Chapter 56: Outbreak

Chapter 56: Outbreak

The Veil is fractured, and the cracks are widening.

Never before had one of the greatest productions of the coalition of the Divine been threatened. The original blueprint belonged to the Biblical God, the one that began the trend of afterlives and the storing of souls to the realms beyond after expiration.

The spells of the Divine were so intertwined and invested into this great work, it would take a large amount of resources and power to unravel it.

The enchantment on the veil was designed to withstand anything, even the power of the Dragon of Dreams, assuming the True Dragon had interest in dismantling the current balance of life and death.

It had been so long since his kind decided to return to the mortal world. His greatest desire was soon within reach, to collect a blood debt long overdue.

'His' eyes glowed red as he stared into the skies. They were lingering on a pack of evil spirits blackened by sin.

"Their efforts are coordinated..." 'His' voice muttered.

It was a siege waiting to happen.

The entity within the host he had chosen on a whim, could see the shades - the malevolent dead, even though the malefic ones were shrouded by stealth magic to hide from the eyes of the Reapers and other forces, the few that were sent out.

They already overwhelmed and devoured three Reapers before they could react, then murdered and consumed the shinto priests that were sent to investigate the disturbances.

One of the spirits noticed his gaze.

He looked down as he walked into the market district, his eyes normal as he blended with the crowd. He entered the store of juvenile entertainment.

The entity called it that. The host called it an anime merch store.

One of the malevolent spirits was following him as he walked into the restroom.

The spirit was one of the Devils that fell during the Civil War period, one of the nobles that sided with the old ways.

The devil was from the original Leviathan clan, and he noticed the red glint in the boy's eyes. The others would not care if he managed to get rid of one random civilian or at least he thought it was a civilian.

The ghost followed the boy to the restroom and phased through the door. He would make the boy suffer a heart attack, a swift kill.

However, his face was grabbed. An unbearable pressure was crushing his phantom skull. Between the fingers, the ghost did not see a human on the other side.

None of the customers inside the merch store noticed the spirit suddenly pulled into nor heard the ethereal shrieks and pathetic pleas, his dying screams.

The door opened as he walked out with a burp.

"...Needs more flavor."

The souls that escaped from Hell were dominantly bitter. Their worth was more as a power source to empower great weapons of war than food, and the nourishment wasn't any better. He wouldn't get much from consuming many of them.

"Yo, Motohama!"

Damn, the other one was here at the appointed time. He perked up as the host was given back control.

"Yoooo! Did you get it?! The magical girl Isami limited edition figurines?!" 'Motohama' shouted as if he did not just devour the soul of a dead person not a minute ago.

"Oh yeaaaaaaaaaaah! Let's show this to Hyoudou! I mean, this gal looked way too much like a gender bent version of him! Let's use it to make fun of him for joining the Kiba side!"

"YEAAAAAAHHHH! Down with casanovas!"

The entity really wished he could tune out the host's idiotic ramblings. Still, his time would come.

The turning point would soon arrive.

"...Alright, tell us. What the hell is wrong with the Veil?"

Issei and the others were seated cross-legged on the cemetery soil. Latia was sitting on her knees, with noble etiquette in her veins.

However, Saji, Reya, and Latia were still unnerved by the gathering spirits surrounding every one of them. Saji was very terrified when a female ghost that looked eerily similar to Sadako from the Grudge was hovering right next to him.

"Do not mind the other spirits. The one that looked like the woman from that one movie is not the same kind of ghost. She merely likes to scare people with that appearance."

Saji turned to the ghost woman. The woman pulled her hair apart, showing her very womanly and gentle face almost pouting as she said something to the ghost whose voice could carry over.

"...Heh." Issei chuckled. It was so nostalgic seeing a ghost playing pranks like that.

"...The spirits of the Netherworld those that should be within the prison realm are spreading in Yomotsu Hirasaka. We are from different boroughs, different areas of Japan. I am from Tokyo. We fled from the evil souls. We needed shelter."

Issei tilted his head, "...Come again?"

"Our souls are in danger. The spirits that escaped from Hell, from Yomi, are rampaging across the lands. They"

"...They're consuming the stray souls, right?" Issei concluded.

"Yes. They are hunting us like wolves to sheep. Everyone here is all I can rescue."

The four stared at the ghost in processing the information he said.

"Hyoudou Ghosts can cannibalize each other?" Saji asked.

"...Only the vicious or desperate ones can do it, as far as I know. The ghost boy I met had to consume evil spirits for his survival. Ghosts can get stronger from eating other ghosts. How much they can get from each soul depends on the ghost doing the eating. One could eat a child ghost and gain next to nothing, and one could grow three times stronger doing the same thing, it depends on one's affinity with the dead, hence the reason for super rare cases of ultimate class spirits." Issei explained.

"Oh"

"Not many ghosts know that tidbit, though, or otherwise we would see more cases of spirit cannibalization. But seriously, what do you mean by evil spirits from Yomi?"

"I have no words to summarize it other than 'all hell is breaking loose' in the most literal sense. The souls of sinners, ancient sinners, are spilling into the world and taking over Yomotsu Hirasaka, or what you modern souls call the Veil. The guardians of the dead there are so many that not even they could withstand them. I saw what looked like messengers of the death gods torn apart by the swarms, consumed, flesh and spirit."

Issei recalled Sarui Ilugo's warning.

"...He knew this was coming." He muttered.

"Why are you all here?" Reya was the one to ask next. "Why take sanctuary in this land?"

The representative of the spirits looked at her.

"This land is protected. I don't know why but there is a great power here that is protecting the land from wicked souls. It is shining from the one land that has been turned to glass."

"...The church that Kokabiel glassed." Issei noted.

The holy radiation there was still going strong if it could repel the evil spirits.

"...You are knowledgeable. It seems that the Gods have answered our prayers for aid."

"If I remember, there are priests, exorcists in this land. The Onmyouji, correct?" Latia tapped her chin. "They and the four shinto tribes also oversee the supernatural matters of Japan. Is there a reason you would not go to them?"

"We sent a representative. They tried to purify us before our message could get through. I went to the Himejima tribe myself I was nearly sent to Takamagahara for it. Under normal circumstances, I would've welcomed it but I cannot while murderous phantoms roam. Words of reason and pleas will not get through to them. Those that did were killed and devoured instantly. The evil ones move like they are blessed by the gods of evil."

Issei and the others stared at the ghost, perturbed at the repeated mentioning of evil spirits consuming the living and the dead like that.

"...Alright, this looks like a serious problem." Issei decided to tackle this matter.

"Is there a reason why something like this isn't heard by the Shinto pantheon?" Latia asked.

"Matters of the dead are generally governed by Hades and the reapers and the respective exorcists in each culture. And the Gods and otherwise are usually forbidden from meddling in the Veil. No one is supposed to enter there except those with authority over the dead" Issei explained.

"...What do we do?" Saji asked.

"We gather the others. This needs looking into."

On cue, the effects of grave soil and silver which Issei mixed into the air had begun to fade, as the spirits around them slowly vanished away.

"...We will wait for your return. Thank you for lending us your ears"

The ghost smiled as their vision returned to normal.

Saji, Reya, and Latia felt the irritation in their eyes fading as the layer of gray over the world disappeared.

"...First dive into the spirit world, and we already have a quest. Well, I wonder what can go wrong?" Saji commented.

"Dude, if you jinx it like the westerners like to say, I'm blaming you." Issei scoffed. "Anyways, let's get out of here. We have a ghost problem to solve."

However, as soon as Issei finished speaking, the nearby bushes suddenly rustled, alerting everyone of a newcomer.

A second later, something jumped out and landed while rolling on the ground. The large scythe was the first emerging, the blade pitch black with neon golden lines running across it, then the wielder followed.

It was a girl with pale skin, long, dark purple hair and sleepy golden eyes. Her hair was tied in a long braid by a bow with a purple skull, reaching all the way down to her hips.

There was a skull mask pulled aside, her clothes a light blue dress with a jester-like black and white hood with an emerald gem at the tip. Black elbow length gloves covered in gold neon lines with gems at the back of her wrists wore her arms.

Her black cape billowed from the wind as she stared at them.

"...Hello there." The girl greeted.

It was a bit awkward. She showed no hostility when she approached them. She bore a unique presence that was eerily similar to the cambion and nephilms he met.

"Hi?" Issei curled a brow as he inspected the scythe. The weapon was definitely not made of plastic judging by the magical presence. "...Okay, you feel strange but human and not human definitely a hybrid," Issei guessed.

"...Wow." The girl sounded impressed. "Not bad, Son of the Strongest Man."

"Thanks, I've been around. So, care to introduce yourself?" Issei asked.

"...I am a fan of yours." She smiled. "Bennia. Bennia Orcus I am a half-Reaper. And I am on a mission to investigate a disturbance I was hiding since the others here were missing. Now I know that they're dead and that you can speak to those in the Veil."

"A reaper? As in Greek's Grim Reaper?" Reya asked.New novel chapters are published on

"I have seen Reapers with Hades during the Rating Games when he once came to watch. It is the first time I have seen one without a mask." Latia commented.

"He-heh" Bennia smiled.

"...So, how bad is it in the Veil?" Issei asked.

"...We don't know The other Reapers were busy trying to repair Tartarus after it was destroyed. We were unaware of the current state since we also had to make sure to contain the souls trying to escape through the devastated realm."

"Wait, wait a second." Reya interrupted, "I am aware that things are looking extraordinarily abnormal, but I believe we are missing some huge context here - if a Grim Reaper like you was sent here all the way from Tartarus. Is it alright if we bring this conversation back home, with our Kings present? Everyone else deserves to know what's happening."

Issei and Bennia paused to stare at the Bishop, then they exchanged a quick glance. The Reaper nodded while Issei shrugged at the brunette.

"...Yeah, fair enough. I think we've stayed outside long enough today."

"...Katase?"

The girl with pink hair held by a hairband blinked and noticed that her best friend - Murayama was staring at her with a concerned look, as they were on their way home from their Kendo practice that day.

"Um, sorry, Murayama. I wasn't listening; what was it again?" Katase replied with a sheepish smile.

In return, Murayama gave a soft sigh before replying, "I was asking if you are alright."

"Yeah Yeah, I'm good." Katase nodded, "Rather, I'm more worried about Mohri-senpai - are you sure she'll be okay?"

Murayama smiled slightly, "If she said that she's fine, then she's fine. In fact, what was that during your sparring match with her? How did you move like that? I mean, nobody in our year has ever won against her before!"

Katase laughed nervously before replying, "Well, the thing is. I don't know."

Murayama had never seen Katase performing like she did earlier. While Katase's skill in Kendo was nothing to scoff at, she should have been still mediocre-level in the eyes of a professional at best.

However, the techniques and maneuvers Katase used during the match were definitely not from conventional Kendo.

At the same time, Katase was also quite aggressive in her attacks - too aggressive even; to the point that the other seniors gave Katase a small lecture about self-restraint. At least her opponent thankfully took her defeat quite well, allowing Katase to get off by a small scolding.

Still, Murayama could not help but to feel worried. Something about her best friend changed ever since that frightful night. Case in point - the way she dressed her uniform has changed.

Katase had forgotten the black corset and untucked her blouse uniform out of her skirt. Her tie-ribbon was loose around her collar, and her blouse was not fully buttoned, revealing a collar bone and small view of her cleavage.

Murayama wanted to tell her friend about the way she dressed herself; while they were not shy about their bodies, it was still out of character for Katase to dress so slovenly. However, considering the hot weather, as well as the sight of small sweat glistening Katase's skin from the practice, perhaps it was not strange if she wanted to dress a bit more loosely to avoid heat.

Eventually, they went separate ways and Katase arrived inside her home.

The rest of the evening went on uneventfully. Soon it was time for Katase to retire for the night. She was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth before going to bed. As she scrubbed her teeth with her toothbrush, her mind wandered to what followed after that eventful night.

Ever since that night, she had been.. Inexplicably invigorated. She had not been exercising much, but There was this sinking feeling that she could take on anything.

Case in point - during her recent Kendo club activities. Somehow, her mind could come up with maneuvers and techniques that she never thought of before. Then there was this sense of. Exhilaration, like the amount of the adrenaline flowing in her system was cranked up to eleven. Whenever she landed a hit on her opponent, the sensation of the impact she actually delivered, the sight of her opponent under her mercy - all of them felt. Good.

Katase blinked as she stopped brushing - for a brief second, her expression in the mirror shifted into something that she had never thought possible. She was grinning so maliciously that she thought the mirror was reflecting someone else.

She quickly rinsed and washed her face; she let her damp hands linger against her soaked face for a little longer, before she slowly looked back at the mirror.

She was looking at herself again.

Katase sighed - perhaps she was getting tired as of late. Turning on her heels, she gave one last look at the mirror before she left towards her bedroom.

"...Tartarus was destroyed? That Tartarus?" Rias asked Bennia.

They were in the Hyoudou household, probably the safest location in Kuoh currently.

Saitama was not here as he was out on a job with Genos, requested by the Shinto Pantheon on an important matter.

The two Kings and their respective peerages were present. Even Gasper was there, hugging Rover in his arms.

Latia was present as well, though feeling like an outcast in a sense due to her inexperience.

On that note, Lint Sellzen just arrived at the residence exactly 5 minutes before Issei and the others.

"Yes. It all happened when a single man appeared in Tartarus." Bennia inhaled. "...First that came was Cerberus. Then the Reapers followed to subjugate him. When they fell, Pluto, Thanatos, they confronted him but fell. Then Hades confronted him with rage only for the man to defeat him, dragging him by his head as he made his way out of Tartarus. But that was before he destroyed Tartarus."

Everyone stared at Bennia with disbelief, unable to imagine a single man able to destroy the entirety of Tartarus and defeated all of Hades' subjects and then the God of the Dead himself.

"...Are you screwing with us?" Saji asked.

"No, it's true. I was there. I witnessed it all, how he dismantled every divine being present." Bennia shook her head.

Sona and Rias glanced at each other for a moment.

"Who or what came through Tartarus?" Rias asked.

"...He was a human." Bennia answered.

"Wait, what? Did dad just"

"No, it wasn't your father. This man had white hair." Bennia shook her head. "After he left Tartarus with Hades dragged behind him as his guide, the other Gods of Olympus confronted him. They couldn't allow someone that defeated their strongest god leave without consequences and that was their mistake. He decimated every Greek God and Goddess that challenged him, every one of their warriors, Primordials, Furies, everyone and he tore the land and flipped Mount Olympus into the skies as if the earth was his carpet."

The feat reminded him of that one time Saitama faced Garou, one of his serious moves.

"...But that sounded like one of my dad's serious techniques, flipping the land into the heavens." Issei pointed out.

"...Well, then there is another man that can do it. The Greek Pantheon is severely weakened. The deceased noticed the breach through the uprooted Tartarus and were escaping in droves. It took so many of us to quell the chaos and seal the opening. So here we are." Bennia smiled weakly at the group.

It was an absurd story, how their troubles came when one man arrived and laid ruin to the domain of the Gods.

"Honestly, this reminds me of one of the Chinese Myths. One about an unnamed demon laying ruins to their version of Heaven while the Jade Emperor was absent." Vali commented.

"I do not know much about Chinese mythology since their records are shady and blatantly falsified." Sona pushed up her glasses.

"I agree. Most of their myths are vague." Issei nodded.

"Back to the matter, let me cover this one plot hole." Rias cleared her throat. "If Olympus was decimated, why do you sound like everyone survived if this man is so strong?"

"...Throughout the battle, he didn't kill a single soul." Bennia said. "The man was holding back. He did not fight to kill."

"Interesting. Is he a Sacred Gear wielder?" Akeno asked.

"No." Bennia shook her head. "He defeated everyone with his bare hands. Sometimes he stole the weapons of his opponents and fought them he is a master of martial techniques. I saw him able to completely master Ares' sword techniques from a single exchange and used his sword to take down nine Furies before throwing it back into his chest."

The tale sounded more and more absurd the more she spoke about them.

"That sounds awesome!" Millicas chimed with a barely restrained energy.

"What the hell is that kind of person out of someone's chuuni imagination? What kind of person is he? Why haven't we heard of him?" Saji pointed out.

"We don't know He is too strong." Bennia shook her head. "The reason why we are managing the aftermath better than expected is because of Indra and Shiva coming to our aid. They managed to seal the man at great cost. He defeated most of the Devas and Asuras that arrived before Shiva used the Indrajana on him."

"The Indrajana?" Issei asked.

"One of the Sakra's Divine Weapon. It is a heavenly net designed for capture and sealing. Its strength depends on the level of power it absorbed and the man could've broken out if not for Lord Shiva's drastic measure."

Everyone stared at Bennia now unable to digest the story she laid before them. It was absurd to imagine Indra and Shiva working together to seal one human man.

"...Did they come out unscathed?" Issei asked.

"No. Indra was severely injured to the point of near death. Shiva nearly lost his arm trying to contain him."

They could not help but drop their jaws at the response. There were no words to express their disbelief. The mightiest of the Hindu and Greek defeated out of nowhere, it sounded like a bad campfire story - awesome, but out of context.

"Okay questions for another time. Good story, but back to the main subject. Tell us about the reapers that went missing and the state of things. Is all hell really breaking loose like that ghost said?" Issei asked.

Bennia looked down and inhaled.

"...I've been scouting Kuoh for a week now. I worked with a local onmyoji in a joint investigation. There are evil spirits lingering around the outskirts of ground zero. I heard about the Kokabiel Incident. The warzone can be considered one of the most consecrated sites of the world now, but the evil spirits are stubborn. I do not know what they want but they are organized They immediately killed and tore my partner to pieces. I barely escaped."

"I see this is new. But the concept is the same, a mastermind behind all of this." Sona pondered.

"Yes." Bennia nodded.

"...Is there anything important for the ghosts here? Aren't they driven off by the glassed church?" Issei asked.

"The wicked souls that are here aren't just former devils or youkai." Bennia pursed her lips. "An undead devil would suffer even more under the power of Holy Light, but the others wouldn't receive as much penalties."

Issei decided it was time to plan, "Yo, Black! We need a large map of Kuoh here!" He called out.

A few moments later, one Black arrived with a large map of Kuoh.

"Delivery for one hybrid death reaper." Black snickered as he rolled the map on the table.

Bennia stared at the creature for a moment.

"...Why do I sense so many identical souls in this thing?" She asked.

Issei was more surprised that she could sense that Black had more than one soul. Actually, Issei was more surprised that each Black had a soul in the first place. He thought Black was more of a guy that had a soul that just divides the more he multiplies or something like that.

"Ummm it is better that you don't ask." Irina smiled and giggled.

"But W-What is?" Bennia slowly aimed a finger at the alien creature that was flashing an evil grin at her.

The one that supposedly burned Diodora was throwing a long, sleek rope projected from his gauntlet at the spirits like a whip, covered in black flames as it burned the evil souls into oblivion on contact.

Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory were back to back, water and erasure shooting out against the swarms of evil as the wicked dead returned fire with their ancient war magics.

The son of Sirzechs Lucifer was using his Power of Destruction in a more unconventional manner - unlike his aunt who fired the energy spheres like projectiles, the younger boy shaped his Power of Destruction into some kind of energy whip - purging any poor ghosts he lashed at.

The one with a devil and fallen angel wing was summoning lightning of holy radiance, the power jumping from evil spirit to spirit, destroying large groups of the malevolent dead with contemptuous ease.

The other girl with glasses conjured a mirror to reflect the spells back at the ghastly wraiths while the other of Sona's peerage formed defensive spells.

The catgirl and blue-haired girl were just punching the ghosts away.

The dhampir and the Phenex girl were freezing the spirits in place while the girl burned them away.

The other two angel girls were cleaving through the ghosts while throwing explosive spheres of light that burned and repelled the devils despite the cursed territory strengthening them. The one with the twin tails then used a bow and started unleashing heaven's wrath, the arrows exploding large groups of undead.

What the hell was with these children? It was like they trained themselves in case of an invasion.

The golden muscle freak did not care if , just simply watching the children fight without a care.

It was the perfect time for them to test out the other dead-forged.

Using Muramasa's smithing techniques, the necromancers created a couple of abominations using the souls of the fallen war veterans, the ones that broke. They do not matter even to Shaalba as they could barely function, broken by Hell.

XoX

Emerging alongside the massive swarms of dead was a hulking force.

It bore a spectral aura, yet it had meat, flesh forged from corpse meat of the Beast covered armor of unholy metal - soul metal.

"We got big ones coming!" Issei shouted.

"This reminds me of the undead video games, you know?!" Tsubasa shouted.

"Yeah, I know!" Issei laughed as punched a spirit in the face, disintegrating them.

"I call dibs! Watch my secret move!" Vali shouted as he pressed his hands together, magical energy gathered as his wings glowed, his armament shouting [Divide] ad infinitum as rippling waves of blue engulfed the massive undead while the energy within his palms grew denser.

"Compression Cannon!" Vali shouted as he threw the sphere of compressed magic at the hulking armored titan.

It exploded and engulfed the necromancers' prototype creation as they watched with held breaths, wanting to see if it could survive.

"Hahahaha! This is my technique!" Vali boasted. "Instead of transferring the energy into my wings, I funneled the stolen power into my attack! I don't have to worry about my battery overloading!" Vali boasted as he watched the smoke fading.

Issei scoffed at Vali's attempt to boast; but then again, it was not a bad technique - after all, his second victory in their regular sparring match was contributed by overloading Divine Dividing wings with his Boosted Gear.

XoX

The necromancers scowled from afar.

They decided to unleash the others as with a mental thought, more abominations started to flood through the miasma, spawning into the world of the living.

From the evil mist, ghouls, wights, revenants, and other flesh creatures crafted from the Beast emerged as a few more hulking titans of flesh joined them, all of them unleashing unholy wails at the group.

Only for a wave of dragonfire to incinerate them to nothingness.

The necromancers were starting to get annoyed by how easily their creations were killed. Millions of devil spirits and otherwise at their disposal and yet they could not handle a bunch of superpowered teenagers like in some sick reenactment of the american superhero comics? If God had a sense of humor, it was a terrible one at that.

"What should we do?" One of the Necromancers asked her sisters through a messaging spell.

"What can we do?"

"Should we intervene?"

"No, we don't know how strong we are with the power of the beast. We need to prepare something that can deal with them."

"...Should we resort to that?"

They all paused in silence.

"That is experimental and very dangerous."

"Who said that we should wield them?"

They paused again with hopeful rumination.

"That can work let's retreat. Throw in every creature we have at them to keep them occupied. This checkpoint is lost to us."

The necromancers agreed as teleportation circles appeared under their feet, taking them away from vicinity of the cursed grounds.

XoX

"Alright, I have an idea." Issei exhaled as his fists still steamed from the flames. "Everything is turning to shit because of this unholy ground, right?"

"That is correct!" Bennia shouted from the battle as she swung her scythe and decapitated a ghoul.

"Let's burn this place to ash then!" Issei declared.

"What? No! No no no! No, you will not!" Sona frantically refused as she and Rias blocked more spells from the undead.

"What? Why?!" Issei asked.

"After the last time, we definitely want to avoid the paperwork if we can!" Rias shouted at them, earning stares from Vali and Issei.

"Okay, and how do you plan to do something about the unholy land?" Issei asked as he threw another wave of dragonfire at the swarm of undead, burning them to ash and oblivion.

"Uhhhh Oh, Akeno! Do you think you can help purify the place with Irina, Xenovia and Asia?!" Rias shouted.

Akeno just fired another blast of holy lightning in the air.

"I can, but that is going to take a while! And we can't afford to have intervention in the middle of the ritual as well!"

"Alright! Issei, can you transfer your Boost to them and speed things up?" Rias asked.

"Uh, think so. Never tried it before, but" Issei still thinks that destroying this place would be far easier but another part of him believed that Sona and Rias at least deserves one day off from paper hell.

"Good! Everyone, hold them off! Akeno, Irina, Xenovia, Asia, do your thing!" Rias ordered.

Gold scoffed in the background as he watched the kids form a tight formation as the three angels and one mutant angel flew to the heavens.

Asia was in the middle with Asclepius out while Irina, Xenovia, and Akeno surrounded Asia in a triangle formation.

Gold was not sure when they learned to do that but the three started to channel their holy power into Asia, using the Holy Maiden as the conduit and amplifier as magic circles sprang to life around them.

The spirits wailed and shrieked in response and immediately ascended to attack them, but were shot down and frozen in place by the other Devils and Gasper's Forbidden Balor View.

Vali and Issei flew up, both Dragon Emperors interposing the undead spirits of their bane as they unleashed spells and dragonfire at them while the others provided the best support they can, Tsubasa, Koneko, and Yuuto joining the dragon duo as they punched and slashed the evil spirits that tried to stop the ritual.

More and more evil spirits flooded as if a dam broke loose, their numbers swelling in acceleration.

The only description they could describe was a wailing herd able to outnumber a locust swarm about to drown them in sheer numbers alone, so many that they were starting to fill every corner of the cursed land. Scattered faces chaotically conglomerated together into a titanic eldritch formless mass that continued to grow and grow, reaching out for the devils attempting to end their existence.

"Oh my god, there's too many!" Tsubasa shouted as they joined Issei in the skies to avoid the rising ocean of evil.

"...Well, that sucks." Issei noted the sheer number of damned souls wailing towards the church, and noted that the purification ritual has barely commenced.

After a brief period of contemplating, Issei finally came to a decision.

Issei took a deep Awakening Breath and addressed the two devil heiresses. Rias and Sona blinked and saw Issei flew higher to the sky.

"Wha - No, no, no, no, Ise, don't you even dare-!"

Issei winked at them from behind the helmet. He knew they sensed that.

This was a trick Issei learned from Sun Wukong.

Apparently, China had a ton of Qi techniques and Qi Arts that were undocumented most of the time because the Qi practitioners were stingy with their secrets in ancient time. They really did not like spreading them, nor do they like seeing their secrets spill to the other cultures, especially Japan.

He learned much from Wukong, like the concept behind the Bagua Furnace that Wukong supposedly entered and gave him a steel-like body from the story, and that there was a god called Li Xing holding a miniature pagoda in his hand that could seal literally anything inside the tower, which he used against Nezha most of the time. The same god could borrow into the ground using Earth Qi Arts and pop up many miles away in seconds like a supersonic mole.

And, luckily, there was even an art that allowed Issei to manipulate his fire to a dragon-like extent.

Meaning, not only throwing fire like a true pyrokinetic, but also breathing fire like a dragon. He didn't bother breathing fire at the Thunder Brothers since they were gods and were too tough.

Here, though

Issei's helmet vanished as his cheeks puffed before he threw his head forward, eyes on the ground, and exhaled.

Everyone was stunned at the sight of Issei breathing literal dragonfire from his lips as he scorched the land with a massive plume of yellow-blue flames that left Ravel in awe.

"...Since when did you learn how to do that?!" Vali shouted as Issei scorched the land in dragonfire.

[Ahahahahaha! My host is now more dragon than yours, White One!]

Ddraig boasted from Issei's unique Scale Mail.

The undead screeched as they were all burned to literal Oblivion by the purifying flames, retreating as Gold watched the cursed land being uncursed via traditional means. The flames licked at his golden skin, but it couldn't do anything to him. The boy sweeped the land with dragonfire, destroying every evil spirit in his sights as the rest of the devils, angels, and reaper backed away as Issei did work cleaning up the undead trash.

When Issei finished, most of the cursed land was burning orange, the glassed land glassed again, melted.

"Whew" Issei smiled, marveling at his work.

Gold was a little proud of the boy showing off like that.

On the other hand, Rias and Sona could only watch with a resigned expression on their faces, having been unable to stop the unfolding destruction.

"...Show off." Vali grumbled, a little bitter that his rival friend got all the glory.

The devils, angels, and Bennia could not sense any more evil spirits.

"...I think you kind of overdid it, Issei." Irina commented.

"The floor is lava." Koneko added with a bit of humor.

"...Well?" Issei turned to Bennia. "Did I get them all?"

Bennia blinked a little as she slowly closed her jaw she dropped from amazement. She made the right choice. She could rely on them.

"You've you've done it. The land is purged of evil. We are safe. For now" Bennia confirmed.

"Then that means our job isn't over." Issei had to prepare Kuoh for what's to come. With all of Hell's inmates freed, it was only a matter of time before Kuoh faced its first supernatural disaster.

"Diodora, Diodora Oh, poor, poor Diodora."

Rizevim clicked his tongue as he checked his nails, not giving the former heir of the Astaroth the privilege of his gaze.

"How, how disappointed I am. You caught the attention of every greedy soul vying for your head what do you have to say for yourself?"

Diodora Astaroth trembled in his seat, perspiring sweat with profusion as his eyes darted between Rizevim and Shaalba, who was standing with his arms crossed, his gaze piercing and critical.

"I-I-I-I-I can explain!" Diodora shouted with panic.

He was at the end of his rope, he could feel it.

No matter what he did, everything always seem to go wrong at a certain point. All because of that human thar bastard human. He didn't know what he should do if he was cast out. The price on his head was astronomical.

There would be no one else to pull him out of hell should he be caught again.

"There are no words to justify your failure. Not only did you lose your position as heir because of your obscene desires that even I myself find contemptible, you let yourself get caught. Beaten by the impure but worse of all, you dare try to violate your own blood?" Shaalba's narrowed eyes squinted even more as if trying to burn the pathetic man with his gaze like Balor did to his foes centuries ago.

"Now, now, Shaalba. No need to go that far, eh?" Rizevim said with a placating tone as he smiled lazily, "Diodora here is young Young people tend to think with their emotions and genitals - I mean, just between the three of us here, I used to think and act like that too back in the day." He sent Diodora a knowing grin and wink, which only made the younger devil more uncomfortable. "Besides, he's still here in one piece - not that he's completely out of usage, right?"

"What use does he have? He lost his position as a Noble. His family had severed all ties with him officially. And he has no value as a sorcerer. Or as a devil. He is a failure."

Diodora clenched his teeth as his fingers struggled to break the edges of the table.

"Well, then let the devil throw him a lifeline. There's one way for you to earn our graces" Rizevim walked around the table.

Diodora watched as Rizevim placed something on the table and slid it to him.

It was a mask.

Diodora stared at the mask.

It stared at him back, a face that both seemingly expressed a mien of simultaneous laughter and sorrow, one eye widened so far that it seemed as if it was trying to form another mouth while the other squinted at him, as if mocking him.

"...What is this?" Diodora asked as he took the mask. The material did not feel inorganic, not plastic.

It felt heavy and warm. Too warm. The leathery textile felt both eerily soft and coarse.

"Euclid told you about our pet project right?"

Diodora remembered. He went to ask at the witch's instruction, and the scientist informed him of the experimental prototypes meant to surpass the sacred gears.

"Then"

"It is called an Aberration, our version of Sacred Gears. I dubbed it the Mask of Evolution. It is one of his first creations, and he allowed us to modify this one to our liking. You must wear it during your final trial."

Diodora blinked as he stared into the eyes of the mask. For some reason he felt as if the mask was staring back at him.

"...What does it do?" Diodora asked.

"You will find out when you wear it eventually." Rizevim informed, dodging the question. "Your final trial you must attend a collaboration involving a special monster. There will be others joining you, those that wish to stand in our organization. You must subdue it and pacify it before bringing it to our base. If you do we will elevate your status. If you master that mask, consider a seat at our table secure."

Diodora did not expect this. A chance to not only clear his shame but to be amongst the elite? A chance to prove his superiority amongst the others and silence them?

"Do we have a deal?" Rizevim asked.

"Y-Yes! I promise to not disappoint you!" Diodora seized this chance without hesitation.

"Good. We will alert you once the creature is located. You are dismissed."

Diodora bowed before the eldest devil and hurried out of the room, leaving Rizevim and Shaalba alone to themselves.

"...Pffff, kuhibuhuhuhuhuhu."

Rizevim broke into laughter, holding his stomach as if he heard, or saw, something extraordinarily funny.

Shaalba stared at the exit where Diodora left.

"Please tell me that the vermin will die." Shaalba asked, no, more like begged to see Diodora out of their hair.

"Honestly, his use as entertainment has reached its expiration date. The Mask of Evolution will consume him. This is his last worth as a test subject in Project Unbound."

"...Good." For once, Shaalba smiled, before asking, "...What does the mask do exactly?"

"Remember when I told you that my associate once raised a creature to great heights through multiple murderous near death experiences to strengthen it past its limits?"

Shaalba nodded.

"We will see what will happen when the same process is inflicted on a Devil, one with the Trihexa cells in his system. Once worn, the mask will trigger and accelerate that process exponentially, straining Dora's body to levels he most likely never endured in his sheltered life. He will feel as if death is chewing on his soul without end. Not even I will know what he'll turn into."

"...But he will die?"

"A child that constantly looks down on the outside world is unqualified for that kind of power. Anyways, it's time for you to move. The Underworld awaits its destined leader, or so you like to say."

Shaalba turned resolute. It was time to prepare for his assault. He had prepared himself for this moment for a long time. He shall not fail.

He trained his body ever since he lost to that blasted wyrm. He felt like he could take on anything in the world by this point.

Even God.

Katase exhaled as she finished washing herself in the morning. Looking back at her last conversation with Murayama, she still could not understand the changes she had been experiencing as of late.

Like when she woke up in the morning - despite the bizarre vision and exhaustion she underwent last night, she found herself waking up full with a newfound energy.

It was as if she had been born anew; the sheer energy and vitality brimming in her body made her feel like she could go practicing her swordsmanship for days. It felt like she could take on anything.

She was in the middle of dressing herself in her school uniform. As she clasped her last button, she found herself frowning at herself in the mirror. She turned around, appraising herself - since when her corset felt Constricting? It was not as if she gained any weight during the break. Moreover, the top-button and ribbon around her collar were suffocating.

Scoffing to herself, Katase then proceeded to loosen up her black ribbon and unclasped her top-button, revealing the skin and collar-bone beneath her neck.

Finally, she took a look at her hair. Pursing her lips at the white band keeping her salmon-colored hair up, Katase smirked as she took the band off and began to comb her locks, styling her bangs to the side.

Now that's more like it.

She left her house with her new look, a happy grin on her face and springs in her steps. For some reason she really looked forward to see Yuuto again.

On the other hand, back to her house - Katase's mother went to clean her daughter's room when she saw her daughter's dresser was slightly open. Feeling curious, she approached the dresser and peeked inside to have a quick look.

Upon opening the dresser, the mother immediately took a step back, with her hands covering a shocked gasp coming from her mouth.

A photograph was pinned on the end-wall of the dresser. She recognized the boy in the picture - the young man who her daughter fancied since her first year of high-school.

What really disturbed her was the cross-mark drawn across the photograph with a deep red ink, followed by the scratch marks on the dresser wall surrounding the picture, made by some kind of sharp tool - or to be precise, carvings consisting of two words all over the place.

Kill. Die.

XoX

Back to Katase - she wondered how she should approach Yuuto.

Maybe invite him to the back and ask if he was available, assuming that she could pry him away from Muramasa? Maybe she could invite him over to her house and make Murayama jealous.

She found her eyes trailing to a pawn shop, seeing a cross of christian origins behind the glass. It looked very genuine for some reason. She did not know why, but the gleaming silver was very attractive to her.

Maybe she could give it to Yuuto as a present? It looked very-well made to be a false replica.

Then, she paused on her tracks, tilting her head in confusion.

Just what in the hell is Muramasa?

She appeared out of nowhere and looked too stunning to be human. And her name it was so similar to the infamous Japanese sword that dominated the current entertainment media.

Could it be?

She started scratching her neck as her lips curled to a smile. She had a plan for that one.

The latest One-Punch Man was ABSOLUTELY INSANE.