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Tadano/Miyazono Team
Daiya stares at Masaru, briefly contemplating his words.
"...shut up, Demura. I ain't taking orders from you! You probably don't even know what this is, do you? When I use it, you'll just see exactly what I'm capable of!"
"W-wait, Kaneko!"
While Daiya is talking to Masaru, Riku reaches for the Akuma Seed in his hand, struggling with it for a brief few seconds.

Long enough for two things to happen.

One, Saya and Rise appear, at opposite ends of the corridor. Saya, checking her phone, quickly types a message to Akihiko. Rise takes one look at Riku and storms over to him, pushing her way through the crowd.

Two, Daiya stabs the Akuma Seed into his own neck.

The seed vanishes into Daiya's neck as he flinches, dropping the letter. Riku unhands him, standing back.
"K...Kaneko?"

Daiya flinches, trembling. The crowd around the pair remains dead silent as Rise pushes her way through.
"Kaneko! What is the meaning of-"
Suddenly, without warning, he grabs both Rise and Riku. The air behind Daiya seems to ripple, forming an unseen hole into somewhere, before he, keeping his hands on the pair, falls through. The crowd dissipates, screaming, as the space where the three once were is suddenly replaced with a Domain Gate; rather than the traditional style of the previous gate, it resembles a metallic factory door, shadowy cracks skittering through the air and around the door.

Only Mildred, Masaru, Misa and Saya are left to see this.
"...I'll get the others."

---

Sakurajima Team
Tsukasa snaps his head up, suddenly, as Yui, Akihiko and Mori feel it.

An Akuma has awakened nearby.

Akihiko holds his phone up.
Kaneko just turned into an Akuma and took Tadano and Koga.

As soon as the discussion finishes, Marta bursts onto the deck, panting, holding a tablet in her hands.
"Guys, I just got an emergency call from the Adventurer's Guild in Penultia. We're being given an emergency mission; every adventurer in the country is being called in. They're saying that the Demon Lord was spotted landing on the coast not ten minutes away from us!"

Sakurajima Team
Akihiko checks his phone quickly.
I'll call Saya.

---

Tadano/Miyazono Team
Daiya grins.
"Well, well, if it isn't everyone's favorite delinquent, Honda. Come on, it's an understanding between me and Tadano here."
"Thank god, Honda! Please, you have to let me get it back!"

As Masaru sweeps in, Daiya just calmly steps out of the way, retracting his hand and pocketing the letter. As he does, however, Masaru is able to get a good look; it's one of Koga's missing letters.
"What, Tadano's big brother coming in too? Come on, guys."

Serena looks towards Yliss.
"Well, I might still need a few....champions here. After all, I'm gonna need somebody to watch over this place while I sort stuff up there, you know? Well, assuming Rhea will let me, anyway."

"...other guests? So you know Lady Kuroda?"
As the group steps inside, they find an opulent mansion, well decorated and well furnished, but the sort that feels like it was decorated by someone a few generations older than yourselves. The vases look fine but aged, the lanterns give off a soft yellow light, tinged with red. A sickly sweet scent of lavender lingers in the air.

Sakurajima Team
The afternoon proceeds as planned.

After a while, Kanna stretches her arms.
"The pain in the back of my neck, at least, is gone. So that's good."
Akihiko immediately glances at Yui and Mori.

---

Tadano/Miyazono Team
As the discussion around Sugiura continues, Mildred clocks something.

Specifically, students gathering around. The kind of circle that usually indicates a fight.

"To think we'd be fighting the Demon Lord to save him from himself..."
"Never even saw that coming."

"Hm. So our sister....she's finally found her."
Freya laughed, the faint beacon glowing in the clouds beyond their empyrean domain marking where Serena had broken the hex.
"I figured it would be only a matter of time."
She strode over to Pyra and Megara, their warlike sister scowling.
"Well. In the morning, we make for Ultima. If our brat of a sister awakens Demogorgia, I won't get my throne the moment that filth opens her mouth."
"Ooh. Can we burn a few demons?"
"If we need to. We shouldn't make too much trouble, though. We need to be in and out of there. Megara, won't you be a dear and help us?"
Megara simply scowled, her mouth unable to vocalise with a circle of green runes briefly silencing her. Freya smiled.
"That's what I thought. Be a good war goddess. Of course, those little people of Serena's might prove to be a little problematic, but..."

Freya's eyes drifted towards the home of her faithful, where raucous chants in Freya's name could be heard, a great (but not too great) hall set up for them to live in. Mortals had their uses in Freya's vision of the world, after all. A kind goddess always offered their worshippers some boons.

"Perhaps it's time I take a leaf from Serena's book. What she can do, I can do better."

---

"My lord! The barrier is weakened! Only Lord Mammon and Lady Leviathan's parts still stand and we haven't seen them in so long!"

Mephistopheles had had many sleepless nights as of late.

His generals had defected en masse, not that he was sure he'd ever had them in the first place. Lucifer was always more interested in seducing the enemy than fighting them, Satan had been more concerned with protecting the man he viewed like an younger brother, Belphegor and Asmodeus were more concerned with the bottom line than the party line, and Hellrealm knew what Beelzebub was doing. His forces were being routed around Generia by the godling Serena and her mercenaries. His scouts told him that she and her allies were on their way to Penultia, the front line. The front line where hardly anything had been left, with most of the demons having retreated. He'd made so much ground only to lose it all....

Demogorgia had to be proud of him, didn't she? Proud of what he'd achieved in this war.

"My lord, what are your orders?"

Mephistopheles massaged his temple, leaning back in his throne. Ultima Fortress had been emptier as of late. Mammon and Leviathan were missing, as were most of their contingent. Only a few troops, those in Mephistopheles' personal guard, remained at the palace. This war, for better or for worse, was to be decided soon.

"Rally the toops. We will march out at dawn. Leave me."

The assorted demons gathered at Mephistopheles' side vacated the room. When he was sure they were out of earshot, he stared at the casket containing Demogorgia's corpse. A spell was upon it, to preserve her body perfectly; if he ever figured out how to bring his master back, he would bring her back when he had won the war and made the goddesses pay for what they'd done.

And also because he couldn't bear the thought of letting her rot away in the ground. His master had loved the sky so dearly. Letting her rest beneath the blue skies she loved was the best he could do.

He shook away the nagging thought. He didn't want to know what she'd really say if she saw him right now; she had never wanted war, never once, and yet here he was, waging war in her name. What kind of servant did that make him?
"Milady, I swear to you, if you see what comes when we win....you'll understand why. You have to. I have to finish this."