The battle ended quickly.
After Kaiser defeated Vali in a display of overwhelming force and presence that stunned the entire battlefield into silence, the outcome had become a foregone conclusion.
The traitors from the Three Factions, led by the Old Satan Faction, had completely lost the will to fight. They stared at Kaiser—still standing in the center, unmoving yet imposing—and felt every trace of their killing intent and fighting spirit dissolve into nothing.
"Run!"
No one knew who shouted it first, but once it was said, the enemy side began fleeing en masse without hesitation.
Even the likes of Sharba, Catreya, and Cruzeray, the so-called heirs to the original Maou, turned and ran.
"Don't let them escape!"
Azazel immediately snapped back to attention and shouted.
"This is a golden opportunity to wipe out the Old Satan Faction! Don't let it slip!"
Prompted by his roar, members of the Three Factions finally shook off their daze and rushed to give chase—turning their counterattack into a brutal cleanup.
Michael and Gabriel were the first to act. They quickly rebuilt the barriers surrounding Kuoh Academy—this time not just to contain the battle, but to trap the traitors inside. They even rewrote the barrier's structure to block all teleportation spells and transport magic circles, cutting off any escape routes that Vali might have secretly prepared.
Then, under the lead of Rias and the other elite guards, the factions' forces charged in and began hunting down the fleeing rebels with ruthless efficiency.
Naturally, the top brass didn't sit out either.
Sirzechs, Serafall, and Azazel personally intercepted the three enemy leaders—Sharba, Catreya, and Cruzeray—launching a renewed offensive against them.
The enemy trio wanted to escape. They were desperate to flee. But with the spotlight now squarely on them, and with their enemies no longer holding back, there was no way out. Even so, they refused to admit defeat and lashed out wildly in a final, futile frenzy.
But the truth was, even without Kaiser, the three of them had no chance of defeating these leaders of the Three Factions.
Among the three, Sharba was unquestionably the strongest. Empowered by Ophis's Snake, his strength had been acknowledged even by Azazel, reaching the level of the original Beelzebub and ranking at the pinnacle of Maou-class power.
If he were facing a typical Maou-level opponent, he'd be practically unbeatable.
Unfortunately for him, his opponent was Sirzechs Lucifer.
And Sirzechs… was in a different league entirely.
The strongest of the Four Maou. The devil who inherited the Power of Destruction from his mother's bloodline. His ability to compress that devastating energy into countless guided projectiles meant his very existence had transcended what could even be called "a devil."
If Sirzechs unleashed his true power, obliterating Sharba would be trivial.
This was the same Sirzechs who had previously killed the sons of both the original Beelzebub and Asmodeus—veterans of the Great War. His magic power was said to be ten times greater than that of the original Lucifer.
And so, unsurprisingly, Sharba was blasted down by just two shots from Sirzechs' destruction spheres.
With Sharba defeated, Cruzeray fell not long after.
His strength barely reached standard Maou levels. Against Azazel, even without his Balance Breaker, Cruzeray had no hope. Azazel's artificial Sacred Gear, the Flashing Spear imbued with the power of a Dragon King, only widened the gap.
Though that weapon was still an early prototype and couldn't fully unleash the Dragon King's might, it still enhanced Azazel's already Maou-level strength significantly.
Even Kaiser had only managed to fight Azazel to a draw without using his Balance Breaker or Divine Dividing. For a bloodline-obsessed fool like Cruzeray, who relied entirely on the Snake and his inherited status?
He got flattened. Quickly.
Catreya, on the other hand, held out the longest.
Not because her opponent was weak.
But because Serafall Leviathan went easy on her.
On the surface, Serafall looked like a bubbly, hyper, harmless idol-tier beauty. But beneath that cheerful exterior lay the most powerful female devil in the Underworld.
Her specialty was ice magic. At full power, she could freeze an entire city. Destroying a small country wouldn't be out of the question either.
Catreya may have reached Maou-level power after receiving the Snake, but plenty of ancient devils could match that. Among them, Serafall reigned supreme.
So why didn't she finish it quickly?
Simple: guilt.
She had known Catreya. And when Catreya angrily accused her of stealing the Leviathan title, Serafall didn't deny it. If anything, her hesitation showed that she hadn't entirely wanted the title in the first place.
But once Sirzechs and Azazel defeated their opponents, Serafall dropped the act.
With one massive spell, she froze the entire academy grounds, turning it into a winter wasteland—and encased Catreya in ice, ending the fight decisively.
And just like that—
The Old Satan Faction's top three leaders were defeated and captured.
Alive.
Which in itself spoke volumes: the Three Factions' leaders weren't just stronger—they were vastly stronger.
"Why…?"
"No… this can't be…"
"How could the true bloodlines lose to fakes…?"
Sharba, Cruzeray, and Catreya wailed in disbelief. Their pride and worldview shattered.
But it was over.
Each of them was bound with layered seals by the faction leaders. The Snakes in their bodies? Destroyed by Sirzechs' Power of Destruction. Their strength—gone. Their resistance—crushed.
And once the three fell, the rest of the enemy followed like dominoes. Surrounded and hunted by Rias and her team, not a single one escaped.
This was supposed to be an assassination strike.
Instead, it turned into a total purge.
It was ironic, really. Their arrogance had been their downfall. Drunk on inherited power and Ophis's gifts, the Old Satan Faction had walked right into the trap.
Because yes—this was clearly a trap.
The peace conference had already been locked in. If the goal were truly just to finalize an agreement, there would be no reason to host it in a small human town like this. No reason to gather all the most important leaders in such a risky place.
No, this was bait. A chance to draw out the traitors and finish them off.
And as Azazel had once told Kaiser—the Old Satan Faction would never allow the peace to go through without a fight.
So they knew.
They waited.
And they let the enemy come to them.
But something had changed the outcome.
Because originally, only one of the Satan blood heirs had shown up, with Vali as the wildcard. The others had stayed behind.
This time, they all came.
And Azazel—schemer that he was—might have had something to do with that.
Kaiser had his suspicions. The way Sharba and the others hadn't seen him as a threat, the way they didn't factor him into their plans at all, and the sheer surprise they showed when Vali went after him—
It was clear. Kaiser had not been part of their expectations.
And so, perhaps Azazel had subtly nudged them into deploying all their pieces.
And now… checkmate.
But honestly?
Kaiser didn't care.
He was here as a paid observer. If Vali hadn't challenged him, he would have gladly sat on the sidelines.
He'd even told Kuroka and Asia ahead of time that he had no intention of getting involved unless absolutely necessary. Which was why neither of them had lifted a finger during the chaos.
Even Kuroka hadn't reacted when her own sister charged into battle. She just lounged on the sidelines like a stray cat wandering onto a movie set.
Now, it was all over.
The traitors were dead or captured. Even Vali, now unconscious and drenched in blood, had been handed back to Azazel.
"…You brat. We're having a serious talk when we get back."
Azazel sighed as he watched Vali be carried off. He waved a hand tiredly, then let it go.
Surprisingly, Issei Hyoudou followed them—concerned about Vali, even after the betrayal.
Oddly enough, the guy seemed to care quite a bit.
Kaiser found that strange too. Weren't they supposed to be rivals? Why had Issei been the angriest when Vali turned?
In contrast, Azazel had bounced back instantly.
Now he was clinging to Kaiser, all but grilling him.
"How the hell did you do it? How did you solve those compatibility problems? How did you get that artificial Sacred Gear to work?!"
The Fallen Angel Governor-General had abandoned all composure. He fired off question after question like a rabid fanboy.
"I told you—it was luck," Kaiser replied, already annoyed.
But he made no mention of his true authority.
That remained his deepest secret.
"Luck!? Come on, even you don't believe that!"
Kaiser gave him a deadpan look. "Didn't you call me a 'child of God'? Maybe it was divine favor. Maybe the Lord granted me a miracle."
Immediately—
Michael and Gabriel both lit up.
"I believe it," said Michael with a serene smile. "With the Lord's grace, such a miracle is entirely possible."
"That's right! After all, Mr. Kaiser is the voice of His will!" Gabriel was practically glowing as she stared at Kaiser like he was a walking prayer.
The two Holy Sword wielders behind her nodded enthusiastically.
Even Sirzechs and Serafall laughed.
"It's a miracle, no doubt," Sirzechs said, smiling. "We can't deny that."
"As devils, it's kind of weird to talk about divine blessings…" Serafall added. "But hey, a good outcome is a good outcome!"
Meanwhile, Azazel—once a devout believer himself—looked like he'd just bitten into a lemon.
"…Ugh. God's miracles, huh…"
But with no other leads, all he could do was sulk and scheme, trying to find a way to bribe Kaiser into sharing some technical details later.
Still, he couldn't help but mutter one last thing.
"…His White Dragon Emperor wings aren't just copies. They're stronger than the original. Definitely a high-tier Longinus now."
He paused.
"…But did he only make the Divine Dividing…?"
Azazel hadn't forgotten. Kaiser had asked for info on the Boosted Gear, too. And had even taken Issei's Balance Breaker fragments.
Azazel knew exactly what that meant.
"Three high-tier Longinus…"
He looked at Kaiser—currently being harassed by an enthusiastic Gabriel—and let out a wry laugh.
"This guy's just unfair on every damn level…"
(End of Chapter)