High School DxD: The Lucifer's Devil Trigger — Chapter 83

Chapter 83: The Sword in the Pool

No one noticed the slight shift in his expression, but Ophis’s voice suddenly echoed within the quiet confines of his mind. ‘Levi, you’re quite happy?”A little.’

In front of the Ouroboros Dragon, Levi had no reason to hide his thoughts.

A brief pause stretched across their mental link before she spoke again. ‘Hmm… Do you like that angel’s figure? I can turn into that too…”Uh.’ Levi nearly missed a step.’No need. Ophis is the best just the way you are. I’m not happy because of Gabriel—it’s because here in Heaven, there should be something I want.”Do you want me to go and take it back?’ her voice chimed, entirely serious about infiltrating the angelic headquarters by force.’No need, I’ll do it myself. Thanks, Ophis.’

After soothing the Dragon God, Levi returned his focus to the physical world. Gabriel led their small delegation through the pristine, cloud-swept corridors of the First Heaven, eventually arriving at Michael’s main hall.

Considering that three high-ranking devils were gracing his sanctum today, Michael had specifically dimmed the ambient radiance of the architecture. The blinding gold and white hues were muted to a soft, twilight glow.

Even with the suppression, the holy aura saturated the air. Grayfia and Serafall felt the oppressive weight immediately. Their demonic energy hummed beneath their skin, naturally resisting the environment. They simply frowned, enduring the slight burning sensation with the sheer discipline of Ultimate-Class devils.

Only Levi felt absolutely nothing. He walked through the holy sanctum as if strolling through his own backyard.

This casual performance did not escape Michael. The Archangel’s golden eyes flickered, stealing another long glance at the young devil.

However, before Michael could voice his curiosity, Azazel stepped directly to the front of the group. The Governor General of the Fallen Angels crossed his arms and got straight to the point.

“I won’t beat around the bush, Michael,” Azazel said, his usual lazy drawl replaced by cold pragmatism. “Rizevim wants to release Trihexa. He already has a secure deployment and a clear plan. The success rate is dangerously high.”

The name hung in the air like a curse. Back when the Three Factions were locked in an endless bloodbath, the Biblical God had first led the angels to fight the Beast Emperor, Trihexa. Only after sealing that apocalyptic monster did God turn around to wage a bitter war against the devils led by the original Four Great Satans, eventually perishing alongside them.

If one were to measure the sheer hatred between the factions… it honestly didn’t run as deep as the ancient texts claimed. God was dead. The original Satans were dead. Angels and devils were, frankly speaking, old rivals locked in a geopolitical stalemate. There was no overwhelming personal grudge left.

What the angels truly despised, what they feared above all else, was Trihexa.

They were the faction that had sacrificed the most to seal the Beast Emperor. If they possessed the firepower to actually kill the monster, they would have marched into its prison and slaughtered it millennia ago.

Now, Rizevim Livan Lucifer intended to break that seal. He had the method. He had made the preparations. This was a catastrophic threat.

Michael’s expression hardened. “Azazel… since you came here for this, you didn’t just come to my place to inform me, did you?”

Azazel nodded. “That’s right. When we were investigating Trihexa and Rizevim earlier, the intelligence networks of the devils and Fallen Angels managed to cover most of the ground. But a crucial blind spot remains in your angelic territory. We need your intelligence grid. More, we need you to use the System to track the situation once the data is gathered.”

Azazel raised a hand, scratching the back of his head, his metallic artificial arm glinting in the dim light. “If we’re lucky, we corner Rizevim, kill him, and be done with it. But if we’re unlucky… you understand what that means, right, Michael?”

A heavy silence fell over the hall. Michael’s brows knit together.

If the worst-case scenario came to pass, and if the Third Dragon God refused to intervene, the Three Factions would be forced into a brutal war of attrition against Trihexa. They would have to throw wave after wave of their strongest fighters into a meat grinder, slowly chipping away at its endless vitality. It could take thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years, to finally grind the beast to death.

Acknowledging the grim reality, Michael nodded. “We angels agree to share intelligence on this matter. But you must also bring your findings to the table. This involves Trihexa; it is no longer a matter for one side. It is a crisis for all three races.”

Hearing Michael’s concession, Serafall’s lips curled into a bright smile. “That’s it~ It seems Levi didn’t choose wrong when he said he wanted to see you.”

Michael blinked. Levi? Reminded by the Leviathan, the Archangel finally shifted his full attention back to the young man standing quietly in the back.

Gabriel had already dispatched her subordinates to compile the requested intelligence files. Taking advantage of the brief intermission, Michael voiced the question that had been burning in his mind since the devils crossed his threshold.

“Levi Lucifer…” Michael began, his tone measured. “I have a question. I wonder if I might ask it?”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Levi.

Levi offered a relaxed, casual smile. “Let’s put it this way. I know you might not believe it, but although I am a pure-blooded devil, I am also a pure-blooded Holy Sword Wielder. Unlike those who reincarnated halfway through their lives, I possess a natural, inherent resistance to the light attribute.”

He deliberately omitted any mention of his true nature as the Morning Star, offering only the holy sword as an explanation. Yet, this half-truth alone was enough to widen Michael’s eyes in sheer astonishment.

Even Serafall and Grayfia turned to stare at him, their expressions masking deep confusion.

Levi had prepared this excuse long in advance. “After all, these mechanics are now managed by that broken, automated System. If it were the ancient past, the laws of this world probably wouldn’t have allowed an anomaly like me to exist. But without its creator, the System has glitches. An accident happened.”

He held up his hand, pinching his thumb and index finger together to indicate a tiny margin. “Because I am a unique Holy Sword Wielder, my resistance to light—the very element meant to eradicate devils—is naturally much stronger.”

Michael stared at the small gap between Levi’s fingers. He couldn’t shake the feeling that an entire universe of secrets was hidden within that tiny gesture. Even if the ambient holy power in the hall had been lowered, completely ignoring the glory of Heaven wasn’t just ‘a little stronger.’ It was absurdly powerful!

Suddenly, an ancient memory surfaced in Michael’s mind—the final words left behind by God. He had originally considered bringing out the holy sword Ascalon to verify Levi’s claim, but a far more intriguing idea took root.

“Such a phenomenon is truly rare,” Michael said, his voice gentle but laced with a testing edge. “Although I have my doubts, Levi, there is an abandoned Angel Birth Pool deep within Heaven. Embedded inside it is a holy sword that no one has ever been able to pull out. Since you are a Holy Sword Wielder… would you like to try?”

Levi’s smile widened instantly. “No problem!”

Michael felt a surge of satisfaction, believing he could finally verify the ancient prophecy. He smiled warmly. Levi, internally recognizing this as a free, high-tier System sign-in reward, smiled even brighter.

As for Azazel and Serafall, the two faction leaders were thoroughly numbed by the sheer absurdity of the situation.

First, a pure-blooded devil was a Holy Sword Wielder. That alone defied the laws of magic! Second, this devil could casually shrug off the ambient glory of Heaven. The implications of such an existence forced both the Governor General and the Satan to reevaluate everything they knew about Levi Lucifer.

Far away, in a sprawling, pitch-black dimensional space, Rizevim Livan Lucifer lounged on his ornate throne. The rogue devils who had followed him out of the Underworld knelt in the shadows, awaiting his command.

A scout stepped forward, bowing deeply. “Lord Rizevim, the Fallen Angels have mobilized. They are actively investigating the Beast Emperor’s seal, and they might uncover your deployment. Should we send a strike team to interfere?”

Rizevim let out a dry, contemptuous chuckle. “No need.”

The contingency he had planted regarding Trihexa was not something a few spies could easily dismantle. Even if they discovered his exact methodology, it wouldn’t matter. He had placed the crucial interface in the one location his enemies could never touch.

“Let them investigate. Let them run around like headless chickens,” Rizevim sneered, his mouth curling upward into a vicious smirk. “Even if they guess that I tampered with Heaven itself, it changes nothing. That place… no one can touch it.”

He had anchored the interface directly at the Angel Birth Pool. The ancient sword left behind by the Biblical God was embedded there. Even Rizevim himself, possessing overwhelming demonic power and the Sacred Gear Canceler, could not pull that blade from the stone. Therefore, it was the ultimate, impenetrable vault for his plans.

Back in the radiant halls of Heaven, Michael crossed his arms. His gaze grew solemn, and his tone filled with unquestionable firmness as he analyzed the enemy’s likely mindset.

“As long as no one can pull that holy sword out, even if the plan is exposed, it doesn’t matter,” Michael stated, his golden eyes reflecting the gravity of the situation. “To take a step back—even if someone could really pull it out, could they destroy the sword left by God?”

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over the room, and continued: “God specifically left this thing behind, so it must be of great significance to the angels. Think about it, that sword can even seal the Angel Birth Pool; it might be a contingency God left for himself.”

In the pitch-black void, Rizevim spread his arms wide, addressing his loyal cultists with absolute arrogance.

“So there’s no need to panic at all,” the silver-haired devil declared, his voice echoing through the dark. “The angels will fight to the death to protect that interface. Even if our plot is seen through, they will only be more desperate!”

Inside Michael’s hall, Azazel clicked his tongue, his face twisting into a mask of pure disdain.

“Tsk… The Four Great Seraphs actually mobilized in full force, and you still let Rizevim slip through the cracks and take advantage of the loophole,” Azazel mocked. “Your Heaven’s defense is really too pathetic.”

Serafall nodded vigorously from the side, her twintails bouncing as she clearly sided with the Fallen Angel on this matter.

Michael and Gabriel exchanged a look, offering only bitter, helpless smiles. Although there had been urgent, chaotic matters demanding their attention at the time, the fact remained that Rizevim had breached their most sacred sanctum. It was a humiliating loss of face that couldn’t be washed away with excuses. Worse, the intruder had triggered this current mess and dragged Trihexa into the equation.

Michael closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. “I am truly sorry.”

Seeing the proud Archangel humble himself, Azazel sighed, the fight draining out of him. “Compared to apologizing, the problem we’re facing now is far more tricky. I originally thought the artifact in Rizevim’s hand was his direct link to the Beast Emperor. But he looked at the sword sealing the Angel Birth Pool and moved the interface over there directly…”

Having once been an angel himself, Azazel still retained clear memories of the Angel Birth Pool., Levi had previously informed him about Rizevim’s Sacred Gear Canceler. Knowing the rogue devil could temporarily suppress the holy sword’s aura and resist God’s glory, Azazel wasn’t entirely surprised by the breach.

“That sword can suppress the Angel Birth Pool, and you angels just leave it there?” Azazel pressed. “That must have been left by Him, no doubt about it. In this scenario, not to mention the fact that none of us can pull it out… even if we miraculously did, would you angels actually let us destroy the sword to break the interface?”

In the past, Azazel would have agonized over whether they even possessed the firepower to destroy an artifact forged by the Biblical God. But after witnessing Levi’s terrifying mastery over Fantasy Destruction, he knew destroying it was entirely possible. These words were a calculated probe to test Michael’s boundaries.

The answer was immediate.

“No!”

If it were just a standard holy caliber, Michael wouldn’t be so rigid. But this was God’s personal legacy, an artifact intrinsically tied to the future succession of Heaven. Destroy it? Absolutely out of the question. The only one permitted to alter that blade would be the new God Himself.

Hearing Michael’s absolute refusal, the ‘I knew it’ expression on Azazel’s face was completely undisguised. Serafall’s bright eyes slowly narrowed into dangerous, calculating slits.

Grayfia remained silent. She simply turned her head to look at Levi.

The silver-haired maid noticed that the faint, confident smile on Levi’s lips hadn’t wavered for a single second. Seeing that quiet assurance, the heavy stone of anxiety in her chest finally dissolved.

Levi stepped forward, his voice cutting through the rising tension. “That sword doesn’t need to be destroyed. I can remove the interface Rizevim left on it without harming the blade. And Michael… didn’t you just say you wanted me to go and see if I could pull it out?”

As he spoke, he stood tall, his posture radiating absolute control. “Then leave this matter to me. I can swear in the name of Lucifer. Or, if you don’t feel at ease, drafting a formal magical contract is also fine. Let me try. How about it?”

Azazel and Serafall immediately locked their eyes on the young devil, their expressions a mix of shock and anticipation.

Michael fell silent, weighing the offer. After a long moment, he nodded. He had intended to test Levi with the sword anyway.

, this was the holy sword left by God. Although Azazel had casually spoken of destroying it, Michael knew the sheer indestructible nature of the artifact. God had been dead for centuries. It wasn’t as if the angels hadn’t tried to reclaim the Angel Birth Pool; they had made countless attempts, both openly and in secret, to move the blade. Every single attempt had ended in failure. Letting this anomalous devil try would cost them nothing.