, physiological functions, and all five senses far exceed ordinary people. Naturally, healing power also increases, so at the level of the two world wars that occurred in the past, even tank bombardment would be difficult to make fatal, let alone incapacitate. Excellent individuals could probably counter-attack an entire infantry company.
Most frightening of all is the supernatural ability they possess - Asterism.
A supernatural ability that manifests the laws of different stars, treating oneself as the smallest unit of a star. Since it reflects the individual's physical qualities and mentality, even blood relatives cannot manifest completely identical ones. Possessing this literally unique trump card is the real essence.
If you can't master it, it's just a first-sight killer, but if you become proficient, you can literally establish a one-of-a-kind winning pattern. The characteristics of that power are inevitably vicious.
And what the man in front of them manifested was an easy-to-understand power.
Flame Fist Manifestation Ability. A star that was a simple but clearly powerful weapon that wrapped tremendous heat around his left arm.
They scattered in a hurry, but the fist that charged straight ahead easily punched through reinforced concrete.
Furthermore, that flame literally melted the reinforced concrete.
That heat was undoubtedly proof of tremendous power.
"...You've got to be kidding."
While one of the SAT members was stunned, the Astral Player Ant Raider turned back to them -
" - I'll have you stop right there."
- At that voice, the man looked up.
On the rooftop of the apartment building across from them, a single girl was standing.
Looking further, she was holding a destroyed Raidriser that another unit had possessed.
And what they should be wary of was the fact that wings were growing from her back.
Being an elite Astral Player, the man had received certain information from the politician constituents.
That was about aberrant beings who, while having appearances similar to humans, possessed power and lifespans far exceeding humans.
Additionally, from the black wings she was sprouting, the man instantly saw through her identity.
"A fallen angel!"
"Correct."
He leaped at her and struck with his scorching fist, but the girl quickly dodged it.
The girl with silver hair streaked with red highlights and styled in twin tails showed a fearless and bewitching smile while creating short spears of light and quickly beginning to attack the Astral Player.
While deflecting them with his scorching arm, the Astral Player remained calm.
An Astral Player fighting as a Raider. That potential is literally overwhelming, and frankly speaking, it's at a level that could deal major damage to military organizations that don't possess both.
The potential to handle attacks against this was certainly fearsome, but he had gauged the opponent's capabilities in just a brief exchange.
It would be troublesome, but that's about it. He could definitely win without a doubt.
Understanding this, the Astral Player was fighting with composure.
Little by little, steadily, he acted to exhaust the opponent's stamina and gain the advantage.
After continuing this for about five minutes, the fallen angel finally stopped moving.
"...Is this all? You came out acting all high and mighty, but you can't do much, can you?"
When he said this with provocation mixed in, the girl showed a smile that mixed a little bitterness but somehow suggested composure.
"No no. I think I did pretty well? Personally, I'd give myself about 80 points."
At those words, the Astral Player showed a puzzled expression behind his armor.
No matter how you looked at it, he had the advantage. She could escape by flying, but since Raiders were capable of long-range combat, he had plenty of chance to win.
Despite this, for some reason the girl had an expression as if everything was going as expected.
"What are you saying you can do?"
So he unintentionally asked -
"...De-coy♪"
- With those words, he heard footsteps from behind.
The moment he hastily turned around -
"SAVE"
"FREE"
- He instinctively understood that they would be defeated.
At the same time, a single girl was confronting a high-class devil.
A girl with pure white long hair who seemed to be between woman and girl, but was notably flat-chested. But that she was no ordinary person could be confirmed from the fact that the devil facing her had a twitching expression.
To begin with, this high-class devil was among the malicious types even in devil society.
He was someone who skillfully utilized the precarious line and the situation of the Three Great Powers glaring at each other to corner humans through vicious methods and make them into reincarnated devils as a hobby.
Since he made it as legal as possible considering even the laws of his assigned district, no complaints arose, but since his purpose was "wanting to see humans who are hopelessly cornered cling to devils," he was beyond help. He would select those with talent for Rating Games, and due to his hobby, he would quickly trade them to high-class devils who seemed compatible with those humans, making it completely recreational behavior, which made it worse.
As a result, many devils could obtain excellent servants, so his influence through connections was strong, and since he even cleared the laws of the local country, the current devil administration couldn't interfere, boasting such nastiness.
And precisely because of this, all his servants were excellent.
Since it would be troublesome to have strange resentment, he conducted scouting for those compatible with him not just legally but benevolently, even with quite good treatment, so there was no worry of rebellion. Rather, they would remember similar enjoyment and even cooperate. On top of that, while he wasn't an ultimate-class devil, as a high-class devil, he boasted a high rating in Rating Games.
Therefore, he had judged that even the Church side wouldn't immediately attack, but...
"Well, if you repent and live for faith, I might overlook it."
To the girl who spoke like an ultimatum, the devil roared.
"Don't mess with me, you monster..."
Right now, he was alone.
All his servants had been killed. Even though he had taken extra precautions and personally contracted with a small-scale magician organization, providing them research facilities in exchange for making them security guards.
The attackers were fewer than ten people. Moreover, only the woman in front of him had faced him and his servants.
Yet all of them had been struck down, leaving the devil with nothing but to grit his teeth at this fact.
"I'm following this country's laws too! There should be other devils you should prioritize defeating!"
He had considered the local laws precisely to avoid attacks from the Church.
He had conducted careful maneuvering to the extent that even those demon lords with goodness rarely found in humans would frown but not directly judge him.
Despite this, the women in front of him were mercilessly attacking and cornering him.
"You're judging us who are taking lawful actions! Even if you're God's believers, ignoring this country's laws too much would be problematic, and above all, do you think you can go to heaven with such methods…"
"It doesn't matter."
The girl stated this clearly.
In front of the dumbfounded devil, the girl aimed a rifle.
Not a light gun, but a rifle using ceremonially blessed tungsten warheads. Pointing this old-fashioned weapon at him, the girl clearly stated:
"At worst, it's just a matter of me being executed, right? Besides, me going to heaven is absolutely out of the question. I don't want to go to hell, but it's still better than going to heaven."
The girl who said this so calmly put strength into the trigger.
And the devil realized his misunderstanding.
This woman wasn't a devout servant of God. She wasn't a mad believer serving God either.
She was simply dragging evil like themselves to judgment because God was the one who judged her.
"...You crazy woman."
"Of course. There's no way I'd be normal."
With that response, the girl shot through the devil.
Then, as if noticing something, she glanced toward the window.
"...Well, I've quickly done what I needed to do, so I'll follow the higher-ups' instructions."
An emergency communication had arrived from the upper levels just before the operation started, and she had briefly confirmed it.
"Ultimate-class fallen angel Kokabiel. Stealing Excalibur and fleeing to devil territory - is he planning to cooperate with devils to destroy the Lord?"
The girl who muttered this glared at the void with clear hostility.
"Good nerve. Then, even if I die, I'll make you regret it..."
"...This has become troublesome."
At the same time, the fallen angel girl who had defeated the Raider looked troubled.
A single girl tilted her head in response.
"What's wrong? We're having sushi for dinner! Yahoo!"
The one with obviously sparkling eyes was a single girl with brown hair in a ponytail.
While her speech was like a young lady's, her excitement seemed far below her apparent age.
While this might lower the girl's excitement, the silver-haired girl showed her the tablet with transferred data.
"It's an emergency. It seems Kokabiel has invaded Kuoh Town, which is managed by devils nearby. ...For some reason, he stole three Excaliburs from the Church."
At that statement, another boy showed a wry smile.
"Yeah, that's definitely an emergency. ...That aside, three Excaliburs is normally a power word, right?"
To the dry laugh of the black-haired boy, the girls returned bitter smiles.
"True. If you only know Excalibur from legends, that's how it would be."
"Indeed. Well, it's been over a thousand years, so there are quite a few things in modern times. Rather, legendary power divided into seven is pretty cool."
At those words, which were half joke to lighten the mood and half sincere, their mood certainly improved.
But they couldn't stop there given the actual situation.
The silver-haired girl quietly shook her head and immediately switched her consciousness.
"Well, our job is to bridge until the main event, so let's not worry too much about it. First, let's celebrate the mission completion with sushi. SAT is contributing several percent, so let's eat lots, okay?"
"Yesss! I'm eating fatty tuna!"
"...Can I eat expensive stuff?"
While smiling at the two who were focused on that, the silver-haired girl looked up at the sky.
"...Are you two also receiving life in this world again? If so, I'd like to let them meet."
For that too, she had to work hard enough not to die.
Switching her consciousness like that, the girl began to focus on tomorrow's matters.
Several days later, fate would gather even more greatly.
The time was late June. Around when Japanese high schools change to summer uniforms.
The first great battle of that time. The conflict over the holy sword Excalibur, where the Three Great Powers would cooperate, was about to begin.