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Chapter 416: Life and Destruction

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Ajuka Beelzebub was also present in this area, but the reason he was not in the room with Sirzechs and Serafall was that he was called to the Administrative Office of the Rating Game holders. It was located under the arena ground, in the form of a large office.

Currently, Ajuka was inside the monitoring office, standing beside a tall, arctic-haired woman who wore a tight black leather suit and had two massive round horns, who also had a tail behind her.

[Image Here]

Tiamat, the Dragon King, the strongest of the Five Great Dragon Kings. She worked as the secret administrator for all the Rating Games, only ever appearing when something very unexpected or malicious happened. She did this job because she was indebted to the Satan Ajuka Beelzebub, who was the creator of the Rating Game system to begin with.

Today, Tiamat called Ajuka not because of any problem with the Game, but due to something much more concerning. It was an aura, a presence, shining prominently far outside this dimension.

“This is problematic,” the woman, Tiamat the Dragon King, said. “The presence is too strong. If he decides to head our way for any reason, the dimension will collapse.”

“Yes, indeed,” Even Ajuka felt worried; for a man who rarely felt anything in centuries, that said something.

Both Ajuka and Tiamat's eyes were locked on the large monitor that showed the outside scene of this bubble-shaped dimension. It showed a portion of the Dimensional Gap.

The Underworld was a dimension directly connected to Earth, but the area where the Rating Games happened was another pocket dimension connected to the Underworld. It was still part of the Underworld, but it was far from Earth and was instead located in a small portion of the Dimensional Gap. A lot of magic spells had to be constructed and used for the Rating Game to work, for the players to stay safe and unharmed even though they die in the game. That couldn't work in a large dimension, which was why they had to make a small dimension, and the natural aura of the Dimensional Gap just so happened to be suitable for this kind of spell construct.

"The reason you devils thought it was safe was because Great Red didn't care if a very small space of his resting ground was used," Tiamat said. "So you guys built this dimension here, uncaring of the dangerous aura of Great Red that surrounded this place. But… this new presence, it dwarfs the Great Red like nothing. It's much greater than him, so much so that he hasn't even dared approach it once."

Tiamat had no idea about the two stronger beings that occupied this place just earlier, she wasn't here in the office when the two Abstracts were in this universe. If she was, her world would have been shaken.

"Isn't it kind of odd, though?" She asked, looking at the aura that came from Oz.

Ajuka's [Calculation Demonic Power] said indeed, it was odd. It agreed with Tiamat.

"It is." Ajuka nodded, "The presence of the Great Red feels… threatening by nature. Even if he is sleeping, it feels threatening. But this one feels… benevolent? Lively. Hmm, neither of those terms feels correct. It's as if it's the embodiment of life itself. I don't think we two would have been so calm if this presence felt threatening instead, our senses would have screamed at us."

The aura was benevolent, filled with life. It felt as if it carried a healing touch, yet at the same time, it didn't feel like a pure good force. It wasn't just life, it had a tint of pure chaos aspect to it. What a very odd mixture.

It made sense to his [Calculation] though. It was like the concept of tumor; when cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes this orderly process breaks down, and abnormal or damaged cells grow and multiply when they shouldn't. If there was too much life, there was chaos. But there needed to be something, a sort of ‘push’ to make that chaos happen. Could it be that the creator, or parents, of this being had one life aspect and another chaos? That could make sense.

The incomprehensible aura had a feel to it that said it could crush everything under its pressure; as much as it felt like it could resurrect a dead planet, it could also devour the same planets to flourish itself. The force of life was good, but it could be just as bad if it wished – like water, for example.

The most worrying part was, that was just the aura. The presence. Who knew what the wielder, the person who held all that aura, could do with his fists?

There was no doubt in Ajuka's mind. That being was not from around here. That was an alien being, someone from the upper layers of reality. A man who would destroy universes with a wave of his hand. Luckily, he wasn't doing that, he seemed calm.

Tiamat noticed Ajuka's silence and asked, "...So we should continue with the Game?"

"Yes, let's do that. It doesn't seem like a problem we can deal with anyway. I'll still let Sirzechs know, just in case. You just keep doing your job." Ajuka said calmly and then took his leave.

Tiamat shrugged and returned to her work. All the monitors in the room shifted to focus on inside this dimension rather than outside, and she blinked when her eyes took note of someone… intriguing.

“Abzu?”

* * *

There were two castles inside the massive arena, the Castle Rias and Castle Riser. Inside Castle Riser, Riser was busy bedding his Queen, despite complaints from his sister who was telling him to take this seriously. Inside the Castle Rias, however, the situation was much more serious.

“Just because we have Hinata by our side now doesn’t mean we are going to win so easily; remember, she isn’t as strong as we saw her against Akeno. She is weakened, now her powers are somewhat sealed after becoming my Pawn.”

Rias was explaining the situation to the others one last time. They had discussed it a lot of times already, but she couldn’t help but remind them one last time.

“I am the heaviest hitter we have, but it is her negating palm strikes that we hope would work against Riser’s regeneration.” Rias said, “So she's going to be our MVP. You guys' goal is to clean up the others, while Hinata and I stay here in the castle. We are going to play defensive-”

“Err,” To everyone’s surprise, Hinata interrupted Rias. She looked a little awkward as she said. “I have been meaning to say it but… I think the plan is a bit of a waste. From what I heard from Neji-nii, I have more battle experience than you guys. I know it’s… hard to change plans now when the Game is just about to begin, but would you guys hear me out?”

Rias exchanged glances with her team. The team worked according to Rias’ plans since always, so it was kind of sudden to hear the newest member protest it. Still, Rias didn’t want to sound rude, so she decided to hear Hinata out.

Hinata smiled and explained, “The Power of Destruction is very impressive, isn’t it literally unmatchable? The only ones who are immune to it from the enemy team are the Enemy King and his sister, right? So I say we stick together and hunt everyone together instead of going our separate ways. We can leave Akeno-san here along with Kiba-san, to protect the Castle. While Rias-san can destroy anyone we encounter, I can fight Riser Phoenix if he encounters us.”

If either the King or the Castle falls, it’s a loss. So it’s safe for the King to stay inside the Castle, that way they can easily protect both. To suggest that the King should go out was dangerous; for rookies like them, it’s a challenging move.

From the expressions of the others, they didn’t like the idea… However, Rias was grinning. “Actually, you’re right. It’s true, the Power of Destruction is unbeatable, with it we can one-shot any enemy that’s not a Phoenix. It’s a good idea, Hinata, I think we should follow this plan of yours. You should have spoken your mind from the beginning!”

Hinata looked relieved as she nodded, smiling at Rias. Rias turned her head to look outside the window. Her eyes searched for someone in particular, with white hair and blue eyes, and it didn’t take long for her to notice him in the audience seats.

He just reached the area and took a seat when she was looking, sitting beside some purple-haired girl. Rias smiled and returned her focus to her team; on her soon-to-be victory.

Soon, the Rating Game began. The match lasted no more than a few minutes.

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