While Leo and the others were discussing how to handle the aftermath and deal with Kokabiel, a white shadow suddenly appeared in the sky some distance from the Kuoh Academy, like a white shooting star streaking across the night.
He appeared so sacred and pure white in the darkness, without a trace of gloom or dimness, making one feel as if they were witnessing a dreamlike illusion, beautiful yet unreal.
The white figure quickly landed on a building, revealing its full form.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a person dressed in pure white full-body armor.
The pure white armor resembled a dragon. Not only was the helmet shaped like a dragon's head, but the hands and feet were also in the form of dragon claws. Behind it was a steel chain resembling a dragon's tail, and on its back were a pair of wings with pure white skeletons and blue wing membranes. In addition, the entire body was inlaid with symmetrical blue gems, making it radiate a sacred glow. Although it was dragon-shaped, it did not appear ferocious at all.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the pure white dragon-shaped armor dissipated into particles of light, revealing the true face of the person inside.
That was a beautiful, silver-haired foreign boy.
The other person was about the same age as Leo, tall and slender with delicate limbs and a handsome face. Even his captivatingly clear blue eyes were blue. He was exactly the kind of prince charming who had stepped out of a fairy tale book, enough to charm countless girls.
The faint smile at the corner of the boy's mouth, in particular, was captivating and mesmerizing.
The boy stood on the edge of the building's rooftop, facing the night wind, gazing in the direction of the Kuoh Academy, one hand in his pocket, the other raised, unfolding a small Rubik's Cube.
A figure was projected onto the Rubik's Cube.
"Hey, Vali Lucifer, how's everything going?"
The next second, a flippant voice escaped from the figure's mouth.
Although his voice was flippant, anyone who knew him well would instantly feel immense pressure.
The reason is simple: the owner of this flippant voice possesses an identity and status that others can hardly imagine.
Are you busy, Azazel?
The boy named Vali Lucifer spoke, uttering the name that could strike fear into the hearts of many.
Azazel, the Governor General of the Fallen Angel, the leader of the Grigori, and the highest-ranking Twelve-Wing Fallen Angel.
Yes, the figure and the voice belonged to Azazel, the leader of the Fallen Angel.
He was once a close attendant of the gods, but dissatisfied with the desireless life in Heaven, he chose to fall and became one of the first fallen angels.
He was the leader of countless fallen angels, providing them with refuge when they had nowhere else to go, ultimately making the Fallen Angel one of the Three Factions and seizing control of half of the Underworld.
He is both the object most rejected by angels and the existence most feared by Devil.
He founded the Grigori, and he researched, developed, and trained countless Sacred Gear User within them. It is no exaggeration to say that he is the person who understands Sacred Gear the most in the world.
At this moment, the leader of the Fallen Angel, a figure regarded by countless people as the villainous boss, spoke to the boy named Vali Lucifer in a frivolous voice that made people wonder if he was a homeless wanderer.
"I'm so busy! I already have a lot of scheduled research to do, and now I have to deal with the mess Kokabiel made. Seriously, can't I have a break? That bastard!"
Azazel spoke these words as if complaining or sighing, but received no response from Vali Lucifer.
"Things aren't going too well for me." Vali Lucifer, still looking in the direction of the Kuoh Academy, said with a smile, "Sorry, Azazel, Kokabiel has been defeated."
Upon hearing this, Azazel paused in his speech.
"Defeated?" Azazel seemed intrigued and asked, "That's quite unexpected news."
"Although Kokabiel isn't very strong, he's still one of our officers. How could he lose in a place like Kuoh Town?"
"I don't believe the Gremory Peerage and Sitri Peerage have that kind of strength. Could it be that Sirzechs and the others arrived in time?"
"Or is the person who defeated him your formidable rival?"
Under Azazel's barrage of analysis and questioning, Vali Lucifer shook his head.
"It's not him," Vali Lucifer said calmly. "Although I haven't seen him, I can sense that he's far from being able to defeat someone of Kokabiel's caliber."
"Unless—he unleashes the power of 'Overlord'."
Upon hearing this, Azazel remained silent for a long while before finally speaking.
"That's the most unlikely thing. He's still a long way from the 'Overlord' realm. Even if he entered in an out-of-control state, there would still be a special catalyst to guide him."
"If he were facing you, he might be able to do that."
"After all, the connection between the Heavenly Dragon is enough to allow him to directly come into contact with that cursed power when he loses his mind and is on the verge of danger."
As the person who knows the Sacred Gear best, Azazel can be quite certain of this.
Therefore, Azazel denied this claim and made an inquiry.
"Who exactly defeated Kokabiel?"
Vali Lucifer didn't hide the answer to this question for long.
Or rather, he never intended to keep us in suspense.
"It's that guy you've been keeping an eye on lately." Vali Lucifer chuckled, as if he'd thought of something to be happy about. "He's gotten even stronger. The likes of Kokabiel are no match for him anymore; he easily defeated them."
Vali Lucifer's somewhat cheerful tone made Azazel on the other side raise an eyebrow.
" Leo Eligos?" Azazel smiled immediately and said, "I see. If it's him, then it's not hard to understand."
Even Azazel's voice sounded somewhat cheerful.
"If it were him before, it would have been very difficult for him to do this, right?" Azazel said. "When he dealt with Leif Trix, he was only Eight-Winged Devil. It was only after adding the power of ' Zenith Tempest ' that he was able to defeat Leif Trix in his enhanced state. At that time, although he already had the strength to compete with Kokabiel, he definitely couldn't have defeated him easily."
"That's true." Vali Lucifer agreed, "Back then, his only notable characteristic was that he was the host of the ' Zenith Tempest,' but things are different now."
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"Now, he not only possesses ten wings, but his control over the ' Zenith Tempest ' has also increased several levels."
"Although I haven't seen him use the Balance Breaker, the ease with which he wields the Sacred Gear suggests he couldn't possibly be outside the realm of Balance Breaker."
Hearing this, Azazel seemed somewhat surprised.
"He's already a ten-winged being?" Azazel said, quite surprised. "I thought he defeated Kokabiel using Balance Breaker."
"So, that guy Kokabiel couldn't even force the opponent to use their Balance Breaker?"
"It seems Leo Eligos's information needs to be updated."
At the same time, Azazel understood why Vali Lucifer had contacted him.
" Kokabiel was defeated by the Eligos Clan brat and has fallen into the hands of the Devil. This is troublesome."
Upon learning that Kokabiel intended to instigate Three Factions war, Azazel immediately dispatched Vali Lucifer to find a way to bring Kokabiel back.
He neither wanted war to break out, nor did he want Kokabiel to fall into the hands of others and become a handle for negotiating with or even questioning the Fallen Angel.
He also believed that with Vali Lucifer's strength, bringing Kokabiel back would not be a difficult task.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned in the end.
"I just wanted to ask you, are you going to take it back?" Vali Lucifer was still looking in the direction of the Kuoh Academy, as if he could see someone's figure in his eyes, looking restless. He said, "If you hadn't told me beforehand not to have too much contact with the Devil, I was going to make a move just now."
Azazel knew that Vali Lucifer had such thoughts not for any other reason than that his "old habit" had relapsed.
"You're just getting excited about the hunt, aren't you?" Azazel said with absolute certainty, as if he could read Vali Lucifer's mind. "You want to fight ' Zenith Tempest '?"
"After all, he's Longinus whose ranking and status are both above mine," Vali Lucifer replied with a smile, seemingly unrelated to the question. "Now, he's worthy of my challenge."
To be honest, if Azazel hadn't specifically instructed him beforehand, he definitely would have been unable to resist attacking Leo.
There was no way around it; his fighting spirit had been ignited by the formidable strength displayed by Leo.
His blood, his instincts, and the "dragon" within him all told him that the other person was a formidable adversary worthy of his full strength.
And this is precisely what he has been pursuing all along.
Azazel was well aware of this.
No one in this world understands what kind of person Vali Lucifer is better than him.
That's why he told Vali Lucifer before he left to avoid too much contact with the Devil.
Who can blame them when there's still a Red Dragon Emperor over there?
That was his destined nemesis.
If Vali Lucifer couldn't resist making a move, things would get really messy.
Who would have thought that this generation of Red Dragon Emperor wouldn't provoke Vali Lucifer to take action, but rather the host of this generation of " Zenith Tempest " would provoke Vali Lucifer.
But perhaps this matter is even more damaging to him than the current Red Dragon Emperor?
"If you were to attack the Red Dragon Emperor, it would be somewhat understandable, at least the old grudge between the Heavenly Dragon could be used to explain the matter. But if you were to attack that kid from the Eligos Clan, the Devil Realm would probably really be in an uproar, right?"
Azazel uttered a sound of slight headache.
"So please, Vali Lucifer, put away your burning desire to fight for now. I don't want to clean up another mess."
Azazel's words wiped the smile off Vali Lucifer's face, replacing it with a barely concealed disappointment.
"It still won't work," Vali Lucifer muttered to himself. "We finally encountered a formidable enemy that interests us, only to have to give up again because of some so-called balance of power and the desire to avoid a future war?"
The inexplicable emotion in those words left Azazel silent for a long time.
Then, as if trying to change the subject, he started talking about the follow-up handling.
"Since Kokabiel has already been captured by the Devil, there's nothing we can do. Let's give up on bringing him back," Azazel said helplessly. "At worst, we'll have to go to the negotiating table. It'll be a good opportunity to bring up that matter we've been considering and get it settled."
These words, however, only elicited silence from Vali Lucifer.
"Has it been decided?" Vali Lucifer said calmly. "Will there be no more wars in the future?"
"At least that's what I hope for, and I suppose Sirzechs and Michael think so too?" Azazel said with a meaningful smile. "This must be quite disappointing for you, right?"
"Yes," Vali Lucifer didn't deny it, saying as if talking to himself, "I often wonder, why was I born in this era?"
"Everyone is trying their best to avoid war and promote peace. Even though God is dead, the world hasn't descended into chaos."
"There are so many strong people in this world, why can't we challenge them to our heart's content?"
"I want to defeat them."
Azazel had heard these words countless times.
That's why he felt that this Dragon Child, whom he had personally nurtured, might have been driven to a dead end.
He was about to reach his limit.
But he still wanted to say----
"A single-minded pursuit of battle—that's certainly typical of a dragon's host, but usually, such people don't live long, you know?"
Azazel spoke slowly.
"It doesn't matter," Vali Lucifer said without hesitation. "I've never been interested in longevity."
"You certainly have that air about you." Azazel asked, as expected, "But even if you can defeat all the strong ones, what will you do after that?"
By then, there won't be any opponents left worth your time, will there?
That was the implication of Azazel's words.
However, Vali Lucifer's answer remained unwavering.
"In that case, I'll have no choice but to die."
A world where there are no strong individuals to challenge?
That's so boring.
He had no interest in such a boring world either.
"Come back soon, my White Dragon Emperor."
Azazel sighed as if he had a headache and said something.
"Perhaps I'll have to go there myself later."
After saying that, Azazel hung up the communication.
Vali Lucifer then turned his gaze away from the Kuoh Academy and looked at the now-dimmed Rubik's Cube in his hand.
After a long while, Vali Lucifer finally murmured something.
"I'm sorry, Azazel, but I have no interest in the world you're about to create either."
So, he's leaving.
It'll probably be more fun hanging out with guys who're about to turn against the whole world.