High School DxD: The Lucifer's Devil Trigger — Chapter 59

Chapter 59: The Fantasy Eaters

Reimu Hakurei stepped forward, her gaze shifting from Yakumo Yukari to Levi.

“I despise dealing with troublesome matters,” the shrine maiden sighed, crossing her arms. “But since you’re actually willing to help, I suppose I should thank you first. It’s just that the current state of Gensokyo… you can’t really blame Yukari for failing to explain it clearly. To be perfectly honest, none of us know what exactly went wrong.”

With a dismissive wave of her right hand, spiritual energy flared from her body. Prismatic light coalesced in the air between them, weaving together to form a vibrant, miniature illusion of Gensokyo as it used to be—lush, thrumming with life, and bathed in color.

“This was the original Gensokyo,” Reimu said, gesturing to the projection. “But as you can see, its vitality has been bleeding out. According to the youkai, the land itself is just slowly dying for some unknown reason. It’s as simple—and as stupid—as that.”

Yukari glided to Reimu’s side, her violet eyes locking onto Levi. “Lord Levi… I recall that during our previous meeting, you offered to help us deal with the ‘Dragon God’s matter.’ Does that imply you already know why Gensokyo has been reduced to this state?”

Reimu’s eyes brightened with a flicker of hope. Like every other resident of this declining realm, the most agonizing part of their despair was the sheer ignorance; they couldn’t even find the root of the rot.

Levi blinked, meeting their expectant gazes with mild amusement.

“Compared to your curiosity about the cause,” Levi said, his tone dry, “what I find far stranger is the fact that you actually don’t know.”

The blunt statement left both Yukari and Reimu stunned. Even Levi’s own peerage exchanged confused glances.

Rather than explain, Levi raised his hand and gripped the hilt of Yamato.

“Reimu Hakurei, was it? We’re alike in one regard: I’m far too lazy to waste breath on troublesome explanations. If you truly can’t see it, showing you is the most efficient method.”

Without waiting for permission, he turned and led the two women out of the Hakurei Shrine, stepping onto a barren, gray patch of earth near the courtyard.

“Pay attention. This filth is everywhere.”

Reimu and Yukari shared a bewildered look, completely lost as to what he was aiming at.

Levi’s thumb flicked the tsuba. A sliver of Yamato’s blade caught the dim light. Relying entirely on the Voice of All Things to pinpoint the anomaly, he drew the katana in a blindingly fast arc.

Schwing.

A razor-thin tear ripped through the empty air, shattering an invisible layer of concealment.

Instantly, a shapeless, iridescent mass roughly the size of a giant hound materialized on the dead soil. It looked like a prismatic slime, undulating with a sickening, sluggish rhythm. The creature didn’t even react to being exposed. It merely dragged its gelatinous body forward, slithering over a patch of withered grass. A fissure opened on its front—a crude mouth—and it swallowed the dead stalks whole.

Inside its translucent body, the grass instantly dissolved into fine black powder and vanished into nothingness.

Yukari and Reimu stared, their eyes widening in unison.

Levi let out a quiet sigh, resting Yamato over his shoulder. “These things are crawling over every inch of Gensokyo. It’s no wonder the land is dying. It would be a miracle if it wasn’t.”

“What on earth is that?” Reimu muttered, staring at the iridescent slime. No matter how she racked her brain, she couldn’t place its origin.

She immediately understood the horror of it. If these things had been here all along, it meant attacks were useless against them. They bypassed boundaries and barriers as if they didn’t exist. Yet, despite their rampant consumption, they never crossed the Great Hakurei Barrier to plague the Outside World; they stubbornly remained here, devouring Gensokyo piece by piece.

They didn’t speak. They couldn’t be reasoned with. And until Levi’s blade severed their camouflage, they couldn’t even be perceived.

Still, seeing the executioner of their home lifted a fraction of the heavy gloom from Reimu and Yukari’s shoulders. Having a visible enemy, even an untouchable one, was infinitely better than fighting a ghost.

Levi ignored the slime and turned his attention to the gothic lolita standing quietly by his side.

“Ophis. Check if this thing has any connection to Great Red.”

The Infinite Dragon God gave a slight nod. She raised a pale finger and casually poked a hole in the fabric of space itself, leaning forward to peer through the dimensional rift at the creature.

“It carries the aura of fantasy,” Ophis stated, her voice entirely devoid of inflection. She withdrew her finger, the spatial tear knitting shut behind her. “This substance… fantasy. It belongs uniquely to him.”

Levi’s jaw tightened. The pieces clicked together. The “Dragon God Incident” mentioned in Yukari’s sign-in mission… his worst-case scenario had just materialized.

The legendary Dragon God worshipped in Gensokyo was none other than the True Dragon, Great Red.

If that was the case…

“Ophis,” Levi said, his voice dropping an octave. “If the opportunity arises, we’ll have to try fighting Great Red first. However, when I enter my absolute strongest state, my demonic blood takes over. I’ll lose my reason, which means I won’t be able to coordinate with you. If it comes to that, I’ll charge in alone. If I lose, I’m counting on you to fish me out of the dimensional gap. If I win… well, I’ll probably still need you to save me from myself.”

He expected a simple nod. Instead, Ophis’s voice echoed directly in his mind, soft but carrying the absolute weight of infinity.

I will protect you.

Levi blinked, the tension bleeding out of his shoulders. A genuine grin tugged at his lips.

“Alright. That’s reassuring to hear.”

He turned back to the two Gensokyo natives. “So, that thing is related to the Dragon God?” Yukari asked, having caught the tail end of his explanation regarding the iridescent monster.

“Yes,” Levi confirmed. “That creature is composed of the very nature of fantasy. The concept of ‘fantasy’ itself… the other residents of Gensokyo might be ignorant, but you should know exactly who holds authority over that.”

Yukari’s breath hitched. Her lips parted, trembling slightly as she forced out the name.

“Great Red.”

Reimu tilted her head, thoroughly bewildered. She understood the concept of a ‘Dragon God,’but the specific title’Great Red’ meant absolutely nothing to her.

For Levi’s peerage, however, that name was a detonator.

“Great Red?!” Kuroka shrieked, her twin tails bristling as she jumped back.

Grayfia’s perpetual stoicism cracked, a deep frown carving into her elegant features. Ingvild, Shirone, and Sakura all stiffened, fully aware of the apocalyptic weight behind that title.

Tiamat, the Chaos Karma Dragon, visibly shrank into herself, looking as though she desperately wished the earth would swallow her whole. The mere mention of the True Dragon was enough to trigger the primal fear in her draconic core.

Only Artoria remained composed. The King of Knights raised a single, steady eyebrow.

“So, Levi,” Artoria said, her tone measured. “Is our enemy this time truly Great Red?”

“Most likely,” Levi replied, sealing the verdict.

The fragile sliver of hope that had just bloomed in Yukari’s chest was instantly snuffed out, replaced by suffocating dread. Reimu and the others had been ready to give up long ago, but Yukari had stubbornly held the line.

Now, hearing that name, the gap in power felt impossible.

Reimu noticed the deep shift in the older youkai’s demeanor. “Great Red…” Reimu muttered, testing the syllables. “It’s a bit of a tongue twister. But basically, it just means this Dragon God is incredibly strong, right?”

“Not just strong,” Yukari whispered, her voice hollow. “He is invincible.”

She slowly turned to Reimu. “Even Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God renowned as the strongest being in existence, is reportedly not his match. Great Red is one of the two great True Dragons. He is a monster that breaks the very rules of reality… a monster among monsters.”

Reimu fell dead silent. She had been raised by Yakumo Yukari. She knew the terrifying depths of the Boundary Youkai’s intellect and power. For Yukari to wear an expression of absolute, unadulterated defeat… Reimu didn’t need to guess how absurdly powerful this enemy was.

While the Gensokyo natives spiraled, Levi’s peerage recovered from the shockwave and shifted into tactical mode.

Grayfia, ever the pragmatic Queen, cut straight to the core. “A battle against Great Red… are we currently capable of such a feat?”

“If it’s a fight to the death, we will absolutely lose,” Levi answered without hesitation. “But if we’re merely challenging him to achieve an objective, the risk is manageable.”

Artoria stepped forward, her emerald eyes reflecting old battlefields. “I have fought dragons before. Though they were nowhere near this magnitude of power, the dragonkind are universally troublesome. And…”

Her mind drifted back to Camlann, to the desperate, world-shaking clash against the White Dragon, Vortigern. She knew the bitter truth of fighting a disaster of that scale.

“In a battle of this caliber, the assistance we can provide is negligible,” Artoria stated grimly. “Levi, this will fundamentally be a battle between you and Ophis against him.”

It was exactly like her war against Vortigern. Even the legendary Knights of the Round Table had been reduced to mere spectators against the White Dragon. If she had possessed Rhongomyniad, the Holy Spear, back then…

She shook her head, dismissing the thought. Even with the Holy Spear, it wouldn’t be enough to pierce the scales of Great Red. This was a world of power she could not step into.

“Mm, it’s fine,” Levi said easily. “Ophis will protect me.”

“Even so, you must be careful, nya,” Kuroka warned, her golden eyes tight with worry.

Before Levi could reassure his Bishop, Yukari interjected, her voice trembling.

“Are you… are you actually discussing how to fight Great Red?”

The entire peerage turned to look at her. Levi gave a casual, open nod.

Yukari’s eyes widened to the point of tearing. “You just admitted you know what kind of existence he is! Even with Ophis on your side, it’s—”

She choked on the words. She wanted to scream that it was suicide. But given her position, begging for their help, she swallowed the harsh truth and tried a different angle.

“…Why don’t we look for another solution?” Yukari pleaded softly. “For example, finding a new dimension for Gensokyo’s residents to settle in. I am already deeply grateful for your willingness to help. You don’t need to…”

“We don’t need to throw our lives away, right?” Levi finished for her, a genuine smile touching his lips.

Looking at Yukari’s pale, desperate face, Levi finally felt like he was witnessing a normal human reaction. Facing Great Red, sheer terror was the only logical response.

Whether it was Vali Lucifer, Cao Cao from the Hero Faction, or his own peerage—everyone in his circle was fundamentally disconnected from common sense. The world was full of madmen who would gladly draw their blades against an invincible god just for the thrill of the challenge.

“Yukari,” Levi said, his tone shifting from amused to absolute command. “I told you from the very beginning. You don’t get to choose how this plays out. I decide how I help you.”

He let Yamato rest comfortably against his shoulder. “I hate trouble more than anything. Great Red… perhaps to you, he is an absurd, impossible god. But to us?”

Levi’s retainers exchanged glances. They all knew the depths of Ophis’s power, and more, they knew Levi.

A collective, quiet laughter rippled through the peerage. Even Tiamat, who was currently wrestling with her primal draconic trauma and an intense desire to stay alive, could only offer a helpless, bitter smile.

Levi turned his gaze back to Yukari and the utterly bewildered Reimu.

“—He is simply one of the targets we are going to take down.”

Before the weight of that declaration could fully crush Yukari’s common sense, Levi pivoted.

“However, while Great Red is likely the core of the problem, there is a more pressing issue,” Levi said, gesturing to the desolate earth. “We need to exterminate these things scattered across Gensokyo. Let’s call them ‘Slimes’ for now. Every last one of them must be purged.”

He looked between the shrine maiden and the youkai sage. “After all, these things haven’t started targeting you yet. That proves Gensokyo hasn’t completely devolved into a dead land. But if we let them gorge themselves on the environment at this rate, it won’t be long before they evolve from eating plants to eating people.”

Yukari blinked, her focus snapping back to the immediate reality. The sheer absurdity of fighting Great Red faded slightly, replaced by a problem she could actually comprehend and participate in.

But before she could formulate a plan…

Levi’s thumb pushed Yamato’s guard up a fraction of an inch. A lethal, cold light flashed across the exposed steel.

A few yards away on the open ground, the air warped, and another iridescent Slime was violently forced into visibility.