The graveyard of immortals, the Void Realm.

“Check.”

Said Edwin Magnus.

He was sitting in front of a chessboard. His opponent was his comrade Ajax Diabolus.

“Argh!”

Ajax scratched his head in irritation as he looked at the board.

“Just give up. I’m the smartest of the 6 of us, none of you can beat me in a match of wits.”

Edwin said arrogantly.

His taunting made Ajax feel the urge to smash his head in.

“Just move the knight and take his bishop.”

Said Rias, who was reading a book while sitting on a broken wall.

“Oh!”

Ajax suddenly saw a path to victory after hearing what Rias said. He moved his knight and showed a snugged face.

“Checkmate!”

“Ahhhh!”

Edwin screamed and kicked away the board in a fit of rage.

“Queen, that’s so not fair! We’ve been playing that game for months now! You can’t just interfere when I was going to win!”

He shouted at Rias.

“I was getting tired of you two playing so I decided to end it quickly.”

Rias answered with an indifferent tone.

“But I was about to win! The game would’ve ended anyway!”

Edwin argued back.

“True. But I didn’t like the idea of you winning.”

Rias plainly admitted.

Edwin was speechless. He looked at Ajax and saw him grinning at him.

“Ah!”

He held his head and screamed.

“Be quiet. You’re noisy.”

Rias said before turning a page in the book she was reading.

“Ajax, I challenge you to another game!”

Edwin pointed at Ajax and said.

“Bring it!”

Ajax gladly accepted.

“You guys really are bored huh?”

Rias asked.

“Of course. There’s nothing to do.”

Said Ajax.

“I can’t understand how you stayed alone by yourself for so many years.”

Edwin added.

“I’m used to it. Besides, I’m more relax when I’m alone. Also, I won’t have to deal with loudmouths like you two.”

Rias replied.

“Besides, if I’m bored I can just peek at what is going on in the mortal realm.”

She put down the book.

“Things have become quite interesting while you two were playing that game.”

She said.

“Oh? How so?”

Ajax asked.

“Several Higher Beings were slain, and even Typhon was defeated.”

“?!”

The two were shocked to hear that.

“How is that possible? Just what happened?”

“The boy went all out. That’s what happened.”

“Queen, could you tell us in details?”

Edwin asked.

“Well, it’s like this. The boy had decided to occupy half of the Silver Continent and turn it into his clan’s property. If he did that, he would practically own the Continent. However, he failed to notice that someone had already done what he wanted to do.”

Rias explained.

“I’ll make it short. He had one big battle after another, with the stakes keep raising. Eventually, it reached the stage when one of his enemies opened the gates of Jigoku, Tartarus, and Yomi; thus unleashing countless powerful beings from our era onto the continent.”

She looked at Edwin.

“That enemy had used Nargal’s Inheritance to do it.”

“What?”

Edwin was surprised to hear that.

“If I remember correctly, you stole Nargal’s powers after you refined his corpse into an elixir. By drinking an elixir made from the first death god, you became an agent of death yourself. Isn’t that the case?”

“It’s as you said.”

Edwin said with a nod.

“Then, how was someone able to obtain Nargal’s Inheritance? That’s what really puzzled me.”

Rias looked at him with a sharp gaze.

“That’s what I want to know.”

Edwin said with a rare serious expression.

After a while of thinking, it seemed like he and to a realization.

“Nargal still had descendants? Could it be that some survived the purge and went into hiding and secretly continued his bloodline?”

“That’s impossible. Nargal and his clan was wiped out during the Death God Wars.”

Said Ajax.

“There’s no such thing as impossible.”

Rias retorted.

“Someone was able to use his powers because they inherited his genes. That is an undeniable fact.”

She said.

“Interesting. Really interesting.”

Edwin suddenly had an evil expression.

“If such a person really exists, then they’ll be targeted by all the Death Gods and demons by extension. Unless, they hid their identity.”

He said.

“I see. So when the gates of hells were open, the higher beings who had been trapped inside since the previous era came out and fought Augustus.”

Ajax said after pondering Rias’ words.

She nodded.

“The boy took his grandchildren and went into battle with your disciple.”

“Joey?”

Rias nodded.

“He’s grown quite a bit. However, he reached the point where he no longer had any competition, hence wasn’t able to push himself to reach your levels.”

She said.

“To think that a battle of that magnitude took place…..Why didn’t you tell us?!”

Ajax shouted.

“Well, you two were enjoying yourself with your game, it didn’t feel right to interrupt you.”

Rias said with a teasing tone.

Ajax and Edwin looked dumbfounded by what she said.

“Fighting in such a war would be numerously more exciting than a game of chess!”

Edwin lifted the chessboard and broke it over his knees.

“Dammit! I can’t believe I missed such a battle!”

He fell on his knees and started crying.

“Rias, did any of the others get involved?”

Ajax ignored the crying Edwin and asked.

“You’re asking about your comrades?”

He nodded.

“Well, one did came close to intervening, but didn’t in the end.”

Ajax was shocked to hear that.

“Who?”

“Karma.”

Rias answered.

“They came close to getting involved when a famous warrior from the Sanskrit Federation had died, but seemingly changed their mind at last moment. The boy was gone during that time, so if they had intervened, the Dragna Clan would have been destroyed then and there.”

She calmly said.

“Why did Karma wanted to destroy the clan? From your description, it was obvious that they were greatly angered to even consider it.”

“The warrior that died was apparently their student that they raised from a child.”

“Really? I never expected that.”

Said Ajax.

“That warrior activated the Avatar System of the Hindu Pantheon before death, so he’ll reincarnate in the future. This is the reason why Karma didn’t attack the Dragna Clan.”

Said Rias.

“So is Karma still in the Sanskrit Federation?”

Edwin asked after stop crying.

“I don’t know. They hid their presence once their student died. I don’t know where they are.”

Rias replied.

“Hmm…..Well, when the time comes we’ll find them.”

Said Ajax.

“But I’m impressed though.”

He leaned on a broken wall.

“To think that Augustus was able to defeat Typhon in his situation.”

He smiled.

“It must’ve been a hellish battle.”

“It was. The Silver Continent was destroyed once.”

Rias replied.

“Just one Continent? Normally, three continents would sink whenever they battled in the mortal world.”

Edwin said.

“They moved to contained the damage quite early. That’s why.”

“I see.”

Ajax nodded.

“So what was the aftereffects of such a battle? I don’t believe that it didn’t impact the world in anyway.”

Edwin asked.

“A lot of famous warriors from your era had returned.”

Said Rias.

“Oh? Like?”

“Solar King, Taiyo.”

When Rias said that, Edwin and Ajax immediately put on serious faces.

“That bastard came back? Do you know how much effort it took to kill him?”

Ajax said with an angry expression. He remembered the deadly battle between their side and the Imperial Force of the Wakoku Nation. There were millions of corpses scattered across the land. Blood permanently changed the color of the ground, and ran like rivers.

Even the sun was blocked out by bloodstained clouds. It was a battle that shook the core of the war.

“Back then you guys decided to destroy the Wakoku Nation because there were rumors of them planning an attack on you. The result was the Great Battle of The Red Sun. Both sides came close to eradicating each other numerous times, but was unable because of one man and the force that he led. Taiyo, the son of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Now he and those you killed has returned.”

Rias looked amused.

“What are you going to do? You guys don’t have the same resources you had back then. If he leads a campaign to conquer the world, can you stop him?”

She asked.

“Is there a need to fear a ghost?”

Edwin said with disdain.

“No ghost can stand before me. If he acts up then I’ll just extinguish his soul.”

He said.

“What if he finds a way to returned to life?”

Rias asked.

“Do you have the same confidence to face him?”

“……….”

Edwin didn’t answer.

Confidence to face him? That monster?

Edwin smiled.

“Of course. It isn’t like he’s all that more powerful than us. What made him terrifying is his abnormal charisma, that can make anyone join him and fight for him.”

He said.

“Rias, other than the ones from Wakoku who else came back?”

Ajax asked.

“A good amount of your old enemies. They’re searching for a way back life, so I don’t know any one of them will make a move right now.”

Rias answered.

“Actually, I was curious as to why the two of you weren’t trying to get stronger?”

“We’re plenty strong already.”

Edwin answered.

“Stronger than Devoro?”

Edwin had an ugly expression when he heard that question. How could he be stronger than the world’s strongest monster?

“Then what about me, Samael, Azazel, or Lilith?”

Edwin shook his head.

“Then you can become stronger.”

Rias spoke with commanding tone.

“Don’t forget, you all lost the final battle. It was a complete defeat.”

Rias said.

“It was only because of your defeat, that this stupid Proxy System was implemented. If you guys had won, no one would’ve dared to even suggest this system. Do you understand? This era was only possible because you all who blocked the path to the throne fell.”

She said.

“I heard about what happened from Edwin, but I think we only lost because I was out of commissioned and Augustus was sick.”

Ajax argued.

“Both were caused by your weakness.”

Rias coldly retorted.

“The boy wouldn’t have died from a curse if he had mastered everything I taught him. We wouldn’t have to go through with that risky ritual to save him.”

She then gave Ajax a harsh look.

“And you? You got overconfident and picked a fight with Lucifer. What was the result? You almost dying and hibernating for countless years. Did you really think that Lucifer was that easy to take down?”

Ajax couldn’t retort what she said. He only touch the scar across his chest.

“Speaking of Lucifer, I should tell you to watch out for his Proxy. If it wasn’t for the Class System restraining his strength and growth, he would’ve already became someone who could threaten the current you.”

“What?”

Ajax was skeptic towards what Rias said.

“You don’t believe me? Then how about if I told you that he studied under the Kashima Brothers for over 8000 years and inherited the history’s greatest sword techniques?”

“………”

Ajax’s expression went cold when he heard that. He of course knew the Kashima Brothers. Who wouldn’t know the three who were hailed as history’s greatest sword masters?

“My father’s Proxy, what’s his name?”

“Dante Diabolus. He’s known as Nine Hells Dante. He’s your relative.”

Rias answered. She smiled when she saw the look in Ajax’s eyes. He had a look of determination.

“You know, the main reason why I hated my father was because of how he treated Ishma. Before that I only wanted to defeat him and make him acknowledge me. But the day I found my sister raised like an animal in a cage by her deranged mother, I swore on my soul that my father and I can never share the same sky.”

He had a tranquil look on his face.

“I won’t touch his Proxy, I’ll leave that to someone else. However, you’re right. If his Proxy is alone is to make me feel threatened then I’m far from reaching him.”

He pulled a black sinister sword out of nowhere.

“I’ll once again dedicate my life to slaying Lucifer.”

A grin appeared on his face.

“After that, I’ll become the new Lucifer.”

Rias smiled when she heard that.

“That’s more like it.”

She looked up in the grey void as if it was a sky.

“Grow stronger so that you can help the boy reach his goal.”

She smiled.