After several hours in the air, as the plane was about to enter Japan's airspace, Izumi finally spoke to Erica Blandelli.
"You can go back now."
"The rest of the journey, we'll handle ourselves."
As he said that, Izumi stood up.
Before Erica could even process what he meant, space itself distorted—
—and in the next instant, Izumi and Kanase Kanon vanished from the cabin.
Right in front of her eyes.
"…Eh?"
"…Eh?!"
Erica froze, staring at the empty space where the two had been.
"W-Wait—!"
"I was… abandoned?!"
Wasn't that a little too heartless?!
Of course, Izumi had done this on purpose.
He had absolutely no intention of dealing with the Seishi Hensan Iinkai upon arrival. If he landed normally, he would be swarmed the moment he stepped off the plane.
And Izumi had no goodwill toward those people whatsoever.
If they met face to face, he suspected he might not be able to stop himself from killing a few of them.
So instead—
He chose the simplest route.
West Heaven Palace.
Free the Monkey King.
Kill him.
Absorb him.
Izumi had no interest in pointless conversation.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In a flash of spatial distortion, Izumi and Kanon reappeared above the sea surrounding Japan.
After briefly sensing the ley lines and curse-energy flow, Izumi vanished again—
—and shot straight toward his destination.
The location was obvious.
That overwhelming concentration of divine curse energy made it stand out like a beacon.
After several rapid spatial jumps, the two arrived before an ancient, solemn shrine.
West Heaven Palace.
The barriers erected around the area were completely ignored.
To Izumi, who wielded spatial authority, entering this place was no different from walking into his own home.
Kanon looked around curiously.
"Izumi-senpai… is there a god here?"
"The atmosphere feels strange."
Now a Godslayer herself, her senses had sharpened drastically.
The moment she arrived, her blood began to boil.
It reminded her of when they had faced Melqart.
That alone was enough to give her the answer.
Izumi nodded without hiding anything.
"That's right."
"There's a Monkey King here."
"So we're here to deal with him."
Kanon frowned slightly.
"Monkey King…?"
"Like the one from Mount Huaguo in our world?"
The DxD world had its own Monkey King legends, though they were ancient and distant.
She had heard the stories during her time with the Church—but she hadn't expected to encounter one here.
Izumi nodded.
"Exactly."
"And what pisses me off the most is that this country treats him like livestock—kept sealed up like an animal."
"So, Kanon."
"If I do something excessive later—don't stop me."
He was laying down a precaution in advance.
The last thing he wanted was Kanon jumping in to restrain him when he decided to level the place.
Kanon shook her head immediately.
"I won't, Izumi-senpai."
"Don't worry. I won't stop you."
She understood perfectly.
For people who grew up with the Monkey King's stories, there was a special kind of emotional attachment.
Izumi's generation, especially, had practically grown up alongside Sun Wukong.
To discover that such a figure had been sealed and treated like a beast—
No one from their homeland could tolerate that.
Hearing her answer, Izumi smiled faintly and gently patted her head.
Then, hand in hand, they walked deeper into the shrine.
Perhaps becoming a Godslayer had changed Kanon more than she realized.
But in Izumi's eyes, that was a good thing.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Before long, their presence was detected.
A young man in traditional kimono appeared in Izumi's path, his expression tense.
"This is forbidden ground."
"Leave immediately."
Izumi glanced at him.
In the next instant, a weapon manifested out of thin air—
—and pierced straight through the man's chest before he could even react.
Splurt.
Kyūhōzuka Mikihiko never imagined he would be killed so casually.
Like crushing an ant beneath one's finger.
Izumi didn't even slow his pace as he continued forward.
Kanon frowned slightly at the sight—but said nothing.
Mikihiko's sudden death alerted the rest of the shrine.
Within moments, waves of curses, talismans, and spells rained down upon Izumi and Kanon.
Izumi didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Terrifying magical power erupted from his body.
BOOM—!
Every incoming attack was obliterated on contact.
The entire West Heaven Palace shook violently.
Izumi's gaze turned ice-cold as he looked at the shrine maidens and guards in their traditional garb.
"Leave."
"If you don't want to die."
After saying that, he continued walking toward the sealed god.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Watching Izumi and Kanon advance, an elderly man screamed in terror.
"Inform the Seishi Hensan Iinkai!"
"A Demon King—no, two Demon Kings are heading toward the seal of the Monkey God!"
That pressure—
Only Godslayers could emit something like that.
This was far beyond what they could stop.
And now, the Kyūhōzuka heir was dead.
This was a catastrophe.
Those blasted away by Izumi's power scrambled to their feet and fled without a second thought.
To hell with duty.
Survival came first.
There were two Demon Kings here.
Meanwhile, members of the Seishi Hensan Iinkai waiting at the airport stared blankly at the empty sky.
"…Wasn't the plane supposed to land by now?"
"Where is it?"
Sayegusa Kaoru frowned, sensing something was very wrong.
What they didn't know was that Erica—after watching Izumi and Kanon vanish—had hesitated only briefly before ordering the plane to turn back.
She hadn't forgotten Izumi's words.
Whatever he's doing in Japan—nothing good is coming of it.
And she had no intention of being dragged into that disaster.
Better to run.
Much better.
Just as confusion spread among the welcoming party, their phones rang.
One after another.
Sayegusa answered hers.
And the moment she heard the report—
Her face drained of color.
"Everyone—move!"
"To West Heaven Palace—now!"
"This is bad. Very bad."
She nearly lost control of herself.
Those two Kings had gone straight for West Heaven Palace.
They were targeting Sun Wukong, the Monkey God.
If two Godslayers joined forces against him—
Then Japan…
Japan was finished.
She should have realized it sooner.
After all—
One of them came from that land.