Yeah. Baraqiel's right—if I imagine it too realistically, that scene definitely becomes a sanity check moment. The opponent may be a magical beast that vanishes when defeated, but if it were just a giant or something, I guarantee there'd be half-cooked meat scattered all over the place.
"At any rate," Enkuma-san said, "this proves that Ikki-san's [Self-Destruct] can indeed defeat a Bandersnatch. Now, if we analyze the blast radius using the body of the beast itself as a shield, we can perform even more efficient extermination runs."
"Indeed. It's unfortunate, but the remnants of the Old Satan Faction are rampaging all over the Underworld. Now that the Behemoth Ogres are being handled, we can reassign the troops to reinforce other locations."
As Enkuma-san pointed out, besides the remaining magical beasts, the Old Satan Faction, and the reincarnated beings with Sacred Gears, there's a good chance that oppressed reincarnated devils are using this chaos to rise up. Manpower is surely stretched thin.
While being healed by Kuroka, I waited on standby, and once evacuation was complete within the calculated reduced radius of my [Self-Destruct], I headed straight for the enemy. Blowing them up from the inside—some battle prince from an alien race would probably call it a "dirty firework."
Over the course of the next day, I turned six more Behemoth Ogres: Bandersnatch into fireworks that lit up the Underworld. I could've sworn I heard distant cries of agony from demons, fallen angels, and men from the Hero Faction... might've just been my imagination.
After that, I returned to the Gremory residence for some rest, where Ravel showed up with two men in tow.
"Yo, Ikki Arima. I hear you've been leveling half the Underworld."
The snark came from Riser, but he was immediately smacked on the head by the dignified gentleman beside him—a classic noble with refined manners.
"Riser, that's no way to speak to the man who's contributed so much to our war effort. Nice to meet you. I'm Ruval Phenex, Ravel's older brother and next head of the Phenex family. I've heard all about you through letters and communications from Ravel. She always speaks of you so fondly that I ended up looking forward to meeting you."
Blushing deeply, Ravel protested the sudden overshare.
"S-Stop it, brother! Please don't say things like that—it's embarrassing!"
Ruval simply patted her head with a gentle smile.
"She's an adorable little sister. I hope you'll make her happy."
Can't help but let out a wry smile after hearing something like that.
"I will. Absolutely."
I kept my response short and sincere, locking eyes with Ruval. Ravel looked like steam was about to come out of her head as she buried her face, but Ruval nodded in satisfaction.
"I'm thrilled that someone like you could become my brother-in-law. Until now, our youngest Riser has been... well, less than stellar—though he's recently started shaping up."
"Gee, thanks for the glowing praise," Riser grumbled with a pout.
So Ruval and Riser would both be my brothers-in-law if I marry Ravel, huh? Guess I'll be calling them nii-san... it feels weird, but maybe I'll get used to it after ten tries.
"Anyway, we're not just here to say hello. Ikki, we came to deliver this."
Inside the offered box were five Phoenix Tears.
I've taken down seven Bandersnatches, including the first one. That leaves five. So this is what they're meant for.
"Thanks to you wiping out half the magical beasts, the Underworld's forces and our allies are effectively doubled. While we couldn't defeat all of them, we've been able to hold the lines and evacuate civilians more smoothly. These Tears are precious, but I convinced them it's better to use them to keep you going than risk more casualties in a prolonged fight."
I get the logic, but one thing didn't sit right.
"Hard to believe the Underworld's higher-ups agreed to let a human take such a central role."
"Ahaha! Oh, they were very reluctant. But the current Four Great Satans genuinely care for the Underworld. Our father pushed hard, and with the Phoenix House providing the Tears, the Sitri family backing us with cutting-edge medical support, and the Gremorys offering their wildly popular Oppai Dragon figure and beauty products—it wasn't long before the resistance melted away."
That's some serious political pressure—entertainment, medicine, popularity, raw power... they've basically strong-armed the neutral factions into cooperation, haven't they?
Politics isn't my realm, but if things are shifting in a good direction, I'll take it.
"More importantly, your achievements also help pave the way for the announcement of your engagement to Ravel. With you being seen as a hero, there won't be much public backlash. Our father was really fired up about it."
"I... see."
This time I couldn't help the twitch in my smile. I've built up some resistance watching Issei deal with this stuff, but devils really are aggressive about romance, huh? Is it because they have low birthrates or something?
Anyway, if this takes some heat off Ravel, then I'm grateful.
"Understood. I'll make sure to blow things up so hard that everyone will want me on their side."
"Heh, the phrasing's a bit questionable, but that's exactly what we're hoping for. You're no Phoenix, but I want to see your flames burn bright."
With that, Ruval and Riser headed out to the front lines to help delay the Ultra Beast: Jabberwocky.
Ravel, too, left for support duties elsewhere.
"Grayfia-san, do we have the next target locked?"
"Yes. I've issued orders to all units. In fifteen minutes, we'll begin exterminating the remaining Bandersnatches. Be ready."
Fifteen minutes, huh? I'll use one of the Tears to recover—Ruval's visit didn't give me any time to rest.
Not much to say after that. Thanatos didn't make a move, and I simply took out the magical beasts in the evacuated areas one by one from the inside out. Looks like even Thanatos didn't want to risk entering my [Self-Destruct] radius.
With all the Bandersnatches defeated, we could finally redirect those forces toward the massive Jabberwocky. There were two reasons we hadn't gone after it first.
First, it's huge—too fast to be stopped, and too dangerous to use [Self-Destruct] around since evacuations were still incomplete.
Second, its model was a kunoichi—a ninja girl type! In other words, masked. And the Jabberwocky version featured armor-style face coverings, like a reinforced version of the previous beauties. They really went out of their way to preserve the aesthetic.
Anyway, now that we've cleared the other threats, we might be able to slow it down. But with the capital Lilith still in its path and civilians still evacuating, I can't use [Self-Destruct] near it.
No one would forgive "the guy who blew up the capital," after all.
"We've almost completed a counter-technique against the beast, but with the Bandersnatches wiped out, the Reaper faction may resort to more desperate attacks. Stay sharp."
I nodded. We'd handled the Bandersnatches cleanly—that's already a win.
A short while later, Issei and his group returned for a brief break.
"Yo, Issei. How's it going on your end?"
At my question, Issei rushed toward me, tears in his eyes.
"Ikkiiiiii!! You heartless bastard!! I saw it from a distance! Those magical beasts—the beauties—exploding from the inside! And the mushroom clouds!!"
"They were enemies. And artificial ones, at that."
"Even if they're artificial, they had value! If we throw that away, then gentlemen's toys lose all meaning!"
Don't cry like that—it's unsettling.
"Alright, alright. Got it. But what about you? I've been watching the battlefield updates—your transfer powers are doing work, but I haven't seen you land any major hits. I mean, I can't use [Self-Destruct] anymore, but if I keep stealing the spotlight, it'll reflect poorly on Sirzechs and the rest politically. It'd be better if you, a popular Underworld devil, land the final blow on the Jabberwocky."
Even if I had the anti-beast spell, my sword-based [Ittou Rasetsu] wouldn't be ideal. Jabberwocky has rapid regeneration. We need overwhelming firepower to vaporize it—like Issei's blasts.
Besides, if I do everything, it'll look bad. If Issei, the Underworld's hero, takes down the final, strongest beast, it balances the narrative nicely.
"Yeah, well... even with the counter-technique, the researchers say it might take repeated Satan-level attacks to kill that thing. I don't think even my Dragon Blaster could take it out in one shot."
Wait—wasn't there a scene where Issei one-shot the Jabberwocky? ...Ugh, it's been over 17 years since I read the original. After the animated Sairaorg arc, things get fuzzy.
Didn't Great Red show up at some point and use dream power or something?
But Issei's here now, so that option's off the table.
Then again, Issei's got his NEW BorN body now, with boosted compatibility with Boob Power. Maybe that'll do?
Thinking too hard about Boob Power just makes you look stupid, so I'll take a more practical approach.
"Alright, Issei. Go poke every girl who offers you her boobs. That'll probably save the Underworld."
"You're just messing with me now, aren't you?!"
"Nope. I'm being... appropriate."
Japanese really is a tricky language.
"I heard everything! Issei, when the time comes, you may touch my chest freely!"
Xenovia appeared, flanked by Irina and Rossweisse, who must've joined her along the way.
"Xenovia! And Irina, Rossweisse-san too! Is Xenovia's Ex-Durandal already repaired?"
"Yeah, it's in perfect condition. And I heard your plan—making everyone Switch Princesses like Rias-senpai to power up Issei and defeat that beast. Count me in!"
While Xenovia beamed with enthusiasm, Rossweisse sighed.
"Sigh... I never imagined Arima-kun would make such indecent suggestions..."
"Only in battle, I promise. But if Issei genuinely powers up from Boob Power, then we might as well embrace it."
Stop giving me those chilly side-glances, Shirone—it stings.
"...Well, it is true that Issei gets stronger that way. Let's just take volunteers for who'll offer their boobs."
And just like that, Rias, Akeno, Asia, and Xenovia all raised their hands eagerly. Everyone seemed oddly hyped as they scattered.
Guess they finally had some downtime now that the Bandersnatches were gone.
About an hour later, we got an emergency transmission.
Due to chaos from Old Satan Faction remnants, evacuation in capital Lilith had been delayed. The Sitri household's team, assigned to escort civilians, had come into direct conflict with a Hero Faction commander.
===========
Next time: The Battle with Siegfried... Maybe even Jeanne?!