Finally, the formless humanoid shape shed its veil of shadows… and revealed its true form.
[ Wh–What is this!? A beautiful woman has emerged from within! A giant, drop-dead gorgeous woman has appeared!! And she's in a dangerously revealing bikini!! Moments ago, she was just walking around like a normal monster, but now she's posing and swaying her hips with shocking sensuality!! This is too much!! ]
Whaaaaaaaaat?! Why the hell did the monster turn into a sexy woman?!
The camera zoomed in to show Issei—suited up in his armor—coming to a dead stop as he laid eyes on her. The broadcast's mic (probably a high-performance one designed for the Underworld) picked up his voice.
[ I… I can't do it, President! I can't bring myself to erase such a beautiful onee-san from existence! ]
[ What are you saying, Issei!? The Underworld is in danger! Fire the Dragon Blaster!! ]
[ OHHHH NOOOO!! The Oppai Dragon has lost the will to fight in the face of overwhelming beauty!! ]
...Yep. That idiot's doing exactly what I thought he'd do.
To make matters worse, the bikini babe adjusted her swimsuit—pulling it just enough to bare her chest...
...though thankfully, the "Censorship Light" was doing its job.
She then fired a mysterious pink beam from her exposed chest into the ground—where it summoned an army of average-height beauties and adorable girls! Each of them dressed differently.
There were angels in togas (somewhat tattered), catgirls, school swimsuits, harpies, sailor uniforms, bloomers, office lady suits, dominatrixes—just an endless parade of over-the-top outfits.
Most of their outfits were either too short, see-through, or just completely inappropriate for battle.
Watching this horror, Issei collapsed to the ground, spewing a fountain of blood even through his helmet.
[ B-Beautiful women… A flood of erotic girls doing sexy dances, coming straight toward me… Is this a dream…? ]
The screen showed Issei, armor deactivated, eyes completely lifeless.
But the monster girls didn't care. Their beams—likely anti-devil in nature—blasted through the battlefield, turning everything into scorched earth.
[ Ugh! Issei can't fight like this! Asia, get him out of here—now! Transfer him straight to the Gremory estate! Everyone else, focus on holding off those reinforcements! Don't pursue too far without Asia's support—understood!? ]
[ UNBELIEVABLE!! The Oppai Dragon has been utterly defeated by a flood of uncontainable eroticism! What will become of the Underworld now?! As the monsters' attack intensifies, we will be temporarily withdrawing from this area for safety. Back to the studio! ]
"Um... I'd just like to apologize for Issei."
Asia kept trying to heal him, but he kept spurting nosebleeds faster than she could cast her spells.
"No need for you to apologize, Ikki. Issei's perversion is the source of his power... though it seems this time, it overheated him."
That's... an incredibly calm and accurate analysis.
Just then, Baraqiel received a transmission.
"Hmph. Understood… It seems Heaven has decided to offer full support for this incident. Though the Church's warriors will assist, sending actual angels to the front lines is still problematic."
Yeah, that'd probably cause them to fall from grace...
Back to the broadcast—everywhere in the Underworld, the same thing was happening: giant beautiful women spawning armies of risqué, shameless girls, all dancing seductively amidst explosions.
It was idiotic. And yet, the disaster kept spreading.
The soldiers arriving on the scene were clearly shaken. Their magic blasts lacked power, and honestly... were they pulling their punches?
Oh—one moron just stripped off his armor and charged in naked.
Didn't say anything... but you were a real man, buddy.
Grayfia, standing beside me, narrowed her eyes. Terrifying.
"From what we can tell, the Grim Reapers forced the wielder of the Annihilation Maker into a Balance Breaker using a mind-disturbing spell. And it appears they made him study all sorts of 'hero faction' research material—books and DVDs filled with questionable content—as part of their anti-Heaven development program. The result... is what you see now: giant monster women and their... adult video-level summoning orgy. I suppose it was all too stimulating for a teenage boy."
"So basically, these monsters are the crystallization of every pervy thought the Hero Faction's male members ever had, huh?"
Yeah... Kuroka's not wrong. Now that I'm really looking at them, some are deeply cursed. Like, dog ears + glasses + sailor uniform top only + school swimsuit + thigh-high socks + big-breasted loli combo—who the hell had that idea!?
Pluto said these monsters were made to counter the Underworld... but considering they also nullify angels, they're basically anti-everything. A real threat to all three factions.
"So... Ikki, what do you plan to do now?"
Grayfia's timing was perfect. She looked like a goddess to me in that moment.
"Well... we don't know when Thanatos will appear. I should probably avoid direct combat and focus on evacuation assistance. I want to fight on the front lines, but as someone who needs protecting, dragging out a prolonged battle to stall the enemy might not be smart..."
I mean, lying low isn't bad… but what should I do?
I charged in all fired up, but didn't think this far ahead. Still got a long way to go...
Just then, Ravel raised her hand, looking a bit nervous.
"Um... What about a hit-and-run tactic? Ikki-sama's Ittou Rasetsu worked on them before, and if you used your most destructive technique—'Self-Destruct'—might you be able to finish one off?"
"That'd require evacuating all civilians first. Plus, the attack radius is massive. I can't control the blast strength, and I'd probably have to go all out to even hurt them."
Worst case, I end up nuking the Underworld myself.
"And even if you did defeat it, we couldn't approach the explosion site afterward. You'd be left wide open on the battlefield, Ikki. After the first time, it'd be a race between us and the Grim Reapers to see who gets to you first... and I don't like those odds."
Yeah. The image of me passed out and the Grim Reapers sprinting toward me is nightmare fuel.
And if I don't kill the beast... I'll just be lying there next to it. Bad all around.
"Then how about... this?"
Ravel quietly laid out her strategy.
As she finished, everyone looked... a little weirded out.
Wait. I've seen this reaction before.
It's actually a pretty good plan though... right?
Baraqiel stepped forward.
"Uh... Ravel-kun, and... should I call you Ikki-kun now?"
Ravel and I both tilted our heads in confusion.
"Did we... do something wrong?"
Our voices were perfectly in sync. Baraqiel looked mildly flustered.
"N-No. If you're both fine with it, then there's no issue..."
"...I suppose their compatibility makes sense. Both Ikki-san and Ravel-san are 'Supremacy-Type' personalities."
"Or maybe... Ravel's subconsciously picking up on Ikki's 'Outlaw-Type' nature too, nya?"
Wait, I'm a Supremacy/Outlaw type? What the hell is that?! Never heard of it!
Anyway, until civilians are fully evacuated, we're on standby. We'll target the least destructive of the titanic bikini monsters when the time comes.
Truth is, I wasn't even fully recovered yet...
After a while, Rias and the others returned.
The allied military had helped with the evacuation, so the entire Gremory team had come home to rest, recover, and assess the chaos in the Underworld.
Their uniforms were all shredded.
"How's Issei?"
Of course, that's the first thing she asks.
"He seems stable now. Took a lot of blood transfusions, though."
"I see... Let's hope he builds up a little resistance after this. He probably wasn't mentally prepared for this kind of situation. Even if he can't fight directly, his power of transference can fully support us—that's more than enough."
Yeah... especially considering each monster can summon hundreds of sexy soldiers in a single Oppai Beam. And with thirteen of those things... we're talking literal armies. Thousands. No wonder Issei's completely helpless here.
Then Rias looked toward Grayfia.
"Grayfia—no, Sister-in-law! That outfit… are you heading out to fight!?"
"No. Right now, I'm assigned to protect Ikki-san. Enku is here too."
"Enku! It's been a while!"
Wait, when did they last meet?
Sensing my confusion, Akeno quietly whispered an explanation.
(Remember before our school trip? Lady Grayfia came to visit the Hyoudou house.)
(Right, Issei said he sparred with Sirzechs in his Sentai Hero form afterward...)
(Yes. Enku came as Grayfia's escort—but he left right away afterward. All of Sirzechs-sama's retainers are extremely busy. Rias was quite disappointed.)
Wow... I had no idea.
"Good to see you again, Akeno."
"Father! You're here too!? You've come to protect Ikki-kun, haven't you?"
"Yes. Azazel asked me to."
"Ha ha... being the one protected feels weird. This is a first for me."
Sure, I've been a protected party before—like when I was with Yasaka-san and Kunou in Kyoto—but I was more like a tag-along back then. This is the first time someone's been officially assigned to me.
"It's necessary. The images and Samael's involvement alone make you a prime target. If high-level Grim Reapers are after you, extra protection is a must."
Honestly, I'd like to clean this mess up before Thanatos shows up again.
"…And her?"
Rias asked, glancing toward a certain direction after hearing a report on the situation and greeting Enku.
"She's with them. You might want to shower before meeting her. Issei should be fully recovered by now—I'll let him know."
"Thank you. I'll take you up on that."
With that, Rias led the others toward the showers.
Meanwhile, I used my senses to track down Issei and Asia, guiding them through the halls of the Gremory estate toward one of the more secluded rooms.
He'd made a full recovery—because of course he had. He's a devil, after all.
...Though if he gets thrown into battle again without mental preparation, he'll just faint from nosebleeds all over again.