Chapter 21: The Shelved Problem

I saw something tragic.

"Even if you do not hate your homeland—I have come to hate this country...! I swore to destroy this nation that betrayed everything!"

"Do not stand in my way, Jeanne d’Arc!!"

I saw a hatred that charred its own flesh.

"Haha! Hahahaha! That is exactly right! This very ugliness shall be your undoing!"

I saw a sorrow that eroded the world.

“What about me! Wherein do I lack the qualifications of a King?! I only wanted to take back my own country! I only wanted a kingdom of my own!”

I saw desire born from a twisted ideal.

"Of course, of course, of course, of course—it is the absolute height of fun! If it weren't fun, why would I bother killing each of you so painstakingly?"

I saw a violence that defined the Grand Rank.

“I am the one who grants conflict. O you who harbor hearts that yearn for peace—you are unnecessary...!”

I saw a rejection that continued to loathe mortality.

“Then—let the Divine Punishment begin.”

I saw a loyalty that transcended madness.

"Ki-ki, kikikiki!"

"Fun!"

“Amusing!”

"A—Aaaaa, aaaaaaa!"

I saw the terror bestowed by a god.

“Praise me—my name is Goetia! The Human Order Incineration Ritual, the Beast King of Demon Gods, Goetia!”

I saw the Hell that someone once walked.

But.

“It’s already decided...! To ‘live’—that is why...!”

I also saw the hope that someone held dear.

This is the journey of those people. A story of an ordinary boy and an ordinary girl who can be found anywhere. A story of those who resisted to take back the future, saving the world from the Beast who sought to negate death.

And then, the Beast learned the truth. It had thought the King incompetent. It never doubted he was heartless. But the King held a truth they did not know. He did not feel sadness. He did not think to correct it. Because he never had such freedom. He was never granted such a right. The Clairvoyance that saw through all things did not allow for a human heart.

Therefore, the Beast denied it—the wish the King supposedly held, and the human path the King supposedly walked. The end result was the failure of their plan. Not as a demon, nor as a god, the Beast learned the human way of life. To the point where it would clench its fist to fight, even if it was meaningless, worthless, or unnecessary. And the boy, who possessed nothing special, responded in kind. Simply because, he said, he would have done the same if he were in that position.

The Beast who sought to negate death was defeated by a human clinging to life.

With that, the story of the Beast should have ended.

However, it didn't end. It wasn't allowed to end.

"Help... me."

"From today on, you are my servant (Peerage)!"

"So this experiment ended in failure. Prepare the next test subject."

"If you want to hate someone, hate the God of the Bible who created the Sacred Gears."

"Lowly human!"

"I’m bored. Let’s do a Trade."

“God is... dead?”

"It’s a rare Sacred Gear. I must extract it and present it to Lord Azazel!"

"A servant (Peerage) is supposed to listen to their master, right?"

"Amen!"

"It’ll be interesting to see what happens if we Reincarnate a rare one."

"Why must she be labeled a heretic!?"

“Ah, I’m the one who orchestrated the whole thing.”

"I—I don't want to die."

"Is it wrong for a Devil to love an Apostle of God?"

"For every ounce of happiness you stole from us, I will engrave death upon you, you monsters...!"

I saw someone’s despair. I was forced to witness the despair of everyone and anyone.

...No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! It’s wrong!

This anguish is only a part of it. This tragedy is only one side. There must be someone who was saved. There must be someone who found happiness. It wouldn't make sense otherwise. If not, everything is already over. In fact, even I—

Suddenly, those words resurrected in my mind. Not someone else's memory, but those words directed at me.

『■■■■■■■■■■■■』

—That woman must not be forgiven. She must never have been forgiven. Something inside me screamed so.

Currently, Hyoudou Issei lay in the Intensive Care Unit of a large hospital in the Underworld. Because he was connected to various monitors and medical equipment, most of his body was hidden.

"Issei..."

Rias Gremory, Issei’s "King," stared at him through the glass. The other members of the Peerage were the same. However, having neither healing abilities nor medical expertise, there was nothing they could do but watch over him.

"Azazel, what is Issei's condition?"

"It’s close to... the worst-case scenario."

Hearing that, some looked ready to faint, while others held onto hope that "close to" meant it wasn't the absolute worst yet.

"Let’s organize the facts. Right now, Issei’s body is a battlefield where the cells of a Demon God Pillar trying to erode him are fighting against Ddraig’s factors trying to stop them. To put it bluntly, it’s like a disease."

By this logic, Ddraig’s factors were acting as antibodies.

"But Ddraig’s factors are also part of the problem."

"What?"

"Either the erosion capability of the Demon God Pillar cells is too strong, or the Sacred Gear—or rather, the Dragon cells—are overreacting. They are encroaching on Issei’s flesh. Originally, Issei’s body was a 'mix of Devil and Dragon.' But now, parts of him are becoming a 'Pure Dragon.' In conjunction with that, his Evil Pieces are on the verge of going berserk."

"...Eh?"

"In short, Issei is... becoming 'something' that is neither human, nor Devil, nor Dragon, nor Demon God Pillar."

"N-no! Then we have to operate quickly! If the Demon God Pillar cells are the cause, we just have to remove them..."

“It’s not that simple. Various powers are in a deadlock throughout his entire body; if we tamper with one thing, his body will fall apart.”

Rias’s face turned pale. Frustrated, Azazel continued his findings.

"Normally, this is impossible. It’s like saying eating a poisonous fish suddenly allowed you to breathe through gills. It would make sense if he just died. It would be expected if nothing happened at all. But Issei took in the abilities of a Demon God Pillar from a cellular level. This isn't like gaining the power of the White Dragon Emperor. It can't be explained away as a miracle allowed only to Issei or a bug in the System. There must be a more inevitable logic behind it."

"An inevitable logic?"

The necessity for this situation to occur did, in fact, exist.

"...We thought the Demon God Pillars were something like newly created Chimeras. But we might be wrong. I feel like we’ve misread something fundamental."

"What do you mean, Azazel?"

"—The God of the Bible is involved in the birth of the Demon God Pillars."

If this theory was correct, then everything that had happened would be consistent. In other words, the cells of a Demon God Pillar are of the same essence as a Sacred Gear. Just as a human organ can be transplanted, a fusion like this was possible. However, this was all merely a post-hoc conclusion forced out of observation results.

"But... but I don't know anything about those things! How long do you think it's been since the God of the Bible died? During all that time, no one could sense them. Not a trace! With their strength, numbers, and nature, it should have been impossible for not a single clue to appear anywhere. There was plenty of time. Besides, if they were something that existed from the start, there would be no need to use the names of the 72 Pillars. They should have their own names. Even Michael, who is running the 'System,' can't do the same things the God of the Bible did. Which means, no one should be able to create them. I don't understand the reason for their existence!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! Now this is a rare sight indeed!"

A deliberate, mocking laughter meant to provoke. Seeing the person—no, the deity—who appeared, Azazel furrowed his brows.

"Indra...!"

The Heavenly Emperor, Taishakuten. Also known as the War God Indra. In Indian mythology, he is the god who rules over lightning and battle. He holds a major position in Buddhism and has many connections. His strength is said to rival the total power of the Four Great Satans.

"HAHAHA! Calling me by that name is quite stylish of you. More importantly, you were talking about something interesting. I didn't expect you to be so rattled. The Demon God Pillars were made by someone? Same level as the God of the Bible? The names of the 72 Pillars? Then there's only one candidate, isn't there?! You, Michael, and Sirzechs probably already know, don't you? It's time to admit it. Behind the Demon God Pillars is that Solo—"

"Don't you dare speak that name!"

Azazel forcibly cut off Indra's words, making no effort to hide the loathing and avoidance he felt toward that name.

"Don't say his name in front of us. Besides, that’s the one thing that's impossible. It might be different for a Great Hero or a Saint, but there is no way a Reincarnation of him could be born. It is impossible for his descendants to inherit his power. And it's impossible for the man himself to be resurrected. I'd find it more persuasive if you told me an alien that looked exactly like him had arrived."

At this point, Kiba Yuuto felt a sense of dissonance.

—One must not speak the name of that King.

He had been taught this by Rias after becoming her servant. He was told that because all 72 Pillars were once commanded by 'him'—a mere human—it was the greatest humiliation in the history of Devils, and thus speaking of it was taboo.

He could understand why Devils would loathe and hate him. But why did Azazel, the Governor General of the Fallen Angels, become so enraged just by hearing the name? Fallen Angels shouldn't have been involved in 'his' legends. Or was there a part of history that hadn't been passed down, something he hadn't been told?

As if enjoying Azazel’s agitation, Indra let out a boisterous laugh.

"So you refuse to admit it to the end. Well then, struggle all you like. Don't come crying to me when it's too late. HAHA!"

Mocking them in high spirits, the god known as Taishakuten, Indra, departed.

However, Indra could not foresee the future where he would be rendered speechless by the person who would soon visit his room.

"Request from Phenex. An anomaly has been detected in me. Immediate restoration requested."

"Confirmation from Marbas. Provide grounds."

"Answer from Phenex. For the sake of my proposition, I contacted a certain Valkyrie while concealing my identity. Negotiations were difficult. She pointed out a flaw. She proposed an alternative method. And it was logical. I was unable to conceive that idea. For a Demon God Pillar, who transcends human intellect, to be in such a state—this is an undeniable anomaly."

"Understanding from Uvall. I cannot believe our wisdom would lose to a single Valkyrie."

"Denial from Zepar. It may simply be that we lacked that specific perspective."

"Request from Andromalius. Shut up, Zepar."

"Doubt from Raum. To that end, we summoned Heroic Spirits. To that end, we invited humans. Our perspective should be more diverse than before. Was it still insufficient?"

"Point of order from Decarabia. There is a slight deviation in the logic."

"...Notice from Goetia. Those who feel a sense of dissonance upon reflecting on their own actions, disclose them now."

"Question from Flauros. We taught Ophis the Reality Marble. And yet, we are leaving that Dragon alone. There was a possibility of information leaking from that Dragon. Yet, we have neither monitored nor restricted its actions. Currently, we do not even know where that Dragon is or what it is doing."

"Question from Andras. We resurrected the Evil Dragons. But their existence should be fundamentally incompatible with ours. If we were to utilize something, the existing Fenrir or Typhon would have been more appropriate."

"Question from Sabnock. Why are we not attempting to fight the Lion King? If we go to the front lines, it will interfere with the plan. We cannot use the Third Noble Phantasm recklessly. However, that does not justify giving our factors to humans and making them fight."

“Question from Asmoday. We did not kill Issei Hyoudou. It would have been more appropriate to delete him the moment he repelled Gremory and disrupted our plan. Especially since we regret not doing so to Ritsuka Fujimaru in the past.”

"Question from Gremory. We made contact with Bedivere, yet we did not detain him. Having him would have made the battle against the Lion King more advantageous. He was in the Temple of Time, albeit briefly. It should have been clear at that point that the Lion King was coming."

"Question from Amdusias. Vali Lucifer went missing after contacting Enkidu (Kingu). However, we have not confirmed a corpse. We concluded our observation merely by confirming the contact. Why?”

"Report from Berith. Vali Lucifer’s whereabouts are unknown. There is no information that Kingu defeated him. The possibility that Vali Lucifer is alive is high."

"Summary from Barbatos. There are many unnatural points in our actions."

"Proposition from Malefar. There is a possibility that unnecessary elements were mixed in during our resurrection."

"Inference from Agares. Bedivere was summoned by the Magus of Flowers. If so—it is highly probable that we, too, were summoned by someone.”

"Supplement from Amon. If we were summoned by someone, it is highly likely that our malfunction occurred at that point."

"Question from Baal. Is the malfunction accidental? Or was it intentionally engineered?"

"..."

"............"

".................."

"Who was it that summoned us?"

Who is utilizing us?

[The Demon God Pillar Meeting (Paraphrased Summary)]

Phenex: "I think I'm tired."

Marbas: "What's wrong?"

Phenex: "Well, I went to hit on a Valkyrie for the plan, but she suggested a method way better than what I thought was the 'only way.' Since I couldn't think of something that simple, I must be exhausted."

Uvall: "Ah, true."

Zepar: "Maybe you just lack imagination."

Andromalius: "You, shut up."

Raum: "I thought our perspective broadened by hanging out with Heroic Spirits and humans, but was it not enough?"

Decarabia: "I feel like that’s not the issue here."

Goetia: "...Anyone else feel weird? Raise your hands."

Flauros: "Why are we just letting Ophis run free?"

Andras: "I feel like there were way better partners than the Evil Dragons."

Sabnock: "In the first place, why are we making the Hero Faction fight the Lion King? We don't even think they can win."

Asmoday: "Why didn't we kill Hyoudou Issei during the Gremory incident?"

Gremory: "Bedivere could've been the key to beating the Lion King, but we didn't seem to care."

Amdusias: "Come to think of it, we didn't check if Kingu actually killed Vali Lucifer."

Berith: "No confirmation on Vali’s death. He’s probably alive."

Barbatos: "Basically, aren't our actions super weird?"

Malefar: "Maybe we got a bug when we respawned?"

Agares: "Just like Merlin summoned Bedivere, maybe someone actually summoned us."

Amon: "Did the summon glitch out?"

Baal: "Was the summoner just bad at it? Or did they plant something in us?"

The 72 Demon God Pillars: ".................."

Goetia: "Who the hell summoned us?"