The battlefield quaked as two new presences entered. The air itself seemed to steady, as though the pillars of the Underworld had finally moved.
Falbium, his massive frame cloaked in a calm yet crushing pressure, walked forward with slow, deliberate steps. Beside him, Ajuka Beelzebub, the green glow of countless magical formulas already spiraling into existence around him.
"Falbium… Ajuka…" Sirzechs' voice carried both relief and gravity. "So you've finished the evacuation."
"Barely," Ajuka replied, his tone clipped. "Entire sectors of the Underworld are sealed off just to buy time. If this… thing takes one step toward the cities, all we've done will mean nothing."
"Tch, what a madness you've brought to us, Old Man," Azazel muttered, eyes narrowing at Odin. "Is this on purpose?"
"Silence, brat," Odin snapped, his single eye glowing with restrained fury. His grip on Gungnir tightened. "Even I cannot read this madness. This far exceeds the future I foresaw… Loki alone could never summon or create such a creature. Which means…" His gaze bored into Loki, trembling with barely checked rage. "Something greater is pulling the strings."
"He mentioned the Dark Heavenly King before," Serafall said, her usual cheerful lilt absent, replaced by a dangerous edge. "That's the key. I've never heard of such an entity in this world."
Jötunnskeldr roared, the sound splitting the Underworld as his twin heads moved in eerie synchronicity. The fiery blade in his right hand swept down like a falling star, clashing against the crimson storm of Sirzechs' [Power of Destruction].
The earth didn't just shake—it disintegrated into ash and ice beneath their collision.
"Onii-sama!!" Rias gasped as the shockwave hurled her and her peerage back.
Before the counterstrike could land, Falbium stepped forward. His body glowed with a dense orange aura, calm and immovable. When Jötunnskeldr's retaliatory slash came crashing down, the blade met Falbium's Absolute Defense head-on.
The battlefield lit up with apocalyptic brilliance—fire that could melt continents, frost that could encase worlds. Yet Falbium stood unmoving, his aura a wall that simply refused to yield.
Issei's jaw dropped. "Th-the sword didn't even scratch him…?"
But then—a fracture. Tiny at first, almost invisible, but there. The flame-and-ice power of Jötunnskeldr pressed deeper, eating away at the invincible aura.
Falbium's teeth clenched, his voice low and grim. "…Impressive. Not even the light of Heaven could move this aura… yet you…" His eyes burned like embers. "…You actually force it to yield."
Ajuka's voice cut in sharply, his formulas shifting faster, weaving in layers of emerald light. "Don't get distracted. Falbium, buy me time."
Circles upon circles of impossible complexity manifested in the air, equations rewriting reality itself. Ajuka Beelzebub—the Devil Scientist—was already calculating how to unravel the abomination before them.
"Understood," Falbium growled, his aura flaring brighter, harder, swallowing the next strike as if daring the titan to break him.
On the sidelines, Michael and Amaterasu exchanged grim glances.
"This creature…" Michael whispered, feathers trembling with restrained light.
"It stands on the threshold of the divine itself," Amaterasu finished, her eyes fixed on Jötunnskeldr.
And all the while, Loki laughed, bloodied lips curling into a smile. "Dance, struggle as much as you like! Even your Gods cannot stop what has already begun!"
Ajuka's magic circles expanded into a cathedral of emerald light, spiraling across the battlefield like an otherworldly machine. Each layer locked into another, runes shifting and rewriting themselves in real time. It wasn't just magic—it was mathematics sculpting reality.
"Every being has a weakness," Ajuka muttered, his voice sharp and unwavering even as his calculations raced. "And this fusion… this abomination… is no different." His eyes gleamed with a predatory glint. "If I can isolate its power source—its fusion node—we have a chance."
Jötunnskeldr roared again, twin heads snapping in unison as the titan stomped. The ground cracked like glass, sending shockwaves that shattered mountains on the horizon. Falbium surged forward, his orange aura wrapping tighter, thicker, as if becoming a second skin.
The flaming sword descended. Falbium raised his arms—
BOOM!
The impact exploded like a supernova. Sirzechs and Serafall had to erect barriers to shield their allies, but even then, the sheer pressure flattened everything within kilometers. Falbium didn't move. He couldn't. His muscles locked as he bore the strike, Absolute Defense trembling under the weight of power beyond worlds.
Blood trickled from the corner of his lips. "…Ajuka… hurry."
Ajuka didn't look up. His fingers flicked through the air, formulas detonating and reconstructing themselves like gears grinding in a cosmic machine. At last, his eyes widened. "There. A nexus point—its fusion core lies in the chest, shielded beneath three overlapping magical matrices. If I disrupt the third layer, its power will collapse in on itself!"
He hurled his completed formula forward. A sphere of glowing equations shot into the titan's chest, lines of logic lancing through layers of runic defense. For a moment, the titan's movements slowed—one of its heads screamed as if aware of the violation.
But then the other head snapped forward, its eyes burning with apocalyptic fury, and the titan unleashed a shockwave of fire and frost that shattered Ajuka's spell before it could pierce the core.
Ajuka staggered, clutching his chest. "Damn it…! Too much interference!"
The titan raised both swords this time—flame and frost intertwining, death incarnate descending.
Falbium planted his feet. His aura blazed like a sun on the verge of collapse. "THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST!" His roar shook the battlefield, Absolute Defense straining to its very limit as the colossal blades came crashing down.
And then—
Countless massive fists of sunlight, each the size of a fortress, came plummeting from the sky like meteors. They rained upon Jötunnskeldr in endless succession, each strike detonating with the force of a divine punishment. The titan howled as the fists hammered it into the ground, dragon-shaped lances piercing its body and exploding into torrents of golden fire.
Dragons made of pure sunshine coiled down from the Underworld sky, tearing and biting at the titan with celestial fury.
Satria landed between Serafall and Amaterasu, his aura burning so bright it painted the battlefield in gold. His Dragon Head and Dragon Lance flared, weaving constructs of radiant might that refused to yield.
Serafall gasped, her usual cheer overtaken by awe. "He… stopped that thing…?"
Amaterasu's golden eyes studied him, her voice low. "Why did you help us?"
Satria exhaled, his smirk lazy, though his eyes blazed with fire. "Better thank my girls. They insisted. What a drag…" He tilted his head, glancing at the Ice Queen descending with her frozen storm. "…And since I'm here with her, you can leave this big guy to us."
Velzard's icy presence locking down the battlefield. Frost met sunlight, balance incarnate, as she landed beside Satria. Her voice was cold, sharp as a blade. "I'll freeze its movements. You break it."
Ajuka's gaze remained fixed on the titan, formulas still dancing in his mind even after his spell had failed. Then Satria's voice cut through the battlefield.
"Not bad, old man. Sharp eyes." He smirked, wiping sunlight off his fingertips like dust. "Tell me… how about joining us? I could use that intelligence."
The words fell like thunder.
The four Maou stiffened, shock freezing their expressions. To see a human—no, something beyond human—brazenly recruiting the Maou of Innovation was madness. No devil in a hundred years would have dared.
Satria's grin widened, playful yet carrying an edge. "I'm offering more than you can imagine. Worlds beyond this one. Knowledge your best theories would call impossible… yet it all exists. Think about it."
"No!" Sirzechs' voice snapped like a whip. His aura of destruction surged to shield Ajuka instinctively. "Ajuka is the core of our faction. Our keystone. We won't let you take him!"
"Hahaha!" Satria's laughter rolled across the battlefield, warm yet cutting. He flicked his gaze toward Sirzechs. "You really do resemble your little sister, Redhead. Loyal, stubborn, blind to the world you live in."
The laughter faded. His smirk thinned, and for the first time, the air around him shifted. Gone was the lazy joker. What replaced it was something vast, suffocating, absolute.
"…But is this worth it? Living like frogs in a pond?" His words dripped with sarcasm, yet his aura pressed down like a god's decree. The battlefield stilled. Even the Titan paused, as if instinctively wary of what it sensed.
Ajuka's fingers twitched at his side. The sarcasm didn't matter—what mattered was the offer. His life had always been equations, inventions, progress. Being Maou was never his passion; it was duty, forced upon him for the sake of his comrades. And yet this boy… this enigma… had spoken the one temptation he had never confessed aloud.
Knowledge. Beyond imagination.
For the first time in centuries, Ajuka Beelzebub felt shaken.
Satria stepped forward. The ground itself seemed to recoil from his presence. His smirk turned sharp, and suddenly the underworld ignited.
"Majestic of Heavenly Dragon!"
Above and behind him, colossal fiery dragons erupted into existence. Their bodies were forged of pure solar energy, their roars splitting the sky as their jaws snapped wide. Each manifestation was a beast large enough to eclipse mountains, wings blotting out the battlefield in burning gold.
The devils, the gods, even Loki himself froze under the sight. It was not just power—it was dominion.
Satria's voice carried like a judgment, cold and final.
"Now then…" His eyes blazed, locking onto the titan. "…let's make this party interesting."
"Wa—!! It's so hot!" Issei yelped, sweat pouring down his face.
"My clothes… even my sword is beginning to melt just from being near him!" Irina cried, wings flickering as the heat battered her.
The air was suffocating, every breath tasting like fire. The earth itself blistered under the radiance of Satria's summoned dragons.
Satria clicked his tongue and glanced back at the younger fighters. "Tch… what a pain." His voice cut sharp through the roaring battlefield. "Velzard. Keep the kids alive. Last thing I need is a heatstroke soap opera."
"Don't order me around, you dolt!" Velzard snapped, cheeks faintly pink at his bluntness. But with a sweep of her hand, titanic walls of glacial energy surged outward. Frost bloomed in radiant arcs, forming a dome of shimmering ice that absorbed and deflected the worst of the heat. The sweltering air cooled instantly, giving the devils and angels a chance to breathe again.
Issei collapsed in relief, gasping. "Haah… saved…"
Even the gods themselves looked on in disbelief. Amaterasu's amber eyes widened, her voice hushed. "To wield the very sun like this… not even I could burn so brightly."
Satria rolled his shoulders, twin dragons of flame curling around him like serpents. "Don't flatter me, Sun Goddess. I just like fighting loud." His grin sharpened, eyes blazing like dawn. "C'mon, Ice Queen. Let's tear this bastard apart."
Velzard's expression softened—just barely. "Try to not hold me back."
Their powers surged together—his blazing light intertwining with her glacial aura. Fire and frost spiraled into a cataclysmic vortex, illuminating the battlefield with divine brilliance.
"Don't interfere with our revenge!!! I don't know who you are, but we'll crush you!!!"
The twin heads of Jötunnskeldr roared in unison, the ground trembling beneath their fury.
Satria just grinned, rolling his neck with casual indifference. "Yeah, yeah… heard that one before. Show me your best, oh relic of the past."
He snapped his fingers. A blazing circle of light bloomed above him—then countless colossal dragons of fire burst forth, each one roaring as they dived toward the Titan. Their bodies burned like miniature suns, scales flaring in hues of gold and crimson.
"Grrrrahhh!!! You think that can stop me?!" the left head howled, its icy breath surging forward. "I'll show you how useless your puny power truly is!"
The other head conjured an enormous frost-shield, the magic creaking and crackling as it blocked the first impact. For a heartbeat, it looked like Jötunnskeldr had weathered the storm—
—until the dragons exploded.
Each detonation flared like a newborn sun, vaporizing the frost barrier in a burst of searing light. The shockwave flattened the terrain, scattering molten shards and ice dust to the wind.
"No one can stop Jötunnskeldr! Our domination is abso—GAHHH!!!"
The Titan's bellow turned into a shriek of agony as his shield disintegrated.
Satria's voice cut through the chaos, calm but carrying an edge of finality. "My attacks won't work? Says who? Who decided that?"
He thrust his hand forward—sunlight condensed into a radiant sphere, its surface swirling like liquid plasma. Then came the blast—a beam of pure, concentrated solar energy that split the air with a deafening roar.
Sensing danger, Jötunnskeldr tried to retreat, but a sudden blizzard locked his limbs in place.
"Ice Shard."
Velzard's tone was cold and absolute. From her outstretched hand, massive crystalline spikes erupted, impaling the Titan's legs and freezing his core joints solid.
"Finish him," she said coolly. "Don't disappoint me."
"Aghhh!!! Curse you!!! My revenge isn't over!" The Titan roared in defiance, swinging his flaming sword in one last desperate strike.
Satria surged forward through the storm of cinders, his body enveloped in radiant heat. He gathered energy in his fist—sunlight bending and focusing until it resembled a miniature star.
When the flaming sword met his punch, the world seemed to stop.
A shockwave burst outward—then the sword cracked, fracturing into molten fragments before shattering entirely.
Satria's fist drove home, striking the weak point Ajuka had calculated. The impact ignited the Titan's core, and a pillar of pure flame erupted skyward, engulfing Jötunnskeldr in a blinding inferno.
When the firestorm faded, only scorched earth remained.
Satria emerged from the blaze, smoke curling off his shoulders. He turned to Velzard with a lopsided grin. "Good work, princess. High five?"
Velzard huffed, cheeks faintly pink. "You're insufferable."
Still, she raised her hand and met his palm with a sharp clap.
Satria's grin widened. "See? We make a great team."
Her glare softened for just a second. "…Hmph. Don't get used to it."
Watching them, Serafall Leviathan felt something twist in her chest. Her fists clenched, an ache she didn't understand stirring within.
'Why… does it bother me so much?' she thought. The woman beside Satria radiated elegance and unimaginable power—both things Serafall prided herself on. Yet next to Velzard, she suddenly felt… small.
It wasn't jealousy alone—it was realization. That even among Maou, there existed beings far beyond comprehension.
The battlefield fell silent.
The colossal body of Jötunnskeldr, once a god-slaying titan, now lay broken and burning—melting ice hissing against molten stone. The fusion of fire and frost had become nothing more than steam rising into the endless night.
Loki staggered back, disbelief etched across his face. "Im… impossible…" he rasped. "That was the might of Ymir and Surtr combined…! How—how could you—"
Suddenly, a static hum filled the air—communication magic activating. From the haze of light, a holographic projection shimmered into view—Alien Mefilas, watching from his dark command throne. His eyes gleamed like black glass, full of cold intellect and faint amusement.
"Mefilas-sama! You saw it, didn't you?! They destroyed the fusion body! I need more power—send me reinforcements!" Loki shouted, desperation cracking his voice.
Mefilas didn't move. His tone was smooth, almost bored. "Reinforcements? You misunderstand your role, little god. You were the experiment."
"What—!?"
"Your usefulness has ended." The projection flickered—and cut.
"Wait! Mefilas!!! Don't—!" Loki's voice broke into static. His link dissolved, leaving only silence.
Satria clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "Oof. Ghosted by your boss. That's rough, buddy." He leaned closer, grin sharpening like a blade. "Now then… you're the last stand, huh? Tell me, Loki—what should we do with you?" He tilted his head with mock curiosity, the light from his aura casting long, divine shadows. "Ah yes, I heard Asgard sent Thor's little toy hammer this way. How about we test it—on you? Or maybe you'd rather play without it? I'm fine either way~" His eyes gleamed with golden mischief. "So tell me, Loki—" His tone dropped, heavy as judgment. "—you want the easy way or the hard way?"
Loki's expression twisted into pure terror. His pupils shrank, breath hitching in shallow gasps. Sweat poured down his face like rain.
"Wha… what are you?" he choked. Inside, his thoughts spiraled. 'H-how dare he look at me like that? I… I… I can't! I'm terrified! I can't speak! My throat—it won't move!'
Then the sky themselves seemed to part.
A majestic golden aircraft descended through the crimson sky of the Underworld, light scattering across its gilded hull. Its structure blended divinity and science—like a chariot of the gods reforged with alien perfection. Emerald energy wings shimmered at its sides, and at its center sat a man upon a throne, cloaked in royal darkness and golden light.
Amaterasu's voice trembled with awe. "You are… Sung Jin-Woo."
Azazel smirked, crossing his arms. "So it's him, huh? The one whose aura almost broke my scanners yesterday… interesting."
Satria's grin widened, eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh, that's the guy, huh? Looks like Gilgamesh got reincarnated with a better wardrobe." He twitched his finger, unseen threads of speed force connecting to Loki's body like invisible strings. "Let's test something…" he murmured.
Loki's eyes went wide. "Wha—what the—my body! It's moving by itself!"
Against his will, Loki's arm raised his hand and launched a deadly spell—straight toward Rias.
"Rias-senpai!!!" Issei shouted.
But before the spell could hit, a black shadow blurred between them.
A boot struck Loki's chest with explosive force—sending him flying back into the crater he'd stood in before.
The impact thundered through the battlefield.
Rias looked up—and met eyes like a storm frozen in time.
"Are you okay?" Sung Jin-Woo asked, voice calm, detached… but undeniably protective.
Rias, cheeks flushed and heart pounding, nodded slowly. "Y-Yes…"
'He actually came down to help her?' thought, his grin widening. 'So, he's not Gilgamesh's reincarnation after all. And that accent… Sung Jin-Woo my ass. You're like me, aren't you? Another otherworlder—from the Chinese region, huh?'
At his side, Velzard folded her arms, her icy gaze fixed on the newcomer. "Hoo… interesting," she murmured, her tone cool but intrigued.
Across the battlefield, Sung Jin-Woo stepped forward, shadows swirling around his feet like living smoke. His lips curled into a faint, confident smirk. "Is that all you've got? Prepare to meet your end."
"Meet your end? Don't get too overconfident, you bastard!" Loki shouted back, summoning his remaining strength. He hurled a massive beam of chaotic magic straight at Jin-Woo.
The blast tore through the air—only to be intercepted by a towering knight clad in black armor. Igris appeared in a blur, his massive sword deflecting the attack effortlessly, sparks scattering across the ruined ground.
Loki's eyes widened in disbelief. "W-What?!"
The god's breathing grew ragged. One of his arms was gone, torn off in the chaos earlier; his divine blood dripped onto the scorched earth.
"Damn you all…" he growled through gritted teeth. "You ruined everything! I was so close—just a little more, and the Ragnarok would have begun!"
Sung Jin-Woo regarded him coldly, his voice devoid of pity. "So this is the power of a god? Pathetic. You're not even worthy of dying by my hand." His tone sharpened into command. "Igris. End him."
"Gladly." The knight's voice rumbled like thunder. In one clean motion, Igris swung his blade. A crimson arc split the air—then silence.
Loki's body crumpled lifelessly to the ground. Gasps echoed across the field; even the most hardened warriors felt the chill that followed.
Jin-Woo approached the fallen trickster, shadows rising around him like a dark tide. His hand extended slightly.
"Arise."
A black sigil flared beneath the corpse—Loki's body twitched, his eyes turning a lifeless violet. He knelt before Sung Jin-Woo, his former arrogance erased.
"My name is Loki," he said, voice hollow and obedient. "From this moment, I serve you, my liege."
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Odin's voice broke the silence, trembling with shock. "H-How can this be? He… he killed Loki—and resurrected him as his servant?!"
The gathered gods and devils stared in disbelief, their expressions ranging from awe to horror. Even Amaterasu's calm mask cracked slightly.
Azazel let out a low whistle, eyes gleaming with interest. "Now that's new. Turning a god into a shadow soldier… this guy isn't just some powerful human." He stepped forward, his wings rustling faintly. "Let's go," he said to the others. "Time we find out who this man really is—and what his true purpose might be."
To be continued...