"What do we do about them?"
Rias asked.
Sure, they hadn't exactly clicked when they first met, but they had fought side by side. Besides, hearing that God was dead had rattled her too.
"As long as they're not trying to off themselves, don't worry about it. They'll have to work through it on their own," Hikaru said.
If he remembered right, they'd bounce back soon enough anyway.
"Can't believe it's actually true—God really died. Kokabiel must've been telling the truth this time. Ever since I took over my family's business, I've noticed a lot of things that just don't match up with what we were taught," Sona Sitri added as she walked over.
"That 'Kishimojin' only fell because she couldn't purify a massive horde of those corrupted spirits at once. If God were still around, the angels would've guided at least some of those spirits to Heaven, and then she wouldn't have fallen," Sona went on.
"So I guess that's why the higher-ups have been covering it up—trying to keep the peace. No telling what kind of chaos might break loose if people found out."
"Hikaru, you have any thoughts on all this?" Rias asked quietly.
"Not really, because I already knew," Hikaru answered matter-of-factly. He wasn't about to spill that he was a transmigrator, but there was no need to hide every bit of intel—especially since this was bound to come out sooner or later.
"I used to be a hardcore materialist—took an arrow to the knee, and I'm still one."
"You actually got hurt once?"
Akeno asked in surprise. If he could take down Kokabiel with no sweat, who could've possibly shot him? Michael? Some other chief god?
Judging by their confused looks, Hikaru knew they had no idea what that "arrow to the knee" crack meant. He didn't bother explaining.
Honestly, even though Hikaru had settled into life here, he still took it all with a "this is just a game" attitude. That was one thing about being a transmigrator he couldn't change. Trying to pass himself off as a genuine native felt like self-deception. Even if the Biblical God literally dropped dead in front of him, he wouldn't lose sleep over it.
"So what do we do now? It's not just the heads of the three factions—other leaders probably know, too," Sona said, a flicker of concern crossing her face.
She'd originally thought the three factions could continue keeping each other in check, maintaining at least a bare-minimum peace. But now, warmongers like Kokabiel would probably show up more often, and all sorts of people who resent the Biblical faction would start crawling out of the woodwork.
"It's not just the leaders. Tons of people might not know the full story, but they can at least guess. The surge in evil spirits, the unstable Sacred Gear hosts and transformations—plenty of people are itching to make a move. Kokabiel was just the first to jump," Hikaru said in agreement.
"Anyway, it's not really your problem to fix right now. This battle alone had some serious repercussions, so it's time to use your authority as territory-holders and clean up."
"Yeah, that's priority number one," Rias and Sona both agreed.
Right away, each of them contacted their familiars. Using the resources of their respective families, they sent out instructions to their proxies in the human world.
Before long, Kuoh City's government started shutting down any online leaks, pushing out a story about a gas pipe explosion as cover. As for the eyewitnesses, that was the devils' job—they'd round them up and erase any memory of what happened tonight.
While the girls got to work, Hikaru decided he didn't need to stick around. He was also thinking about a few things:
There was no way Azazel—Governor of the Fallen Angels—hadn't known about Kokabiel's plan. He'd even sent Vali, the White Dragon Emperor, to intervene. After Kokabiel was defeated, they'd haul him back and lock him in the Underworld's deepest cell with an "eternal freeze" sentence.
Then, as a result of all this, the three factions would finally decide to sit down and hold real peace talks—none of their leaders really wanted another all-out war.
That reminded Hikaru of the Old Satan Faction that would show up during the three-faction summit, trying to "restore the old ways" and recruiting people for an ambush on the leaders.
But the real problem wasn't them—it was the Khaos Brigade backing them. Nobody knew exactly when it had formed, but it had even brought Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God, on board as a figurehead.
What Hikaru specifically remembered was that the Red Dragon Emperor's Boosted Gear could gain new powers via Ophis. He was pondering how to make contact with the Infinite Dragon God when he suddenly sensed something off behind him.
A swarm of devils from the Underworld was flooding the sky above Kuoh City. Looked like reinforcements had finally arrived—just like how cops in an old crime flick show up when everything's already over. Then again, Hikaru had wrapped things up almost too quickly.
"Sona! Sona, are you okay?! Any injuries? Anywhere hurt? Where's that jerk Kokabiel? I swear I'll shove his head right up his—!"
Serafall, dressed in a wildly flamboyant outfit, burst out from the reinforcements, eyes gleaming as she scanned the scene. She locked on to Sona dealing with the aftermath alongside her peerage. Her eyes went red, and she dove straight at her from the sky.
"Big sis?!"
Sona froze the moment she realized who was hugging her, her face going totally stiff. Hearing people snicker around them, she tried to shove Serafall off.
"L-Lady Leviathan, I'm fine! Also… p-please keep it professional!"
"Nope! People always say they're fine when they're really hurt bad. Sona, I'm giving you a full exam right now!"
Serafall's eyes sparkled mischievously as she reached out to start poking and prodding, while Sona frantically fought her off and shot desperate looks all around, begging for rescue.
Even Rias couldn't just watch anymore. She cleared her throat. "Lady Leviathan, everything's settled now, and Sona's not hurt. More importantly, we need to take care of the injured."
"Oh! You're the Gremory heiress's sister, right? If you're all okay, that's a huge relief."
Serafall reluctantly let go of Sona, suddenly snapping back to normal.
"But, who took out Kokabiel? And how'd they pull it off?"
As she spoke, her gaze shifted to Hikaru off to the side.
~~~
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