"W-Wait, he got dismissed as Governor!?"
The very same day we returned to Kuoh Town from the Underworld incident, we were immediately swamped with midterm exams. While waiting for the grading results, we were in the Occult Research Club room after school when we heard the news: Azazel-sensei had stepped down from his role as Governor.
"Pipe down. What do you expect? I tricked several organizations just to get Ophis here—of course I was going to be punished. My current title is now Special Technical Advisor to the Grigori, Overseer of the Son of God. I'm still staying in Kuoh Town and will act as its supervisor."
"From Governor… to Supervisor," Shirone murmured.
"Anyway, I've appointed Shemhaza as the new Governor and Baraqiel as his deputy. Now that we're inching closer to peace, those two hard-asses can handle things better than I can. And me? I finally get to pour my time into my hobbies. Everyone wins!"
Despite Azazel-sensei's upbeat tone, the rest of us couldn't hide our uneasy expressions. He just whistled nonchalantly.
"Oh right, your results from the mid-rank devil certification exam are in. Sirzechs is busy, so I'll handle the announcements. First up, Kiba."
He casually pulled out four sheets of paper and read off the results. The outcome? We all passed. When Shirone heard the word "pass," Ravel immediately leapt into her arms.
After the excitement settled down, Azazel-sensei brought up a new topic.
"Alright, this is sudden, but I need you all to head to the Underworld—now."
Everyone looked confused.
"To the Underworld? No one told me about this. What's going on?" Rias asked, speaking for the group.
Azazel-sensei looked awkward.
"Well... there's someone important who really wants to meet you. Sirzechs and Michael already know, but it had to be kept under wraps. I'm only telling you now because the timing is right."
With that, Azazel-sensei activated a teleportation circle and motioned for us to step in.
"Wait, who are we meeting, Sensei!?"
"Ah, just think of it as a surprise. Everyone in? Good. Let's go!"
With a vague response, he sent us all to the Underworld.
========
The room we teleported into was decently spacious, with all the windows and doors shut tight. We couldn't tell where in the Underworld we were—but the moment we arrived, our group went straight into battle mode.
"HADES!? What the hell are you doing here!?"
Everyone, especially Issei, flared with hostility. Understandably so—the chaos that recently tore apart the Underworld had been orchestrated by none other than the god standing before us.
Hades calmly approached, but stopped just outside the range where we'd immediately unleash hell on him.
Then...
"I AM DEEPLY, TRULY SORRYYYYYYYYYYY!!"
With a full-force prostration, he threw himself into a dogeza!
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!?"
Our collective screams echoed through the chamber.
"See? I told you someone important wanted to meet you. That person groveling on the floor? Yeah, that's him—Hades," Azazel-sensei said casually.
"No no no no NO! There's no way we're just supposed to accept this!! Wait a second—Sensei! This must be one of your pranks! You built a fake Hades, didn't you!? First prank after stepping down as Governor—though honestly, this one's just in bad taste! We all know how much you hate Hades!"
"Why the hell would I waste my time making a Hades puppet!? That's the real deal!"
"…Seriously?"
"Dead serious."
As the group refocused on Hades, I stepped forward and made him lift his head.
"Hades-sama, may I ask a few questions?"
"Ikki-san, I caused you immense trouble. Please, ask anything you like. As long as it doesn't breach confidentiality, I will answer honestly."
Ugh. Creepy! This Hades is way too different!
"Your personal motto?"
"One good deed a day."
"Favorite phrase?"
"World peace."
"The new Underworld slogan?"
"A happy, white-collar workplace where everyone smiles!"
"…Favorite anime?"
"The Milky series."
…Okay, that last one almost shattered the fabric of reality, but otherwise, I'd say this is about what we ordered.
Here's the thing: after the incident, we leaked footage of Hades' crimes to the major mythologies—thanks to help from the Three Factions and Yasaka. The evidence was damning: Hades used the forbidden being Samael, tried to destroy Great Red, attempted to collapse the Underworld, and even tried to seal me in Cocytus. He abandoned his divine duty of soul management and had long made enemies across the board.
The verdict? Massive fines, heavy surveillance of the Underworld, and most notably: "Reform your heart and faithfully perform your duties."
At first, Hades was pissed. But since even he couldn't punish himself—being the god in charge of souls—he ended up accepting the sentence. Well, sort of. He smirked as Azazel-sensei (fake-sorrowfully) acted frustrated. We all knew Hades would eventually revert to his old ways, but the moment he accepted, a massive divine SWAT team swooped in and reformed his heart.
That brings me to a question I had when I saw Georg trying to create a new Ophis from split power: where did they get the techniques to divide and manipulate divine energy?
Naturally, I suspected Hades. He worked with the Hero Faction and commanded legions of grim reapers.
In the original timeline, he likely targeted the weakened Ophis to manipulate or merge her with another version—maybe even recreate her as he saw fit. It didn't have to be Ophis. After all, he targeted Great Red first.
And there's Lilith—the "other" Ophis—who, if I recall, had some of her thoughts and emotions preset by Vali's grandfather.
You can't control beings like Ophis or Great Red unless you mess with their minds first. That's what Hades wanted: a technique to birth new gods to his liking.
And if we can't erase Hades from existence, we just erase his heart. That's how we ended up with this newly born Good God Hades.
Technically, he was supposed to serve a sentence of several decades, but then came the confessions—Hades himself started revealing his hidden sins. Worried he might turn evil again, he requested his sentence be extended to semi-permanent. We'd planned for that too. Mission accomplished.
By the way, this "Reform and Serve" punishment? It's a one-time, never-to-be-repeated trump card.
Why? Because, let's face it—every faction has skeletons in their closet.
But as long as it's a one-off, everyone can smile and move on. Even Hades is smiling… for now.
When I explained all this to everyone, they were visibly horrified.
"Ikki… you're definitely not human. You're like… a demon or something worse."
"What are you saying, Issei? Demons, fiends—those are still part of humanity. I'm human, thank you very much. And don't call me a villain. Thanks to me, a powerful god of good was born. That makes me justice itself."
Like that archer guy said once: 'Justice is the expression of order.'
I just brought us one step closer to true order—so yes, I am justice!
...Okay, not really. I'm not that delusional.
While I was proudly linking arms with Good Hades, the others recoiled even further. That's when Azazel-sensei spoke up.
"Oh, right—Ikki. During the council, your name came up too. Separate from Hades' punishment."
"…Huh? What'd I do?"
"Your Balance Breaker. It's banned now."
"WHAT!?! Why!?"
"Why do you think? Samael was already banned by every faction for being pure curse. Just because it became a Sacred Gear doesn't mean you get to use it freely. Some wanted your gear sealed entirely, but we argued that would neuter your power too much. So the compromise was: no Samael-related powers. If you use it again, the Grigori will install a transmitter that alerts all factions. Be grateful—we only let you keep your gear because you saved the Underworld and soloed an Ultimate-Class Grim reaper."
You've gotta be kidding me! We're going to be fighting more Evil Dragons soon! Getting my Sacred Gear sealed now is the worst possible timing!
Damn you, Thanatos! You couldn't even be a useful Dragon!
And so, the Underworld's crisis came to an end—or at least, a temporary resolution.