"AH—AAAAAH—!"
As the searing pain from the gaping wound in his body surged through him, Diodora let out the most miserable, agonized scream of his life.
It was the suffering of a soul on the verge of annihilation—a level of pain beyond anything a normal being could endure.
"AAAAAAAHHHH—!"
He collapsed to his knees, his hands instinctively reaching for the spear impaling his body.
But the moment his fingers touched the shaft, an intense burning sensation erupted through them—smoke began to rise from his flesh, as if it was being purged.
And then—
His entire body began to smoke.
Like a condemned soul subjected to holy purification, his very existence recoiled against the weapon.
"T-This spear…! D-Don't tell me…?!"
A terrible realization dawned upon Diodora.
His pain-filled eyes widened in horror as he stared at the spear that had pierced him.
"True Longinus."
Kaiser gripped the sacred spear, keeping it firmly embedded in Diodora's body as he coldly spoke, his words as merciless as his gaze.
"The strongest Longinus."
"The highest-tier of all holy relics."
"The legendary spear that pierced the Son of God himself."
"Even scum like you must have heard of it, right?"
One would have to be insane not to know its name.
For ordinary people, that might not be the case, but for the major factions of mythology, the True Longinus was a name etched into history.
No angel, fallen angel, or devil could be ignorant of its existence.
After all, these three factions were part of the same mythological system—they all came from the same faith.
A weapon capable of piercing God—a spear that was the very definition of "God-killing."
There was no way anyone in these circles wouldn't recognize it.
And that was exactly why Diodora was so terrified.
"Y-You… You're the wielder of the True Longinus…?!"
His voice trembled with pain.
"N-No… NO! This can't be real…!"
"I was pierced by the True Longinus?!"
"D-Does that mean… I'm going to disappear?!"
For devils, weapons imbued with holy power were their natural nemesis.
A single slash from a holy sword was enough to cause severe injuries and cripple a devil's strength.
And if a holy sword were to kill a devil—
Then that devil would be erased.
Body and soul.
Their existence would vanish into nothingness.
No corpse.
No remains.
Just pure obliteration.
And now—
Diodora had been run through by the highest-tiered holy weapon of them all—the legendary True Longinus.
This wound was fatal beyond measure.
"Y-You can't kill me! You can't kill me!"
Diodora's mind collapsed under fear, tears streaming down his bloodied face as he wailed in desperation.
"I am the heir of House Astaroth! The blood relative of the current Beelzebub!"
"If you kill me, House Astaroth and the Maou won't let you go!"
"The Underworld won't let you go!"
This wasn't just idle bluffing.
Diodora's lineage wasn't ordinary.
As a pure-blooded noble, as the heir to a high-ranking devil house, as a direct relative of a Maou—he wasn't someone that could be killed without consequence.
Stray devils could be slain at will—no one cared.
But a noble devil?
A pure-blooded member of an esteemed house?
Every pure-blood devil was a precious asset, a treasured heirloom of the Underworld's noble lineage.
And Diodora was not just any noble—he was the direct successor of House Astaroth.
He was among the most high-ranking young devils of his generation.
If he were to die without reason, House Astaroth wouldn't stand for it.
Beelzebub wouldn't stand for it.
The Underworld itself might view it as an affront.
If Kaiser killed Diodora, Kuoh Town would never know peace again.
But—
"Your threats mean absolutely nothing to me."
Kaiser's voice was cold and absolute.
"I told you from the very beginning, didn't I?"
"You were going to die here today."
His tone was not that of someone who had suddenly made a spur-of-the-moment decision.
It was not an emotional outburst.
No—
It was clear.
Deliberate.
He came here with the sole intention of killing Diodora Astaroth.
"W-Why…?"
Diodora shuddered, his voice shaking as he screamed through his suffering.
"I never even knew you before today! Why are you so determined to kill me—?!"
Until now, Diodora hadn't thought about it.
He had assumed that Kaiser was just a fool who had walked into his own death.
He never even considered the possibility that he might be the one dying instead.
But now, he was forced to think about it.
Why?
Why was this person so intent on killing him?
To this—
Kaiser only gave a cold, merciless reply.
"You think I don't know what you've been doing in the shadows?"
Kaiser stepped forward.
As he did, the True Longinus's spear shaft retracted, forcing Diodora's body to collapse forward.
"Diodora Astaroth."
"You are the heir to House Astaroth, a noble pure-blooded devil."
"But you are also one of the most vile, loathsome creatures to walk this earth."
"You have a very particular taste."
"You have an obsession—a preference for women associated with the Church."
"Especially those who are devout believers."
"Especially those who have deep ties to the Church's headquarters."
"To you, they are nothing more than prey."
Kaiser's voice was deathly calm, yet his words carried the weight of a death sentence.
"The women you just summoned…"
"They're your Evil Piece servants, aren't they?"
"They were once well-known nuns, perhaps even saints from various regions, weren't they?"
"And your favorite pastime was seducing them—deceiving them—crafting elaborate lies to lead them to ruin and despair, wasn't it?"
Kaiser didn't know exactly what Diodora had done to these women.
But the way they stood before him now—empty-eyed, lifeless, like walking corpses—spoke volumes.
Their spirits had been shattered beyond repair.
They no longer reacted to their surroundings.
They had become completely numb to their own circumstances.
And yet—
Once upon a time, they had been just like Asia.
Pure-hearted, devout, kind believers.
It was precisely because of this that Kaiser could no longer contain the raging bloodlust within him—nor did he wish to.
"I've seen plenty of evil in this world. I'm no saint, and I don't go around hunting down every piece of filth that exists."
"But you happened to show up right here, right now."
Why had the heir to House Astaroth, the blood relative of the current Beelzebub, come to Kuoh Town?
The answer was simple.
"Asia Argento."
"She was your next target, wasn't she?"
Kaiser's voice was icy, revealing the one truth Asia could never be allowed to hear.
"You set your sights on her—you wanted to make her your next victim, to break her, to lead her into despair."
"That injured devil she just so happened to encounter… That was you, wasn't it?"
"It was you who deliberately appeared before her."
"It was you who staged that act, manipulating her kindness—luring her into healing you in public, ensuring that she would be branded a witch by those around her."
Diodora had planned everything.
He had allowed Asia to be taken by the Fallen Angels' rogue exorcists.
He had known what Raynare was planning.
Yet he had chosen not to intervene.
Instead, he waited, intending to use that situation to tighten his grip on Asia.
If Raynare's plan had gone exactly as intended, and Asia had been sacrificed in her ritual, then Diodora would have stepped in at the last moment—
Killed Raynare himself.
Reincarnated Asia as a devil.
And once she became a devil—
She would have been his.
She would have belonged to him.
He could have done whatever he wanted to her.
"But unfortunately for you—"
"You never expected someone like me to show up, did you?"
"You never thought Raynare would end up captured by me, and that she would personally deliver Asia into my hands instead."
"In fact, you probably didn't even know who I was at first."
"But the moment you saw a Fallen Angel following my orders, I bet that was when you started wondering."
Kaiser took another step forward, gripping the now fully retracted True Longinus, still embedded in Diodora's body.
He looked down at the kneeling devil, his lips curling into a cruel smirk.
"So tell me—"
"Were you planning to retreat? To go investigate who I am first, before coming back to take Asia?"
"Too bad."
"I already knew about you."
"I knew about the filth you've been hiding."
"I was already prepared, waiting for two whole days—ready to hunt you down the moment you revealed yourself."
To that end, Kaiser had even borrowed the Hero Faction's network of informants—
He had enlisted their spies to track down Diodora's movements.
And the Hero Faction had delivered.
They had found Diodora's exact location.
They had relayed it to him through a magic formation.
From that moment forward—
Diodora's fate had already been sealed.
"You ask me why I insist on killing you?"
Kaiser's Touki surged once more.
"Because you deserve to die."
"The moment I learned you existed, I knew you had to die."
"And after seeing what you did to these women?"
"Now there's nothing that can change my mind."
"Today—you die."
By the time Kaiser finished speaking, Diodora could no longer form words.
His body trembled violently, his mouth hanging open.
The smoke pouring from his body grew thicker.
His form was starting to vanish.
"I… I am… of House… Astaroth…"
"I… am… a Maou's… bloodline…"
The devil, tormented by unspeakable agony, mumbled mindlessly—his gaze vacant.
"No."
Kaiser's response was sharp, absolute.
"You're nothing."
"You're just trash."
And with that final judgment—
Kaiser ripped the True Longinus free.
SPLURT.
A massive burst of blood erupted into the air.
FWOOSH—
Diodora's body ignited instantly.
His flesh burned away, turning to ash in seconds.
His entire existence crumbled.
Kaiser simply stood there, watching it unfold.
He did not blink.
He did not look away.
He did not flinch.
Diodora Astaroth was erased from the world.
And once the very last trace of him had vanished—
Kaiser finally turned away.
Not a single soul would know that a pure-blooded devil had just ceased to exist.
But soon—
The entire Underworld would hear of it.
And from this moment forward—
Kuoh Town would never know peace again.