The faction leaders looked at each other curiously, studying their expressions a little. The day had arrived. The Norse faction/pantheon had arrived so the peace talks could finally begin. Sirzechs was sitting next to his old friend, Ajuka. Serafall was also present. On the Heavenly side, Michael was sitting with his sister, Gabriel. Azazel was standing with the fallen, accompanied by his always useful second-in-command, Shemhazai.
The God Odin was looking at everyone with a bit of curiosity, and was accompanied by two people: a Valkyrie named Rossweisse and a Cadre-level Fallen Angel, Barakiel.
However, despite the power contained in this large room, perhaps the most striking were a group of teenagers. Rias Gremory was standing to one side of the large table where everyone sat. Beside her, Harry had his arms crossed, wearing a completely black suit. His Invisibility Cloak was draped over his shoulders, like a black trench coat. She was also wearing black gloves.
The rest of the group, Issei, Akeno, Kiba, Koneko, Asia, Gasper, and Xenovia, stood behind her, watching everyone with seven points of seriousness and three points of curiosity.
Odin gave them a look before smiling and deciding to speak.
"So you're the girl who fought Indra! Interesting!"
Rias smiled and spoke politely. "You praise me too much, Lord Odin. I still have room for improvement."
"Ha! You can talk too!" Odin laughed before looking more serious. "But taking your words into account, it just means you fought a God before you're fully grown. Girl, that's quite an achievement."
"And that boy next to you..." Odin looked at Harry with a smirk.
Harry simply pushed his glasses up with one finger, looking at the God seriously.
"...She can practically overwhelm any mage when it comes to sheer magical power. I imagine she's perhaps as strong as you."
Rias merely smiled a little more, not answering Odin's unspoken question.
"Kuhum... I think we should get this meeting started," Serafall coughed slightly, drawing everyone's attention. She wasn't wearing her magical girl attire. Her face was more serious, and it was clear that Maou Leviathan was speaking now. Rias closed her eyes and took a step back, acknowledging that she should remain silent for the time being.
For her, Serafall would be the person she admires the most. Initially, her brother held that position, but as she matured and understood everything much better, Serafall took it. Among the Maou, everyone had a job and responsibility. Ajuka Beelzebub was the one in charge of the technology and creation department. Simply put, his job was to develop the Devil race in different ways.
Falbium Asmodeus was the head of military affairs; he had a hand in defending the part of the Underworld belonging to the Diablo race. You could say he served as a general to the army.
Sirzechs Lucifer was the one in charge of domestic affairs. He reviewed laws, policies, and issues within the Underworld from its center. He was the one who had to handle most of the meetings with the pillars or councils.
Serafall Leviathan was in charge of foreign affairs. Rias understood that this specific position was the most troublesome, even more so than her brother's position. Diablo society was often arrogant, causing problems outside the lands of the race, which led to certain fights or annoyances from other external parties. When a Diablo created problems in the territory of another race or pantheon, Serafall was the one who had to do most of the work to resolve that problem.
The program she had as a magical girl was something she used not only to entertain the children, but as a way to relax, getting away from all the mess she had to clean up. For this reason, Rias respected her above many others. If it had been Asmodeus who had spoken, Rias would have simply continued talking to Odin.
The peace talks then began and continued as the leaders discussed everything that would be needed for peace. From controlling the people on each side to helping in case of attacks. Sharing information to improve things, even about magic and such. But most of all, they talked about the Khaos Brigade.
"Those guys have become a real nuisance," Odin snorted, a little disgusted by the group's actions.
"The worst part is that they have someone like the Infinity Dragon on their backs. It's not possible to take action without repercussions," Michael frowned slightly.
"Right," Odin nodded a little more seriously. In the end, it didn't matter if he was a god; those two specific dragons were existences that could kill them. And between Ophis and Great Red, the former might actually be more dangerous. No one knew what these two existences were really thinking, but it was known that the Ouroboros dragon had a simpler mind and could simply unleash its power for more mundane and minor things compared to the True Dragon.
"But now we're allies," Odin smiled, causing everyone to look at him a little puzzled. "What? We all want that, right? Then there's no need to overthink it, especially since it would actually be a good idea. Zeus himself has even mentioned that he prefers to ally with other pantheons than fight alone against the dangers that have been manifesting in the world."
"So there's no one who opposes it?" Sirzechs asked, looking at everyone, but no one said anything. He smiled, nodded, and said, "Then from now on, the Judeo-Christian pantheon and the Norse pantheon will be allies."
"I refuse!"
A powerful voice rang out just as Sirzechs had finished speaking. Odin frowned as he recognized the voice, and the rest looked back, watching a man dressed in white appear, floating above them. This man had very long, light blue hair, and his expression was one of arrogance and superiority as he looked down on everyone.
"Loki! What do you think you're doing here?!"
"Stopping this madness, you old fool! Do you think we need other races to confront the enemy?! You're simply insane if you think that!"
"Lord Loki, watch your words!" Rossweisse exclaimed as she took a step forward. "You are in the presence of the All-Father! Even if it is you, you must speak with due respect!"
Loki looked at her coldly before snorting in annoyance and saying, "You're just a Valkyrie, don't meddle in the business of the gods. The only one who should know her place is you, child!"
Odin stood up and frowned as he looked at Loki.
"Loki! What you're doing... you know it, don't you?! Do you really think you're capable of interrupting without feeling the punishment you deserve?! You might be a God, but with everyone here, not even you can claim to defeat everyone."
"Stop this moment, and I'll be gentler with your punishment."
Loki remained silent before a smile appeared on his face. His hand rose, and a huge blue magic circle appeared above him. From this magic circle, four beams of light shot toward the ground.
"Fenrir!"
At that moment, a roar sent gusts of wind whipping up as a huge wolf with powerful teeth appeared before everyone.
"Skoll! Hati!" Two other smaller wolves appeared at Fenrir's side shortly afterward. Finally, the largest lightning bolt struck behind the wolves, causing a massive serpent to appear, hissing and roaring as it looked down at the alliance members.
"Midgardsormr!"
Loki looked ahead with superiority, noticing the frowns on almost everyone's faces.
"Oi, Rias. Do you think Jon would accept one of those brothers? I mean, they could take a few weak gods!" Harry whispered near Rias's ear, drawing his girlfriend's attention to Skoll and Hati.
"Uh, you could be of help, though I'm more interested in Fenrir."
"Kiba, Koneko, and Xenovia, you'll fight Skoll, the wolf on the right. Asia, Issei, and Akena, take care of Midgarsormr. Harry, I'll leave the last two to you."
"Understood!" The entire Germory group nodded before spreading their wings and charging toward the enemy.
Rias also spread her wings as she slowly flew toward Loki.
"Is that alright, Lucifer?" Odin asked with some hesitation.
"It'll be fine, don't worry, Odin-dono. Even if he can't win, she won't suffer too much damage."
"No, I mean the boy who's going up against Fenrir and Hati." Odin could understand Rias's strength. And she could actually handle Loki. He was more worried about Harry, who was going up against Fenrir. The legendary wolf no longer had the strength he once had, which placed him among the top 10 most powerful beings in the world, but a single wound from his fangs was still lethal.
"Ah, you mean Harry. He may not be as strong as Rias, but his methods are ingenious, no problem," Sirzechs smiled, evidently more relaxed than one might expect. He had already seen Harry's power at the meeting of the three factions, but if that weren't enough, he had seen him fight against Surtr, so he had confidence in him.
"Do you intend to face me, child?" Loki looked at Rias, frowning. He knew of this girl. In fact, who wouldn't know of the young woman who fought Indra to a draw?
"Why not? Are you afraid?" Rias smiled slightly as her aura began to become visible as she unleashed her power. At that moment, a scarlet red ring appeared behind her, causing the wind to swirl as Loki felt he couldn't measure Rias any further.
"Afraid?" Loki looked at Rias in shock before his face darkened with black lines, staring coldly at Rias.
"You... a mere half-blood of a weak race... You dare spout such nonsense from your filthy mouth?!" Loki growled softly before shouting angrily as he raised his power.
"I'll kill you!" Loki raised his hand, firing a massive beam of light from a magic circle. Rias merely raised her eyebrows before dropping her head slightly. Her Observation Haki had been active the entire time, so she could sense that a signature of magic similar to Loki's had appeared when the attack covered her figure.
It was a little... disappointing.
Rias simply raised her hand, expelling her Power of Destruction, completely engulfing Loki's attack before she pointed a finger with her other hand, creating swords from her Power of Destruction before throwing them downward, where he could sense the other presence.
Loki frowned at the sight of the approaching swords, but he didn't get flustered. He simply used his speed to dodge. However, as he jumped, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Rias kicking at him.
"What?" Loki, surprised, had to block with a magic circle, but was still knocked back by the force of the blow. He looked up at the sky and saw Rias, but there was another one in front of him.
"You thought you were the only one capable of creating clones? Don't be arrogant, God of Mischief!"
With every word that came out of Rias's mouth, the evil god grew more enraged. The worst part about this situation was that he thought he had to be careful. His survival instinct screamed at him not to do anything foolish, to think every move through. For some reason, that red ring caused him a little panic, even more than the sense of destruction and calamity emanating from Rias's aura.
Two daggers with blue handles appeared in his hands as he charged forward. At the same time, magic circles appeared behind him. Loki was not only an evil god who could create illusions or clones, but he was also well-versed in magic. And in the case of close combat battles, he generally used two daggers.
Rias narrowed her eyes and extended her hands slightly, creating two swords with her power of destruction. Loki gritted his teeth as he unleashed the magic from the magic circles. Those swords were simply too powerful. No, the mere fact that Rias possessed the power of destruction and had such enormous mastery over it was unfair. The moment her swords collided with the daggers, the latter would be destroyed.
The moment Norse magic came into contact with the power of destruction emanating from Rias, it was immediately nullified and destroyed. The power of destruction, while belonging to the Devil race and the Bael clan, doesn't mean it makes the Devils extremely powerful. If that were the case, there would be more powerful beings from that clan, and therefore, the Devil race. There were only three people with such power that they could be considered truly powerful and with such mastery as to fight against the Gods.
Rias Germory was one of them, and her brother, Sirzechs Lucifer, was another. The latter was an anomaly of the Devil race only at birth. The other was Zekram Bael, the leader of one of the 72 pillars.
The power of destruction was a convenient and terrifying power, but not everyone had what it took to control it to such a degree. In fact, among these three, only Rias could create objects from her power of destruction. All thanks to her wise training in Myobokuzan. And if she wanted to, she would enter destruction mode like her brother. It wasn't difficult for Rias to become destruction incarnate and annihilate everything. But, like her brother, such a thing could cause damage to nearby allies.
Loki sweated as he approached while Rias stood her ground. When the evil god was close enough, he threw his two daggers at Rias's head while summoning an exquisite spear to attack with all his might. At the same time, five clones appeared to surround Rias while unleashing elemental magic.
Fearlessly observing the attacks, Rias swung her swords while spinning as if dancing. The power of destruction surged from the swords, sending scarlet-black waves that swallowed the magic as she let the spear strike her in the chest. Loki smiled at this, unaware of Rias's intent.
But when a metallic clang echoed, Loki stared in disbelief at where he thought he had pierced Rias. A black color with red highlights covered Rias's chest, resisting the spear's blade as if it were nothing.
And that was all Rias needed.
The swords were discarded as she stepped into the air and slammed Loki's face with all her might.
BOOOM!
A huge thunderous sound echoed through the room as a shockwave swept across everything for hundreds of meters as the God Loki was thrown out, bleeding. His perfect hair was disheveled as it was stained with his own blood. His right eye had exploded due to the power of the blow, while part of his cheek had been torn open, revealing the inside of his mouth, broken teeth, and bleeding gums.
If he were a God like Thor, the battle would definitely be much more difficult for Rias. Not only does lightning have enormous explosive power, but said God would maintain incredible speed. However, Loki possessed no such thing. He might be incredible at magic, illusions, and clones. His physical power was undoubtedly enormous, but compared to Rias's current destructive power and physical prowess, he was simply a poor match for Loki.
Suddenly, magical circles surrounded Loki, creating a cube of different colors.
Rias looked to the side, noticing Harry pointing a wand at the God.
"Are you done?" Rias asked.
"Of course, did you doubt me?"
"Not at all. Just a little surprised that you defeated Fenrir so easily."
"Ah... When you have a mythical beast of similar power, then it's not so much."
Rias looked at him, confused for a moment, until she remembered Harry's Devil Fruit.
"I'll keep an eye on the boys. Please keep Loki safe."
"Of course," Harry nodded seriously.
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