Chapter 287:
–A Random Devil–
The sun barely pierced the smoky haze that loomed over New York City. A heavy, unnatural gloom suffocated the massive city. The humans had been subdued, and were all currently cowering in their homes, praying in vain to a dead god who would never come to save them.
Riser Phenex had delivered on his promise—the city belonged to the Devils now! Soon, the entire East Coast would follow.
It felt good—no, powerful—to watch mortals tremble under their rule.
Before this attack, Adius had been nothing more than a common Mid-Class Devil. Another faceless grunt in the underworld. The definition of ordinary, Adius had spent centuries toiling away in mediocrity, his efforts unnoticed and unremarkable. But not anymore. Now, he was an important soldier under the command of a brilliant leader like Riser Phenex.
When this war was over and the Devils emerged victorious, he knew his efforts would be recognized. He was going places!
From the rooftop of one of the tallest skyscrapers, Adius gazed out over the city they had seized almost effortlessly. Below, the streets were patrolled by hundreds of his comrades—low and mid-class Devils, all part of the new regime. Riser had scattered them throughout the city to maintain order, to keep the humans in line. Any disgusting mortals who resisted were swiftly reminded of the Devils' superiority—without mercy. Executions had become routine.
Riser Phenex himself was somewhere deeper within the city, basking in his victory.
A smug grin tugged at Adius's lips as he remembered the scene of Riser's golden flames burning down the human capital. That had been a glorious spectacle despite what happened afterwards.
It didn't matter though. The Devils were unstoppable! It was their time now, and they were going to—
A sudden chill ran down his spine. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as a strange aura suddenly washed over him. It felt familiar…
But where? Where had he felt this sensation before?
A horrifying realization dawned on him. No… It was impossible! The Fallen Angels were supposed to be gone from this world! They vanished over two years ago and hadn't been seen since! His sweaty hands tightened as he gripped the stone railing. Every instinct screamed at him to run.
Adius looked up, and his heart nearly stopped.
High above the city, breaking through the thick veil of smoke and cloud, was a figure. At first, it was difficult to make out, but as SHE descended, her form became clear. The most beautiful and terrifying sight he had ever seen. A beautiful female Fallen Angel who's looks surpassed even the Maou Leviathan herself. A Fallen Angel with 16 black wings…
That number should have been impossible… Everyone knew that the most wings an Angel could have was 12!
Adius wasn't the only Devil who sensed her arrival and gazed upwards. The streets below erupted into chaos as Devils scrambled in panic. Shouting out orders to each other as the chain of command immediately toppled in the face of overwhelming disparity. Their race's pride melted away, replaced with primal fear.
A second later, it began.
The air split with a deafening explosion as the Fallen Angel unleashed her power. A purple aura radiated from her body, and with a single motion, dozens of Devils on the ground were torn apart like paper. Blood splattered across the streets, limbs, heads, and wings severed in an instant.
"What the fuck!? What the fuck!?"
"My legs! I can't feel my legs!"
"What is happening!?"
"No!" Adius shouted, gripping the edge of the building as his comrades were mercilessly slaughtered. "That's not fair. We were so close…"
They were so close to crushing the humans beneath them! He was so close to finally being recognized amongst his race!
Another wave of her power rippled through the air. She moved with terrifying grace, cutting through the sky like a vengeful goddess. The Devils who tried to fight back stood no chance. Fireballs and magic blasts fizzled out against her aura, barely even reaching her. She was untouchable.
Panic surged through him. Adius stumbled away from the rooftop, heart pounding in his chest. He needed to get away, far away, before—
A blinding flash of purple light stopped him in his tracks. The building next to him exploded, shards of glass raining down as two Devils were thrown from the wreckage, their bodies crumpling lifelessly on the pavement below.
He had to run. He had to—
A scream tore through the air.
Adius froze, turning to see one of his comrades—someone he had fought beside—lifted into the air by the Fallen Angel. His comrade struggled, punching, kicking, biting, and scratching to no avail as she picked him with but a single slender arm.
"Your kind should have stayed in the Underworld," she spoke for the first time. Her voice was as beautiful as he imagined, but her tone was so cold…
With a look of indifference, she mercilessly snapped his comrades neck and tossed his lifeless body into the dirty streets as if he was nothing more than some garbage to be discarded.
And then she tilted her head up and met his own gaze. His blood turned to ice! He bolted, wings flaring as he leapt from the rooftop, diving and weaving amongst the filthy alleyways below. They offered a brief moment of safety, but he knew it wouldn't last. The sounds of death and destruction seemed to follow him no matter how far he fled!
After fleeing for multiple kilometers, Adius stumbled out onto a familiar street. It was the street where Riser Phenex staged his public executions. Adius was hoping to find their leader there, but the street was sadly deserted. Where was their leader!?
He needed to regroup with someone… anyone! But, was anyone even left? There were over 700 hundred Devils in the city, so why did he no longer hear the sounds of any fighting?
"They're all dead," he whispered to himself. "She's killing us all…"
This wasn't supposed to happen!
Another shiver crept down his spine…
Adius glanced upward and despaired. Above him, her 16 black wings were spread wide as she slowly descended into the streets. He glanced around, searching for help, but no one was left to help him. All he saw were humans peeking out through nearby windows…watching on vindictively.
"Please," he pleaded desperately to the beautiful Fallen Angel. "I don't want to die..."
"Neither did any of the humans you all mercilessly slaughtered today," she said as a purple Lightspear manifested in her left hand. The energy it emitted was already burning his skin despite not even touching him!
Adius took a couple steps backwards, trying to escape the tainted Light. "W–Why would you care about the lives of some useless cattle? The humans don't matter–" His words were cut off as he suddenly felt a burning heat in the center of his chest. He couldn't talk, he couldn't even breathe. He glanced down to see what was wrong, and saw her Lightspear impaling him. It was so fast! He hadn't even seen her move!
–Layla–
"That's the last one…" I let out a sigh as the Devil's body began to disintegrate around my Lightspear. I had officially purged the city of all the Devils and captured Riser Phenex.
I told the General it would only take me a couple minutes, but in reality it had taken around a half hour due to how spread out all the Devils were across the city. Still, that was pretty damn fast considering I was on my own here.
{Quest Complete! You have Leveled Up x2!}
…I dragged Riser Phenex, the self-proclaimed ruler of America, through the grand entrance of the White House. His arms were bound by black chakra disrupting chains. "Time to face the music, asshole~" I sang at him.
"Fuck you, bitch! This isn't over! Riser's brothers will be here soon and will free him! Then we shall take our sweet time enjoying your body! Riser has been really pent up ever since his peerage all had to be put down. You'll learn your place then!"
It looked like he still hadn't learned his own place…
I gave the chain in my hands a sharp tug. Riser lost his footing and fell on his face. "Ow! What the fu–Hey! Stop, you crazy bitch!"
I continued walking into the white house with Riser dragging along the floor behind me. With his Demonic Power sealed away, he was nothing more than an ordinary man–less than an ordinary actually. He was really scrawny up close. Clearly, this guy never bothered exercising a day in his life, always relying on his magic for everything.
The secret service agents all gave me a wide berth as I dragged the Devil on his face through the twisting hallways. Finally, we reached our destination.
[Are you excited to meet the President?]
'I don't even know who the President of the United States is on Earth DxD…' I replied in my head. Earth Marvel was my home now despite me technically being from here.
The President of the United States stood at the far end of the room, hands resting on his desk, surrounded by his top advisors and military officials. Among them was the General I'd met with earlier. The President tried to look calm, but I caught the flicker of nervousness in his eyes when he glanced at me. Not that I blamed him—me being a Fallen Angel Goddess tended to unsettle people.
Riser glared up at me from where he lay at my feet. I gave the chain a small tug, forcing him to his knees in front of the President's desk. "I brought you a little gift…"
"Thank you for bringing him in," the President said. "We weren't sure how we were going to handle… well, any of this. Did you have any trouble capturing him?"
"None at all. I also made sure to clean out the rest of the Devils from the city," I replied casually.
"T-That's… very impressive. You must be a pretty… um… powerful Angel," he stammered.
"Technically, I'm a Fallen Angel Goddess, and yes—let's just say I'm very powerful. More powerful than these Devils, at least." I shrugged, trying to downplay it.
"An actual Goddess?" The President's eyes widened. His advisors exchanged looks, clearly curious, but one of them cleared their throat, reminding everyone that time was short at the moment. The American people were growing restless after everything that happened in the world, and the President had to address the nation soon.
His gaze flicked toward Riser, then back to me. "So... now that we have him, what do you suggest we do?"
"You won't do anything to me, you pathetic monkey! I'll crush all of you—" Riser started to threaten everyone, but his rant was cut short when I gave him a good smack on the back of the head. His eyes rolled back unconscious.
"Sorry about that," I said a little sheepishly. "As you probably guessed, Devils from this universe are evil, racist pieces of trash. I swear, they're better in other universes!"
"O-Other universes?" the President wavered.
I just waved him off. "Don't worry about that! As for Riser, I'm officially turning him over to America. Just make sure you don't remove the black collar around his neck—it's sealing his demonic powers. You really don't want him burning down any more cities..."
"If that's the case, we should immediately stage a public execution!" the General barked. "You've earned some trust, Miss Layla, but we can't leave a dangerous being like this alive on our soil!" Several cabinet members nodded in agreement.
The President winced at the suggestion, glancing toward his chief of staff. "I'm not sure a public execution is something we should even be considering in this day and age..."
"You guys did it with Saddam," I pointed out.
The President's face turned red. "That wasn't us, that was the Iraqi government!"
"Sure it was…"
"I'm just not sure public execution is the right message to send..." The President hesitated. "The violence alone would—"
"The whole world is currently at war, don't be a pussy."
[Whoa! I can't believe you just said that…]
The President and nearly everyone else in the room sputtered at me in indignation. The only one giving me a thumbs up was the General.
"F-fine! We'll do it! We'll show these Devils what happens when you mess with us!"
I nodded proudly. "Good! You should also make sure to broadcast it across the world. Riser is married to the current Lucifer's younger sister. His public death will seriously lower their morale globally. Plus, he mentioned that some of his older brothers might come to save him. We can use the broadcast as bait to lure even more of them to me."
"Don't you mean to us?" the President shot back.
I smirked. "I know what I said…" Riser's older brothers were all supposedly Ultimate Class, I would be doing all the work…
"Are all Angels as insufferable as you…?" The President looked irritated for some reason.
"I'm a Fallen Angel," I pointed out again while rolling my eyes. "But yeah… Even my older sister, the Archangel Gabriel, can be a bit of a troll sometimes…"
"Aren't Fallen Angels supposed to be evil in the Bible?" he asked warily.
"You're thinking of the Fallen Angels who joined Lucifer's original rebellion. Yeah, they were all evil dicks. The rest of us? We just fell from grace because we had sex with humans—or, in my case, I killed a bunch of evil warlords who were terrorizing people in Africa."
"That was you?!" he exclaimed. "Wars that had been raging on that continent for decades just stopped cold one day! No one could figure out who assassinated all those warlords. All this time, we thought it was the Russians…"
–Sirzechs, Earth DxD–
Sirzechs Lucifer reclined in his lavish chair, sinking into the plush fabric as he attempted to get some much-needed rest. Wiping out half of India was no small feat, and even his impressive demonic reserves had been thoroughly drained. 'The war is going well so far. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a few minutes…'
BANG!
"Zechs! Bad news!" The door to his office was violently thrown open, and Serafall stormed in like a whirlwind.
Sirzechs let out a displeased noise and opened his eyes, irritation flashing across his face. "What happened?"
"It's Riser Phenex!" she exclaimed. "He failed somehow! He got captured by the humans! The President of the United States even addressed the whole world and announced they're going to hold a public execution for him tonight!"
Sirzechs's teeth clenched. The lavish chair he was sitting on was immediately devoured by his passive aura of destruction. "THEY DARE EXECUTE A MEMBER OF MY FAMILY!?" His voice shook the stone room. "I'll go over there right now and destroy them all!"
Serafall rushed forward, reaching out to stop him. "You can't! You're still recovering your power! This smells like a trap. There's no way the humans could have captured Riser so quickly—at least, not without help! I suspect this is one of that bitch Gabriel's schemes!"
"Didn't you tell me she was sighted in Germany just a few hours ago?" Sirzechs asked.
"That might be just a diversion," Serafall scowled. "Don't forget, Gabriel has a higher Devil kill count than all the other Archangels… combined!"
A heavy silence filled the room as Sirzechs processed her words. "Then what do we do?" he asked.
"...Nothing." Serafall said after a small pause. "You and I can't risk going. Gabriel is my rival, but I've never been able to best her in a straight up fight, and you're far too important to risk losing. Riser's older brother's are staging a rescue themselves, we'll have to leave it up to them."
"But if you're right, and this is the scheme of an Archangel, they'll die! We can't afford to lose the Phenex clan, their tears are too valuable to the war effort! And Rias will be sad if her husband dies…" Srizechs added that last part, although neither he nor Serafall believed it. Rias would be anything but sad if Riser bit the dust.
Serafall didn't disagree with him. "The Phenex Clan is important, but neither Riser nor his older brothers have ever been that useful to the Underworld. Most Phenex tears come from the women in the family. The men just run around collecting harem members and picking fights all the time. If anything, this could be an opportunity for us. We can use the death of the three male heirs as a reason to take Ravel into our protective custody! You could even arrange for her to marry Millicas in the future!"
Sirzechs felt his anger subside a bit at Serafall's suggestion. "That's not a bad idea…"
Serafall smirked confidently. "And that's not all! I'll use Gabriel's own trap against her! During the execution, while she's distracted over in America, I'll personally launch an attack on Germany! We haven't managed to gain a major foothold in Europe yet, but this time, I'll finally be able to pull one over on that blonde bitch!"
"That sounds like a plan!" Sirzechs had a smile on his face, but it lasted only a brief moment. Almost immediately, he felt one of the last bonds connecting him to his remaining peerage member snap. "Dammit! Surtur Second just died…" he grumbled in annoyance. "I thought he would've been able to keep the Norse Pantheon busy for a few more days at least!"
"Him too?" Serafall asked in surprise. "Behe-tan ended up dying so fast when we sent her after the Yokai! I don't know what happened there! Does this change our plans at all?"
Sirzechs shook his head, determination creeping back into his voice. "Things have become more difficult, but we can still win this. Give me a couple of hours to recover, and I'll head over to Asgard myself. Odin must be severely weakened after battling Surtur Second. I might be able to take him off the board completely."
Serafall nodded nervously. "You won't be at 100% even with a few more hours of rest. Only attack him if you're sure he's been weakened!"
"You know me, Serafall, when have I ever taken risks on the battlefield?" he asked.
"All the time," she pouted at him. "Ajuka isn't here to pull our asses out of the hellfire anymore."
"I'll be careful," Sirzechs told her. He could always run away if things ended up getting dicey. He wasn't afraid of anyone on Asgard, especially not the old pervert.
'How did he manage to kill Surtur that quickly?' Srizechs wondered to himself. He knew Odin should not have been that strong? Was there some other powerful warrior in Asgard?
He shook his head, obviously not…
XXX
Layla wiped out all the Devils in New York so fast they couldn't even get off any reports about her, so Serafall is working with incorrect information. And Sirzechs might run into a certain Goddess of Death when he reaches Asgard…
Til next time :)
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